This is it! We got it! After 2 days of going back and forth, them not coming down at all, all it took was me saying this is it for the day yesterday afternoon, we need to think on it after this offer, and they caved! Well, almost anyway, more like met in the middle, and trust me, I am one happy camper right now. We (by we I mean hubby) are going to go in debt for the next 30 years! I can't wait! Next stop appliances! Whoda thunk it, new house, and new appliances all in one big swoop! That's only the case because the majority of them don't stay, so without them I could wash dishes and nuke stuff in the microwave, and that's it. Granted, that's all Sydney needs....The little fart refuses to eat anything but hot dogs chicken nuggets and yogurt....along her half gallon of milk per day! Whooee! I'm jumping out of my drawers right now!

I'm seriously contemplating a move to Australia or somewhere equally exotic! We've had 2 counters since 2 this afternoon....and they came down less than it'd cost me to buy appliances! SO, as I wait for what will probably be a 3rd counter I'm contemplating switching continents! Ok, so that's probably a little overboard, but it would seriously work for me right now. I just want a house, one of my very own, one that I can paint, and curl up on the floor, and send the baby out to the fenced in yard, and not have to pay someone else for and fill their pockets every month! Is that too much to ask? Granted, interest on a mortgage has to go somewhere, so I guess I'm still filling someone's pockets, and those someone's tend to be greedier than a landlord, but I still want my own! I guess I'm off to cut out a hat or two while I await hubby's next phone call and then laugh in disbelief!

To keep myself from going nuts I usually have to direct my time to something else....however that current something else isn't working either! I've got all the supplies to start my fleece hats, and sticky fingers aka, my beautiful little girl took off with my tape measure! SO, as I frantically search for that I contemplate just running to Wal-Mart to replace it. I finally have a good working model for the hat that inspired this whole thing....a fleece newsboy! While I finetune that one I plan on whipping up a few others, and will hopefully have them ready for an etsy shop by next week! Now just need to stop at Ben Franklin in Madison next weekend for some bedding fabric, since I found nothing that interested me in Wally's world.

Oh yeah...forgot to mention, what's driving me nuts is the wait, for what you ask? We made an offer on a house this afternoon....a NEW HOUSE I never thought I would say that...it's only a year old and other than the builder living in it, it is new construction! At the lower end of our price range it allows us equity to double the size of it in a few years. AND I've already gotten the OK from hubby to violate the honey oak cabinets if it becomes ours. (I hate hate hate I can't say that enough HATE light oak cabinetry!)  I can't however post a picture because I can't get one off the web and didn't take one while we were there today. Go figure, 4 times through the house I fell in love with instantly, and I go with the other one! I've said it so many times in the last 2 days I'll say it again...it has better "space" for me and all my junk! And Syd's room is right across the hall, so maybe, just maybe she will sleep in her own room! That's all I've got until 5 tomorrow night when they have to give us an answer!

And then there were two.....we think! So I think we've narrowed it down to two, we're going to one tomorrow for an open house again, as well as one other one, just because we're nosey, then monday we are going through our top two one more time....seems repetitive huh, and making an offer on the one we want to try and get down first (that's the tentative plan anyway) and see where they go and then offer on the brand new one. Yes, seems stupid to want an older house than the brand new one, but you should see the garage and kitchen!!! So I'll keep you updated. We went to Mitchell today for fleece too, and I should have my first hat done by tomorrow....I was too worn out from keeping track of Syd all day today to go there. Fun Fun times!

