Life

It has been a while since I've posted anything so here is just a little update!

We are still interested in a house that is going for auction on March 7th at 2pm. I try to not get too excited and plan how I might paint, decorate, or whatever so that I don't get too disappointed if it doesn't all work out. It would be soooooo nice to have a house of our own with our own yard but we will see what happens I guess. We do get hesitant sometimes about buying with the state our economy is in. I know that we could get a credit of 8,000 being a 1st time homebuyer and that would be awesome but there is always the ever so slight possibility of losing a job. Anyway, we are running our numbers to see what our top bid could be and praying that either the house goes in our price range (if that's what the Lord has for us) or that it go really high, beyond what we could afford so that we aren't there deciding on the second if we should bid on a price that is 500, 1000, or 1500 more than what we could do but yet not completely out of the question. We will keep you updated on what happens.

We are still on the search for a church. We've visited a few and there are a few more I think would be worth checking into. It will take a little more time until we settle down somewhere but will be so nice when we both agree and find one where we feel we are meant to be. We miss Cornerstone. :(

Seth is doing well. Well as for during the day that is. During the night he hasn't been doing so well! It seems that the "crying it out" method we decided to try which took him a week to catch on has maybe come back for round #2. Last night he was up only once but the night before it took 6 times of going in and calming him down and letting him cry, etc, etc. We will see what happens. Hopefully, the next baby will be easier! Haha. On the other hand, he is crawling around very well now which means closing every door in sight and hiding every cord and baby proofing EVERYTHING! He has also been pulling himself up to stand at the couch, coffee table, and other numerous things. Sometimes "da da" pops out of his mouth but don't think that he has yet associated it completely. He is nearly impossible to change since he wiggles around, rolls over, fights you and finally stands up on his changing table. After a bath it is even harder to get him lotioned, diapered, and dressed. We both have to participate in this and even then it is quite a battle! Amazing the strength a 9 1/2 month old has, I never would have thought!


A quick little story and then I will go for today.

I went shopping at Target last week sometime and since Seth has become so antsy at the store these days, I decided to let him sit in the seat of the cart rather than bringing him in his infant car seat (which he is becoming quite overgrown for). He was fine and enjoying it until he decided to start his new found noise of SCREAMING. He will scream on and off at certain points really for no reason. I tried to tell him to "shhhh" but that of course did not work and I gave him every toy I had brought along. I even let him play with (or rather eat) my coupon holder. By the way, it is nearly impossible to shop frugally with Seth. I end up hurrying along so much that I can't even compare prices since he has no patience and now screams as we go up and down the isles! Anyway, on this particular day he was becoming more impatient and screaming so much so I took him out of his seat to finish my shopping and just carried him. I got to the check out and he had calmed down enough that I thought I could put him back into the seat of the cart while I unloaded my items and paid. Well, I lifted him up to put him in the seat and the second I put him down (before I could even get him buckled) he leaned over and knocked the side of his head. He was SCREAMING and CRYING and there was a mile long line of people behind us and I was trying to calm him down and unload the cart. Oh my, it was horrible. I was so embarrassed and stressed out. All I wanted to do was get out of the apartment for a little while and do a little shopping and it turned into stressed-out craziness. I guess that is life with a baby though!

the santa clause dilemma

I'm not sure why this popped into my head now, being that it's February and all, but I was thinking about what I will someday tell Seth about Santa. I am kind of leaning away from telling him that Santa is real, and that he came down the chimney and left these gifts for you, and ate the cookies that were there, etc. I don't want to be weird about it, but I just don't feel like telling him that something is real when it's not. Then when he inevitibly finds out that I tricked him, will he believe other things that I tell him about are real? Why can't Santa just be a fun story? I would think that by the time he could comprehend a story about Santa, you might as well tell him the real meaning of Christmas. Any thoughts??

9 months

Seth turned 9 months today!!

Results from his 9 month check-up:

• Weight - 20 pounds 1 ounce (45%)
• Length - 29 1/2 inches (90%)
• Head Circumference - 18 3/4 inches (90%)

Next visit will be at 12 months!!!

figures

We have been trying to let Seth "cry it out" for the past week now and he has slept through only one night. Some nights have been better than others but last night was not so good. (well not all to blame on Seth) Seth woke me up about 3:15 or so and I went to his room and laid him back down, pulled his blanket over him and came back to bed only to hear him cry just as I pulled my covers over. We left him cry a bit and then I went back in. I did this again a little while later. Then Ted took a turn and when he came back all was quiet (from Seth's room at least) and we were thrilled! He had finally fallen to sleep by 4am but Ted and I couldn't sleep. There was whistling of the windows, banging of who knows what, roaring of tractor trailers, glass crashing together as the garbage men emptied our recycling bin, the garbage truck smashing the trash in its grips, more traffic, our recycling bin sliding across the driveway and a bag of our trash following close behind it, (guess they missed that one in the dark) and you name it every sound you can think of that comes with 45mph winds. Plus our hearts beating and stomachs churning at every sound while we hoped our roof wouldn't fly off again. We couldn't sleep eventhough the one person who had kept us up repeatedly was sound asleep! Go figure.


Here are the photos of our apt. roof 1/2 gone:
(you can see why we were nervous about this happening again)

And he's off....

Seth started crawling this past Saturday. Check out the video to see!

why do babies need teeth anyway?

I am confident I can count the number of nights Seth sleeps straight through in any given month with the fingers on just one hand. Without using my thumb. The recent culprit seems to be teething, and you have to feel bad for the little guy, when he's teething it's like his whole head fills up with fluid. His eyes water, his nose runs, he drools like a maniac, gets ear infections, and has other cold-like symptoms. And of course, all this comes along with some pretty short spans of sleep at night. Usually it lasts for about two weeks until a little tooth pops through, and then all of a sudden he turns into fun, happy, I can sleep at night Seth, for a couple days until the next one starts. And then two more weeks for that tooth to come in. Four down and a whole mouth to go! Please pray for our sanity :)

fun with paint!

house for auction

So, we have been looking around for a house but been having a difficult time finding something we not only like but can afford. Often what we've found in our price range is a 1/2 double house in Ephrata with no off-street parking or a row home in Lancaster with no off-street parking and maybe a yard but maybe not. Ideally, I would love to have a single, 2 story, 2 car garage, with a yard, fireplace, 1.5-2 bath, some hardwood floors, and laundry on the 1st floor. However, we will probably have to wait for those things until we would purchase a 2nd house, and that is fine, I am ok with that. Well, we have come across a house that is going for auction on March 7th. We went and took a look at it and would love to have it if it would go for what we can afford. It is a single, 1 and 1/2 story, with a nice size yard, a 1 car detatched garage, hardwood floors, laundry in the basement, 1 bath, and possibly 4 bedroom. The bathroom is a little tight, a few windows would need replacing, the hardwood floors refinished, new paint, new kitchen appliances, and an update to 200 amps. Overall, it has potential. It is in a nice town, off the busy street. Ted's parents would be 2-3 minutes down the road (nice for babysitting) My parents still would be 1 and 1/2 hours away (but that's ok for now since Ted's job is here) I spoke with the auctioneer and he told me what the people would like for the house which is too high for us but he said that he told them he thought what they wanted was high and they would first have to start lower. Well, the lower price would be just probably at the top of our range. Who knows what will happen since it is an auction. I am excited but am very cautious (or trying to be) about getting my hopes up. Anyway, all of that to say if you have the time we would love if you could keep this in your prayers. We know that God can work miracles and it will take one for us to get this house! If it isn't the house for us then that is ok too, we know that there is one out there waiting to be a home for our family, we just can't wait to meet it!!