General chatter while we wait (and commentary on the "pull out method")

[DobbyForever]

Winter 14 weeks! Ahhh! Time flies! I was just about to ask what week we were at.

right?! I mean my school did cover all the ways to prevent, including the family timing method or whatever it's called where you basically avoid your fertile window. They just said it's really unreliable because sperm can live 3-5 days and your ovulation can vary cycle to cycle. Basically telling us don't rely on that haha. But they didn't really explain how it worked or about our cycles/hormones. Meanwhile in 4th grade we're studying flowers and the video said "male sex cells" and they couldn't stop laughing

I don't have names. A was Tobias for a while then Ethan for a looooong time. Idk when we decided on Aiden. I hate it, but it's whatever. I don't really have names anymore. If I ever had/have a girl, I really wanted her to be Ariabella (Aria).

Shae, I didn't want to say anything when you mentioned the appointment... but I was wondering if SO was actually on board with TTC right away because what little I remember reading was that he still wanted to wait. I don't think I've ever gotten wishy washy vibes. I know he's stepped up when you've thought you might be pregnant, but that's very different from saying let's actively ttc soon.

I think hoping he's going to change his mind or slip up on the honeymoon isn't good. Honestly, I don't think he will slip up. And then you'll be left frustrated and angry. Did you look into the first time homebuyer's stuff for your area? You've had your job for several months now. Obviously markets are different and your planning a wedding so all the finances are tied up in that, but when I bought my condo I originally only had to put $5,000 down on a $450,000 preapproval. I was only making like 90k at the time as a single member household. Something fell through last minute and I changed the county, so I ended up putting down 25k. But still. Maybe rather than him thinking dream home, any sort of property investment would help him feel more secure whether it's a 2b 2bath SFH or a 2-3b 2bath condo or townhome. He's not wrong. Saving up for property is hard to do and, frankly, once you start having babies the likelihood of purchasing property dramatically decreases. Or if family can't help monetarily, would they at least be willing to cosign (not that I love that idea) so you can qualify but you be in charge of the payments? Just make a few phone calls to the banks and get a guesstimate of what you make be preapproved for.

It's never been a question that he wants to have children with you. So I don't see that changing just because you're on honeymoon. He wants to give his kids a financial foundation. I know plenty of families who never purchased property, and their kids are abundantly happy. But that may not be the life he wants.

So long story short, I'd say the stronger plan of attack for TTC sooner vs later to to put some pedal to the metal on looking into mortgage preapprovals/ first time homebuyer programs (or maybe there's a FTHB program for nurses with even better benefits).

Yeah the SpEd director is just a b* lol.

 

[shaescott]

Dobs lmao @ KKK vibes. Didn’t they burn crosses too? They weren’t terribly consistent in that messaging. Maybe had something to do with them being idiots. No, it would be a nice looking cross that we could nail to the side of the house, rather than have it standing in the front yard like a crucifix ready for a person to be nailed to it

The school stuff is insane. I can’t believe they’re accusing you of threatening them when you literally are doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. I mean, technically yes you are, but you’re allowed to threaten litigation if they refuse to do their damn job. It sounds like they just have it out for you at this point.

ugh I’m sorry she reacted that way. It drives me nuts when people do that about something so serious. Is she still drinking? Like yeah it’s her baby, but that baby is it’s own person and has the right to not be given fetal alcohol syndrome.

SO has given me some wishy washy comments, saying he really wants to make a baby with me (like in that moment, BDing and he says he wants to get me pregnant) but holds back because either he comes to his senses or I tell him no because I don’t want to be pregnant at the wedding. In the moment during BD, he for sure considers saying screw it.

Winter 14 weeks already, wow! That’s so awesome. I don’t understand someone being upset about an internet stranger using a name they like, it’s not like your sister or best friend used it. Personally I really like Abigail, Aria, Ellie, Madeleine, Charlotte, Daisy, Grace, and Isla, that’s my list right now lol.

That’s a good idea about the rubella testing. I had a titer done in college and was immune, but it has been 5 years.

