When I know better, I do better.

We've had raccoons in our attic before, but because their entry point didn't cause immediate issues, we were patient and managed to successfully encourage them out. This time was different.

The night before we left for Orlando, we heard and saw a raccoon causing some trouble on our roof. We chased her off, but the next morning I saw some roof shingles on our deck and investigated. I saw that she had dug a hole directly into our roof! We did our typical steps to try and get her out, but we had to be on a plane and did our best to cover the hole in a way that didn't trap her in, but would protect the soffit from too much rain damage.

When we returned from vacation, we figured out that not only had the mama not left, but she also had babies. We did a lot of the same things to try and get her to move her nest that worked last time, but we had to get our roof fixed, so we became impatient.

We called a company that helps in these situations, and trusted them to take care of it. They covered all of the possible entry points and set a trap at the main point and covered it with a tarp. Yesterday morning, I saw some shingles on the deck again, so I went out to investigate the hole. The tarp had blown off of the trap, and the mama raccoon was caught, and she was dead.

Suddenly it hit me. This was their plan all along. We had been so naive. We didn't ask enough questions, and now we had a litter of orphaned baby raccoons in our attic. Nate tried to contact the company, but they did not call him back. It became clear that the intention was to let the babies starve to death.

This was heartbreaking. I understand that a lot of people see raccoons as a nuisance and that's okay. Nate and I live near the woods and want to coexist with the animals who live around us. We had no intention of destroying this little family, but that's exactly what happened.

After some research we found that the Wildlife Rescue Center helps in situations like this. I called them and reluctantly told the story, and asked for their help. They connected me with a man who dropped everything to come out to the house and get these babies out of the attic, and into the hands of people who will care for them. My only wish is that I had thought to call him first.

My goal now is to tell everyone I know that there are humane ways to remove wildlife from our homes. It is just as easy, and there are people who dedicate thier lives to helping us live side by side with the animals we see as a nuisance. Lesson definitely learned.

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” Maya Angelou

N is on a home improvement kick.

When N and I got together, he did not seem to me like someone who was handy.  Not that it mattered, really, it's just one of those things.  Some people like home improvement projects, and others don't.  I figured it was just something that didn't interest him.

Fast forward a few years, and we've moved into our new house.  N became instantly interested in maintaining the yard that we fell in love with.  He has done projects here and there, but lately he has been on a kick!

First it was a lego table for BBZ.  Legos had taken over our house.  They were in every room and all over the floor.  Even in BBZ's room they were out of control.  Knowing our second born would be crawling around soon enough, we figured we'd better get something set up out of his reach.

So N built this...

A sweet Lego table!

It really is a perfect space for BBZ downstairs in our unfinished basement.  He goes down there and plays all the time.  It's a great place for his friends to play in when they come over too.  And besides the fact that we have to leave the gate open because BBZ can't open it by himself, it's pretty safe for keeping legos out of little 5-month-old fingers.

So his next project was bigger.  When you entered our home, you came face to face with a blue floor.  And when I say blue, I mean blue!  See?

(Photos courtesy of Nikki over at Purple Lemon Photography)

N always complained about this lovely blue floor.  I actually quite liked it and am thrilled that my friend and awesome photographer Nikki was able to get some photos of the floor before N did his next home improvement project.  LBZ was just 6 days old in those pictures.  These were the only photos of the foyer I could find, so that makes me even more happy that she got such meaningful photos before we made the change.

N's dad came over to help with the project.  N did most of the demolition during the week leading up to the Saturday they chose to work, but there were some final things they did together to get the floor ready.

There was a little set back because of a saw situation, but the whole thing worked out and they were able to lay the tile.

N had to do some final cuts and put done the grout, which he did after the tile set there for a few days.

There was a full length mirror on this wall that got a crack in it during the demo phase, so we decided to take the whole thing down and start fresh.  The wall needed to be painted, so BBZ of course helped.

And there it is!  I really love the way it turned out.  While I like the blue just fine, I agree that this feels a little more welcoming when entering our home.

Then we were on a hunt for a new mirror for the wall that previously had one.  We saw a few online but I didn't want to pay for shipping.  N went to an antique store and found this one for $12.  Score!  He says that the next project is the red door in the back of this photo.  I don't mind that red door either, but I can see a dark brown one blending in a bit better.

Great work honey, I'd definitely call you handy now!  Love you!

A story about N I have to share

You guys know how sensitive I am and how much family and history mean to me...you remember my grandfather's house, right?  You also know how creative N is, remember the letter to Mr. Redlegs?  Well you are not going to believe this...

