Under

Matt and I have been looking for a house for almost 3 years now. We currently live in the house that I bought before I met Matt. It's a little ranch, close to downtown, in a "transitional" neighborhood. When I bought it in 2001 the transition was beginning. I would say that the hood is now in phase II. A couple of people have done pretty big additions, quite a few have done renovations but there are still some homes that could use some TLC. This little house is where we lived when we met, when we brought Lola home, then Gunner, got married and is where we prepared for, and had, our first child together. I'm really proud of this home and proud that I bought it when I was young and single. But it is not where we need to be. The people in this neighborhood are wonderful...but we are flanked on 3 sides by not so great apartment complexes. The foot traffic we get are the type that throw their McDonald's bag and Bud Light Lime bottles in the road or, better yet, our yard.

And it is small. It was great for me and Matt and even Lola fit fine. But add another 100 pounds of black dog and baby...and an office for Matt to work in and you have CLAUSTROPHOBIA. And a TIGHT CHEST every time the baby is sleeping and Matt comes home, or moves, or the dogs bark...or move. It just isn't working for us.

Matt has never felt like this is his "home" and has always wanted to live in the country. To live in the country means moving out. Way out. I work downtown, my gym is downtown, my 5:15 a.m. running buddies are downtown. And I have a baby that I don't see enough as it is. How is adding an hour commute time before and after work going to be ok? It isn't.

So we talked, and looked, and talked, and fought and looked, and looked, and looked. And prayed and prayed and prayed. And then we found it. Our perfect compromise. Our meant to be home. We both had a good feeling about it from the time I learned about the house and sent the listing to Matt. We knew not to get our hopes up but this was different - this feeling that "this was the place" had never happened to us before but we both had it now. BOTH of us. I think our realtor is the only other person who understands the poingnancy of that term - "Both of us."

We saw the house and made an offer that night. A long and agonizing 6 days later we hear that our offer has been accepted as is. Yay! But the contract was not signed or dropped off like the seller said it would be. 1, 2, 3 days later, we hear that she wants her attorney to look over the contract. So we wait again and at last hear that we're good. The attorney is fine with this standard NC real estate contract. But again, the contract is not signed or dropped off. Another restless night of sleep and we get the word it is done. The contract is signed - we're on! Now we just have to sell Fenton St...

We clean, put excess furniture in storage, take down personal items and pictures and mentally try to prepare ourselves for the months ahead. We have to have a system: dogs stay outside as much as possible, have Ti come every week to clean while the house is on the market, I do a, b, and c every morning and d, e, and f, every night. Matt has his list. Swiffer, vacuum, mop, mop, mop!!

The house goes on the market at noon on Wednesday. Our first showing is at 1:00 on Thursday. We go under contract 9:00 pm Friday. Say what?!? Yes! Yes! Yes! Fenton St. is under contract!

We are scheduled to close on August 21st and will rent Fenton St. from the new owner through September 18th while the renovations on our new home are being done. We are thankful and thrilled and so looking forward to our fresh start in this new home - that we searched for and dreamt about together. Both of us.

18 Months...A Little Late

I started this post when B turned 18 months. Fast forward a month and here we are finishing it up. And so it goes...

B is a very busy little girl. She is in constant motion, constantly changing directions (and sometimes mood) faster than you can blink, and always a big source of joy. I think I've said this before but I'll say it again - my biggest surprise in birthing and raising this child is how much I laugh with her around. I didn't know I would find her this amusing, especially as early as I did. I love watching her wheels turn.

Some things little precious has been up to:

The girl is obsessed with shoes. You better watch your big toe if you're hanging out with the Helbigs. You never know when a little hand is going to grab it and try to shove it into her size 4 white sandals. She has, on occasion, thrown a fit when I take her shoes off. And the other morning she was adament about only wearing the left shoe. I suppose the right one got her right mad about something. Last week I saw her put her shoe on the leg of my desk chair.

Our new favorite game is "shoo fly, shoo". Flies really gross me out and I don't know why but for about a week we had quite a few hanging out in the house. She now calls anything that flies a fly and waves her hand and says "shoo, shoo, shoo". I love it.

Watch out Gunner...I see tutus in your near future.

Last week I caught her licking the dog bowl...which was just licked clean by Lola.

She finally pointed to me when I asked her "where is your mama?" Up until this month she would always point to herself, I'm assuming because I would always point to myself when I said "I'm your mama." I love hearing her call me mommy.

Is repeating everything we say and starting to string words together.

Is stepping down into the playroom unassisted.

Knows where Texas, Alaska, Hawaii, California, Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut go on her USA puzzle.

She is officially a climber - can climb into her highchair by herself now. This feat made her SO happy.

Has added some hip action into her dance moves. I have no idea where she picked this up.

Is pretty much guaranteed that she will whine and want me to hold her from the time we start dinner until she is sitting down to eat.

Is still chasing boys and finally found one that can't run from her...yet. And Ozzie gets as tickled by getting her kisses as she does about giving them out.

Jackie had to put her in time-out for the 2nd time in her short little life. The first was an "emergency" time-out because she had climbed the stairs without supervision. 2 weeks ago it was for hitting Jordan because he was sitting in the chair she wanted. After Jackie let her out of time-out, she got up and hit the coffee table. That temper is SO Helbig. Jackie saw her hit the table but did not look at her. B stood there for a second then ran to Jackie to hug and kiss her. She didn't mean to do it...

I have found that saying a firm "no" and then staring at her is pretty effective in curbing bad behavior. She stops and stares back, then her eyes get shifty while she contemplates her next move, then will look back at me. If I stay stern, 9 times out of 10 she makes the right decision to stop the mischief. And then she gets a big grin and says "hi" to me.

She has started climbing into her chair in her room and reading books out loud. Oh my gosh. She looks like such a big girl doing this. It kills me.

Yesterday we went to the park and she does not want to be touched after you get her going on the swing. It had been a while since I took her to swing so I wasn't real sure of her skills. She did really well until she decided it was time to get off and did a face plant into the mulch. Oops.

And lastly, she went through/is (hopefully) finishing the stage where when she can't do something, whines incessantly until you help her. We were very consistent in saying "help, please" during these moments and I taught her the sign for "help" as well. She modified the sign so that it looks like she is in the final game of volleyball beach Olympics, setting up for the winning point. And now that she can say "help", the enthusiasm with which she asks and signs for help is undeniable. The only thing you can do is drop EVERYTHING and RUN to her aide.

Mama loves you baby. Love, love, loves you.