 

[DobbyForever]

Ah I see. That's annoying. I wonder if he's like Gig's husband where he wants a baby but the logistics stop him so he just needs it to happen without planning it. I just don't want you to get upset on the honeymoon if he doesn't give you the goods when you're ovulating. I know it's a completely different scenario, but I remember how gut wrenching it was every time that A's dad would tell me that we could try and then would pull out last second with some bogus excuse about wanting to see it on me/ claim me when he knew damn well I was getting ready to ovulate. Either way, nothing wrong with making house plans. Obviously not a great time to jump deep into that but maybe if you had some foundations. I want to say you had looked at some houses? I want to say you sent some links but I'm blanking. Maybe just enough to say look a baby doesn't mean no house. A baby would be a greta motivator to get a house. Baby's take nine months to cook. If you get a quote, not even a full on pre-approval just call for a quick quote, of what you would get approved for and how much down you could afford for a realistic number, have some listings/ ideas. You could say rn we focus on the wedding. I want to try right away. Even if we catch the egg first cycle on the honeymoon, this is what we can afford and commit to before the baby is born.

Look at my tenant. She literally moved a week before she gave birth. Flueky, didn't you buy and move while pregnant? I feel like a few ladies on this thread were definitely pregnant when they moved. I bought my condo and moved into while I was newly pregnant. Jk checked the dates. I was definitely preggo but then shtf while I was in escrow. I know I got my pre-approval done before I found out, but by the time I Was actively shopping I remember knowing I had twins. That's why I wanted three bedrooms right off the bat and opted for that condo that was in an adjacent county vs the ones closer but only had 1-2 bedrooms.

Lol yeah I think they burned them? I'm sure you'll find someone nice to keep it, and it'll be a fun reminder of the wedding.

The SpEd director hates me. It's entirely petty. Possibly racial according to a few people who know her.

Yeah it definitely gets my goat as a mandated reporter/human, but she's spiraling. And something my mom said when I was doing the court stuff really stood out to me. She was saying she was o the internet looking into how to support your kid when they're in an abusive relationship but don't see it. IT was all about not allowing them or their partner to isolate you and being supportive until they're ready. So I kind of see it like that in a way. My lecturing is not going to make her stop. It's just going to cut her off from the one resource she has right now. So it's whatever. She didn't tell her ex, but she told new bf. He said she has a choice to make, but he doesn't want kids and esp doesn't want a kid that isn't his. And now he's ghosting her. Needless to say, she is not taking that well at all.

 

[Flueky88]

Dobby, yes I moved while pregnant with my 3rd. I was hitting 3rd tri I believe the weekend that we moved.

So crazy they won't release that to you. I'm sorry they are being a$$holes!!!

Gigs, hope your case is mild. We had it in June and was like having the flu for us. On a different note, yay for him accepting the job. I hope that opens up some opportunities for you and DH.

It amazes me how long we've been going on this thread. How much we've all changed and grown.


Winter, happy 14 weeks (almost)! 2nd trimester is the best also so glad the tests came back normal. I'm sorry about your brother.

Shae sorry he didn't have the response you wanted. I agree with Dobby that it could be a good idea to look into resources for home buying. Hoping that it will be a buyer's market again soon for you. You're hair was gorgeous and definitely get Belle vibes (also my favorite princess).


Sorry guys just been busy between vacation, work, illness (V not me), and life. We did get our new dishwasher yesterday. Love it! I hated handwashing dishes for nearly 2 weeks. DH helped a lot with handwashing but we still hated it. Vacation was good. Girls had a lot of fun.

 

[WinterBub]

Yes, handwashing dishes gets tedious fast! Glad that your new machine came in! And hope you got a chance to recharge your batteries on vacation

Not to get your hopes up, Shae- but that's how my DC1 came to exist. I'm not sure my SO would ever have sat down and agreed he wanted to try. He then was all weird when it happened, and would make comments like "well, you got what you wanted and now you're not going to be interested in me". Men can be weird about all of this. I would go on the honeymoon and not expect anything. Obviously hope it happens, but don't risk ruining your honeymoon with sky high expectations, you know?

I agree on looking at house options! Hopefully it will be a buyers market shortly if it isn't already. Getting on the ladder is important, so I do get where your SO is coming from there.

