Weavers Did a Thing

We did it.  Welcome. Welcome to our Forever Home.  We closed on the house April 27^th, 2018 and have been living here about 7 weeks now.  But just like the journey to home ownership was a long and winding road, the path for getting moved in and settled has proven to be just as complicated.  We are settled in now (mostly), and we truly love our new surroundings.  The neighborhood, our neighbors, and the HOME are exactly what we have been praying for.  We are very blessed.

I have started and re-started this blog about 20 times over the past 2 months,  There have been so many highs and lows, it seemed impossible at times to write about it all.  Home ownership has been our dream for the last several years.  We got close a couple of years ago, but the bottom dropped out and we had to go back to waiting, working, and praying.  Early in 2018, we were ready to start asking the hard questions again.  We looked at the market a little bit, but most importantly, we knew we had to get the mortgage process started to see if we could afford our dream.  By the first weeks in March, we felt like we had seen every 4 bedroom house in Stillwater, and we were supremely discouraged.  We really wanted 4 bedrooms (and 2.5 baths, but that was ruled out very quickly) - With Emma not living with us full time, we wanted each of the kids to have their own room – and Lara could have a trundle bed for when Emma came home.  But they were either too expensive, or too (enter various issues here).

We had our pre-approval letter, we had an AWESOME realtor, and while we were having fun shopping and looking, we knew we had a lease coming up for renewal, and we REALLY wanted out of the rent house we had now been in for 2 years.  We had made an offer on one other that we were beat out on, and we really liked that one, so we were a bit discouraged.

On a whim, I decided to look for 3 bedrooms with an office.  I figured if it was a small office, we could put Finn in there for a few years, and re-evaluate after the girls went off to college…  BINGO!  I found one on-line that was a new listing, in our desired elementary school district, and in our budget.  A first glance at the pics and I saw the office looked to be a good size, so I forwarded the listing to Britt.  He looked it over, and texted our realtor for a showing.  We saw it a couple of days later, and loved everything about it!  And that office, HUGE!  A great space for a bedroom – plenty of room for a wardrobe to be used as a closet.  Plus, the other 2 bedroom closets were big, so there was plenty of storage for all.  made an offer while we were still looking at it, it was accepted the next morning, and we were on a roll! 

The house had a few minor things wrong with it from the inspector’s point of view, nothing too major, EXCEPT!  His exact words were “The roof is trash.  I can’t believe there aren’t any leaks.”  UH OH!  This is where things got really stressful.  Finalizing the loan and loan docs, waiting for word on the roof, moving closing back…  MAN!  That was a L O N G five weeks!  We got a brand new roof, we survived, and we closed on Friday April 27^th at noon.  After a quick lunch, we were at our home to start cleaning, organizing, and painting that office for Jake’s room!

First Look!  We are HOMEOWNERS!

This is where it got super crazy, and it has taken us until this week to iron out all the kinks that happened over the next couple of days.  We were at the house for a few hours in the afternoon, then Lara and I went back that night to clean some more Saturday morning.  Saturday evening, Britt and I went back to work on taping off the bedroom and laundry room that were going to be painted.  We left just before 7pm on Saturday night ( we know because we ordered pizza to be delivered to the “old” house), and went home to eat and to rest.  We got up early Sunday morning, went back to the new house, and COULD NOT GET INSIDE!  The deadbolts had been changed.  The doors were all locked; we could not get in to our own house.  Our brand new house.  And, we had a pretty good stash of belongings inside.  We had cleaning supplies, and tools, and some chairs, and various other “first few days of living here” stuff.  Cops, Coopers Locksmiths, my parents, every neighbor and all the chaos that ensued in our quiet cul-de-sac that morning led to weeks of phone calls, police reports, questions, questions, QUESTIONS… And finally this week, a complete closure of our case.  Long story short, some people who were hired to do some work on the empty house by the previous owner came back and did “work,” and while they were there they changed the locks and stole all of our stuff.  The workers brought some of it back, and the company reimbursed us for the rest – and for the Sunday emergency Locksmith bill!

We spent the next week moving little things and working on projects around the new house.  The "BIG MOVE" happened on Sunday, May 6th - and without the help of some AMAZING friends, we would not have gotten in all in there!

Finn used the furniture in the trailer as a jungle gym

The night after we first slept there, we woke up to THIS is our front yard!  Card My Yard Stillwater paid us a visit, and they were the first ones to officially welcome us home!

