Flanagan Clan

Two days before leaving for Dallas, we put an offer on the house above. The same day, someone else put an offer on the same house, and their offer was very similar to ours. However, the owners and the seller’s agent picked our offer due to the fact that our agent had had more personal interaction with them, and had been very friendly. Two days later, we began the process of purchasing this house! So far we’ve finished home inspections and found out that this 9 year old home has very few problems that were detected! Our agent said that he never saw a house with so few problems that came out in inspections. The problems were very minor: slight rot on a ladder in the crawl space, and a broken seal on one of the double pane windows. Also, the gutters need to be cleaned. Right now we’re negotiating with the owners to see if they will fix the window seal for us. We also need to speak with our mortgage broker to begin the process of figuring out financing. If all goes well, the closing date is June 23rd, and this house will be ours. This has been such a big step for us, and so far things have gone quite well. We’d appreciate prayers that things will continue to work out smoothly and that there will be no major problems with the loan process.

Our family arrived home on Saturday morning, after battling long lines, hearing that our flight was in “final boarding” while trying to get through security, and dealing with incompetent people at the ticket counter (who gave us a hard time about allowing the car seat as an extra “free” piece of luggage, something that most airlines clearly say is ALLOWED!). We then spent a long four hours on the plane trying to keep Patrick occupied. Unlike the trip here, we did have the entire row of three seats to ourselves, which gave Patrick a little more room to play. However, the person sitting in the row opposite to us had a miniature dog and it was hard to keep Patrick from trying to sneak over to the other side to see it!

We very much enjoyed our trip to Dallas, but I think both Andrew and I agree that it’s really hard to travel with children! It was hard enough having to bring extra luggage, such as the pack ‘n play, car seat, stroller, and all of Patrick’s stuff in one large suitcase. It was even harder trying to keep him occupied during the trip! It definitely wore us both out, and I can’t imagine trying to do that with more than one child!!! The two trips I had while Patrick was still under the age of one were easier because he wasn’t so mobile and he slept a lot. Now that he can walk and is so interested in the world around him, it’s hard to keep him confined in one place for very long. Next time we take a vacation, we’re not taking him! He can stay with Grandma!!!!

As I am able, I will post some pictures from our trip. We’ve been busy trying to recooperate from the trip and get things organized and figured out here at home. We’ve also been trying to get Patrick back onto a normal schedule, which hasn’t been too fun or easy! Keep your eyes peeled!

We’ve been in Dallas for almost a week. Tomorrow is our last full day, and on Saturday we leave early in the morning. We’ve had a lot of fun during our stay, but the person who is enjoying it the most is little Patrick! Patrick has had so much fun going on red wagon rides, playing in a kiddy pool, spending time with his cousins, petting the big doggie, eating tons of new and exciting foods, and playing with lots of new toys, esp. a whole ton of different kinds of balls! He’d had lots of new experiences, from riding in a plastic car attached to the front of a shopping cart and getting fed cookies by the nice ladies in the Tom Thumb bakery, to having his first very own Happy Meal from McDonalds! He’s also picked up on new little phrases like “Uh Oh!”, “What’s that?”, and he’s starting to say “hi”, something he really didn’t do before.

Patrick has had so much fun in Dallas that we’re considering leaving him here for a couple years… ok, well, maybe not. We’d miss him too much! He’s definitely going to miss being here when we leave on Saturday though!

So far our trip to Texas has been lots of fun. The plane trip was a little hard, having a very active boy. We somehow managed to keep Patrick entertained the whole 4 hours, though at times it really was a stretch. It has taken us two days to fully recover from that trip… it wore Andrew and I out a lot more than it did Patrick!!!!

 Yesterday was full of garage saling, going to a mall, and Andrew and I doing a little bit of exploring. I got a couple of really nice things that I needed at garage sales, such as a book off my amazon wishlist that I’ve wanted for a while and some cute maternity/nursing pj’s. One person just gave me a maternity outfit for free when she saw me walk up! We also got the cutest little folding chair for Patrick and a blue Baby GAP sweater that looked brand new… I love finding good deals at garage sales!!!!

 Today we went to the Lucart’s church. They attend a PCA in Dallas called Park Cities Presbyterian Church. It’s a beautiful church and reminds me very much of Fourth Presbterian in Bethesda, MD, where Andrew and I attended for about 6 months. We put Patrick in the nursery there… they had 5 different rooms just for toddlers up to 2 years old, there are so many kids at that church! The people in the nursery told us afterward that Patrick was a “delight”, and when we went to pick him up he looked so cute in a little yellow hard hat pushing a little popper machine.

 Patrick is being spoiled to death by his Great Aunt and Uncle and his three cousins. We find that Patrick has the energy level that Cousin Daniel had growing up, the same second hair swirl in front that Cousin Adam has, and he loves playing with Cousin Laura. He also loves Trooper, the German Shepherd mix, though he is still a little intimidated when he gets doggie kisses. He loves playing with all the balls they have… softballs, soccer balls, basket balls… far more than we have at home. Patrick has become so enthralled with balls that he will point to balls on his clothing now and look at them with a sense of happiness. I’ve decided that we should probably decorate his new bedroom with a generic baseball theme because he’s going to have a “ball” being in that room!

The weather the past two days has been warm and breezy, by WA standards, and we’ve had a little bit of very refreshing rain. By Tuesday the weather should be going up to 90 degrees, and I have a feeling that we’re all going to melt! Patrick has a swimming suit though, and I hope I can get him to enjoy a little time outside in their pool. Andrew starts his conference on Monday, and Patrick and I have a whole week of relaxation, sunshine and fun with the Lucarts ahead of us!

It has been almost a year since any of us has had a vacation! Last May Patrick and I visited WA for two weeks, which was wonderful, and in July, when we first moved out to WA, it felt like a big vacation with hiking, staying at Thornewood Castle, and spending time with my brother and sisters. Now, this week, we will be leaving for what will probably be our only trip for another long time, since I’m probably not going to want to travel for quite a while after the baby is born. It would be hard enough to keep Patrick happy on the plane without having to think about taking care of another baby in addition to him!!!!

A couple months ago, Andrew discovered that he would be having a conference in Dallas. I was immediately interested, since it would be taking place at a good time during my pregnancy, and because my Uncle Sean, Aunt Linda, and cousins, Daniel, Adam, and Laura, live there. The Easter before I got married I spent my Spring break at their house, and it was so much fun. Andrew has never been to Dallas, and some of the family have still yet to meet Patrick, so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity, and all fly out there together! We’ll be staying a few extra days, so Andrew can have time to relax, and we look forward to spending some time with my relatives and enjoying the warm Texas weather! Although we’ve had very nice Spring weather here in WA, I just noticed that it’s suppose to rain the whole time we’re gone!!!! Talk about the perfect week to be gone on vacation! We depart on Friday and will be back in time for Mother’s Day. Although we will miss seeing Diane, who will be home for a week before going off to New York for a month, when we get home we will have a week to spend with Rachel before she leaves to spend her summer doing an internship in Iowa. I am sad that my sisters won’t both be home all summer, but it will be nice to spend at least some time with them! They should both be around when the baby is born, which I am very excited about. I know they were both disappointed to not be able to see Patrick when he was first born. We’re going to have a great summer!