House Hunting

So, now that baby Wyatt has been born and everything has been going well... we have somewhat turned out sights back towards some house hunting. Emphasis on ‘somewhat.’ We've been searching half-heartedly for a year or so, but nothing seemed to fit our needs or budget. The birth of Wyatt also played a big part in that lukewarm search for a new abode.

Naturally, we were sent a couple of interesting possibilities by our realtor a few days ago that have piqued our interests:

House Number One



House Number Two



House Two - View 2




These homes may look like funky, fixer-uppers, times ten, to many folks. Saying that they need a lot of work is a vast understatement. And yes, the words “bank owned and short sale,” do apply here, if you catch my drift.

However, they’re both located within a small tract of one-hundred homes in Fullerton that were designed by Joseph Eichler. He designed many of the popular mid-century modern homes in Northern and Southern California. Here are a few examples of his fully restored homes to see the end product:









And finally, here's a commercial you may, or may not have seen, featuring some nice Eichler homes in Orange, Ca.



We're praying fervently, and waiting on Him.

These Last Two Weeks

Here’s a brief photo retrospective of our second week as a family of four:





Wyatt's a full pound heavier and much more interactive.




Amelia takes good care of "baby bruva."




Grandma Janet with her two favorite grandchildren. Yes, we just said favorite... for now.




Grandma Janet spending quality time with her favorite granddaughter.




Amelia and Morgan “busha teef.”




Amelia and Aunt CC cookin’ up some scrumptious snacks.




When Amelia sees anyone with a camera, her first question is, “Me do it?”




“Hep you?”

An extra special thanks again, to Grandma Janet for her endless toil around the house, and in the kitchen, while we were adjusting to our newest addition. Our house is cleaner than it’s ever been; our freezer is stocked with good eatin’s for a good while; and now we don’t know what to do with ourselves.




So, with no chores left to do... we answered the popular expression, often uttered on the freeways around here, and just flew a kite.



Two times… just to be sure.

Father / Daughter Day: A Brief Diary

With mommy and baby Wyatt resting up, Daddy is hijacking this blog one more time.

Muwahaha!




Today started out like any other, but soon morphed into the most awesome father / daughter day this forsaken world has ever seen. Hyperbole, you ask? Au contraire, mi amigos. And by that, I mean mixing French and Spanish phrases makes me happy... and poor Grandma Janet sad. Heh heh.



To cut to the chase: Daddy and Amelia left the house this morning, shortly after a nutritious breakfast of dried cereal, milk, and a few sips of mommy’s ‘cawffee.’ With our destination set southward, we revved up the Hemi and left mommy, Grandma Janet and baby Wyatt in our exhaust-fueled dust. Upon reaching Huntington State Beach, we stumbled upon a rare site in these parts… three empty parking stalls adjacent to daddy’s oldest and most cherished surf spot! What fortune!



Our strength being newly restored by this small victory, we gathered our various and sundry beach necessities, and began our long and arduous trek over the vast, and seemingly endless sand fields of Huntington. Our wills would not be stirred by the simmering granules being trod beneath our unclad feet.

Upon reaching the beach, our hearts were warmed as we discovered some finely-groomed southwest swells breaking a safe distance from our proposed frolicking grounds near shore. Amelia immediately tasked herself with unburdening her daddy’s numerous provisions, which had been laid-up in store for such an occasion, and began employing her sand tools with nimble efficiency.



Over the next few hours, we commenced with the scaling of several behemoth shorebreakers, using only our Kobe-esque jumping skills; designed, built and destroyed vast networks of sandcastle cities; rode the skateboard up and down the boardwalk; and tailgated in the back of the Hemi whilst dining uponst tasty “O’Donald’s” dollar menu burgers. What could be better than that, you ask? I simply answer: “Nadda. Zip. Zero. Zilch.”



(That little spec about halfway between the end of the pier and the lifeguard tower is Amelia)



At the end of the day, we were two tuckered and sunburned kiddos. And by “two,” I could have said “too.”



Mercifully, our valiant day battling the unknown wonders of a mysterious sea were met with the angelic visage of sweet baby Wyatt on our safe return home. As they say in France, “there’s no place like mai-son:”

Wyatt Elliott

Amelia holding Wyatt for the first time

Daddy with his babies

family of four!

happy Grandma's

Papa and his grandchildren

Proud auntie and uncles

Gene & Auntie Linz

where he hangs out here at home

Our little Wyatt Elliott has finally arrived! He came into the world at 2:28 pm on Saturday, June 13 weighing in at 7 lbs, 9 oz and 20” long. He took his time coming past his due date, but once he decided to appear, he was in a big hurry.

I had been scheduled for an inducement on Friday and Saturday mornings, but both had been cancelled due to full labor and delivery department at the hospital. Contractions started coming on their own on Saturday morning, but they were very dull and sporadic. I went for a walk with Mom and Amelia which didn't seem to get things moving any faster. Then Nathan and I went to Long Beach and got some coffee and then they started coming stronger. After an hour or so of getting home, I called the doctor as they were 5-7 minutes apart and I thought we could head to the hospital. We hopped in the car and soon they were every 2 minutes apart. Mind you, we had about a 30 minute drive to the hospital on Pacific Coast Highway with lots of red lights and beach traffic! Let’s just say by the time they were wheeling me into the only room available, I was asking for my epidural (no time for that!) and he was born within about 10 minutes. It was a whirlwind, but the Lord ordered it all and he is here safe and sound. And I am feeling way better than I did after Amelia’s delivery.

We enjoyed all of our family coming to visit at the hospital and we love having Wyatt home with us now. He’s a sweet little bundle that sleeps a lot! Amelia likes to try to help me feed him and peek at him through his make-shift laundry basket bassinet (it takes up less room for now than our ‘real’ one). I’ve been getting some sleep and yummy meals thanks to Daddy and Grandma. Thanks again to everyone for your prayers, calls and messages.

still waiting...

excited for Baby Brother to come

We took off the baby countdown on our sidebar as it incorrectly stated "You're baby is 1 day old now." Didn't want any false advertising! : ) Here we are, late on the due date of Baby II and still no contractions or water breakage. Just thought we'd keep those of you posted who have been wondering! My mom is here helping us out with Amelia and Morgan; Nathan and Amelia are starting to recover from colds, and I'm just getting more sluggish as the days go by. The little fella will come when he is ready, and we are looking forward to having him with us. Thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers and messages to us, we appreciate all of it.

waiting...

I'm squeezing in every last minute I can with just Amelia and loving it. Soon we shall be four.

These pictures were taken by our friend Karry a few weeks ago. Imagine what my stomach looks like now? ; )