We are Homeowner's!

This morning the boys and I got to spend a few hours with Madelyn since John had an interview and Chelley was at work. Much to my surprise both boys had fun with her and enjoyed talking to her. Before Zak was not so fond of her, but this time he was very sweet with her.

This afternoon Ben and I went to settlement on the townhouse and things went great. After signing a ton of papers they handed us the keys and said congratulations on buying your first home. That felt so good to hear, we bought our first home. I never thought we would get to this point, but we sure did. I have always believed that things happen for a reason even if you don't know what it is at that moment. We would never have left the apartment at Dogwood Acres if we had not been asked to move out, Ben would never have walked away from Dogwood to find a new job if he had not been fired, and we would never have been looking for a house and had this drop into our lap had we not been living with Tracy & Dave. It all worked out for the best for us which is just proof that things do happen for a reason!

After settlement Ben and I went to the townhouse and started the cleaning process. We also changed the front door lock and handles. While there we also had to unplug all of the appliances and move them away from the walls so that the electrician cam get to all of the outlets on Wednesday & Thursday. There is a TON of work that needs to be done on the townhouse so I am overwhelmed right now with it, but I know we will work on it slowly and eventually get it all done.

This week we have to finish packing which I was done a good job of procrastinating (oops). Then on Friday I need to go up to the townhouse to vacuum and clean the kitchen. We will be making the big move on Saturday morning! On Sunday Tracy is going to come up to the house to help with unpacking and more cleaning. We were supposed to go to a birthday party for Gavin (the boys' cousin), but since there is SO much to do at the house the boys might go with Rich & Laura while Ben, Tracy, and I work at the house.

We have lots of important things coming up (2 year wedding anniversary, my b-day, Easter, family b-days) along with Ryder's developmental pediatrician appoint and a meeting with a possible new pediatrician for them close to the townhouse. I will do my best to get online (either at Tracy & Dave's or in Annapolis or even a local Panera), but Ben and I are working on getting Internet at the house sooner than later.

Well, I am exhausted after a long day so I am off to bed...

Townhouse Pictures

I took a bunch of pictures while we were at the townhouse today.

Zak in the bedroom closet

The boys in our closet
Looking into Kitchen/Dining Room

Basement

Bar in the Basement

Laundry Room

Looking in from Front Door

Living Room

Living Room

Boys' Playroom (It will be 1st room we paint!)

Playroom

Boys' Bedroom

Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom Closet

Hopefully it will look very different once we get moved in and are able to paint.

Busy Weekend

This weekend we were pretty much on the go the whole time. Friday evening Tim flew in from NH. He was coming to help us paint the townhouse, but since we didn't go to settlement we spent the weekend doing other things.

Saturday morning we met Tim at Home Depot to do some more shopping for things to use at the townhouse. We have LOTS of cleaning, maintenance, and fixing to do so we have been spending a lot of time at Home Depot and Lowes the last few weeks. After leaving Home Depot we went to the mall for lunch and then let the boys run around the play area for a while. Then we came home and Tim played with the boys while Ben and I packed up most of the boys' bedroom (clothes and toys). Once we were done that it was dinnertime so we went to Bill Batemans. By the time we got home it was bedtime for the boys and then Tracy. Dave, Ben, and I played Uno until about midnight or so.

This morning Ben and I took the boys to Goodwill and Lowes. Once we got home it was nap time for the boys. Ben worked on building a shelf for his work van and I went to Babies R Us to meet Chelley & Maddie. At 3pm we (Tracy, Ben, the boys, Tim, myself) drove up to the townhouse to meet our realtor for another walk through so that Tim could at least see the house even though we didn't get to paint. Once we were done there is was dinnertime so we went to Damons at Arundel Mills then came home to put the boys to bed. While I was in the shower Ben moved our stroller into Tracy's car and packed our car with all of the cleaning stuff and other things for the townhouse.

