34 Weeks!

Drew took my 34 week photo today! I must admit I love finally having a belly, when the baby is really active (most of the time) I love watching it move and bounce all over the place. She moves a lot for Drew now also so he gets to take part in baby moving. She was going crazy at dinner tonight so while we were waiting for our food we were watching her roll around. Such fun!

We went to a place called the Louisiana Boardwalk yesterday which is a big shopping center on the riverside. It's all outdoors though and it was raining so we just popped into a few places then decided to go to the movies to see Beowulf. It was pretty good! We were there really early and they had a Dance Dance Revolution game, so I played it for a little bit. I was surprised that I still had the stamina to play, but I rocked it!

We went to the gym today and went and stocked up on some groceries for the room. Drew starts in-processing tomorrow and we have to take our rental car back and swap it for a smaller one and do another contract. They have been really helpful at enterprise trying to keep us in a car for as cheap as possible. Unfortunately because last week was a holiday, their corporate office hiked up the rates, which is why we are re-doing the contract tomorrow when the rates go back down.

I'll probably hang out on base while Drew does his stuff tomorrow. It's a pretty long walk to the gym but if it's not too cold then I might go there. Hopefully my referral will come tomorrow so I can schedule my OB appointment. Other than that.. same ol' same ol'! We should hear in the next day or two about when the appraiser will be out and when we can finish up the loan paperwork.

All for now!

House Inspection

We just got home from the house inspection, it did fantastic! There was only 2 things that need attention. One was the shower head in the main bathroom was loose and in the master bathroom the tub faucet is also loose. Everything else passed with flying colors! The fireplace has never even been used. We got a whole binder of the "property inspection report" that had everything that he checked and even definitions of the stuff he checked for those of us that don't know much about houses! There's also a book in the back of DIY maintenance stuff like keeping your heating/air running top notch, replacing filters, fuses, things to test regularly. It's a pretty handy little information book!

After getting to check out the house again, we're even MORE excited! It was even better the 2nd time around, and we're so happy that it passed the inspection so well. They did ask us for an extension until the 17th of December, but since we still wont have furniture anyway it shouldn't be a problem. The house they are moving into isn't completely ready I guess.

So that's the update for today, Pat (our realtor) said they should be out to do the appraisal next week and she'd keep us posted.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! We don't have much planned for today. We got up this morning and went to breakfast. We came back to our hotel room and are just hanging out until we get hungry, then we're going to head to the "chow hall" to get some Thanksgiving dinner. Hopefully it's pretty good. We almost did a microwave Thanksgiving, but then remembered the dining facility was having one and decided just to go there. We did pick up a no bake strawberry cheesecake for dessert though!

We did want to share a few things that we are thankful for however. We are thankful for being able to be together and in the States for the holiday's, even though we wish we could be with family, we know that now that we are back it will be easier come future holidays, and look forward to them! We are thankful for all the love, help and support we have received from family and friends during our move, and this pregnancy. We are thankful that the baby is doing so wonderful and that things have been progressing so well for the past 7.5 months. We are thankful that we were able to find a nice house that will suit us and will be in before Christmas. There is so much more that we are thankful for, and we send our love to all those that we can't be with during the holiday season. You mean so much to us!

We hope you all have a wonderful day and we'll talk to you soon!

Love,
Jen, Drew and Baby L!

Offer Accepted!

Well, they accepted our offer! They did put a cap on the closing costs but it should be pretty close to that. They put a limit on the appraisal and the home warranty as well, but it's enough to cover both of those things. We have to pay for the inspector, and might have to pay a little out of pocket at closing, but if anything it should be a small amount, so that's exciting!

They are military also, but are not moving to another base, they are just buying a bigger house. They are putting an offer in today and the house they are interested in is empty and ready to move in, so essentially we could be in before the 14th of December depending on how long it takes our VA loan to process.

So, yeah!! We're super excited! We'll call the Lynn at the mortgage office tomorrow and set up an appointment with her to get the loan process started. Pat (our realtor) will get with her to set up the appraisal so we know when to schedule the inspection.

