2nd birthday party

The theme of Molly's party was Sesame Street. She loves everything Sesame Street. She wants to know the names of all of the characters, even the very minor ones. We got her a book about Zoe, a female character. In the book, Zoe's ballet teacher is pictured. Molly points to her and asks her name every time we read it. "Girl's name?" she says.

She loved her 2nd birthday party. She was happy and well-behaved. She ate and ate and ate, especially when her daddy kept giving her red frosting from Elmo. The frosting on the cake was an inch thick in most places! She got help opening gifts from her friends, which she didn't mind. All of her gifts were perfect- books, puzzles, clothes, a few small toys.

Birthday Party Moms

Molly's second birthday party is Saturday. I spent a portion of my free-time (Molly's nap time) today researching ideas for activities and favors for her Sesame Street-themed party. I happened upon a site in which scores of moms shared their plans for toddler Sesame Street parties. After browsing for a bit, I concluded that "birthday party moms" need their own category alongside soccer moms and hockey moms.

After reading some of the elaborate invitation and decoration ideas, I assertained that many of these people spend the equivalent of an entire 40 hour work week in party planning. I wonder what they sacrifice to pull off the perfect party for a toddler- sleep, personal hygiene, time with their kids??? Then, there are the things I just shake my head in amazement about- inviting 24 toddlers to your home for a party? Why?

I then read the synopsis of a party that was in a league of its own. I was skimming when I came across the part about the rented tent and tables to seat 150 adults and 45 children. This party for a one-year old featured ponies, followed by the appearance of several life-size Sesame Street characters in full costume. At the end of the party, the delighted guests ran out to make their selections from the ice cream truck rented by the hosts.

I can say proudly that I am not a BPM, a Birthday Party Mom. The only thing homemade at Molly's party will be a layered bean dip (and of course, my mom's cheese ball). The Elmo cake will be competently made by Sam's Club. I also spent more time with my birthday girl today than I did party planning. Hurrah for run-of-the-mill birthday parties!

Journey Through Home Buying

We are almost entirely unpacked from our move. Of course we still have lots of stuff stored at my parents'. They gladly bring a load of items everytime they visit. They'll enjoy the extra room!

During our house search, we put bids on several houses available through the HUD Good Neighbor Next Door program. We did not love any of these homes, but the program offers them at half-price to teachers. So, we would have gladly purchased one of them at a 50% discount. We did not win the lottery on any of these houses because there were a lot of people competing for this good deal.

We then looked at houses available through the general HUD listings and private sales. We found a couple HUD homes that we liked and put bids on them. On neither of these did we have the highest bid. We weren't really discouraged because although they were very nice houses at great prices, we didn't fall in love with them.

We then found a home in a short sale in a beautiful neighborhood. We really liked the floorplan and yard. We put a low-ball offer because we had heard that often great deals can be had on a short sale if you are willing to wait it out. So, we put our bid in and waited.

As we continued to look, we found the home that we loved, a foreclosure fresh out on the market. We had been looking in a price range for which we could afford a fifteen year mortgage. This one was a little out of that price range. We felt like this was the perfect house for us, and it was the one God wanted us to have. Writing our offer, I felt like God was telling me to just submit to Ryan and go with the amount he decided on. On a Friday, we put a bid a little higher than the list price and decided to go with a twenty year note.

On Monday we learned that the selling bank had received three offers after ours. Each bidder was asked to submit their highest and best offer. We increased our offer by a few hundred dollars. Again, I listened to Ryan and didn't give any input.

Several days passed, and we didn't hear anything. I fretted about whether our offer was high enough. Again, I felt like God was going to provide this home for us, and if so, our offer was good enough.

On Saturday morning, we got a call from our realtor. "Are you sitting down?" he inquired. Surprised, he told us that even though our offer wasn't the highest, the bank had chosen ours because we were using a conventional mortgage. Both he and the listing realtor had never seen a bank take a lesser offer. We believe that God works in unconventional ways to accomplish His purposes.