Tobias, Ethan and Aiden are all nice names! It's so hard because you end up having to compromise with someone else when you're really naming a real person. Although you all hated my all time favorite boy name (Walter). So maybe my son lucked out that OH vetoed it Ariabella is very pretty! And I like all your choices, Shae Good classic names that you really can't go wrong with. I've written tonnes of names on paper scraps and in notebooks. I need to compile them all!

 

[gigglebox]

Winter do you have any names on your list that have stuck with you? I doubt we'll ever get to use a girl's name but our top pick for the longest time was Ember. I also really like Alice. Lena (Lee-na) was also on our girls name list....and I also like Aria (I worked with an "Ari" and always thought it was a very pretty name), and with so many of us having that name in mind, it makes me wonder if it is/will be a popular girls name? ((Dobby I think Aria would be a lovely name to go with your other A, btw)). My ex gf had a sister, Ava, I thought that was a beautiful name, too.
Anyway we never had a problem with girls names. It has always been a struggle for us to agree on boy names though! of course! A couple of boys names I really like but hubby hates are Connor and Reece. He really loved Kaleb but it sounds too much like "kale" and I can't unthink of greens.

Shae lots of good advice here! If you think you're getting close to actively house hunting, then a pre-approval would be great to have just to see what you could afford. Dobs' advice is sound. I also agree maybe to just drop the baby conversation for now.......and don't bring it up again until you're babymaking on the honeymoon, lol!!!

Oh Winter to answer your question, no, my sense of smell is gone and my taste isn't so great, either. I can taste sweet and salty, but anything savory is pretty much gone which sucks because I've been craving savory SO. BAD. MIL's bday was today so we went for sushi and it was so sad. After dipping it in soy sauce, it basically tasted like mushy salt. I definitely want a do-over when i can taste again! Hubby said he'll take me out for seafood

Fluek yay for a new dishwasher!! I actually don't mind hand washing dishes, so long as I can do it immediately and not have to deal with a pile up. What kind of dishwasher did you get? I hope V feels better soon! Was she sick on vacation? i hope not!

Fortunately we have a hefty tax return ladies!!! I wish we could say we were going to do something fun with it but rather we'll be putting a dent in my massive credit card. Maybe not so fun or exciting but definitely will be a nice relief to get a good amount of debt resolved!

 

[WinterBub]

I have liked Iris for a really long time. And funnily enough, Alice is a top contender! OH actually said yes to Alice. It was also my great aunt's middle name. Not exactly an honor name, but a nice link as she was stunningly beautiful, quite smart, and very kind. She lived to over 100 and only recently passed away. Thankfully she died just before COVID. She lived in a nursing home, and I think the isolation was awful for many elderly people on top of actual COVID. I'll put all my names together and see what you all make of the long list. I like lots of different styles- classics, vintage old lady names, kind of out there names (ie. Primrose). I doubt OH would ever go for an outlandish one, though!

Ember is really pretty! Funny how I'm not a huge fan of Amber, but find Ember really pretty. There's lots of names like that, where you add/remove a letter or change it slightly and suddenly it seems totally different. Ive never met a little Ari/Aria El names seen very popular around us (Ella, Eleanor, Eliora, Eli, Ellis). Connor is great

Hope the sense of taste and smell comes back soon. I imagine it would be quite weird. And awesome news on the tax return. Tick one on the side of yes to baby!

 

[gigglebox]

Ok I did it definitely negative. Maybe a whisper shadow line but nothing pink. Not that I figured any differently. Sadly no amount of hopefulness will increase pregnancy odds.

 

[DobbyForever]

Fluek so glad you got the dishwasher! I loved washing my dishes in college by hand even though I had one. But now…. No thanks. That’s sweet it was a team effort though. . Yay for vacation! Hopefully V is feeling better now.

Winter lol at DH’s DS comment Alice is cute! I always think of my friend’s Siamese cat though haha. But another friend named her daughter Alice. It’s nice to have a personal connection to the name and qualities in that person you admire. A has an Emberly in his class. Aiden and Aria would have been a solid combo though.

Gigs so true! I can do girl names all day but not boy names. Though for boys I tend to look at my students for inspiration haha. Like this year I’d probably add Colton and Elliot to my list. They have a nice ring, but those boys also work hard and crack me up. Also lol Kale-b there’s a Caleb in our grass level and he does joke that his nickname is Kale

Nooo I’m so sorry about the sushi!!! I’m glad there will be a do over date with hubby though. Yay for the tax return! I feel you on it going straight to the credit card lol.

