Busting at the seams

It may only be July, but so far we have had quite the year. Since January, Craig has had two surgeries and one cancer scare, we had two other cancer scares in the family and one cancer diagnosis, a frightening ER/hospital stay for my dad following surgery to remove the cancer from his colon and I said goodbye to my grandma just last week.

It's time for some positive news, right?

We're having a baby! And as if that wasn't exciting and terrifying enough, we went out and bought a new house on Friday.

First things first. I'll be 13 weeks along tomorrow and look bigger than some women carrying full-term. I'm already sporting the comfy maternity clothes (can not wait for Thanksgiving!) and our three-year-old insists he's going to have a sister. (We'll have a better idea about that later in August.) The due date is January 31, which goes with our motto that 2013 is going to kick 2012's butt. (It will most definitely kick ours as we go back to sleepless nights and the exhausting demands of a newborn.) 

As for the house, it wasn't anything we had planned to buy last week and it happened much faster than Craig and I are comfortable with when it comes to making BIG decisions. We have been outgrowing our current house and knew that things would be extra tight come January, so we've been casually watching what comes on the market. This particular property caught my eye a few weeks ago and we've been thinking about it ever since. It just took someone else putting an offer on it to make us jump. Now, we're frantically getting our house of 9 1/2 years ready to put on the market and coming to terms with the changes that are in store. It's sad but exciting.

The house is in east Wichita -- farther east than we are now. Coincidentally, it's in the neighborhood where a good friend of mine lived growing up. This same friend is someone that I got to see last week while she was visiting family in town ... AND we were spending the evening with her and her husband 9 1/2 years ago -- the same day we purchased the house we're in now. Craig said I can't hang out with her anymore if it's going to result in the purchase of another house.

Here's a sneak peek at the exterior of the house:

And here's one of our favorite features: the backyard view (which will soon be slightly obstructed with an iron fence to keep the kids and dogs from swimming with the ducks)

If you don't hear much from us over the next month, you now know why. We promise to share more updates soon and hope you'll come visit us after we've moved in. Oh, and if you (or someone you know) is in the market for a great house in east Wichita, we have just the place for you!