LIfe..... According to Emily

Emily usually says at least one thing each day that causes me to burst out laughing. She has such an interesting mind.
Here are some of my favourites:

*She has a "thing" about bunny metaphors

"That's as sticky as a bunny covered in honey"
"That's as cold as a bunny riding on a polar bear holding an ice cube"
"That's a beautiful as a bunny that's dressed up like a princess"
"That smells as good as a bunny holding a bunch of flowers"
"That's as hot as a deep fried pogo dog"
"That's as funny as a clown without a circus" (referring to something that was not funny)
"Mom, you have pretty hair. I love the yellow, brown, and gray"
"Boy, I bet God gets pretty cold hands, holding the whole world all winter long"
"Sorry mom, but Jesus knows me better than you do because he made my soul"
"Mom, where does Pastor John sleep? I've never seen a bed at church?" (thinking Pastor John lives at church)

She has said countless more interesting and hilarious phrases, I just can't remember them all. I should quickly jot down all her sayings and through them in a memory box, I'm sure we'll cherish them even more in years to come.

Baby Liam

Meet baby Liam. He is adorably cute, with the most squeezable cheeks known to man. He came into this world with a bit of drama, but seems to have gotten it out of his system. His momma says hes a fairly content baby and is pretty quiet most of the time.... other than at 2am perhaps?






My kids love him... Emily especially is taken with him and talks about baby Liam ALL the time. But she also let me know that she's glad that he's Aidan's brother, and not her own brother. Because, she already has ONE brother. And that's enough. (According to Emily :)


A bit of purple or pink might have been a nice change for the VanMaanen colour scheme, but I think that they are doing such a great job raising their boys that God decided to give them one more. One more boy who will grow up to be a strong, godly man. Who will make an excellent husband and father. Congratulations, Stephen and Janet, on the birth of your third son.

The 'J' Team

Jacob and Jackson. Best friends. Double Trouble.

Originally, Jacob was a bit shy of Jackson, as Jackson is a rough and tumble type of guy, whereas Jacob is slightly more sensitive. But they've figured it out and now and have quite the time together.
I love that they get along so well, and sometimes I'm sure that they know what the other one is saying.....

playing with cars



yes, that is Jackson sucking on Jacob's soother, while it is still attached to Jacob.


Jackson : "Hey Jacob, check out this cool car-thing."


Jacob : "What does it do?? Lets investigate"

Both : "A digital display with buttons that beep?? Awesome."


They are such boys!

The news in Fingal

Here's what's been happening around our house this week:

1 - This is nothing new, in fact, I often find Emily sitting in this exact spot multiple times each day, playing on her favourite website, Boowa and Kwala. I don't mind too much. Each game is educational and when I'm busy with Jacob or household chores she usually sneaks onto the computer.

2 - The porch has been poured and the forms are off. It will have some finishing touches in the spring, and we might even get the roof up before the end of the year. For now, the kids LOVE running up and down the smooth concrete, and on a rainy day it's perfect for puddle jumping.
3- Jacob has found a new favourite way to bathe. Why sit up, when you can lay down? Each night he now lays around in the tub, usually humming 'twinkle twinkle', or picking things up with his feet and passing them to his hands.
And this is the result of laying down in bubbles....and being a goof, in general.4 - We found out Jacob LOVES leeks. Gross, right?? But he loves em. He walked around for about 20 minutes one night munching on a leek. Yuck. And his breath that night? Well, I'm glad he sleeps alone.

5- Emily is resourceful. This is how I found her colouring her Sunday school page. When I asked her what she was doing on the table, she said that the cat was attacking her feet (something that can be quite painful, I know!), so she climbed on the table and kept colouring. Smart.
And that's that. We also put our tree up today, but now that almost all the decorations are on the floor instead of on the tree, I'm too frustrated to blog about it. Maybe once I come up with a better plan on how to keep the cat out, and the toddler from touching, I'll post our tree. But don't hold your breath.

An Emily Update

Sometimes I feel that Jacob gets all the attention - the profile pictures, the small-talk conversation, and the last blog update was all about him. So... here's a little about his big sister.

Emily is now 3.5, but she's our "old soul". She uses phrases like "that's the cat's meow" and "good golly". She would rather drink milk or water over juice or coolaid.

