/> SLO in Arkansas: February 2008

Thursday, February 28, 2008

What was I thinking?!?!

I exercised yesterday, for the first time in a very long time. Did I start off slow and easy to ease back into things? No. Am I sorry today? Yes! I did a Tae-Bo DVD that used to seem easy, but yesterday, not so much. The best part was how much Tyson enjoyed watching me sweat, pant, huff and puff:) He literally smiled and laughed watching my feet dance around, and thought it was hilarious watching me try and do some kicks!! At least he enjoyed it. I feel like a truck ran over me today:) Or maybe I feel this way because my sweet little boy cried all night, and I mean, ALL night. Not one hour went by from 11pm until 7am that he wasn't awake and screaming. Please let a tooth or something happen so I know what was upsetting the little guy. Needless to say, we are both pretty tired today. I am so very thankful though that I had absolutely nothing planned for today and we have enjoyed spending it at home in our pj's trying to get caught back up on our sleep. Or at least Ty is sleeping. I have learned that moms never sleep!
Switching gears a little....our house is going up! The weather has cooperated recently and they were able to dig and pour the footers, lay the blocks, install the plumbing, and pour the foundation this week:) Silas has been excellent at going by and taking pictures everyday for me to document the progress. It is very exciting, and should go pretty fast from here from what they are telling us. I guess the framing is next. I will get some pictures up once Silas gets home with the camera and I can get them onto the computer!

posted by Lauren at 11:22 AM 2 Comments

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Please respond!

Help!!! Ever since I changed the template for my blog a while back, lots of people have told me they are having trouble seeing it, and that it is coming out as a big old mess, pictures not showing up, etc. If you can see this just fine, or if it still looks like a mess to you, could you please leave a comment and let me know so I can figure out what I need to do!!!! Thanks for your help:) This is all very confusing to me since I can see it fine on my own computer!!! I am SO not technologically advanced!

posted by Lauren at 1:05 PM 8 Comments

Sunday, February 24, 2008

It Ain't Over....

It ain't over til the fat lady sings. I thought the selling of our house was over, but apparently the fat lady has not sung yet! We sold our house for the second time this week, if you can believe it. We had originally accepted an offer and were all set to close on March 6th. I had already put my deposit down on the apartment to move this coming weekend, and have the house mostly packed. Well we got a not so good phone call from our realtor late Thursday evening saying that the buyers financing fell through, despite them being pre-approved and everything. Before I was able to freak out even a little, she said there was another couple interested in looking at the house, and could they come that night??? So we packed the baby up in his pj's and went to IHOP for a late dinner so they could show the house. This was just crazy, since I thought the place was sold, and so it was definitely not in showing condition:) We only had about 30 minutes to give the baby a bath and get out, but we wanted someone to look, so we had to go with it. Then our realtor said she had someone interested in looking at it the next day as well, so we felt better knowing there was still some interest. To make a long story short, the people who saw it on Friday ended up making us an offer that we accepted. I would love to be excited, but now I am a little apprehensive about things since the last deal fell through. I will let a huge sigh of relief out once we sign all the papers:) We are still trying to move pretty quickly and close on the 6th if possible, but it may have to be pushed back a few days if needed. Right now we are in a holding pattern to see if we need to move this coming weekend, or wait until the next one. It has been an emotional roller coaster the past few days, but God is good and things are working out just fine. I am continuing to try and "just go with it" regarding anything involved in the house building, selling, moving area!!! It has been working so far I think:) Now I am just waiting for the fat lady to sing:)

posted by Lauren at 7:16 PM 2 Comments

Update

Just a quick update on Kaylee. I have not spoken to my sister directly, but last I heard Kaylee did not have to be admitted to the hospital, thank goodness. Hopefully she will get better resting at home.

posted by Lauren at 7:14 PM 4 Comments

Friday, February 22, 2008

Please Pray

My little niece Kaylee really needs prayers right now. She will be 2 years old next week and has a terrible case of pneumonia. She spent the night in the ER already this week and none of the treatments have been helping. This has been such a hard week for her, and the rest of my sister's family as they try to help her any way they can. They are headed back to the doctor today to see if there is anything else they can do for their little one. Please pray for healing for her little body, and comfort for the family as this is very hard for them. I will post an update when I hear back from my sister. Thanks.

