Strand Baby Shower!

We had a great baby shower for our friends Craig and Alee Strand yesterday afternoon! It was raining, but that didn't stop anyone from showering baby Aiden with love! Here are some pictures from yesterday!

Craig and Sophie - practice makes perfect!

The spread

Fruit pizza - smile!

Adorable cupcakes Kristen, co-host, brought!

Hadley and Sophie reaching for each other!

Mommy and Daddy to be!

Grant and Kandi are due with their little girl in June!

Drew and Hadley

House Update #3

What a whirlwind of a week! House listed Monday, under contract Tuesday (closing date of April 15th), and trying to find houses to look at the rest of the week! We love the house in The Woods at West Valley, but want to look at others to be certain there aren't any others we like better. We want to make an informed decision since we will NOT be doing this again for a looooong time! The couple that bought our house work for the FBI...both of them!

The inspection on our house is this coming Monday. We were planning on going with our realtor to look and other houses this weekend, get the results of our home inspection Monday, and then make an offer on a new home early next week.

Today Melissa (our realtor) called and said that a man was going to make a cash offer on the home in The Woods at West Valley today. Soooo, our original plans changed and we went and looked at 3 other houses this afternoon and decided to go ahead and make an offer for the house that started all of this madness :) We proposed a close date of April 8th (a week before we close on our house).

That home is currently owned by a relocation company (the family moved with a job and a relocation company purchased it when they moved). Melissa said it's usually easier dealing with a relocation company because they will negotiate more and aren't attached to the property like the former homeowners would be, so it's easier to get a better deal. They closed at 5p today and won't be back till Monday. We asked to know about our offer by 5p on Monday (2/28/11), so right now it's a waiting game. We do have some back up houses we liked, but are really hoping we get this house. It is definitely a home I can picture us living in for a long time!

Tomorrow I've got a Willow House party and then Sunday we are hosting another baby shower. Never a dull moment!

House update #2

SOLD!!!

So we are officially in the market for a new home! We LOVE the house in The Woods at West Valley, but we want to be sure that's the best house for us, so we are going to look at some others before we put an offer on it. We are thrilled and can't believe our house sold this quickly, especially since there are 8 other houses in our neighborhood for sale!

House Update #1

So about 5 minutes after my blog this morning, our realtor called and said the couple that came and looked at our house last night wanted to come and see it again today between 12-1. I was SOOOO excited! So me and Hadley went Krogering and came back right at 1. Their cars were in the driveway so I drove around the neighborhood. By 1:20p they were gone.

At 2:45p our realtor called and said we had an offer on the house!! It's a pretty clean offer (no contingencies, no closing costs, just want our fridge which we planned on them asking for). We will counter tonight so wish us luck!

5 months!

Yesterday Hadley turned 5 months old....I seriously can't believe it. Time is flying!! Hadley is such an easy baby and is so very sweet. She really has spoiled us! We don't go back to the pediatrician till she is 6 months so I don't know her stats, but I would guess she is 15 lbs or so.







Her appetite has really decreased this month. Between 3-4 months, she was going through a major growth spurt and was eating every 3-4 hours. By 4 months I stretched her to eating every 4 hours. The past few weeks she has gone 5 hours between feedings, which is awesome!! And the past 2 days she has eaten 3 times a day (7a, 1p, 7p).

She is still sleeping through the night - yay! Nap times are rough though. About 90% of the time, she wakes up after being down for 30 minutes. I had been rocking her back to sleep, but tried to stop doing that about 1 month ago. She will cry and can never get herself back to sleep during nap time. I don't know what to do, but I've gotta figure it out soon!

She loves grabbing things now (toys, cords, Riley's ears, jewelry, etc). I've definitely mean more careful with what is in her reach!


Brandon and I spent the weekend cleaning, mulching, and getting some of the clutter into a storage unit (i.e. our entire office which was more of a storage room). My mom was a huge help over the weekend - helped clean/organize and watch Hadley while we did some yardwork.