We are now on day 2 of house hunting! So what did I learn last night? That hubby is way to enthusiastic about getting a cheap house that needs a lot of work! I honestly don't think his job allows enough time to drastically change the outside of a house, and for not that much less than the house I am totally in love with! (yes, i'll admit, bad idea, but it's almost perfect!) So now we go through houses with me comparing every single one of them to the one I have put on a pedestal...like I said, bad idea! We found another one last night for not much less money, but a whole lot less in footprint, but the inside it almost perfect...except the garage...SO we're headed off again this afternoon with a hopefully happier baby because all of the babysitters couldn't make it on such short notice...it's ok grandma, and grandpa's a chicken cause he would have to come without auntie and uncle! The good news is it has been raining ALL DAY so we should be able to notice if they have any kind of water problems (I'm pretty sure we're either already in a flood warning or not very far from it!) Gladly, I live way up on a hill right now, even though it's only a 3 block trek to the river...no worries about water, unless half of Huron is underwater!

Honestly people....CAN YOU SERIOUSLY BE THAT RUDE?!!! I finally have the space in our current rental that I can do all the decorating for holidays that my little heart desires, on top of that I have a baby old enough to enjoy it! Here's what we put outside last sunday....

As you can see Sydney was a big fan of the BIG pumpkins! I didn't rush to take pictures of her with them in a costume or anything because I was waiting for leaves to fall so I could pile leaves in front of them then throw her in the pile of leaves...no biggie...I purposely put them as close to the side (yes, the side) of our house as I could get them, not out in the middle of the front yard thinking they'd be protected from both the breeze (or gale force winds considering where we live) and people that would be stupid since we've known for quite a while now we aren't in the bestest of neighborhoods. Fast forward to last night...Not even a full week later....4 DAYS...some jerk (replace with explitive) ripped a hole in the second pumpkin from the bottom and they are now in the house while I try to think of a way to fix them! Do people seriously not respect other peoples property anymore?!! The street we live on is full of kids so don't tell me they weren't enjoying them! They look like they were stabbed with a pen or pencil and then torn...almost an entire 4x4 inch patch was torn out! Needless to say the neighbors were all worried because I had the cops at my house at like 9:30 to file a report as I was trying to not express how pissed off I was! Here's a newsflash...if I find out who did it they're going to reap what they sew...AND STAY OUT OF MY YARD UNLESS YOU CAN BEHAVE!!!!

On a lighter note...the same evening we put the pumpkins outside I gave syd a bottle of bubbles to play with....Not exactly what I had in mind when I gave them to her...

And on an even better note...we are going house shopping tonight at 6!!! I haven't been this anxious since I was in labor! (and I wasn't anxious about meeting the baby at that point, I wanted the pain to end, whatever means necessary!)

Whew! I'm flying by the seat of my drawers this week! So I'm pretty sure we've gotten pre-approved for a house, a few things left for me to fill out and I think we're set! Now the hard part....agreeing on our future home! That was today....Yesterday, hmm....pretty boring, well I guess not boring, no day in this house is EVER boring. That thing with patterns I eluded to on Monday....had a spark of inspiration a while ago actually, and just ran it past a few people I bounce ideas off of here and there and they all gave me a go....SO, my quest into an old art of mine has begun. I will be sewing my little fingers off, yes you read that right SEWING....something I used to do all the time, since the baby haven't done so much of it....making fleece childrens hats hopefully next week and shortly thereafter crib bedding sets which if all goes well will be for sale on Etsy (web address to be posted later) and through word of mouth. The nice thing is that I've decided to nix the stuffy comforter that comes in all "crib-bed-in-a-bag" sets and make the primary blanket more cuddly and user friendly. Should be a fun few weeks! If you have any ideas that you'd love to see made just let me know!

Then that other plan that has taken off like wildfire....my PHOTOGRAPHY! Who knew one little senior session could cause so much fuss! Have a few people interested other than my victims, which is S-U-P-E-R for me! Here's another of the first senior that I did minimal touches to....just don't want to get too heavy into the few I've got because we still have more to take. Although, in the quick 20 minute timeframe I think I took more pictures than I liked of my own senior pictures!

