Our new house!

This past week has been very busy in the world of real estate for us.  We got a contract on our current house with a closing date of January 25, 2013 and we went under contract on a new house!  We are a little nervous about the inspection going well on our current house.  The new buyers got a good deal on our house, we ended up settling a little below where we felt comfortable, so we verbally agreed it would be an "as-is" price unless there is something really dangerous with the inspection (they used radon as an example).  We are worried they might find something in the inspection that will make them want to walk away.  It could be that they see too much damage to the wood floors or something else that isn't dangerous, but enough of an expense for them to fix to cause them to walk away.  The inspection was scheduled for this past Wednesday, but we had a good snow storm that day, so it was rescheduled for Monday (Christmas Eve), which is the last day they can have it inspected before their inspection period ends.  So finger's crossed all goes well with that and then we can finally get excited about the new house!

The new house we bought is actually a dirt lot!  It is a Richmond American house, the Andrew floorplan, and we get to pick all of our finishes!  I have always dreamt of getting to build a house from scratch, but never thought it would be a possibility.  New houses get expensive very quickly.  Brian and I went on kind of a whim to look at some homes that they had already built that they were selling right now.  There was one that was built that would have served us just fine, but as we started looking, we realized this lot was available in a neighborhood closer to the tech center that they are building in.  We had heard they didn't do any 3 car garages in this neighborhood so we hadn't even looked there.  It turns out, not only is this a 3 car garage, it's a way bigger lot!  Plus the prices are are a little lower, for whatever reason, so we can afford to get a finished basement and still stay within our price range.  All in all I think it will be perfect for us!  When we were touring the lot there were a lot of neighbors outside.  Many homes on our new street just closed in November, so everyone is new.  Everyone on the block has young kids or babies and is similar age to me and Brian, so we are hopeful we will have some fun neighbors to hang out with!  We both grew up in neighborhoods like that and it has always been a dream of ours to have friendly neighbors, and our current neighborhood does not meet that goal.  The home to the left just had the basement dug out and the home to the right has the foundation poured, so all of us will probably move in within a month or two of each other, which will be fun.  Our plan will be to move in with mom and dad from end of January to whenever our house is completed.  They are VERY very generous to allow us and our two little Italian Greyhounds and Jacob to move in with them (Gracie will live with Brian's Uncle Mark).  Living with my parents will allow us to save a lot of money as well to help pay for rear yard landscaping, blinds, and a refrigerator and other miscellaneous things once we move in.  

In other news, this year will be Jacob's first Christmas!  Last weekend we met John, Sommer, Emma, and Landon at Park Meadows bright and early and waited in line to see Santa.  I thought Jacob would scream or be in a bad mood by the time we got up there, but I fed him a bottle in line and when we got up to see Santa, he actually behaved really well!  I have another picture of the three kids (Jacob, Emma, and Landon) that is so cute too, but I don't have it digitally, so this will have to do.  How freaking cute is my baby?!  Jacob has three teeth on the top of his mouth all breaking through at the same time, so he has been a little congested and fussy, but really not too bad considering what he's going through!  I was worried he was getting an ear infection, because I really don't know how you tell - the symptoms are very similar to teething - but this morning he was in better spirits, so here's hoping it is just teething!  His right front tooth and the two on either side of the middle front are coming in right now.  So he will have a total of FIVE teeth!  Foods we're eating now are bananas (love), sweet potato (love), peas (like), avocado (like), baby oatmeal (tolerates), and butternut squash (doesn't like).  We are going to do peaches this weekend.