You’re only 8dpo, right? When will you test again? Side note pretty nails! Did you dip them?

Re housing things definitely stalled out around here price wise. I don’t think my condo has appreciated much/at all the past year or two. But the inventory is still selling super quick.

 

[gigglebox]

Winter ditto! I do not like Amber but love Ember! Ohhh Primrose!!! Love that too! It does make me think of hunger games but that is a positive to me, lol! I am excited to read your short list. Also your great aunt sounds like she lived a long and interesting life! My Dad also died right before Covid, made me feel like it was merciful in a way as I can't imagine how having covid and cancer in the lungs would have been....but not pleasant. I did feel just horrid for my Mom though. What a time to need to isolate, right after losing a spouse of nearly 50 years! Fortunately she still came to visit us a lot, and she also became very close with her neighbor so that was good.

Ohh Dobs as a teacher I guess you must not run out of name suggestions! but also I would think a crappy kid could ruin a name for you. I like Colton, although makes me think of kind of redneck/backwoods, although that's not a negative for me necessarily lol.

I'm actually 9dpo at best. I ov'ed around midnight so I might technically be 8dpo. Doesn't matter though, my chances are crazy slim to none. I have two sessions of rule breaking p/o bd (but he did pull out), as well as a bd session about 5-6 days before OV where I don't think he pulled out initially, but that was pretty much on the cusp of fertile window and unlikely. I was just hopeful as it'd be nice to knock out he last baby before the year was up but looks like if we actually want #4, we're going to actually have to try for it.

I'm still flip flopping though...with being sick recently, it's just made me feel like it would be a struggle to caretake for my current kids while being pregnant, or with an infant...but I also know that hubby being home more would be a game changer. Also I do worry about my body's physical health after another baby. I hate that time period after baby of trying to feel like yourself again.

Dobs are you looking at houses just to look or do you think you'd like to move? I am always looking at houses because I want something bigger...but it would be nice to be able to afford to modify this one, honestly. I just wish we had a room for each kid. We do have some rooms in the basement but we'd need to put in egress windows, then convince the kids that the basement isn't scary, lol!!

oh about the nails,

The nails are glue on I was getting sick of doing my own dip/tips and just gave these a try for the heck of it. I"m IN LOVE!! They are a million times easier than what I've been doing and not nearly as damaging! plus I don't have to do the UV light to get the super shiny finish like I do for gels. Also they have lasted the same or longer than the tips. The ones I have on now came from the dollar tree, lol. The ones I had before were from walmart and I LOVE those ones, bought more yesterday ($6 for 30 nails).

 

[DobbyForever]

I know the odds may not be stacked in your favor this cycle, but it's def not zero. Didn't Pretty get pregnant from like 4 or 5 days out from O when she was swaying? And those slips ups be slip ups. A bfn at 9dpo doesn't mean it's game over. I love the plan you had the other day even if I don't remember the specifics. Try for the rest of this year and see what happens? I also think that outside looking in, it can look like a lot of work and it may be a lot of work but once it's on you then you just get it done. It's just life. You don't really think about it, you know?

Ooo nice score on the nails! Yes! The damage is so frustrating! A friend just asked me out to get our nails done, and I'm like... why? My nails are still f-ed up from the last gel set I got done. Trying to let them heal hahaha. Nowadays, I only feel like I want pretty nails for dates and I'll just paint them at home super fast then take them off a couple days later.

Haha yeah I was never a big fan of Colton before. I always got like snobby jock vibes from it, better than everyone else. But this kid is poised, articulate, and insanely humble. I have him for science rotation, and most kids in his class are like I already know this look how smart I am, everyone else is stupid. His mom is a high school science teacher, so he knows everything already. But he is very modest and will let others take a turn or won't blurt out the knowledge when we're doing labs and explorations because he knows it's important for others to go through the steps and learn it. He never talks down to me or the other kids. So he's made the name Colton for me.

Tobias was from Divergent. I liked the scene where he explains his tattoo and how he wanted to be all of the great qualities from each branch, which is what I want for A. Ethan was a student that was so misunderstood at school. His mom was a single mom, dad walked out and never came back, uncle stepped in as his strong male role model. He was so angry in kindergarten because nobody cared to see him for who he was, but we bonded over our shared lack of dad experience and he truly blossomed over the two years I knew him.

