Our Week...

After my last post on the house there is not a whole lot to say other than we are still waiting and since banks don't work on Sundays the house news has not changed. Here are some pictures from our past week. Emily, Avery, Emily's mom Sally, and Baby Isabel came over to visit this week and the other highlight of the week was TJ and I got to go play laser tag and put-put with friends for a birthday. It was so much fun! Anderson did get a new pair of shoes this week and they look just like TJ's. They are precious! Don't make fun of his shorts... they are a 6-12M but they just hang on the poor boy!

And how could I forget to add that we have been obsessed with the Olympics. I loved watching swimming obviously and proud that there were so many Auburn swimmers at the Olympics. We stay up past midnight every night watching. I have had to go from one cup of coffee a morning to three! Karoline is REALLY into the diving! We are thinking of starting training for her next week! :) Because we have watched so much swimming and diving Karoline wanted to play in our pool every afternoon. She would wake up from her naps ready to go and get her swim suit.
... now here are pictures!

Watching diving... she asks to watch it every day. And yes, when they go to commercial she says "Mommy, divings broken!"

Avery & Isabel's Visit



Anderson loves pulling magazines off the coffee table.

"Oh mom, more pictures?"


I am pretty sure we are not going to allow my mom to leave (we'll TJ might have something to say about that!)...

Karoline gets a big kick out of laying in Gammy's bed (AKA the sofa!) every morning.



This picture is for Emily...

Video-

Cute Quotes From Karoline...

Many of my friends are so much better about documenting cute quotes and I am trying to get better! I always think... I need to write that down and then I forget them. So I thought I would document some of the cute things that have been coming out of Karoline's mouth. I LOVE having a two year old. Even though "NO" comes out of her mouth very often, in the middle of the "no"'s comes really cute stuff!


My Eyes Are Broken:
This one was a few weeks ago. I always go in to kiss Karoline one more time when I go to bed (which is usually around midnight).
VERY VERY DARK in Karoline's room...
KBG:I need to go potty mommy.
Me: Okay, Lets go...
We go into my bedroom with all the lamps on and it's bright- she is squinting and yells...
KBG says panicking: Mommy, My eyes are broken!! My eyes are broken!!
Me: Oh baby, your eyes are not broken! I'm sure of it.
KBG: sure? sure?
Me: I'm sure.

My Dress Is Broken:
This morning Karoline was sitting on my lap while I was putting on her dress. I slipped on her bloomers and put on her sandals. I planned on pulling up her bloomers when she stood back up. We were rushed to leave (as usual) and I just stood her up on the floor and I quickly went to the kitchen to gather my purse and the kids bags. Karoline starts yelling from the living room...
KBG: Mommy! My dress is broken! My dress is broken!
Me: Karoline your dress is not broken! (thinking what in the world is she talking about!)
I just keep getting my stuff together.
KBG: Mommy! My dress is broken!
I then here her waddling into the kitchen like a penguin with her bloomers around her ankles! I felt so bad! :)


Anderson Needs A Dress:
After I got the bloomers pulled up I got Anderson's jeans to put on him. Karoline came over to us and said...
KBG: Mommy, where is his dress?
Me: He doesn't wear a dress. He's a boy.
KBG (sounding worried): But Anderson has to go to church!
Me: He is going to church Baby, but he will NEVER wear a dress!
Oh it was so funny because she was so worried he was not going to get to go because he didn't have a dress!

Spelling:
We have been working on teaching Karoline to spell her name. So we were practicing at lunch and here is how it went...
Me: Karoline, spell your name,
KBG: 1,2,3,4,5,6....
Me laughing: No... spell your name silly!
KBG: A, B, C, D, E, F, G....
After singing the whole alphabet I figured we needed another lesson! :)

Who's In Charge:
Karoline and TJ were in the kitchen...
TJ: Karoline, who's house is this?
KBG: Daddy's house!
TJ: That's right! Karoline, who's in charge?
KBG: Mommy!She is a smart girl!

Do You Want My Blood?

I feel like asking Bank of America this question. I feel like I have given them everything they could possibly ask for except my children and my blood! Seriously, they are working on one last thing... bank statements. I think all we have to do is show them proof of some gift money we got from family and we should be done. All they have left to ask for is my blood... I think if they ask for that I'll move to a different lender. We are NOT closing Monday or Tuesday but if they don't ask for more stuff we might close at the end of the week next week. Prayer requests:

1) The bank won't ask about other deposits made into our checking that have NOTHING to do with our loan (aka TJ's expense report money from the church)... it always delays things by like 2 days when this happens.

2) That our loan will be on the top of the underwriters desk on Monday morning :)

3) That our Realtor will convince the seller not to charge us $100 a day since Aug. 8th!!!!

