Because Cooper is terrified of the shiny floors. Bwahahaha! Is that mean to laugh?
Chris either has to carry him or make sure he gets a grocery cart. Cooper is so afraid of the shiny floors that he clings to Chris, practically crawling up him to get off the floor, all while he’s crying and whining. I personally haven’t seen it yet, but you better believe I will be getting photos and/or video.
Of course things like this happen when you first move, do not have a doctor, the old insurance just expired 5 days ago, and you just signed up for new insurance. The inspector warned us of the metal barrier that keeps the grass out of the rocks being a cutting hazard to feet and paws. We had planned to cover the metal (they sell stuff to do it easily), but we’ve been so busy unpacking.
I was in the backyard with the kids while they played and I pulled weeds. Soon Cooper decided it was time to pick up Scout’s poop. I stopped to help and as we were making sure we got everything picked up, Charlotte starts crying and yelling that she hurt her foot.
I assumed she stepped on a rock and told her to calm down and tell me where it hurts. She just kept holding her foot. I asked her to go sit on the patio until it feels better. I was only about 15 seconds, and she seemed to be getting more hysterical yelling that ‘huts, huts’ (hurts, hurts). Then I noticed that there was blood all over the patio and all over her hands!
I rushed over and checked out her foot and sure enough she had a deep gash. I rushed her inside, trying to convince Cooper not to pick up any more poop (Chris had left to run errands). I was concerned about tetanus and infection so I allowed the wound to bleed freely for about 20 sec while I washed my hands and Charlotte’s hands. Then used soap and water to clean up the wound so I could see how bad it was. After I could see what was wrong I put pressure on it to make sure the wound stopped bleeding.
It was one of those cuts that was deeper than I was comfortable with, but not quite deep enough to make me seriously worried. I called Chris to ask if I should take her to the Urgent Care down the street and he said do what I think is the right thing. I just felt more comfortable being told she was fine by a doctor, rather than risking it being more serious later on.
So I had to somehow keep Charlotte seated on the couch and corral Cooper. Since they had been playing at their water table their clothes were wet and both had very wet diapers. I had to first change all their clothes and diapers (running up and down stairs, still corralling Cooper and convincing Charlotte to stay on the couch), and get Charlotte to let me put a Band-Aid on her cut.
We finally got in the car and drove the Urgent Care. Chris took Cooper to finish errands and grab dinner, while I stayed with Charlotte. Because I didn’t have proof of insurance yet, we had to pay $377 just for the office visit! That’s just to see the doctor! I took her back and she was obviously very scared. I was so mad I forgot her blankie.
They had to burrito wrap her in a big blanket and pin her legs in order to numb her foot. She screamed and cried and begged to have me pick her up. It was just awful. Then they gave her 2 stitches (which cost another $242), and she cried again. She at least told them about her dog ‘Towty’ who says ‘woo, woo’. She said ‘chane choo’ (thank you) and ‘aw betta’ when I could finally pick her up.
She has been running, dancing, and jumping just fine, although if we tell her to be careful with her foot she gets really dramatic and whimpers saying ‘hut, hut’! I am so glad she is okay and so glad I took her to the doctor.
Now I have to figure out the whole insurance thing and filing a claim.
Gigi makes everything better!
The house is officially ours since one of our children have marked it with their blood.
Metal barrier that is now protected from feet and paws.
When we got into town we took a couple of days to relax, then we got right to house hunting. We originally narrowed our list from 150 houses to about 75, and then added another 15 or so over the following few days. We saw nearly 90 houses, but found several amazing houses.
We liked 5 houses. One was at the high end of our price range and I didn’t like that it was a brand new build. Another felt really great when you walked in, was super close to the light rail, and tons of upgrades, but just didn’t meet all of our needs for space and layout. Another one was really fantastic, but ended up being a short sale and given that we are on a time constraint weren’t interested in any short sales.
It came down to 2 houses. We loved both of them and could imagine living in both. One was further away from everything and had a small yard, but had basically everything else we wanted. I was going to have to compromise on a space for myself, the lack of a front porch, and that it was in a less established neighborhood (baby trees). We were also going to have to do a couple of upgrades. Chris LOVED the finished basement though. We went back a couple of times to look at that house and each time could really imagine living there.
