Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Philippians 4:13 and My Life

Now for the post you have all been waiting for. What is it really like for us now that we know we are having twins? I'm glad you asked. Today I offer you some of the top things we are dealing with along with a new motto. After all, if anybody needs a new motto it's me.

Arica, Braden, and I currently live in a 2 bedroom home. That is 0.67 bedrooms per resident, which is a decidedly bad ratio when one is considering expanding their family. Knowing this Arica and I put our house on the market with the optimistic hope that our homes distinct charm and location in one of the cities best neighborhoods would be enough to garner interest even in a terrible economy. Our optimism was rewarded with a harsh slap in the face.

Now that we have found out our family will be growing at twice the expected rate our bedroom per resident ratio is even more troubling. So instead of staying above the fray Arica and I now have to consider jumping into the fight for scraps in this buyers market. We have to fight for buyers with the pit bulls known as repossessed homes. They win out over the people who actually were able to afford their mortgages. Such a wonderful mess we have here.

Basically the choices we have are to severely discount our house in hopes of selling it, build on to our house or somehow transform it, or live in squalor.

In a positive development our Real Estate agent is quitting real estate altogether. Yes, this is a positive development. He has been terrible. I am already excited about the new guy after only talking to him once.

No matter the agent, trying to sell the house leads to the most complicated of financial calculations. I am of course an engineer not an accountant. I do have impressive spread sheet skills, however, that I have been putting to good use trying to figure out where we fit into this whole mess financially.  It goes something like this: My salary minus debt plus anything that is not nailed down and thus available to sell minus diapers for two more kids plus hopefully no more diapers for Braden plus various associated fees that will go away minus increases in insurance and property taxes minus baby gear minus baby food and so on.

Then there is the sleeping situation no matter what house we are in. Braden needs to learn how to sleep in a toddler bed as soon as possible. By doing this Braden will allow us to use his crib for the babies thus avoiding the costly purchase of another crib or two. This money stuff figures into that calculation above some how but my head is still spinning so we'll come back to that. 

The problem with the sleeping thing is that Braden wakes up in the middle of the night and wants to watch cartoons 4 or 5 nights a week. Without a cage keeping him in place there is no way that he will ever go to sleep. He'll be roaming the house all night like a zombie bent on destruction. Yet the situation has to be dealt with soon.

There is also the potty training situation that I have been writing about lately. Getting Braden out of diapers before the babies arrive would be a great help. So we have that going as well.

These are just some highlight points. There are plenty of other areas that need addressing as well. In closing I have to say that I am going to need God on my side for this one. I am so thankful that He has promised to watch after me. I know He will. With that, here is my new motto.

Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

And that includes raising Braden and twins.

12 comments:

Senorita Tortuga said...

Have you considered putting a baby gate on his door at night, once he is in a bed? That might be a $30 solution to your crib woes.

seashore subjects said...

If there is one thing I have learned after 3 kids, it's that things work-out. With that said...

I love your new motto. It is actually something I need to remember myself right now. Thank you.

ericdbolton said...

Amen, Brother.

He will provide a way where there doesn't seem to be a way.

If I can put a little perspective. Not that having five kids makes my situation any more dire than yours but hopefully this can help.

Six years ago, I got married and we already had my stepson. We struggled. Then we found out we were pregnant a few months later. We were worried what we would do. Things worked out but we still struggled.

Two years later my son was born, still struggling. 12 months later my second daughter born, then 13 months after that my youngest daughter born.

Each time struggling. Each time before we found out we were pregnant we were going to get higher above the water, but each time we tried we got another family member.

But we never went below water. Sure we had more weight on us and not getting any higher, but the water level was also dropping because we weren't sinking.

We were doing something right.

You will too. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding.

You'll do fine.

SurprisedMom said...

Your new motto is one to live by. It will work out. The twins will enrich your lives in ways you can't know now.

That said, your life and spreadsheet sound like mine. I sympathize. But, I find myself smiling at the oddest things. I think you will, too.

I'm crossing my fingers for you and praying that you are able to sell your house and find an affordable one that will accommodate you growing family.

I hope Arica is feeling good and continues to feel good throughout the pregnancy.

Brian Miller said...

that is a great way to live...and i have a feeling an answer will be provided in time, the right time...selling the house can be a beast so prayers of strength bro...

Sarah Fader said...

I like that. You can draw on your internal strength to deal with what lies ahead.

It would be awesome if Braden was out of diapers by the time the babies arrive. You guys will feel relieved, I bet. But if it doesn't happen, don't beat yourselves up!

Also, I feel you on the TV issue. This kid (Ari) does not want to sleep and has a major addiction to Blue's Clues!

Brandy@YDK said...

sounds like a good motto to me.

Keith Wilcox said...

I know nothing of real estate other than that I just visited Orange County and saw exactly how far the mighty have fallen. Million dollar houses are selling for 300,000. That's almost in my price range! A situation I would not have fathomed just two years ago. I'm sorry about all the troubles.

WeaselMomma said...

I love your attitude. The trenches of family life can be harrowing, but all will work out.

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain, my friend. We have a similar occupant to bedroom ratio - 4 people, 2 rooms - and thanks to the real estate crash I'm underwater on the house by a large margin. One of the reasons I haven't blogged much on my site (other than to send people to other sites I'm contracted to write for) is I just don't have anything worth saying as I do other things to hopefully get us out of where we are at. I hope the new agent helps turn things around for you all.

Tom said...

One of my favorite verses. Parenting is one of those proving grounds for verses like this. Keep strong in Him, and He will keep you going.

Melisa Wells said...

That's what a baby gate is for! Stay strong, friend! Everything will work out the way it's supposed to. :)