First Time Home Owners

2013-2014 has definitely been a year of firsts for the Baker family:

--We made our first big move from Provo, Utah to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

--Blaine started his first year of Dental School

--Alayna got her first teaching job (first salary!!)

--We got our first puppy Jake

--I got pregnant and will have our first baby this summer

--We bought our first house

Thats right. We are officially homeowners now and are so excited. We'd thrown around the idea a little bit ever since we got Jake because a yard would make his life better and our life easier. But then we started to consider it more seriously and took more things into consideration and decided to go for it. My main concern was staying in our ward because it has a ton of other students in it and we've made some friends that we wanted to stay with. The bad part about that, though, was that all the newer construction homes that we could afford were out of ward boundaries. We first looked to rent a home, but in the area we wanted to be in, that would've meant paying a lot more for a lot crappier of a place.

So we looked online everyday and went to go look at a couple of houses. On my birthday, I found a house that looked good online and was fresh on the market, and so we went to go look at it later that night. Knowing that our options were limited and that this house would probably go fast since it is in a great neighborhood and well priced, we put in an offer the next day. We then came to find out that someone else had put in an offer that same day as well. 2 offers within 2 days of being on the market! (Very promising for selling in a couple years). So the owner's relator first told ours that they didn't want to bother having us make another offer since the people we were competing with could pay slightly more and in cash. But our relator was great and talked us up and we ended up getting the house because we offered a little bit over asking price... but then after the home was appraised we ended up buying it for a little under asking price, so that was a nice surprise!

Anyways, it took about a month to go through the process of inspections and paperwork and we finally closed on it a couple weeks ago. (Lets be real, though. Blaine took care of pretty much EVERYTHING as far as that goes. What a good guy, huh) It is a block away from our church and in "Old Edmond"-- a nice family neighborhood near a park. We've already took Jakey there a couple of times and we all love it.

The house, like all the other houses around the area, was built in the mid-1970s, and we are only the third owners. It could use some cosmetic upgrades, but its fine for now. Not our forever home. Alexis and Craig came out to visit and helped out a TON. It wasn't so much of a vacation, as it was a work-ation. They even worked when we had to go to school, but we paid them in food. One night we all ate Panera to-go while sitting on the floor and using the coffee table as a table, complete with Sun Chips for our appetizer and Easter candy for dessert.

Side note: I do not enjoy candy. Like, at all. I enjoy homemade, fresh baked goods. But there are 1-2 specific Easter candies that can hit my spot.

Between those two and Blaine, 2 bedrooms were painted, 2 rooms of wallpaper were stripped, the kitchen was painted and a new chandelier installed, as well as numerous light fixtures that Blaine and Craig had a fun time putting in. Alexis and I also painted a mirror for the master bathroom that the boys installed. Us gals also bought a couple of cute decorations for our sweet baby boy's room. Blaine and I bought a fun Noah's Ark canvas in Salt Lake over Christmas, and then after going to Target with Alexis, I guess his room has turned into a water/animal theme. We found these cute pictures of a whale and a fish, as well as THE most adorable little paddle for his wall. I cannot wait till his room is put together. It's already my favorite room in the house. We'll move in completely this weekend, which will be nice. But all we have left to do is maybe change another light fixture and install new carpet so our cute little boy doesn't lay on the floor or learn how to crawl with old, germy carpet in his face.

Oh, and also to upgrade the showers a bit... specifically the master shower... but I'm going to see if I can convince Blaine's dad to make that his birthday present to his firstborn grandson ;)

Here are a couple of BEFORE and AFTER pictures.

KITCHEN - AFTER

LIVING ROOM

Our big yard

GUEST BEDROOM - BEFORE

BABY'S ROOM - BEFORE

BABY'S ROOM  - AFTER
(i didn't get a picture of the whole room, but its light blue and here are the decorations I mentioned)

MASTER BEDROOM WITH HOTEL-LIKE ON SUITE BATHROOM

MASTER MIRROR ALEXIS AND I PAINTED,
after the boys got in on sale at Home Depot and talked the manager down... pretty impressive on everyone's part, I'd say

2ND BATHROOM - BEFORE

AND OF COURSE, I NOW REALIZE I NEVER TOOK AN AFTER SHOT OF THE 2ND BATH, BUT I WILL LATER. IT IS LIGHT BLUE TO MATCH THE BABY'S ROOM WITH DIFFERENT LIGHT FIXTURES... AND NO BUNNY

Anyways, we were very grateful for their hard work and company. I'm fairly certain Craig thought there were hidden HGTV cameras for his audition tape and Alexis fancied herself to be quite the dog whisperer. Jake definitely enjoyed the extra love and attention though. During the trip we were inspired to make a "Many Moods of Jake" montage like in Stuart Little, with "Chef Ben" and "Gladiator Ben." But seeing as very few of you will relate and find that funny, I'll just move on and put up a couple of the pictures later.

