Here's the dealio...

We have been really busy, and have a lot to post about.... so, here's the dealio...

We found out that we are expecting a new little Schmidt. Our Bun in the Oven will be due December 26th.  You can follow along on our pregnancy journey by visiting http://schmidtbunintheoven.blogspot.com/.

I am feeling really great! I was 9 weeks on Sunday, and I'm already getting a belly! I totally didn't expect that to happen so early, but from what I hear, it happens sooner with your second (& after) babies. I'm really enjoying being pregnant, and I'm glad I feel good. I'm tired, which is normal, but I'm not having anymore nausea. It only lasted for a few weeks, which I'm convinced was all in my head. To be honest, I have been completely sidetracked with other things, that I haven't been thinking about pregnancy issues to much.

The main focus of our life since finding out we're going to be a party of four instead of three, is where to put this little Schmidt! Specifically, we have a two bedroom house, and we already feel cramped. We had tossed around the idea of "just making it work" or "waiting until the baby is born". We also contemplated adding on to our house because we have so much room on our lot. Honestly, this option scared us, and we chickened out. We briefly discussed putting our house on the market and "looking" for a new house. We both did NOT want to do this! We had a horrible experience in November 2008 when we "sold" our house before. Basically, our whole entire house was packed and ready to be moved on a Monday (our closing date). On the Thursday before, late in the afternoon, we got word that the buyers of our house backed out "for good". We were in complete shock, devastated, and very angry. It took us weeks to deal with the let down, and we had sworn off selling our house! Since then, it has turned out to have been a blessing because we realize the house wasn't the perfect house for us to be buying, and we were sacrificing to much. It was a GOD thing, it just took us time to see it. Ok, back to the current story... One night while I was at work, bored and with my laptop in front of me, I looked at the Wichita Falls Association of Realtors website at houses and stumbled on a few I liked. I decided, reluctantly, to go look. I called Mal & Brennon's realtor that sold them their house, Tanya Ruff. That's when the magic happened. First of all, she's as cute and sweet as can be, young, fun and smiley. She's also honest, tough, and passionate about her job. I could tell this within reading her first email. Also, she texts, loves email, and she's a "finance" person so she loves numbers and spreadsheets and details. So, basically, we were meant to be together! We set up times to meet to look at a few houses... most of the ones I picked were really bad. She picked a few that met our criteria, but none just right. On the third day, I found one online that I had seen, but passed it up because of the address.. 6743 Southwest Parkway. For those of you that aren't Wichitans or familiar with our cute city.. Southwest Parkway is FM 369 South of 82, which it turns into a commercial area after a few miles. So, basically its a highway. We live on a busy street now, and had no intention, or desire to live on one again. I decided to go look at this house for three main reasons. it is new (built 2005), large lot (.75 acre), set back off the road, and BIG (5 Bedroom, 3 bath, an office, formal dining room, formal living room and family room with 2200 sq ft.) I want big and new, Randy wants a shop and for me to be happy. Tanya met me there one afternoon, and I could tell by her look when I got there that it was GREAT! She knew I'd love it and I did as soon as I saw the formal living room, love the paint, furniture, window.. everything! So, needless to say, I was ready to plan my first cookout, but we had a few steps yet to go! We set up another visit the next evening at 8 pm so Randy and Mal could see it, and they both loved it as much as I did. Randy is excited about building his own shop in the NW corner of the lot and Mal is excited about having "Thanksgiving at Your House!". Aniston loved the big back yard and the "sunset". Pretty much, us falling in love with this house, set in motion a cyclone of crazy busy events. Obviously, we can't buy a house until we sell our house, so we got busy. We listed our house with Tanya on Thursday May 20th at 9:00 pm. I cleaned like crazy that night, and Friday morning. She took pictures and had the listing in the computer and "live" on Friday the 21st. Mal and Brennon (my saving graces) headed up our landscaping redo of the front of our house to help improve our curb appeal. We tore out old yuckness, and planted new prettiness. (Ask Mal for details about plant names).

