And its a squash

Well, we're going to hold off on buying a home until fall, possibly September/October.

The issue: THE RENT! Where we live, if we break our lease over two months prior to your lease being up, we have to pay what they call a RELET fee. And what that basically is, is 2 months of your rent. Well our rent isn't low, so that would cost us $2K and some change. The more i thought about this one house, and the closing costs, and inspections, and the start ups of this and that, we need our 2K and i just refuse to hand my hard earned money to them when i know in fact it won't cost them 2K to redo our apartment for someone else to move in. My thoughts are this, i do believe in a few months it will still be a buyers market and i believe that something else will come along, maybe a better deal and when i do go to sign papers in the end of November that i will not be renewing my lease, we get to keep our 2K and move out quietly.

Its upsetting to me, but i know in the long run i will be glad that i'm doing it this way.

RENTING SUCKS!

Brittany the pooping machine

I know, the title, its a little gross, but its true. Brittany has really stepped it up when its time for potty. The peeing and pooping accidents have really died down. I think she's really getting it! And well i think she's tired of me gagging and yelling b/c she didn't poop or pee on the toilet LOL.

Let me share this little story. Yesterday morning was UNUSUAL, all the kids were still sleeping oddly and i was able to escape w/o any temper tantrums because i was leaving and peacefully drive to work. Later on that morning i got a call from brian telling me how they were, etc. and he tells me this...He woke up to Anthony still sleeping, Leann playing in her room quietly (SHOCKER because usually she's the screaming mimi) and got herself dressed, and to brittany in the bathroom wiping herself and said, "Daddy, i went poopy on the potty". LOL LOL How cute is that, huh?? *TEAR-TING* They are getting so big and so independent, that it makes me just wanna keep Anthony as a baby just a little bit longer LOL

Brittany went again on the potty this morning, without brian's help. :) WAY TO GO BRITTANY

(one less butt i have to wipe) HAAA

Update on our search for a home

So as it stands, we have found a house we love. Nothing is in writing or signed yet. Right now i'm still working w/ my mortgage person to see if we get this house, how much exactly comes out of our pocket at settlement. I asked for seller's assist, GOT IT.

And i will keep you posted :)

Anthony 1st Tooth

Its official, the first tooth finally came in. Its the bottom left one. THANK GOD! I happened to come across it tonight when he looked like he was chewing gum. I stuck my finger in his mouth to get out the PAPER he was chewing on out and he BIT ME! LOL This explains his "I'M NOT A HAPPY CAMPER" self lately. Yesterday and tonight all he wanted was for me to hold him, i knew it was because of teething, i just didn't notice any tooth until tonight.

YAY..many more to come. I will try and take a picture and post it tomorrow.

Lets go to Build-a-bear

Sunday morning after i got the girls from Amy's house i thought to myself, lets take them to Build-A-Bear, let them build their bear, dress them, fluff them, it will be a nice afternoon out w/ mommy and her girls.

Well as i was getting the girls ready, brian did a quick run to WAWA. That is when all hell broke loose with Brittany. She decided this was a good time to beat up on Leann, why? Because Leann helped mommy in the bathroom. She was so angry that she just beat up on Leann, not just one time, quite a few times actually. That was it, i grounded Brit, yes, people, i grounded my 3 yr. old. She's not going to beat up on her sister, then get rewarded by going out with mommy. Nope. So i made her stay home with brian, and just Leann and i went. She threw her fit, cried using the real tears, but i wasn't giving in. So off to Build-A-Bear i go with my beat up looking daughter.

It was a fun time, Leann loved picking out her bear and all the accessories for it.

Now..the annoying part, taking my beat up looking daughter into the mall. The people that stared at her bruised face, cut up arm, i just wanted to scream at them. How about instead of assuming that I BEAT MY KID...lets think, hmm, maybe she has a sibling at home???? I mean really, people need to just mind their business. I know we hear more and more about child abuse, i know that, but that is not me, i don't abuse my child, so i'd appreciate it if you not stare at her!

Other then that, the trip was nice, we got lunch afterwards at Burger King (no we didn't play in that germ infested playground LOL), Leann had a great time just screaming at random people, being the goofy girl she is.

