A Place for Us

We are homeowners! We closed on October 30 on a beautiful, two-story, five-bedroom, two-bathroom house near Atlantic City. The house is everything we wanted - we've got a yard and a porch and a fireplace and a kitchen with a double sink and disposal. (We don't ask for too much, do we?)

The only thing we aren't crazy about are the property taxes in the city where we live and the high school is crummy. But we are good for at least 13 years. And maybe they'll change the high school by then.

Here's a quick tour of the house...enjoy!

It was built somewhere between 1890-1930. This is the front. (Notice all of the bags of leaves that F gathered today!)


The kitchen, clean and almost organized.

The living room (looking toward the dining room)...we love the wood floors!

The dining room, looking toward the living room (with a fireplace!).

The library/office has built-in bookshelves and a reading nook.

Our bedroom is in dire need of a paint job. And a closet.

N's bedroom has purple walls and built-in shelves.

The view from the back - our porch.

How big are you? SO BIG!

On the busiest Friday EVER, Miss Nina Bell had her 2-month check-up. (More on the rest of the day in another post.) She is now 9 weeks old, and weighed in at 11.5 lbs. and measured 23.5 inches. So she's staying up there, at 90% for height and 70% for weight. In the last month, she's started smiling (not just for gas) and cooing. We're enjoying our little girl and think she's the cutest baby in the world; see for yourself:

I've started smiling...but I always stop when Mami pulls out the camera. ;)

For a Harry Potter-themed Halloween party, I went as Dobby and Papi was Lucius Malfoy.

On Halloween, my friend L visited us as a duck. (I'm the butterfly.) Papi and Mami decided not to take me out Trick-or-Treating, but we had fun anyways.

I met David Archuleta at church. He was singing in Atlantic City and came to our church. He was very nice and took pictures with us.

The Hunt is Off!

We have found a house! And it's not a short sale! And the offer was accepted! And the inspector said it's in good condition! And we have a closing date!

And if that's not too much excitement for you, read on:
After 10 months of househunting (we started last December) - in which we saw more than 35 homes and had contracts on 3 homes and offers on 5, 2 real estate agents, and 2 mortgage companies, the Perez family has found their dream home. It is a 1930s, 2-story house with cedar siding. It has 5(!) bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, an enclosed sunroom, a family room, a dining room, a kitchen, a mudroom, a laundry room, a back porch, an unfinished basement, and a very spacious back yard. The kitchen was recently redone and is huge.

Closing is October 30, but is dependent on the mortgage company agreeing to accept a letter from my employer rather than a paystub. (I won't have returned to work soon enough to get a paystub.) I hope to have a few pictures soon...meanwhile, keep your fingers crossed and the prayers coming for us, please.

Where has the time gone?

Nina is one month old! It's been a busy month...not only have we been getting to know her and figure out feeding, bathing, dressing, and sleeping a newborn, but we've also been busy buying a house. (More on that later - Cross your fingers...this one looks promising!)

In Nina's first month, she's grown a lot. She started at 7.5 lbs, went down to 7 lbs, and at last check was nearing 9 lbs. I'm pretty sure she's topped that by now! She's also really long. (We need to move the straps on her infant carrier up to the top slot, but she still needs the head support and that takes the top slot.)

Things she likes: eating, sleeping, riding in the car.
Things she doesn't like: being made to wait for diaper changes or food, red lights (when the car stops).
Things she's still not sure about: bottles, baths.

For those not on Facebook, here is a brief look at our first month as a family of 3. Happy One Month Nina Bell!

Having a Baby? Get health insurance.

Cost of room and board for 2 days at the local maternity ward - $8,560
Cost for labor and delivery of the baby - $2,303
Cost of lab services for mom and baby - $495
Cost of misc. "hospital services" - $568
Total cost of hospital bill for 2 days (August 27-29, 2009) - $11,926
Total payment by me - $0

Importance of having good health insurance - priceless

Nap Revolt

My 2.5 week old daughter has decided that naps were sooo last week. Over the past two days the only way we can get her to sleep longer than 10 minutes at time during the day is for her to be attached to me. As in attached like a calf to the milk cow. She's also really restless at night - when she sleeps she grunts and complains and cries out a lot.

Oh - gotta go, she's awake again and crying.

Congratulations!

Welcome to the world, Marija Kristina, and congratulations to Joe and Daina! We're so happy for you all. (But we're still bummed that you weren't Nina's birthday twin.) So what's better, Daina, a 3-hour labor and being 9 days overdue, or a 30-hour labor and being on the due date?? I'll let you decide!

Daina and me, in our skinnier, pre-pregnancy, pre-marital days.

Our Anniversary - 365 days together!

Feliz Anniversario, mi esposo! Te amo mucho y estoy muy contenta por el ano que hemos pasado juntos. Espero que lo hayas disfrutado tambien. ;) Por lo menos, este ano es mucho mas seco que la fecha en que nos casamos!

