Let the countdown begin...

So yesterday marked the 30 day countdown until baby arrives. I say thirty days because that is the max time it will take for baby to arrive, as I will be induced on baby's due date (Sept 15th)  if he/she hasn't arrived yet.

Anyhow, we are going to be packing quite a bit in these next 30 days...I haven't lost it yet but I might be getting close if we can't find a rental soon!

:: Finding a rental house - Yup, this is still a to do on our list. Everyone, especially Kevin, keeps saying don't worry we will find something. Well honestly I am getting tired of hearing that - I know we will find something - it's how much we are going to have to compromise that I am worried about. There isn't much out there AND it is extremely difficult to find a 7-month lease! Everyone thought we were nuts building a house while I was pregnant but that is cake compared to moving in the 11th hour to an 'imaginary' rental property! Do I sounds stressed? It's because I am...this makes me want to cry when I think about it too much.

:: Packing/Moving - We will definitely be hiring movers but call me a slight control freak because I have this unexplainable desire to pack up my own things. I just want to know where everything is and I know if someone else packs I won't know. I have a system going and while it isn't the fastest packing job it makes me feel better. I feel good with my excel sheet (or whatever apple's excel product is) open and detailed list of everything that I have packed.  We won't need EVERYTHING in the rental so it should alleviate having to repack everything come March.  Of course if I do go into labor that will all go out the window :) So I am just taking it day by day trying to pack things up. 

:: Garage Sell - I have only started packing the kitchen up but it is amazing the things I have found that I probably haven't touched since we moved in - four years ago. So I decided to make a pile for a garage sale. I don't know how much stuff we will end up having so I invited some of our friends to join us and bring over anything they want to sell as well. I have never had a garage sale but as long as we can get rid of this stuff then I will chalk it up as successful!

:: Closing on Miller house (Sept 12) - It's still a little nerve racking trying to sign a lease when you haven't officially sold your house but I guess that is just what people do. Really the only last hurdle is the appraisal. Our realtor feels confident that there shouldn't be any issues with it so hopefully things will continue to run seamlessly. Ideally we would like to wait to sign a lease until we know the appraisal has gone through but apparently the banks are backed up so the appraisal is taking longer to get done. Luckily it hasn't been an issue yet since we haven't found a rental!

:: Finalizing plans for new build - A couple weeks ago we finalized the floor plans so the next step is the big ol budget meeting, which happens this Sunday. Over the past two weeks our builder bid out the plans to contractors to get pricing and once everything is back they put it all together for us and we go through it all to make sure it is what we want and that it falls within the overall budget. Since I have never done this before the only way for me to think of it is by using my past life as a media planner to think of it - it's like going through all the proposals from the sites and fitting together the best overall plan for the goals and staying within the budget. Once we approve this then we submit it to the bank of approval, they will have to do an appraisal and then if everything lines up we should be on our way to actually building!

:: Demo house on new lot & start building - After we receive approval from the bank then we can get this build started. Fist up will be to demo the existing house on the lot. This should happen mid-Septemeber but now knowing that banks are backed up I am starting to think it might be delayed...oye! Hopefully I am wrong but honestly I am not too stressed about this at all.

:: Celebrating my 30th - Ok so we really already did this but I had to sneak it in. We are actually planning to have a garage sell on my actual birthday but I hope to eat some cake at some point!

:: Celebrate my mom's birthday! - My mom's birthday is exactly a week after mine - we usually make the trip down to Houston but obviously that won't be happening this year. I was hoping to celebrate by moving into a rental but we will have to see what happens. Oh and there will be cake too!

:: HAVING A BABY - Hoping that everything happens in this order and we are settled in a rental by the time baby decideds to come. I really am so excited to meet our new little family member but haven't had a ton of time to focus on it - which I guess can be good in some ways. It sure makes this pregnancy go by fast!

And I think that is all for now. Off to check out another rental....