And the fun begins!

So, if you don't know by now, we are expecting child #3 in early March. Due to this unexpected turn of events, we not only have to purchase a bigger vehicle, but a bigger house. Let's just get it out right away - I HATE HOUSE SHOPPING! No, I don't think you understand just how deep my hatred of house shopping runs. I do not like going into other people's homes and snooping around. I hate having to try to imagine if my sofa or chair or bookshelf will fit into a certain space. I do not like thinking of who would get what bedroom and what improvements would need to be made. It annoys me, it frustrates me, it stresses me out.

When we purchased our home in 1998 I had never house hunted before. I had lived in my parents house, the dorm, a couple apartments that were chosen based on rent & that is all. When I walked into our current home (the second house we looked at) I said "This is it, we're done. This is my house." It was a contract for deed, so we purchased it on the spot. House shopping done. Then several years later we got pregnant with our daughter and we thought it would be a good time to look for a larger, more family friendly house. We looked at house after house after house after house and I hated them all. My favorite experience of them all was the widower's house who hung his tidy whiteys on a line in the basement right around the corner from the stairs so I ran straight into a pair when exploring the basement. Yep, I'm still scarred. I shiver just a little when passing the Hanes aisle in Target. In the end, we found a lovely house on a great lot in the next town over that had everything we wanted and a little more. We went to put an offer in to find that it was zoned incorrectly so we wouldn't be able to get a loan. A month plus later, tons of phone calls to my agent, the bank, the city zoning people and anyone else that would listen to me cry and our loan is ready and an offer is made only to find out...the listing agent gave us incorrect zoning information and the owners had *just* accepted an offer from another client of the listing agent. Coincidence? Bad timing? Seedy listing agent? I don't know, but I was devastated and that was the very last house I looked at until yesterday, when the fun begins again.