Down & Out (The reality of buying a home)

Justin and I have been trying to close on a home for nearly a month now. a MONTH. Doesn't sound that bad but it. is. TORTURE. We found this home in South Jordan that was a foreclosure. It came on the market August 22nd (I think). Here's our timeline so far:

August 22nd: View home, put offer in on home
August 23rd: We are told there are multiple offers (ugh!) and we need to give our best and highest offer. So we submit our highest offer.
August 24th: All offers were due this day by 1pm. We were told after this period there would be 48 hours then the bank would have their selected buyer.
August 25-29: We wait. Well past 48 hours. Excrutiating.
August 30th: I attended the foreclosure auction for the condo we are living in now. It was sold back to Fannie Mae. After the auction I come home and we find out we were the selected buyers! Finally!
August 30-September 10: We have a our due diligence time period. September 6th we had our home inspection, the home is in great shape. September 7th the appraiser was sent to our home and conducted the appraisal.  September 9th we attended Sacrament meeting at our new ward. It is a much older ward that's for sure. I think the woman who looked most similar in age to me was actually in Young Womens (meaning she wasn't any older than 18). But hopefully it means plenty of babysitters for Caleb!
September 10: Our realtor confirms with us that we do want to continue with the purchase since it was the end of our due diligence period.
September 14th: The appraisal comes back $6,000 less than our offer price. We wait for the banks response.
September 18th: Bank responds that they'll lower the price of the house but will not cover all the closing costs. :-(
September 19th: We put in our new amendment to the bank that includes the new cost of the house and the amount of closing costs we will be paying (We just agreed to the bank's offer).
September 20-21: We are still. stinkin'. waiting. I HATE the wait!

Basically all that needs to happen at this point is the bank signs the contract, we send everything to the title company and they need to look at things for 48 hours then everything goes to Provident Funding (our loan company) and they have to look at everything for 48 hours, THEN everything has to be officially recorded which take 24 hours... and where does that put us? Most likely not getting the keys until October 1st or 2nd. Which means we will have 3 or 4 short days to demo a wall, put in new railing, clean the house top to bottom, put in new carpet and paint. Because we, of course, have signed a contract to be out of our condo by October 7th. Each day that passes my stress level rises significantly. I know after all is said and done things will work out. I just can't understand why all the involved parties have to be SO SLOW with their reviews/approvals of things. And I'm sure the fact that we are purchasing a foreclosed home is causing more headaches then if we were buying a home from a normal seller. But such is life.

Now to the home... I love it. I couldn't imagine us moving into a newly constructed home (the kind where the finishes are all perfect, the flooring is brand new, the kitchen is great)... yeah a newly constructed home sounds ideal pretty much but something about that idea didn't sit well with me. I think I really want to start with a home where we can add value and equity and I can make it my own. I grew up painting rooms in our home and always wanting to taking on a home improvement project so I think that must be at the root of my thoughts. But this home was built in 1998 so it isn't a total fixer upper. By painting, putting in new flooring, changing out the finishes on the hardware, things like that, I think the home will look great. But that is the fun thing about the home, I know we won't be doing all these changes right away so we are going to have a project to do probably all the time, which for some reason makes me really happy. The location is perfect. We are minutes away from Jordan Landing, probably 2 minutes away (or less) from the Trax station and 2 miles away from my sister and her family. AND our neighborhood is probably the best we have seen while house hunting. Everyone maintains their yards and home and the neighborhood is centered around this great park (probably a 5-10 minute walk from our house) and there are sidewalks everywhere. AND our church building is probably a 5 minute walk from our house. And we are in a cul-de-sac and its super quiet (so happy to not have people living below and beside us finally!).

As soon as we get the keys things are going to be in mad-dash mode. So I guess maybe I should try and enjoy this weekend and next week since they'll be the most calm we'll have in a while. But I am so looking forward to mayhem if it means we'll be in our home! I'll post pictures as soon as we get the keys and move in!

15 months

Caleb turned 15 months yesterday, can't believe he is already so old! We had his 15 month check up on Wednesday, here are his stats:
-Height: 29 1/2 " (5th percentile)
-Weight: 21.4 lbs (27th percentile)
-Head circumference: 45 1/4" (12th percentile)

The doctor was impressed with his weight gain, I thought he would weigh more more! He seems like a solid brick to carry around these days and he eats like its always his last meal. I am so grateful he hasn't become a picky eater (yet, at least).

Caleb is still working with the physical therapist from Kids on the Move. She has been coming usually every other week and working with him on getting onto all fours and crawling around, standing at surfaces and shifting his weight back and forth and overall just getting him more comfortable and confident with moving in different positions. He has been making improvements, which are more obvious to our therapist but he is now getting around by scooting on his bum. It takes so much more effort to move this way than crawling but silly man doesn't understand that. He loves walking around when we hold onto his hands. He loves to stand at surfaces and is beginning to take a few steps around a table or our recliner. I think he has the strength to do whatever he wants to do, its more a confidence thing. He seems to be afraid of falling and unsure of what to do sometimes.

This picture was taken several days ago but is the most recent we've taken. (It was for my sister's birthday card)

C's pediatrician isn't worried with his development. He has 3 of his 4 daughters that he always references, as they were slow developers and didn't crawl until after they were 15 months. The main thing that indicates learning development, says pediatrician, is the speech development. Right now Caleb says "Dad" and "Mom" all the time but other than that he repeats vowels over and over.  We'll see how his speech develops. I have my days where I really worry about him, I just want him to be happy and healthy now and in the future. But then more often than those down days, I just feel so grateful for him. He is so incredibly sweet and silly and a joy! I love being able to stay home and spend so much time with him.