So imagine for a minute that you are strating your life with your young family.  You buy a house and love it so much that rather than move into ta new and bigger house, you build an addition that is featured in the St. Louis Post Dispatch and a 1970 issue of Better Home and Gardens.  You raise your family in this home, watch them grow into adults and have families of their own.  Grandkids and even great grandkids have stepped in and out of your home for years.  Then before you know it you are in your 80s and the home that was once full of love and people, is now large and difficult to maintain and nearly empty.  Reality sets in that you and your husband must move on and sell this home you have owned for 53 years.

This is the situation that the people we are buying the house from are in.  They are amazing people with a story that N and I can only dream of having in our future.  We truley feel honored to be the next family to live and grow in the home that they have obviously filled with love and dedication.  So I had the idea of sending a thank you card or other gesture to show them how much we appreciate their home and our future in it.  Well N already had it covered.

He sent the family a 100 bloom bouquet of flowers signifying the 50 years they were in the home and the 50 years that we will be there.  Can you believe that?  He is so thoughtful and caring and always has a creative way to show someone how special they are.  He does things like this for people (especially for BBZ and me)all the time.  He is an amazing gift-giver and always thinks of somthing amazing that someone would never expect.  He does things like this all the time, and I am so happy to have him love me so much.

The flowers should be delivered today.  I hope that they realize from the gift how much we do really see purchasing their home as an honor.

Not Me! Monday

I did NOT fall in love with a house, buy it, put our house on the market, show it, and advertise it to rent all within 5 days.  I am extremely plan oriented and would never do something so risky.  I mean seriously, the market is terrible right now!  And even if I though it would sell, it's crazy to do somehting so last minute and impulsive.

While working on some things in the front yard, we did NOT get distracted by a woman wanting info about our house only to notice BBZ had wandered into the neighbor's yard.  Our street is extremely busy and dangerous and we would never be so irresponsible.  I did not have a nighmare this weekend that he wandered the other direction into the street and got hit by a car.  It did not literally keep me up our of sheer terror and reality that things really can happen that fast.  I did NOT make a strong decision to never, ever let him play in the front yard again, as long as we are living here anyway.

We did NOT think that our 19-month-old extremely active child could sit through a Cardinals baseball game.  After arriving at the stadium and paying way too much for lunch, we did NOT walk to our seats only to discover that they were literally at the top of a staircase.  Not only is it hard to get BBZ to sit still, but to have a very long row of concrete stairs staring at him begging him to climb them made it impossible.  I did NOT miss the entire game while he ran around the children's space chasing a ball.  It was NOT still an amazingly fun afternoon!

We have NOT had 2 people look at our house to rent since I posted it on Craig's list last week!  We also do NOT have 2 more appointments scheduled!  Even after getting great feedback I did NOT have a bit of fear wash over me today after realizing that we might have to pay two house payments and wonder what the heck we are getting ourselves into.  I am NOT convinced that once I see our new house again on Wednesday for the inspection that I will be reminded of why we are doing all of this.

What have you NOT been up to this week?

This blog carnival was started by MckMama, she is skipping NMM this week, but head on over to her blog anyway and see what else she up to!

Our soon-to-be house!

So this week has been absolutely CRAZY!  Monday night we called our agent and said we really wanted her to see the house and let us know what she thought of the price.  We were pretty convinced that it was over priced.  We were able to set up a time that night and headed over there while my mom stayed home with the little man.  When N and I got there the couple who owns the house were leaving.  We were a little awkward about the while situation because we didn't know if we were supposed to meet the owners or not.  The woman started walking toward our car as she was heading to hers so we got out and talked a little bit.  She told us some things about the house and we told her how cool we think it is that they have lived there for 55 years.  The man walked out shortly after and we talked about BBZ and our love for their beautiful home.  They were very pleasant and seemed like great people.  We toured the house, which reaffirmed how much we really, really loved it.

Monday night we went home and spent about 3 hours cleaning the poo out of our basement (literally as the cat's litter box in down there).  Our current house is almost 100 years old and the basement is pretty much a utility basement.  It was dirty and unorganized and we made it look 10 times better!  It still needs lots of work, but at least we feel less embarrassed about a stranger seeing it.

So Tuesday I went to work and had a meeting which ran late.  This sucked because N got a call from the realtor that someone wanted to see our house!  On one hand it sucked, but on the other it was great because our house had only been on the website since the morning, so we were pumped!  We went to the park and out to eat with my mom during the showing and came home hoping that the family loved it.  Well, they didn't.  They didn't even come inside.  The realtor told ours that it was because they had 2 little girls and our house is on a pretty busy street.  That was disappointing, but we're keeping up hope that someone will buy it.  Even if they don't, we are in a great place for rental homes and will certainly rent the house if it won't sell.

Our agent then came over Tuesday night and we conjoured up our offer.  We did a lot of digging to try and find comps for the area, but the house was just simply overpriced.  We didn't want to insult this amazing couple, but we also didn't want to overpay for their house.  We ended up offering quite a bit less for the house than they were asking and hoped for the best.

