The Townhouse and the Move
We discovered in late April that there was a possibility that we might be able to barely squeak into the housing market and buy our own house. The months of May and June became occupied with the quest to see what we could possibly afford. After many appointments with an amazing mortgage broker (if you're in the Calgary area and are looking for one, PM me), and three house walkthroughs with a great real-estate agent in Didsbury, we bought our townhouse in a small town about 45 minutes out of Calgary called Didsbury. It was a stressful couple of months, but we made it through and now are homeowners!
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| It doesn't look like much outside, but inside is nice! |
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| I love the colours we chose! |
In addition to Cy's mom helping, Cy's best friend flew in to visit and help us with the actual move when the time came. With the three of us, we managed to move everything over the course of a weekend.
I am SO thankful for the help that we had in this whole process, without which we probably wouldn't have our own place.
Complications ("It can always get worse!")
Granted, we have our own house now, but up until a week ago we were still tethered to our rental property lease. This was because we broke our lease early, and according to our contract we were responsible for the rent until a new tenant was found. That meant that we were paying our mortgage and rent. It was a very tough and tight couple of months, but thanks to the help of family and really scrimping, we made it through okay. It didn't help that our landlord was emailing us once or twice a week about getting stuff done at the old place that we just couldn't afford at the time.
Before we moved, we found out, in a frightening allergic reaction that resulted in a trip to Calgary Children's Hospital, that Edgar is allergic to peanuts. He now has an epi-pen and we are a peanut-free house.
Our dryer broke on its very first cycle. After taking a look inside and trying to see if we could fix it, we found a replacement from Trail Appliances that was last year's model. We picked it up ourselves and carefully brought it down into the basement on our own.
Edgar has been sick a few times since starting daycare. We expected that. One illness lasted almost 2 weeks and needed antibiotics. He even now has a cold. Both boys are teething.
Cy broke his left middle finger while breaking down a boxspring mattress at the rental property. It should be healed in about 4-5 weeks and then he'll have to do physio for it.
Our van wouldn't start one weekend at the beginning of September. Thankfully, Cy figured out what the problem was and it was a cheap fix. It's working now, but at the time it really wasn't helping our stress level.
I ordered cheques at the the bank so I could pay for Edgar's daycare. The bank made cheques for the incorrect bank account. I didn't find out until the daycare tried to deposit a cheque. I've resolved the issue with the daycare director, who was super understanding, but I still need to go in and correct the cheques issue itself.
We found mouse droppings in our kitchen four days ago. We're working on sealing everything up and we even managed to trap one of the mice (possibly the only one, though) last night. So much bleach is being used right now. So much. I'm really hoping we get this resolved as soon as possible.
All these things led to our new motto: "It can always get worse!"
I think going through all of this has really mellowed us out. Yes, there were arguments. Yes, there were days and weeks we were so stressed out that we were doubting our decision to buy our townhouse. Yes, there were times when we weren't sure if we were going to be okay. We made it, though, with the help of family and friends. This whole ordeal has taught us not to be afraid to ask for help, and that sometimes all you can do is laugh as things get worse. It's impossible to survive if we let everything get to us. What we have is what we have, and it can always, always, get worse. We are thankful that it isn't worse.
Life with Two Under Two
It's busy. It's hectic. It's boring at times because of routine. It's sanity-sapping and joy-inducing. I wouldn't change it for anything. Arthur is now crawling and pulling himself up. He's always observing and curious. He's a bit of a quiet guy and doesn't babble much, but that's okay. Edgar talks enough for the both of them. Since starting daycare two days a week, Edgar has developmentally exploded. He talks in short sentences and loves to do things himself. He loves doing puzzles and painting, and is even starting to learn his ABCs! They play together when they're both home and now share their bedroom.
Arthur is still breastfeeding for most of his nutrition. His first taste of solids was actually a Goldfish cracker on the floor that Edgar had dropped moments prior. So much for that! Haha. Edgar is starting to become a bit of a picky eater, something that has been pretty frustrating. We're working through it, though, and there is a seminar on picking eating coming up at the local healthcare centre that I plan to attend.
Cyrus and I are doing as well as can be expected throughout the past few months. We've now been together for 7 years and are looking forward to many more. The small town with no fast food and great walkability, as well as the financial scrimping we had to do the last few months, meant that we were eating a lot healthier and were much more active than before. Thanks to that, we both lost weight. I lost 8 lbs, and Cy lost 9 lbs (but he gained back 6 of those). My joint pain is almost completely gone, and we are enjoying being a lot more active now than we were in Calgary. Small-town life suits us.
My sister welcomed her firstborn son into the world at the end of August. He's a total cutie and I'm SO looking forward to all of the boys playing together once he gets a little older. It's going to be a blast! I'm so insanely proud of her and her fiance, and the great job they're doing.
Well, that's our life right now. That's what we've been going through the past few months. Next up will be our trip to Vancouver for Thanksgiving! Here's hoping everything gets better from here!
