It's A Girl!!!!

Kennedy is getting a baby sister! What a lucky duck. I loved having a sister just younger than me to play with so I am so excited for the next generation of Rachel and Marissa. Plus, we get to recycle all these adorable baby girl clothes! Tim was convinced #2 was a girl since the start, but after a much more difficult first trimester, I had it pegged as a boy. I am happy to be wrong and can't wait to meet our little girl.
Another bonus is that we already had the perfect name picked out for a girl. Abigail for the first name after my great-great-great-great-great-great grandma Abigail McBride who joined the church in 1830 in New York. Her story is so inspirational and I have been doing a lot of research on one of her sons and grandson who ended up in Michigan. Beverly for the middle name after Tim's mother. If this child grows up to be anything like either name-sake she will be a amazing woman.
Hooray for Abigail Beverly Clawson! We can't wait to meet you!

Congratulations Tim!

As if we didn't already have enough going on this past week with the home buying process, Tim had signed up to take the GMAT on Saturday. Ironically, he had moved the date up two weeks so we could look for homes with results in hand, but we found a house much earlier than expected and so it just made for a stressful week.
However, Tim is superman and pulled out a great score anyways! Yea Tim! We are now very confident that he could get in to the University of Michigan MBA program. This makes the decision to buy a home and stick around here in Michigan that much easier to make.
I am so proud of my husband and am so glad he had to take the 3 1/2 hour test instead of me. (However, I have never been more nervous than I was during those 3 1/2 hours) We know we are very blessed and can't wait to have our nights and weekends study free. (at least till he starts school)

Our Home... almost

After a long few days of offers, counter offers, and last minute negotiations we have an signed purchase agreement on this home in Canton, MI. I think I'm still in shock. We expected to look for a month or so, but instead found this beauty in our first week of looking. I am also having a hard time believing we got it after making such low offers. Yea for buyers! Sorry sellers.
Anyhow we still have to get inspections done and a million other things on our way to closing, but this place already feels like home. It sounds like the current owners will rent from us for a month or so after we close so we may not move in until May/June. That works out fine for us though as we are stuck in a lease until June anyways. We may stay in our apartment for a few weeks after we have the house so we can paint and possibly try to finish the basement. Are we crazy to try to finish the basement in a few months? Note: Tim is an extremely handy man, but he has no experience with framing or dry walling. Stay tuned for that exciting chapter of our lives (if it happens).
Well, this post wasn't very coherent, but then again neither am I this week with all the goings on. Bottom line... We are so EXCITED!

L'il K

Here is Kennedy's picture we had taken around Christmas time. I love how her fingers are all ready to take a picture too! I really can't believe how grown up she is getting. She is talking up a storm and can be such a good helper when she wants to be. She has also grown a strong sense of independence and seems to have an opinion on everything. We love her so much and can't wait to add another little cutie to the group.

House Hunting

2010 has already been a year of surprises. And so far the biggest surprise of all is our family's decision to house hunt here in Michigan. I guess I always knew that we would end up living here for a while, especially now that Ford has agreed to pay for MBA school, but I was still unprepared for this very permanent gesture of purchasing a home.
So far the process has been very enlightening. It is amazing how complex it is to buy a house. Everyone wants in on the action. The bank wants to rob you with interest. The government wants to kill you with taxes. The insurance company wants a piece of you as does the inspector, the appraiser, not to mention your "friend" the real estate agent. Whew! What a mess. We have basically decided to live off ramen noodles and get our kicks watching library movies for the next year to help finance this whole deal. Or win a game show.
Well, we have already been out to see a few houses, but nothing to get too excited about. It's hard because we want to stay very frugal, but it's amazing what a few more thousand dollars can get you. I am already nervous to negotiate prices and make an offer. I mean this is big money we're talking about. I feel way to young for all this grown up business of house buying.
Crazy times. Well I'll try to keep you all updated on our search. Oh and I still am going to post pics from Christmas (hopefully before Easter) If anyone has any advice on home buying or know of a good buying agent I'd love to hear from you!