So I've been keeping myself busy all day trying not to remember that hubby is applying for a home loan in exactly 35 minutes....as I type this post. We had a wild weekend with my mom here and all the craziness from last friday. I'll readily admit my fingers didn't listen to my brain on Danny's senior picture...he's class of 2010 and I fixed it, so no more oops on the actual picture! Friday we spent all day with Kaelyn and Jodi and took the girls to a pond with a bridge for pictures, and who knew that 2 little girls could ignore the camera so well! Here are a couple I did quick touchups to inbetween patterns today...more on that later.

As you can see my little darling has quite a grip on that railing....she's afraid of the slits in decking....crazy kid!

Just because she looked so adorable!

I don't know what she was more interested in batting at the flowers or the bubbles floating around her head.

Last night I took the first few photos of my first senior! I snapped about 20 pictures before the football game and grabbed a few at the game too, and had a brilliant idea in the middle of the night last night....NO, I didn't get up and do this then, I waited until this afternoon then set my pen afire! I like how it turned out, but who knows what everyone else will think...

So during nap time today a little inspiration struck....I think the polka dots are one of the cutest pictures I currently have of Syd, and absolutely love any photo of her in blue, must be something to do with the amazing blue eyes she has! If anyone can tell me where they came from I'd love to know, neither of us has blue anywhere in our eyes (mine are green and daddy's are brown...and I know that doesn't make blue) These are rather innocent pictures, right now I'm watching her monitor light up all the way across with red because I won't let her up from her 10 minute nap. I know one of these days she'll think she can make it all day without one but we most definately aren't there yet! Around 8 she becomes a little bear cub even with a 2 hour nap and somehow we deal with her every night until somewhere between 10 and 11. Trust me, I've tried earlier bed time but it just ends up a screaming match and she ends up so upset she makes herself sick, so we go with the 9 am wake up call and the later bedtime, just because it works! Now if only I could persuade her to stay in her own bed all night, sometime between 5 and 6 am she normally crawls in and snuggles up next to me, so our already small bed becomes about half the size when the bed hog crawls in it! Have a great weekend!

I actually found my first victims! Ok, so as bad as that sounds, it's a good thing. I've been wanting to dive head first into photography for a while now....actually almost 2 years! I just haven't had the space to do so, and still don't have the space in my house, but luckily enough hubby's cousin happens to be a senior this year and so does my baby brother (who I actually can remember holding as a baby like it was yesterday) and both of them are gracious enough to include me....baby brothers just isn't by choice! I am right now...for all of those reading....pretty much willing to take pictures for free, or a little bit of cash for gas and my time and you buy whatever you wish either through a site that I will be ordering from or off a CD and walking into Walmart or somewhere else. My only request is that the images I take are free for me to use in any way I see fit in relation to actually starting this whole business thing. So hopefully by next year at this time I'm living in a house with a mortgage and an extra room that will become a studio and I can actually take indoor pictures as well as outdoor pictures without having to re-organize an entire space. I've finally figured out some of the features of my beast of a camera and ended up with a cute face and a nice flash photo of my little model...

We spent the day in Sioux Falls yesterday...running around like chickens! I have a funny that I will share later because I have to get pictures downloaded first! We took our very first load of stuff to Once Upon A Child and that was almost easier than hosting a garage sale...if not more profitable too! My only gripe about the whole experience is the mystery staining that a brand new outfit had...So home to wash everything up again and get rid of the spots I could find then hopefully back again for my birthday (it is what I asked for) And the other nice thing about our trip is this is the first time we've spent an entire day there and came home with more money than when we left...now THAT'S my kind of shopping! We even had time to cruise the mall and I spent about 10 minutes in Old Navy before I decided it was time to leave before I spent every penny I had...LOVE LOVE LOVE that store, especially for baby clothes! I was even nice enough to let the hubby stroll around Scheels for about an hour then bribed him to leave before his list got any longer. I miss Sioux Falls, yet I love Huron, how's that work?

Isn't she cute?