Home Searching Part 2

Ahh, its a nice quiet evening in the Mattoi house. The girls spent the night at Amy's, Anthony came home w/ me. Lucky me!! I will get a full night sleep w/ no interruptions, i think.

Now, about the home searching, it went really well! We checked out 4 homes, and two of them we were really impressed with. One was "rehabbed", new paint, flooring, carpets, updated bathroom and kitchen. No one is living there.

Brian and i talked it over this weekend and i think we might bid on this one home. When we walked in, we could really visualize us living there.

So my next step will be this morning to contact my mortgage person, see what our mortgage would be on this home along with talking to him about how to bid on this home, because i have the foggiest idea on how to bid and i don't want to come off like an idiot when i try and bid.

So again, wish us luck! I will keep you all posted on the outcome.

A little Day Care crush?

I think so! Yesterday as i'm holding Leann and walking to the truck to put her in, a little boy, his name is "SCOTTY" runs to the gate and is blowing kisses at Leann. I started laughing and saying, "awe Leann he is blowing you kisses and saying bye". Well Tudy McTudy Leann wasn't liking it and said NO.
As i'm backing out of the school, Scotty's mother is picking him up and WHAT DO I CATCH LEANN DOING?????? BLOWING KISSES BACK AT HIM SAYING "BYEEE SCOTTY, *MUAH* *MUAH* BYE SCOTTY!"

All i could do is laugh. Really, because i know i'm in for it when these girls get older. Let the hair dying begin (meaning i need to hide my grey hairs more now).

Home Searching

This Saturday we will continue our search for a home. The area we're looking at this weekend, has about 5 townhomes in the same community, in our range up for sale. I'm anxious because these are all very nice, including the 3 bedrooms we need, the space we need. I hope after this weekend we can decide and possibly put in a bid. Unfortunately for our families, we'll be a little far from them. As much as we would love to stay close to the family, we can't afford the area we're in now and w/ the high rise of gas, we need to be a little closer to our work.

So wish us luck! And of course i'll blog about what we saw first thing Monday morning!

A recap on how my Mother's Day and Anniversary went

I am a little late posting (SORRY UNK DWAYNE), its been a busy week so far here at work. So, this past weekend, was nice, i decided to cancel looking at homes for 2 reasons, one, being, brian has been working doubles and he needed his rest and me, i just wanted a weekend of relaxation, not running around dropping the kids off here or there. Mother's day was nice, although i didn't relax, i was busy doing the usual, wash, cleaning, running here and running there. My kids were the cutest, they woke up and said Happy Mother's Day Mommy and handed me a little something. I opened it up and it was an MP3 Player LOL Its the coolest thing, never wanted one, but now that i have one, i can't put the thing down and i'm constantly downloading songs on it and me and the girls sit on the couch and listen to the music and dance. Great idea, THANKS GUYS!! :)
Monday was our 2nd anniversary, we did NOTHING. The weather was crappy, kept the kids home w/ us, i cooked, we made sundaes and watched movies, well the kids and daddy did, i passed out at like 7:30 that night. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY.

Reflecting Back..

I am posting this blog a little early, because on Monday, i will not be on the computer, i will be at home spending time with Brian. Monday is our 2 year Anniversary! Wow! 2 years!

As i think back to our special day, my pretty white dress i wore, walking down the aisle with my daddy...*SCREECH* OH...wait a minute, that was just my dream wedding...My real wedding consisted of a 10 min I DO in front of the good ole Judge. Not how i envisioned my wedding day, but all joking aside it was a happy day and were blessed to have the family that we did there to share that day with us.

Below are some pictures from our wedding day. *YEE-HAW*

Our First Kiss (That was kinda weird in front of everyone)



Us, Brian's close friend Nick, who is like a brother to Brian, and and my sister Amy. They stood up with us as we said our vowels.



Outside of the courthouse. It was a beautiful day outside.


And our happy little family. Look how little the girls were.

Happy Mother's Day!

I just want to say to all of my mommy friends to have a wonderful, relaxing, Mother's Day this Sunday! If i know all of my mommy friends, i'm sure they won't be relaxing, they will be carrying on like any other typical sunday w/ their kids, cleaning, shopping, maybe throw in some visits here and there.

