Quick update

So much has been going on lately. Shawn and I have stayed up late talking about house stuff and started "lists" for the house. We went to Home Depot on Saturday to price things like ceiling fans, lawn mowers, fridges, and to ask about kitchen counter tops. The salesman told me if it's in our budget, he would do everything possible to talk us out of getting Corian (which I was leaning towards because it's cheaper) and instead investing in Granite (which is what Shawn wants). It does make sense that now that we are going to be home owners that we really do need to consider spending more money on things that we will see a bigger return on when we go to sell this house down the road. It's just so hard for me because money is flying out the door it seems like and I'm not used to spending top dollar on anything. We also looked at door handles since we would eventually like to update all the brass fixtures to brushed nickel. Who knew a door handle could be so expensive? Lastly, we looked at patio furniture and found a set we both LOVED. I'm going to see the house tomorrow so I can measure the stamped patio to make sure the set will fit and then we can decide if we want to get it now since Home Depot is lowering the prices on all their patio furniture. My girlfriend Sierra flies in tomorrow morning, so I'm going to take her to see the house tomorrow or Wed. I can't wait to share it with her. I'm soooo excited about the house I still can't sleep a whole night through. It's ridiculous, but I can't help being so excited.

Wednesday night our friend Greg flies in and Sierra leaves Thursday. Since it's 4th of July weekend, I'm hoping we'll get to partake in some of the holiday festivities going on in Highlands Ranch on Fri. Oh and Thursday is our home inspection. Aye carumba! Sunday I'll be doing laundry and getting ready to leave for CA on Tuesday. I truly cannot WAIT to get to my parents' house. There's nobody like Mom and Pop to give me a break from baby duty. I know they will want to hold and play with her, so I won't be able to get within 5 feet of her for awhile, which will be nice to take a break. Don't get me wrong: I love my daughter more than life itself, but I am overdue for a break. Like I keep telling people, there's just something peaceful about showering without having the baby monitor going. I hope my parents are ready for baby duty because I'm going to let them do whatever they want if that means I can sleep in and eat a meal at a normal pace rather than racing through it because baby girl is crying.

Well I'll try to blog once more this weekend before heading out to CA next week. A special side note to my cousin Kim who is due to have her baby in 9 more days: rest up as much as possible now because you won't be able to do much of it once baby comes. I love you and can't wait to meet the latest edition to our family.

So much to catch up on

Monday was Inara's 9 month doctor visit. She weighed in at 18 lbs. 6 oz. and was 27 1/2 inches. She's right about the 50th percentile for both. The doctor asked lots of questions like is she babbling a lot, check; is she rolling over, check; is she crawling, um no. He said she seems to be doing well in all areas except he thinks she might be a little behind with her gross motor skills since she isn't crawling and not showing much interest in it as of yet. I was thinking this myself based on what other children her age do. I was sad to hear this, but I know what I need to do. He said it's so important to give her enough floor time so she has the opportunities to learn to crawl. The problem is in this house there is very little carpet on the main floor, so when I do give her floor time, it's only when we are upstairs. I guess I'm just going to have to spend more time upstairs so we can play on the floor more. The other topic the doctor spend a lot of time on was food. I am now supposed to start introducing more foods to Inara even though she doesn't have teeth yet. So yesterday I gave her bits of a frozen whole wheat bagel, which at first she didn't seem to like it, but then after a couple tastes, she seemed to get used to it. Today I tried cottage cheese, which she absolutely did not like, and plain yogurt, which she ended up chomping down on. I'm going to make her scrambled egg yolk tomorrow for breakfast and give her her first baby food meat for dinner. So many new things for my little girl to try now. I promise I'll force Shawn to upload the new batch of pictures I have. Now if I could just get him to stay awake past 8pm I'll be in good shape.

