News beyond news

I have been working on how I would put this into words and so I sat down tonight to do just that. First of all I have not given birth. lol. I am sitting in my recliner with a huge smile on my face. I am not posting this right away as I want to get the photos to go with it so you will be reading this on Tuesday and I am typing this on Sunday.

I will give you a brief history. My family was "lease to purchasing" a house. We were sure that this was our dream home. It was the place we just knew that we were going to retire to. The neighborhood is a great one. I could go on and on about it but I will move on. DH, son and I went thru hurricane Katrina 3 1\2 years ago. On August 28th, we loaded up what little would fit into a Kia Spectra trunk and took off north. Now I am sure most of you have seen the news footage of the Mississippi Gulf Coast devastation. We were not free of this. The house that we lived in is 2.2 miles from the beach so you can imagine the tidal surge. We, like so many others got 3 foot of water in our home on August 29th. We came home to the grossest things you could imagine. Our fridge was in front of the door and all of our stuff was ruined. Yes some things could be saved but when wood meets salt water and human waste, there is not much you can do about it. In the bottom of the entertainment center were photo albums and son's baby book. I didn't think to pick them up as I never expected water in the house. I thought the worst that could happen would be that the tall pine tree on the side of the house would have fallen onto the house. I was sure we could fix that. As we pulled up to the house, I cried with relief that the pine tree had not fallen. I was devastated when I came into the front door and saw the horrible sight.

This is a picture of a house that was washed away. Please keep in mind that this was only 2 miles directly south of our home.

I don't have pictures as of the house before and after as the computer that I saved them to crashed and the hard drive was irretrievable. I don't know that I could look at them again anyway. It is still too painful.

Over the next week, we gutted the house of all of our belongings. I was sure I could save my cloths as I thought they could be washed. I didn't know that my mom simply handling them would give her a bacteria that would just about put her into the hospital. So as I am sure you can imagine, We hauled out a pile that was 20 feet long and 6 feet high. It was nothing I could grasp at the time. I just wanted to wake up. I wanted to be home again.

We kept moving on. We got the FEMA trailer (which became mold infested within a month) and we were trying to get grant money, only to find out that with the "lease to purchase" we were considered renters and were not able to get the government money that was helping so many people. That was the second blow. We then moved on to an SBA loan. We were sure our luck would turn when we found out that we received a loan and that it would be enough to buy this house outright and to fix it. We could worry about the furniture later but for now, we thought of this as being great.

This elation was crapped out a few weeks later when we found out that the people that we were buying the home from had filed bankruptcy and and that the house we loved so much was in with that case. We fought as best we could only to be told by the bank that had the house that they considered us a part of the bankruptcy even though our name was not on the paperwork. This was the 3rd blow to our family. We were crushed. After finding this out, it was only 2 months later until DHs dad, the heart and soul of our family passed from a massive heart attack. This was the 4th and final blow. We felt as if we could not go on.

We moved our FEMA trailer to MIL front yard and progressively moved to an apartment that ended up being what we called "crackville" as the bottom floor was gutted and open leading to homeless and drug users sleeping right below us. We then moved to the house that we currently live in which is right next door to MIL and this has served a great purpose. We have been here for a year and a half. After the first year, we were told that our lease was a month to month lease and that at any time we could pay our rent on the first of the month and they could tell us that this would be the last and we would have to get out. Month to month, DH and I live in fear of having a place to live. I am sure you can imagine what this is like when you are pregnant and you are trying to get a nursery finished.

I tell you all of this only to say that a week ago, DH and I drove past the old house and noticed a phone number in the window. We called and after 3 more phone calls, we came in touch with the owner. We found that the house was about to go on the market within the next week and we were so upset. I mean this was OUR house. After many discussions and such I am proud to tell you that DH, son and I have signed on this house. Yes, you read that right, we are buying that same house. It has been redone totally and is beautiful. You can see the pics below. It was an amazing journey and I am in disbelief. I can't tell you how much this means. Blessings is not a big enough word for what the Lord has done for us in the last 6 months. I sit here and update this post with the new pictures, I can feel our miracle baby moving up a storm. I love it.

Now without further adew, here is the house.....

Outside before the signing...

DH and son, pulling the for sale sign after the signing. I know it is dark but I had to get a picture of it.

Here are the keys in my hand. What a moment.

Now let's take a tour, here is the living room......

Here is the hallway.......

I want you to look at this wonderfully beautiful kitchen. Ahhhhh and look at the gas stove... ...

This is Jessica's room. DH has picked out a wonderful lavender color for this room.... what a daddy.....

This is the dining area. I am little up in the air about that light but I am sure it will look great with the table under it.

This is the view when you walk in the front door.

This is sons room. He is in the corner of the house and he loves it.

This is our bedroom......

This is our master bath....

This is Sons bathroom (main bath in the hall)

I can not wait to show you the updated pictures after we move in. We have been more than blessed to get a ton of help moving. I can't do it and believe you me, everyone is reminding me of that. I think the belly is giving it away.