posted by Lauren at 11:42 AM 4 Comments

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Little T

Here is Ty wearing his daddy's (nasty) Razorback hat. He has some cute Razorback outfits that I can't wait for him to wear this fall:)
He looks a little nervous in this picture for some reason! This was a few weeks ago, and it was his first night to eat saltine crackers. He couldn't quite figure out how to get the little pieces from the tray into his mouth, but is doing much better now. He has also graduated to eating whole crackers, which is a lot easier:) They definitely keep him entertained while we are trying to eat out, and he thinks he is such a big boy getting to eat real food too!
Just a cute picture of my boys hanging out on the couch with their snacks:)
I had to throw in a cute naked picture of the little guy:) He has so much fun in the bathtub, and then gets to air out a little and play on his changing table while we sing songs before he goes to bed. This is one of my favorite times of day with him, as he starts to calm down and get cuddly when he gets sleepy.
Everything else is going well right now, though still at a crazy pace. I put our deposit down on the apartment today so we officially have a new place as of March 1st. The packing is going great and we really don't have that much left out besides what we are using on a daily basis. It has been good to go through things and de-clutter a bit before the move. My hardest chore is deciding what we will need in the apartment and what can go to storage until the new house is ready. Let me tell you, that apartment is teeny tiny compared to the space we have now, so a lot of the furniture is not going to make it! Maybe that will make it seem like we have new stuff for the new house, since I won't have seen it for a while:) I am heading to Jonesboro tomorrow so Silas and I can meet with the cabinet guy to get the stains picked out and make most of the major kitchen choices. We had to choose all of the appliances we wanted already, as they have to know the specifications on them for the cabinets/counters, etc. I thought I would have more time to decide, but I am glad to have a lot of these big choices already made. I am getting really excited about the whole thing, and trying to enjoy the process as much as possible!
I was fortunate to be able to get out of the house the past two days and spend some time with friends, which was also a good break. Ty and I went to Cabot on Monday and spent the morning with a friend and her son from work, and then headed over to another friend's house for the better part of the day today for a playdate and lunch with some girls from my MOPS group. Ty does really well around other kids and I enjoy seeing him interact. He had to play with a baby doll today because the person's house we were at only has a little girl, and there were lots of dolls around! Her little girl kept taking dolls over to where Ty was lying on the floor and piled them all around him and pretty much covered him up:) He was not quite sure what to do with them, and definitely had more fun banging his keys on the floor and trying to chew on the ball:) Besides spending the day in Jonesboro tomorrow, the rest of our week should be pretty busy from here on out. Thursday starts the big children's consignment sale here in town and I am so looking forward to that! I am also attending the WINGS (women in God's service) conference in Searcy on Friday and Saturday. It is a women's conference and has lots of good speakers and topics, plus I get CEU's for work for it, so it should be good all the way around. They even have free childcare for those attending, so it should be great!! Then it's church on Sunday to start off the new week. The days are so full and busy, but I feel like they are a good balance of work and fun. Life is so good and I am continually trying to soak up the moments as they come, and enjoy this season of life we are in.
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posted by Lauren at 8:10 PM 3 Comments

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Soggy Saturday

What better way to spend a soggy rainy saturday than inside playing? Luckily we were able to run our errands this morning before the rain started, and got home just in time to not get soaked. We got Tyson a new toy today and he has already had lots of fun playing with it and trying to figure it out. He is getting tired of lying on his back or stomach to play, and is working very hard on sitting up. He can do it most of the time, but still tends to start rocking and then he tumps over! This is a toy he can sit up and play with, and then stand up with once he gets to that point. I love the toys that grow with them, so you don't have to keep buying more all the time! As you can see in the pictures, he is still drooling like crazy. He chews with a vengence on anything he can get his hands on and into his mouth. He has several ridges under his gums and seems like teeth will show up any day, but we have been thinking that for a while, so who knows.
Standing like a big boy!
Hanging out with dad
Sitting up by himself:) and still not much hair!!!
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posted by Lauren at 12:49 PM 4 Comments

Monday, February 11, 2008

Little Man

I have had these for a while and keep forgetting to post them with all the craziness going on right now. Ty was just hanging out one day and loved the feel of his cozy brown fuzzy chair on his skin. He kept rubbing his arms on it!! I can't believe how big he looks in these pictures...more like a little guy than a baby. Oh how fast the time goes:)

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posted by Lauren at 12:01 PM 6 Comments

