Christian Turns 11 Months Old

Our lil' guy turns 11 months old today!

He's got five teeth now - two on top and three on the bottom. He likes to test out his bite ... on our clothing (often getting some skin in his bite - ow!) and sometimes while breastfeeding (double ow!).

His favorite play things lately: doors, door stops (the springy kind on the wall that prevents the door from slamming into the wall) and clothes hangers. He also really enjoys books, which is wonderful! He has lots of toys, and they stay untouched in his toy box in favor of whatever book he can find.

He also loves going up the stairs. Any chance Christian gets, he quickly crawls over to the bottom of his stairs, looks to the top and starts his climb. We've got to be quick around here!

I think he's on the verge of walking now. He pulls himself up to whatever we have: the couch, the bed, my desk chair and the stair railing upstairs. Since we don't have coffee tables, he's pretty limited on what he can pull himself up to.


Mealtime has become challenging lately. I know Christian is hungry, but he protests whatever I give him. I try to shake it up by offering new foods (i.e., bits of waffle, chicken, pasta) and different locations, since he often gets very upset about being placed in his high chair. So every day is different ... yesterday he ate a lot, and had a good breakfast today ... but lunch later on might be a complete failure

Bathtime has also become a bit of a challenge. He ususally wants out the moment he gets in. I have no idea why ... its a nice temp and there are fun toys. He seems to just want his Mommy instead.

SOLD!

39 days. That was all it took! A modern day miracle, in my opinion ... especially considering the lousy housing market and general condition of the economy.

God brought a wonderful buyer to us: A Baptist pastor and his wife who had a $140,000 down payment! They made their offer, we gave our counter-offer, and they accepted. WOW! They hired an inspector, as any smart homebuyer would do ... and he found only minor things such as a missing screw to affix the dishwasher to the countertop. So, we offered them a $400 credit at closing for the cost of hiring a handyman for a day to fix the very minor issues.

The buyers asked for a quick, two-week closing - and got it. Every time we spoke to our Realtors, they told us how amazed they were at how quickly the sale was progressing, and how easy the buyers were.

The only potential problem was the events on Wall Street on Monday. I was told yesterday was a rough day for home sale closings, because lending essentially froze. But ours went through and we should have the money deposited into our account this morning.

God's hand has been on the house situation since we first signed the contact to build the house in 2004. Jonathan had just graduated with his Ph.D. and was starting his new job at LANL. We were engaged and had no money for a down payment. That was during the time when lenders were doing 100% financing, so we were fortunate in the timing. A new subdivision was opening just as we were looking at homes, and we were able to get an amazing lot to build the house on. Our Realtors really liked us, and so they didn't make us pay the usual earnest deposit to hold the lot.

And it is that beautiful lot with its amazing views that got our house sold so quickly!!! We didn't make much money at all ... but, we got it sold and only had one month of having to make a mortgage payment and the rent payment on our house here in Arizona. So many people are losing their homes, and so we feel extremely blessed to have been able to sell our house at all ... and get a little money to put in the bank.

THANK YOU, GOD, FOR WATCHING OVER US!!!

Jonathan sent me this e-mail today ... I don't think he'd mind if I shared it with everybody. It kinda choked me up:

I was thinking about the house and remembering all the good times we had there. The sad thing is that it seems so brief that we were there. I was remembering our Sunday afternoon naps in the TV room with a cool breeze blowing over us. The many times in the kitchen running in to each other while we make our meals and watch the TV. Chasing Bella in the living room as she did her figure 8s around the white couch. Our time with Christian in the jet tub. Waking up in the middle of the night to feed Christian and taking the short walk to his bedroom. Seeing the sunrise reflecting in the mirror in the master bathroom. And finishing my runs stretching on the front porch looking at the view. The perpetual question, "do you want anything from down (stairs)?" I'll miss our house. It was all too brief. I Love You! Now time for some new fun memories.

The Invisible Woman

Being a mom is tough sometimes ... actually, a lot of the time. Jonathan was gone last week, and that was a hard week for me as a mom. He'll be gone again in a couple of weeks, and I'm sure it will be another hard week for me as a mom. When they say, "Parenting is the toughest job you'll ever have," they aren't kidding. (And yes, I realize that my journey as a mom is just beginning and things will only get harder)

My sister sent me this video today, and it touched my heart. I hope you moms who follow this blog enjoy the video.

Jennifer