The Perpetual Wish List

It seems  like the longer it takes for us to get into our new home the longer the wish list of things we would like to do grows.  The problem: it all requires cash.

Some of the things are simple: like putting epoxy down in the garage or installing a Nest.  If you haven't heard is one the latest and greatest things to hit the environment control market.  So much so- the second generation now has competitors- the biggest form of flattery.   This plus the whole house humidifier and the whole "built smart" concept of Ryan should make heating and cooling of our home only slightly more expensive than what it costs to do the same in our 1955 row home.  Now this is amazing as the new house will be 4X the size of the current one.

If you hadn't notice- you can control this thermostat with your smart phone AND it learns your preferred comfort level.  Plus a rocket science degree is not required to do a professional install.  The down side: this unit costs on average $250.

Now I was gun ho and ready to use the free design services that I discussed in previous post.  My husband said "No". Why? Because he didn't want to be roped in to using just their furniture.  He wants to go back to my original idea of hiring a interior designing.  I know, I am the outcast of the RH blogging world, being that I am not some DIY, decorating guru (oh how I envy you!) but again that is just not in my skill set.  Ask me to make you soap, or lotion or hair conditioner and I am all over it.  Just don't ask me to decorate.  I know what I like- I just don't know how to pull it together, to make it cohesive.  But interior decorators are expensive and I dare just one them to talk about my maple glazed cabinets.

Here comes my husband with a solution. Homepolish is relatively new process (2012) that matches you with an interior designer at mid range prices.  You can control as much or as little of the process as you want as long as you pay by the hour.  I knew there was a catch!  Now hear me out- you also get access to their vendor discount.  You can look through the vendors yourself or have them do it for you.  You can even have them go shopping with you to pick out furniture pieces or accessories.  1 hour consultation fee and a minimum 5 hour booking will cost you at bare bones $550.  This company is located in a few select cities- so check out the site to see if you may be lucky enough to live nearby.

This may not be an option for all of you- but my husband insists that he has a hand in decorating (WHY?!).  He is a modernist and I am a traditionalist. I like neutral to light schemes with pops of color.  He likes dark wood tones and dark colors.  We need durable and comfortable.  You can see where this headed.  So hopefully hiring the designer will help us blend our tastes.

I promise that I will show you pics of everything we do.

Week One-Footers

Today marks the first of the weekly drives to the construction site.  Actually I drove out to the site twice by myself during the work week. First goal was just to see the site and the second goal was to do a real time drive from the new house to work during typical traffic.  The drives so far was EASY!

Now to the more exciting news:  we have footers!  I find this totally amazing as it snowed about 4-5 inches on Wednesday,  followed immediately by Thanksgiving.  I wonder how much will get done next week.  The forecast says it will be light rain in the morning on Wednesday  and a wintry mix on Friday followed by 2 more days of rain.  The good news: most of the days will be relatively warm.

Morning and media room

Family and morning-includes the outline of the porch

As a side note- we just realized we could have had another bathroom as part of Room #2 to make it a princess suite.  Don't know how we glossed over that one.  Really doesn't matter- it seems like something we could do later.  I will ask our PM the feasibility of doing this ourselves.  I don't really see it as a wash- just would have been nice to have as it gave the master bedroom a second walk in closet.  This little factoid jumped out at my husband as he was reading a rare Courtland Gate blog where they just closed in Richmond (my hometown).  With the exception of adding the second bath and fire place, our floor plan is exactly the same.  And a lot of our finishing touches are eerily similar if not exactly the same(but I guess that was bound to happen with a non custom builder).

Off to occupy myself for another week.

Thanksgiving 2014

The world is in turmoil:  riots and pudding pops. But in the midst of the chaos that surrounds us there are still many reasons to be thankful.  So many in fact one day should not be able to contain it.

