Moving (a MUCH Better Posting that the Last One)

Well, despite the craziness about the appraisal on our new home coming in $19,000 less than the contract price and a ton of tears, things worked out for our new home!  For 36 hours, I was faced with the possibility of being homeless.  I was frantically looking for a good, nice, safe apartment to rent while realizing that I was "choosing" to leave a wonderful home for a shitty, small apartment!  I felt like I was going backwards in my life.  I realized that there was not enough room for all of my stuff in an apartment, so in addition to paying more money to rent a place, I realized I'd need a storage unit for all of the stuff that wouldn't fit.  In the end, the buyer came down a lot, and I came up a little to help fill the $19,000 gap between the contracted price and the appraisal price.  I realized that I would be financially ahead of the game by coming up with a little more money to get the home compared to renting an apartment, storing stuff, breaking a lease to move to a new place, paying for two moves, etc... not to mention the headaches and sadness that I would endure as a result of all of this. Life sucked for 36 hours until all of this was figured out. 

So... as of last Friday, I am now a new homeowner!  Woo hoo!  I spent most of the weekend moving the kitchen over and unpacking it, moving all of the closets over, and moving Sidekick's toys over. Meanwhile, the painter has been moving along nicely and has painted the bathrooms, three bedrooms, laundry room, upstairs hall, and going down the stairs.  The movers come on Wednesday, and that should be easy since most of the stuff is already there.  I close on my condo this Friday.  It sure was nice to close on the new place one week before closing on the current place so that I could get us pretty well settled for our first night in our new home.
 
Sidekick loves the new home!  He walked in the first time like he owned the place!  He ran back and forth between my bedroom and his, yelled whose room it was, and then did a somersault.  He was so funny.  He often talks about our new home when we are not there.  In fact, this morning when I got him up, the first thing out of his mouth was, "New home, Momma."  He loves the basement and I don't care that there are toys all over the place right now. (I couldn't stand when he toys were out in our cramped condo.)

I have worked very hard to buy this new home.  Our new home is very much a move in ready place with amazing upgrades.  I need to finish the basement, since the living area isn't that big, but other than that, it is perfect.  I will very much miss my neighbors who love us so much. The neighbor across from me is one of my best friends, and we spend so much time together.  She loves Sidekick so much, and he adores her.  It's sad to not be literally five feet away from her.  We hung out all of the time, so there will be times when I feel very lonely. But... there is no looking back now.  I've got one more night to rock Sidekick to sleep in the home where almost two years of his life were spent.  I know he'll never remember it.  I really hope the buyer loves my place and the great neighbors as much as I did, and I hope that I am lucky enough to find great friends and neighbors in our new home.  I'm scared but a little excited for our new adventure together!

Getting Screwed when Buying/Selling a Home!

Pardon my vulgar language, but I am so f***ed right now!!!!  I am supposed to close on my new home this Friday and my condo next Friday.  For whatever BS, f'ing reason, the appraisal on my new home took seven days longer than it should have.  Today we finally got the appraisal back-- THREE DAYS BEFORE CLOSING and it came back $19,000 less than the contracted price.  I sobbed when I heard this!  I can only get the loan for the appraised value.  It doesn't appear as if the seller wants to drop the price, and I don't want to nor will I bring extra money to close the gap . That would be a stupid decision. 

The seller's dumbass agent said that she would probably just put it back on the market. My smart agent told her that she'll run into the same problem if/when the next buyer comes along.  It will NOT appraise for more next time around.  Seller is already taking a hit, and I feel badly about that.  Shit, I took a hit on my condo also.  So... I am currently homeless if we can't resolve this huge issue.  It's a horrible feeling.  It's a scary feeling. This is a time I wish I was married, so that I didn't have to be solely responsible for this crap.  I just want to throw up.  This is my worst nightmare. I am now trying to find an apartment that is not more expensive than my mortgage, that has enough room for all of my furniture, Dog, Sidekick, and is in a good area near daycare. 

When I was getting nervous about negotiations for this place because we finally had a contract on my condo, my mom said that having a baby is the most difficult thing I will ever do in my life.  I beg to differ!  I'd rather have three more babies on my own instead of going through this mess.  This sucks so badly. 

Father's Day and Donor Insemination

On the heels of Father's Day, I giggle at the project Sidekick made for me at school yesterday.  The one that was framed did not have him holding the sign, but I think it's ironic that he moved in the picture so that the sign is blurred:

I find myself viewing Father's Day differently this year.  Last year, I was kind of sad and felt badly that there will not be a Daddy in Sidekick's near future (I'm still holding out hope that I will someday meet a great guy!).  This year, I find myself so grateful for Sidekick's donor.  I cannot imagine my life without Sidekick, and I am so blessed every day.  Donor #1 ran out of vials during my eight IUIs and I was devastated, so I had to switch to Donor #2.  I always think back that Donor #2 was meant to be my son's donor. If I had gotten pregnant with Donor #1, what would Sidekick look like?  Would he be as funny and smart as he is?  Would he have a love (and quite frankly obsession) of books?  Would he love every dog in our neighborhood and know them by their names?  Would he be as good of a sleeper?  Would he be a bottomless pit and eat everything in sight?

Pregnancy has always amazed me.  Even after going through it, I am still amazed and the miracle of it all.  What I find so awesome is that women like us (SMC) can have a child without a man.  We get to choose the Donor, looking for certain physical traits, a type of personality that can be deciphered on paper, something that just seems to be "right" to us. How awesome is it that modern science has allowed us to use this route to fulfill our dreams?

I have posted this in a previous entry, but I thought it appropriate to post it again:

Sidekick's Donor is anonymous, and I am totally okay with that. I have no desire to ever meet or have contact with Sidekick's siblings. If Sidekick chooses to do that, then that is his right and decision.  In the meantime, I am just so grateful for Sidekick's Donor and that "he" has helped me have the most amazing little boy.  He is better and more incredible than I had ever imagined he would be. So on the eve of Father's Day, I have Donor in my thoughts and thank him every day.

Potty Training

It seems crazy to think about potty training Sidekick when he will be two years old next month, but for the past three weeks, he was woken up dry after 12+ hours.  The kid has a better bladder than I do!  When he wakes up, he sits on the potty and pees so incredibly much.  I have no idea how he held it all in for so long.  I'm not actively potty training him, but school puts him on the potty after they change his diaper, which seems a little counterintuitive to me. Anyway, when he wakes up dry from nap or bedtime, he'll sit on the potty and pee.  Sometimes he'll sit on it before bath.  He always tells me right after he has peed and pooped in his diaper, so he's aware of everything. That's the extent of our potty training.  But... maybe it's time to do more???

I've heard to stay away from pull-ups because they are essentially diapers in his mind and serve no logical reason to use them. I've heard a lot of success stories (nephews, friends) that Bare Bottom Weekend worked great for their kids.  Yes, we'd be trapped in our home all weekend, but once the weekend is over, he's potty trained!  That sounds awesome! 

I don't know when the "right" time is.  Surely it's not now since we are moving in three short weeks, and I am uprooting this little guy from his home and all of the neighbors who love him, but how soon after the move do I really start pushing the potty so that we can do Bare Bottom Weekend? 

Thoughts?  Suggestions?