So I have a few gripes...I need to get them off my chest and some of those reading may not agree with or like everything contained...so beware to the readers....apparently it is my year or something because normally I am not this bitter towards this many things at once:

1. My washing machine...I am going on day 6 without a washer, and have a little one learning to use her big girl potty...NOT a good mixture! I'm just hoping I have one by the first part of next week...or should I say crossing every part of my body I'm able to. 

2. People that tell me I need a job...so this one comes in various forms from flat out telling me to my face to relaying the message through someone else. Last time I checked I had a job, the pay sucks, and the hours are way too long for the crappy pay but right now we wouldn't have it any other way, it works for us and why is it your business anyway...another stay at home mom would probably agree with me that these are the times you can't get back and definately don't want to miss. 

3. People who think we are living off our parents...I can tell you first hand that we DO NOT pay our monthly bills via money from either of our parents, we are careful about every penny we spend (ok, so me more than the hubby) and make sure our bank account can support our spending....we don't have the luxury of having an unlimited bank account at our disposal...not that it is any of your business, so quit trying to make it yours!

4. Posting stuff to various internet sites instead of being brave enough to say it to someone's face...that's just logical...if you have nothing nice to say keep your trap shut, or am I showing my age there...I was always told "If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all" and definately don't spread stuff you know nothing about

5. Here's one that will more than likely upset a few....Teenage mothers! So 99% of the teen moms I've come across in my life so far (and I can be sure of that number because there's only one that I can say did an amazing job and I am super proud of...and she had TWINS) aren't mature enough to handle their own lives much less the life of someone that relies on you 24/7 ...for that matter there are probably a good number of 20 somethings that don't have it together enough to have kids and they are doing it too....A very wise woman once told me that if you wait to have kids until you can afford them you'll never have kids, but that didn't mean you should have kids before you're equipped well enough to handle the stress, money and and basic necessities for that baby. Even having your first kids in your later 20's comes with a learning curve, but the more experienced you are at life the better equipped you are to handle that learning curve. 

6. People that treat newborns as barbies and cabbage patch kids...Newborns don't like dressup! There is a very good reason that most of the teeny clothing is in the form of jumpers, pj's or whatever you want to call them...new babies don't want to wear blue jeans! 

7. Don't tell me to put my baby in daycare unless you're the one directly affected by my lack of income. So hubby and I go round and round about this one often....but when it comes down to it we both agree it's better to keep the baby at home to keep her as well as possible. Daycares are breeding grounds for viruses...this I know...there was a daycare provider in the family for MANY years and I saw this first hand! For anyone that wants to tell me this in the near future imagine holding your child in your arms and them having a seizure, and the only explanation numerous doctors can give you is that they are caused by the rapid onset of a fever, which comes with almost every thing kids catch until they are school age and their body's thermostat resets, then YOU can tell me to put my baby in daycare!

8. Decided against this one....it would point too many fingers...

and last but not least, if you don't like the results of using your mouth, keep it shut! I am a firm believer in what goes around comes around so everything that you do or say now could come back threefold in the future. I try not to be a mean spirited, angry person, and I don't like it when people try to make me that way! 

Sorry Jodi...I know you're a regular on checking in....Just had to get that off my chest!

What a crazy week! We had my brother and one of his friends with us from Wednesday until Monday for the SD State Fair. Syd didn't know what to think of them at first, but gradually got better, although we didn't see much of them since the boys had cattle at the fair. We spent 99% of our awake time at the fair taking in the sights sounds and can't forget the food! Sydney's favorite part was most definately the animals...both the cows my brother brought and the ones in the petting zoo... She was really smitten with Helen, one of the very LARGE Red Angus that belongs to the Stuefens I swear she was more dog than cow....if you started scratching her head you didn't finish until she couldn't hold her head up anymore because she was too sleepy. Here are a few of Syd's new friends from the petting zoo...




(She liked the camel until he got a little too friendly and started nibbling up her arm, then she was ready to walk away) and I must say myself he was VERY friendly, like the kind of friendly that stuck his nose in places it didn't belong!