So I am thankful for the bumps and bruises that made me who I am today.  From the struggle of paying rent in my youth to building my new home.  From miscarriages to 2 healthy children.   From "we're not hiring" to being highly sought after.  From hourly wage to salaried.  From seizures to seizure free.  I am thankful for it all.

Now entering this new phase of my life I am thankful of the prospect of hosting friends and family, of parties and get togethers, of being the gathering spot for the neighborhood kids.  For Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas mornings.  For birthday parties and barbecues. 

When we gather tonight at the dinner table, I will remember these things.  I will remember these things even as I worry about my children and what their future  will bring.  And hoping that their bumps and bruises (and some guidance from his parents) will help to create wonderful men who are leaders, great husbands and wonderful fathers.  

I hope this post finds you in a peaceful place, an island of tranquility in a sea of chaos, thinking of all  you are thankful for including your bumps, your bruises, your knocks and your stumbles. 

Happy Thanksgiving 2014

They're Digging!

I work a typical 9-5 (really not that typical when you work in the pediatrics but I digress).  I held off until 12 noon before I sent my first annoying text to my PM.  He confirmed that they had started digging and was in fact digging at the very moment of the text.

I wanted to drop everything I was doing and rush up there to take pictures of the hole that would soon be our home but I couldn't and actually be back in time to see my first patient of the afternoon.  Worse yet- because it gets dark around 5 pm there was no use of me going up there after work.  So I will have to patiently wait for weekly visits to see the dirt, rock and sticks that will become one fabulous Courtland Gate!

Happy Dance Post

I have been stalking the weather channel like a mad woman, hoping beyond hope that it doesn't rain tomorrow and we can break ground.  I guess all my mad ranting and mumbling have worked because now the chance of rain has dropped down to 20%!  Of course a mixed bag of rain and snow is now at 100% for Wednesday but that can still change.  The next couple weeks actually look real good for finishing the foundation of  the house.   Winter home building in the northeast is going to be a real roller coaster of a ride I can see. 

In the mean time- I will try to keep myself busy with my Etsy shop. Yep I have one of those too, I will talk more about that later.  Any who- as I promised my husband that I will pay for my hard fought for island- I need to make some serious cash with my little shop.  Normally, I wouldn't care as it is really still a fun hobby for me.  But now, I need some of last year's magic to make it happen.  So far I have about $700 probably more like $900 but I prefer to underestimate for this particular project.  

I CAN'T WAIT

We have stakes!

I decided to drive by our lot today. Okay, so since the new home is about 30 minutes away from our current home its technically not a 'drive by" but you get the point.  And it looks like they staked out the lot!  Unfortunately the forecast for rain on Monday has moved from 60% chance of rain to 80% chance of rain  :/  And maybe some snow flurries later in the week!  I hate bipolar weather

Now if look you look closely at the upper left corner, you will see that our neighbors have decided to place a playground set at the property line.  Not quite sure why they did that but I am pretty they are going to wish they hadn't. With construction starting soon and the fact that RH will have to regrade our lot, it will probably cause an issue with the setting of the play ground.  That is also the place where our sump pump will drain.  I wonder if they placed it there to help them remember the property line markings?  I will have to ask them at the next community event.  

Pre Construction Meeting- The Results

The pre construction meeting was rather productive.  Our PM (who has done this for 10 years but our house will be his first home in this community) caught a few mistakes in the selections and layout.  We were quite surprised that our free elevation came with a bay window for the living room, yes!

Another surprise- building permits are already in hand as long as it doesn't rain on Monday, we will be breaking ground on November 24th!  I was quite prepared to wait another 2 weeks.  No turning back now  :)

Settlement is projected to be at the end of March.  I need to ask if that pushes our first mortgage payment out to June. 

