News from the Home Front

Who ever heard of waiting ten weeks for a response on a house offer?

Apparently, in the current housing market, if a home is up for short sale or foreclosure, it's buried in a pile of hundreds of such homes on the lender's desk. We put in an offer on this home November 1, and are still waiting to hear whether the offer is accepted, denied, or if they'll counter. The current owner is happy to have gotten an offer, but the lender has to approve also, and they'd probably like to get more of their money back. Given the interest rates right now, we'd really love to get a response and lock in a great rate on our loan.

On the upside, though, as a buyer in this market, the longer they wait to respond, the more housing prices decrease and the more reasonable our offer looks. (We're so thankful to be renting, rather than having to sell our current home before moving.)

Grace is tired of sleeping in our closet and would like her own room, I think.

Melinda

Our Christmas

As those of you who live in the Pacific Northwest know, it was a snowy December. For the first time that I can recall, it was actually white on Christmas. Not just a flurry in the air or a few flakes on the ground, but actual snowdrifts big enough to make lifesize snowmen, high enough to get into your boots, and slick enough to strike fear into the hearts of most Seattle drivers.

So how did we do with all this winteriness? We went to California. Yep, we spent December 19-25 in the Sacramento area with Vic's family, and had a great time. Grace was an absolute dream traveler (something we're not counting on with future trips, but were so thankful for). We ate yummy food, spent lots of time with the Wii, played several games of Scrabble, and thoroughly enjoyed visiting with everyone.

We flew home on Christmas afternoon, and immediately upon arrival at our car, Grace erupted into inconsolable crying. Apparently she'd simply had it with all this craziness. Once we unearthed our car from the snow and ice it had accumulated during the week, we hurried home on clear roads, got the Peanut a bottle of warm milk, and tucked her in for the night. She slept for 12 hours both of the next two nights.

The day after Christmas we had Melinda's family over for a far-from-traditional Christmas dinner -- chili, burritos, nachos, and for dessert pineapple cake with cream cheese frosting. Yum. It was great to catch up with everybody.

So with all these festivities, how did we celebrate New Year's Eve? Went to sleep, of course. Grace couldn't care less about 2008, 2009, or any other year -- she just wants her bottle at 8:00am.

But we wish you all the best in this new year!

Vic & Melinda

snow baby

with her grandfather and her papa

look who got bunny slippers for Christmas

What We Did Yesterday

Grace and Her Papa

playtime

going for a walk (aka naptime for baby)

naptime (for Vic)

Four Months

Last week Grace celebrated her four month birthday, and got two shots at the doctor to celebrate. She weighs just over 13 pounds and is 26 1/2 inches long, which puts her in the 99th percentile for length. At this rate she'll outgrow her mama by the time she's ten.

Our Peanut is doing great, and is such a joy to us. She occasionally works herself up to a serious cry at naptimes, but overall is a happy kid. Her latest trick is sucking on four fingers at once (her hands get so slimy that we've taken to calling her "swamp thing"), she drinks milk like a champ, and she's recently discovered her knees.

Here's to our little four-month-old!

Melinda

On the (Sixth &) Seventh Day, We Rested

It's been crazy around here lately, and we've been in desperate need of some rest, both physical and mental. This past weekend, we made full use of both days for playing, cooking, napping, and catching up. It was a gift.

Grace also made full use of both days. She did the usual (sleeping, eating, playing, cooing) and also threw in some huddling under a blanket after a shower,



and some wide-eyed stroller riding.


We look forward to a short week, a nice long weekend complete with a designated day for giving thanks, and entering the busyness of next week fully rested. We wish you all the same.

Melinda (& Vic)

A Recipe for Autumn

As I stand in the kitchen, drinking my umpteenth beverage today (I'm getting over a cold), and occasionally checking on the Peanut via video monitor, I peruse cookbooks and food blogs to find recipes for those foods that are quintessentially fall. Soup and stew are my favorites. In fact, Vic and I have even reserved www.bisquette.com should I ever want to make bisques, chowders, stews, and other soups for a living. (But don't look now... we haven't actually put up a website there.)

Beef stew was dinner the last two nights. It's cliche but true that it just gets better with each reheating. The night before that we tried a new recipe -- a chicken and corn soup from one of the food blogs I read regularly for gluten-free inspiration. I did a little tailoring of the recipe (I don't like cilantro, and agave isn't something I have around the house), but you can find the original here. In a word, delicious. Or, to quote Jack Black in Nacho Libre, "I make the soup... It's fantastic!" This is an autumn recipe I will definitely be making again. Probably next week.

What is your favorite fall food?

Melinda