Update on the House process

Yesterday we had an inspection of the house. It went well. Nothing major was found - so that is great. There was only one issue with the wiring in the electric panel that we are going to ask to have fixed. Just as a safety issue. Other than that, there really was nothing that was a big deal. So, we will have to negotiate getting the panel fixed, but after that its just completing the financing and waiting for the closing date. A few of you have asked where the house is. It's in Bolingbrook off of Rt 53 to Briarcliff and just a few blocks off of Briarcliff. And I finally got a good chance to take a bunch of pictures since we were there for a while yesterday. See below:

Front of house

Entrance to patio from lower level

Front door/foyer

part of the 24' kitchen

dining room

She is sitting up!

Just a quick note...this week Brooke has been sitting up on her own using her hand to hold her up...

But tonight I was sitting there and all of the sudden she was sitting up unassisted - using no hands! I don't know if you can really tell from the picture very well. It was really hard to get a picture because she pretty much falls over a few seconds later! But it is so cute!!

Brooke's First Visit to the Zoo!!

Today, Kevin & I took Brooke to the Brookfield Zoo!

This is how Brooke felt about it:

But it was a nice day, sunny and in the 70's and I think we all had fun. At first Brooke was more into the wooden fences, then the actual animals. In the end, I think she had fun though! She was a very good girl. And as you will see below, mommy & daddy quite enjoyed taking her picture!

Daddy & Brooke by the sloth bears Mommy & Brooke by the camels

Doesn't this picture look fake!

Oh no! Don't let that fishy get Brooke!

Brooke as we left.

All tired out from her first zoo experience!

New House - Take 2

An update on our house hunting. We went and saw 7 more houses on Wednesday. There were actually a few potentials. After some discussion and thought, we again put an offer on a house. And again, it was accepted. So, again, we may be home owners. Of course I am a bit paranoid now after what happened the last time. However, (and I sure hope this doesn't jinx us), it appears we are dealing with better and more professional people on the seller and realtor end this time. The seller is very motivated, as her husband had to relocate for work and so she has been away from him for 2 months already waiting until the house sells. So, I am hoping that is good for us, as she won't want to screw up any sale. Anyway, they already put the house in as "under contract" so we are already further along than we got last time. Also, we are having an inspection of the house on Wednesday. So, everyone please keep your fingers crossed for us that all goes well from here through June 29th which is our prospective closing date. P.S. I didn't have as much excitement this time around so the few pictures I took aren't great. But I plan to take a lot more pictures when we go for the inspection, so I will post pictures then.

Married...Again!

On Sunday, May 20th we get married again! When we got married the first time it was a non-denominational ceremony because it was outside. The Catholic church doesn't recognize marriage outside of the church. So, after Brooke was born and we were talking to the priest about her baptism, we decided to go ahead and do what we needed and have a ceremony in the church. We were married by Father George, who was Kevin's grade school priest. So, we got together the required documentation and even attended a pre-marriage class (in which we brought the baby!). Then we were set to have a ceremony and have our marriage blessed by the church. It was a beautiful day. And since it was much more low key and we had already done it once, it was not at all nerve racking or stressful. And our little Brooke got to be there!

Newly married McDermotts & baby

Lighting the Unity candle

Brooke really liked the church!

Brooke having fun after the wedding!

In other news...I am sad to say we did not get the house I posted about. It's kind of a long story and I am pretty sure the Seller's realtor is completely shady (...but that is another story)! The day after the sellers accepted our bid, they got another bid. So, we did up our offer a bit, but basically they didn't really give us a chance, they apparently just took the other offer without bothering to negotiate with us. So, it just wasn't meant to be. We are going out to look at about 8 more houses tomorrow afternoon (all in Bolingbrook). Hopefully we will have better luck this time around. Luckily we have time and there are lots of houses. One is just waiting for us! Of course, I will keep everyone posted on the progress.

Cross Your Fingers...

So, oh my gosh...its been a whirlwind of a day. So, as I said in my last post we found 2 houses that had potential and one we were really interested in. So, after lots of discussion and thought we put on offer on our favorite house. As most of you have probably experienced, it was a day of back and forth w/ the realtor and the paperwork and then w/ the offer and counter-offer. But in the end...We reached an agreement! So, our offer was accepted. I am SO excited!

However, its a long step by step process. Now we have 5 business days to get the house inspected and have our lawyer go over the contract. And the loan approval (which shouldn't be a problem). So, if each step goes smoothly and the inspector doesn't find anything awful - we may soon officially be home owners!!!!!!!

We were looking to close at the end of July since our lease is not up until August and we didn't want to overlap more than 1 month. But we agreed to a closing date of June 29th because the Sellers offered us a month's rent to close earlier.