Kitchen

-how big is the island? We have a morning room hoping that the standard island will be on the larger side Resolved- change order for gourmet island submitted and accepted

how big is the refrigerator cabinet? trying to buy the largest refrigerator that can easily fit in this area 

The space for the refrigerator is 40- 41 inches wide, Plenty of room

50/50 or 60/40 sink Neither- 70/30 with the garbage disposal on the smaller sink

what is the model of the appliances? GE Profile- mid level

Do the cabinets come with sliding shelves?  Noticed this all the models have this feature would like to know if this comes standard with the cabinets YES!

Mudroom

can we have the light switch on the inside of the mudroom No need, 2 three way switches installed, one on the inside of the mud room and one on the garage side

is the bead board included over the bench? Didn't ask

Family room

where are the outlets located Every 12 feet with a little wiggle room

does the family room have recessed lights NO

Owner's Bedroom

can we put an outlet with a dedicated switch on the tray ceiling ledge Maybe- ask again when the electrician begins work

Are there recessed lights in the hallway/ archway? Yes

Can we move an outlet to the master closet? Possible- ask again with electrician

are there lights in the walk in closet? Yes

We are planning on installing a closet system- will this be a problem for our 10 month  drywall inspection? No problem

Bathrooms

does the towel bars come in the bathrooms? Where are they located? Didn't ask

Where is the toilet paper holder located? Didn't ask

Is there a shower rod in the hall bath? Yes

Exterior

How wide is the driveway 18 feet

Where are the hose bibs located Chose location while at the meeting (my husband picked the spots)

Where will the egress window be placed, Had egress location moved to were a walk out door would normally be

Placement of the basement windows in relation to the deck Only one additional window with no option to add others  :(

How big is the buffer- how much yard will it take up? 25 feet- we have a walking trail in our community and our lot is right beside it.  The buffer is trees that Ryan will plant and take care of on our property 

Laundry Room

How big is the laundry space?  What size washer and dryer can I feasibly fit into this space? 

Would the laundry door to swing OUT- so the door will not have to be closed while doing laundry
How high are the vents and the water valves placed (I'm short) Mixed bag on this one, the door is 28 inches, we can not move the valves to a different height and they will not change the door so that it will swing out.  I will ask again about the door- makes no sense to say no. 

Dining Room

Is the tray ceiling included? No and no option to add, previously a standard  but was removed

Is the columns between the living room and the dining included Yes, currently a standard in the CG

How will the tile in the bathroom be laid?  Can we get the tile in the hall bath to be laid at a diagonal?  This would add interest to all the white tile we placed in there  Grid style, diagonal request should have been made with flooring and tile selection

Starting to look at furniture purchases.  How wide is the door frame with the door in place? Is it easy to remove and replace the door if we have to? 36 inches, Mud room is 28 inches and basement door is 26 inches!

What exactly is included in Trim Package #3?  Does it comes with the wainscoting in the dining room and up the steps?  Easy fix if it doesn't 2 piece crown molding through, chair rail throughout, paneling in the dining room

How far in advance do you schedule pre drywall and pre settlement meetings?  I need to be able to time the arrival our own inspectors.  Will call us to let us know when we can schedule

Which rooms get locks? Didn't ask

As for any left over tiling and flooring (handy for decorating,paint choices and repairs) Yes

The CG model in DE had storage under the basement stairs- will we also have that? No- will not pass inspection if it is not dry wall and it is not an option in the home.  I think I will bring the contractors a case of beer. 

How big are the ledges in the shower?  The ones we saw in the model in MD was rather small.  Can we make them bigger? Very small, intended for a foot not for a butt, cannot make them bigger.

Where is the access door  to the attic located?  Can it be moved to the laundry? Located in front bedroom

We are considering installing our under cabinet lights- can an outlet be moved into inside a cabinet to hide the wires? No

Dehumidifier- yay or nay?  What size and brand is best to accommodate the size of our basement? No to dehumidifier but recommends whole house humidifier for wood floors and some of the hand made furniture.  Recommends Aprilaire

Great Island Debate Part 2

For those of you who tune in JUST to see how the island debate worked out- its over.  The change order for the gourmet island was signed today.  My dear husband really does want to see me happy.  Now for all you fellow husbands who rooted for him, he will be fine. He still has the vast majority of the basement he gets to set up any way he wishes (except for sofa choices- last time I let him do that he picked a futon).  He also gets to finish out the media room and the area of the wet bar any way his heart desires.