She's very logical, and will obey her parents if she feels it's the right thing to do. Luckily, she is fairly well behaved and we don't have any unusual rules, so that works out okay. However, that leaves "because mom said so" out of our vocabulary, because she just won't accept it. If you reason it out to her why, say, it's not nice to hit your brother, or it's important to clean up the mess you made, then it's all good.

Emily asks ALOT of questions. Although this is very common for this age, Emily asks some pretty tricky ones. Like "why is that river, a river? how did it get there". The whole "because God made the earth and He wanted to put a river there" answer doesn't fly. She knows God created the earth and everything on it, but she wants to know how exactly that river was formed. Was it always there? etc etc etc. She makes me realize just how much I don't know!
She asks questions that we, as adults, know the answers to, but to articulate it to a child is incredibly hard. Like "what is a cloud made out of?" or "why do some eggs stay eggs, but other eggs turn into tiny chicks?"
By the end of each day my mind is exhausted.

Emily also has an incredible memory. Don't think you can tell her something and she'll ever forget you said it. This can be a blessing and a curse. Emily can write almost every letter in the alphabet, she knows all their sounds, and can count to 30. She can spell her name, her best friend's name, and about 5 other words, all from memory. Unfortunately, however, she can also remember the lyrics to a black eyed peas song that's playing in the superstore while we shop. She only has to hear it one time to pick it up.

Emily is the best of both worlds. She loves pink and purple, frilly dresses, and high heeled shoes. She also loves worms, dirt, and dump trucks. As long as she's not wearing her pink, frilly dress and high heeled shoes while playing in the dirt with worms, I'm happy.

Emily loves to cuddle and be affectionate. If I sit down for one minute, she is right beside me plastered to my side. She loves to do things together, even if it's just watching a movie. She loves to have books read to her and she loves to snuggle in bed after daddy goes to work in the morning. She wears her heart on her sleeve and can have her feelings hurt very easily.

Emily is not a good sleeper. Never has been, and probably never will be. She has slept through the night a handful of times since birth. She is still up 2 or 3 times each night, needing to go to the bathroom, wanting to be tucked in, or crying from a nightmare. I'm so very, very blessed that Jacob is a fantastic sleeper and usually sleeps 12 hours straight.

Emily came into our lives with a bang. My pregnancy was uncomfortable, her birth was horrible, her infancy was a nightmare, and her toddlers years a trial. She is still a handful, but is growing up into an intelligent, caring, empathetic young girl. We have 'grown up' conversations all the time, and she is quickly becoming my friend. She is a blessing from God, one that I am truly thankful for, and never take for granted.

little miss mitzi

We were a little hesitant to keep one of the kittens. We had a cat when we were first married, and she only lasted about 6 months before she went to live on my friend's farm. I don't like litter boxes, the smell of cat food, and someone in this house HATES hair on his clothes (and it's not Jacob). So when we found the kittens in our barn and knew Emily would die if we didn't keep one, we were a little stressed.

But, so far, so good. Justin devised a hole-in-the-wall system that lets the cat go in to the basement to use the litterbox, but keeps the kids out of the basement (and the smell out of the rest of the house). She eats only dry food, which is covered by an upside down diaper box with a hole in the side. Jacob hasn't figured out that there is food under the box and all he'd have to do is move it..... good thing he's cute, eh???

And the kids are LOVING the cat. She's their favourite play thing. Although Emily and Mitzi have a love/hate relationship (Mitzi loves Emily until Emily bothers her, and Emily loves Mitzi until she scratches her) but it's mostly love.
I don't mind when she curls up on my lap at night and purrs while I read or watch TV. And I even catch Justin playing with her and petting her sometimes (but don't tell him I told you ;)

Mitzi and Jacob share very similar interests. They both loves balls and things that move.I think she's going to fit in just fine.

How do YOU do this dishes??

crazy kittens

Our playroom seems suddenly smaller now that 6 kittens - yes, SIX kittens - are calling it home. We reluctantly decided to bring in the kittens so that they wouldn't freeze in the barn, and so that they would be a little more people friendly. There are only 5 kittens in this picture, since Mitsy was basking in the sun in the living room :)
They have been TEMPORARILY named: Mopsy, Flopsy, Pumpkin, Whiskers, and Sunshine. I'll let you guess who named them. We will NOT be keeping any of them. We only have three left to find homes for - so HURRY and claim your cat before they're all gone. Yah, right :)

Cheese!