Nina Xuxabell's Arrival

Our little Nina is already a week old and what a week it was! While I'll spare most of the gory details, here's a recap for those that are interested:

I started with contractions on Tuesday night (the 25th) around 10 pm. They were pretty consistent - about 15 minutes apart. On Wednesday morning, I called the doctor and they had me come in that afternoon to be checked. The doctor said we could go straight to the hospital at that point, but the midwife talked to us and said that if went to the hospital, I'd probably end up hooked up to an IV and on drugs. Because I wanted to avoid that, she suggested we go walk around, go home, do our breathing exercises, and wait until the contractions were closer together.

We did that. I went to the hospital at 12:30 on Thursday morning (the 27th), was directly admitted to the maternity ward, and we were hooked up to the monitors. The nurses left Fredy and I alone pretty much and let us work through the process. By 4 AM, I announced that I was ready to push, but that I was sure it wasn't time yet. Fredy called the nurse (Mia), who announced that "Oh! We need to get the midwife here. She's at 10." She then told me to wait...that I needed to keep breathing. (Aargh! The longest minutes of my life...Fredy actually lost his temper and yelled at the nurse, "She doesn't want to wait. She wants to push! Where is Donna??" Mia calmly responded: "She's not here yet, she's at home, but she's on her way.") My water broke around 4:05.


Donna, the midwife, was at home asleep, but got there very quickly. As soon as she walked in the door, we were pushing. Nina Xuxabell Perez was born at 4:28 AM on Thursday, August 27, was 20 inches long and weighed 7.5 lbs. She inhaled quite a bit of fluid on her way out - 14 CCs, according to the peds nurse, the most she's ever suctioned out of a newborn! But she's healthy and strong and beautiful.

Donna, Nina, and Heather

She's definitely Papi's girl, with a head full of dark, wavy hair (Mami hopes it will be curly) and a round, cinnamon-colored face with dark eyes. Her ears are pixie-pointed and lay flat against her head (hopefully not Halpin ears), but she has long fingers and toes like her Mami. (Perfect for violin or piano!) We think she's beautiful, and hope you do too!

Her name was a bit of an evolutionary process. Ever since Mami and Papi were dating, Papi talked about having a daughter named Xuxabel [pronounced "Shooshabell"]. (He knew a girl in school in Guatemala with this name and always liked the name.) Mami liked the name, but didn't want the baby to have a name that would always have to be explained and spelled constantly and mispronounced. So we had been bouncing names back and forth and finally found "Nina" in a book of names. It worked with Xuxabel. And when she was born, she just seemed to look like a "Nina"...even more than a Bella, which was what we were planning to call her. So she's our little Nina Xuxabell, or Nina Bell or just Nina or occasionally Bella.

She's very sweet and rarely cries. So far, she's a gifted baby, passing all of the marks on the first week's tracking record (pees, poops, feedings) and she sleeps 4-5 hours at a time at night! :) We are enjoying her so much and are excited for everyone to meet her soon!

DISCLAMER: I was mostly still sleeping when i got info... heather will prob have to edit!---Amy

Heather called me this monring before 6 to tell me their baby had arrived!!! Heather and Fredy welcomed a BABY GIRL!!! to their family around 4:30 this moning. She labored mostly at home and didn't go to the hospital until she was a 5 and went completely natural, so naturally, she is my hero! She sounded good and also sounded completely in love! It is a really neat experience whenever you can hear someone who has never experienced that feeling ands can hear the infatuation and love in there voice. It was really special for me to hear that! Nina Xuxubell wieghs 7 pounds 8 ounces, was 20 inches long and had already nursed once when i talked to Heather. She has dark hair that looks like it will be curly. She has dark eyes but Heather couldn't tell if they were already brown or just dark. She Sounds BEAUTIFUL, and I cannot wait for her favorite aunt to get her hands on her! It sounds like overall it went well. The Dr. wasn't in the room when she was ready to push but it only took 5 mins. to get her out! We are so excited to FINALLY have this sweet baby here! COngrats Heather and Fredy! WE love you guys~!

WELCOME TO THE WORLD NINA!!! WE CANNOT WAIT TO MEET YOU!!!!! (and carrington is super excited to have a girl to play with that's her age!)

A Giggle, courtesy of Google

My Google Reader is set to translate all blogs to English...I get a bunch of work-related ones from foreign countries. Imagine the laugh I got today as I was flipping through the feed and saw this Japanese one, announcing a class promoting research in gender studies:

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/searchivist/

The title of the class was translated as "How to Utilize Archived Women - to learn, to examine and enjoy"! :)

Hail to the Chief

For those that haven't heard the big news, papi was asked to be the president of the branch of our church. This means that he is the ecclesiastical leader of our group of Spanish-speaking members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints. (Since we don't have paid ministers, the members of the congregation take turns holding positions like president, teachers, pianist, etc.)

We started attending the Spanish group because he was asked to be the president. It has been an interesting adjustment for us...mostly because it is such a small group. Most Sundays they have between 35-50 people. (We were going to a much bigger English-speaking ward with around 125 members.) But the people are all very friendly, and we are enjoying meeting them.