One of the things he is looking at (not this game but I can't give away his secrets ;)

So I get my island- he gets his arcade games, big screen TV, pool table, wet bar, poker table and new gaming system.  Fair trade right?

The Great Island Debate

So I ran through several ways of approaching my husband on the issue of getting the bigger island.  Well while I was deliberating on how best to approach him the change order from our SR came through email- BOTH of our emails.  Needless to say he was not happy.  

Now here comes the argument.  He said we both wanted the standard island.  I had to remind him that I wanted it and that he said we didn't need it.  He then informed me that by signing I agreed (mind you it was standard so there was nothing really to sign).  He wants the open space for "whatever".  

What's the "whatever"?- I don't know. GRRR! 

I want the extra counter space and cabinet space (after stuffing everything into 2 main cabinets I don't want to have to stuff ever again).  His thinking that anything over the 2 main cabinets should be good enough.  AHHHHH!  Mars and Venus I tell you, Mars and Venus.  

I do know one thing about me- if I can't convince him to sign the change order, I will hold a grudge for a very long time.  It won't be pretty.   BTW- I did apologize for not coming to him before I started my crusade but I think I already knew this battle was about to go down.  

Island Dilemma Resolved (sorta)

After emailing customer care TWICE, I finally got a call from the regional director.  I explained my concerns about the lack of compromise and how I would just like to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.  I was reminded that Ryan Homes does not do custom work and was therefore unable to handle my special request.  She also told me a comparable cabinet to Timberlake that I can purchase at Home Depot but the name escapes me.  What she did offer was the ability to do a late add on of the gourmet island- at regular price.  

So the whole purpose of  my one woman crusade was to negotiate a larger island at a cheaper price than the gourmet island.  I got the larger island but it will cost me about $1700!  The only reason why we didn't add it to the original selections was because my husband insisted that the standard would be fine.  I think it was more to cut costs but whatever, I didn't argue.  Now guess what?  If  I REALLY want that island I am going to have to sweet talk him into it.

Geez!  This island better be covered in gold.

List of Companies that offer FREE Design Services

I read alot of blogs where not only are they building a fabulous home they are excellent DIYers and home decorators.
Let me be clear- my main set of skills lie in medicine, everything else is happen stance.  I know what I like- but how to tie them together without making a complete brown mess, on that, I am clueless.  Thus I was excited to find a company that would offer FREE (yes FREE) design services.  That company was Calico.  The more I searched the more companies I found offered the same service. This is a list of  free design services with and without the purchase of products


Lazy Boy

Calico

Pottery Barn

West Elm

Ethan Allen 

Bassett

Laura Ashley

JC Penney


These are just a few national chains.  There are plenty of local furniture stores that offer the same service.  The idea?  To get you to spend money in their store!  So if you have trouble (like me) pulling your home's look together but really only have enough for furniture pieces and not some fancy design consultant then this may be a viable option for you.

Happy Decorating!

Island Dilemma

Last night a fellow Courtland Gater - helped to answer a few of my pre construction questions.  Thanks CG Blogger!   He helped confirm the size of the standard island in the Courtland Gate- a mere 4 x4 for a kitchen measured at over 20' x 15'  with an attached morning room measured roughly at 16' x 11'.    The island will look like we purchased  a rolling cart out of a Sears catalog!

This island is the actually width of what they offer as standard!