We had such a crazy day yesterday and I am thankful Brandon had the day off for President's Day (gotta love the federal holidays)! Our realtor called at 2:30 and said she just got the listing online and was going to come over and put up the "for sale" sign in our yard and that we already had someone that wanted to come for a showing between 4-5! We were ecstatic to say the least! She called us back around 6 and let us know the people that looks at the house loved it, but not our backyard neighbors. If you have been to our house, you probably know what we are talking about. If not, I'll fill you in. There is an 'interesting' house that backs up to ours (not a home in our neighborhood though). Let's just say there is a giant rebel flag tied to their chimney. Yesterday was super windy so it was a' flying! This is definitely going to be the hardest part of selling our house. When the leaves start growing back this spring, it won't be noticeable, but right now the trees are bare and it is definitely an eye sore.

I feel certain that if this is the right time for us to move, God will bring the right buyers to our home and He will lead us to the right house.

Reason # 1,549,689 why I hate Comcast...

So we are now mortgage shopping in order to get pre-approved for a new home. Get our credit reports pulled and what do you know but a non payment charge in July 2010 of $55 for Comcast. What's funny about that is that we switched from Comcast to Direct TV in June 2008. Why are they submitting a nonpayment charge 25 MONTHS LATER? Also this is the first we are hearing about this $55.

Apparently it looks really bad if we pay it now as it will still impact Brandon's credit score (our service was in his name only) and it is also bad to dispute it with the credit agency. So we aren't sure what to do. This has really put a damper on our excitement because it has pretty huge implications.

You can never get away from Comcast....they haunt you forever!

Movin' up....hopefully!

Big, exciting changes in our future....we hope! We've been looking at houses for about 2 months (very casually looking, just online and in the paper). We are ready to move into a bigger home, better school zone, and a more established neighborhood. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE our house, but it was intended to be a 5 year type starter home, and we've been here about 4 years now. As we plan to extend our family in the coming years, we need a little bit of a bigger place.

Brandon first got the moving "itch" and it is definitely contagious! We actually went to an open house this weekend in The Woods at West Valley and absolutely feel in love with the neighborhood and a house (all brick homes, sidewalks, neighborhood pool, gorgeous mountain views, etc.)! The realtors at the open house were very nice and came to our house this week to check it out and see what they would list it at. We felt the list price was fair given the market. We feel good about selling our house now if we can get a good deal on a home that we will be in for a long time (which our next home will be a 10+ year home). So we have decided to list ours! Woohoo! This weekend we will be doing some landscaping and renting a small store unit in order to de-clutter our place to get it ready for putting on the market (hopefully in a week or so it will be on the market).

Wish us luck!

sweet.

I keep meaning to write about some sweet things I've noticed that Hadley does. I don't want to forget these!

• When she falls asleep, she always feels around my face and neck. Her eyes will be just about closed and she studies my face with her sweet little hands. I love it.
• She loves to roll around and coo in her crib in the mornings. She wakes up at 6 am like clockwork (sometimes she'll go back to sleep till 7 if we are lucky). She's our little rooster! It is such a sweet sound to wake up to.
• This is more funny than sweet, but I want to remember it nonetheless! When she finishes a bottle, I set it to the side and then put her on my knee and try to burp her. I noticed that she would stare at the empty bottle so I started facing her the other way. Well now she twists her upper body in order to see it. She either smiles at the empty bottle or stares very intently. It is hilarious!

Happy Friday y'all!

Baby Plummer!

What a beautiful day here in East TN! Perfect day for a baby shower! We had a great time showering Baby P with love today! So glad Cara's parents were able to come down from Ohio for this special occasion! Here are some pictures from today...

Mommy and Daddy to be!

Yum!

Adorable diaper cake Hiral made!

Dirty Diaper Game action

Opening goodies for Baby P

"That's Not My Dad" book - haha!