Being the president means quite a bit of work, though, and he has to do interviews and provide counseling and do funerals and weddings and all of this with just a little training and a very large manual of instructions. But he's adjusting nicely and really does love working with the members. For me, it's fun to relive my mission days in Argentina by brushing off the church Spanish again. So, ahi andamos!

Public Service Announcement #1

WHY do people (read, strangers in public settings) feel the need to comment on pregnant ladies? Have we really lost all sense of decency and privacy in this day and age? Usually I don't mind the occasional, good-natured comment or ribbing from people I know, but this is crossing the line:

Teenage male walking down the street yells out:
Him: "Hey is it a boy?"
Me: "Excuse me?"
Him: "Yo' baby. Is it a boy? Is it a girl?"
Me: "I don't know." Keep walking.

Customer at work who I helped previously a few months back in very loud accusing voice:
Her: "What happened to YOU?!"
Me: "Excuse me?"
Her, pointing at my belly: "You're huge! WHO did that to you?"
Me: "My husband!"

Another customer, in his greeting to me:
Him: "Hi Little Mama...oh wait, no it's Big Mama now."

Yet another customer, talking to my boss as I walk by:
Him: "Wow. She's big!"
Her: "What?"
Him: "She was pregnant last time I saw her! Is she pregnant again?!"
Her: "Let me finish helping you here..."

Random man in the City Office when I went to pay a bill:
Him: "You look like you're going to pop!"
Me: "No. 6 more weeks."
Him: "Hm. Ladies don't get as big as they used to."
Me: "????"

Note that most of the offenders here are male. Let this be a warning to all you males: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO COMMENT ON A WOMAN'S WEIGHT/BELLY. In fact, you should not comment on her weight or belly unless you are personally responsible for said condition. Pregnancy hormones are funny things - you may end up with a fist to your face. You have been warned.

End of public service announcement.

Our Guinea Pig

...is a bear, actually.

Poor Teddy is getting the brunt of the bad parenting, as Papi and I practice diapering, dressing, car seat placement, and strolling in preparation for the "real thing". Teddy is also the practice "dummy" for our childbirth class on breastfeeding in two weeks (NO pictures to follow).

We are taking childbirth classes at the hospital where B will be born, along with 14 other expectant couples. That's a lot of pregnant hormones in one room! We learn lovely things like how to breathe ("breathe in...and out"), what pain medications are available (whodda thunk there were so many options?!), and what to do if your water breaks in the grocery store ("clean up on aisle 5"). We will also have a tour next week, which is the main reason we signed up for this class, as opposed to the one offered by the OB's office.

PS - Check out my birthday present...the cool new ride for B! :) Just what I wanted. (Really!)

SHORT Sale?!

Short sale:
1. "a sale of real estate in which the proceeds from the sale fall short of the balance owed on a loan secured by the property sold." (wikipedia.org)
2. "a short sale in real estate is not always a pleasant transaction." (about.com)

Guess which definition we are experiencing?

That's right, friends, after 145 days of waiting and waiting and waiting for a decision on the offer for our prospective dream house, we heard today that the bank wants us to wait 30 more days before they make their decision. They have given us absolutely NO hope and absolutely NO promises that our offer is even being considered.

Our answer? "NO WAY". We are moving on...and good riddance and adios to C-wide. No wonder you went out of business if that's the way you handle real estate transactions! We are starting over with a blank slate and a new realtor.

On my ego being preg-o

Since I don't see many of you very often, I thought I'd fill you in on me being pregnant. I think I've had it pretty easy - no crazy cravings, no weird health problems, no heartburn, no regular hormonal outbursts. All in all, being pregnant with B seems to be normal.

I did have crazy morning sickness for the first 4.5 months...every morning, at least once a morning...but, once I got past that in the early morning, I was okay. For cravings, they've been fairly normal - I've never sent papi out in the middle of the night to buy Whoppers or watermelon. I have craved fruit - first, avocados, then anything and everything. Also, I went through two jars of peanut butter in the first 3 months, multiple boxes of microwave popcorn (earning B the nickname "Popcorn" at work), oodles of brown-sugar Pop-Tarts (thanks, sis, for the recommendation!), and my fair share of spaghetti.

My only complaint is that I've been exhausted the entire time. No late-night cleaning sprees or nesting for me, thanks very much. Ever since mid-December, all I've wanted to do with my spare time is SLEEP. I sleep 9-11 hours every night and still have to drag myself out of bed in the morning.

Welcome to my pregnancy...ending August 27 (or thereabouts).

Clogging up the blogosphere?

So, under the pressure of family, friends, and Facebook, I - hp - have determined to make my foray into the blogosphere. Mostly just to keep you all informed of the boring details of our everyday life. And partially to subject you to pictures of (as my sister so kindly put it) our forthcoming "spawn".

I may convince Papi to take a turn every once in a while if we get more of an international following. But I won't be responsible for any crazy spanglish or castellanqui that crops up when we get going!

Enjoy!