A Trip Down South

Near the end of February Rocco and I took a little road trip the the southern gulf tip of Florida to see my sister Lisa and her family. They rented a house on Marco Island and it was really beautiful there. Nick and I had visited this region of Florida twice before and we really love the clear calm waters of the Gulf.

It was great to see Lisa, Grant, and their two little ones Allie and Brooke. The last time I had seen them was when I was 6 months pregnant with Rocco and Brooke was a newborn. Now Brooke is one year old and Rocco is of course no longer living in my womb! I also got to visit with Grant's parents. They even babysat for me and let Lisa and I go out to dinner free of children. That was quite the treat and a great time to catch up with my big sis.

Sisters and cousins. Here we are with Lisa and her two cuties, Allie and Brooke.

Brooke and Rocco enjoyed a walk home from the beach. It was funny to see them talking and laughing together in baby language.

I spent about a day and a half with them and then let them enjoy their vacation. On the way home I took a different route home and visited my favorite Fort Lauderdale kids Alex, Sami, and Ryan. I love when I get to see them in my old home town or when they come to visit in Jacksonville. We had a fun time just hanging out and catching up.

Rocco with his Fort Lauderdale Family! The kids were all so nice to Rocco. Melinda is so good with Rocco, I'm thinking of asking her to be my nanny!

Screamapillar

I know I am supposedly an adult now, but yes, I still watch cartoons. One of my favorites is The Simpsons. In one episode from several seasons ago, Homer builds a koi pond in the backyard which attracts an endangered species known as the Screamapillar. It is a caterpillar that screams constantly day and night. The Simpsons try to do everything that they can to stop the screaming, but to no avail. They can't move it because anywhere it decides to live is deemed a protected habitat.

Lately I feel I have my own little Screamapillar at my house. Yes, his name is Rocco. I am hoping that it is merely a stage. He used to never cry. Maybe he has discovered his voice, but whatever the reason, he likes to scream. Sometimes it is an impassioned scream and sometimes it is emotionless. He just likes to scream. He only stops when I try to videotape him screaming, and then when I put the camera away, he starts screaming again.

This is essentially what you would see if I were able to document the screaming. I am thinking of constantly videotaping him so he won't scream anymore. Aaaaaahhh!

The Many Faces of Rocco

Now for all of you bored by the last post because it was all text and no pictures of Rocco, this entry is for you. This past Christmas my fab sis in law / fab photographer Ashley Collins took some pictures of Rocco and being a true mother I am in love with every single one.

Thanks Seller!

Thanks to everyone who voted for the title of my blog! Rocco & Co. got 50% of the votes, hence the new blog header.

Now for a little story about why I have not been blogging lately....

The plan for my next entry was going to be about our new house and all the differences between our rental and our first home. Instead, this entry is about how we are still in our rental.

I have been looking for a house to buy since the summer of 2007. We found a place we loved, but this happened to be about the time the banks were beginning to get nervous about all the crazy loans they gave out. We had gotten pre-qualified for a certain amount, but when it came time for closing the bank suddenly required that we had 6 months of mortgage payments in reserve beyond our down payment and closing costs. We didn't have it and found our current rental instead.

Fast forward to this past summer, June 2008. I began looking at houses again. In August, we found it; it was a great house in a fabulous neighborhood. The reason we could afford it is because it was a short sale. A short sale is when the seller gets permission from his bank lender to sell the house at less than what he owes instead of going into foreclosure. Permission from the bank can take a long time, but we had a lease until the end of October and our landlord was open to extending it month to month, so we decided to go for it. Four months later, at the end of December, we got the approval! We were to close January 23rd, and so all of January I was busy doing the various necessary things to move and close on the house. The evening of January 22nd, I got a call from my realtor telling me that the seller was rethinking the sale. He thought he might be better off if the house went into foreclosure. He wanted to think about it. Never mind the last five months, he wanted to think about it the night before closing. He strung us along until the 29th (the banks deadline for the short sale) and then got an extension and strung us along a few more days before deciding to let the house go into foreclosure. Thanks for that, seller!

Anyway, we found another house in the same great neighborhood and we have a contract on it. Needless to say I am cautiously hopeful. If this house does not become ours, I might cry. I am not going to blog about the differences of the new house and the rental until we actually close, so stay tuned to the saga.