Jacob LOVES to have his picture taken, and quickly picked up on the "cheese!" action. He doesn't say much, but what he does say is pretty funny :)
Hope this makes you smile

Before and After

Here is the official 'after' of our living room. The wall is gone, and so is the carpet. Some of the wood under the rug was painted, some of it was stained, and some, in the very middle of the room, was still completely natural. Apparently who ever stained to floor, way back when, decided to save some time and stain around their current area rug. So we had a nice 10X10 square in the middle of the room that we had to cover up with a piece of carpet that our dear friends donated to us :)
The difference is amazing, the room is so bright and so much bigger. We're planning on doing some furniture re-arranging as soon as we get a new TV that we can hang on the wall.
Hope you enjoy our pictures!
The "new" old floor in the dining room!

a sneak peek

Here is a quick "after" shot of our new living room. This was a hard picture to get, because during the day I'm shooting into the light from the windows, and at night it's far too dark. So on this gloomy morning I took a quick pic. Forgive the mess and the children. If you're wondering what they are looking at, the TV is now in the corner.

My husband and brother in law did a great job at taking down this wall. When I came home that evening the house was so clean you could barely tell antyhing occurred that day. Of course, plaster dust likes to linger, so I've been dusting everything everyday since then, but oh well. Eventually the dust will settle. We're thinking of pulling up the carpet sooner than later for the following reasons:

1- I now have a wall shaped bare patch in our carpet. This wouldn't be so bad if my littlest didn't think it was the greatest spot on earth. He likes to spray his apple juice on the wood to bring out any century old dirt and make a nice muddy mess. Yes, he's a boy.

2- My clumsy Emily has tripped on the carpet edge about, oh, a GAZILLION times.

3- We found out the the boards beneath the carpet have been previously stained, so we're hoping for the best :) If they're in super bad shape, we will paint the floor a dark brown until we are ready to dry wall.

And here's a good before/after shot:

House renovations

Here's what's been happening in our house lately:

I decided to re-paint the dining room. It was previously the same peachy colour as our living room, giving the dining room a very octogenarian feel. I wavered back and forth between sticking to my earth tone loving self and trying something new, like a pale blue-gray. But after the yellow-kitchen experiment I sided with old self and stuck with a rich olive green. It's practically the same colour as our old dining room on Gladstone, which I loved. And who likes change, right? :) Eventually the carpet will be torn out (who carpets a dining room - seriously. Someone without children I guess) and replaced with a walnut colour hard wood. The living room is next on the list for paint, but until the wall is down there's not much point in painting. I took these pictures just after setting the table quickly for thanksgiving dinner. I figured now was last chance to take some pictures before my house becomes a major construction zone on Monday. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Looking from the kitchen towards the living room

Standing in the living room looking towards the kitchenThis is the wall that will only be standing for the next 2 days. Once it's removed we will be able to enjoy the view of our stairs and double front doors. We will also have more room for our furniture and achieve a brighter and more spacious feel.

A look back.

5 years ago today I was standing at the front of a blazing hot church, draped in yards of heavy fabric, holding the hand of an extremely over-heated male. I was also getting married.

June 25, 2005 was a scorcher - 30 degrees plus humidity. I thought I might die while we were standing in the sun taking our wedding photos. You would never guess from our pictures that we were sweating buckets. We must have had a good photographer ;) I waivered back and forth with regret about taking our pictures before the ceremony. I thought about how terrible I would look walking down the aisle - frizzy hair, streaked makeup, rosy (flaming red) cheeks. But then thought about enduring the steaming hot ceremony in church and then taking pictures - with frizzy hair, streaked makeup, and red cheeks. I figured our pictures had to last a life time, so it was better to get them over and done with.

Oh, and have I ever mentioned that when Justin is hot, Justin is GRUMPY?? This seems to be a trait that runs in the Pennings family. Although my sister in law recently told me that her husband has grown out of this behaviour. But I think Justin will always be affected by the heat. I, however, usually love being hot and can withstand high temperatures. But watching our wedding video, the looks on our faces???? Poor Pastor John. We both looked like we wanted his head on a platter. I remember trying to pay complete attention - after all, this was our wedding sermon! But I also remember staring up at Pastor John and realizing I couldn't see his face anymore. There was only a blackness that was creeping in around him. I knew the heat was barring down on me and could only pray to get through the rest of the ceremony without incident. Thank goodness we were seated - I'm sure if we'd been standing I would have ended up on the floor. But we were finally married (even though my wedding band wouldn't fit on my finger since it was so swollen from the heat!) and rushed to our air-conditioned car that would take us to our air-conditioned reception. During the ride to London Justin managed to sweat through his shirt, vest, and suit jacket. When he got out of the car there was a perfect back-shaped sweat stain left on the leather interior. Yuck.

