Happy Halloween!

What a busy week we have had! We have been completely preoccupied with house stuff, then on top of that, Mike's birthday was yesterday, we have Halloween tonight (and last Saturday when Sussex had their trick-or-treating--there are some benefits to having everyone trick-or-treat at different times), and our anniversary is Friday.

We carved pumpkins on Tuesday. They are already rotting. What's up with that? Here they are the one time we lit them. Carter had previously painted his pumpkin, so his had some extra flair. He insisted on the bee (that's what that is, if you can't tell). No ghosts, witches, or funny faces, it had to be the bee.

Carter had 2 costumes this year. His Buzz Lightyear costume from last year still fits him and he was really excited about wearing it, so we let him wear it for trick-or-treating here and for Brooklyn's birthday party. His other costume was Steve from Blue's Clues. Samantha was Blue. Carter was very excited about the Handy Dandy Notebook. He even practiced holding it just like Steve does. Looks like he got some of his Momma's nerdiness. Samantha was super cute, although she just stayed covered up warm and cozy in the stroller, so no one saw her. We will dress her up again for our soup night this Friday. We made Mike's birthday cake, because I thought it would be fun for Carter to decorate one for him. You probably can't tell which one Carter did. I never said that cake decorating was a skill I posses. Mike had a good day though, so it all worked out.
Carter mostly enjoyed eating the frosting and sprinkles. This kid has been on a sugar high since last week. We are trying to detox him. Tonight he was complaining of a tummy ache. Poor kid. I am not sure if I can blame this last one on the sugar rush or on the aforementioned nerdiness, but Carter just came out of his room the other day with one of Samantha's headbands on. He was just playing like it was no big deal. Once I started laughing and snapping pictures he took it off. This will be great blackmail one day. This kid is hilarious.

We got it!

We accepted the counter offer as is, and so as long as everything goes well with the inspection, we have the house! There has been some confusion however...although it is a duplex, it has been used as a single family home before. The two halves are only separated by a staircase. You walk in the side door and you can go down a hall to the first floor kitchen, or up the stairs to the 2nd floor. You can also access the upstairs by going through the kitchen and up the stairs. So other than the 2 kitchens, it won't be weird at all.

Also, the house is on 97th just below Lisbon Ave. So we will be switching wards (again!!!).

Completely off the subject, Mike got pulled over yesterday. I was very pleased because he is always talking about what a great driver he is and how he never gets tickets, blah, blah.... To his credit, it was for doing a U-turn at a controlled intersection, which is a dumb law anyways. But it was good to see him humbled :). Luckily he was only given a warning, so the humbling was free of charge. Thank you very much officer!

Our House

We put an offer in on a house today! It is in Milwaukee (which is somewhere I swore I would never live (97th St.)) and it is a fixer-upper (something I swore I would never buy). But it is huge, and it seems structurally sound. Most of the work is cosmetic--don't get me wrong, it will be a lot of work, but it really has a lot of potential. It is actually a duplex, but we will be living in both sides, as a single family home. Later, we will split it back up and rent it out as a duplex for some extra cash. Right now, though, that means that we have loads of space. It has a basement, but honestly, with how much space there is, I don't think we will need it. We are going to have all the bedrooms upstairs--we are going to actually use the upstairs living room as our master bedroom, which will be so nice, after the cave the we have now. That gives us 3 extra bedrooms downstairs for a playroom, an office (beats the closet I have now...seriously, my office is the coat closet in the living room right now), and a work out/sewing room (let's be honest, we won't be using that room very often).

Anyways, they counter-offered at $3,000 more than we offered (we offered $148,000, they countered with $151,000). Mike wants to counter back with $150,000. I say whatever, just take it, but if it makes him happy...

Here is what it looks like from the outside. It isn't really that great looking from the outside, it needs some work.

We have 2 kitchens. Which to use??? The one upstairs is bigger, but do I want to live downstairs and cook upstairs? We will figure it out. The counter tops are awesome, they have little boomerang shapes in them. The bathrooms are really the highlight of the house. It seems that pink bath fixtures were all the rage back in the 50's. Love them. If anyone wants them, they will be coming out soon. This one is even better. I absolutely love the turquoise tile.

Anyways, the rest of the house is good, new carpet and hardwood throughout. We definitely have our work cut out for us. It should be good, though. We can stay here for a couple of years and then move on. 1&1/2 years is the longest we have stayed in any house. We'll see if we can set any records here.

