Easter Events

This year, D asked that the baskets be found after a treasure hunt since he loved the St. Patrick's day treasure hunt at his cousin's house.



Miss H had a ballet leotard in her basket which she LOVES. She wants to start ballet & practices twirling on her tiptoes.






















CUTE KIDS... let's sugar 'em up before church & see if their teachers agree with us...














I like how D is laying on the floor. I was so tired after staying up late composing rhyming clues & stuffing/hiding eggs that I wanted to do the same.





Our Easter art: The painted egg is from our oldest. The empty tomb is from Walter Rane. It's titled "He is not here". I've found myself starring at it so much lately. Such a simple image but such a powerfully reassuring message.

New House & Nauvoo

We planned to go visit my brother in Nauvoo, Illinois for spring break. Even though it was less than a week after our loss, we decided to go anyway since we need the hugs & time with family all the more. My parents came from DC & it was so good to see them too & to go to the temple.
The kids all had such fun playing together.

Also, I promised pictures of the new house...













The living room & family room have a see-through fireplace.












We love the open kitchen & just all the extra space in general.





This last picture shows the blanket & hat we made for the baby laying over the box that holds her ashes on our dresser. The willow tree figure is from friends & is called "Angel of Hope" which describes perfectly how we feel about her.

Hope

Baby Hope
Delivered into God's hands March 14, 2011.
5 inches long - tiny, but perfect...
We will miss our little angel.

We're the proud FORMER owners...

We sold our townhouse! It closed this afternoon right on time even though there were lots of questions whether everything would go through as scheduled (for example, our appraisal was just yesterday which was the day we moved. I wasn't striping beds first thing in the morning I was making them very neatly & cleaning like mad!)
THANK YOU to everyone who helped us move. We really appreciated the support!
We're scheduled to get keys to the new house tomorrow, so we're in a hotel tonight. The kids are enjoying the pool.
Pictures of the new house coming soon...

Good news & more good news!

Our midwife did an ultrasound for us yesterday. Baby is about as big as we thought (8 1/2 weeks) & we saw it's little heart thumping.

Also, we've accepted an offer on our townhouse, so if all goes smoothly, we'll move in March! Not sure where exactly yet (we still haven't heard on the short sale we put an offer on in Aug.) but the selling end is what's tough in this market. It's hard to go wrong buying right now.

We're so happy we feel like dancing!

Conventional "Wisdom"?

We are pregnant & due in September!Why are we announcing so early when conventional wisdom says wait until the 2nd trimester when it's "safe" to tell?
This is my 6th pregnancy but we only have 3 living children, so we are under no delusions that + test = baby in 9 months.
But here's why we think coventional wisdom is not the "wise" course for us:

1. I regret not enjoying the last pregnancy more while it lasted and want to make the most of every day this child grows.

2. We know from painful experience that you can lose a baby after the heartbeat is heard, after passing the 1st trimester, & after it's "safe" to tell.

3. Not announcing pregnancy because you might miscarry just reinforces the traditional stigma that miscarriage is something shameful. Each person who knows you are pregnant is an extra person who can support you if you have a loss. If no one knows you miscarried, you are isolated in your grief.

4. I get so big so fast that my belly announces itself quickly if I don't.

We are thrilled! A little more nervous this time, of course, but still hopeful.

Sweet "Home sweet gingerbread Homes"

Our townhouse hasn't sold yet. We've had 4 showings and really positive feedback, but no offers & it's hard to keep cleaning & stay hopeful week after week, but we're trying...
We have an idea of doing an open house with a GINGERBREAD theme. I found these adorable mini-gingerbread houses to serve w/ hot chocolate on notmartha.org
So, I'm excited about that. And if we don't get many visitors for the open house, then we'll just have to throw a party afterwards & show off the cutest gingerbread houses ever made!

Here's the gingerbread "townhouse" I made to look like the house we're selling (2 Story w/ balcony).

Anyone who has tips/ideas on selling a house in a buyer's market, please pass them along.