So I made a non standard request- an extra base cabinet (single unit okay) with a longer piece of granite and have it run parallel to the kitchen sink.  Based on what I have been reading on the blogs- they answered with the typical RH "no"   In fact according to my SR- they qualified with absolutely no more changes.  Now, I found this really quite offensive as the only thing we actually did was to ADD windows and a garage service door.  That's it.  I didn't go back and forth with flooring, or tile or exterior color choices or deleted this to add it back- none of that.  Outside the 21 day window and they already ordered everything for our home.  Really?  We did not have the pre construction meeting yet, we have not broken ground AND the cabinets and thus the island is more likely to be installed roughly 60 days out from breaking ground.  I was then hit with "We order everything at the same time"  Please refer to my above disbelief.   "You can order the cabinet and do it yourself after settlement"  Uhm no- Timberlake is unlikely to sell me one cabinet and then I would have to do a search for the same granite and hope that my hardwood floors do not get damaged in the process.

Did I neglect to mention that I asked the size before and was not given an answer presumably because my SR did not have blue prints available (we are the first CG in the community).  I had to ask another SR in another community and then I had to verify that it was the same in my community.  That verification did not come until today.

I am not angry- just determined.  So tonight I emailed customer service.  Waiting on their response.  

Additional Pre Construction Questions

I have been reviewing additional blogs to see what they asked at pre construction.  Maybe this was a bad idea.  I have started to ask a ton more questions- some I wished I had ask earlier.


I was once told the standard island would be 4'  (feet) long.  This would very ridiculous in the size of the current kitchen.  I don' t necessarily want the gourmet island, but can we add an extra cabinet and a longer piece of granite?

How will the tile in the bathroom be laid?  Can we get the tile in the hall bath to be laid at a diagonal?  This would add interest to all the white tile we placed in there

Starting to look at furniture purchases.  How wide is the door frame with the door in place? Is it easy to remove and replace the door if we have to?

What exactly is included in Trim Package #3?  Does it comes with the wainscoting in the dining room and up the steps?  Easy fix if it doesn't

How far in advance do you schedule pre drywall and pre settlement meetings?  I need to be able to time the arrival our own inspectors.

Which rooms get locks?

As for any left over tiling and flooring (handy for decorating,paint choices and repairs)

The CG model in DE had storage under the basement stairs- will we also have that?

How big are the ledges in the shower?  The ones we saw in the model in MD was rather small.  Can we make them bigger?

Where is the access door  to the attic located?  Can it be moved to the laundry?

We are considering installing our under cabinet lights- can an outlet be moved into inside a cabinet to hide the wires?

Dehumidifier- yay or nay?  What size and brand is best to accommodate the size of our basement?

Master Bedroom Ideas

Wow wee!  I found this great site that had some great master bedroom ideas.  So I will post the ideas that I liked the best.

Pre Construction Questions

We have constructed a list of specific questions for our pre construction meeting.  Some of these we have gleaned from viewing other blogs and homes.  What questions did you ask  or will you ask at your pre construction meeting? 

Kitchen

-how big is the island? We have a morning room hoping that the standard island will be on the larger side

how big is the refrigerator cabinet? trying to buy the largest refrigerator that can easily fit in this area

50/50 or 60/40 sink

what is the model of the appliances? 

Do the cabinets come with sliding shelves?  Noticed this all the models have this feature would like to know if this comes standard with the cabinets

Mudroom

can we have the light switch on the inside of the mudroom 

is the bead board included over the bench?

Family room

where are the outlets located

does the family room have recessed lights

Owner's Bedroom

can we put an outlet with a dedicated switch on the tray ceiling ledge

Are there recessed lights in the hallway/ archway?

Can we move an outlet to the master closet?

are there lights in the walk in closet?

We are planning on installing a closet system- will this be a problem for our 10 month  drywall inspection?

Bathrooms

does the towel bars come in the bathrooms? Where are they located?

Where is the toilet paper holder located?

Is there a shower rod in the hall bath? 

Exterior

How wide is the driveway

Where are the hose bibs located

Where will the egress window be placed, 

Placement of the basement windows in relation to the deck

How big is the buffer- how much yard will it take up? 

