Say It Ain't Snow!

We woke up this beautiful spring morning to not sun shining, birds chirping, and tulips blooming. No, we woke up to 6 inches of snow! 6 inches of heavy, wet snow that kept us pretty much homebound all day! It's hard to believe that just over a week ago we were grilling out in short-sleeve shirts! What happened to Spring?

Matt was thrilled as he was able to watch March Madness without me begging him to go to home improvement stores to look for light fixtures, appliances, paint, etc. But, Mya and I would have rather been anywhere but stuck at home, and she made sure we knew it! She has recently decided that she only needs to take 30 minute naps (didn't help that snowplows were roaring by outside her window!). This, in turn, means almost constant crabbiness when she is awake. She had her moments of babbling happily and giggling, but the majority of the day was spent passing her back and forth between mommy and daddy trying to keep her entertained.

I decided that I would document her "sour puss" face. I busted out my camera in hopes to capture her tears. The problem was, everytime she saw the camera she would strike a pose! See for yourself!

Striking a pose for the camera in between crabbiness!

True Colors- Starting to get crabby for the camera!

Keeping Mya entertained! Right or Wrong.... Baby Einstein gets the job done!

Movin' On Up......

It's official, well almost official... we have a new house!!! The bank FINALLY signed the papers today. 205 Alpine is officially "under contract!" There is still lots to be done- inspection, loan, fix a burst pipe (did I mention there's a huge hole in the kitchen ceiling...YIKES!), and finally the closings on 2 houses. But, for now we will just be grateful that the contract is signed and no other offers will be considered! This has been complete agony and has truly tested my patience. It will be SOOOO worth it though! This house is way out of our league....its big and beautiful! It has a lakeview, HUGE rooms, and a pool (don't get too excited...its above ground and a little scary!). I have so many (too many) plans for making this house gorgeous. It needs a little TLC and will be dynamic! My patience will again be tested for all of our money was spent on the house and little is left for updating. I'll start saving my pennies!

Here are a few pictures of the "almost ours" dream:

Few from the front!

View from the back!

Screened in porch (fake plants have gotta go!)

View of the lake from our back deck to the east!

View from the back deck to the south!

So Busy!

I feel like we have been crazy busy doing a whole lot of nothing! I'm not sure where the day goes! Between eating, sleeping, and changing LOTS of poopy diapers there doesn't seem to be much time for anything else! But, we managed to squeeze in a few things this last week!

We were able to get a night out this weekend (thanks again to Grandma Diane) to celebrate Kristy's birthday. With 2 mommies and a mommy-to-be we don't celebrate birthdays quite the way we used to in the good ole' days! However, we were able to enjoy great company, delicious tapas, and some yummy sangria!

This week we also had Mya's 6 month pictures taken. Considering the photoshoot was during her naptime, she didn't do too badly. She wasn't as smiley as she has been in past photoshoots, but we are hoping we got some decent shots! Her outfit was so cute I couldn't resist taking some of my own pictures when we got home.

We are still in negotiations for our dreamhouse. This deal has been a complete NIGHTMARE!!! We have done a lot of waiting, waiting, and more waiting this week. We have signed our contract, but we are waiting for the bank to sign theirs. It will be SO worth it when the deal comes to fruition. Because this is a foreclosure, there are lots of hoops we have to jump through in order to close the deal. As my sister says, "There's just something special about this house." I agree 100%! I have spent many wakeful nights thinking about the perfect paint colors, furniture, light fixtures, appliances, etc! I am using all of my restraint to not start buying things for the house that doesn't even belong to me yet! I NEED this deal to come to a close before I drive myself and my family nuts! I will post pictures WHEN, not IF we close the deal!