Here is the Before:

And then the after pictures....

Brennon worked his booty off on this "nook". It had ivy growing up the walls, in the window, and into the siding. Also, the concrete base under the siding was chipping red paint and major UGLY. Brennon went to Home Depot, bought these bushes, rock, sod, paint and a paint brush to fix this area. He also trimmed the huge front bush and tree to make it look pretty!  

Its awesome, and so is he! Who has the best brother in law ever? Yes, that's me!

The final "after" shot.

I'm very proud of our work! I can't wait to do some "prettiness" to my new house!.

Ok, back to my story.. This was Saturday... Where was Randy during all of this? Cleaning out the garage, shop and storage closets until he went racing. On Sunday we spent the day cleaning and working around the house some more. I also spent time sleeping. Sitting in the lawn chair in the sun, watching Mal & Brennon kill themselves really wore me out! I did plant one flower in the front bed, spread out some mulch, and help Mal hold back potting soil for her to pot the plants. I also filled up water cups and pulled weeds.

So, our virtual tour was up and running on Monday morning. I got a call at 11:00 on Monday to schedule a showing for 1:45. Of course I said "sure". I spruced up the house, toasted some cinnamon bread and scrambled me some eggs..(all to make the house smell good) then Aniston and I went to get ice cream. We got word that evening that the "looker" really liked it. We decided to put a contract on the house on Southwest Parkway with a contingency to sell our house, and they accepted our offer once they saw Tanya's great marketing and how "saleable" our house is.

Tuesday morning, I got another call for a showing, and again.. did the same routine, except no toast and eggs. I texted Tanya to tell her about the showing and found out it was the same people looking a second time, this time she brought Mr. along. As I was getting in the car, and loading up the dogs, they drive up, 15 minutes early. I'm backing out, and I notice the "Mr." is driving a new Camaro. This is a good sign, since the biggest selling point of our house is the 1200 foot shop, perfect for a car guy!

We found out Tuesday night that our house was still their top pick, and they would discuss their options. I worked Tuesday night and went home Wednesday morning, begging the hubs and Tanya to let me sleep all day because I was EXHAUSTED! I woke up about noon on Wednesday to find 9 missed texts, and 4 missed calls. All but one from Randy. I called him immediately and he told me the amazing news, "we have an offer and we're gonna accept it!" He was right, we did and we did!

Tanya recommended that we get our inspection report and make sure we want to buy the SW Pkwy house before we sell ours. The inspection was completed by 4:00 on Wednesday (because of a cancellation) and everything was minor. Plugs needing changed, windows needing caulked, and burnt out light bulbs. So, needless to say, we said GO GO GO on our sell, and we signed and accepted the contract by 8 pm.

So, in a nutshell, within the last 10 days.. we have looked at houses, found our dream house, hired a realtor, listed our house, put a contract on a house, put in new landscaping, shown our house to one couple twice, got a contract on our house, had a "passed" inspection on our house we're buying, and scheduled an inspection for our house we're selling, scheduled repairs, and been to Home Depot 42 times.

To be honest, we are still very nervous and apprehensive about the inspection of our house. Even though we had an inspection done in November 2008, and fairly aware of what it will say and what to expect, we're still scared. We're mostly scared of the buyers reaction. Last time, all the "repairs" were minor in every ones eyes, and easily fixed, but the buyers panicked.  We are more positive this time because we have a head start on fixing these minor things, and we are more knowledgeable about the process. I'm pretty sure we will rest a lot easier on Wednesday or Thursday when we hear their request for repairs. Please pray for us that this process remains a smooth and positive experience.

We are having a lot of fun, and we're actually enjoying the process so far. We know and feel that God is with us, and we can sense his presence in every decision and result. Everything is falling into place and we are seeing that he had a plan for us all along. We are so amazed by how everything is so "meant to be", and we honestly feel like we are just along for the ride. I pray every minute of everyday for his guidance and his strength. We are so blessed and we continue to be blessed. Please pray for our journey...

I will continue to update everyone along the way!

-Brit