Welcome Home Weaver Family (click for larger)

We feel better, more at home now.  Having that looming over our heads was dampening our excitement.  Plus, someone had keys to those locks that were put on the house – but we didn’t know who!  We changed them (again), but still felt vulnerable and violated.  Now that it is all behind us, we can start to feel comfortable in our HOME!

Still lots of projects to work on.  We painted Jake’s room and the laundry room.  We are working on some more laundry room updates.  We bought a used washer and dryer from some local friends until we can get what we REALLY want in there.  We LOVE our kitchen!  All black appliances, 5 burner stove, awesome refrigerator (that we negotiated in the price), huge sink!  It’s the nicest kitchen I have ever worked in.  The front room is going to be our “music” room when we get Britt’s piano here from Enid.  Lara and Finn have mirror image rooms on one side of the house, while the master suite and Jake’s office/room are on the other side.  All the kids are basically all moved in – Jake needs a bed frame and we promised Lara a new bed at some point, but they are loving their new, BIG spaces.  We are going to “frost” the glass on the French doors into Jake’s room for some privacy, too.  The kitchen looks out to the living room and dining room.  Storm shelter in the garage, whole house water softener system, high efficiency everything.  There are some quirky things about the layout that would probably turn away a lot of buyers, but it works VERY well for us.  We have a small backyard, but it’s perfect for us!  All hard surface floors – tile, hardwoods, and laminate.  So, we need rugs, because it is LOUD, but we love it!  Love everything about it!  Such a great space for us!  A few more pictures, and other little improvements to keep us busy, but all in all we are living the dream and loving our new house.

I bought Britt a housewarming gift of 2 signs that say “Hand in my hand and promised to never let go.”  This has so much meaning for us in 2018.  We are in this together, and we are on our way.  The lyrics are  part of the song “Tightrope” from the musical The Greatest Showman.  No one in my family has seen that movie less than twice, and some of us have seen it 5 times.  It truly spoke to us, and it has marked 2018 in many ways.  We are working on a large headboard for our bed, and these signs will go above that once we are done.

"Tightrope" from The Greatest Showman

We have had a few visitors, but always welcome more!  I’ll show you around – but it’s not a showplace.  We live here!  We have piles of mail, and laundry in various stages, and toys from door to door.  Noise, someone asking Alexa about the weather, and Netflix coming from at least one room.  Light fixtures with no globes, walls with no pictures, and a ladder in our front room (I have to fix the blinds I broke and hang them back).  But it is HOME, and we LOVE it. (Now, if those last 2 boxes in my bedroom would unpack themselves, that’d be GREAT!)

My “One Word” for 2018 was Welcome.  You can read about that here.  I had no idea when that word chose me at the end of 2017, what it would lead to.  Home.  Welcome Home.  In honor of that moment and the dream that followed, I got a vinyl sign to put on my front door.  We are welcomed home.  YOU are welcome to visit.  We started small.  We persevered.  WE OVERCAME!  We feel the love, and we want to share it.  Welcome Home. WELCOME!

My Front Door (before the lock was returned)
WELCOME - my One Word for 2018

The One With Endings

May 4-6, 2018

This one is going to be mostly about our Lara-Bug.  Mainly because I never saw Emma this weekend.  And I only spoke to her one the phone once - she was at the mall; wanted money for a swim suit.  LOL!  It's all good!  It is a busy time of year and we're all going 100 different directions.  It happens!

Sometimes, things come to an end unexpectedly.  I think this happened to Lara this pas week.  The SHS Varsity Baseball team played in their regional games last Thursday and Friday.  They were on a winning streak, and they believed they would play in the State Tournament the next week.  Unfortunate;y, Friday proved to be tougher than they had anticipated, and all of a sudden, 2018 Baseball was just, OVER. Lara took it pretty hard, but is so grateful for the memories and the relationships she came away with.

Since baseball is over, she has a week with her "boss" Aaron to prepare for Football, and those practices start on the 14th.  With no returning seniors on the trainer squad, Lara and Molly will be the leads on this!  Lara is very excited to be trusted with this responsibility, but it is hard to believe it's already time for FOOTBALL practice!

Other times, things end long after they should have!  Saturday and Sunday were spent MOVING!  That's right!  We moved in to our forever home this past weekend!  Ended an long era of rental houses in Stillwater - and we couldn't be more excited! Stay Tuned to the blog for more on that.  Took up a big chunk of our weekend, but we are so excited for this big change!

Next weekend - they turn SIXTEEN!

Friday – in tweets!

It’s been one of THOSE weeks.  So busy, so crazy, so tiring.  I am going to recap our progress, successes, failures, and regressions in 140 characters or less in each statement.  Twitter style.  I hope you like it!