Mya and I visited Auntie Andra and her cousins a couple of times this week. Mya's cousins LOVE her so much! They beg to hold her and have to take turns! Tyler (2) especially loves his little cousin. He usually greets us at the door and is very anxious for me to take the "B-be" out of the carseat so that he can hold her. Today he called her "Mya" for the first time! He doesn't say much, but when he does it is so precious! He is very gentle with her and gives her lots of kisses! I can't wait for them to grow up to be best buds! This picture was taken on my picture phone so it's not the best quality. But, you can see the pride on Tyler's face as he holds his baby cousin!

This last picture was just too cute not to post. Mya loves her Daddy and Daddy loves his Mya. It melts my heart when I see the two together! She gets the most precious smile when she looks at him. Here she is just completely mesmerized by him. I fall in love all over again with both of them when I see them together!

6 Months Old!

1/2 a year old already!!! Where does time go? Mya Isabelle turned 6 months old yesterday.

Here are some things that she's been doing:

*She is growing like a weed and finally seems to be putting on some weight! I think she owes her new figure to her obsession with Oatmeal cereal and Gerber veggies! She hasn't found a veggie yet that she doesn't like! Hope this continues!

*She continues to babble like crazy. She seems to enjoy contributing to her mommy and daddy's conversations. We always acknowledge her opinion and move on with our conversation.

*Although not a big mover and shaker, she does surprise us with a roll now and again. She hasn't quite figured out how to get back to her initial position once she rolls over. I usually find her whimpering and help her roll back!

*She has parties in her crib.... at least that's what it sounds like! We have awakened in the middle of the night to hear what sounds to be a kegger occuring in her crib. She has figured out how to turn on her soother AND mobile, both of which play music. She turns them on simultaneously. With the assistance of the video monitor, we can see her watching both (all lit up in her dark room) with a huge grin on her face and babbling like crazy! It's hysterical!!!

*She bounces in her jump-a-roo like a crazy, out of control, drunk person!

*She has outgrown her newborn insert in her carseat! (weep weep!)

*She is mostly wearing 3-6 month clothes, BUT still can fit in some of her 0-3 clothes (she's petite! Where did she get that?)

*She loves her Daddy's singing, especially the ABCs. He can get her to smile EVERY time. She even smiles when he sings to her on speakerphone from his car!

*She doesn't like it at all when Mommy leaves the room! I am "the bomb" these days! Is that a dorky "momism?

I look forward to so much more growth and so many more experiences with our little lady! Tomorrow are her 6 month pictures. I will post the "professional" pictures when we get them. For now, here are her usual "birthday" photos! She's getting so big!

"Woo Hoo.... I'm 6 months old!"

"Ah Mom, you make me do this every month!"

"I'm over it.... stop this right now!"

Little Leprechauns

No green beer for us, but we did celebrate St. Patrick's Day with three lucky little leprechauns, our nephews Drew and Ben and of course Mya! When was the last time we were able to celebrate this holiday with a 70 degree temperature, short sleeves, sunglasses, and a grill? I think it's been years that we haven't relied solely on booze to keep us warm and toasty! We had a blast sitting outside eating, drinking, and catching up with Matt's brother and family. Ben and Drew were daring explorers in our backyard finding all kinds of sticks and critters that they begged to take home with them. I think the stick got to go and the critters had to stay!

Ben, Mya, and Drew hang out outside!

Mya loved being outside....she even got to eat dinner outside!

Mya spent time with her Aunt Becky. She loved chewing on her pretty necklace!

Jump, Jump, Jump-a-roo!

When things are a little stressful and life is feeling crazy, there's nothing better than a little Mya fix! She can turn anyone's crabbiness into happiness in seconds! Her smile is heartwarming and her laugh is absolutely infectious!


She has recently started to really enjoy her jump-a-roo. She is still trying to figure out the whole using your legs to get the jump-a-roo to bounce. The first video is Mya jumping for the first time. Matt is singing his usual...the ABC's. Mya thinks this is a Grammy winning song/performance and smiles everytime he sings it. The second video is Mya jumping while Matt was teasing her with Bongo, the monkey. She thought this was hysterical and so did we! She's not a pro quite yet! She can't jump, grab, and laugh all at once! We'll work on it!