I bet you can imagine what the first activity was when we finally reached our hotel that night.... that's right. Freezing cold showers for each of us. We had both suffered from heat stroke and barely wanted anything to do with the other. What a romantic start to married life! The next day we skipped breakfast due to our lack of appetite and popped ibuprofen every 4 hours.

But even though our married life together started off a little rough, I am SO glad I endured the heat. We have been through the thick and thin of it, hurt each other and helped each other. I respect him, adore him, admire him, and hopelessly love him. I no longer know myself apart from him. We have intertwined each of our self in the other. He is my provider, protector, confidant, advisor, and best friend. He is the un-conditionally loving father of my children. He is all that I could ever ask for.

Happy Anniversary, honey. Thank you taking the heat.

Hello, my name is Jacob.....

I like to start each day early. I usually wake up at 5:45am, a time reserved for fishermen, crows, and of course, babies. But I wake up with a smile on my face and jibberish overflowing out of my tiny little mouth. I can only say dadadadada and babababa with the occasional mumumumum thrown into the mix, but I know what I'm saying.

I am extremely clumsy. On a daily basis I often fall over for no reason from the sitting position, laugh so hard that I choke, and dump full cups of water on my face in the bathtub. Hiccups are immanent each day along with multiple belches, and a few toots that can sometime smell so bad it makes my sister cry (but she's a little sensitive, if you ask me!).

I don't know how to crawl. I think it's over-rated. Instead, I am a world champion roller. If I see something I want I form a direct route in my head and start flipping around. My mom has found me wedged into tiny spaces and inside of the tv stand. Yep, I'm amazing.

My favourite places are the jolly jumper, the bathtub, and my mom's left hip. I'm a good eater and often eat two suppers. My favourite foods are bland baby oat cereal, pasta in tomato sauce, and yogurt. I'm not really into formula and will only drink it at night time or before my nap. I would rather have apple juice.

So far I've had 5 haircuts. I just had one yesterday - my mom's first time! Grandma Pennings is usually is my barber, but my mom did an okay job. She took way longer though.

I love my sister, most of the time. She likes to swing me in the jolly jumper, which is very exciting and fun until I bump into the door frame. She loves to tickle my feet, but I think she needs a few tickle lesson. Good thing it's not summer yet and I'm always wearing socks - she's a bit rough. I think she likes me too, but sometimes it's hard to tell. I often hear my mom speak very sternly to her after she takes away my toys, and tears always ensue.

I know my name and will always respond when someone says it. But I also respond to Jake, the Jakester, Jakereno, Jacobson, and Snake. The last one is compliments of my dad. I also always pay attention to the name Emily. Sometimes I might think it's my name, or if it's being called I know my sister will soon appear.

As my mom types out this blog post, I'm sitting on the floor playing with an old keyboard and eating saltine crackers. Each time I get fussy, my mom throws another cracker at me like I'm some type of zoo animals. Oh well, I'm happy.

My name is Jacob, and I am very loved by very many wonderful people. You might even be one of them ;)

Aww,,, isn't that cute??

These are not words commonly uttered by my husband's manly mouth. I glance down to the sleeping baby in my arms - who is very cute - but not unusually so. I glance over to Emily in the playroom who is happily pushing her doll in the swing. Again, this is cute, but completely normal.
"No, no, look," Justin says and points to his feet. Sitting there is a newly unpacked purchase from Canadian Tire.
"It's a baby air compressor. It's so cute.".
Right. Like I said, he's a manly man!