Wednesday was a hard and long day!  I completely convinced myself that we were not going to get the house.  I decided that our house is fine and to take it off the market and wait to sell would be ok.  I was being a pessimist and expecting the worst, so I would be prepared for the worse.  N and I also decided how much our absolute maximum would be and refused to change our minds.  They countered with exactly what we said our max would be.  We raised our offer a little and they countered at a little higher.

We accepted their offer tonight!

So on June 23rd we will be the proud owners of a beautiful home in one of the best school districts in the county!  We are so thrilled and couldn't be happier!  I really do hope we sell our house, but at the same time, we are prepared to rent it out if we need to.  We could actually make some money off of it and wait a year or 2 and the value may even go up!  We have no idea what is going to happen and man, does it feel good!

Here are some pictures courtesy of realtor.com

This is the house from the back.  It sits on .8 acres and feels like a cabin in the woods!

The landscaping is absolutely amazing!  The woman who owns it works for the local botanical gardens and has native state plants throughout the property.

I can just see BBZ exploring these woods with his neighborhood friends!

This is the front of the house, which to me hides the beauty of the backyard.

Here's one from the side that shows the shed that sits behind the carport.  I thought I wouldn't like not having a garage, but this 3-space carport is actually pretty cool.

This is a view of the entry way and the foyer and the great room, which was added as an addition on 1970.

This is the upper level of the big addition.  I love all of the wondows and the view of the back yard.  Can't you just picture how beautiful the snow will be!?!

The dining room and the steps that lead to the original roughed-in basement, which has a workshop and washer/dryer hook-ups.  There is a ton of storage space down there.

The kitchen, which is much smaller than ours, but I think I can deal :)

So that's our soon-to-be house!  There are 2 actual bedrooms upstairs and one very large room that they used as an office.  Off of the office is another room that we could turn into a bedroom if we want to throw some 2x4s and drywall up.  We're not sure which room wil be ours because the bedrooms are smaller than the rooms we have now, but once we're in there I'm sure we will figure it out.  This is crazy and exciting and somewhat hard to believe!  We'll keep you guys posted on how the inspection and appraisal goes...please send any renters or buyers our way!

"Ya know, I'm not a planner...

...I'm more of a flybytheseatofmypants kind of gal, you know...moment to moment.  Yeah that's me.  Mmm-hmm." ~Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman

Anyone who knows me knows that I AM a planner.  I look at a situation, analyze it, create a plan and then execute it.  That's me, not the flybytheseatofmypants kind of gal like good ol' Viv from that wonderful movie.  Well, our family has found ourselves in a crazy whirlwind of housing excitement that started yesterday.  Let me back up a little.

N and I have been planning on moving next Spring.  N signed up for a daily newsletter from our realtor and had been sending me updates of what is available in our price range in the areas we will consider.  I have found a few I liked and set up times to see them, only to get disappointed when I realize we aren't moving for another year.  N saw it as a time to shop around and see how far our money will go in different areas.  I saw it as a tease with constant disappointments.  We came to a compromise to only look at open houses as a fun way to spend a Sunday.  We found a house that we liked online and of course, we loved it in person.  It is everything we want with lots of character and it's really one of a kind.  It's hard to not pursue a one of a kind house when it's well, one of a kind.

So we called our agent yesterday and wondered how realistic it would be to move forward.  We talked about the details and set up for her to come meet with us this Wednesday.  At around 7pm last night, she called us back and said that because the tax incentive ends on 4/30, we really should put our house on the market right away to have it available to any last minute shoppers.  She said she would be at our house at 7:30am today with the seller's agreement and back in the afternoon to take pictures.  Holy cow!  So I put BBZ to bed and spent all evening getting our house ready for pictures and to be shown.  It is absolutely amazing how fast one can clean when there is this much at stake!  Plus my mama is in town and helped a lot.  She is also here all week which is perfect for showing it since Miss Delilah Jones would not have anything to do with a crate.

So here we are, thrust into the world of mortgage loans and PMI and down payments and showings and keeping the house clean with a toddler and will they accept our offer contingent on the sale of our house and everything that goes with it.  As much as N and I try to plan things, life always seems to happen to us the way it is meant to, so we are just rolling with it and trusting our instincts.  The ride sure is fun!

I'm trying not to be too excited about this house because I want to remain willing to walk away from it if it doesn't seem right, but I just can't help how awesome it all is.  The people who own the house have been there since it was built in 1955.  Generations of their family have grown up there and visited on holidays and they have poured their hearts and souls into the house by making it eco-friendly and full of native natural Missouri plants in the yard.  N and I love the idea of having our family live in this house for the next 55 years.  I am trying not to get my hopes up about this house, but it is really hard.  Wish us luck!