It is a great responsibility living in this home that God provided. Since He worked it out for us to be here, we need to use our home to serve Him by loving our neighbors and blessing others as they visit.

Recharging

Molly is a bundle of energy from the get-go in the morning. However, when Sesame Street is on, she lays down on the floor and watches intently. I am hurriedly catching up on email, packing for our move, and making phone calls. When Elmo is over, she'll be ready to GO! Doesn't that characterize the life of a mom- rest for the child equates to work-time for mom? While she is storing up energy; I'm expending it!

I've decided that it is somewhat silly to use the baby jogger. I get a lot of exercise while Molly SITS! When we are in our new home, I'm going to jog to a nearby middle school. I'll get Molly out, and we'll jog a lap together on the track. Then, she comes home a little tired, too.

It is getting a little easier at the park. I used to get more exercise than she did: scrambling after her, lifting, sliding, and pushing on the swings. Now, she can safely be more independent on the play equipment. Yesterday, I strategically placed myself so that I could grab her if she got too close to a place where she could fall (Actually I point these spots out to her and tell her "Danger!". She'll repeat that every time she climbs up, pointing and repeating, "Danger!") It felt weird to be at the park and be just standing in one spot. A little rest for mom- how unusual!

Freebie

I love visiting money saving sites like couponing101.com, thefreebieblogger.com, and stretchingabuckblog.com. I would love to start a blog like this, but there are already so many good ones out there that I don't know how to make it unique. I did just get an e-mail from aveda.com, and they gave me the opportunity to place a link here so you could sign up for a free sample of their Hand Relief cream. I think you can redeem it at an aveda salon or retail store. Check it out: Join Aveda's Birthday Program

MI

Molly at the beach at Norton Shores

With the Kellys

Putting on Ma Mere's Lipstick!

Laying on the fairway at Warwick Hills!

New Home Part 2

Arch Entrances to the Kitchen and Hallway to Molly's Room & Guest Room

Kitchen opens to Living and Dining Room

Living Room (Gas Fireplace)

Dining Room (Entrance to the Backyard and Master Bedroom)

Backyard (Molly as you can see is ready to run, run!)

New Home

Brink Arch Entrance

Front Hallway with nice tile

Extra Room (Den, Office, or Dining Room)
Immediately to the right when entering the house

Kitchen with tile and a skylight
(Center of the home)

This will be our new home in 2 weeks!
The initial documents and inspections are complete.
The home is a single level brick with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths
in Northwest Ft. Worth. (Eagle Mountain-Saginaw) This is
a great area to live! We are closer to family!

Picture this

Happy 89th birthday Grandma!

Waiting for the train at the zoo

Roar!

With Ella

Blue eyed beauties! My friend Erica was in town

Fight! Fight! Fight!

The other day Molly started playing with a pom pom. Wanting to indoctrinate her as a little Spartan, I grabbed her Sparty doll and starting singing the MSU fight song. At one point, as Spartans well know, the singer does a little chant while pumping a fist, "Fight! Fight! Rah, Team Fight!" I continued singing, and then started the song again. While I was singing, Molly was pumping her fists and yelling, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" I just hope she never does this out of context!

Repeater

Molly's verbal skills are really advancing. She says new words all the time. She has also been putting two words together like, "Diaper Off!" and "Two Balls." She is also repeating a lot that we say. This evening I asked Ryan to take one of her toys to another room. Afraid I was being a nag, I began the following conversation:

Me: "Was that too bossy?"
Ryan: "I'm used to it."
Me: "Was that too bossy?"
Ryan: "No. It was alright."

Molly immediately picked up on the word "bossy". She started exclaiming, "Bossy! Bossy! Bossy!"

She's our little repeater!

Our Life in Tweets

• Friday was Ryan's last day of teaching for the year. Today he's cleaning, moving to a new classroom, and doing paperwork.
  
