Countdown to a new start

So in exactly one week we start over. If everything goes as planned , closing for our house is scheduled for the 12th of January. We had a bit of a mix up in the last weeks leading up to now. Long story short, we have a lot of packing to do. The home buyer had an appraisal done long after the due diligence period had passed and to our surprised the house was appraised at 4 thousand less than what our final settlement price was, Our Realtor called me to tell me that unless we were willing to drop the price on the house the deal was a no-go. But since they waited until after the due diligence period we get to keep their earnest money deposit if they decide to back out. I asked a few Realtors I know for their opinion on what to do and most agreed to stay firm and keep the deposit if they don't come through. At the end of the day they did wait too long to have the appraisal done.

So this whole time I've been thinking it's a no deal, but I had doubt that the buyer would walk away from the house and lose the money that they've invested thus far, so I called my Realtor and asked him what would happen if the buyer did buy the house and we haven't moved out yet. So he kindly informed me that I better be out of the house by the 12th. Pretty much until we hear otherwise the deal is on. Now we're in a fenzy, packing and needing to put everything in a storage unit to empty out the house.

I think its all going to be very surreal until we turn in the keys. I'm sure we will feel some sadness to go but I'm really excited to have a new start. I have a few Zillow searches going and can't wait to start house hunting.

 I had a funny conversation with another firefighter that is also selling his house. He asked what size house we're looking for and I told him about 1500 to 2000 sqft. He kinda chuckled and said that was too small for a family. I realize it's not a mansion but how big of a house does a "family" really need? (Small rant ahead) I'm sure that 2nd family room and 3rd office really comes in handy but C'mon (sarcasm). If anything, I think that oversized houses are a huge contributor to crappy family atmospheres. I grew up in apartments where I had to share a room with one or both of my siblings at times and even though the lack of privacy was inconvenient but the small space forced us to INTERACT with one another. If we didn't like something the other did, We told them and we disagreed and we fought but then we made up and laughed about it.

 I saw a documentary about tiny houses that people are building over trailers. They live really simple, are debt free and have realized the difference between a necessity and a luxury. That's too extreme for me but I saw some interesting facts that made me think. The average american family has gone down in size while the size of the average american home keeps going up. Somebody they interviewed mentioned they remembered growing up, their friends had huge houses but their parents were never around because they were working to pay the house off. That's not what I want Micah to remember about us. Just to throw out another observation ; I get to work at many firehouses across the city with lots of different crews and I've noticed the closer knit ones are the ones that work in older stations that are alot smaller than the new firehouses that are triple the size and house half the people. We'll see what we come across when the time comes.

Speaking of a new start...... Laura is prego again. Yes you read correctly. She's 12 weeks right now. This one was planned unlike the first one. When we talked about more kids in the future we both knew we would have another but were undecided as to when. If we waited too long it would be like starting from scratch and if we waited too little we would have alot on our plates. Around the time that Micah was going to turn 1 we kinda knew we wanted another sooner then later and just let it happen.

It's funny how fast this pregnancy has gone by so far. With having a toddler to look after we sometimes forget that Laura is pregnant. Sorry, I mean I forget that she is Pregnant because according to her this one feels totally opposite than the first one. She is super tired and nauseous and always at the most random times.  I try to help, mostly by keeping Micah off of her. A few people I've talked to say that the difference in symptoms probably means that this we're having a girl but it I know it doesn't. We both feel a lot more relaxed this time around and hope we can keep the chillness running when we have to Babies crying at once.

Coming July 2015!

When Micah was sick for those few weeks I had read that babies that get those fever blisters turn really emotionally dependent after they recover since they're always being carried and cared to when they're sick. Micah is no exception. He hates being put down now and starts to throw down a tantrum. This is making it extremely hard to pack and finish what we have to do around the house. The funny thing is that when we leave the room he's in he stops crying and follows us to where we're at and then continues his tantrum. But we now have a secret weapon for when Micah is getting rowdy or at least needs a distraction. Baby Einsteins, I am fully aware that this is lame cop out and always told myself to I wasn't going be that dad that gives my son an electronic device to get him off my back he loves them! We do make sure to sit down and watch them with him and sign the animals and pictures with to make sure he is learning.