The house we chose I loved from the moment I saw the front porch. It’s a corner lot with a huge backyard. I loved the established neighborhood and it’s 5 min away from several of our friends. It’s about a 45 min commute to work, but that’s mostly because I’m taking the light rail instead of driving. We didn’t have to compromise on anything and it really is our dream house. It already has most of the upgrades we want, and a blank slate for Chris to do his dream ‘man cave’. The kids also have an awesome built in play area out back.
Here are some photos. My photos weren’t really to show off the house, but to take photos during the inspection. I’ll have to get some more to really show of the house.
Front of the house (not my photo). I love the front porch and front landscaping. All the windows on the front of the house upstairs are the bedrooms, with the master above the garage.
Back yard play set. The corner of the yard slopes up so this is built into the hill. The rest of the yard is flat.
I was taking a photo of the basketball hoop (which we got included with the house), but you can see the edge of the left side of the yard. This is maybe 1/6 of the total yard. Seriously it’s huge!
This doesn’t show how high the ceilings are in the living room. They are about 30 feet high and the windows and fireplace extend up the high. The eating area and kitchen are completely open to the living room.
This is the seller’s photo
When you first walk in the door the formal dining room is on the left. We plan to use this room as either a play room or a library, or both!
To the right when you walk in is Chris’ office. It has built in cherry wood bookshelves and a desk. We plan to change the floor to hardwood and change out the desk to make it deeper. (seller’s photo)
Another seller’s photo. This is the master bedroom. The left of the photo is the front of the house with 2 large windows and to the right in the master bath and walk in closet. We plan to change the paint color and possibly add a window on the left to balance the window on the right.
I was taking a photo of the light fixture, but it shows you a bit of the size of the kitchen and eating area. 
Another view of the kitchen (was taking photos of the appliances) but you can see the double oven, large island and granite countertops. 
The other things I didn’t take photos of:
My office space, the cool cubbies to put our belongings when we come home, the upstairs laundry room, the 3 bedrooms upstairs, the one bedroom in the basement, the 3 bathrooms, and probably a few other things. I hope nothing falls through!!
So obviously we made it. The move happened a little differently than expected. The movers decided they could do everything in one day (Monday) so that meant we could leave a day early. It was very chaotic, but everything came together. We stayed with Caren Monday nigh and then Chris took all the stuff (wood, paint, household chemicals) to the dump on Tuesday morning The car guy showed up mid morning to load Chris’ car (they were moving his car while we drove mine), then Chris got back just in time to do the checkout with the landlord.
We got on the road about 1 pm just in time for the kids’ naps. While driving I called the hotel to change our reservations (then Caren called and told us we forgot our toiletries, but she sent them to us, so that worked out in the end). The road trip went really, really well. The kids did great, slept well, and hardly fussed at all. They seemed to like the adventure, but especially liked watching Wall-E and Nemo non-stop. A few funny stories:
We stopped in Vegas for gas, water and bathroom breaks. The kids were wandering around on the grass near where we were parked. They would wander into the sun and say ‘hot, hot’. Then they would go over to the car and blow on it to try to cool it off.
We stopped in St George and stayed overnight at Towne Place Suites. It was basically a 2 bedroom apartment that was super nice. We got the kids settled in one room with Cooper in the bed with bedrails and Charlotte in a portable crib from the hotel. I logged onto the computer while Chris started watching TV in our room. He commented that it was an awful small king bed. I told him it was just because we were used to our cal king. I went to bed about 15 min later and realized we were sleeping a queen with the dog while Cooper had the only king all to himself. We considered moving the kids, but just sucked it up. Next time we will be sure to check the bed sizes in all rooms before putting the kids to bed.
We stopped in Salina, Utah to eat Subway for lunch. The kids were a little stir crazy and while ordering our food they kept putting their faces over the vents in the floor so the air would blow on them. Then we went outside to eat and sat in a booth. Cooper crawled from his side under the table and pops up on my side saying ‘ta-da!’. When we got back in the car the bucket of dog food fell out of the back of the car and spilled on the ground. Suddenly there were a million seagulls!! Apparently lamb and rice dog food is a popular treat for birds.
What a chaotic day! I spent nearly all day at the park with the kids while the movers were doing the house. Now I’m sitting at Caren’s with the kids and Chris is still at the house loading up the car and waiting for them to finish. I can’t believe we’re leaving!
I probably won’t be blogging much over the next few weeks, but I’ll try to sneak it in when I can.