As for the new house, I couldn't sleep last night I was so amped, nervous, and questioning. I guess Shawn and I shouldn't have started a list of things we want to do before we move in, things we need for the house (so I know what to shop around for at garage sales and the sale/clearance racks at Target and Walmart), and questions we wanted to ask our agent about. I know it's usual to question such a huge decision, but after I went through the house again today I got totally excited. I can't wait to move into my first home. I truly believe this house is the PERFECT fit for our family and think there was a reason we got rejected on the first house: we weren't meant to move into that one. I ended up taking Kristi through the house today and she seemed pretty impressed by the size of it. I believe at one point she even said we won't ever have to move from this house because we won't outgrow it. I totally agree. Once we finish the basement, I think we will call this home for many years to come. I also get excited on the upgrades we can make to it through the years with things like new kitchen counter tops, possibly a deck out back, new lighting fixtures, and of course the basement. Yes, I may have only gotten 3 hours of sleep last night, but it was all for a good reason. I can't wait to get the keys to our new home. Off to bed I go to dream more about it.

We've been Accepted!

After a few restless nights and several longs talks, Shawn and I decided to put a bid on the first house we fell in love with. This was the 4th house we saw, but we kept thinking it was too soon to put a bid on it and kept looking. As you all know we put a bid on another one and got rejected, which I started thinking was a sign of some sort. I just kept thinking back to the Whitford house, so Shawn and I went and saw it again over the weekend and we discussed all the things this house had to offer. We decided to go for it and sent the bid in yesterday. The seller came back with a counteroffer for a little less on closing costs, and we are now accepting. We have to sign the contract and our agent will fax it over to the seller tonight. We will then be under contract and all the other mumbo jumbo will begin. To see pics of this house, go back to my blog from June 8th. I couldn't be happier with our decision. I truly feel this is the perfect house for our family. I can't wait for all of you to see it!!!

Last night ROCKED!!

Last night Thane, Jason who's visiting from CA, and I went to see Presidents of the United States of America. This is the first concert I've gone to since moving to CO. I was tired and kept dragging my feet about going, but I'm sooo glad Jason guilted me into going. The show rocked!!! I love POTUSA. They are probably on my top 5 for favorite bands to see live. Their shows are high energy, get down and dance fun. I highly recommend checking them out www.presidentsrock.com. You probably have heard their older songs like Peaches (Millions of peaches. Peaches for free. Millions of peaches. Peaches for me.) or Lump (She's lump. She's lump. She's in my head. She's lump. She's lump. She might be dead.). Their songs are silly fun but rockin'. If you get a chance to see them live, I highly recommend making every effort to see them. You won't regret their kickin' show. Let the concert season begin. I'm super excited because when I'm back in SoCal, I get to see Pearl Jam. 3 weeks and counting!!!

Rejected

Our agent Jen faxed our offer in yesterday early afternoon-ish. She then called us back about 5:30 to say that the offer was rejected. Once the seller's agent told him our price, he said he wouldn't even look at the offer and rejected us. Ouch. It's of course a total bummer, but we knew we were being aggressive, especially since he just lowered the price $10K on Monday. He wants to see if there is any more interest with the new price, and I can understand that. We still have the Whitford house to consider, which I do love, and I actually drove by another one this morning that has a lot of potential as well, so we'll have to go see this one. It's a buyer's market, so we know our perfect house is out there somewhere with the perfect price tag. As for this last house, we could always come back with a higher offer. We just have to decide if that's a good investment move or not. We'll keep you posted. And to answer a couple questions, no there isn't a bedroom on the main floor of the one we put the offer on, nor does it have RV hook-ups, so maybe it's a sign that that house isn't for us and our family. We love you all and thanks for all the encouragement.

Here are some photos of the house

OK. Here are some pics of the house we are putting the bid on right this moment actually. The offer is in the fax! Big day for us.








This is obviously of the front exterior.









Here's the grand entry way as I like to call it. The carpet and paint are practically brand new. We don't really have much we need to fix-up in this house. We will need to get little things like some curtains for some windows, an umbrella table for the deck, etc. Mostly it's decorating things we need. No major projects. Thank goodness.

To the left of the entry way is a study, a full bathroom, and the formal dining room, which is long enough to host many a large family dinners. We could even put a pool table in this room. Hee hee!

This is the kitchen. All the appliances stay! Yippee! I love the double ovens!

Here's a shot of the other side of the kitchen. It has granite counter tops, gas stove, and an integrated sink.