Well however you spend it, i hope you enjoy your day. We all deserve it!

Anthony update @ 10 months

I can't believe my little boy, my baby is almost 1! Two more months until he's one! Time flies!

A little update for my bloggy readers, he is still not crawling, well not crawling like the norm. Instead, he's got his one foot in front of him and the other sitting, kinda like indian style and that is how he gets around and very fast i might add. Yesterday morning Brian told me he used his hands and feet NO KNEE to get around. Did he capture that kodak moment?? NO! Maybe i will be able to tonight. Its quite funny how he gets around. He loves to stand, loves to walk around the tables, walls, chairs. No walking on his own just yet.

And last, he falls ALOT, comes w/ the territory, right? He'll lose his balance and BOOM, on the floor his goes, and we cry, and cry, he's not hurting himself, i guess he's scaring himself. But its tramatic for him. Complete opposite of the girls, they would fall and back up they go and try again LOL.

That's it on my little guy :)

Its the BACKYARDIGANS LIVE!!

Yesterday we took the girls to see their favorite characters The Backyardigans LIVE! They had a blast, yelling out the characters names and dancing. We all went as a family, Tom, Amy, Jenna, Joanne, Seven, Daddy, Joanne's brother and girlfriend all went as well. It was really a cute show. Below are some pictures from yesterday.

The thrilled dads! LOL


Waiting for the traffic to die down..Seven was a pimp!


Seven and the girls


Seven, Brit, and Jenna, on a SUGAR high!

Brit loves her Seven LOL

The happy Harvey's

Me and the girls

Joanne and Seven, he really wasn't into taking a picture, he was all about the stage!

Yep we were pretty close!

Renting

Renting, is it worthit? For some, yes, they have no choice, but to others, really think before you choose to rent. I'm very irate with our apartment complex, the staff as a whole. When my husband and I chose to rent 2 yrs. ago where we live now, it was great, affordable, maintenance was on top of your issues and now within the past year and a half its gone down hill. Maintenance comes out, partially fixes things OR NOT, the office staff is rude, doesn't know much about the community of where they work, gets messages to the maintenance staff incorrect. These are all things i've experienced first hand living here.



Three things i'm most annoyed by, being charged for gas, hot water, and most recent, cold water. First, the gas, i have never in my life been charged so much for hot water, actually water as a whole along w/ gas. Our monthly rent is $1019/month for a 2 bedroom 1 bath, please someone explain to me that for just the 5 of us we can use up to $110/month for gas and hot water! Robbery, wouldn't you say? Another, is cold water. About a month ago we received a notice that they are installing a MASTER METER to now start charging us water. Well after knowing someone who works for the water company, come to find out, our complex is lying AGAIN, scamming its tenants! There is no master meter, nor is there a work order to add one in! So how are they going to charge us?? Well i'll tell you, b/c their clause says so, it states that at any time the landlord can decide to charge you for any amenity they want. Cheaper living? I think not! Throwing your hard earned money away, i think YES!



As i search their website and craigslist, i find false advertising, free cooking gas FALSE, free water FALSE. I call them on it, and here are their replies.



1. For the water, "well the water isn't being charged until June 1st". My comment back to that was, so this is how your luring people in, then a month later, they are paying for their water? The only comment back was that she thanked me for letting her know about it and will work on removing it. BULL, its still there.

2. Gas and water FREE on their website. Their response was to the water is that they assumed it would be removed after they start to charge us. Ok, well how about the free cooking gas, we've been getting charged that for over a year now and that was never updated. Her response was what i expected, which was, "i'll talk to my manager". Yes, i'm sure you will.



I'm just really irate over this whole situation and i want so bad to contact the local paper, contact the news, get the word out about how this place is scamming their tenants! My husband thinks i should. What would i get out of it? It wouldn't change the fact of them charging us, but would hopefully get the word out to not rent where we live.


So, for those of you choosing to rent, really think about it, you could be throwing your money away. If you have no choice but to, my advice to you is talk to the people living there, find out the DIRT before signing anything. I wish we would have, it might have saved us thousands of dollars.

Venting over. Thanks for the read :)