Jacob Hendrik

I'm a little past due for a birth announcement via blogger, so I'll skip ahead to a one month update instead!
Jacob is doing very well. He's up to 12lb 8oz from his original birth weight of 9lb 15oz and is already 23.5 inches long. He is a very happy baby and although he does have a bit of a temper we very rarely see it.
Emily is adjusting fairly well to having a brother. Although she can be a bit more defiant towards me, she has also become much more independent in the last month which is nice. So it's a good balance.
So far we've had two ultrasounds to keep an eye on an under developed left kidney. Today's ultrasound showed the same amount (a small amount) of urine backing up from the kidney but in almost all cases the kidneys will heal themselves in time. But we will keep going back for ultrasounds to keep an eye on it.
We are thoroughly enjoying having a new baby in the house - especially one as sweet as Jacob.

(pictures taken by Julianna Pennings)

I'm looking forward to....

• Not having to eat a million TUMS a day
• Sleeping on my stomach
• Shopping at stores that don't end with "maternity"
• Seeing my ankle bones again
• Having a normal body temperature
• A week without a doctor's appointment
• Being able to paint my toenails by sight and not touch
• Having a lap Emily can sit on
• Not waddling anymore

And of course.....

Holding my newborn son in my arms for the very first time. And it's all going to happen....

soon ;)

I am ready....

UPDATE:
You are all going to laugh at me, but I must confess that shortly after posting my last entry, our baby became nameless, once again. I'm so incredibly torn between the two "finalists". I like and dislike them both for different reasons. So as of right now my poor baby boy is still known as "Justin Jr." Wouldn't we shock everyone by actually naming him that???
But on a better note, I've used the last few days to complete even more tasks that will make life easier once 'JJ' is born.
I've:
-cut up a bunch of different veggies, vac-packed them, and put them in the freezer
-painted my toenails
-made up several little goodie bags for Emily to open while staying at my mom and dad's for a few days
-pre-purchased shower gifts, birthday gifts, and baby gifts so that I won't have to it with a newborn
-remembered that Justin probably wouldn't mind some toiletries and a change of clothes for the hospital and have packed them
-put everything by the front door that we need to take with us when this little guy decides it's time to show up.

Now all that's left to do is wait...


Original Post:
I have:
-my hospital bag packed
-extra batteries in the camera case
-the car seat installed in the back of the buick
-the baby bedding washed
-all the baby clothes washed
-the bassinet set up
-a new bathtub sling
-the "to-call" list with names and phone numbers
-all the towels washed, dried, and put away
- the house obsessively clean
- extra meat, bread, and cheese in the freezer
- extra dried good/canned goods in the cupboards
- the soothers sterilized
-my 'postpartum' clothes washed
-a NAME for this baby (finally!)
... now all I need is a little baby boy.

One week and counting.....

