All Consuming

That is how I feel right now, that putting our house on the market and selling it has consumed every fiber of my being, every thought I have, it has been all consuming every waking minute for the past week. And it should not be like that. This was something we CHOSE to do, not something we have to do. Stressing about showings, price points, keeping the house clean, pictures, listings, looking at lots vs houses, building in a neighborhood vs getting land. AHHH! It is enough to drive me crazy (and I think it has).

Last week was not a good week. After what seemed like months of getting the house ready for sale (de-cluttering, cleaning, patching, painting, etc), our realtor finally got our pictures and listing up on line. And it was HORRIBLE! The pictures were the worst I have ever seen. I had carefully scheduled the day he took pictures, my cleaning lady came in the morning, no kids or dog were home all day and he came in the afternoon. Everything was spotless. I just did not take into account he would take a picture of my shower door or Peyton's stuffed bookcase or my bathrobe on the back of the door. I became a PITA to him and asked if we could have a professional photographer come out. So he came out this morning. Almost put myself into labor yesterday cleaning. I will never complain about my cleaning lady not being thorough, she is worth her weight in gold.

Then I had a long talk with our realtor about next steps and how we can get the most exposure as possible for our house. We have a challenge in that we have one of the biggest and most expensive homes in our neighborhood. In our price range, there are homes available in two nicer neighborhoods. So the challenge is getting people to see our house because I really believe, once they see it, they will like it. And we did not pull the listing price out of thin air, we had an appraisal done when we refinanced in June. But it is a high number for our neighborhood and our house looks deceivingly small from the outside.So that is what we are working against.

So after stressing last week and basically being a miserable person, I just have to LET IT GO! Trust that God has a plan and everything will work out, timing wise, price wise, finding a lot, building, etc (if that is what we are meant to do). Once the new pictures and revised listing are up (of course I had to tweak that too), it is somewhat out of my hands.

And maybe, just maybe, I can start to think about this sweet baby girl that we will be meeting in less than 8 weeks instead of the spots on my hardwood floors or the toys all over my house.

I think Peyton knew I needed a laugh, he dumped out all Ryan's clothes from his hamper, put the hamper on his head and ran up and down the hallway. Love that kid!

Then of course, Ashley had to do it too.

We had some ice on Friday and Saturday morning took both kids out to play in it. Ashley is like me, she was not crazy about being cold or wet, but Peyton loved it.

This will be a better week, I just know it :-)

Random Pictures

Here are some random pictures and tidbits of our life. Peyton is 100% potty trained except for night time, but I am in no hurry to do that. We started training in October and it only took him a couple weeks to get the hang of it. We moved him to a toddler bed over Christmas break and he is doing great with that as well. He does like to get up early, but we are working on that. He is such a sweetheart but does have his "2 year old" moments of whining meltdowns. Ryan and I always laugh at him because when he gets upset, he will say "I don't want to do that ANYMORE" and really enunciate the "anymore". And the anymore will go along with whatever he doesn't want. Too funny.

Ashley is doing great too, she still has her moments of not listening and acting somewhat spacey. I sometimes question her social skills as well, if it is maturity or a deeper problem, but for now, I think she is doing great.

Peyton and I went on a walk one morning when Ashley was in school. There was a lady bug on this fire hydrant and every time P sees this picture, he says "ladybug", such a smart little guy!

Ashley and Peyton were watching a TV show after their baths, I had to capture it on film!

Ashley is quite the artist! She loves to draw, color, cut, paste, make shapes, etc. Her teacher told me the art center is her favorite thing to do at school and she always brings home all sorts of colorful, interesting projects. I love this picture she drew, it is our family.

 
Peyton was sick last week on Monday and Tuesday. He rarely gets sick and I don't think he has ever run a fever before. He was feeling pretty bad for two days, but after that, was back to his usual talkative self. I had to take a couple pics of him since he so rarely feels bad.

Peyton got up super early Saturday morning and passed out in our room before noon. He slept for two hours, it was the sweetest thing!

Christmas Eve

Our church had its' Christmas service on Sunday, the 23rd, so we went to Ryan's parents' church for Christmas Eve. My parents came too. I was very emotional and hormonal right before Christmas. It has been a very rough year, relationship wise, with my mother and I was not looking forward to celebrating the holidays with her and having guests in my home, preparing dinner, etc. It all turned out fine, but I did have a meltdown prior to everyone coming. Here are some pictures of Ashley and Peyton before church on Christmas Eve and some pictures of our beautiful tree and presents after Santa came!

This Christmas, Ashley and Peyton loved watching Frosty and Charlie Brown Christmas. I think we watched each movie a minimum of five times each day, every day. Peyton always asked to watch Frosty and Ashley requested Charlie Brown. As a result, both kids are very good at singing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". It amazes me that Peyton knows almost all the words and can sing right on key. Such a smart boy. Ashley is so sweet when she sings it, she told us she is "obsessed" with that song. It is now mid January, and we are still watching the movies occasionally and I hear the song about 10 times a day.

Christmas Festivities

Ryan's company participated in the Southern Pines Christmas parade, Ryan drove the car and Ashley got to ride in it with him. She did not want to at first because she said she did not want to miss out on getting any candy. I assured her that I would get candy for her. She was still hesitant but ended up having a great time! She was a little local celebrity. Here are some pictures from before the parade and during the parade.

Over Thanksgiving, we went to the beach house and went shopping at the Wilmington mall. Here are some pictures from the mall train and Frosty.

We went on a Santa train with some friends of ours. We had considered going to the mountains and going on the real Polar Express, but decided to wait until Peyton is a little older. He loves trains, but I thought he might get more out of it if he was a little older. Here are some pictures from our local Santa train ride.

Peyton had his preschool Christmas party the week before Christmas. Ashley had a party too and a gift exchange at her school, but I was told it was not for the parents. I was a little sad when I saw some of the parents went, but was very grateful they took pictures of Ashley for me. I could not be in two places at the same time (the parties were on the same day and time), but I still wish that I could have been. Here are some pictures from Peyton's party.

Christmas Tree

We normally pick out our tree the week after Christmas from Mistletoe Meadow. Ashley was so excited to get our tree this year, it was the only thing she wanted to do. She also did most of the tree decorating and even helped me take all the ornaments off the tree as well. She is such a big help. Here are some pictures from picking out our tree.

Massive Catch Up!

Where has the time gone? I knew I was behind with my posts, but did not realize how far behind! We had a great Christmas, I just love seeing everything through Ashley and Peyton's eyes. I will do separate posts for everything.

In a nutshell, things are"nuts" right now! I am due in less than 10 weeks (ahhh!), we are putting our house on the market this week and hopefully we will be able to sell and find a new house relatively quickly. I am feeling pretty miserable, just crampy and uncomfortable. My patience is very very short and I feel like I have been yelling a lot. I have decided that I absolutely hate being pregnant and I am so happy this is my last pregnancy. At the same time, I am incredibly thankful and blessed to be having this baby, but it is much harder being pregnant with two little ones and being 35. Oh and trying to get my house ready to sell. Fun times.

Ryan and I found a house we love in the neighborhood we want to be in, I am just praying that if this is God's plan for us, our house will sell quickly for a price we are happy with and we will be able to get this house. It is all in his hands, it is just hard for me not to think and stress about it, but I am really trying my best to turn it over to him.

More posts to follow.............