*Went on a field trip to the Oklahoma Aquarium with Jake's kindergarten class.  Wild & crazy as expected! Jake was afraid of the shark tube.

*Lara's 4th & 5th grade choir gave a spring concert. It was in preparation for TriState. The choir sang 3 songs and each solo/duet/trio sang.

*Lara finished up her leaps and turns dance class in preparation for try outs!

*Emma's Greyhound volleyball team is 10-2 for the season.  Tournament play starts this weekend, but she will miss it and is mad.

*My nephew Peter got married to the most AMAZING girl, Nicole.  It was a beautiful outdoor wedding & we were so glad we got to be there!

*We moved. Into a different house. Across town. 6 people. 5 beds. 2 couches, 2 futons, 4 recliners & a ton of CRAP. WE'RE NEVER MOVING AGAIN!

* Jake's Greyhound T-ball team had their season opener. "They" don't keep score.  "We" do.  They did great! Jake is an excellent first baseman

* Finn's crib converted to a toddler bed in the new house. 4 nights ago. He's doing great - only got lost and ended up in Jake's room once.

* Lara's school choir competed at TriState Music Festival in Enid. Her choir got a "II."  HER TRIO GOT A "I" and were THRILLED!  So proud.

* Emma's double dutch (jump rope) squad is touring the local schools today.  She is SO GOOD! Catches a basketball and dribbles while jumping!

* Team Mercy Miracles Marches for Babies in OKC tomorrow.  As of this writing, Finn is $24 short of his goal. Click the banner to donate.

* Finn and his siblings are super excited for the March for Babies tomorrow!  We have our banner ready!

* 8:00 in the morning we will gather at the Myriad Gardens in OKC with Mercy Miracles and the March of Dimes to MARCH FOR BABIES! Come see us!

* Who doesn't love babies?  Help make happy endings for Moms & Babies by donating to March of Dimes - $24 to go! marchforbabies.org/finnweaversays

* So thankful that @FinnWeaverSays is a Mercy Miracle!  We're marching with them tomorrow in OKC! @marchofdimes @MarchForBabies 

*$24 to go for Finn's goal with Team Mercy Miracles. That's 6 people with $4 each! Donate here: marchforbabies.org/finnweaversays & march w/us tomorrow!

SEE YOU TOMORROW!

MAYDAY!

You can take the title of this post however you want to!  As a distress signal, a nod to the fact that yesterday was that spring holiday, or just as a fun reminder of the month we are in.  Either of these definitions would be appropriate at this point!  I am glad we have made it to the month of May, but this past week has caused some distress (and relief) along the way!  And while I didn’t see any May Day Parades, Maypole dancing, or have any May Baskets made for me, I still mark the beginning of this month as another milestone on this journey we are on.  Since it has been almost 2 weeks since the last blog post, there is some catching up to do!  Lots of things have changed since the last post!

2 weekends ago, we had our garage sale.  We did really well, and we got rid of all kinds of STUFF that we didn’t want to move!  Including Britt’s beloved VW Cabrio, the one we affectionately named Otto.  While we were sad to see the car go, it was not practical for us as a family anymore since it did not have enough seat belts to hold all the kiddos.  Bittersweet, as we had really come to love our little “around town” convertible, and we had bought it from my brother a few years back, so it was like losing a piece of him again.  But, the money has been put aside, and the search is on for a vehicle to replace our blue car.  In the meantime, we are trying to hang in there with just one vehicle, and borrowing my Dad’s truck when the need arises!

The next week was consumed by trying to pack, keep all the big kids activities going, getting Finn through his surgery, and moving to our new house.  WHEW!  I’m still not sure how we got through it all!  Thursday was the big day for Mr. Finn.  Originally, we had been told to be at the hospital in Tulsa at 5:15am.  That meant a 3:00 am wake up call for the Weaver household!  We had already arranged for Emma, Lara and Jake to stay at my parents, but we were super thrilled when the hospital called the day before and told us Finn’s surgery had been moved to 9:30, so we didn’t need to be there until 7:30.  MUCH more manageable for us older parents!  ;)  We got to the Children’s Hospital at St. Francis right on time, and the next 2 hours seemed to CRAWL by.   There were lots of little steps that had to be completed, and each one was leading up to us saying good bye to our precious baby.  Finn was a real trooper through all of it.  For being without food or water for over 12 hours, I was surprised at how well behaved he was!  We got a surprise visit from one of our Mercy NICU nurses who now worked at St. Francis!  Here’s a video clip of that encounter:

When the 2 nurses finally came in to get him and take him to his surgery to repair his left inguinal hernia, one said to the other, “I think I’ll just carry him.  These little ones just roll around in these big cribs so it is easier.”  That actually calmed me down a little bit – to know he was being cradled and loved as they took him off into the big unknown.  It was actually easier to watch him go than I thought it would be.  I knew God was in control, and this would be great.  It was almost an hour before the surgeon came to get us from the waiting room.  He told us everything went well and Finn was fine as we walked back to a small consultation room.  Once we were in there, he told us Finn was in recovery and doing well, and that this was one of the largest inguinal hernias he had ever seen, and then explained how he repaired it.  He also told us how they used a camera to look to the right side to make sure there wasn’t a hernia there as well, and all was clear.  When he was done with us, we went back out to the waiting room to WAIT some more.  Finn had to meet some markers before we could be with him, so we took that opportunity to call friends and family (and update Facebook).  It was almost 30 more minutes before we got to see our sweet boy.  He was in a hospital crib, in a small curtained off recovery area by the operating rooms.  He had a nurse with him, and he was sleeping.  He was still in the little yellow gown, and looked kind of pale.  He was very still, too.  It was so strange to see him hooked up to all the monitors again!  And to watch his numbers on the screen and hear the alarms – it was like we were back in the NICU!  She said he had been sleeping for a bit, but after we watched him for another 10 minutes or so, she said that we could wake him and offer him some sugar water.   When it came time to pick him up and feed him that bottle, I had to manage all the cords, too.  So surreal!  He O2 levels were a little low while in recovery, so they had some supplemental oxygen blowing up his nose while we were there, but he wasn’t even on a nasal cannula.  It felt so good to have him back in my arms – even with the strange smells, the endless cords, the beeping, and all the other hospital distractions.  I had a hard time getting him and I comfortable in the rocking chair we were sitting in, so Britt ended up feeding him the bottle.  After another 15-20 minutes, we finally had Finn’s O2 saturation up enough to be transferred to the floor he would stay on.

Once we were settled in the room, there was really nothing to do except wait it out.  Those first several hours Finn just slept and slept and slept.  They wanted him to drink 3 of the 2oz glucose water bottles and keep those down before we tried formula.  Later in afternoon, he had his first dose of pain medicine. We finally got to give him his first food in almost 24 hours that evening.  He kept that down, and we felt like recovery was going really well.  As the night closed in, we made our “beds” on the couch and recliner in the room (not a good place to sleep AT ALL), and hoped the overnight would go well.  Finn woke up for his typical middle of the night feeding, and he seemed to be running a fever.  Britt started feeding him while I called the nurse to have someone come take his temperature.  Sure enough, he had a little bit higher temperature than they wanted.  She went to get more meds, and Britt was still feeding him.  The nurse tried to administer the syringe of sticky acetaminophen into the baby’s cheek while he was drinking the formula.  The result?  PUKE all over Dad!  Funny, but not really.  I felt bad for my baby who felt bad enough to throw up, and I felt bad for Dad.  Covered in wet sticky (stinky) baby formula puke.  GROSS.

After we got that cleaned up and everyone settled back in, the rest of the night went smoothly.  We were seen on rounds about 8:00am, and we had hoped we would be released by mid-morning – we had to get back to Stillwater to meet the cable company at our new house.  But, since he had the fever overnight, they wanted to keep him a few more hours.  DARN!  We had basically packed everything up and were ready to bolt!  We passed the morning – so slowly – by taking about the upcoming move.  Britt even left the hospital to go to Best Buy – we still had not spent the gift card we won a few weeks back!  We were finally released to go home a little after noon.  The cable guy was due at our house about 1:30.  We still needed to take the TV over, too, so we knew we would not make it.  Lucky for us, we have Nana!  She went to our old house, got a TV and the DVR box, and went to our new house to meet the cable guy!  WHO, OF COURSE, WAS LATE!