Here's a picture, taken from the kitchen, of the breakfast nook and family room. The house is pre-wired for speakers throughout. We will definitely want to add the speakers in the family room. Through the first archway is the mudroom, door to the garage, and the laundry room with a sink.

This is the left of the master bedroom. There is practically a whole other room to the right as well. We have a mountain view from every window in the bedroom. Also, the house is pre-wired for ceiling fans, which we would like to install in most of the rooms.

Last is a video from the deck. It was overcast yesterday, so you can't see the mountains. I'll take a better video soon.

We're making a bid!

It's a big day for us...we're making an offer on the house we feel in love with on Saturday. Wish us luck. My stomach is in knots. I'm so nervous and anxious and excited! I'll keep you all posted on what happens in the coming days.

Inara Turns 9 Months Old Today!

Wow. She is getting so big. When I weighed her today, she came up at 19 pounds. And she's about 27 1/2 inches long. Growin' like a weed! This past month she has changed so much. She squirms like there's no tomorrow. It's impossible to feed the girl now because she's turning her head, observing what everyone else is doing and what's around her. I've got Inara now eating three "meals" which includes one serving of veggies, one of fruit, and rice cereal. Not all at one sitting, but she gets one of these at a meal. Plus, she still takes a bottle right when she wakes up in the morning. Her nap schedule is all over the place. One day she will take only one 3 hour nap; the next day it will be three 1-1 1/2 hour naps. We're giving Inara a lot more floor time so she can wiggle around on her back and roll over. Actually, the other day she rolled from her back to her tummy in the effort to reach a toy she wanted to play with. This is huge since she generally hates being on her tummy, but she's starting to try more and more things out. That same day was the first time she tried pushing off on her foot to get to a toy as well. Ahhh, the crawling is just around the corner. Also, this week Shawn went in to check on her while she was napping and was surprised to see her sleeping on her side. He came and got me right away. That's the first time we've ever seen her do that. Another first this week was Inara woke up screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night. Poor little thing is teething like crazy. It took me about 45 minutes to get her calmed down and back to sleep after giving her baby Tylenol and rubbing her gums with baby Orajel. I feel so bad that I can't do more to help ease her pain. I hate seeing my baby girl crying in pain. This also means she is drooling like crazy. She's getting slobber everywhere! With teething also comes the runny nose. I have to suction her nose clear at least twice a day. She hates having her nose stuffy and rubs at it all the time, so when I go to suction it out, she now lays there knowing relief is on its way. The other super big change we're noticing is her recognition of words and things. She totally knows who Avery is and looks for her when I say Avery's name. Inara also knows dog and Abby, specifically. She knows some of her toys, such as "fish" (in her toy aquarium), dog-dog (a toy on her chair), silly monkey (on the mirror in the car), etc. My favorite though is asking her where the trees are. Inara absolutely loves looking at trees, especially when it's breezy and the branches and leaves are moving. This makes her smile and giggle every time. We're working on teaching her some sign language now after I learned some words from a DVD I checked out at the library. I hope that she will be able to sign a couple words before we get to my parents' house in a few weeks. I know my mom and dad would LOVE to see her signing. Before I know it, my baby girl will be talking and signing away. Happy 9 month birthday baby girl!!!

It just keeps getting harder to decide!

Just got back from our second full day of house hunting. If my count is correct, we saw 9 today! Yeah, that's a lot. But most of them were in close proximity of each other so it wasn't a ton of driving around. We actually walked to a couple. We saw a few we liked but not as much as the Whitford house. Then Jen showed us our new #1. It's amazing!!! It has more of what we want than the Whitford house does and, of course, is a little more expensive. Shawn said we could just put more down to keep our payment more in our range. In all honesty, when I walked through this house my heart was pacing and I wanted to cry. It's beautiful!!! I also told Shawn I don't know if I would even want to move from this place in 5-7 years. I could see me living in this one for 10-15+ years actually that's how much I love it. One of the biggest selling points is the kitchen is a total dream: double ovens, integrated sink with granite counter tops, a gas stove and bar seating. The other big selling point is the fantastic panoramic mountain view, plus the house backs to open space. This alone makes it worth the higher price in all honesty. Then add to it a enormous dining room that would be awesome for holiday dinners, the largest master bedroom we've seen, awesome tile in the master bathroom, mountain view out of what would be Inara's room, great areas for decorating for the holidays (hee hee), pre-wired family room for surround sound, a mudroom, a sink in the laundry room, space in the garage for a work bench, and a full-sized walk-out basement that unfortuantely is unfinished. The one other drawback is the size of the backyard is a bit small, but I can handle that with all the parks within walking distance. Overall, if I had to choose a dream house...this would be it!!! Here's a link to see pictures of it online. http://www.obeo.com/Public/Viewer/Unbranded.aspx?ID=444377