4) That we close next week.

5) That my mom can stay longer if we move. She is willing it's just a matter of United having a flight available.

Thanks for all your continued prayer and support!

Paper Trail...

Okay, I am going to take a moment and express my frustrations with Bank of America and their mortgage center... Here is what we are dealing with...

Yesterday we were told we would close on Wednesday (tomorrow). They told us they had ALL the papers they needed for us... then they called today... here is how the conversation went...

BofA: The copies of your bank statement that you sent us are not going to work because it does not show your entire bank account number. We are going to need the statements that are mailed to you.

Me: We don't get statements in the mail.

BofA: You don't? Really? Well, what you gave us is not going to work.

My thoughts: YOU ARE BANK OF AMERICA- JUST LOOK UP MY DANG ACCOUNT YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me: Bank of America decided to push everyone to go "paperless" and we did. Now we are being punished for it!???

BofA: We'll I guess I'll have to see what I can do...

My thoughts: You DO that!!

She then went on to basically say she needed me to be able to document every penny that is in our savings and checking account!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE HECK!???

BofA: What was the deposit of $4,800 for?

Me: TJ's church credit card (expense report).

BofA: Have you paid that?

Me: Yes, and it is cleared.

BofA: Can you send me proof that it has cleared?

Me: Yes, but it's an online statement that apparently is non-acceptable!

My thoughts: Why did they even offer paperless statements if they don't count them as a REAL bank statement!!???

Anyway... we went on and on... it's just ridiculous! I guess because I know I am an honest person does not mean that they know I am an honest person. It's sad that so many dishonest people have caused this and now it effects an honest family of four just trying to buy a house to call home. I guess it is common for people to put random money in their accounts while they are in escrow so it looks like they have more than they really do...

I am fed up with it all... I want to be DONE. I want to close. I am tired of closing dates that come and go. Why can't they decide all the paperwork they want before the day we are supposed to close??? I recommend you NOT go with Bank of America for a home loan and also if you have any kind of money or savings you better be able to document every dime. I guess I should have done receipts for my garage sale because I am sure B of A will want to know where the $425 came from!!

Thanks for letting me vent... mom's at the store, TJ's at work, the kids are asleep so I lean on my blog for support! :) hehe! I am going to go ahead and guess that we will NOT be closing tomorrow! SHOCKER!!

For My Dad...

Normally when my mom comes to visit my dad is out of town too on a business trip, but he is home in Texas. Mom came when she did because we were going to close on the house and we needed her here for the move (still no loan or closing date.... keep praying!). So dad has been working but misses mom. He sends us pictures from his cell phone multiple times a day so I thought I would post some pictures for him... Dad, we are taking real good care of mom. Only making her do hard labor a few hours a day :) We wish you were here though the only place for you to sleep would be the floor but if you get too hot or bored hop on a plane!

We had a pretty good weekend. Anderson has been very sick but seems to be getting better... He has learned a new skill, clapping! It's so cute. Karoline has had a good weekend and is very into the Olympics. She LOVES swimming and diving. I think she might be a swimmer or a diver. She LOVES the water (see below). We still have no closing date like mentioned before... they say Wednesday... but they said today too! I need lots of prayer because I don't understand God's purpose in this. I know His will is best but right now I don't understand. I WANT to understand!

Getting ready to walk... Anderson is standing up ALL day long. He just needs to learn the art of putting one foot in front of the other. So he really enjoys the wagon and we have started to take it outside for him to walk around with while Karoline runs around.

"I wonder what this swing tastes like?"




Karoline playing in the pool... even though it was quite cool outside. She doesn't care if it is so cold and she turns purple when she wants to get in the pool she wants to get in the pool...
Playing with Gammy...

Taking turns pushing each other up and down the hall (a MILLION times!)



Let me explain this picture... TJ and I were watching TV while mom was reading to Karoline and I looked into the video monitor and they were reading books with stuffed animals on their head! So I got my camera and captured this silly moment!

Isabel Ryan Wilson Arrives

My sweet friend Emily gave birth to Isabel Ryan Wilson Saturday, Aug. 9th at 6:23PM. She was 7 lbs. 10 oz. and OH so cute! I got to ride into the city with Emily's mom to visit them on Sunday. Avery is a very proud big sister! Here are a few of the almost 60 pictures I took at the hospital!

Photo Shoot

Here are the pictures from our photo shoot the other day! These are the un-edited images...

7 Things I Learned This Week

Here are things I have learned this week...

