Barking Mad

The Many Faces of Gaby

I thought that I'd have Zack's pictures done sooner, but being the busy young teenager that he is, he's harder to catch, on the sly, than I originally thought he would be.  But I'm working on it.

So I thought I would go ahead and post Gaby's "faces" today whilst waiting for the house inspection on the home we are buying, to commence.  It gives me a nice distraction, seeing as how Gaby doesn't want to play with mommy right now, she'd rather practice stacking blocks and doesn't want mommy's help!  She has made that oh so very clear to me, and quite loudly I might add!

Gareth heads up there at 2pm to meet with the inspector and our broker and the seller's broker.  I'm envious that Gareth gets to get a more in depth look at the grounds now that most of the snow-pack has melted off.  There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground which left me curious as to what the landscaping was like.  He took the camera, so if the seller's broker is cool with it, I should get a better look.  I could always drive up there again, but with gas prices being what they are, I'd rather not.  There will be time enough for that in the coming months.

Enough with the "house" drivel and on with the photos...I can already hear my sister, Amanda, saying that.   Alright alright.  Here ya go.

The Many Faces of Gaby

Now, when Big Brother Zack walks into the room, all deals are off!  She no longer cares about mom and the camera and she only has eyes for Zack!  She tries so hard to copy everything she does, including these lovely hand gestures! 

Soon enough though it's back to the business of watching her favourite show, The Wiggles.  And yes, she gets up on the ottoman herself, with no help from anyone, as she does every other piece of furniture in the house! 

And now I'm off to resume keeping BOTH eyes on the Little Imp as she's managed to get the shoe laces completely out of a pair of shoes!  Oi!  The fun never ends....

She Sleeps Where She Sleeps

Wouldn't it be nice to just crawl up on the sofa on a chilly spring day, wrap a nice warm blanky around you and crash?  Well, take if from me, that's what this kid does.  And when she's tired and wants to take a nap, not much stops her.   

I couldn't resist taking a picture of her, asleep (meaning - QUIET!). 

We Have a Contract!

That's right folks...we're back in business.  After the failed attempt to buy the home here in CE (the house inspection revealed a serious mold problem in the attic, and several other deficiencies in build quality and lack of owner maintenance that could have potentially cost us the price of the house - and add to that, the day before the inspection the furnace "backfired" and caused soot damage to the entire house! So we backed out) and looking at 20+ homes, the house we made an offer on - then that offer was countered and we countered back and they accepted has ended in a contract!  Hurrayyyyy!!!!!!!!! 

To Buy a Home - The Saga Continues, We've Received a Counter Offer

This entire melodrama gives me a stomach ache!

Ok so we made an offer on a nearly 3000 sq ft gambrel-style home on nearly an acre, last night.  Oh it's got a sweet fenced in yard too.  It's in wonderful shape, new carpeting, huge rooms, a deck, and a fenced in patio off of the master suite and a kitchen I can deal with once I swap out all of the current applicances for stainless steel ones and install granite counter tops.  See, I'm not hard to please!

Fast forward to ten minutes ago...Gareth phones, says we've received a counter offer.  They want asking price, which we offered, less two points on the closing costs, whereas we want them to pay three points.

So now our broker goes back to their broker and we've made a counter to their counter which basically gives them what they want and we still get what we want after playing with numbers, and hopefully everyone is happy.  Well except for the fact that the sellers are in Texas and we all know what bad luck I've had with anything and everything related to the state of Texas. 

Where did I put my antacid?

Nothing Is Safe From...The Little Imp!

I've been meaning to post these for a while now, and sadly with Gabz being so ill (she's napping now after mummy discovered a horrid rash, most likely a result of the higher dosage of Amoxicillin they have her on, add to that another *fun* side effect of antibiotics which has me changing her diaper, seemingly every 5 minutes, yuck!) and resting so often, it's given me a few moments to post these pics.  Overall I think she's feeling better, but the poor kid has the runs now which isn't any fun for her or mummy!

Anyhow, we are now entering that *fun* (remind me to refill my Rx for valium) stage of toddlerhood where nothing in the house is safe from being climbed on, over, under, or made into a ladder of sorts to aide her in all the mischief she's been getting into lately.   I've learned she can't be anywhere near the kitchen when I'm unloading the dishwasher as she even climbs in there.  Oh, she's been climbing for a while now, it's just that lately she seems to have kicked things into overdrive.   She's quite the clever little thing too.  She knows that stuffing Winnie the Pooh, Puppy and a few blankets under two throw pillows enables oneself to climb not only up onto the sofa but just about anywhere else.  Toys also make great ladders. 

We're doomed.

Here she is taking advantage of her "Leap Frog Learning Center."  Gee, who knew, when we bought the dumb thing, that she'd learn more than her alphabet, numbers and colours?  We sure got our money's worth out of this thing.  Not only is it educational, but it doubles as a ladder when one finds herself stuck on the arm of an overstuffed chair and can't get down.  Well, can't get down for long anyhow.

Take a peek - I'm not certain these are in the right order, but you get the picture...

And she's down and on her way to getting into something else.

Yep, the days of her being happy to sit contentedly whilst we read to her are over.  Well, she still loves being read to, but not for the long stretches like she used to.  Not when she knows there are new horizons to conquer, or at least conquering the entertainment center. 

In other impish related news, proof positive that she is FINALLY getting some hair on top of that bald, albeit adorable noggin of hers.

So yeah, I know it didn't come out well, but we have a serious static issue with our sofa.  But at least you can see some of her hair stickin' up!

Oh I'm not done yet....not only does she have hair, but it's CURLY!  Looks like she inherited my curls.  I bet she'll curse me for this one.

Look carefully, it's there!  She also has 3 or 4 curls in the back too.  I'm betting by this time next year she might even have enough to put into a little barrette! 

On the rare occasions she's not off getting into everything not nailed down, this is how we usually find her sitting...always with her legs crossed.  I interrupted "The Wiggles" in order to get this shot.  Gabz is a HUGE Wiggles fan!  So the expression on her face can definitely be interpreted as; "get on with it already old woman!"

She keeps us all busy, that's for certain.

Zack is keeping us pretty busy too.  Indoor track season is winding down and we think there's a chance he might make it to the championships.  Last week he placed 2nd in the 440 metre dash and the weeks before that he's done well in Shot Put and the 240 dash too.  There's another meet tonight, so we'll see how that goes.  I'm going to take the video camera with me this time, rather than the still camera, and hopefully get something good to share out here.

Well, so much for naptime.  I need to go retreive whatever it is that she's banging on the floor. 

Oh, I almost forgot, we found a house and made an offer and are waiting to hear whether it was accepted.  Fingers crossed.