Life in the Country

Once upon a time, a young engaged couple decided to buy a red brick house in the city with the intention of "one day" moving to the country. The boy fervently believed this to be true. The girl? Not so much....
In case you haven't guessed, this is the story of how I - the city raised girl - became a country lovin' mama.
When we first purchased our house on Gladstone we both agreed it wasn't our 'forever' house. It was a starter house that we would raise our first child in. Justin had future plans to move to the country. I, on the other hand, had future plans to move to a cute little subdivision with a trendy name like 'Orchard Park', 'Shaw Valley', or 'Southgate Village'.
Well, after 4 years of happily living on Gladstone Ave our house began to shrink. Little did I know, as a newly married woman, that one little baby would need a swing, a bouncy chair, an exersaucer, a jolly jumper, and a bassinet. Or that one little toddler girl would require a play desk, a 'Little People' village, a rubbermaid tote of blocks, a princess tent, and enough books to fill a library. It was time to move. But where? I started looking on MLS at all the cute houses in my favourite little subdivisions. Instantly I compiled a list of 20 or more houses that I would be thrilled to live in. You know the type - half siding and half brick, a few miniature spruce and dwarf lilacs in the front yard, and an LED house number above the garage. You know - the type of house my husband hates. After wiring these houses for over 3 years at Pro Electric, Justin developed a severe dislike for these houses. I am still a fan of these perfect, no work required, family homes. And if you're reading this and currently live in one of these? I may still be a teeny weeny bit jealous.
So it was time to compromise. A house that was still in the city, all brick, a decent sized lot, and maybe needed a bit of work. After a few months of searching we found a house we both agreed on, made and offer, and put our own house up for sale. At the time I was sure this plan would work and started picking out room colours, window treatments, and bathroom fixtures. But alas, this was not to be. Our house did not sell in the allotted time and once we realized how drastically we would have to drop the price of our house in order to sell it in the dreadful market, we decided to take it off the market and build an addition. Perfect. A living room (playroom) and bathroom off of the kitchen. Exactly what I wanted.
But wait - this addition was going to cost somewhere in the area of $50,000. And our house value to jump approximately $20,000. Maybe this was not the best idea after all. So? We'd keep looking.
Then one fateful afternoon in April we decided to take Fingal Line out to Jusitn's mom and dad's house instead of our usual Hwy 3 route. As we are discussing the sad fact that finding a country lot is nearly impossible these days we see a "For Sale" sign in the distance. WAY in the distance. In FINGAL. Ugh. Justin slows the car as we drive by. A yellow brick house in the country. Of course. I sent up a prayer - 'please let this house be ridiculously expensive. Or already sold, that would be great'. As soon as we arrived at mom and dad's Justin logged onto MLS and found the house.
"It's only $189,000" he exclaimed.
"Great...." I said as I silently said goodbye to Shaw Valley in my head.
"It has 5 bedrooms!"he cried
"Perfect....." goodbye Lake Margaret Trail
"3.4 acres!!!!" he gleamed
"Wow......." and there goes Southgate Village.
In my head I thought 'it's gotta be sold'. If it was as good of a deal as my husband thought it was than it wouldn't be on the market anymore. Who knows how long it had been for sale. Maybe there were a few conditional offers on it. 'Should have gone to Myrtle Beach' I muttered to myself.
The next day we were off to look at the house. It lived up to my expectations - TOTAL renovation. Lots and lots of lathe and plaster. An outdated kitchen. Shag carpet. The works.
The drive home was very quiet.
"I know you hate the house" Justin said to me. "But it's perfect, and you'll love it. Please agree to buy it."
How could I resist? In the 4 years that I've been married to Justin there have been very few times (maybe none) that he hasn't known what is best for our family. I had to follow him. So we made an UN-conditional offer (a very scary thing to do), put our house back on the market and prayed. Of course, God being perfect in His timing, allowed our house to sell quickly and made all things well. Kinda.
As the closing dates approached I would lie awake at night worrying about how I would adjust to country life. What if I needed to run out the store at 7:30 at night? Where would Justin take Emily for her nightly walk? How will I live through all that plaster dust? And oh yes, lets not forget the baby boy due to arrive a month after we move in. After worrying each night I said a long prayer and went to sleep.
Well, it's been 3 weeks since we moved. I LOVE IT HERE! Although this house may be slightly uglier than our Gladstone house, I wouldn't move back. I may have shag carpet in the playroom, but I have a playroom! The office may be mint green, but we have an office! Justin may not be able to take Emily on her nightly walk, so instead she just plays on the 3.4 acres of land and with the dairy cows in our backyard. I have a huge pantry that I can stock with extra diapers, lunch supplies, and laundry detergent. (And Foodland is only a 7 minute drive away!) In the country, a fresh pot of coffee smells better, the stars shine brighter, and breeze blows cooler. I've even come to find the sound of the coyotes howling at the moon oddly soothing. We have a long way to go with renovations, and maybe once the plaster dust starts to fly I may be a bit grumpier. But if it means having the house of our dreams and the opportunity to raise our kids in this great setting then I'll learn to live with it.
I'll let you know when the dust settles.....

Home sweet Home

So of course, after I ramble on and on about renovations and painting the nursery we decide to forgo the entire plan and buy a new house. Well, new to us. Technically it's about 100 years old. The house has to be remodelled, top to bottom, but once we're through it will be our dream home. It's on Fingal Line, just past middlemarch - in the country. Somewhere I never thought I would live. The prospect has always appealed to me - summer evening at Justin's parent's house just can't be beat. But now that it's staring me in the face I'm slightly concerned that my city girl roots can't be broken. So I'm taking a leap of faith and letting my husband and my God lead the way.
The house sits on 3.4 acres with lots of big, mature trees. It's connected to city water which the owners paid in full at the time of connection so our taxes will be cheaper than what we are paying right now. It has replacement windows and the roof is in fairly decent shape. Once we get possession we'll be tearing down a few walls and putting some new ones up. All the flooring needs to be replaced as well. But it will be worth it. Now we just have to sell our current house in the next 90 days. Any takers????