Second weekend day of house hunting

We're going on the hunt again tomorrow. We checked out 3 tonight before dinner and have about 7 slated for tomorrow. We haven't decided on the Whitford house yet because we want to see what else is out there, but it's still #1 on our list. I'll keep you posted on tomorrow's adventures.

Homesick!!!

I haven't had too many really bad days where I'm homesick, but this week has been rough for me for various reasons and it only makes me miss HOME even more. Unfortunately, my cousin Rob got sick this week, so he and his family had to cancel their trip out here to see us. I'm bummed that I won't get to see them, but I always get worried about Rob when he gets sick, so my concern is with him right now. I hope they will get to come out in August instead. That would be a good birthday present for me. :-) Hotel Tomlinson will be quiet this weekend but will soon pick up with other slated visitors. It's always good to have company come into town so that I don't miss home as much, but like I said this week I've been especially homesick-y. Thank goodness I only have 26 more days til I fly home! So Mom and Pop and Mikey, know that I REALLY miss you guys this week and can't WAIT to see you soon!!!!

Could we have found our house this fast?

As some of you know, I started house hunting last week and came across one I loved the moment I stepped foot inside. I called Shawn and told him he had to come see it. When he finally came to see it, he was really impressed with it as well. It has a lot of the qualities we are looking for. We saw 7 more today, but we kept comparing them to this one. We're going back to see it tomorrow and we will decide what to do from there. Wish us luck!!!

Shawn's biggest complaint is he doesn't like the color on the outside of the house, but he said he can live with it for a few years before he'd want to repaint it.

Hardwood entry way with pretty staircase.

Formal living room opens to the dining room.

One feature I love is the main floor laundry room right next to the family room so I can be doing laundry while Inara can be playing.

This is the family room. The surround sound speakers are built into the wall. Big plus for Shawn. Our agent Jen and her daughter Addison are in the pic in case you're wondering. Addison is only a couple months older than Inara, so we had the girls with us when I first saw the house so they could keep each other company.

This is the kitchen and breakfast nook. I love that it has dual ovens and a little desk area. The cabinets are all very well taken care of and have pull out shelves, which I love. The only thing I'd like to change is the electric stove. Through the doorway is the formal dining room.

Here is a pic of the master bedroom. It's kind of a crappy angle. Sorry. We can see the mountains out the windows to the left.

This is the master bathroom. I love the tile and plenty of space between sinks. To the right is a good size vanity area as well. The walk-in closet would be just behind me.

Here's the backyard obviously. There is a stamped concrete patio and a good size lawn for some playing. There are some pretty bushes and plants along the fence too. It's hard to see but to the left by the tree is a large rock area which prevents people from walking through there but gives us plenty of space in between us and the neighbor.

This is the only side we have a neighbor on.

Inara's becoming quite the independent little girl

A woman in my moms club was able to work out a 50% off deal for us to join My Gym. I had heard such great things about it that Inara and I went to check out a class last Saturday. Here she is in her favorite toy, a car swing. I ended up liking it so much that I went ahead and joined.

I tried to ger her to play on some of the other toys and apparatuses. She loved to just sit and look at the other kids playing though.

One thing I liked is they do separation time from mommy and daddy, so the kids can get used to playing with other kids and adults. Here is Inara playing with the My Gym employee.

Then yesterday we attended our first birthday party. It was for Thomas who we know through the moms club. Inara did fantastic playing by herself.

And she even played with other kids as well. I'm telling you my little girl is growing up so darn fast!!!

