1.37 Almost there!!

By Cyndi
August 27, 2012

This will be short and sweet since the majority of our week has been checking in on the contractors and moving as much as we can.   The townhouse looks so bare compared to a week ago, but that's the intention to stage it.  We plan on listing it at the end of this week!!

Construction has been moving right along and is completed besides cleanup and the double oven cabinet due the week after Labor Day.

Let me walk you through the changes ...

All Done!!

View #2

New Hardware

1.36 It's becoming reality ....

By Cyndi
August 20, 2012

It is hard to explain the nervousness and excitement of everything that is going on.  The renovations have begun and should finish by the end of this week.  We will then move the essential items over to the house and stage the townhouse to be put on the market before Labor Day weekend.

Our contractor had to leave the country for an emergency, so we had to meet with his partner to review everything since we wouldn't be in the house 24/7 to answer their questions.  We handed him the key and said a little prayer that it will turn out how we want. 

We took the guys there and all they wanted to do was run, in a "contruction zone" where carpet is being torn up and climb the stairs.  While letting them run in the backyard, we met the neighbor to the left of us.  They have a big black lab named Wrigley ... Matt quickly asked, as in Wrigley Field? She said Yes!  Either her or her husband is from Deerfield area (about 15 minutes from where I grew up). So Meigs will have a friend right next door!

Since we have no furniture yet, we sat out front to let the guys have a snack.  Well, I think the entire street was watching for us out their windows because (and I am not exaggerating) five families trekked over to introduce themselves.  Most have kids ranging from 10 to two years old.  Definitely lots of kids for these guys to play with!  They were even having a cul-de-sac movie night showing on someones garage at dusk. 

The guys have been progressing well with OT & Speech.  We are close to being released from OT, but will have a follow up every few months to make sure we stay on track.  Speech has been going very well.  They are saying a lot of words.  I spent time this weekend making flash cards and they knew some of their colors and for the ones they did not know, they repeated the word after me! 

Word Count: Ball, Cheese, Bye, Uh Oh, bubu (bubble), Down, Choo Choo, Beep Beep, Yellow, Blue, Dog
Signs: More (both), Milk (both), Please (both)
What does this animal say: Dog, Horse, Sheep, Cow, Lion

Park fun with Lincoln

Using his spoon properly unlike brother

Yummy Yogurt!!

Snack outside the new house

Construction Day #1

Sign here, initial there, sign again here .....

August 16, 2012
By Cyndi

Those are the happy words of the laywer at the CLOSING TABLE!  That's right, Bank Of America FINALLY finished and we closed on Wednesday!!!

It was an hour to go when we finally received the final numbers, which still had to be revised. Revised again?  Why yes, our seller is "elderly" and in Loudoun County the elderly don't pay real estate taxes.  Since we closed mid-month the county would charge that tax all month and the seller needed to pay his part.  He didn't want to.  We didn't budge, we had already given him $100 / day for the delay. He caved.

So now it is time to reschedule the move, the contractor and figure out when to switch daycares.  Two or so more weeks of stress, then lots of hoping the townhouse sells quickly because two mortgages is not in the plan for very long!

1.35 The best of times ... the worst of times ...

By Cyndi
August 13, 2012

This past week was supposed to have been one of the best weeks of our year.  

The Highs:

• My brother and sister in law giving birth to my nephew, Asher Cato Gimpel
• Matt turns 22 (shhhh ... plus ten)
• Close on a house and start moving

Well, two of things went off without a hitch.  But the last one, couldn't have gone in a worse direction; one that we never expected.

Let me set the stage and do my best to make this as brief as possible.

Two and a half hours before we were scheduled to close on Tuesday (a close date that was picked when we put our offer in the first week of July), I received a call from our lender, Bank of America, that they required more information.  WHAT?  I was minutes from walking out the door at work and Matt was sitting outside our local BoA, about to get a cashier's check for closing as they called me.  Are you kidding me?

I quickly ran to my desk, prepared the information and faxed it within 20 minutes.  (Note: They wanted explanations for  $65, $72 & $499 deposits into our checking account -  a BoA account.  The $499? She said she could not tell whether or not it was a cash deposit. You work for them same bank, there is no way for you to check that yourself?!).  When I called the lady back to say the fax is going through, she said to me, and I quote, "I need to reset your expectations for closing.  You will close within the next two weeks".  I LOST it at that point.  I told her that someone else would call her shortly.

The remainder of the week, Matt and I have spent 2-4 hours daily on the phone with BoA trying to figure out what needs to get done so we can close.  Well, talking to whomever will actually pick up their phone/answer email. Except for the local loan officer, it seems that almost no one else has the huevos to actually talk to us, the customer. Our seller was getting ancy towards the end of the week, understandably, and requested to our realtor that he be reimbursed for losing $100/day from this delay.  On Friday afternoon, BoA agreed to credit $1000 back to use in closing costs, so that Matt and I can pass it along to the seller and hold him out until Wednesday of this week.