Tomorrow I am watching Maddie for a bit in the morning while John has an interview. Then I have to leave the house around 2:45pm to head to Bel Air for settlement. The boys are staying home with Dave and then he is taking them to Tracy at her school when he goes to work. The boys will get to play in Tracy's classroom for a bit and all of the teachers at the school are excited to get to see them again. Then Tracy will bring them home to feed them dinner, play, and put them to bed. In the meantime, Ben and I will be at settlement and then we are going to the townhouse to clean clean clean and change the front door lock. I have no clue what time Ben and I will be home tomorrow night, but it is going to be a very long day.

We have the electrician going to the townhouse to do some work Wednesday & Thursday. Then on Friday at some point I am hoping to go to the townhouse to vacuum and rent a carpet cleaner to clean the carpets. And then Saturday is the big move day!

Here are some pictures from over the weekend...

Easter Bunny

I wanted to take the boys to see Santa Clause at Christmas, but Ben always said it was too long of a line or too much money. So we never got to do that. We have been walking by the Easter Bunny at the mall and the boys always seemed so interested. So I told Ben I wanted to let the boys go see the Easter Bunny and once again he said no. Today I was going to take the boys to the mall to run around in the play area and I decided to take their Easter outfits so they could see the Easter Bunny.

When we got in line both boys were waving at the bunny and seemed to be in good moods. When it was our turn Ryder was very excited to get to the bunny. He ran up to him, waved, talked and played with the bunny which shocked me with all of the social issues we are having with him around other kids. Zak walked up to the bunny and touched his hand, but was not too happy. He tried to run away, but I caught him and sat him on the bunny's lap next to Ryder. Overall, this was a very successful photo session for us since there was no crying! We didn't get any good smiles, but for us no crying and sitting still works.

When we got home I put on some nursery rhyme music on the tv and the boys were dancing around. It was so cute. I tried to get some videos of them and here is what I got...

Updated Settlement Info

We will be going to settlement on Monday March 30 at 4pm. Our realtor is going to talk to the seller's agent and see if we can work something out to allow us to get in the townhouse and do some painting this weekend, but not a high chance it will happen. Tonight we took the boys to the final walk through and they had a blast running around the house. Much to our surprise the house is completely empty and the current owners are out. It makes the whole situation even more annoying since we know the house is sitting there empty yet we can't do anything with it until Monday.

Settlement Change

I am not going to get into details, but somebody at the bank and lender office messed up so settlement can't take place tomorrow. We are waiting to hear from the title company to find out what time we can go to settlement on Monday. Hopefully there will be a time late enough for Ben to go to since he can't take the day off. Tonight we are still going to do the final walk through and sign an addendum to extend the contract since it legally ends tomorrow. Our loan is locked until next week sometime (I don't know the exact date) so as long as we can close on Monday it should be fine. I will update as soon as I know more details.

This change means we will be moving into an unpainted house. So we will have to figure out a way to paint room by room without the boys breathing it because of their asthma an weak lungs. The electrician shouldn't be effected as long as we close on Monday because he is not coming to work on the house until Wednesday.

Everything was going very smoothly and then this major mistake occurs, very frustrating!

Busy Week

This is going to be a busy week or so for us. Ryder has had 2 therapy sessions this week since he will be missing a few sessions while we get our new schedule worked out in Harford County. Tomorrow I have to go to the bank to get the cashiers check for our closing costs and then we have the final walk through at 7pm. Friday we go to settlement at 2pm so the boys will be staying at home with Tracy & Dave. After settlement Ben & I are going to buy the paint and then stop by the townhouse to drop it off and change the lock on the front door. Then we will be spending Saturday and Sunday cleaning, painting, and doing some minor fixes around the townhouse. The boys will be staying at home with Laura on Saturday and with Tracy on Sunday.

Next week we have the electrician going to the townhouse on Wednesday & Thursday to change out all of the aluminum wiring. And then on Saturday April 4 we will be making the big move!

Today I have been making sure we have everything in place for settlement. All of a sudden I realized we need to call BGE to set up service. So I made that call and have it all set up. We plan to join the Peak Rewards program which will help save money on our monthly bill over the summer along with getting a new programmable thermostat. We have to wait until after our first bill to be able to sign up for it though.