1) I am MUCH more equipped to work at Home Depot than the employees I dealt with this week. A chandelier that was "out of stock, never coming back again, gone, gone, gone..." was AMAZINGLY on the shelf when I arrived at Home Depot. It's a miracle! And I had to help a lady in the carpet section because the employee could not answer her questions! Seriously, I asked a lady for help because I was trying to buy a lighting collection and she gave me a look like "you really want help?... am I supposed to do that?" Got the same look, and attitudes, from several other people!

2) "Closing" is a word that means nothing to me. We have had a million different closing dates and they all come and go... FRUSTRATING! They now say Tuesday...who knows. If I don't work at Home Depot in the future I want to be an underwriter and get people's mortgages done quickly! :) To clarify, we do not have a loan yet... we won't know about the loan until the day before we close. Isn't that just great!? They say things are looking good though.

3) I am 99.9% sure I do NOT want another baby. Our poor little man was/is sick and was up all night long last night. I don't think TJ and I have it in us to do the whole no sleep thing again. Say a prayer for our little man. He is SO stuffed up.

4) Sometimes doctors call and make appointments for you for no good reason. Anderson's foot doctor called yesterday saying he wanted to see him today and when we arrived he sent us home!!! He said he didn't need to really see him! What? He did give us our $30 co-pay back. Does he NOT know how hard it is getting two kids up and going in the morning and out the door for a morning doctors appointment!???

5) Don't schedule photo sessions during nap time. I don't think there is ever a good time to get professional photo's taken so I thought I would do it today!... AFTER the doctors appointment!... Oh it was horrible but we actually got some GREAT pictures of the kids. I can't wait to post them. They should be up tomorrow. Mom said it was like wrestling two alligators. It was madness!

6) I am VERY thankful to have my mom here... It's fantastic having a helping hand AND the ability to do some things with just TJ. TJ and I went and got ice cream tonight and that was a treat!

7) I am excited about the Olympics. I LOVE gymnastics, swimming, and diving the best and I hope TJ doesn't make me watch the stupid stuff like basketball! I didn't "learn" this but I thought I would add it in.

It's been a great week, but still have some frustrations about the house so pray that things keep rolling. Karoline got a haircut this week and Anderson got his rat-tale cut off. I don't count it as his first haircut because it was two cuts and I didn't have my camera with me. Here are some cute picture of the kids.

This picture describes the mood Karoline has been in all week :) The princes' crown is upside down.

Anderson is standing a lot now and Karoline likes to help...

Such a big boy standing up...



Anderson having fun with a basket of books...

Helping mommy with laundry...

Reading with Gammy in Anderson's room...

The new haircuts...

In The Middle Of Waiting...

Well, I'll start off by saying that having my mom here is nothing short of wonderful! It's so nice having this little angle that follows me around cleaning up after me and my kids :) Hehe... she is a HUGE help and I am so thankful she is here. Finally! She got in on Saturday morning at 2:30AM!!!

We are still in the middle of waiting! We are still working on the house loan stuff... we should know from Bank of America tomorrow about our new loan. They don't think it will be a problem at all so I hope they are correct. I really like the new people we are dealing with. I don't know that it's a done deal by any means but things are looking better than they did last Thursday. Here is our current prayer request: 1)That we get a loan... 2)FAST CLOSING! I know that fast and closing don't belong in the same sentence but we need a FAST CLOSING! Our contract runs out on Friday, Aug. 8th, so we will have to pay $100 a day until we close! I REALLY REALLY don't want to do this but since we have already extended our contract once before I am not sure if we can do that again. Anyway... KEEP praying.

Funny thing... yesterday I forgot to call AT&T to tell them we ended up not closing on Friday and they switched our phone to the new house. We were without phone and internet all day yesterday. It was strange! But it's back on now. It could have been worse. It could have been DirecTV or the power! :)

Also, on a side note please keep my friend, Emily, in your prayers. She is in the middle of waiting too! She is due tomorrow with her second baby girl and we are SO excited! She is READY to have this baby! Please pray for her comfort (is there really comfort during labor?), Avery, Ryan, and her mom as she is flying in tomorrow.

Here are some pictures...

This little man LOVES bath time. We do bathes every-other night. It does not matter where he is in the house or what he is doing, when he hears the water start to run he crawls as fast as he can to the bath and stands up while the water fills up. It's just too cute!


Precious girl before church... we went to the late service and mom stayed home with Anderson while he took a nap. I took her to the service with me so she could watch TJ play. She enjoyed it but once the message started she wanted to go to her class. She was so happy when TJ took her. She LOVES going to church!


The boy LOVES his puffs as you can tell... they never get old.


Sorry the pictures of Gammy are of her in her PJ's... Karoline's favorite time with my mom is during breakfast when they have an "oatmeal party"...