"No change"

...The two words I didn't want to hear today. I've made it past the baby showers, buying a new house, and moving. So today, I was ready for some kind of change... but nope! A week away from D-day, and still NO change!! I guess that means we'll just keep on waiting....

Still alive and still pregnant

Well, we made it. I'm still alive, and believe it or not still pregnant. We closed on both houses Tuesday afternoon and moved yesterday. And there have been kinks and bumps in the road, but we're here in the house and for the most part, all is good. Still waiting on the refrigerator though. Today is the third day in a row that I've been told by the builder, "it'll be there tomorrow." And tomorrow is the last tomorrow... if it's not here tomorrow he'd better go and physically pick one up himself and bring it and install it, or we'll go and get one ourselves and send him the bill. At least we do still have our old refrigerator, but it's in the garage so it's a pain in the butt to go out to the garage for everything. Plus, the icemaker can't make ice out there because there's not a water connection. So we have no ice. And I accidentally left my diet cokes in the cabinet at the old house... a nice housewarming gift to the young med student guy who bought the house. But some good news.. my new washer and dryer were delivered today! And as soon as we can get the dryer hose hooked up to the vent, I'll be able to use it! I'll fill y'all in on more later, but it's getting late and I'm ready to go to bed asap.

Quick Update

I don't have time to talk much, but I just wanted to give a quick update... Plan C it is! We've come to an agreement on a contract, and we're even getting a refrigerator and a fence out of the deal! So at least I don't have to worry about buying a fridge, but I do have to get a new washer and dryer... yay! I've been waiting for the day to have a reason to buy a new washer and dryer... I was thrilled when our buyers asked to leave the washer and dryer in the house. So anyway, the new house is 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, split plan, and 2003 square feet. Here's a little preview:

This is it! I'm not wild about the colors of the paint (it is painted brick), but it's livable and can easily be changed when it needs new paint eventually. This picture was taken when we made an offer on the house 3 months ago, and the yard has since been sodded and landscaped.

This is the AWESOME laundry room

Master bathtub

Living room fireplace (it's 2-sided so it's also open to the dining room)

View from living room into kitchen

View from dining room into kitchen

Dining room fireplace

Kitchen (picture was taken standing in breakfast area)

Homeless? Maybe, maybe not...

Wow, it has been a HELLUVA week... and it's only Tuesday! We spent all day Saturday house-hunting, and we came up with four choices: Plans A, B, C, and D.

We made an offer on Plan A, a new construction bank repo with awesome square footage in our favorite neighborhood. Since it was bank-owned property, we knew we wouldn't hear a response to our offer until Monday, so we waited (more waiting.. ugh!). All day yesterday, it was back and forth with verbal counter offers, but when it came down to it, they just weren't willing to work with us enough. So, Trustmark bank can go to hell and just keep on sitting on their property for another year. If they think that a repo (being bought as is, with no builder's warranty) can compete with other regular new construction, they deserve to keep it.

So on to Plan B, a new construction house right around the corner from Plan A that is a bit smaller but built nicer, has been on the market for 400 days, and whose builder has since passed away. We thought surely we'd be able to get a deal on this! So last night, we wrote an offer on it. Well as it turns out, the property is in foreclosure proceedings and shouldn't even be listed on the market because the bank can't provide a clean title on the house, and the listing agent didn't even know about it! (But she apologized profusely, and she's now removing the house from MLS listings and taking her sign down.)

Next option... Plan C, a new construction house we've had our eyes on for the last 6 months, and actually tried to work out a "trade" arrangement with the builder 3 months ago. We love the floor plan and it's a great size house, but we've (more like I've) questioned the neighborhood. It's a new subdivision that has only a handful of houses built in it so far, and only one house is occupied (a custom-built). The houses aren't the typical "French Acadian" style homes that are being built everywhere you look - they're more vintage, craftsman style homes, and that's part of what we love, that they're different from the other new construction that's out there. Hopefully other people will love it, too, and the neighborhood will start to catch on more. So we wrote the offer on it this evening, and hopefully we'll actually hear some good news tomorrow! I know this builder is desperate to get rid of his property because he's got 3 houses in there that have been sitting there for a very long time, and his agent has even been in contact with our agent a few times since we tried to make a trade with him, so I know he's been thinking about what we offered 3 months ago. Hopefully he'll jump on our offer this time, especially since he won't be taking on the debt of our house in a trade!

Keep your fingers crossed for us because now I'm not sure there really is a Plan D. If this house doesn't work out, I just don't think it's in the stars for us to move right now. But if it all works out (and I really think it will this time.. I actually have a good feeling about this one) we're planning to close on the houses and move in 2 weeks. And Connor is due 4 weeks from today! Talk about cutting it close!

Sale Pending

FINALLY! We got an offer on our house on Saturday afternoon, countered the offer the same afternoon, and then waited.. waited... very impatiently waited. Then last night at about 9:30 we hear they've countered again, and... OFFER ACCEPTED! Yay! Now we've got to get a move on finding a house, or we will soon be homeless! But the big question is... will we close on the houses and get moved before the baby comes?? Connor, you'd better listen to Mommy right now... we need you to stay in there at least till your due date! Coming early will make things much more complicated, so please get comfortable in there and stay put for 5 more weeks. I'll give you whatever you want when you come out if you'll just do me this one huge favor!