1 week celebration....

Kailey woke up this morning and has made it 1 whole week without an accident in her bed. She has been trying really hard to be a big girl and is doing a wonderful job.
Nice job Kailey.

The HOUSE is finally SOLD

Holy cow...I cant believe it....The closing took place yesterday at 1130am. However, it almost got pushed out again due to the buyer's stupid realtor. This realtor submitted the higher original sale price instead of the new negotiated lower price to the banks for the closing. So the documents were all wrong which threatened to push the date out again till the banks got them corrected. Instead, we left the documents as they were and then wrote a check to the buyers to cover the difference. This was fine for us except, I had to take my lunch at 1030am, run to the house to get the check book and then drive to Marion to deliver the check to my realtor (who was meeting the buyer's realtor). When I walked in, I had a pissy look on my face and never looked the buyer's realtor in the eye. This jackass shouldn't be a realtor. He screwed up so many details in this process (his name is Brad Fisher).
Overall, cutting a check to the buyer's was an easy solution other than pushing out the close date, except for 1 minor detail. With the sale price being higher, the commision for the realtors was 420.00 higher. So I mentioned it to my realtor and he agreed, and said he would do whatever was needed to get me our money back (yesterday I received a check from each realtor for 210.00 to cover our difference).
Were just so glad this is over and can look forward to moving on.

Rebel is sick.....

So Jaime noticed on Thursday night that when Rebel went potty, she had blood in her urine. We got her into the vet Friday morning to be evaluated. I dropped her off and went to work. About 9am, I got a call from the vet asking me if I can come in for a consultation. Man, that scared the crap out of me. I assumed the worse. Luckily it appears that she has a simple bladder infection. I think the move to Jill & Donnies has thrown her off. She no longer has a fenced in yard to roam in. Because we live in the country now, she has had to learn to go potty on a chain. The first 3 days we were here, she barely pee'd and I think that the holding it in has caused her this issue. She's on pills now for the next 2 weeks. If she truly has just a bladder infection (instead of gall/kidney stones) it should clear up nicely. For now we have to keep her kenneled up as she cant control her bladder and has been pottying in the house.
Lets all hope its just a simple bladder infection. I still miss Cyrus (its been 2 years) and I cant fathom losing my girl.

Closing has been delayed...

I got a call today that the closing on our house which was scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed till next Tuesday. I guess the new homeowners weren't aware that when they took an SBA loan, the SBA needs to see a clean abstract on their previous house, so they know the people aren't taking out 2 separate home loans at the same time. Its not a huge setback but Jaime has had to call some utility companies again to change the date of disconnection for us.
Hopefully next Tuesday comes quickly.

The move is complete

This past Saturday we moved into Jaime's parent house. It was a cold day for the move but the guys were motivated to get the job done. I was hoping to have it done in 2 hours but it took 4. We could have gotten done sooner if Marco didn't take so long to back up the trailer, if Bob didn't take so many smoke breaks and if AJ just did some work for a change.
Jaime and I spent all Saturday and Sunday getting stuff out after the guys left. You really forget how much crap you have until you try to move it all. Its not the big items, its all the little things that pile up. I have one item left to complete at the house before final inspection on Thursday. Then its all done and over come Friday morning.

A missed celebration....

I for got to mention that January 11th was my 4 Year Anniversary of quitting smoking. Yahooooo....It really feels so good not to smoke and wake up coughing in the morning.
Now if I can only keep my weight down. I feel like Oprah with my weight fluctuations. I'm UP, I'm DOWN, I'm UP, I'm DOWN
Currently I'm UP, way UUUUUUUP.

Jaime's surgery...

Jaime had Lasik Eye surgery today at Wolfe Clinic in Cedar Rapids. She is doing well but is in some minor pain. She says its really more discomfort than pain. Right now she is wearing her goggles to prevent getting poked in the eyes. Her vision is very blurred and should return within 24-48 hours.

DAM ITS COLD....BUUUUURRRRRR!!!

WHAT ELSE CAN I SAY....ITS -20 OUTSIDE....WITH WINDCHILL, TEMPS AROUND -40 TO -50....WHY DONT I LIVE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WITH THE REST OF MY FAMILY...
IT WAS ACTUALLY WARMER IN ALASKA YESTERDAY THAN IT WAS HERE...
LETS SEE WHO MISSES LIVING IN THE MIDWEST NOW...

Getting rid of the diaper...