I have a meeting with a potential new pediatrician on April 7. I am hoping once I meet with her I will feel comfortable and switch the boys to a pediatrician closer to the new house. Then Ryder has an appointment with a Developmental Pediatrician in Annapolis on April 14. We have been waiting to get in to see this doctor in the hopes that she will be able to offer more insight and suggestions for Ryder's delays.

Teaching Bad Things

Today we were bad parents and gave the boys wrestling lessons! They were so funny chasing each other and tackling each other to the ground. They would roll around on the ground together and just be cracking up. I tried to get a few videos, but they were more interested in my camera than wrestling so I didn't get many good ones. I am sure we will regret these lessons down the road.

Getting Ready for the Townhouse

This morning we left the house around 9:30am to head into Annapolis. We went to see some futons that another MOM is trying to get rid of since they are moving to France the end of April. The futons were really nice and a great deal (2 futons with mattresses for $140) so we will go back to pick them up the weekend of April 18-19. After that we went to the mall and let the boys run around for a bit. We then headed to Sears to look at dishwashers because they were having a sale. We looked at a few options and then went to lunch because the boys were hungry. After eating we went back into Sears and planned to buy one of the dishwashers we had looked at, but their system was down. We waited for a bit, but the boys were exhausted and not happy so we left and decided to go back later this week. While the boys napped I decided to get online and see if we could buy the dishwasher online, but it wasn't working. While online I went ahead and looked around at other stores to see if we could find a cheaper one (the one at Sears was more expensive than we had wanted to spend, but had everything we wanted). I remembered my mom saying she had found most of their appliances at Lowes so I went there after looking at a few other places with no luck. Well, I was surprised to find a dishwasher in black with the Sanitizing Rinse & Sanitizing Wash along with being able to do a half load (run only the top rack) for $100 cheaper than the one at Sears. Ben and I decided to go ahead and get this one since it was cheaper and had more features (we love the idea of being able to run only the top rack for the boys' cups and also having the Sanitizing Rinse & Wash). So it will be waiting for us to pick it up from the Lowes in Bel Air once we are moved into the house.

My mom bought us the freezer we were looking at from Sears. We will pick that up the morning we are moving into the house. We have also gotten new locks for the front door, cleaning supplies, and various other odds and ends we will need for the townhouse. My friends from high school (Kami & Jerry) are being great and letting us have 2 chairs and ottomans that they no longer need. As for furniture we pretty much just need 2 more dining room chairs.

Here are a few pictures of the boys at lunch having dessert...

Rita's

Today to celebrate the first day of Spring Rita's was giving out free ices from noon-10pm. This is a yearly event which I have not gone to for a while now so we decided to take the boys tonight. Tracy, Ben, and I took the boys to Rita's and stood in line to get our free ices. Ben had green apple, Tracy had kiwi-strawberry, the boys had banana, and I had sugar-free pineapple. We all enjoyed it. The boys were on a crazy sugar high once we got home and were being very funny.

Zak making elephant noises with Tracy

Ryder in the rocking chair

Zak playing with his sock

He has become obsessed with trying to put his socks on when they come off

My Gym

Today I took the boys to a twin toddler playgroup at My Gym. We have never been to a place like this before with them so I figured we would try it out. I was always worried taking them by myself since I would have them running in different directions trying to climb and so on, but in this situation it was nice because we all helped watch each others kids.

Zak was all over the place jumping on the trampoline, climbing the steps and ramps, going down the slides, playing in the ball pit, and even hanging on the bars. He was playing with the other kids and other adults so well. Once and a while he would come find me just to make sure I was still there, but then he was off again. He fit in with the older kids pretty well; there was 1 set of twins a little younger and then the others were all 2 or 3 years old pretty much. I only got 1 picture of Zak because he was always on the move.