With all the work (done by Blaine, Craig, and Alexis, since I can neither lift nor paint), we did manage to fit in just a couple of non-work things, like Bedlam BBQ and Kevin Durant's new restaurant downtown.

 southern baked macaroni and cheese... which she wanted to eat with the serving spoon ;)

lots of meat, for the manly men

KD's menus lit up when opened... but they were NOT iPads, so don't embarrass yourself by trying to enlarge anything or ask Siri about a particular dish... not like anyone we know did that

KD's shoes... size 18 I think

Didn't love the Southern Cuisine, KD. Lots of fried chicken dishes, gumbo, fried catfish, etc. But I did very much enjoy my big steak with baked macaroni and fried okra. Craig even got a waffle

 not the best picture, by any means, but the only picture of the 4 of us... well, 5 to be exact :)

their trip ended with a trip to Braum's... I still prefer BYU's Creamery Ice Cream, but oh well

The Texas boy got his Blue Bell fix for a while

So Blaine and I bought our first house in the heart of America's Bible Belt, with a golden retriever and a baby on the way. It would appear that we are not only grown-ups, but the All-American family... CRAZINESS!!!!

The Boys' Bravery - Austin, Aaron, & Jakey

A little over a week ago my brothers Austin and Aaron were in a very scary car accident and could have very easily died. Not in the way that people throw that out there for exaggeration, but in all reality.

Once school got out, they got in our family's Yukon XL and left for baseball practice. It was a four-way intersection and they were stopped at the red light. When the light turned green, they started into the intersection when they noticed a school bus running the red light and heading right for them. In order to avoid a crash with a bus (full of kids no less!), Austin got out of the way and the Yukon rolled three times and landed on its side. Austin and Aaron were smart and safe enough to have their seat belts on, so they stayed strapped in. They don't remember how they got out of the car, but it is incredibly touching to hear what they do remember.

A man pumping gas at the 7-11 on the corner saw the whole thing happen and ran to the scene, along with another older couple going for a walk. Both of them told the police what they saw and told my mom that her sons were heroes. It's just disappointing that some of the attention-hogging, drama-filled negative kids at their school make up their own stories.

Miraculously, they only have bruised ribs and cuts and stitches from the broken glass. I can only imagine how scary it was and how shaken up they still must be. Even after all that, though, and a long night at the hospital, I love this picture of them sharing a bed in their hospital gowns. I'm so excited to have my baby boy this summer and I hope my next baby is a boy as well so they can be buddies like these two cute boys.

The car is no more, but it served its purpose and was a great family SUV for 12 years. It's had a lot of problems the last couple of years and had been out of commission for the last couple of months. My mom kept saying that they should just get rid of it but my dad kept holding on to it, saying "it'll protect the kids," since Austin is mostly the one who drives it now. And he was right. It did protect them.

Now on a smaller scale in comparison, Jakey got his first cut a couple days ago and it made me so sad. We were down at the dog park in our apartment complex like we do everyday, but today this stupid dog attacked Jake and pinned him and cut his face right above is left eye. Sometimes dogs playing looks rough and aggressive and I hate it. But the way I knew it wasn't playing was because the stupid dog was growling and Jakey was crying. So I got him out of there and we went on a walk. We ended up running into an older lady visiting her son and she had an old golden retriever. The dogs played for a little bit while we talked and she reassured me that dogs are tougher than we think and golden retrievers are the most loving and loyal dogs ever, so that made me feel better. But just seeing the cut on his face makes me sad. And mad. You mess with my pup and Mama Bear comes out!! Consider yourself warned...

Blaine gave him a bath and then put neosporin on it. When I first tried to take a picture, I forgot to take off the flash and wound up with this silly one:

Then 2 days later we were out in the dog park and this little yapper dog kept annoying Jake. He was barking and obnoxious and kept jumping up to try and bite Jake's ear or his side. Jakey kept trying to walk away but this dumb dog kept messing with him and so finally Jake put him in his place and just pinned him and barked back. The stupid owner was on the phone and wasn't paying attention to anything but freaked out a little when he noticed that, but I was like, "Hey man- your dog started it." Jake's just like his mama: we don't like annoying, rude, attention seeking pains in our sides. And he handled it just the way my parents taught us and just the way we'll teach our kids: Never throw the first punch, but once they do, you finish it.

He is the sweetest puppy and we love him so much. Its been very cold and snowy and rainy lately-- I even had snow days on Monday and Tuesday, for a total of 8 this school year. So I was able to stay home and be with him, but we mostly stayed inside because of the weather. Yesterday was sunny though, so I let him play outside and wrestle with some other dogs, but the snow was so melty and the ground was so muddy and his hair is so long and thick that he was the messiest he's ever been! Blaine was at school, so I had to wash him by myself and it took 45 MINUTES!!!! But oh well. He's clean now.

Blaine has had a lot of tests lately and still has 4 more to go between now and next Wednesday. So that makes him busy and stressed, but he's getting good grades and is hanging in there. He even took me to IHOP yesterday for National Pancake Day so we could enjoy a free short stack :) One night he was studying at our apartment clubhouse so it could be more quiet with less distractions, so me and Jakey braved the snow long enough to go walk over there and pick him up and escort him home. I was bundled, but Blaine and Jake took off running for home. Jake was running next to Blaine but this picture is when he had just jumped down

oh and Jake's also lost most if not all of his baby teeth. Here are the one's we've found :)

So my sweet brothers are safe, Jakey's cut is healing, Blaine's working hard for us, and my baby boy is growing and well... And theres an update on my boys :)

PS- since it's just going to be me and boys for a while, I'm pretty sure I NEED this sweater if anyone wants to track it down and buy it for my baby shower ;)