One morning during my daily rental search, I found a listing for a 3 bedroom condo in Danville and decided to email the owner to ask if the place was still available. A lady named Melanie got right back to me and was eager to show us the place, so we decided to meet up later that evening. I rushed home from work to Eric and Natalie and met up with Melanie’s husband Mark, who showed us the property. We ended up chatting with him for nearly an hour, as we found we had quite a bit in common- we both had daughters born the same month and year, we both attended Cal, and we both were in similar situations in terms of choosing to rent out our properties, just as we do with the Brentwood house. We shared our story of being foreclosed on and trying to manage the tricky rental market, which he and his wife also had difficulty navigating.
The condo itself presented nicely- it had 3 smaller bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms. The common space was big and open with nice laminate flooring throughout and some updates, like new appliances. It also had a good amount of indoor storage space and even a detached garage. After our little tour, Mark basically told us that he liked us and that we would definitely be considered. So we filled out an application that evening, sent it over to them and we were immediately told that the place was ours if we wanted it. Then we spent a day or two drawing up a lease and scheduled to pick up the keys on February 28th.
Let the packing begin!
We had just three days to pack. Thank goodness for Elaine, who came over two days in a row just to occupy Natalie and help me pack up the place! She was such a great help, as I was super overwhelmed and very tired. Natalie and Stacie definitely had fun playing together and taking walks together with Auntie. And then Wednesday, February 29th was moving day. We had little choice but to schedule a mid-week move, as the new owner of the Walnut Creek condo wanted us out by the 1st of the month. JoEllen came over that day to help pack up the rest of the place and take a few loads to the new condo with Eric. Luckily a few people came out to help load up the truck that evening- my dad, Peter, Patrick, and one of Eric’s friends from his softball team. It was a long night but I was glad I didn’t have to lift a thing. I just had to mind Natalie and fetch dinner for everyone!
We went to the Walnut Creek condo one last time last night to pack up the fridge and clean up a little bit before we meet with the owner this weekend to exchange the keys for our deposit. I was sad to see the place empty- if the circumstances were different, I don’t think we would be leaving. I was happy there and we had so many good memories in that little condo… it’s the only place Natalie has called home- where we brought her home from the hospital, where she learned how to crawl, where she took her first swim, where we had her 1st birthday party- so many good memories in just over a year’s time. I was sad to say goodbye.
Natalie's 1st Home: 313 Masters Court #2
Mommy! What happened to all my tupperware?
My rolling pin is gone too!
Natalie's first bedroom... now just an empty room :(
The new place doesn’t feel like home yet, which is making it hard for me. We’re so unorganized at the moment, which I can’t stand. And Natalie is completely off schedule, thanks to a number of crazy, hectic days. We have boxes stacked everywhere and I haven’t even had the chance to do a good deep cleaning to the place. And we’ve already had to compile a list of things that need attention- the washing machine won’t drain, some floor vents are loose, a few electrical covers are missing, and the fridge is way too small for all our stuff. But I hope we’ll be able to settle in soon and make it feel a little more like home. We were brought to this new place for a reason and hopefully in time we’ll all be happy here.
I’ve realized recently that Natalie knows how to slide open closet doors and even open and close bedroom doors and things if she can reach the handle. We also let her practice walking outside more often, like to the car. But she doesn’t want to hold my hand! I try to grab for her hand but she immediately grunts and pulls away, as if to say “I can do it myself!” Once we get to a street or something, I end up having to grab her up off the ground, which always causes her to protest. We’re still waiting for new words to pop out of her mouth. She seems to say “yeah” at times and now shakes her head to say no if she doesn’t want something. But I’ve yet to hear anything else. I think the kid simply likes to point, sign “more” and grunt! It’s strange because Stacie says lots of associated words already, like cat and nana (for banana) whereas Natalie doesn’t. I know all kids grow and develop at different rates, but it still worries me in the back of my mind. I don’t want her to have speech issues like I did when I was young! But she is able to communicate none the less, so I guess that’s what matters.
I had an appointment on February 27th with my midwife. I had gone to the lab a few days before for a glucose screening, which tests for gestational diabetes. The results of the blood test were sent to me right away and my blood glucose level was at 132- the upper limit that warrants further testing was just 139! So that worried me a little. But, my midwife assured me all was well. I’d only gained a pound or two since my last visit and my pregnancy with Natalie was normal, so she said there was nothing to worry about. Baby measured exactly 26 weeks and the heartbeat was loud and clear on the doppler. It was a quick and easy visit and I was relieved that I didn’t have to worry about limiting my sugar intake or altering my diet! That would suck. I’ve been enjoying my occasional indulgences of root beer and ice-cream.
Baby moves around a lot now! Especially early in the morning when I’m trying to catch my last hour or so of sleep before the alarm goes off or Natalie starts to stir. She would rather poke around and summersault in there, keeping me awake! And my allergies have been absolutely terrible lately- I’m thinking it’s from the masses of pollen floating around lately, but also from all the dust and things that I’ve been kicking up from the move. I’m hoping the hard floors at the new place will be a nice change and maybe help improve my constant runny nose and watery eyes. So that’s been irritating. I’ve also been noticing that I have heartburn pretty frequently- I don’t remember having to deal with that until quite a bit later with Natalie.
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