Settling In

It seems like I say this a lot, but never mind.  That is, never mind on selling our house.  Like I said before, we are perfectly fine with staying here.  We just haven't found what we're looking for, except for the times when our offer was out-bid.  We've decided that it's not the right time for us to move yet.  We have more important things to think about right now.

The "real" Welling Dwelling

We're going to focus on welcoming our baby into this world.  Yay!  I was bit by the nesting bug a long time ago, and now, I can finally work on it!  It was hard to get things ready when my house had to be clean all the time in case someone wanted to come see the house.  I spent all my energy doing dishes or cleaning the floors.  There was none left over for baby preparations.  It is also hard to organize things when you can't make a mess for very long.  I like to lay things out and then figure out where to put them.  It can be a prolonged, messy project, which doesn't work well for showing a house.  And I for sure know where the baby's room will be.  That's a definite plus!

So many stresses have been lifted since we've made this decision.  I don't have to move when I'm eight months pregnant, I'll still be only 5 minutes away from the hospital when I go into labor, I'll have the house ready for when the baby comes, instead of boxes everywhere.  I feel like I can relax now.

Sure, there are disappointments in not moving.  I'd like a dishwasher that I don't have to vacuum out.  I'd like a bigger, newer home that doesn't need so much work.  I'd like a better neighborhood.  But hey, one day, we will get that, and it will be exactly what we want . . . or what we think we want.  You never really know until you live in it.

I've already got a list of projects to do around the house.  That's something that trying to sell helps with.  You realize a lot of little things that need to be done.  Some will be big projects and some will be simple projects.  You'll just have to stay tuned to find out what they all are.  Owning a home is a never ending line of projects, especially an older home.  I'm excited to continue improving our little corner of the world, and to start sharing it with our daughter.

 

This room will be the nursery.  Bye-bye computer desk!  Off to the dungeon with you!  Ha ha ha!

 

Hopefully, in a few months, this room will be a bit different.

 

Notice an organization problem?  We're looking to fix that quite soon.

So, sorry to all you folks in our ward, but you're stuck with us for a little while longer.  Look at the bright side, though.  You'll get to meet our little girl!

Baby Update, 27 Weeks

I had a doctor's appointment today.  All is well, still.

Tiny Dancer is growing like a weed at 2 1/2 lbs.  She is also taking after her mother in the flexibility department.  She was pretty much folded in half.  We couldn't get a decent picture of her because both her hands and her legs were in front of her face.  Maybe she doesn't have stage fright after all.  I'm thinking she just likes to say, "look what I can do!"

I also had my glucose test today.  Bleh.  That nasty orange drink gave me a stomach ache and a buzz.  Surprisingly, though, it wasn't so bad when they drew blood this time.  I don't know the results yet.  I'm hoping I don't get a call within the next week, because no news is good news.  I'm not too worried, though.  I'm soooooo thankful it's over!  Mostly because of the nasty orange drink.  But I got some great news today!  I don't have to get the Tdap vaccine, because at my physical in December (to prepare for adoption), I got one, and apparently it's good for up to 4 years.  Score!  One less needle prick for me!

The third trimester is definitely the most uncomfortable for me.  It's not just the heat talking, now.  Baby is getting big, and there's not much room for her.  No wonder she's folded in half!  She's not even that big yet.  The good news is that I can feel her much better.  Yay!

The other day I was playing the piano, and I felt a little kick.  Let's hope she was dancing in there, and not asking me to stop.  Ha ha!  Last night, when Lance came home, I whispered excitedly, "Daddy's home!"  Then she kicked.  I hope she was excited too.

I'm loving her personality!  She's definitely got a mind of her own already.  It's been hard to get a decent ultrasound picture of her because of her little tricks (this time being folded in half, last time she was turned the wrong way, and she's always got her hand up by her face).  Whenever I think that it's been a while since I've felt her move, I start to worry, and then I'll feel a tiny nudge saying, "I'm still here, Mom.  Don't worry."  I think she'll be a wonderful big sister one day.  She's already looking out for me, making sure my mind is at ease.