• Molly had her first nap without a binky last week at my parents'. We were going to attempt to put her to bed without binky that night.
  
• While putting Molly to bed without binky, she flung herself over the crib rail. I caught her. We then hurriedly converted the crib to a toddler bed. We let her have binky to not make too many changes to her world.
  
• Molly had her first bout of food poisoning/stomach virus this weekend. She was a real trooper.
  
• We have finalized travel plans to MI June 28 - July 6 to visit friends/family and attend my cousin Katie's wedding.
  
• We have been house shopping and have been outbid by a couple hundred dollars on one house and a couple thousand on another.
  
• We are looking for a 3 bedroom one-story and prefer flooring other than carpet/vinyl. A covered patio is also on our wish list.
  
• Our tv stopped working last week, and we are not going to replace it until after we move. Ryan had a tough time facing reality this weekend when missing a golf tournament and the Belmont Stakes.
  
• Ryan shaved his head completed bald with a razor. I think he looks hot.
  
• My mom's birthday was Saturday, but we didn't celebrate with her yet due to Molly's illness.
  
• We bought a zoo membership and are enjoying visiting the zoo while they open an hour early on Mondays in June just for members. We'll be leaving shortly for our visit.
  
• Molly is saying all kinds of words. She can identify some colors, thanks to the M&Ms we give her when she uses the potty. She can also identify a couple letters.
  
• The only number Molly knows is "two". But, she conceptually understands it. She'll hold up a couple binkies or stuffed puppies and say, "Two!"
  
• I just finished the first novel I've read in awhile, Midwives by Chris Bohjalian. I really enjoyed it.
  
• We have reserved a bunch of books at the library because Ryan reads a lot during the summer.
  
• This is Ryan's only week off (after today and besides our week in MI) because he starts meeting with his cross country runners for summer training next week.

Beach Time

Molly and I went to CA to meet Ryan's mom who was there to babysit for a friend's daughter. We got a great deal on the airfare, and it was a great opportunity for Molly to see her Ma Mere and hang out with a new little friend. Molly loved playing in the ocean and was excited when the waves splashed up on her legs.

Out and About

I was feeling ambitious this morning and put my running clothes on and put Molly in the jogging stroller. We went outside to discover that it had become drizzly. We couldn't go because Molly would have gotten cold and wet. So, we're doing inside activities this morning, like blogging!

We went to the Botanical Gardens with Xander and his mom. It was my first time there. Beautiful!

Xander really wanted to hold Molly's hand. Cute! Molly is wearing a harness that has a stuffed Elmo on the front. She doesn't mind it which is a relief because I'm traveling with her by plane tomorrow without any other adult assistance！

Running!

Aloha! This is Molly's Hawaiian outfit from Teena and Grant



Molly loves little Ella. We have the invite for Ella's first birthday party on our refrigerator. Molly will yell, "Ella! Ella!" until I get it down for her look at.

Hanging out with Papa

Swine Flu in TX

Our county has numerous cases of the swine flu. As of this afternoon, there are 14 confirmed and 46 probable cases. The weird thing is that my parents live in a neighboring county that has no cases. They don't tell us where the cases are located in the county. They could be concentrated in a few neighborhoods or spread throughout.

People don't seem to be too concerned. The mall parking lot was packed today, and I stopped into a restaurant to get a take-out meal. It was packed as well. The Movie Tavern was packed last night as well. Hopefully sick people aren't infecting the masses! Several times this week I've been in a checkout line behind someone buying several bottles of hand sanitizer or disinfecting wipes.

I've been out in public for short trips to the store. I'm hesitant to take Molly to a park to play on equipment with other kids. We are trying not to let her be around other children.

Ryan's school district is out until at least 5/11. When school was closed there was one confirmed case and three probable (all in different schools). Now there are nine probable in addition to the one confirmed. He's enjoying his long, surprise break.