Dinner with the O'Wiegmans

We celebrated St. Patty's Day with Grandma Diane and Uncle Eric today. She made a traditional St. Patty's Day dinner with corn beef and cabbage that Daddy and Uncle Eric enjoyed. Mommy and Mya opted for a less traditional Irish dinner, a sub sandwich for Mommy and cereal and peas for Mya!

Grandma Diane had lots of fun toys that kept Mya entertained!

Mya was getting crabby so Uncle Eric was imitating her sour-puss face! He turned her frown upside down!

Uncle Eric was missing Quentin and Amy who were in Hong Kong, but he had some fun with Mya!

Crushed!

Didn't someone tell me we are in a buyer's market? Didn't someone tell me to be patient because there are SO many houses out there and we will easily find our "perfect" house? Well, my response to that is WRONG!!!!! We put our offer in on our "perfect" house. After waiting more than 24 hours for their counter offer, we returned with our counter. This is where we made our huge mistake. Another 24 hours had passed and we were finally told that there was ANOTHER offer on the table. Had we taken their original counter, the house would be ours! But no... in this "buyer's market" we found ourselves involved in a bidding war! Of course the seller's realtor said we were neck and neck. Unfortunately the other buyers were working with no contingency. This forced us to offer much more than we anticipated paying. But we were sure that we had won the bid by quite a bit and this would cancel out the contingency issue. After another grueling 24 or so hours we learned that the other buyer's were the new owners of MY "perfect" house! I was completely crushed!!!! We had done almost everything right. We had been kind of patient, we had looked at the house more than once, I even walked the neighborhood and stopped to quiz a nanny about the neighborhood. I compare this feeling to being in love with a boy that loves someone else. He chose the other girl!

I have gone through the mourning of our loss. Now it is time to move on. We are looking and looking and looking at other houses for sale. There is nothing even close to comparable to my "perfect house." I hope more houses pop up in the springtime. We have to decide if we are going to buy now or wait and rent???? Decisions, Decisions!!!

Mya and Jasmine

Mya has become completely fascinated with Jasmine. Her eyes follow Jasmine where ever she goes, and she grunts and lunges towards her. Jasmine sniffs and rubs up against her mommy unsure of what she should do about this new little creature in her house. She is curious yet hesitant. Once the poor kitty gets close enough to her, Mya reaches in for contact, usually grabbing a handful of fur. Surprisingly, Jasmine doesn't really seem to care.....for now!

I know I have posted pictures of the "sisters" before, but I couldn't resist snapping some photos of their latest encounter.

The reach-in.....

Contact!
Maybe if Jasmine stays a little farther away they can play nice!

Ok, maybe Jasmine will get a little closer!

Bad Reputation

As I said in my last post, we have finally sold our house!!! WOO HOO!!! While this is completely wonderful, it does leave us with a slight problem. We are homeless come April 29. In the past, it was semi-safe to buy a house while your house was still on the market. But, with our economy in the state that it is in, this is a definite no-no! We learned that lesson from those close to us (not naming names...... A***a and S***e!). Well, now that ours is almost sold (just waiting for the bank appraisal...which actually could be a problem!) we are needing to find a house! I was told by just about everyone that knows me, "Don't rush into anything. Take your time. Don't fall in love." This is such great advice. There is just one problem, I don't work like this. I have never been one to spend a lot of time making decisions. I know what I want when I want it. Most of the time, this works great. Afterall, I did fall in love and get engaged in 11 months! BUT, when it comes to houses, I apparently have a bad reputation. We have moved several times and haven't seemed to find the "right one." Does this make me a house whore?

We set out on Sunday with every intention of looking and looking and looking until we found the perfect house. I even said I would rent if we didn't find it. My mom and sister even came with us to keep me "under control." Here's what happened:

House 1: LOVED it! (This is not a good start!)
House 2: HATED it!
House 3: HAVE TO HAVE IT!!! (oh no!!!)