I may be wrong, but I feel like we got a good deal. The house is very much what we were looking for and it is in move-in condition. Its all a little overwhelming right now...but a good overwhelming.

I will be keeping you posted on our steps/process along the way. Please see below for some pictures of our (hopefully) soon to be new home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

House hunting begins...

On Saturday we met with our great realtor Karen and looked at 5 houses in Bolingbrook. Its a crazy experience - very exciting. At the same time, for my auditor mind - it is nerve-racking as all the numbers & loan amounts fly around my head.

Anyway, after looking at the first two houses, I started to get discouraged. They didn't live up to the descriptions and pictures online. The first house had major cracks in the foundation - plus the backyard was just a huge incline. Then the second was filthy and just not that impressive. Luckily it got better after that!

Out of the 5 homes, we found 2 potentials. As Kevin would say "We could live here!". There is one that we really like, but it seems almost too good to be true with the condition and price, etc. So, we will probably want to put an offer on it, but are afraid that there may be a bidding war...so we will have to decide how much we are willing to pay if if were to come down to that.

Our first choice...

The other possibility we liked a lot too - however, it would need a lot more work before we could move in. For instance, all the carpeting needs to be replaced and all the rooms need to be painted. Plus we would need to get a fence. But we liked the set up of the house and it has a ton of storage space and lots of newer things such as the roof, windows, etc. So, depending on what happens with the other property - we would consider this one.

Potential # 2

So, yesterday was Mother's Day - my first. Its pretty surreal. I know life has ups and downs and Brooke won't always be a perfect child, but I will always love her more than anything. And I can't imagine anything more rewarding than being a mommy.

Yesterday, we had brunch at the Renaissance Center and then went over to Kevin's aunt & uncle's house in the afternoon for his grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary (isn't that amazing!). It was a beautiful day all around.

Some pictures from the brunch...

4 month doctor appointment

This morning was Brooke's 4 month check up at the doctor. It was very emotional for both Brooke and mommy! First Brooke had a bunch of ear wax so the doctor took this long thin metal instrument and I had to hold her arms down while he cleaned out the ear wax so he could look in her ear. I have never heard her scream so bad. I thought I was going to cry and it seemed like it took him forever (although I am guessing it was really just seconds). Finally Brooke got calmed down and even just fell asleep when the nurse came in with Brooke's vaccinations - 1 taken orally and 4 shots. So, of course another crying spell - but it was still better than when the doc cleaned out her ears. The new statistics: Brooke now weighs 13 pounds, 9 ounces which drops her down into the 50 percentile. Height is 26 inches (95th percentile), and her head is 16" (28th percentile). The doctor said she is tall and thin so we may want to start giving her a little juice for some extra calories. He said we can start food now too or we can wait until she seems ready (i.e. trying to grab our food, etc.). We will probably wait a little longer, but maybe a bit before 6 months like we originally planned. Also, I had lots of questions of course! And we learned a lot. You know how you always hear (and it even says on the bottle) that you should not use sunscreen on a baby until they are 6 months old. Well, the doctor said that the FDA can't approve things for infants under 6 months so that is why it says that and that you can put sunscreen on a baby from birth. So, now I will start w/ sunscreen and not be so worried every time we are in the sun. We also learned that you can use bug spray (even 100% DEET) on an infant as long as you don't put it on their hands or feet so they don't put it directly in their mouth. The bugs aren't here yet - but its good to know for the near future.

Brooke right after her appointment.

Brooke's shot "boo boo"

Happy Birthday to Me

So today is my birthday....I'm 29! People keep asking me what my plans were for today. I went to work! Then I came home and enjoyed time with my great husband and beautiful baby. Some call that boring...I call that wonderful! Not much else to report - just wanted to say "Yea! Its my birthday!" There will be more interesting stuff going on in the near future I can report on. Brooke goes to the doctor on Friday and our realtor is making appointments for us within the next two weeks to look at houses. Until then...here are some cute pics of Brooke...

Brooke "talking"

Brooke w/ demon eyes, eating her changing table!

First Boat Ride

Hi everyone! Welcome to our blog! At first I wasn't going to do a blog, but then I figured why not?! That way anyone can stop by to catch up as much or as little as they want. So, this past weekend we went up to Wisconsin to visit my mom and Larry. It was a great weekend with the weather. We took walks and did a little shopping. And late Saturday afternoon we all took a boat ride on the pontoon boat. Brooke's first boat ride ever! Brooke was oblivious of the fact that she was on a moving boat! She just hung out and played with her toys! But I think she had fun.

Brooke chilling w/ her sunglasses (they're a bit too big!)

Playing with her toys on the boat!