It's been 40 days...

since I've written here.  I don't think I've ever taken that long of a break from this place.  It wasn't intentional, but the more that happened, the longer I needed to write about it until...in the last week I've gotten a sad e-mail from  my mom saying how much she misses us, and an iMessage from Toona asking why I haven't written a post in forever.  Ya'll let me just tell you, if I'm not writing there must be a whole lot of something going on, so hold onto your britches, we've got some catching up to do!!!!

In the last 40 days we have...

chosen a real-estate agent who told us what we HAD to have fixed and what HAD to go from our house to get it on the market; therefore, we also...

Our home "before" lacked curb appeal as the agent and I looked together on Jan. 26th.

Found a painter, contractor, landscaper, pressure washer, home inspector, stager, sprinkler guy, and electrician.

In the midst of those people giving estimates I found that our pest control company had sold-out to a new one that had forgotten about us for 6 months so I...red them the riot act, found a new company, and got us a refund for services not rendered.

DH had been chosen to sit on a jury but the trial was delayed by the first snow storm, so he went for two days to sit on a jury while I scurried around putting green dots on everything that had to be packed by movers coming to empty our house so it would look bigger.

I met with the stager extraordinaire who said even more had to go including our couch, extra fridge, and every piece of equipment we use for the boys on a regular basis (step-stools, potty seats, potty pail, garbage cans, etc)

After all of of our workers gave quotes, DH wrapped up his jury service, the movers moved 75% of our home into a second storage unit, we had the house pressure washed, and painters started in the house for two days when...

The Ice-pacolpse hit.  That would be 2 days of ice, 36 hours without power (as in no heat, no hot water, and no opening the fridge), falling trees everywhere (but on us and our house...thanks to God), DH working and trying to slide home on a flat tire, and cranky boys who really resented dressing in 5 layers to sleep in a 54 degree house.  Oh yeah, the apocalyptic part was not the ice in the deep south, it was the earthquake that followed 48 hours later as the ice was thawing, and the after shock two days after that.  Seriously, I was expecting locusts next.

Boys in layers, hats, and gloves, huddled by the living room window.  It was so still outside, and silent except for the sudden sounds of limbs and trees falling.  It was hard to know whether to let them feel safe and try to warm by the gas logs knowing the tree outside this window drops large limbs on a good day, or huddle them in a closet to keep them safe, but scare them and make them cold.  

We took our chances and walked outside to cur sour cabin fever.

LO and our neighbor G.  NB photobombed this one...

and G's little brother (in utero) photobombed this one.  It was good to find friends.

As lights came back on and we returned to the land of the living, all the workers resurfaced so the painters were back for e-l-e-v-e-n long days, contractor and his crew of up to five were here for four days (overlapping the painter), home inspection (pre-sale) gave us more things to fix, but nothing major, we moved some money to pay for all of that, then we moved some more, and squeezed in the sprinkler guy, electricians (twice) and landscaper just in time for the stager to return, work her magic and the real estate agent to nod approval and have pictures taken.  

In the meantime, my super-routine loving LO had his little world rocked by changing wall colors, and the removal of his stuffed animals, pictures,  and rocking chair.  Neither boy napped much for about 3 weeks between loss of power and more workers in and out than they could count.  Every night at bedtime, LO's prayers took up the routine that the rest of his life was lacking.  "Mommy will you pray that my room looks different? and my animals aren't in the corner? and my hamper is in the wrong place? and my trash can?"  "You can do it, buddy." "But will you do it too?"  "Of course I will."  Every. single. night. Then, two nights ago, the time changed.  Now we pray "that it's light in my room" too. I pray every night that his little heart will be prepared for the day that is fast approaching when his whole house looks different and his room is not the same at all.  He's doing really well with the whole process most of the time, but it still breaks my heart a little to think about what is coming for him.  Good stuff, but hard stuff.

So we met our listing deadline of February 28th.  The sign was actually in the yard the night before, just one month from our first meeting with our agent.  We'd accomplished a makeover worthy of the flat screen (in my opinion).

The picture doesn't do it justice, but shutters, flower box, sod, sprinkler, painted doors and railings later...our house ready for the market!

sunroom turned office/playroom

The living room...does it look bigger?

Not much changed in the kitchen, but the countertops are bare.

The fruit bowl on the dining room table is a point of conversation every. single. time. we. eat. and not from the boy you'd think!

Looks more like a sanctuary than it ever has before.

Upstairs bathroom sans wallpaper, new drawer pulls, new light, new paint, voila!

And the pressure washed deck with its brand new sides to round out the property.

Our first showing was the next day, and we had one a day for the first 4 days.

Warmer temperatures for our third showing meant dinner at the playground.  Definitely the upside to showing our home often.  We got to do this two nights in a row!

Our super slider enjoyed the challenge of climbing up that slide first.

On day five we had a break from showings, but our first offer and notice of a second look.  By day six we had two offers on the table, both above our asking price.  The higher offer was also from a pastor who needed to move in by mid-April.  We spent the day scrambling to find a way to make that happen.  The second offer came in eight hours after the first, and a bit lower.  He was willing to rent the house back to us for one month.  That sealed the deal.  DH agonized over the decision, but, in the end, he made the best call.  So we are under contract and awaiting the buyer's home inspection and a walk through by his mom.  In ten days we should have smooth sailing until closing.

It was a whirlwind of readiness, showings, and decision making.  In the meantime we also began to search out mortgage companies for our next home, and finalized some details for that contract.

Last Thursday we signed the contract to sell our home in the morning, got word that Papa had delivered the boys' school applications to (hopefully) have them both enrolled next year, and met with our lawyer to finalize our will all before lunch time.

DH also signed his contract for his new job to start in July. Wahoo!  Somewhere in the flurry of all the house stuff we tried to celebrate that and Valentine's day (which got iced out).

LO has also started private swim lessons with "Mr Austin" and after eight lessons, finally got his face in the water!!!  We have two lessons left to see if we can build on that progress.

On a rare morning with no workers and no show ins, LO enjoyed staying in his PJs until noon and donned his new swim goggles for fun.

Oh yeah, and NB has been talking up a storm and ramping up to turn two next month.  DH and I love watching him "read."  If he is quiet in another room there's a 50/50 chance that he's either reading a book or getting into trouble.  We're hoping to encourage one of those for a long time!

Here are some other random pics courtesy of Nanny K.  Fortunately she kept these guys entertained a lot while we tried to tackle all the nitty gritty details of getting the house together.

One of the 75 degree winter days that preceded the snow and ice.

Sunny, but windy, Nanny K took them to the park when pictures had to be taken of the house.

hmmm, this one is news to me.  NB brushing up on his computer skills?

Dr Suess's birthday.  I'm thinking there might be a Halloween costume in this somewhere....

 I think that covers the big stuff.  So if you have been wondering what exactly we've been up to in the last 40 days, that should give you a little idea.  I dare say the packed more stuff into the shortest month that many people do into six.  It has been exciting and exhausting, and we're looking forward to all the next steps on the horizon.