Flip side, definitely right. I vetoed a lot of names because it reminded me of kids I've taught that, no offense to them, I didn't care to be reminded of on a daily basis. Sounds awful hahaha but it's true.

I check my condo's price a few times a year just out of curiosity. I can't afford anything in this area except a smaller condo, and I don't see the point of getting into a new mortgage even if things on this side of the bay do tend to appreciate faster/ rent higher than my condo.

For context these are the cheapest 2b/3bd, 2ba SFH in the towns nearby
Palo Alto, $2.58 mil
https://www.realtor.com/realestatea...Palo-Alto_CA_94301_M23274-20001?ex=2951545954
Mountain View, $2.2 mil
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1336-W-Dana-St_Mountain-View_CA_94041_M12244-48528
^ This is actually where I would LOVE to live. It's the SFH area right off of Downtown Mountain View. Very close to where OA's apartment is. Lots of great neighborhood parks, good school district, safe, walkable to the DT area, farmer's market on the weekends
Cupertino, $1.9mil
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/21103-Gardena-Dr_Cupertino_CA_95014_M19308-76256
It's nice to dream. I think my last preapproval was around 550-600k? And if I were to sell my condo, I'd have a down payment of about 250. So not gonna lie OA with his salary being twice mine and him having property paid off on the East Coast for 450k... had a girl picturing a fantasy that maybe we could get ourselves a cute little 3-4 bedroom house. Lol.

My living situation is ok. I own my condo still in Alameda County, just renting it out to my friend's daughter for way less than I should mostly because I don't want to deal with it. I'm renting half a duplex from my mom, but I'm paying market value rent for it because my mom has too many people taking advantage of her financially right now for me to be a burden. But what I charge my tenant is just about what I pay my mom, so that evens out. The only thing that's hard about the duplex is that I'm lying about my home address for A's enrollment. So eventually there will come a time, which is already happening he's been asking to invite friends over, that we have to sit down and have that conversation about why we can only have people over at Grandma or Grandpa's house. And that when they are over, it's our house. Or having friends we trust not to spill the beans. My mom has offered to build an ADU in her backyard for A and me, and then I wouldn't be lying anymore and I'd have more support day to day and she wouldn't charge me rent.. but I like having my space and my life. I feel like if I move into her backyard then I'm basically accepting that this is my life and I'm never getting married. I did get a preapproval about a year ago because I was thinking about trying to buy a SFH in the neighborhood I grew up in that was close to my job, but the prices went up out of my range and the only one that stayed in my range was next to a super far right Karen (which likely would not have meshed with my super far left) that had a garbage dump in her backyard.

But I like keeping tabs on the market and seeing what my options are. My stepdad uses real estate as his assets. He has a broker's license because back in the day if you had a lawyer's license then you could just pay some fee to get a broker's license, so he gets to be his own agent and that saves a ton of money during closing. He was my agent when I closed and used the fee he would have gotten if I employed him to pay the closing costs so I only had to pay my portion of the down payment. He's always had a good eye for areas that will always appreciate and never have a shortage of renters. He makes sure that what he rents for can be more than the payment on the house. His first house he got with some GI bill.

On the upside, I love my job, I make about 7k more + I get 12k paid towards health insurance annually, A is learning a lot (even if they're a**holes), and A likes our house. There have been so many lunches and dinners with family that we wouldn't have been able to go to if I lived in A.C. still. And talk about all the days I wouldn't have childcare for A and it's so much easier now that I'm 10m from my mom's house.

 

[DobbyForever]

The only lame thing is that because my brother lives with my mom now, we can't just go over on the weekends all day every day like we used to. And A doesn't like her house. Partly because it's really small but also my brother is being mean to him. So he always wants to go to Grandpa's house. But it's still a weird dynamic.

 

[Flueky88]

Winter, vacation was a recharge for me. Just having some time away from work was nice.

I do like Alice! Glad DH liked it as well. It is a nice nod to your great aunt. Also, yes it is sad how isolated life became for those in the nursing home.

I think picking names are a little challenging. We had a boy name picked out before we ttc. Never got to use it LOL.