So, exciting stuff coming up!  Now I get to go to the doctor every two weeks.  We're getting close!  That means that I need to start thinking about pediatricians.  Any suggestions?  It's almost time to get a car seat.  We've been waiting until now to get one so that we can keep it as long as possible, and hopefully still have it for the next kid or two.  And we get to start thinking about taking birthing classes at the hospital.  Oh dear.  That makes me nervous!

Well, thanks for reading.  Sorry there's no picture.  Hopefully she'll cooperate next time.  Ha ha ha!

I wish...

That I could design my house on Pinterest and magically have it appear in real life in the spot I want it.

This is what it would look like:

 

I'd love a Victorian, but not an old one.  But they don't make 'em like they used to.

 

Grand entryway.

 

Whimsical living room

Gorgeous, large kitchen

 Glorious laundry room

Luxurious master bathroom

Master bedroom (I've always wanted a canopy or 4 poster bed)

 

 Cute and girly baby's room

 Large mudroom with space for shoes, coats, bags, and lots of seasonal storage for mittens, scarves, etc.

Window seats are a must

Comfy family room furniture (I love tufts!)

Too much?  Perhaps, but I can dream, right?

Our real life expectations are much more basic:

-Sizeable kitchen with a lots of cabinets and a pantry

-Separate formal living room right inside the front door, maybe to the side (so unexpected guests or piano students don't have to see my messy kitchen)

-Master bedroom with a walk-in closet and a nice bathroom (What is with all these walk-in closets inside the bathroom?  Keep it separate!)

-Master bedroom must be by at least one other bedroom, so I don't have to parade through the entire house when my little ones wake up at night

-At least a 2 car garage (we've never had one as a married couple)

-A dishwasher that I don't have to vacuum out after each use, or drag over to the kitchen sink (yes, I currently do that, unfortunately)

-Nice neighborhood where we can raise our children without too much worry

-At least 1/2 acre lot with a big grassy area to play on

-2 stories

-Easily accessible roof, that doesn't frighten Lance too much to get on it

-Minimal vaulted ceilings (use the space to make more rooms)

-Huge bonus room

See why we're picky?  House hunting is a lot harder when you're looking for your dream home.  This time, we plan on making it permanent, like forever.  We're willing to give on a few things, if the house is nice enough, but it had better be a pretty amazing house.

Wish us luck!  Apparently we need it.

Future Performers

These little kids...

 Brielle

Katie

Declan

Crack me up!

I've been giggling to myself ever since last week!  They sure love to sing and dance.  They put on quite the performance for Lance and me on the 4th of July.  One girl would sing while the other would dance.  Declan would just do his own thing. 

Brielle was hilarious!  You know the song "Tonight We are Young" ??  Well, she sings almost the entire song.  And she even holds out the words while changing notes!  Smart kid.  And she's so serious about it!  So, every time I've heard that song on the radio this past week, I haven't been able to contain the smile that comes to my face.

She also loves to sing "God Bless America."  She knows this entire song too!  She may not get all the words right, but she does a really good job.  Here is the first part of her version: "God bless America, land that I love.  Stand beside her, and guide her, with the light from the light from a bug."  I giggle to myself every time I'm reminded of her singing "a bug" instead of "above."  Ha ha!  So cute!

Katie was much more into the dancing.  She was seriously into it.  And she's pretty good at that.  When it was her turn to sing, she was a little shy, but she did great!  She made up her own song.  Pretty impressive, if you ask me.

Declan was hilarious.  He would dance around and body slam the others.  They didn't seem to mind, though.  And every once in a while, you'd hear him singing along.  He sings along well with "God Bless America."  He will belt out "America" or "I love" and then kind of mumble the rest.

I would have taken a video, but I didn't want to miss any of their performance.

Well, I just thought you'd like to hear something cute about some of my nieces and nephews.  It makes my day just thinking about it.

Northern Utah Parade of Homes 2012

Well, I know there was already a post this year about Parade of Homes, but we were privileged enough to experience two of them this year!!  And I'd just like to say that it is the best date of the year for us.  (We both love looking at houses a ton!)  And bonus, it lasts a few weeks! 

