SOLD!

As of 4pm yesterday, we are no longer homeowners. This is bittersweet, as I really did like our house despite its challenges and quirks. It's also bittersweet, as it's been a long, hard road to get this sold. We had multiple agents, a deal that fell through, many price changes, and ended up spending far more money on this process than we ever anticipated. Although we didn't lose money on this deal, we certainly did not end up with the amount we originally thought we would. In the end, it was a learning experience, particularly trying to finalize the deal that actually got the house sold. Lessons learned: 1. Don't try to sell a house from out of state. 2. Don't accept bad service from your agent - they work for you, not the other way around. 3. Realize that it can easily be many months before your house will sell. 4. Don't be afraid to negotiate. 5. Sometimes you have to just cut your losses and move on.

Things I loved about this house: the work we put into it to make it ours. From scraping the wallpaper off the living room walls, to selecting the light fixtures (I will especially miss the ceiling fan in the master bedroom), to painting almost every room, to remodeling the bathroom (including tiling the bath), to installing cove moulding and refinishing the beam in the living room - we put a lot of time and money into this little place. And it was special because of that. Would I buy a place that required this much work again? Not unless I knew we were going to be there for at least 5 years. AT LEAST. I'm also a little sad that we won't be able to buy a house for another 6 years at the very earliest. I detest renting, but have accepted it as part of what we have to do to get where we want to go (see blog title).

Things I did not love about this house: the damp basement, rickety garage, giant oak tree, old kitchen with 3 door ways, drafty-ness, cuckoo neighbors with broken down VW van in the driveway (such a lovely view from our bedroom!).

Justin Update: He's over 9 lbs. now, and has a little cold. He's stuffed up, so he is sleeping best in his bouncy chair with his head elevated. Despite feeling bad, he's still being a sweety. Hopefully the cold will be gone in a few days. Once he starts feeling better, we're going to start sleep entrainment. This means that I will not feed him on demand at night (between 12pm-5am), but when he wakes up, I'll delay feeding him in order for him to learn that he can sleep for longer periods without needing to eat immediately upon waking. In theory, this means he should be sleeping for 5-6 hours within a few weeks of starting the entrainment. Wish me luck!

Day 11

Here's a short video of Justin on day 11. Probably not too exciting for most of you, but we think he's adorable. It's hard to believe that I am in week 2 of Maternity Leave. Only 2 more weeks until I am supposed to go back, and I am torn. Without any pay, I can't justify a full 6 weeks, but I also feel like he's getting the short end of the stick. If there was any way to not work right now, I'd take it, but I can't seem to make it happen. I hope that in the near future things will work out so I can more easily balance work and home life.

Justin update

Malaina loves to hold her baby brother.

He had his first home bath on Wednesday. Not as traumatic as I thought it might be, but he still wasn't terribly pleased.

After visiting the pediatrician 4 out of 5 days this week, we finally have the OK to stop the light therapy. His bilirubin level dropped on Thursday, and again on Friday, so it appears to finally be working its way out of his system. He's also regained weight, so he's back to his birth weight - what a good eater! We go for his 2 week check up next Friday, and hopefully we won't need to see the doctor for anything but routine visits going forward.

Malaina has been very sweet with Justin, and enjoys holding him (while sitting down), bringing him his blanket/pacifier/socks/hat, and giving him very gentle hugs and kisses. It's been nice to be home as a family for Spring break, but I think we're all ready to get back into our usual routine of school and family time. The weather has been up and down all week - a few nice days, and now it's back to cold and cloudy - but at least 90% of the snow has melted! Unfortunately the cold weather has kept us inside for most of the week, and we all have a little cabin fever. We did get out on Wednesday for a short walk, and I tried out my new Peanut Shell sling(http://www.goo-ga.com/shop/baby_slings/stretch_cotton_prints/boho_chic). It worked OK, but I think I need a little practice to get him in the right position. It was definitely handy, and nice to have both hands free.