Our Trip to Roxborough Park

Last Sunday we took a family outing to Roxborough Park. I had previously done some research to find a state park we could take a walk through on a stroller-friendly path. It was Inara's first time sitting up in a stroller, so I made sure to find one that was relatively short. Here is Daddy pushing his little girl.

We were worried at first because Inara was a bit fussy, but she ended up relaxing, so much so that she crashed for a bit.



She finally woke up when we got back to the car. You can see from her messy hair that she had quite the workout.

My dad's new website

Shawn just finished the website he built for my dad, so check it out at www.mikesstriping.com. There are a few changes to be made, but for the most part it's complete. Shawn will be adding more pictures as my dad sends them to him, so be sure to check back often to see new jobs my dad has completed.

More info on the VH1 Rock Honors The Who

The presale tix through the PJ fan club go on sale Saturday morning. I will do my best to get tickets. I MIGHT be able to get 4, not totally sure on that yet, but I will try my hardest to get the tickets because as I'm sure you know I AM DYING TO GO. This will be a killer show with the Foo Fighters and of course PJ, but the finale should be kick ass since all the bands will join together on stage. I've always wanted to see The Who, especially knowing what a huge influence they are on PJ and the fact that they are rock gods, so this would be a great way to see them live. I will keep those of you who want to go posted on the ticket situation. Below is the blurb from VH1's website.

VH1 pays homage to legendary British rock band The Who in the network's third annual "VH1 Rock Honors" celebration of artists who now represent the pinnacle of rock music. As a result of The Who's revolutionary and era-defining influence on rock music, this will be the first "VH1 Rock Honors" that salutes just one band. Tune in Thursday, July 17 at 9pm on VH1 and watch performances from The Who and tribute bands Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters and The Flaming Lips. Tickets will go on sale Sunday, June 8 through Ticketmaster. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the efforts of multiple charities including The Teenage Cancer Trust, the Double O Charity, VH1 Save The Music Foundation and select VHI Classic Rock Autism organizations.

It's been a beautiful day

WOW! I have had one of those totally awesome days so I have to share it with you all. First off, I hung out with this girl Amy from the Moms Club on Mon. I haven't talked to too many people about Arbonne because I don't want to come across as an annoying sales person and for people to go running from me when they see me, so I've kept my Arbonne talk to a minimum. Anyways, Amy is the first person I have asked to attend an Arbonne event that Kristi and I will be doing at the house on the 17th. I got an email from Amy tonight and she said her husband will be able to watch their son, so she can come to our event!!! I am super excited!!! My first Arbonne success story in CO.

Then today when I was seeing houses with our agent Jen, SHE (notice the capitals) brought up Arbonne because she noticed the sticker in the back window of my car. I was so excited that someone asked ME about Arbonne. Then she told me she's heard about the company and how great their products are and proceeded to tell me she should get some baby lotion for her daughter who has eczema breakouts and she was told Arbonne products work wonders for this. Yay! Someone who's positive about Arbonne! Then later in the day she asked if I've had any parties since I've moved here. I said no because I still don't know that many people. She replied that's alright I'll help you with that. I'm having some of my girlfriends over in a few weeks and you should totally come and bring some of your Arbonne with you!!! Holy cow. I swear I held back tears at least 3 times with Jen today. We talked about Arbonne throughout the day and she was seriously interested in what I had to say, something I don't get very often, so I was very grateful!

Jen is one of the nicest people I know for SOO many reasons. I truly feel our paths have crossed for a reason and I can't wait for others to meet her. She is a genuinely sweet person that I can totally see being friends with forever. Plus, her daughter Addison is only 3 months older than Inara. They could be best friends!!! Later in our conversation I mentioned to Jen how much fun I had seeing houses today and that I could totally see myself being a real estate agent. She then asked if I would want to be her assistant. She said she and her partner are looking for someone to help them out when they need someone to open up and show a house to clients. She said of course they would pay me. I told her I'd love to do something like that. Jen keeps telling me she can't wait for me to meet her partner Jackie because she knows we'd totally click, so I just might have found me a little side job today as well.

