Forever Home with 2 adults, 1 toddler, 1 bump, 1 dog, 1 cat

gearfreak

So had some good news from the EA yesterday afternoon, the people who came to view our house on saturday have told the EA that they love it, but want to come back for a 2nd viewing with their parents later this week, so really keeping everything crossed as our house has been on the market for 5 years on and off and we really need to sell with baby number 2 on the way!

But then I think both myself and dp are having wobbles over us being able to afford a bigger house, particularly with me going on maternity in a couple of weeks. I think we just need to properly budget for things, which I try to do, but dp won't do at the moment. Financially we should be more than ok with a bigger mortgage.

Managed to get DD another set of duplo for christmas with my boots points, just need to sort out my tesco card so I can use those points to get her a happyland zoo playset and then I'm all done :j

Decorating, ebay and labelling up nct sale stuff still needs to be done. I've done DP a list of what DIY/Decorating needs to be done and prioritised it, so hopefully that will work, although it hasn't so far and its been stuck on the kitchen wall since friday night

Also managed to do a batch of morrocan chicken from scratch at the weekend, so nice to be properly cooking in the kitchen again and dd was quite content for a while to be bashing pots and pans about :0)

I've got veggie lasagne, veggie chilli and blueberry wholemeal muffins to make this week for freezing.

So planning on doing alot of batch cooking in the next few weeks so I can get something healthy and quick to eat once the bump arrives. I've been thinking about a chest freezer, do people find these useful, or are they quite expensive to run?

katiegizmo

Hello Geargirl

Reading your thread with interest as am in similar situation to you in some respects - one lo already and a nice big bump growing, soon to be on second lot of maternity leave. Would love to move - we could do with a bigger house. Luckily it is not TOO small as yet as unluckily there is no way we could afford to move until I am at least back at work again after this mat leave.

you're quite inspiring the amount you are getting done, I couldn't face decorating when this pregnant!! I am on top of meal planning though and have found this really really made a difference to our budget. I used to be amazing at batch cooking but have felt so nauseous all preg that's been abandoned for a while ( so good on you for getting that sorted now!
We had a little space spare in our conservatory so we bought an extra upright freezer which takes the overflow from the kitchen freezer which I now couldn't live without. It's amazing how good it feels to always have room for extra food when you see it on offer or fancy making a big batch of something.

hope you have good news on your house x

katiegizmo

Oh and I also do the listing and prioritising of DIY/big jobs for OH and it is completely utterly ignored....!:rotfl:

gearfreak

Thanks Katie, not sure I'm that organised, still haven't managed to cook more than one batch of Morrocan Chicken! So need to get on that otherwise I'm going to have ingredients that have gone off.

It's only been the past couple of weeks that I can bear the thought of cooking properly though. Hence why the meal planning and batch cooking went out of the window for a while.

Unfortunatly we do have to move as another cot won't fit into dd's room, let alone a toddler bed, otherwise I would wait until after my maternity leave.

But still not heard from estate agent about a second viewing, going to phone them tomorrow if I haven't heard anything by then.

I think we have decided to go for a cheaper house if we do manage to sell due to the fact that I'll be on maternity leave, the cost of doing up the old house that we like the look of and having 2 small children to look after. And it would be me sorting out the work on the house as my oh hates doing DIY. So it still looks like I won't be in my forever home yet.

OH still hasn't done any of the jobs on the list I've given him, although he has tomorrow off work so we'll see?!?!?!?!

gearfreak

So we have a 2nd house viewing on Saturday with the lady who came a couple of weeks ago to view our house, just keeping everything crossed that her parents like the house and that she makes an offer. Would be such a relief to move house and know that we have enough space for the new baby and are in an area we want to be in for schools and will save money on petrol too.

Haven't managed to do much batch cooking at all which I'm disapointed about, but my oh was away for three nights at the weekend working and dd was being very clingy and I ended up being in bed by 8pm!

I've got a £5 voucher for Aldi to be used by tomorrow, but I don't think we'll end up using it as we have pretty full kitchen cupboards atm and they are overflowing.

It's my last week of work this week before I start my maternity leave (technically annual leave first and then my actual maternity starts at the end of november). I'm looking forward to not being at work and spending more time with dd before the new baby arrives, but also worried as dd won't be at nursery anymore and I'll be getting more and more tired to look after her. And I'm also worrying about it getting closer to actually having this baby and I remember how painful it was with dd, which I'm not looking forward to if it's a similar experience this time.