This Parade of Homes was in our neck of the woods in Davis, Weber, and Morgan counties.  It says it was in Box Elder county, but there were no houses in Box Elder county.  However, that is where we are currently house hunting, so we have seen some homes there in the past few weeks as well.

Here are some highlights of this year's parade.  It's over now, so I don't feel too bad posting my favorites.

This wall color was in tons of houses.  I love it!

So many houses had chandeliers in almost every room.  We all know how much I love chandeliers.  And this one is pink!

Lots of houses were very kid friendly.  Isn't that hut alcove so much fun?  And there's a window seat behind me, with shelves!  I'd stock up on books for sure!

This was my absolute favorite house.  It looked like a Victorian house with modern touches.  It was made by a custom builder.  I didn't care for the floor plan on the main level, but still, so amazing!

Inside the "Victorian."  Awesome ceiling!  The kitchen is upscale vintage as well.  Just my style!

Bathroom inside the "Victorian."  Gorgeous!!

Decorative toilet inside the "Victorian."

Awesome, modernized chandelier.  (Different house.)

I love the alcoves for the beds in this bonus room!  The one on the left looks like it's a mine.

Such a fun bathtub!  What kid wouldn't love to bathe in a firetruck!?  It looked like it could be removed, and that there was a real bathtub underneath.

It was rare not to see a kid's area underneath the stairs.  This one was Angry Bird themed.  Ha ha ha!

 Mario themed bedroom.  So easy to do!  They were vinyl stickers.

Ever thought of plantation shutters on French doors?  Great idea!

I LOVE this colorful chandelier!!

Baseball themed room.

 HUGE range.  I love the burner in the middle for gigantic pots!

 How is our housing adventure going?  Well, the house we liked, and got the ball rolling for had some other offers.  Our offer was contingent on us selling our house and being able to close in September or later.  Two other offers made the same weekend as ours also had contingencies, so whoever was able to move forward the fastest would get it.  Then, just a couple of weeks after we made our offer, someone swiped it out from underneath all of us with an offer that was officially accepted.  Sad, yes.  But it's okay.  We'll get over it.

We are keeping our house on the market until that house officially closes.  (You never know what is going to happen with an accepted offer until closing.)  We're also keeping our eye out for other houses we might be interested in.  There are a couple that we are currently interested in, so we'll see what happens.  I'm so excited and nervous all at the same time!  There still is the possibility that we will remain where we are, though.  That is also fine with us.  I just seem to have been bitten by the moving bug lately, and am itching for a new adventure.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the pictures.  Wish us luck on our house hunt!

Someone's Special Day

Today is my brother, Paul's birthday.  He's the best!  He turns 39 today.  I think I'd better start planning an over-the-hill party for him for next year.  He deserves every ounce of kindness that comes his way.

Happy birthday Paul!!!  You rock!!!

Monumental!!

Okay, first of all, I need to apologize for all of the little typos/misspelled words from my last post.  Wow, I reread that post and became a little embarrassed.  Oops!  I didn't do my usual pre-publish look through.  That was a good lesson for me on why we do drafts and re-drafts/fix-its.

Anyway, so the big monumental thing that happened today was that I'm 99 days from my due date, as you may have noticed on my baby girl ticker in the upper left corner of the blog.  We're in the double digits, baby!  Woohoo!  I can't wait!!

So, as many of you know, we have decided not to disclose the baby's name until birth.  However, I would like to hear your name suggestions, since we're not 100% sure on the name yet.  You're never 100% sure until it is put on the birth certificate, anyway.  So, please comment with girl names you like.  I'll allow silly ones, but please specify if they're serious or silly.  Maybe we'll like one of your suggestions better than our own. 

FYI, the middle name will be Michelle, so if you want to suggest something that flows, it would be  ------- Michelle Welling.  We also don't want a name that everyone else has, so while Sophia, Paisley, names that start with Bri--, and many others are very cute names (I really do like them), we'd like to be a little less common.

Happy naming!!