Ryder was pretty shy and kept to himself most of the time. He was attached to my hip for most of the time until he started to play with one of the grandfathers who was there. He loved playing with the basketball hoop and balls. I did get him to go on the trampoline with me and to go up the ramp and steps a few times. Near the end I put him in the ball pit and he had a blast playing with a little girl close to his age. He is definitely shy and would benefit from more of these group activities. Also, many of the activities at the gym are great for things we are working on with his PT.

The boys have decided they would like to get a class like this for their birthday! Yes, it is a while away but they are starting their list now. I have not been able to find any local MOM clubs or other playgroups near the new house so unfortunately the boys won't get to participate in the playgroups much longer. I am a member of AMOM until about June or July so we will try to attend a few of the playgroups until then, but the drive will be long so we won't make it to as many.

New T-Shirts & Hair Cuts

Yesterday Dani and I took the boys to a toddler playgroup at Kinder Farm Park with the MOM club. The boys had a great time playing and running around at the playground. While we were there one of the other MOM members brought t-shirts we had ordered for the kids. They are bright yellow and say I belong to A MOM! (Annapolis Mothers of Multiples AMOM). These shirts are for the kids to wear at playgroups which are in large areas so that we can all keep an eye on the AMOM kids easily. After playing at the playground we all took a walk to see the baby pigs and goats which were pretty cute.

The other day we gave the boys a new haircut. We were trying to just shorten the mohawks, but in the end we just decided to shave their heads.
Much of the morning Ryder spent perfecting his temper tantrums. He has just about caught up to Zak's level of perfection which includes throwing himself to the ground and kicking and rolling. Ryder definitely has some funny facial expressions during his tantrums. I tried to get a few pictures, but it didn't work well so this is all I got today. I am sure they will both have plenty of tantrums in he future for me to take pictures.

Lots of Videos

First, I will update what the doctor told me at my appointment. After talking with him about the severity of the headaches, how often they occur, and how they are different from other migraines I have had in the past he is sending me to see a neurologist. He said it sounds like I have something called cluster headaches. Usually they will prescribe steroids to help with them, but being Diabetic they don't want to use steroids because they can cause issues with blood sugar levels. He said the neurologist will be able to decide if they are cluster headaches and also have other means to treat it. I might need to get an MRI done since the last one I had was about 7-8 years ago. I will be getting a referral in the mail and then can make an appointment with the neurologist.

Now for the fun stuff...tonight we took a ton of videos of the boys. Once again the videos are pretty dark since we were in their bedroom, but they are still cute. Enjoy!

Ryder playing basketball

silly zak

Ryder saying "ball"

Zak playing basketball

Ryder playing alone

Zak eating his hot dog and ketchup

Mosaics

I found a really neat website where you can make mosaics with your own pictures. I put together one of Zak and one of Ryder real quick today. I think I might try to make them monthly or every few months just to capture their growth in that time. Enjoy!

This week the weather is supposed to be pretty nice again. The boys and I hope to make it to a twin toddler playgroup at the playground on Wednesday afternoon which should be fun. And then there is a playgroup at My Gym on Friday that we plan to go to as long as their coughs are better. Ryder's OT and Speech therapist will be coming on Wednesday morning to complete a sensory evaluation because he seems to dislike having his hands messed with.

Next week Ryder has speech therapy on Tuesday. Ben and I have the final walk through at the townhouse on Thursday evening and then we go to closing at 2pm on Friday! Tim (Ben's father) is flying in on Friday so that he can help with cleaning and painting over the weekend.

Boys Will Be Boys

Ben has been teaching the boys some manly habits recently. I have been trying to get them on video and finally got a few cute ones. Zak is definitely better at it than Ryder, but Ryder is starting to participate. Enjoy!

Zak burping

Making Funny Noises

Zak saying his favorite word "weee"

Tonight we went to Chevy's for dinner with Rich and Laura. Dani was working so we sat at her table and got to hang out with her also. We have been seeing a lot more of Dani, Laura and Rich since we found out the great news that Dani is expecting a baby girl in July. Laura and Dani came over the other day to go through my maternity clothes since I had a bunch that are just sitting around. I didn't want to get rid of them because Ben and I would love to have another baby in the future sometime so I figured Dani could get good use out of them for now.