Sleep baby, sleep

After I have read no less than 11 books on sleep, tried everything imaginable, and anxiously waited through hours of crying (not all at once) all in an effort to get Samantha to nap for longer than 20 minutes at a time, Mike did it in one try. How frustrating!!! Mike had the kids on Saturday while I went to Super Saturday at the church. It was the first time that he really put down Samantha for a nap and she slept for 2 hours!!! She did it again today so I think it may be more than a fluke. I should be happy that he is such a great dad, but I'm not. I am the mom, shouldn't I be the best at child-rearing? Aren't I the one who went to 6 years of school for this (alright, that's an exaggeration, but it felt like it)? He also corrects me quite frequently on my interactions with Carter. Needless to say, it usually doesn't go over well.

I finally got around to downloading some of my pictures, so here are some random shots:

Carter got some temporary tattoos, here he is showing off his tough muscles. You can't see it in the picture, but he is straining so hard he is shaking. Sometimes when we are bored, we will let Samantha drive, just to see where we end up... just kidding, she just got tired of the car seat while we were waiting for Mike.

I know I am biased, but isn't she so cute?I left her in her plaything while I got in the shower. I found this when I got out. There was no spit-up anywhere else, just on her head. Not sure how that works. We went to "Boo at the Zoo" last night. Carter had a blast. Mike and I just survived. There were soooo many people (and mummies) there!One of Carter's favorite things to do is hop in the crib and hang out with his sister. Here is one of the few blissful moments I get with them together. Really, he is pretty sweet with her most of the time. He also likes to lay on her, push her over, kneel on her, head butt her and pretty much anything else he thinks sounds like fun at the moment. Don't worry, I watch him closely most of the time :).

Slacker!

I have been seriously slacking in the blogging department. Part of it is that I have been busy, the other part is that even with all that business, nothing is very exciting. I did have a fun weekend though. My friend Karen had a pumpkin party, where everyone brought a pumpkin dish to share. The food was amazing, and I ate so much I made myself sick (I had to be nice and try everything :)). Who knew that you could do so much with pumpkin?

Then, Saturday night I went out on a "date" with my friend Laura. It was great. It has been so long since I have been out without either of the kids. Samantha hasn't liked it much when I have left her before, so I have been hesitant to leave her again. We saw the movie about Queen Elizabeth since there wasn't much else that wasn't rated R. It was actually a pretty interesting movie. The best part was that the Renaissance Club was there. Do these people not realize that everyone is mocking them??? Seriously, some clubs are nerdy, but these people really take the cake. Because it was opening night, they were introduced individually before the movie as Lady this and Captain that. Then they had some medieval trivia for t-shirts. Seriously, who knows this stuff? I just loved that they attempted the accent. It really made the evening complete. I pray every day that my kids won't ever come home in costume, I don't know what I would do (sorry if this offends any closet Renaissance lovers that I may not know about out there).

Mike and I have been looking for houses, we have decided that we are done with the apartment management thing. I have too much going on and it is just too much. It has been a great job, but with 2 kids it is just too much. You should see me trying to show an apartment. It's like a little traveling circus--"you will notice the skylight - Carter don't touch that! - and the fabulous balcony - AHHHHHH (Samantha)... alright I don't really say things like that, but you get the picture. I am amazed that anyone would rent from us after witnessing the chaos that is us. Anyways, back to the houses...we are not planning on moving until March or April because we don't rent over the winter so it's easy money for now. My problem is that I look at a house and get attached. I imagine what we could do with it and which rooms would be for what... and then Mike reminds me that we aren't buying anything for a while and I have to break it off with the house. It's actually quite traumatic. The other frustrating part is the realization that we really can't afford what we really want and lowering our expectations. It looks like we will probably have to do some work on whatever we buy and it probably won't be perfect. I don't know why we are so worried, if our current track record continues, we won't be in it for more than 2 years.

Anyway, that really is about all that has been going on. I have to get to bed, it has been a long few nights with Samantha and I am seriously sleep deprived. Good Night!

Not Much

I haven't blogged in a while because there really isn't much to write about. We are trying to get Samantha on a sleep schedule, so we haven't been going anywhere--just sitting around the house listening to her cry. It's not very much fun. I did get Samantha's Halloween costume, though. She is going to be Blue and Carter is going to be Steve from Blue's Clues. I am having a hard time finding a Steve shirt anywhere besides EBay, where they are going for $15 or more. For a shirt??? I have a hard time spending that much on a used shirt. I will keep looking, but time is running out. I love EBay, but I hate waiting for the auctions to end. I am all about instant gratification. So, if anyone out there has a spare Steve shirt, size3-4, let me know! I won't hold my breath...