So, the next 4 days were a whirlwind of packing, moving, crying, breakdowns, baby recovering from surgery, big kids frustrated with the process, friends helping, trucks being rented and returned, $100 trips to Lowe’s and Wal-Mart moving moving moving and cleaning!  WHEW!  Oh – and Volleyball, T-ball and dance thrown in there, too!  On Friday night, Britt and I spent the night on the floor of the living room after dragging the mattresses from each of Emma and Lara’s rooms while Finn was in his cradle beside us (big kids were on night 3 at Camp Nana and Grandpa!).  Saturday night, we all stayed at the new house in our own beds.  By Sunday night, 90% of our stuff had been moved, but only about 20% unpacked.  Britt took Monday off to try to finish.  I spent several hours at the old house Monday night cleaning, and we FINALLY finished cleaning Tuesday night.  Now, the new house is still a hot mess!  LOTS of unpacking and organizing to do, but it is so NICE!  We are all enjoying the extra room, the girls are loving being in their own spaces, Britt and I love our huge room, and Jake loves being in the same room with Finn while he sleeps (we don’t have a baby monitor yet, and we are pretty far from Finn when he is sleeping, so when we go to bed, we get Finn and put him in his cradle next to our bed. I don’t think Jake minds!)  If we work hard this weekend, I think we will be more settled before the new week starts.  We need it.  Living in chaos is hard!

Life in the “75” is good.  I have been a resident of this town off and on for my entire 37 years of live, and I haven’t lived outside the 74074 zip code since Kindergarten; not north of 6^th street.  (Not even east of Western until 3 years ago!)  We now have a new zip code.  It ends in a 5.  So strange for me!  But, the neighborhood is very nice, close to the lake and its awesome walking trail, and come to find out, we know several people in the area.  I think it is going to be good.  Once we get settled.  I still can’t find anything in my kitchen… Hence the picture:

T-ball games and practices 2-3 time a week.  A Volleyball tournament this weekend.  Dance recital is just around the corner.  Finn goes in for his post op in 2 more weeks.  15 more school day mornings.  Then, it’s summer!  Hopefully, things will calm down a bit then!

Back on the Roller Coaster

Life with our precious six month old has been something to cherish.  We have thoroughly enjoyed (OK – except for the colicky nights – which are fewer these days!) the time we have had with our FREE baby!  It’s so nice to be able to take him places and to not have to worry about oxygen or monitors or anything like that!  And with a smile like this, how can we NOT be enjoying our baby boy? Now, if I could just remember to take extra burp cloths with me when we leave the house, that would be most helpful!  I always have a change of clothes, bottles/formula, and plenty of diapers, but it seems every time we turn around and need a burp cloth, there is none with us!  I’ll get it together one of these days!

Along those same lines, this going back to work thing has proven to be a bit of a challenge.  Finn is still not on any kind of schedule (really), so mornings are very unpredictable.  It’s a challenge to get Finn taken care of, plus get Jake, Lara and Emma dressed, packed for school, forms signed, library books found, hair/teeth/shoe issues resolved, and still get to work on time (for both of us).  Some mornings go well, others, not so much!  We are super lucky that our Babysitter/Nana/personal assistant/Mom-of-the-year comes to us in the mornings – she can just walk in and pick up on whatever chaos is going on so Britt and I can get out the door!  I had a couple of rough days this week, but I am starting to see the light.  I am settling in at my new job, and I am starting to learn more of “the ropes” so I am not as stressed about being here on a daily basis.  New jobs are just HARD to get used to!

As for Finn, he has had quite a week, too!  Hence the roller coaster... After we all survived the threat and reality of severe weather last weekend (shout out to all my LTC ladies and a WOOT WOOT for the fun ladies night we had last Friday night!), we took him to Tulsa on Monday morning for his surgery consult.  We were all very impressed with the facilities, doctors and staff at the Children’s Hospital at St. Francis.  We even ran into one of our FAVORITE NICU nurses from Mercy that is now working at Children’s in Tulsa!  It was a great experience, and we are set to have his inguinal hernia repair next Thursday.  Our pediatric surgeon is a great guy, and we have all the faith in the world in his abilities and his concern for our family.  But, having said all that, we are still apprehensive about putting our child under and having him intubated again.  It's still scary.  We have to be at the hospital at 5:15 am next Thursday, and they will keep Finn overnight for observation.  We hope to be back in Stillwater mid-day on Friday.  Just in time to start the NEXT adventure!

We move NEXT WEEKEND!  We got the keys to our new place this past weekend, and we have been over once to look things over again (the landlord is completely repainting the house and doing some other needed maintenance) and to measure some rooms.  It is really going to be a great place once we get in there and personalize it.  We hope to start moving things Friday afternoon, and we need to be done by Sunday!! Anyone who is willing to help – whether its move boxes or wrangle kids – we would love the help!  Moving 6 people is quite an undertaking!  To help prepare for the BIG MOVE, we are having a garage sale tomorrow morning.  7am start time!  Lots of good stuff – including a CAR!  Come check us out!

I also got the link for Finn’s TV debut!  If you have not seen the piece, here it is!

Here’s to a GREAT weekend!