This stress along with rearranging everything else we had planned (we had already put in our notice at daycare, scheduled appliance delivery, and a contractor ready to start) and all of the other things going on in our lives, left this week to be almost unmanageable.

I guess we were too prepared, but this mess up by BoA is outrageous.  I was told by two people at BoA that they would have NEVER finished it all by our closing date.  Ummm ... then why wasn't that said in the three weeks you had our contract?

I can hope this week goes better.  The thought of losing our earnest money because the bank didn't communicate makes me sick.

Here are two videos from this week for a little sunshine in our otherwise awful week.

1.34 20 month review & Nana's visit

By Cyndi
August 6, 2012

What a week!  Finally received the official word that the appraisal on the new house is good to go, right in time for Nana to arrive.  She was the first person other than Matt and I to see the house.  She is thrilled to have a bathroom connected to her future guest room.  Don't worry Nana, the room rate will increase accordingly.  Now, we will ask for at least one coffee cake AND chocolate chip cookies!!

Zach had been sick most of the week and we kept both boys home from daycare because Zach was spiking fevers of 101.5 on and off from Sunday through Wednesday.  Now, they are both just very whiney, which I blame on 2 year molars.

Nana reading books!

Exploring the new staircase!

We have a finalized timeline for moving, renovations, preparing the townhouse for sale, and switching daycares.  I can only hope, for my sanity, that we can stick to this schedule.  Saba is trying make a quick trip out to help with moving (I mean really, what else does one do once retired but help their children with such fun events, like moving!!) ... but that is contingent on when my nephew decides to arrive (yes, I am going to be an AUNT!).  My brother and his wife Lauren are due today, except thus far, the little guy has not made any signs of exiting and joining the world.

I hope he is able to make it.  He was at the townhouse when we put up the mezuzah here and I would LOVE for him to help put it up at our new home!






Here's a picture of us signing for the townhouse in 2008:

And putting up the mezuzah while my grandfather and dad were visiting ... and yes, that is baby Meigs!!!!!

Here are the 20 month memories:

• Bottles: 4 sippies, three are WCM (whole cow's milk) & one is 1:4 apple juice to water. We tried switching to 2% milk to see if we would have less constipation issues, no such luck.  Back to WCM.
• Schedule: 1 nap per day, average 1.25 hours.
• Food: Chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, breaded fish, cheese sticks, toast, waffles and all snacky food are current favorites.  No huge improvements, but they are learning to say "NO" to something if they don't want it, instead of us giving it to them and then they throw it.
• Movement: Running, crouching, standing up without help ... they are everywhere!
• Clothes: Same Same ... 18-24 month tops &12 month pants (barely)
• Diapers:  Size 5. 
• Fine Motor skills:  We "think" we are coming to a close with OT, which is GREAT news!!  Still working on scooping with a spoon and full hand actions, like crumpling paper.
• Gross Motor skills:  All is good!  We are slowing helping them to walk up the steps, holding one of their hands.  We have yet to practice going down, though on two or three steps, they know to go down backwards.
• Language:  Huge improvements here!!  With speech therapy and a speech video we watch 5 times per week, we have a much larger word list!
• Teeth: 16 each ...  but I think their 2 year molars are on the move and causing pain :(
• Interaction:  They are starting to follow short tasks (go to your chair for milk, bring mama a ball), they are pointing with their whole arm and starting to maybe think about using a single finger. 
• Mommy:  No official working out since there is way too much going on otherwise, but holding steady.  Work is insane since I am covering for a coworker out on medical leave.
• Daddy: Daddy has not been enjoying the summer thunderstorms at work.  Still working overtime about two times per month and towards the end of the year, six-day weeks will likely resume.
• Early Intervention:  We are doing speech therapy and occupational therapy weekly. Our insurance covers them with a copay and even if we stop weekly OT, we will probably do a bi-monthly check in to ensure we are still on track going forward!

Home Sweet Home ...

The townhouse has been good to us, but ............

We are happy to announce that we are under contact and closing in one week on a house in Ashburn!!! 

We've been house searching for 3+ months.  The market here is crazy; houses would be listed and go under contract within 36 hours of the listing (and I am NOT kidding!!!)  The past month has been insanely busy for us ... with OT & Speech appointments weekly, seeing houses, deciding to put an offer, getting quotes for renovations and other repairs, and I have been doing double duty at work every day (since one of my co-workers is out on medical leave with an undermined return to work date).  It has been rough, to say the least.

The next month of closing, renovations & moving will be equally crazy, but hopefully after that, we will have time to relax and enjoy life again.

Here are a few pictures:

Family Room

The kitchen will have new floors (along with the rest of the main level), counters, appliances and a few cabinets will be moved around to create a bar.

The basement is unfinished, so in the future we can design it ourselves ...

The master bedroom is gigantic!!  There is 4 more bedrooms upstairs and two additional full baths beyond the master bath.

And doggie Meigs will now have a HUGE backyard to run in ...

It is still unreal to me that this house will be ours.  So so so sureal!!
We will be very very sad to leave the townhouse and our favorite neighbors, but we need more space for T&Z to grow ...