Laundry Room

How big is the laundry space?  What size washer and dryer can I feasibly fit into this space? 

Would the laundry door to swing OUT- so the door will not have to be closed while doing laundry
How high are the vents and the water valves placed (I'm short)

Dining Room

Is the tray ceiling included?

Is the columns between the living room and the dining included

A Pre Construction Meeting Date and Amerihome Update

After my kindly worded letter to latest person who was scheduled to handle our loan I was kindly invited to call the new processor to discuss my concerns.  I took her up on her offer.  S he patiently went through all the reasons she needed her long list of items and explained she just got my file this past Monday, about 3 weeks after my last contact with loan officer assistant.  She also promised to be a lot more responsive than her predecessors- I will hold her to that.

But on to more exciting news:  My pre construction meeting has finally been scheduled! We had been working on a list of questions but soon stopped because we were driving ourselves crazy.   Now with 2 weeks to go I guess we will begin to hone in our pre construction questions.  There are definitely more questions that have come up.  Lately, I have been absorbing myself in the grading of the lot.  I have read so many disaster stories that it has me a little concerned.

Crossing my fingers and hoping that all goes well.

NVR and their cronies

Let me just say that this truly isn't a NVR problem but they did submit our application to another bank- Amerihome.

RH insists that you meet with a loan officer (either NVR or one of your own choosing) to start the loan application within one week of you signing the purchase agreement- we did that within in 4 days.  We got a call the following week from our loan officer at Amerihome and was approved- everything had to be submitted to underwriting.  Great!

I have contacted Amerihome on 3 separate occasions to see how underwriting was going.  I was told on 3 separate occasions everything was fine.  On the last inquiry I was told that the assistant of the assistant to the loan officer would be contacting us to verify a couple of pieces of information.
Well the contact came today- with a LONG lists of items they needed to be submitted- items that was submitted with the original application nearly 2 months ago!  I understand needing new bank statements and even an additional paystub BUT needing employment history, a W2 and a letter of intent for our current property that was submitted with the original application?  In addition they want us to sign paperwork on a disputed claim to say we don't dispute it.  ?!?!?!  This would mean we agree that we owe those funds- which Amerihome then would expect us to pay before we could proceed with the loan because it looks like an outstanding balance.

I expected them to request more paperwork- but the SAME paperwork and to go as far as to admit to an account we NEVER opened- already getting a little ticked.  I was informed that this info was needed before they could submit it to the processor.  Okay- what the hell were you doing for the last 2 months?

 I kindly responded saying they need to keep better records and that I expect a more timely response and acknowledgement from here on out.  After a few questions are answered, I will resubmit their requests- then I will be the most annoying person they ever met and email them everyday to make SURE that they are processing the paperwork and not just letting our files languish on the corner of someone's desk.  I am highly annoyed.

A little about my family

It's November 1st and we are still waiting to break ground  :(.  Building permits and underwriting of loans (ours apparently is going pretty smooth) is taking up most of this time.

SO.........
I decided to give you guys a quick run down on my family to kind of pass the time.

I have known my husband for nearly 15 years, married life has taken up 7 of those years.  I married a super intelligent man and I like it that way.  And I love how he keeps his major promises (changing the light bulb is a work in progress).  Year after year he tells me what he is going to accomplish for himself and for us as a family.  And year after year he exceeds expectations.  Yes, he drives me nuts when he gets a clean cup for a drink rather than re using the one he JUST finished drinking from and so nicely left on the table, but I think he does it just to see if he can drive me crazy.   I can honestly say marrying him is the best decision I have ever made.

