"It's a miracle!"

"It's two things in one: it's my bedroom, but it's also my recording studio!" Nathan's studio hung out in Amos' room before I packed it up.

The kitchen before being painted...

(the painter)

...and after we put one coat of primer on the walls!

Yesterday and today have been days of good things. (Sit back, this is a long one. Especially you, Dan!)

Yesterday morning, a guy came to template for our counter tops. Basically he had big pieces of cardboard and made cuts the size of our cabinet tops and measurements so that he can take those patterns back to make counter tops for us. It was pretty cool to watch the whole thing, although, we had to get up early, to let Terry, the head contractor in. Poor guy, he was waiting out in the driveway, as I had slept through his and Nathan's calls. But my little alarm clock was still asleep, so I didn't wake up!

Amos tried cow's milk yesterday. Organic whole milk, that yummy creamy stuff. He loved it. In fact, I had to remember to only give him a few sips, as he wanted to drink the whole thing down. Maybe this'll put more fat on him! He's successfully adjusted so far, with no milk spit ups yet. Yay! He's also continuing to sign, though it's not as much as before. That's ok, I'm just going to keep at him about it. It took him awhile to get clapping down. Now he does it every time someone says, "Yay!" or I say, "Good job!" without having to be shown what clapping is. He even seems to clap when he sees something he likes. Just a hunch.

Aunt Abby came over yesterday afternoon and we continued packing. After Amos woke up and we got somethings packed, we went to the store for dinner. I decided to make my special Black and White Bean salad, with Cilantro, Cucumber and Mango. While packing, Abby discovered my "Juicing for Life" book and got really excited when I told her we had a juicer. So she got some carrots and apples to juice as an appetizer. We also got some boca burger patties and had ourselves a bona fide vegetarian dinner. Don't worry, we've not converted! I still have no problem with eating meat any day of the week! After dinner, Abby and Nathan watched "Die Hard" while I soaked in the tub. It was so nice. Amos was asleep and I got to enjoy a nice bath with salts. I tried to watch some of the movie afterward, but had to go to bed!

This morning Amos was up early and we waited as long as possible before waking Abby up. We all had breakfast and play time, with Amos drinking more milk successfully and happily! I put him down for his nap and Abby and I got ready to paint the kitchen. I had to go to the shed and when I came back, Abby said I had missed a call. So I checked my voicemail and it was Nathan, who had just heard from Jason in Indy, about a house for sale at a good price, in their neighborhood. So I called their neighbor, Mike, who knew more about the house. He had in fact, owned it, some years ago and had done extensive work on it. When I asked the address, his reply seemed to come out in slow motion. "1-4-3-9 Broad...way" I freaked out. That was the house that Nathan and I had seen, and absolutely loved but did not write down the number on the sign in front, as we had planned to hunt it down online. Of course, there was no info online, and so we figured even if it were for sale, would be out of our price range. It turns out that it went on the market for $189,900, an absolute steal for this neighborhood, which is by the church and filled with old, historic houses. So Mike referred a good mortgage broker to me and I got on the phone to see if we could be approved and maybe put an offer in. While Chad and I were talking money, Mike beeped in to say that maybe he and his wife Julie, could buy the house and then we could buy it from them when our house sells. I said, no, that was too big of a decision to make then and that it was ok. I clicked back to Chad and we continued our money talk. Then Mike beeped in again and said, "We are just going to put an offer on and buy the house, so that if you want to buy it from us, you can. There is alot of interest in this house and we don't want you to lose it. So we'll just buy it, you can rent it when you get here and if you decide to buy it from us, great. If not, that's ok, too and we'll just sell it." I was dumbfounded and shocked. Here was someone willing to buy this house for us, so that we could get into a great house and location for sooooooo cheaply, if we wanted to. I just felt so blessed and cared for. I said ok, and that I would talk to Nathan, but that I'm sure that would be ok. I clicked back to Chad and told him what happened. We both almost started crying. Chad figured out some options for us, too, in case that falls through and we decide to buy a house before ours has sold. It was good to get the cold hard facts out in the open.

So....the miracle is that we almost have a place to live, and possibly buy, upon arrival to Indy. And not only that, it's the house that we absolutely loved when we saw it there. I felt like my parents after they rediscovered their house, after having no luck in finding out any info, all those years ago. Please pray that the offer Mike and Julie made would be accepted and that we would be able to sell our house for as much as possible, to put into this house. Of course, if it all doesn't work out, that would be ok too. I know that the Lord is caring for us, as he does every day.

The third awesome thing to report is that Amos has just gone to be without being swaddled. It's getting a bit hot here, and I think it is bothering him. So I just rocked and sang to him and he fell asleep. If this works and continues to work, I will be relieved of the huge burden/blessing of swaddling and the changing of the guard. It's something I have been dreading, but Amos may really be ready this time, to not be swaddled. We shall see!!

Thank you for your prayers. We'll keep you updated!!