HOME SWEET HOME

A couple of months ago, Vince and I became first-time homeowners. Yay to adulthood, LOL! We were planning on buying the house we were renting -- we loved that house a lot -- later this year but God's timing meant for us to buy sooner and a different house. You can say we were sort of rushed into that decision but God's timing is always perfect. He has truly been faithful and His goodness is unceasing that we are very much thankful He lined up everything for us in buying our first home. His provision and sovereign was with us all through the way. Despite that: 1) We didn't have enough savings to pay the required 20% downpayment for a lower interest rate; and 2) Caring for Vonn Kaleb meant we could hardly get any housework done (so much more looking for and buying a house??), God sent good people and provided means along our way which helped and taught us a lot in the process.

This picture was taken by the previous owner before we bought the house.
We had the lawn maintained and the exterior of the house pressure washed since we owned it.

It's a given that there are so many associated costs into buying a house. Because we were trying to maximize our disposable savings so that we could put in as much as downpayment as we could to get low interest rate, we didn't hire an agent, which meant that we had to do our homework and research on the what-and-what-nots of buying a house, and deal and negotiate with the seller personally. This would have been easier if we weren't first-time buyers and if we didn't have a child to care for. Those circumstances made it somewhat challenging for us. I really admire my husband for his dedication to our family because I would say that 99% of the hard work into purchasing our home was his. He spent late nights reading online about the ins-and-outs of buying a house, squeezing phone calls in between his busy work schedule to arrange for viewing houses and speaking with mortgage loan specialists, negotiating with the seller, and basically doing all the paperwork needed from start to finish. He fed me all the info he gathered and all I had to do was review them and say my thoughts and if I had questions, he was the one who fired up the emails and made the phone calls to the respective persons. We seriously both had to do a lot of reading and researching and asking whatabouts because buying a house is a serious matter after all. Honestly, I learned so much in that experience that after it was through, I felt like I could be an agent. LOL! Bottom line is that one can buy a house even without paying for an agent's expertise ;) I should mention too that it helped us a lot that the seller of the house was one of Vince's colleagues who was moving his practice to a different location and was very eager to get the house off his back. He was in fact the one who told us that rather than us paying for an agent, we could just negotiate with him and his agent directly, and he'd discount the selling price for us, which he did. Thank God!

Pimped up on Vonn Kaleb's 1st birthday. Hehe!

So with that very long segue way above, you could probably tell how happy and proud I am about our home. Hehe! Well, to be true, Vince and I wasn't very much impressed with this house compared to the rental house which we really liked. There are some aesthetic and functional improvements that need to be done in this house to suit our taste and make it more efficient as we would like, but the enormous size (5-bedroom, 4-bathroom, 2-car attached garage, outdoor shed) (and the swimming pool of course!) of this house made it a better buy than the rental house. The main thing is that this is a well-built and structurally sound house (brick, baby, yeah!) according to the home inspection, so we don't have to worry about it falling apart on us anytime in the near future. Again, as Vince puts it, even if it wasn't our dream house, this is the house that the Lord provided for us, that's why we are to be thankful for it every day. We'll just work on it to make it the beautiful home sweet home we want it to be. In fact, we already started on beautifying it. We already had it pressured washed and lawn serviced, that even our neighbors noticed and told us the house looks better now than before. We already obtained several quotes from various builders and we're getting there. We just need to do it step by step and save up for more costly improvements like the master bathroom (which is kinda' tacky... hehe! Vince doesn't even use it... He said he couldn't stand the "pink and gold" fixtures. LOL!)

Can't wait to take a dip in our pool!

I intend to blog about our home every now and then to document our quest in making it as much as a "Valencia" household it could get. Home improvement suggestions and DIY tips are very much welcome. Until my next home sweet home blog post, ciao!

PLAY YARD FOR VONN KALEB'S NURSERY

In anticipation of my return to work next week, and because I haven't mustered enough courage (or more of I chose not to?) to entrust my son to a nanny who can provide care for him while I work at home, I bought a play yard. I know, right, that sounds kinda' lame... like what does a play yard have to do with me going back to work, but oh well, here's how his new play yard looks like.

The play yard set includes 8 panels and may be set up using 4, 6 or 8 panels.
It can be set up in various shapes such as octagon, pentagon, L,
rectangle or square.
It also came with decals but according to reviews, they peeled off easily and posed as choking hazards, so I didn't bother sticking those decals on.

Our house is not fully baby proof. We had put several corner foams on some of the furniture as well as on one of his toys, and some electrical outlet covers here and there but that's just about it. Other than those, there are furniture and appliances everywhere in our house which pose safety risk to my son, most especially now that he is already walking and running. That's why Vince and I have been on our feet a lot following him around making sure he is always safe.

The size of the play area may be increased or decreased by adding or reducing the panels.
For a really large play area, use two or more sets.
The play yard has suction cups at the bottom of each panel for when used on hardwood floors, laminate or tiles.
I placed it on carpet and it seemed sturdy enough and is holding well so far.
Supervision is recommended as for all child equipment and toys. Never leave child alone!

You'd think that because Vonn Kaleb has his own room, his parents would be wise enough to baby proof it. Of course, we weren't. We put a TV set there, a dresser, a glider and ottoman, a small coffee table... what were we thinking, right? So, thank goodness, the play yard somewhat baby proofs his nursery in that I can corral him and restrict his area of play away from those hazard potentials. Honestly, if only I had known this before, I would have bought this sooner, so that by now, he'd be very much used to it. I'm hoping and praying that he would love his play yard to bits, so that by next week and forward, I can sit in the corner with my laptops and get my work done while Vonn Kaleb entertains himself with his mine of toys inside his play yard. I had set it up yesterday afternoon as soon as FedEx delivered it, but Vonn Kaleb has not had the chance to fully break it in. He played in it for a short time and it seemed as he tolerated it fine. I'm really hoping that he gets used to it because, my gosh, this boy, oh boy, tsk tsk tsk...  I don't even know where to begin on how fussy, fidgety, naughty, bratty and ACTIVE this boy could be! He took his first steps at 11 months, and now he's already running and climbing up steps. I could follow him all around the house and guide him as he racks up his miles but with me going back to work FULL TIME next week, I don't think that's possible anymore :(

Entering the play yard through the door.
LIKE.A.BOSS.

Anyway, when we got home from church yesterday evening, while I was preparing Vonn Kaleb's dinner, Vince taught Vonn Kaleb how to get in and out of the play yard through the door (which, by the way, I wasn't surprised that Vince did that. Between the two of us, he's the supportive parent in terms of Vonn Kaleb's explorations. Overly supportive, in my opinion, at times. In my defense, my limits to his explorations are reasonable. I am the Mom after all. Hehe!).


The proud Dad took pictures of the little boy getting in and out the door, and while I was looking at those pics, I thought to myself, "Uh oh... Now that Vonn Kaleb knows about that door, he will definitely want to go in and out again and again and over and over, and guess who has to suffer the consequences? Mommy. Yay?! ...and that's exactly why I didn't show Vonn Kaleb that door the first time! Ayayay!"  Oh dear! In fairness, I think the door made it more interesting for him to play there. Good job, Dad! :)

Exiting the play yard through the door.
LIKE.A.BOSS.

I guess I'm gonna have to keep my fingers crossed and pray with all my might that this play yard save the day... and if not, I'm hoping that the second set of play yard I ordered will do the trick. Yes, you read that right, I went ahead and bought another set. These play yards better work or else I'll bang my head on the wall! I'm telling you, the baby products industry is making a fortune out of desperate, helpless, first time parents like me. LOL.

The little boy was in and out in no time!