Holding Chase

We love when other people hold Chase. Our arms like the break and we like showing off our baby.

Grandpa B...

Grandma B...


Cousin Jordan...


Chase had better get used to this backpack. I have a feeling he'll get a lot of seat time in it...
Mama B gets to hold him lots. You can tell by his double chin that he's gaining weight very well...

About Housing and Mortgages

When we purchased a house last year I was introduced to the scam that is "closing costs". I had heard this term thrown around before in sentences like "Well after closing costs your payments will only be XXX dollars!" or "The buyer doesn't have to worry about closing costs" we even had one mortgage broker who told us that we shouldn't buy a house from someone who won't pay the closing costs. I'm still not sure what people mean when they say "closing costs" except that it is a generic term for every miscellaneous fee associated with buying a house except the purchase price and taxes. These can include Realtor fees, title fees, credit check fees, etc...We even had a fee for paperwork (after all they have to document the fees!). The main fee though is the one for the loan. This is what mortgage broker's call points (sorry, points are bad, think of it like golf) banks get paid off of interest but mortgage brokers get paid off of points. Depending on the interest rate, bank and how shady your mortgage broker is points end up being 1%-4% of the loan amount. All told we paid about 4.5% of the value of our home in closing costs. This does NOT include the 6% the seller paid in realtor fees. These are fairly small percentages but they add up to a lot of money. For example let's say you buy a home for $190,000 (the average sale price in Salem, OR). You think "Well I saved up $10,000 so I'll have 5% equity in my home lucky me!" Nope. That's not the case.

Price: $190,000
Closing costs: $8,550
Property Taxes: $2,310 (1.22% in my county and must be paid at the time of sale)
Total: $200,860
Loan amount: $190,860

Yep, you now owe more on your house than you paid for it! Contgratulations!

Wanna be angrier? Think about how much the realtor's are getting.

Price: $190,000
Realtor Fees: $11,400

So, your home (the biggest purchase you'll ever make) could have been bought for $178,600 and you would have owed $168,600 but instead you owe $190,860! That's twenty grand more thanks to all the leeches.

Bills: Before we bought a house we had no idea how much the bills would add up too. We asked a few people and they all had wildly different answers. This is mostly because of consumption and region. Here are ours but they will almost certainly be different than yours.

Electric: 26.375
Gas: 106.26 (average over December, January, February and March, will hopefully go down)
Cell Phone: 60 (two of them, more when Megan get's chatty)
Garbage: 17
Water: 50
Internet: 20 (will go up after 12 months)

Family Visit

Megan's parents (Larry and Sandy) and brother (Dan) visited us in the Great Northwest about two weeks ago. They got to sample quite a bit of Oregon on their visit.Their visit included Silver Creek Falls, Portland, Lincoln City, Depoe Bay, Pacific City, and even the Spruce Goose! While they were here we also had a birthday party for Chase...



We sang all of the Holben birthday songs (there are three)...

I realized that I haven't posted a picture of Megan recently so here she is...


(This picture was taken two days after the fam left. It was absolutely beautiful and we could see all of the mountains. Should have stayed longer!)

He's adorable

Sorry, but he is...

Okay, I'm not actually sorry...


What do you think of the new template?

If I were my boss...

I would not fire me. This may sound funny but for the first time since graduating from college my answer has changed to "would not fire me" from "would fire me". When we were in Micronesia I was useful and probably would not have fired myself but at the same time there were other instructors who could have taught my classes or they could have closed the class I was teaching because only 3 people would show up. And when I started my current job I may not have fired myself because even though I didn't contribute much I was still learning. Even though I told myself this I still had that feeling in my gut.

I came up with this phrase when I was in the military. My performance ratings were above average so I always got the impression that my boss would not have fired me. After completing my service commitment I was offered a job as a civilian so by my boss was willing to put his money where his mouth was. But I still couldn't help like feeling like a liability. Sure, I was useful and brought some expertise to my work group but basically I went to graduate school, went to PT and surfed google maps. I also published a paper and went to conferences but most of the time I felt as though I didn't contribute as much as I was being compensated for. 

In this economy - or any economy for that matter - you should never feel too confident but it is nice to feel like an asset.

Jealous?

Oliver is my good buddy. We play together tons and a lot of this playing is wrestling on the floor. Whenever I get on the floor he immediately gets excited. The jealousy happens whenever I get on the floor to play with Chase. Usually I'll scold him or pet him and he knows it not play time. Sometimes he'll walk away but usually he'll lay down near us, sometimes even between us...

And another...

And a Chase video too...


Original Video

Another Week

Believe it or not Chase is three days away from his one month birthday. It sure has flown by for us. This past week was marred by a nasty diaper rash. The doctor prescribed us some anti-fungal cream that we are supposed to apply every time we change his diaper. His bum is really sensitive so sometimes when we pick him up he'll let out a nasty scream that we're pretty sure is because of the rash. It seems to be getting a little better so hopefully we're on the downhill slope.

We definitely notice Chase's growth. Megan goes to a nursing support class at the hospital about once a week and Chase get's weighed every time. On Friday when they got there he weighted nine pounds six ounces and after she fed him he weight nine pounds ten ounces! What a great eater we have!

This is how he spends a lot of his day...

I took these pictures to help us remember how small he was...


He seems to really like getting rubbed...

Swaddling

It always amazes me how calm Chase is if he get swaddled. His arms really scare him. They scratch him. He's jammed a finger in his eye on more than one occasion. The only thing he likes about them that sometimes his fingers find their way into his mouth, then he'll suck away like there is no tomorrow. But when he's swaddled his arms and legs are on lock down and he is a much calmer baby.

Here are Andrew's swaddling secrets.

1.) Use two blankets.
2.) The first blanket should be big.
3.) The first blanket should also be relatively thin and of a flannel type material.
4.) Arms are the key. Wrap them tight like a straight jacket.
5.) Keep all the blankets away from the face as much as possible.
6.) Hat's can help but can also be hard to put on a newborn.

See for yourself...


Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Snow in Salem

This winter has been great in Salem, if you love snow ( I do!).

Oliver does too...


Also, we've decided to give cloth diapers a try. We'll keep you posted on our results.

Doctors appointment

Chase, Megan and I went to Chase's doctor's appointment last Wednesday. He now weighs eight pounds eleven ounces and is 21 inches long. So he's gained nearly a pound in two weeks and grown 2.5 inches! I know for a fact that he did not grow 2.5 inches in two weeks. When he was born they barely stretched him out to get his measurement so he was probably almost 21 inches at birth.