Baby update

Justin has a little jaundice. He is doing OK, but it's not resolving on its own, so we are doing light therapy with a special LED blanket. He looks a little like an alien baby on his glowing green blankie. He stays on the blanket all the time, except when we are changing his diaper or clothes. We went back to the pediatrician today, and his number came down a bit, but we'll keep doing the blanket for another 2 days, then see the doctor again on Thursday. We're hopeful it will resolve itself in the next few days, especially now that my milk has come in. This should help to clear out all the bilirubin in his system.

He's Here!

Justin Alexander Huff was born on Friday, March 14 at 6:34 pm. He was 8 lbs., 7.5 oz and 21 1/4 inches long. Labor & delivery went fairly smoothly. We were checked in by 12:30 pm, started Pitocin at 1:30, broke my water at 2:30, had an epidural at 3:30, had 3 sets of big pushes around 6:30, and there he was!

The good, the bad, and the ugly:

The good: the hospital, the nurses (Molly for L & D, Sharon & Jennifer for recovery), the doctor (Dr. Olesen), the epidural, and of course, my sweet baby boy.

The bad: Every procedure required multiple tries - IV, epidural, catheter (ICK!), etc. Recovery has been more difficult than I remember the first time, but I am feeling better each day. His cord was also knotted 3 times, and wrapped around him twice like a pretzel. We are so very fortunate that he is just fine.

The ugly: Do we need to go into that? If you must know, I can share, but it's a matter of perspective - most women are willing to go through childbirth multiple times because our memory of pain fades when replaced with the joy of our sweet babies. Everything else heals eventually.

Today's the Day!

We are having a baby today! We're at t-minus 3 hours and counting until we need to be at the hospital, and I can't wait! It was a weird night last night (wouldn't you know it), but today seems to be going OK so far. Of course I was excited, so I had a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep. Malaina woke up at 3:30, and wanted to sleep in our bed. Normally it's not a big deal to get her back into her own bed, but she started to yell and cry about it (totally not normal for her - I think that given her meltdown yesterday, she is feeling anxiety over her brother coming). I got her back into her bed and rubbed her back for a while, then took another hour + to fall asleep myself. Neither of us ended up getting up until almost 9! Now I have just 2 hours to finish up my stuff at home (yes, I was mopping the floors at 9pm last night - among other things), and head out to the hospital. I am grateful that Malaina will be safe & entertained while we're at the hospital (thanks again to the Mons Family), and I hope things go smoothly and quickly.

PS - looks like the house sale is back on again. The buyer took our counter offer, which was to pay $1,000 towards the repairs of her choice (and a big pfftttt to her list of $10K in requested repairs). I nearly dropped the phone when I heard the message from our realtor.

Last of the projects

Basket liners for the changing table. Much better than the pink gingham we had before. FYI - I know the blue & the tan don't "match", but the colors actually go with the crib sheets we have for him.... and will look great if we ever get the crib and changing table in the same room!
Blanket and burp cloth for my sister-in-law. She's having Baby #5 (a boy) in about a month. Good luck Sally!
I made these for our Boy. I LOVE the pattern (Alexander Henry 2D Zoo), and really like how it looks with the chocolate dot minky. My favorite burp cloth is the one with the minky and the pattern on the end.

FYI - A great source for minky is http://www.minkydelight.com/. I shop the Special Buys section, as you can find some great deals. Beware though - if you're trying to match a particular color, you're better off buying some sample swatches before ordering. I tried twice to match the green in the 2D Zoo pattern and ended up with two batches of lime/neon green minky.

PS - Malaina Moment of the Day: We're at the doctor's, just finishing up. She's been waiting on the chair patiently, but clearly has something she wants to tell the doctor. We wrap up our conversation and look at her. With a very serious look on her face, she says "um, um, um, um, My Mama can't bend down anymore!". We both laughed, and I told her I wouldn't have that problem in a few more days. It doesn't sound as funny in print as it did out loud.