We'll keep you posted as the process goes on, but it looks great so far!

We put in an offer!

Today was so eventful! I couldn't believe how much we got accomplished today!

The realtor picked us up at 10 this morning and by 4pm we'd looked at 15 properties and pretty much had made our decision at #10. We had covered all of the houses that we had written down in the last 2.5 months that were still available, plus a few extras that she thought would suit our needs and budget.

We saw 2 houses that we really liked, but had small things that we weren't completely satisfied with and they were both just a few thousand out of our price range, one was probably negotiable, the other one was not likely to budge.

The 3rd one that we absolutely fell in love with is in Haughton, about a 10-15 minute easy drive from base. Outside of the city limits so we don't have to pay city taxes which were quite substantial, it's also out of the flood zones! It's a 2006 model, 3 bedroom, 2 bath and 1330 sq. feet. It's a little smaller than we originally planned, but it's layed out well and is cozy, but not cramped! It has a 2 car garage, but a big long driveway, enough to fit 4 more cars in if we have company! The kitchen is gorgeous, appliances are new and they are even leaving the fridge! The sheet listed the washer/dryer as negotiable, so we asked them to leave them in the offer if it gets accepted. It has a nice sized fenced yard as well.

We're really excited and should know by 4pm tomorrow if the offer is accepted. If it is, then we have a closing date set for December 14th! So wish us luck and we'll keep you posted!

We made it!

Just wanted to let everybody know that we're here in Louisiana safe and sound!

I left San Francisco this morning about 8:50, and flew to Las Vegas, then to Dallas. I realized that Drew and I both were going to be in Dallas but his flight to Shreveport left two hours before mine, so I hunted down his gate and surprised him there! We had a late lunch, then hung out until his flight left. I was going to try and see if I could get on his flight but decided we would have to wait for my luggage anyway so stuck to the original plan.

My flight arrived in Shreveport and Drew was waiting for me, we got my bags (which made all 3 flights, yay!) and we went outside to wait for our ride. I guess there was a little lack of communication because we knew nothing about our sponsor except his last name and that he was suppose to be there at 9pm, no phone number or anything. We waited until 9:45 and it was getting pretty chilly outside so we decided to go ahead and rent a car for the weekend. The rental car place was very helpful and gave us a map and directions to base which really wasn't that far! We didn't get lost once,well, we passed the road we were suppose to turn on, but got right back to it. We went straight to billeting and got our room.

We just got settled in and we're really hungry now, it's 11:25pm here, so 9:25pm in CA and 5:25am in England so we're all messed up! Luckily we were able to order a pizza for delivery so we don't have to go and try and find something. I hope we can stay awake long enough for it to get here.

Tomorrow morning we'll call the realtor to get some times set up with her and also try and get some cell phones so we can have an easier way to communicate with everybody! As soon as we get numbers we'll call and let you know what they are! In the meantime, the main number for billeting here is (318)456-3091, registered under Drew so if you need to get a hold of us in the meantime, that's the best way!

We'll keep you posted on how things are going! Drew and I are stoked to be back together and getting a move on the next chapter of our lives. What will it bring us??? Stay tuned!

Love to you all,
Us

A picture!

I know, I know, I'm REALLY late with this, but I kept forgetting to have somebody take a pic of me, so I did it myself this afternoon since I don't know when I'll have computer access again. It's not a great pic, but you can see I'm definitely popped now (in the front AND back)!! It's still hard to believe I only have 7.5 weeks to go! Hey, look at all that California blue sky in the background!



So Drew is all done out processing in England, the house checked out and his car is sold! I finally get to see him tomorrow evening, yay! I have to be at the airport by about 7AM and my flight gets in at 8:50pm LA time, I think Drew gets in about 7:30, so he'll wait for me there and his sponsor is picking us up around 9 or so to take us to the base hotel. We're slowly making progres..next stop, house hunting!

We'll probably go and get phones on Friday also so as soon as we have numbers I'll pass them along so we can stay in contact! Tah-tah for now!