I've just got to get a new mattress for the crib, moses basket which I'll buy new, then sheets for both, bouncer I'll get off e*ay. I also want to buy the new baby a Iwan the Dream Sheep as they are supposed to be really helpful in getting them off to sleep. DD has a seahorse which plays lullabys to her, but want something different for the new baby. I've looked on ebay and they go for an almost new price, so will probably buy new.

Hope everybody is having a good week :0)

CathT

Good luck with the second viewing, it does sound promising. Have you made a final decision on which house to go for? Re: labour, it is different next time round as you know what to expect, at least it should be quicker for you though.

How did you get on with gp for dd?

gearfreak

Hi CathT, not made a final decision on which house to go for, although I did go and have a drive past the smaller house this morning on the way back from my midwife appt. It is quite enclosed and I'm worried about lack of light as we both want a house that has alot of natural light in it. But we really need to go and have a proper viewing of it, but my oh won't go and view anymore houses now until we get an offer on ours.

Yeah hopefully it will be quicker than last time, although last time was pretty quick, I think part of it is that I remember how painful it was

Went to see GP with dd and he has referred her to the paediatrics at the local hospital, he thinks it sounds like a food allergy that she has but isn't sure what exactly. So we just have to wait now to see. Also phoned Health Visitor about dd lack of sleep and wanting alot of milk at night and not heard back off her, she is pretty useless though!

gearfreak

Been trying to use my tesco clubcard points to buy some more chirstmas presents for dd, but on the website it is saying that i need to phone them up to link my card with the other user (my oh) tried last night, but they had already shut. Really need to do it as their clubcard boost is on at the moment, which means I can get £50 worth of toys for my £26 worth of points :j

Been to see midwife this morning and it seems like my bp is starting to rise again which isn't good, as it went really high last time and stopped me having the birth that I wanted. So need to look at cutting out salt, etc from my diet, eating more healthily and doing a bit more exercise. All of which should be a bit easier when I finish work on Friday :T I've also got a home BP monitor to be able to keep an eye on it at home this time.

Got quite a packed weekend this weekend, dd has a halloween party on friday afternoon evening and she has a cat tutu outfit from a*da to wear, think she'll look pretty cute! Then we've got the house viewing on Sat afternoon, followed by food at a friends house before going to see the local big free firework display. Then next week, need to get onto my list of stuff to get done and sorted before the new baby arrives.

Hope everybody is looking forward to the weekend

gearfreak

Not been on here for a while but a few things have happened, the person who wanted a second viewing on our house cancelled by leaving a voicemail on the estate agents answer phone the morning of the viewing and we haven't heard why they cancelled, even though I know the estate agent has chased them.

My new EA came to do the photos and my OH still hadn't done any of the diy that needed doing so me and the EA just tried to get the photos at the most flattering angles possible.

Our next door neighbour has now sold his house and exchanges on Friday, we think to a holiday lettings company, but he sold for £117k which isn't good for us as if we sold for that we wouldn't have enough equity for a 5% deposit and all the moving fees etc 😔

On the plus side dd thoroughly enjoyed Halloween and was swishing her cat tutu around like nobody's business, we then went to a pre fireworks party for lo's which she enjoyed.

I've also now finished work and got all my Christmas shopping finished. Managed to sort out my Tesco vouchers so did the double boost and got dd a happyland set for christmas. I've sold quite a bit of stuff on eBay of maternity and dd clothes that neither of us fit into anymore. Oh and been given a massive bag of boys baby clothes from a friend so don't need to buy anymore clothes for the bump for quite a while :0)
Also got rid of some CDs through music magpie, and still have a fair bit of stuff to list on ebay.
Oh and I still need to do some batch cooking for when the baby arrives and buy the food to stick in the freezer for Christmas dinner, I'll go to aldi to get that probably as did that last year and didn't spend more than £20.

So that's it up to now, although the house situation is really starting to stress me out as I can't see how it's going to be manageable space wise when the baby gets to 6 mths or more

katiegizmo

Sorry to hear about your viewer Gearfreak that's really disappointing! Quiet period now with houses so don't lose hope at the moment, come January you'll have all the new year resolutions to move people looking for a house
I don't know how your house is but is extending an option if you can't move?
I find the things I am worried about increase a LOT when pregnant so you have to try not to stress too much at this point.


Well done on all your selling etc xx