Into March

 Let's see, I left off last time just getting back from St. Maarten. Which would put us in March of 2014.  We immediately started in on the house inspections, seller documents and making sure the loan was moving forward for the new house. BUT...





In the midst of this, Bart was offered a job up in SLC. The first thing I thought was, "If Bart's taking a job in SLC, we have to back out of this house. I hope we don't loose our earnest money".  We decided to NOT accept the job offer though. It just wasn't right for us even though I would have loved to move to SLC and be closer to family.

Things progressed with the house and everything moved forward easily and quickly.  We ended up closing on the house the beginning of April. The previous owners daughter wanted to rent the house back from us for a couple weeks while she finalized buying a house.



Bart loves to work outside.  She was so happy tearing out bushes





Our spring, up until we got the keys to the house, was a good routine.  Bart went to work and Dutch and I went to the gym. Can I tell you how much I loved the Provo Rec. Center.  It was close, new, had child watch and great classes.  I truly loved it.  A couple times a week we would meet up with Bart for a quick lunch, then Dutch and I would come home a nap.

One of our lunches with Dad at Subway. Thanks heavens for the $5 foot long.

 

Our little Burger King.

 

 I started napping everyday with him from about 30 weeks on.  The entire family got sick over Easter and it really just wiped me out.  I had to stop doing zumba because it was just too much cardio and jumping. Luckily there was a yoga class at the same time that I just started going to.  By 39 weeks I was still able to go to the gym.  I did yoga, pilates and swimming-I really just bobbed in to pool but it felt great because I was so hot.  I was so hot my entire pregnancy actually.

Sick on the couch for Easter.
 

 

Our attempt at an Easter Egg hunt



Learning to right a strider bike



This spring Bria, Brecken and Mailey also came to visit from St. Louis.  We spent lots of time up at Mimi's playing with them and having adventures at Red Butte Gardens and the Children's Museum.

 By the end of April the new house was vacant and ready for Bart to start remodeling. My parents, Bart's parents and one of our friends Shaun came down for a "demo day", and cousin Anna came and watched Dutch.  They basically ripped up all the carpet and trim in the living room, hall and bedrooms and tore out the entire old kitchen.


When we bought this house I assumed I would be able to help with the demo and painting and little projects like I had on past houses but I had braxton hicks contractions every time I tried to do anything.  Thus I ended up sitting on the floor or a camp chair and watched.

 Well nap time is over.  At least I am trying to get caught up. :)

Where do I begin?

Dear blog,

I am sorry that I abandoned you! It's been a busy year with lots of changes. To get caught up we probably need to go back many months ago.

Up until last July of 2013, I was work 2.5 days a week. That was keeping me busy enough and happy. But the practice decided to bring on a new doctor and thus I got bumped to working 1 or 2 Saturdays a MONTH. With the house being finished and me not working much, Bart and I decided we should start looking for a new house or a lot to buy and think about having a second baby. 

We looked off and on and off and on for a lot to buy but couldn't find one that we could afford and liked. By December of 2013, we found out that we were pregnant and expecting a baby in the summer. We still had a nagging feeling that we needed to change....something. So Bart started spiffing up his resume and looking for job opportunities. This wasn't intense job searching though, if he saw an email announcing an opening, or if someone mentioned something he'd look into it.

Christmas 2013 with Uncle Carter, Bria and Brecky

By the end of January we again actively started looking for houses to buy. Once or twice a week we'd go looks at houses that I'd seen on the MLS or that our agent had sent. A house came up that was in a good neighborhood but it had NO photos...and you know what that means...that it's ugly and out of date. We were the first people to look at it on a cold snowy night and it was old and dated, just as I thought. Bad kitchen, awful bathrooms, mismatched carpet and the owners had dogs. Dog hair, dog pee and dog smell. Even with all the negatives we liked the "bones" of the house and the potential it had. The location was great for us- close to I-15, the rec. center, shopping, grocery stores and schools.

We decided to put in a "low ball" offer and see what happened. The sellers countered but I wasn't quite ready, so we let the contract lapse. 2 weeks later I was still thinking about the house so we went back and looked at it again with my parents this time. We put in another offer, negotiated and went under contract right in time for us to go to St. Maarten. We had been looking at houses with our realtor so often that Dutch knew our realtor by name and even the sight of his car!

The view from our room

St. Maarten is a French and Dutch island in the Caribbean. It has lovely blue water, the perfect breeze and great snorkeling. It is "3rd" world though. There were part of town and people that were scary and it had lots of garbage, litter and bad smells. I would chose to go back to St. Thomas over St. Maarten but I next time I hope to go to Turks and Caicos or Barbados... Hint hint mom.

We had to go to the famous Maho beach and watch the planes land and take off.  It really was fun!

We followed this happy turtle for at least 30 minutes

Side note: I would not recommend running through JFK airport and customs, 24 weeks pregnant. We barely made it on our connecting flight and then I was having contractions/stomach pain and hot flashes the entire flight home. Next time I will plan ahead and ask for a cart to come get me.

Phew, I remember why I stopped blogging.  It takes a long time.  Instagram and Facebook are way faster.  Hopefully I'll get another post done soon.