The house I saw yesterday was pretty crummy. Yes, it was on a golf course, but it needs a lot of work and really not in the best location. I think it's way overpriced, probably just because it's on a golf course. Whoopie! So today Jen took me to see 3 houses in Firelight, a community Shawn and I really like. They are newer homes and mostly built by Shea Homes. The first one was nice and in our price range but had a small backyard and didn't back to open space, two things we are really hoping to get. The third home was out of our price range, but really beautiful. It's actually one of the model homes for this area. Unfortunately, the backyard is pretty much non-existent. However, it definitely has some luring qualities to it. Then we went to the last house for the day and I fell in love. It's in our price range, backs to a not super busy street so no neighbors in the backyard and has an open space to one side, so we would only have one neighbor to worry about. The backyard is a good size and it has a nicely stamped concrete patio. There is a study on the main floor which I like so we could turn it into a guest room and my parents and any other guests wouldn't have to worry about walking up a ton of steps. Well, actually so my mom wouldn't have to worry about a ton of stairs when she's carrying Inara. Hee hee. The master bedroom and bathroom are large and well maintained. Beautiful tile in this bath and the one downstairs. The kitchen is a great size too. Then two additional rooms upstairs are connected by a Jack and Jill bathroom, which is a bonus for us. One draw back is the basement is unfinished, so we'd have to spend a good chunk of money if we ever wanted to finish it. Otherwise, this house has almost all of the qualities we're looking for, primarily the price tag. So now Shawn is going with Jen and I tomorrow night to take a look at it along with one other property we really want to see. We obviously aren't going to buy it tomorrow, but it really is tempting, especially once Shawn looked up the going home prices in that neighborhood and this one is very well priced. Oh and it has a 3 car garage. Can't forget that! I swear my head is spinning from all the things going on around here.

Shawn talked to Rob tonight to work on the final plans for their visit here next week. I can't wait for Rob, Kelli and Alex to finally meet Inara! Then I get great news that my girlfriend Sierra is coming out July 1 for 2 days before she has to go see her brother in law. I can't wait for her to get here so I can share CO with her. And we've got Jason coming the 3rd weekend in June and before I know it I'll be heading back to CA for 2 1/2 weeks. Yikes! My head is seriously going to explode. No wonder I can't sleep these past few nights.

And to top it all off I got some amazing concert news today. Pearl Jam will be in concert in Los Angeles when I'm in CA. And it gets even better. They are playing with Foo Fighters, one of my other all time faves, for the VH1 Rock Honors The WHO!!! I've always wanted to see The Who in concert and YES, that means there will be a huge jam session at the very end with Roger Daltry, Pete Townsend, Dave Grohl from the Foos and my boyfriend Eddie Vedder. Could this day get any better!?!?! Life is beautiful!!!! Man, how am I ever going to get to sleep with this big smile on my face? This is the happiest I've been since I moved, so thank you for letting me share my joy with you. Love to you all!!!

Yikes I'm falling behind

Ugh. There is so much to catch up on and so little time. I'll keep things short. First, an update on the family. Michael moved into a new apartment this past weekend. It's in the same complex but it's much bigger. My dad's response was, "This is what I've been talking about son." That's a great sign if you get Pop's approval. I also heard my cousin Lisa is moving into a bigger place as well some time this month. I haven't talked to her in awhile, so I'm sure my mom will give me the update when we talk this week. As for my mom, she has left her job taking care of my grandma for awhile. I guess things got a bit crazy over there with my grandpa and uncle, so she's not going over there like she used to. Thank goodness. It's about time actually that she stop busting her butt and take care of herself for a bit. We've got a busy couple of months with visitors coming. My cousin Rob, Kelli and their daughter Alex will be here next week. Then our best friend Jason is coming out to visit us for the second time. Yay! Then one of my best friends Sierra is talking about coming out at the beginning of July and another of our best friends Greg will be coming out as well. All this right before I head home for 2 1/2 weeks. Like I said, it's a busy time at Hotel Tomlinson. The other big news for this short blog is we've started looking at houses!!! I'll have to post a whole blog on that in a couple days. I'm learning lots about house hunting and what to keep an eye out for. It may be a lot of work, but I'm LOVING every minute of it. Hence, why I'm short on time lately and can't blog. Sorry to keep it so short, but baby's waking up for dinner, so gotta jam. Love ya all!!!