Gigs sorry the sushi wasn't tasty due to the loss of taste. But so glad DH is going to take you out for seafood later. Yat for hefty tax return. It stinks you can't use it for fun but glad you can put a good dent into cc debt. Sorry for bfn!

Washing dishes has been one of my most hated chores. When I was at my dad's in the summer though we would let it pile up and it was a 2 person job that took an hour or so to complete. I got a whirlpool stainless steel with a stainless steel tub and 3rd rack. 3rd rack is a total game changer for all of the little things. It's been used 3x now but it cleans better and dries better than what came with our home. It does take a little longer buuut I can fit more in each load. Also I think it's 47 dB so fairly quiet.

V is feeling better. She has a bit of a cough but seems normal otherwise l. Sickness came after vacation, thankfulltly. I'm thinking probably from the birthday party Sunday afternoon.

Dobby, thank you. V is feeling much better. Also, there is an Emberlee in V's class. She also has an Emily. Because of her speech impairment sometimes it's hard to figure out which one she is talking about.

I'm glad that your living and job situation has really benefited you. It always blows my mind the costs of homes out there. Home values have went up dramatically since covid. Had a lot of people from NY and CA move here and it's raised the value. It's honestly sad because it's driven a lot of locals out of the housing market. Not that I mind growth, it was just so much at once and has had a big financial impact.

 

[WinterBub]

I can imagine how hard that was for your Mom, giggle. though as you say, probably a small mercy for him not to have gotten COVID or had to deal with the way hospitals etc handled things like visitation. Your nails do look nice! I hate getting mine done, but appreciate how nice it is when others make an effort I like the Hunger Games link to Primrose, too!

I can't believe how expensive stuff in California is. I don't get why anyone puts up with that, beyond the family link and/or weather. We'd like to move, but likely won't happen for a few years. Plus, OH said it was baby or new house/pool. I chose the baby. Love the sound of little Colton And I like Tobias as a name, too. I enjoyed the Divergent books. Sad they never finished making the movies!

Glad that V wasn't sick on vacation. The third rack in the dishwasher sounds like a dream. I'll have to remember that whenever our dishwasher dies! And of course you had no trouble coming up with the name that never got used. Why is life always like that?! What was the name? (If you don't mind sharing).

I don't have a shortlists of names... Just a looooooooong one! I will add them all here. Lots I'd probably cross of myself when it comes to really using them, but this is just everything I've written down (going back to when I had my son!). And I'm sure OH will veto like 90%

 

[WinterBub]

I told you it was long...

Quinn
Jemma
Noemi
Naomi
Isobel
Romana
Romy
Franca
Primrose
Posy
Edith
Holly
Seren
Carys
Eloise
Elodie
Charlotte
Maja
Vilija
Nina
Orla
Ingrid
Imogen
Ada
Ida
Faye
Margot
Erin
Whitney
Ruby
Piper
Sigrid
Mary
Molly
Cecily
Hazel
Sage
Luisa
Elinor
Iris
Wren
Alice
Phoebe
Judith
Noa
Holly
Molly
Sybil
Silja
Theodora
Summer
Eliza
Juliet
Lyra
Alma
Alva
Helenka
Ines
Iona
Esther
Matilda
Winifred
Harriet
Juniper
Ylva
Erika
Olive
Meadow
Eve
Eva
Heidi
Fleur
Nora
Audrey
Elizabeth
Lucy
Lucienne
Vera
Lydia
Willow
Laurel
Noelle

 

[DobbyForever]

Flueky Oh three racks?! That sounds awesome! Glad it's working well. Not a bad trade off to be a bit slower but have a much higher capacity. Never seen one like that before. Super cool.

Where did you go for vacation again? You probably said.

Growth is good but the whole pushing locals out sucks. I sometimes think about how nice it would be to just sell my condo and buy a modest but nice home in cash in another state. Sure, I'm probably make half as much as I do now but it'd be awesome to have a home with HOA payment and no mortgage payment. I'd never leave though. Even if my mom left, I'm tired of changing districts and the stress of not having my tenure.