We had a great time today! We couldn't be more excited for Cara and Justin as they enter into parenthood! It truly is the most wonderful, challenging, and exciting rollercoaster I've ever been on. Each day certainly gets sweeter and sweeter with your child by your side. We know they will be loving parents and can't wait to meet little P. Boy or Girl? I say girl!

8 nights

We've now had 8 consectutive nights of good sleep at the Skeen household! Hadley has been going to sleep around 7:45 and sleeping till around 6 or 6:30 without waking up! I am beyond ecstatic! Next we need to work on extending nap time!

Here is Hadley in her new high chair! It converts to a booster seat which will be great when we travel and when she gets a little older.

Getting ready to go bye-bye!

Sweet girl!

Oh, Baby!

We have some close friends that are having babies in March/April (yay!) and we are hosting 2 couples baby showers this month. We are super excited that Hadley will have some little friends to play with! Cara and Justin are due March 27 and didn't find out the sex of the baby - they are so strong because I would have caved at one of the ultrasounds by now! Craig and Alee are due April 12 and are having a boy named Aiden - love the name! Both ladies are so cute preggo!

So this weekend I'm planning menus and shopping for some decorations to use at the parties. I can't believe just a few short months ago I was attending my own baby showers. Time has flown since then!

I've narrowed down some games we might play, some I've played at baby showers and some I found on the internet.

• Dirty Diaper Game ~ Using a Sharpie pen, number 6-8 disposable diapers. Melt or smash different kinds of candy (like Snickers, Baby Ruth, Reese's Cups, etc) into each diaper. Give each guest a piece of paper numbered 1-8 (or however many diapers you are using). Pass the diapers with the smashed candy around the room. Each guest must examine and smell the contents of the diaper to determine what the candy it is. They then write down which candy bar they think is on each diaper. This is always a hit at showers I've played it at, especially couples showers where boys are partaking in the 'poop' examination!
• Big Balloon Belly Race ~ Blow up some balloons and have all of the men and women in the room put one under their shirts. Then have arace to see which one of them can tie their shoes the fastest! Never played this one but it sounds hilarious!
• Wet Diaper ~ For this game you will need to break up into groups of 3-4. Give each group a disposable newborn sized diaper, a large pitcher of water and a measuring cup. Have each group predict just how much water they think the diaper will be able to hold without any water leaking out of it. Have them write down their prediction before beginning.
• It Takes Two, Baby ~ Have each couple stand side by side, shoulder to shoulder. Give each couple a baby doll and an outfit to dress her in. Have the man use only his right hand and the woman use only her left hand to assist each otherin dressing the baby. This is a hard one, but funny!

What are some games or fun ideas for a couples shower? I love new ideas!

My lil Valentine!

I took Hadley to get some Valentine pictures taken a couple days ago. She wasn't interested in smiling that afternoon so they weren't as cute as she normally is....but here are a few! Love her beautiful baby blues!

I've got feet!

Hadley has officially discovered her feet. It is so funny! She would just stare at them for a couple of days, but now she is grabbing them and kicking them!

Riley is starting to warm up to Hadley which makes me so happy....he actually gave her a big wet puppy kiss the other day which confused her a little bit! She always reaches to give him loves when he is within reaching distance of her. I can't wait till she can chase after him!

Her sleeping has been great the past 2 nights! Thank goodness because I have a bit of a stomach bug. Sunday night she slept from 8p - 7a with no intervention necessary (she whimpered about 5 minutes on 2 occassions but went right back to sleep). Last night she slept from 7:30p - 5:45a and I never heard a peep from her. I actually just looked at the monitor at 5:45 and noticed her eyes were wide open....a few minutes later she was cooing and then started laughing! Me and Brandon just looked at the monitor while she had a fun time by herself till about 6:00 when the cooing and laughs started to take a turn for cry-ville! I'm very thankful she is sleeping better and pray it continues!

Snuggling with Daddy before bedtime

Good thing I look good in orange & white!

Showing off my tummy time skills!

Daddy likes my feet, too!