It all changed when...

When we started looking for a house we knew it would be somewhat difficult, but we really had no idea it would take us well over a year to find a home we loved. We had some pretty strict criteria that limited our selections- mainly that we wanted to be within about a five mile radius of the in-laws and that we wanted a home we would really stay in for at least 15-20 years. Might sound crazy to want to be so close to our in-laws, but they're a huge help to us and we knew it would be really important to have them close when we decided to have kids.
So we started our search with a local realtor and online and realized that there were quite a few short sale and foreclosure properties that met our criteria and they might be worth the effort. I'm a huge House Hunters, My first place, Property Virgin, etc tv fan and I assumed that all short sales and foreclosures were as simple as they make it seem. You make an offer, you wait (albeit annoying), but you get the house. Wrong, wrong.

We made an offer on a short sale listing that seemed like it could be the one. Sure we low-balled it, but it wasn't an insulting offer by any means. It was accepted by the seller, but we found out the bank was going to foreclose on the property in like two weeks, so we really didn't have enough time for the bank to accept our offer. It was a pretty big blow to us because I had already started imagining life and a family in this house. I was given advice not to get attached to a short sale home, but of course I did it anyway. House hunter rule #2 ( rule #1 is to avoid short sales/foreclosures altogether if you aren't ready to wait and might be disappointed) is to never, ever fall in love with or start picturing yourself in a short sale or foreclosure home. The moment you start planning where you're going to put your sectional couch is the moment the bank will shoot you down. Bummer.

So we started over and really decided to avoid that situation again if we could. There was a house on the market that was for sale by owner a few months back, but we both felt like it was just overpriced so we didn't even look at it. When the same house came back on the market now listed with an agent and now within our price point, we jumped on it. Literally- we saw the house the day it came back on the market, and we made an offer that night. I'll never forget the look on my father-in-law's face when he looked at me during the tour of the house and said "this is your home- you have to buy it". He never makes statements like that unless he's confident. So we made an offer on a Sunday and when I was at work Monday, I felt a little different. I thought it might be nerves about the house, but decided I would run to CVS on my lunch break and grab a pregnancy test. I'm super impatient, so I took it in the bathroom at work. Two...pink...lines!!

I have to credit the timing to fate because just as I was getting ready to call the hubs, he called me. If I'm remembering correctly the conversation went like this:
"We got the house!", "Good, because I'm pregnant!".

It's amazing how much these words changed our life in such an awesome way.


Closing day! I think I was like 8 weeks preggo- starting to maybe feel like maybe I'm maybe a little bloated. Pregnancy symptoms weren't so obvious for me:)


And here's an oldie but goodie of my bud. I think he was about 2 weeks old here.