Your dishes sound like me and laundry. I'll wash the clothes but not put them away because I'm busy and I have to do it all at once. But then loads and loads will pile up. I just spent over an hour hanging up clothes and sorting them. I still have two loads of A's clothes to do, but his go so much faster because it's just hang the shirtds, hang the pants, match the socks (but I buy the same socks now so it's super easy), and toss the pjs and underwear in the dresser haha. But I freaking hate putting it away. Though I liked that in college as well... probably because I had so much less clothes and so much more energy

Winter omg have you seen the WTE movie? It reminds me of the scene when J Lo and her hubby are at an open house, and she's like in love with it. And the guy is like, "Do you want the house OR the baby?" And she says "I want the house FOR the baby!" Baby beats pool for sure.

Oooo that list is long.. ok my unsolicited two cents are that I like:
Quinn, Naomi, Eloise, Charlotte, (maybe) Holly, Faye, Margot, Erin, Piper, Molly, Hazel, Summer, Eliza, Juliet, Eve and Eva, Nora, Audrey, Elizabeth (hey two for one could go Elizabeth as her legal and Eliza for the nickname!), Laurel, and Noelle.
I like some of the others because they sound pretty, but I feel like these are the ones that (to me) are most practical people names that are classics but not so vintage they don't fit in on my roster.

I may need to buy A a legit mattress if I have to keep cosleeping. He was just getting to a point where I thought I could slowly start trying to get back into my own bed by myself. This mattress is killing my back! Idk how he sleeps on it! It kind of makes me feel like a bad mom. But it's so hard to invest in a $500-800 mattress for a 5 year old.

 

[DobbyForever]

Lol gigs this reminds me of your internal dialogue re baby #4

 

[gigglebox]

can't see it Dobs, disable your blocker and try again hmm complicated about the house. Could you have your mom's place (the new backyard location) as your primary house and then just keep your condo still as a secondary residence? Then you could always still take dates there or just go to get away as you needed it. Still though with your brother living there that definitely could be awkward. He is living with her indefinitely? Or is he looking for another place?

Goodness Winter!!! and I thought *I* was indecisive!! Good luck to you on selection, lol!! You do have a few more names in there I liked by forgot about, one being Faye which I already decided with be my first milk goat's name if I ever get one lol; I love Quinn but for a boy, although it would be pretty for a girl. Ohhhh I love Juniper as well, especially with the nickname June! Very pretty. Evidently I am digging your plant names haha. OH and "Wren"! I love Wren! Except I would love it as a nickname and I couldn't figure out what a long name would be to have a nickname of Wren...

Fluek we have a quiet washer too; I think all over us have opened it while it's running because we just couldn't tell lol. Glad it's performing well! What a treat, a third rack! I didn't even know they made washers with third racks.

 

[shaescott]

Whelp I accidentally approved a hard credit check cuz I read too fast and clicked a second before seeing it was a hard check. But I’m pre-approved for a $300k mortgage, there’s some houses in my area going for that. I’d rather go with a different company so if I realized that it would be a hard inquiry I wouldn’t have done it, but live and learn. Oops

 

[DobbyForever]

Shae I wouldn’t worry about it. I think as long as you only have 1-2 a year it’s nbd. Also keep in mind it sounds like you only ran it with your info? Or did you include SO as a co-signer? Jsyk you can always make an appointment to talk to a mortgage person at a local bank. They have been around so long they just ask questions and can spit out some info for you without actually running your credit or doing the whole taxes/pay stubs blah blah blah

Wren is good on! Idk what that not name would be. We knew a Wren and his dad was funny. He was like “Wren like the bird not like Kylo Ren” I like Quinn as a girl because of all the comic/anime Quinn. Harley Quinn, Professor Quinn from Final Fantasy, and Love Quinn from You. Jk the FF8 was Quistis not even close

Gigs the condo is 30m away and my payment is $3200/month so keeping it as a runaway isn’t feasible. And part of why the ADU is good is then my mom can rent out my duplex still. She needs the money now that she’s on single income. And she’s not even working this year lol. So her only income rn comes from renting this duplex and the condo she has in SoCal.

it was that funny but let me see what I can do lol. It was a fb video that popped up on my stream. It was basically a woman talking to her hubby back and forth to the tune of MJ’s “Remember the Time” and she’s remembering all the cute stuff and asking for another baby and he’s like but do you REALLY remember?!