Gifts for new moms

I've always enjoyed posts on this blog, but this post, Ways to Bless a New Mom, spoke to me since we will soon have a new nephew. We haven't lived close by many family or friends when they have had a baby so we haven't been able to these things for the mothers in our lives. But I have talked to several women who have had a baby. I've heard of wonderful ways they have been helped by other women...food deliveries, childcare, grocery shopping, pick-ups and drop-offs, laundry...

One of the best ideas I've heard was experience by my sister. The family moved to a new city and joined a new church shortly before the baby's birth. When they returned home from the hospital, the ladies of the church had a schedule so that someone dropped off food every other day for several weeks. There was always enough food with each delivery for dinner and leftovers for lunch or another dinner. I thought this was an amazing ministry for the ladies of the church to provide. My sister was able to get to know ladies in the church as well as have meals and fewer groceries to buy.

The author of the blog post, says her wonderful friends would also clean a bathroom before leaving her house. I never thought about how hard it might be get that done...finding the time or energy...and who cares about the dirty bathroom when the baby is crying... I also imagine that it is hard physically to reach all of the different places in a bathroom when recovering from labor. I'm definitely adding this one to my list of things to do for new moms. Sorry Cici that we can't do any of these things for you when Hudson comes home.

our house

The house that we are trying to purchase is on 3 acres in the mountains. It is a farmhouse style house that needs cosmetic updates everywhere. There are some architectural changes that we think we would like to make at some point in the future mostly so that we could have a balcony off the second story (all four bedrooms are located upstairs). This is a picture from one of the bedroom windows, but all of the bedroom windows have a similar view.The views from downstairs are not quite this good, but you can see the arena and horse stalls. Just behind the house (still on the property) is a large hill that has an even more spectacular view. Ideally, we'd like to put some sort of patio up there so that we could enjoy the view.

Buying a house

We put in an offer on a house a little over a month ago. Since then, we have waited for all of the utilities to be hooked up and turned on. Normally that process doesn't take very long, but the bank that owns this foreclosed property is dragging their feet. In an effort to speed things along, Andy has had the water turned on in our name. Although we haven't actually turned the valve to allow the water to flow into the house because when Andy, our agent, and the water technician showed up to the house, they couldn't get into the house. The bank had the locks changed, but the locksmith didn't leave a new key in the real estate lock box. Our agent let the listing agent know that this issue needed to be fixed ASAP. So, the technician left us the tool to switch the water on to the house whenever we want. Unfortunately, we can't do much about the propane. Andy spoke with the propane company a while back. The company was waiting for the bank to return a work order for the property. Finally, the listing agent met the propane worker at the house and couldn't get into the house. Apparently, the lock issue had not been resolved yet. So, another appointment was made with the gas company. Unfortunately, at the appointment, no one showed from the gas company. Who knows when they will get together. It is so frustrating that we can't do a home inspection or assessment until then. Once we are able to get the inspections and assessment done, we can proceed with the purchase; hopefully, that can move more quickly. Since our relocation benefits have ended, we are now on the hook for staying at the hotel and storage of our goods. There goes Andy's paycheck each week :(

I continue to look for new properties in case something goes wrong with the inspections. Unfortunately, I haven't seen much that has been interesting in our price range.

Andy's 30th Brithday

He took off an extra day for his birthday weekend; he had Thursday - Sunday to do whatever he wanted. We went out for lunch on Thursday to one of our favorite restaurants in the area. As we were finishing off our appetizer, he looked up and saw his mother, father, and maternal grandfather walk up to our table. Mary Beth and I had been planning this surprise since before we left Texas. Andy had NO clue that they were coming. After lunch, we showed them the house we are trying to purchase. We met up with more family for dinner. We had a lovely time with them Thursday and Friday. They were able to spend time with other family and friends Saturday and Sunday morning before their flight home.

For his birthday he got some Bose earbuds (LOVES them), running shoes, and some clothes. He claims that 30 feels no different than 29. Hopefully, it not be a big deal for me when I turn 30.