Did we buy a house?

We Finally bought a house - well, technically it's not ours yet, but we did get a contract signed. After Countless hours on the internet, four trips to Del Rio, 50+ home visits (some of those were 2nd looks), multiple offers and negotiations, lots of gas (the expensive kind) 6 nights in TLF, and all this with our 3 munchkins in tow, we did it. Keep in mind we found out we were headed to Del Rio in December, and have been on the internet looking at these houses since then! After all that, it was kinda anti-climatic. I guess it was such a long time coming, and then took several days to "negotiate" and contracts were faxed back and forth, etc. etc. that it just sorta happened without much fanfare. I intend to make Casey take us out for dinner when we close! Needless to say, we're headed back, AGAIN, this weekend for the inspection. Are home buying expenses tax deductible???

This picture is from the realtors site, I'll post more when it's actually ours.

My baby is 1!!

I can't believe my little peanut is a year old already. She's been such a joy in our lives. I can't imagine life where she isn't in it! She's practically running, and loves to play with her big brother. She has gotten a little more attached, and hangs on so tight to my neck when she wants to keep being held. She has a smile that lights up our home, with her four little teeth showing proudly. I am truly blessed! Now I have to figure out how to get her to drink her milk.
We celebrated with a cake at the home of our realtor in Del Rio, where we had gone to play in the pool. She made a serious mess on the patio, and then we just took the hose and sprayed it all off! I'll have to post pictures later because I am an idiot and left the camera in San Antonio and the only shots we got were from Casey's phone. I'll figure out how to put them on here soon.
Happy Birthday Ali!

A Happy Father's Day

I think Casey, aka Daddy, had a good Father's Day. He wanted to take the kids to SeaWorld for the day, so that's what we did. We arrived at about 10 in the morning, and left at 9 pm. Whew!! Our kids are troopers, I tell ya! We were able to take advantage of their program that allows military members and up to 3 dependents free admission, so that was awesome. Between the shows, roller coasters, and water attractions, there was never a dull moment! Casey spent the day filling and refilling water bottles and Darla applied everybody's sunscreen at least 4 times. We rented me a wheelchair, and Caitlyn got to push me around while Casey pushed the stoller. If you have to be stuck in a wheelchair, take advantage of the little things. We got to go straight up to the front of the lines through the wheelchair access to get on the rides. Ethan's favorite thing was the blue pirate boat (Shamu's happy harbor). I have always been partial to the sealion and otter show!

Hope everyone had an awesome Father's Day!

Crutches - Be Gone!!!! Sorta

It figures that I get the go ahead to lose the crutches, and I find that I still need them, at least partially, because I have apparently developed some sort of tendonitis or something in my ankle and foot. The doc. was a little stumped but the fact is, every step I take feels like I'm walking on a bed of sharp pointy rocks (like it feels when you walk barefoot in a riverbed with lots of jagged edges) and I get shooting pain through my ankle. Anyway - it's a wait and see if it subsides or not thing. Here's hoping it goes away SOON! Poor Casey wants me to be better so bad! He's been getting up for the baby during the night, and early morning since this injury occurred and can't wait to hand that duty back to me!

The knee is doing great! I have 135 degrees flexion back. That isn't expected till much later, so that's awesome.

Looking forward to the weekend.

We're Going on a House Hunt...

We just spent the weekend in Del Rio where we explored 29 different houses, 27 in one day. In case you have forgotten, I'm on crutches! That's another story.

Anyway, This was our third trip, and we have probably seen close to 50 houses, and the Ratliffs could be happy in half of them. We made an offer on one, which was a really low offer on a great, but over our budget house, that has been on the market almost a year. We had a pretty good shot at getting it, but they countered with more than we want to spend and we are moving on to the next one. I don't know what's going on there, but who the heck do they keep building houses for??? Del Rio's not a big place.

So - Caitlyn did a great job babysitting for us all day Saturday. (At least, the kids were alive and happy when we got home) She's getting lots of practice for when we get settled in and she can sit for the neighbors.

I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I could see my foot swelling throughout the day - stopped wearing a shoe about halfway through, and then by the time I got to sit down for the night, and took off the brace my knee was the size of a cantaloupe and my calf looked like Popeye's forearms after he gets his spinach! The brace kept the areas under the straps compressed so the swelling went into the open areas. It was actually pretty funny. It is back to normal now, thankfully. I am supposed to lose the crutches Friday. Yippee!!

Casey's a major....

Pain in the behind! Not really - he's finally a Major in the United States Air Force. Way to go Casey!!! Now, what to do with the extra money??? I'm sure I'll think of something.