We are college graduates with master degrees in our fields: he is a software engineer and I am a pediatric physician assistant.  We absolutely love what we do which made finding a home a hard choice.
I moved to Philly in 2002 to start my graduate coursework.  A few months after graduating and finally getting a job in my career I discovered I was pregnant with our first son.  And thus begin the spiral of  I don't have time for myself.  It wasn't until recently that I truly felt established in my career and developed some friendships where I could truly be myself.  I took root.  My husband on the other hand is a free spirit.  California is the way to go, he would tell me.  This after he took a job in New York and wanted us to move there. Notice the spots he loved are big tech areas- places where he would definitely feel at home.  I hate change and I just had this feeling of my well established life being ripped away from me every time he peppered me with questions of why I didn't want to move so far.   In the end, I got my way and after the children are out the house, I will happily follow him anywhere he wants to go.

Our first son, SC, is a dream boat.  I am not being biased here although as his mother I have every right to be. We have always been told that we should have him model and had we not been so busy paying bills, we probably would have established his career by now.  I have a thing about sharing too many pics of my kids so don't expect to many here either, you just have to trust me.  SC was 2 1/2 when he started having seizures.  We took him to the best doctors we could find and for another 2 1/2 years we had no answers.  None of his seizure activity would show up on EEGs but he would consistently have them one right after the other, sometimes up to 40- 50 seizures a day.  He had to wear a helmet because he would have drop seizures (where he would lose all muscle tone and fall but wake up as he was about to hit what ever hard object was in the way).  At one point he was on 6 different medications with no relief.  We were referred to a specialist of the specialist.  She listened to his medical history intently and afterwards, put her finger to her lips and then pointed at him and said "I think he has Doose Syndrome"  Wait? What? After all this time, we have a name for his condition?!  SC was a complicated case because he didn't have just one type of seizure.  He had every seizure you ever read about in the medical books: Generalized, partial, staring spells, walking in circles, drop attacks, yelling.....  My son had it all.  Now we had a name to his collection of seizures, otherwise know as Myoclonic-Astatic Epilepsy, but do we have a cure?  Not a cure- but better meds had just hit the market and better yet HE CAN GROW OUT OF IT.  There is a lot that I am leaving out BUT his seizures have been under control for a little over 2 years now, and he is down to 2 medications.  At this point we are working with the fall out from having seizures so young in life and currently have him in a private school to help with reading while encouraging his strengths in science and math.

Little did I know, that while my first born was going through the fight of his little life, I was pregnant with number two.  Yep, MC, was born in the middle of chaos- his brother was ill and Philly had record snowfalls. I'm talking 30 inch drops within in 2 weeks of each other plus other "smaller" snow storms.  I kind of think, MC likes it that way.  He is a smart, strong willed (read as stubborn) little man that is going to take the world by storm. We just have to finish raising him first.  While my other son is peaceful and the big compromiser, MC is all about bull dozing his way through,  We call him the body guard as he doesn't take kindly to anyone messing with his family.   Thankfully he only has asthma, something I can manage quite well between me and his doctors and yet another illness that he could be finished with by time childhood is a distant memory.  For those of you who say "only asthma?!", I say after going through the hell of trying to help my oldest with his seizures with no real answers in sight for YEARS,  yes "only" is the perfect word to use.  He is already learning how to read and he starts kindergarten next year.

We also have a cat named Fuzzles.  He was a rescue cat and named by SC.  He appears to be a Siamese mix.  He is a fierce about protecting his home (he snuck out the other day to give the stray cat that's been stalking our house a good swat) and of course refuses to listen about not sitting on the furniture or the laundry.  We are a little concerned over our new hardwood floors and carpet as he still has his claws and he will not let me trim them.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated (unless you say declawed- that is NOT an option)

If any more children get added to the equation- it will be adoption.  My pregnancies are high risk and busy career does not make it easier.  With both pregnancies, I was told to slow down. Uhm yeah, tell that to all the sick kids or over anxious mothers I help daily.  And I am so type A, that would NEVER work.  Besides we could be a very loving home to a child who would have otherwise not had that option.  My husband is still voting for both another pregnancy and adoption. ;)