So Kailey has been wearing panties for almost a year now during the day, but at night she has always worn a diaper just to be on the safe side. We never wanted to force her out of them until she was ready. We decided last week to try having her go to bed without wearing the diaper. So far she has done really well. The first 6 days in a row came and went without any accidents at night. She has been so happy to wake up in the morning and let us know that she made it another night. We just keep encouraging her and giving her praise for each night she makes it.

One more hurdle is done.....

We just got word today that an appraisal will not be required on our house. Not that we were worried but it was one more thing that wasn't done yet and we are supposed to close on January 23rd. Jaime and I were a little worried because we have packed up a lot of the house, a lot of which is already in the storage garage and if something had gone wrong with the appraisal, the house would have looked funny going back on the market with a half lived in look.

So our for sure moving date will be January 17th. Should only take a few hours as we plan to move some more stuff on our own when we have a chance. Grandma & Grandpa Atwater will get to live with us for a whole week before they leave for their Hawaii getaway. Maybe they should have rescheduled for sometime in April after we've lived with them for a couple months. They may need the break, so they don't have a breakdown.

Happy New Years 2009

For the last 3-5 years we have been getting together at a friends house to celebrate the new year. Its much easier to do this, especially with kids now. This year we traveled to Marion and spent the evening at the Haley household. We ate walking tacos, eggrolls, creme puffs, drank eggnog (Marco brought the RUM for added flavor) and munched on deer meat and cheese. We played euchre and Wii (my arm is a little sore from kicking ass in tennis all night - just call me John Mcenroe) most of the night. The adults also had a white elephant gift exchange. Jaime got an unmatched set of different colored coat hangers. I got an old telephone, set of golf balls and an already opened mini bottle of Crown Royal (which I later traded in for a deck of cards and a book on card tricks). The kids played all night and made it as long as the adults. Cohen was the first to really get cranky right around 1:30am as you can see from his picture. We hope everyone has a wonderful night and a happy new year in 2009.

The guys playing euchre.

Cohen @ 1:30am, he's not happy

Pictures from Christmas Day...

Christmas day is finally here.......

We woke up Thursday morning around 8am. It was nice that the kids slept in for a change. The kids were excited to find out that Santa had been here. We opened gifts up right away. Kailey got exactly what she wanted "a KITCHEN." She was so happy that Santa brought her it. Cohen got what he wanted too. Cars, cars and cars. He got the Shake & Go Crash cars race track with cars. The kids played with toys, wound up from the morning take from Santa while Jaime and I packed for the trip to Chicago.

We left around 11am and arrived just before most of my family did at 3pm. It was a very nice evening. My cousins and aunts were there. My cousin's 5 month old baby girl Taylor was there as well. It was the first time I have seen her in person.

Dinner was great. Ham, roast beef, potatos, plus a million other things I cant even remember. The kids opened gifts and then the adults did our normal $15 grab bag gift exchange. It was a great time stealing gifts from each other and laughing our way through it. Everyone had a wonderful time visiting with each other. With all thats gone bad in the world over the last 6 months, it was nice to see everyone happy and healthy. I posted some pics below from the day (some from in Iowa and some from Chicago).

Christmas Eve....

Its now officially Christmas as I sit here typing at 12:03am. We just got back from Jaime's parents house where we had dinner and exchanged gifts. The kids are tucked away in bed as they know Santa only comes when they are asleep. I actually told them in the car tonight "that I heard of some kids who didnt get any presents last year because they tried staying up all night to see Santa and he skipped over their house". Kailey said that she was going to go to bed right away so she got presents. I love it.....I'll have to use that same story next year. One day I'll get a kick out of telling her the truth.

Jaime and I have 1 last gift to wrap and then its off to bed. The gifts are under the tree and we await the morning. Here are a few pictures of Xmas eve at the Atwater House.

Good night to all.

Picture with Santa

Its getting really close to Christmas and we hadn't been to the mall yet to visit Santa. Jaime and I figured that today would be a perfect day to go. Hopefully, most people wouldn't go until after work which would mean the line would be short. Yippee....we were right. When we got to the mall, there were only 4 groups in front of us (including Jaime's cousins wife with the 3 boys).

Kailey was a little hesitant at first to talk to Santa but she wasn't scared by anymeans. She told him she wanted a play kitchen (Santa asked if she would make him food so he could come over).

Then she asked for MAKE-UP, Santa actually said "I dont think so". It was a cute moment for Jaime and I. Cohen was a lot more shy. He didn't really want to talk but when we finally got him to tell Santa what he wanted for Xmas, all he said was "CANDY".

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year.