Our new house

Four days before Christmas, we moved into our new house.

This came about rather suddenly, from thinking about moving to owning a new house in three months. Here's the chronology:

September: we started thinking about moving into Albuquerque (we previously lived in the mountains outside Albuquerque and wanted to move closer to the city).

October: we contacted a real estate agent and decided we'd put our house on the market in the spring and then buy a house after we sold ours.

November 7th (Wednesday): I saw a listing for a house that I thought might be good for us. I convinced Dale that we should look at it, despite the fact that we wouldn't be ready to buy a house until after our house sold, at least six months in the future. I called our agent and she set up a showing for that Friday.

November 9th (Friday): we saw the house, loved it, and decided to put in an offer on the house.

November 10th (Saturday): our real estate agent contacted the selling agent, who informed her that the sellers had received an offer the previous day and were planning to respond to it by 5:00 that day. We quickly revised our offer to make it more appealing, sent it to the sellers, and waited. Those were five of the longest hours! Finally, they accepted our offer, and we were under contract!

November 11th (Sunday): we listed our house, which we had planned to sell before we purchased another house... and hoped that it sold quickly.

November and early December: we met all the deadlines of the contract, and continued to keep our house in "show ready" condition every day, despite not having a single showing during this time.

December 19th: we signed the paperwork for closing on the new house.

December 20th: we got the keys to the new house! We took the kids to it for the first time and watched them run around the empty house for a while.

December 21st: moving day. We expected it would take four men about three hours to move, and instead it took six men about fourteen hours to move. I'm not going to say anything else about that.

December 22nd-25th: we unpacked, settled in, and got to know our new house. And enjoyed the fact that we could go to the store and be back in less than twenty minutes!

December 29th: we had our first showing on our old house! And then we waited...

January 8th: the people who saw the house on December 29th (and twice after that) put in an offer on our old house! Soon, we were under contract.

February 19th: we closed on the old house! Once again a one-house family, and feeling very happy about it!

We certainly miss several aspects of living in the mountains, but we love our new house and overall know that we made a good decision. We have great space (both indoor and outside) for the kids to play, enough bedrooms for all the kids to have their own room (if that becomes an issue in the future), and we are close to parks, school, work, and shopping.

One-and-a-half, times two!

Last month (yes, I'm a little behind in the blogging), our baby girls had their half-birthday! Yes, they are now one-and-a-half years old, growing up right before our eyes. They are becoming such big girls and are so much fun. Cordelia (on the left) loves to talk and is very loud. She likes to play independently and enjoys legos and puzzles. Cordelia is very empathetic and, when one of her sisters is upset, Cordelia will pat her on the back or offer her a toy to make her feel better. Estella (on the right) wants to do everything Adelaida does and follows her around all the time. Estella gets attached to toys -- a different toy every day -- and carries it around all day long. Estella loves to draw and to brush her sisters' hair. Both of the girls are happy toddlers and fun kids. Happy 18-month birthday, Cordelia and Estella!

Here are some of the pictures of the girls over the past year and a half:

These are pictures we had taken of the girls when they were just a few days old. Cordelia is on the left and Estella is on the right. That infant stage was so precious!

Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) at three months. They were just becoming aware of their environments.

Six-month-old Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right).

By nine months old, Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) were laughing and giggling and becoming so much more fun.

On their first birthday, Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) were both cruising around furniture and getting ready to walk. Independent steps came in the weeks after their first birthday, and by thirteen months both girls were walking more than they were crawling.

At fifteen months, Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) loved to play. Estella liked to figure things out and Cordelia loved to laugh at silly things.

Now they are eighteen months old and they are transitioning from babies to little girls. Cordelia is on the left and Estella is on the right.  What fun they are!

Here is one more picture of our one-and-a-half year olds: Cordelia giving Estella a kiss!