This weekend we are hoping to get a lot of our stuff packed up and ready to move. The more we can get done ahead of time the better.

Updates

We officially have the time, date, and location of settlement on the townhouse. We will be closing on Friday March 27 at 2pm in Bel Air at the office of the title company. Today we met with the home owner's insurance agent to sign paperwork and pay for the first year (our FHA loan requires us to show proof of obtaining insurance so this is the easiest way to do that).

Ben and I have been crunching some numbers and it looks like we will have to go without cable and Internet for a while. This is going to be really difficult for both of us because I will no longer be able to update the blog or talk with my friends online (other twin moms and so on). Ben will have to find places with free Internet access in order to turn in his time sheets which are now all done online. Our plans will be to visit Tracy & Dave on the weekends so that the boys can come play with them and Bandit along with Ben and I being able to use the Internet for various reasons. We have also talked about the possibility of me finding a part-time job to help with some additional income which will help us be able to get Internet sooner than later.

Ben and I have slowly started to go through stuff and pack. Luckily we never unpacked our kitchen stuff so that is already packed up and ready to go. We know there is going to be a lot of work and lack of sleep the first week or so after we close on the house, but are looking forward to getting into our own place.

The boys are still feeling under the weather with this viral thing they have going on. They are still playing and pretty active, but more cranky and clingy than normal. They have also not been eating as well as normal, but still drinking a lot. I have been checking on them throughout the night because I will hear them wake up periodically and cry. Ryder has started to have night terrors again which is so hard to deal with because we can't do anything for him. I have only had to use the nebulizer once with them so far which is great. We are hoping they will start feeling better soon so that I can take them to some of the twin toddler playgroups before we move. We have filled out paperwork for the developmental pediatrician and are just waiting to get a call to schedule an appointment with her for Ryder.

I have been struggling with migraines again recently. I know that they are from the stress and lack of sleep recently, but I still plan to try to get to the doctor to talk about getting back onto some medication to control them.

Today the boys worked on coloring some cards for family members. We have lots of birthdays coming up along with Easter so we are starting ahead of time on the cards. Here are some cute pictures of them from today:

Bad Boys

This evening Ben discovered that Zak had once again climbed up and gotten something off the top of their white bookcase. Once Zak brought it down Ryder joined in on the fun. Enjoy!

Poor Ryder *With New Pictures*

This morning Ryder woke up earlier than normal and he was screaming so I went to check on him. He was standing next to the bed leaning on it and had just thrown up from screaming so much. I picked him up and could tell he needed his diaper changed so I laid him down to change it. When I took his diaper off I realized why he was screaming so much. The poor kid has the worst diaper rash I have ever seen. He is so sore that he won't walk so he has just been laying around. I finally got him to calm down so I decided maybe getting out of the house would be a good distraction so we went to the mall. Once we got to the play area Ryder still wouldn't stand, walk or move so I just held him while Zak played.

Then we walked around and went into Hallmark to look at Easter cards. Well, Ryder decided to be a sneaky little thing. I was looking at cards and then bought a few. We walked across to Payless and when I went in front of the stroller I saw something I couldn't believe. Ryder had 3 cards in his hands and then about 10 more under the stroller!! I was so embarrassed, but went back to return the "stolen" cards. They said it was fine and even told Ryder to just keep the 3 he had in his hands. I am still so embarrassed and really hope this doesn't happen again!

Zak pushing Ryder aroundSleepy boys

Zak being cute while sleeping

After talking with various other mothers about how to help a diaper rash we decided to try a baking soda bath since it was recommended to me by many people. We filled the tub with a few inches of water and then poured in some baking soda and sat the boys in it for a while. After their "bath" we let Ryder run around his room naked to try and let him dry off well. As he tried to sit in our laps I decided to get creative and try to find a way to wrap his towel around him loosely so that it would catch any pee that may come out. These pictures are horrible because I used my cell phone and their room is not very bright at night.

Our toga boy