Really, there was no need to continue looking. We found our house! We did look at a few more but there was really no need. We ended up putting an offer in on house 3 that night. So much for retraining myself or my family keeping me "under control." I have to give credit to my mom and sister, she REALLY tried to make us think through everything. Which I think we did, to a certain extent! We are in negotiations with the sellers.... we'll see what happens. We definitely put in a very low offer so we will see how they react. I will keep you "posted!"

I'm not going to post a picture of the house until we "get it!" Sorry, don't want to jink it!!!

Bye Bye Bush!

Hobble Bush that is! We SOLD our house today!!!! Hopefully the bank will grant the buyer his loan, the inspection will be successful, and the Wiegman's will be outta here!!! I am pretty hard on this house, neighbors (that is well deserved!!!), and neighborhood. It hasn't been all bad... we had lots of good times in this house and it will forever be Mya's first home. We're not sure what the future holds for us??? We hope to get a fabulous deal on a bigger better house. I have had a talk with myself (and many many talks with Matt) about being patient and getting the home we really want. Oh did I mention we have to be out by April 29? YIKES! Anyone need 3 roommates?

Whew.... What a Weekend!

We had a jammed pack weekend planned! Sunday morning we kissed daddy goodbye and headed for Bloomington. We had a cousin's baby shower on Sunday and a visit from one of my very best friends flying in from Georgia. Luckily she makes a few trips a year for State Farm training which just so happens to be in Bloomington! Its a great way to see my friend I miss SO SO much! I had stragically planned our departure time so that Mya would sleep the entire way down and be ready for MANY visits with friends and family. It's going to be a great weekend. What could go wrong??? EVERYTHING!!!!

What's a daddy to do when his wonderful wife and sweet baby girl are gone for a few days? Sulk in sorrow.... mope around in loneliness.... catch up on work? Hardly! An hour into my drive to Bloomington I called to check in on him. I hear, "Turn left up here. Then take a quick right." Hunh? "Who are you talking to?" I ask naively. "The cab driver. I'm headed to the city!" Interesting... did I mention it was 10:15 am??? So much for moping and sulking! Guess he gets a free pass....he's not home alone often! Anyway, his own actions will be his own worse punishment. Again, did I mention it was 10:15 am and he was starting to drink?

My drive was a bit stressful to say the least. My strategic departure time was a complete failure. Mya was wide awake! I was completely stressing because I know my baby. If she misses her morning nap she is a complete nightmare (remember Christmas at Matt's Aunt's house?) I pulled over 3 times to insert her pacifier. All 3 times she greeted me with a great big "I'm not tire, Mommy!" smile! Great!

I was right. She was a complete nightmare. She was a bit cranky when we stopped by to see papa and change my clothes for the shower. She pulled the ole' crying bit whenever mommy left the room (I secretly get an ego boost from this). Once we got the the shower she remained crabby. She held up for the first hour or so. But, it all when down hill when my cousin Natalie tried to paint her hand green for a baby gift. She went crazy and screamed for the next hour. It wasn't Natalie's fault, just one overtired baby! I decided it would be best to leave the shower. Afterall, it was a baby shower for first time parents. I'd hate to scare the new mommy into labor!
The weekend continued to have go south (no pun intended!) when I got a call from Kari telling me there was a blizzard in Georgia! What??? It doesn't snow in Georgia! Sure enough the so called blizzard (3 inches I think...um... come visit IL and we'll show you a blizzard!) had Atlanta airport at a complete standstill. Her flight was cancelled not once but twice! 3 days later she got on a flight and we ended up seeing her for a total of 20 minutes at the airport! She had to get to her training and we had to go back home to LZ. It was a very short visit but it was so good to see her! I am glad she was finally able to meet Mya.

Lots of downs mixed with many ups made our trip to Bloomington well worth it. Mya did great sleeping at Auntie Kristy's house. Auntie Kristy even let mommy watch 3 hours of "the most DRAMATIC rose ceremony EVER" on the bachelor. I think I have her hooked!