It's cold

Wow is it cold! And the wind is wild. We love our new house but it is in a windy area to begin with and lately it has been extremely blustery. Josie got to wear her fleece one piece snow suit that Great-Grandma gave her for her birthday. It is very nice and the cuffs have a flap to fold over hands and toes. Josie wasn't real happy with not being able to "find" her hands with the flaps down.

Boxes

We are here in the new house. Thank god for the moving company!
Kate

Found

Found one pair of size three Reebok's at a reasonable price. Josie even likes to wear them! :)

Shoes

Do you know how hard it is to find size 3, lace up sneakers, with a hard sole, for a toddler that doesn't cost 40 plus bucks?! Good grief how can something so small be so expensive!

I think today is Wednesday...

It seems like I can't even keep track of what day of the week it is anymore. All I know is it isn't Thursday because I am analyst of the day on Thursday's and today I am not analyst of the day. So much has been going on it is crazy. We have a potential buyer for the condo but she wants to rent it for a year first and then buy it. That gives the credit markets time to hopefully recover and give her a better rate. No problem with us. She works on APG with Brian so he knows her and we are comfortable with her. We have no history of being a landlord so we have employed a real estate agent to help us out. He will also assist in the selling of the condo too. He is a great guy. Anyone need an agent in Harford County just let me know and I will give you his info. We sign all the rental agreements on the 24th.

On the buying side we are officially approved for our new mortgage and closing is scheduled for the 19th and the movers come on the 20th. We are packing the house ourselves so all the movers have to do is load it on the truck. They count this a local move because it is less than 100 miles so that helps keep the price down. Currently the first floor is about 85% complete and we have started on the upstairs before bed. Josie's room will be the last to get packed in an effort to keep things as normal as possible for her. The cats have been shipped off to my mom's and Josie will be joining them on the 18th. Right now our lives go like this, wake up go to work, come home eat dinner and pack, pack, pack!

So that is the update for now. If you have boxes, paper or want to help just let me know!

Thanks

I wanted to stop packing for a moment and say Thanks to some very important people. Anyone who knows me knows I don't ask for help very well or very much. I am a very self sufficent person and I take a sort of pride in that. But lately with this whole buying a house and moving thing I find myself leaning rather heavily on several people and I wanted to say thanks.

I wanted to thank my parents who have been great! From lending tools, tape and boxes to babysitting Josie so we can get more stuff done in a day and for taking in my cats for a few days. I really appreciate you and I hate having to ask for so much of your time and energy and I think you know why.

To Danielle, Brad and Jackson; thank you so much for all your encouragement, use of your house as a meeting place and for pointing out the house to us. Thank you also for your offer to keep my plants until we get up there and for all the boxes and paper. You guys are true friends and we will never forget your help.

To everyone else who has given verbal support and ideas for packing, moving and mortgages, thank you too. Please remember to be tolerant of our crazy rantings and lack of free time. It will all be over soon.

THANK YOU!

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Kate (via my cell phone)

Disney!

Hi there. We have returned from the World of Disney. We had a great time overall. It was a rough trip for some and not so for others. The entire family, my sister and her crew and my parents and us all met up at a hotel near BWI. Which is where I found us free parking for the whole week and a courtesy shuttle to and from the airport. Sunday we flew out of BWI in the morning and we all made it through security without much trouble. Southwest has changed their boarding procedures where families traveling with small children now board after the A group (which is more than half the plane) and before the B group. So when families without A boarding passes get to board the plane is half full and everyone is spread out that you can only find a row together in the very back of the plane. So we get to lug our car seat, carry on, diaper bag, baby and ourselves all the way to the very back of the plane. Sarah, being a party of 6, couldn't even get two rows together for the family. My parents ended up being split up and not even near each other. My dad had to sit next to some kid who had the flu. The adult with him made my dad sit next to the sick kid. She sat on the aisle the kid in the middle and my dad locked in by the window. A considerate person would have locked the kid into the window and let my dad sit on the aisle. The flight itself was good for us. Josie fell asleep during take off and didn't wake up until landing. Abbie enjoyed take off and fell asleep some time during the flight. We made it off the plane and to baggage claim without trouble and even got a skycap with a giant cart to help us with all the luggage. We picked up our rental cars and headed to Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa.

My parents are part of the Disney vacation club and was able to reserve a Villa. The Villa was great it was 2 floors with a full kitchen. 3 bedrooms, 4 full baths and sleeps 11. It was a really nice place to stay.

Monday my parents, Rebecca, Josie, Brian and I all went to the Magic Kingdom. Sarah, Arch, Daniel, Mikey and Abs went to a walk in clinic near the hotel. Dan and Mike were complaining that they were not feeling well at all. So off to the clinic they went. Dan was diagnosed with a massive double ear infection and Mike had bronchitis. So after several hours at the walk in clinic and a trip to Walgreen's for antibiotics the crew was back at the Villa. They spend the rest of the day sleeping. So only Rebecca made it to the Magic Kingdom out of all the Bullocks.

Tuesday my father came down with a stomach bug that sidelined him for Tuesday and Wednesday, which were Epcot days. Thursday the whole family made it to the park where we were at the Magic Kingdom again.

The whole week the weather was in the 80's and we were in shorts. It was great to be warm again. I guess we picked the best week to go because at home it snowed and there was lots of ice. I didn't miss that. This vacation was also the very first time work has ever called me while I was on vacation to ask a question. Guess that means I am important now?! I really think Chuck was lonely.

Jo had a great time and napped fine in the stroller. She liked riding on the different rides and was just her easy going self. She thought her cousins were hilarious and stole Rebecca's Mini Mouse plush that we had to buy Rebecca one to replace it. Jo also got a big Thumper! She saw it in the store and got all excited. She wouldn't let the sales guy take it to scan the tag. We had to pry it away for him to scan and then return it directly to her. She held onto Thump the rest of the night at the park. It is almost as big as she is. I do have to report that we lost a small Thumper our last day in the park. She had it in the stroller with her when she was napping but when she woke up it was gone. Thankfully I brought 2 from home and there are still plenty in reserve. Jo also got some Mickey socks, a t-shirt and a Figment plush. Plus I was able to trade my Darth Tader pin for a Thumper pin (which they don't sell on its own). I also got a new t-shirt and a few items for the new house.

We flew back on Friday and Jo slept during the flight again. This time Abs cried and fussed the whole way.

Back to reality....

We spent the whole weekend packing up the house. Brian said I was a machine. He couldn't pack another box and here I was still working. It doesn't really feel like we have made a dent but I guess we have. The attic is pretty clean now and we put out about 6 bags of trash. The living room looks sparse and the dinning room has all the boxes. I can't really believe that we are really moving. It is really bittersweet because my sister lived in this house and then us. I grew up in Forest Hill and I know this area like the back of my hand. But I know that if we don't do this now we will never get out of this house and I really want out.

Well I have rambled on enough for one night....