Friday, February 08, 2008

Life in the Fast Lane

Ever feel like your life is flying by and all you can do is hold on and try to survive? Yep, that's me lately. Days like that are hard for control freaks like me. Weeks like that are enough to make you crazy, and months like that are just plain scary!! All I know is that I am heading into a crazy time and all I can do is hold on for dear life.
Recently I have had 2 worst fears....selling my house, and not selling my house. Selling the house means I have to pack up and move before the new house is ready, which entails so many things, such as finding a new place to live for a few months. Not selling the house means I would have two mortgage payments, which as we all know is just not even an option!!! So as you can see, either option comes with its own set of stressors. We put the house on the market last week in hopes of getting a few showings in during the slow winter months, and giving it plenty of time to sell in the spring. I was not totally prepared to have it sold 7 days later, but I think that is what we are looking at! We received a full price offer on the place 2 days ago and accepted last night. We are still in the process of working out the details of the closing and finalizing the sale, but this looks like it may be it. Oh my goodness!!! This is one of those lessons in "be careful what you pray for, because you just might get it!" We are super thrilled to have the stress of selling the house out of the way, but now we turn to the reality of finding somewhere to live for the next 3-4 months, and packing the house up and leaving in the next 3 and a half weeks. Just the thought takes my breath away. We have decided to stay in Searcy until the house in Jonesboro is finished, so we will be looking for an apartment or whatever here in town. There are just too many loose ends to tie up here in 3 weeks, and I thank my sweet husband for being willing to continue driving so far for a few more months to give me time to get myself ready to make the big switch-a-roo.
So I feel like life is just whizzing by and things are all happening so fast, and even though they are good, I mean great things, there is still lots of stress involved. So if you see me around town looking a little wild-eyed and distracted, don't worry!! I know things will slow down at some point down the road and that gives me the hope and strength to get through these crazy days. P.S. if anyone knows a place I can park/store a ski boat and 2 crazy dogs for a couple of months, let me know!!! Those are 2 things that can't really go to an apartment with us and I have no idea what to do with them in the meantime:)

posted by Lauren at 11:58 AM 1 Comments

Monday, February 04, 2008

New House

Here is the current picture of our new house!! Right now it is affectionately referred to as Lot 28. One day we will live on this nice piece of dirt. They have all of the appraisals in from the bank and should be breaking ground on it this week, weather permitting. Of course we are supposed to have lots of storms this week, so it may be a while! I am getting excited and starting to realize how overwhelming this process can truly be. Silas and I looked around at home stores this weekend, since we have to start picking things out pretty soon, and there are SO MANY CHOICES!!! And why is it that I always gravitate towards the things I cannot afford?!?! This will definitely be interesting! Anyway, the pictures below are of the house we are building. We are going to flip it so the garage is on the left, and will have a brown brick color and some other changes to make it look a little different since they are on the same street. But overall, here is what it will look like. I plan to keep pictures of the progress posted so you can see how things are going along the way.

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posted by Lauren at 10:01 AM 2 Comments

Friday, February 01, 2008

Wacky Week

This week has been pretty strange to say the least. We officially put our house on the market on Monday, which marked the beginning of a pretty stressful time for me. I am such a perfectionist when it comes to how the house looks (most of the time!), so having to have it clean all the time is hard for me to do. I know I need to just let it go, but that is much easier said than done for me!! The hardest part is cleaning everything up before we go to bed, on the chance that we may need to show it the next morning. When I leave the house I hide all the clutter that usually sits on the counters, and now I am having trouble remembering where I hid stuff!!! I lost my whole stack of bills that needed paying and finally found them under the kitchen sink!!! Anyway, I just hope the place sells relatively quickly so that my sanity stays in tact!! So after listing the house, we had a realtor's tour scheduled to come through so that all the realtors in town could see the place and promote it to their clients. That was planned for Wednesday morning. So I cleaned all day on Tuesday of course. Well we had some crazy weird weather here on Tuesday and some freak things happened. The wind was blowing like crazy and things were flying around the yard all day. Then about 2:45 pm the power goes out. I was upset because the baby was taking his nap and my TV went off, so there was not much to do!! It was also 70 degrees which was weird for a January day. I figured it would come back on like usual, but a few hours went by and nothing. So Silas calls the electric company when he gets home to report the outage and they say it will be fixed in a couple of hours. So by this time its getting dark, so we decide to head out to dinner and kill some time while they work on things. We get home ready to put the baby to bed and the power is still out, and to make things worse, the temperature outside is rapidly dropping, so its getting cold in the house. It went from 70 degrees to 18 degrees on Wednesday morning!! Gotta love Arkansas weather! We figured we couldn't stay in the house with the baby, so we lit some candles and packed some bags for the night and headed out. Thanks to Kim and Willie, we had a place to stay and everything was fine. Ty thought we were on vacation and had a great time staying up late! The power still was not on by the next morning, so we had the realtor tour come through with it freezing and no electricity!!! We went over to the house early though and opened all the blinds and so you could see fine. Our realtor said the showing went great, despite the circumstances!! Well we just killed time all day and ran errands and did some things that really needed doing. Luckily they got the power fixed before all our food rotted in the fridge, but it did not come back on unitl afternoon that day. We figured out what had happened after driving around the neighborhood that day too. The wind had knocked down 37 trees on our street alone, and most of them were large pine trees. About 8 of these huge trees landed on the power lines and took them down to the street. It took a while to get the lines back up and the trees cleared. Thankfully things are back to normal now:) Then on Thursday morning we woke up to sleet, snow and freezing rain. What a crazy weather week we have had! Hopefully things will settle down and we wont have anymore craziness this week!
We are showing the house on Saturday, so that is exciting. I am just glad there are people interested in it, and hopefully there will be a serious buyer coming through soon.

posted by Lauren at 10:16 AM 2 Comments