# SheepGirl - Growing Up



## SheepGirl (Oct 20, 2016)

I haven't been on BYH much this year as I've had a lot of things going on.

For one, things have been snowballing one after the other.

In mid December, my boyfriend of 2.5 years had bought me a car, a 2010 Lincoln MKS AWD.

On Christmas Eve, he proposed and I said yes.

In mid January I found out I was pregnant and due Sept 14. The search for a house was on!

In March we had found a house and we were to close April 28. However the home inspection came back with a lot of issues, mainly a big Crack in the foundation and the A/C wasn't working properly...oh and the roof needed to be replaced. Plus plumbing leaks, electric issues, etc. This was a foreclosed home bought by a flipping company in Chicago who hired local contractors to repair and renovate the home. They didn't do a good job apparently and/or overlooked many, many issues. We backed out. The home ended up sold by Memorial day weekend.

So we continued to look at homes. My fiance loves the newer homes with modern kitchens and baths...and while I liked them too, they were in a suburb and I wouldn't be able to bring my critters with me. That just wouldn't work unless we could also buy a plot of land. Well there's no empty lots that aren't  $25k or more per acre, so I was disappointed.

I got tired of the real estate agent showing us these homes so I did my own home search and found one I loved and I said show us this one!

It was perfect. A pool, 4 Bedrooms (there could easily be a 5th), 2 Bathrooms, Cape cod style home. On 7.2 acres! The largest lot size available in our budget of $300k. It was listed for  $299k.

So we saw it, cute little country home. Kitchen and bathrooms need updating, but not a lot of work.

Surprisingly, he liked it too! (Only because it makes me happy, he says lol)

So we put a contract down on the home for $290k + closing costs. Home inspection came and went with no major issues, only minor ones like no caps on some electrical thing in the crawl space and one outlet not working.

Contract was continued and we were set to close Aug 15! We were going through SunTrust for a mortgage. Our loan officer apparently left without letting us know and so essentially we got delayed until Aug 30, when some other lady came and took over our loan. Appraisal took over a MONTH to come back. It came in at $282k. We didn't get the results until Aug 17, two days AFTER we were supposed to close initially. A couple days later, we were denied for the renegotiated price of $282k + closing. Our new loan officer said the previous guy used numbers that were too large and misrepresenting our income. I was like seriously? We provided our tax returns and our paychecks up to this point. What could be misrepresented about that? Oh I was livid. And then sad and crying. I was closing in on my due date and we didn't have a house. Oh and not to mention, they pulled our credit reports NINE times EACH between February when we got pre-approved and July. Some within 2 to 3 days of each other. My credit score dropped a few points as a result of too many inquiries.

Mad and irritated with their careless attitude and lack of communication as well as their inability to want to help us get the loan to work (including selling the car to get rid of the payment), we went to another loan company. We asked for our appraisal fee back while we sat with the loan officer in person and she said it would be possible, she would need her manager to take care of it. I have called countless times...she doesn't answer the phone, I leave a message, and I don't get a call back. 

Anyway, we went to another loan company and we were approved and set to close Sept 21. This loan officer was surprised that they couldn't get the loan to work. It was initially going to be USDA with 0 down payment but we ended up FHA with a $10k down payment. So kitchen remodeling has to wait until I go back to work. That was another thing, SunTrust said earlier leaving work Aug 14 was bad because my debt would be counted not my income (one credit card with a $800 Balance out of my $4300 limit). I was like what about my income up to this point? What about my bank balances? Can't I just pay my credit card completely off and be okay? Nope. This other mortgage company didn't see a problem with my maternity leave.

And I went into labor on Labor Day, two days after my baby shower and 9 days before his due date. Ended up in labor from 6 pm Monday to finally start pushing around 8:40 pm Tuesday Sept 6. Took an hour to push the lil fella out, he weighed 8 lb 1 oz and was 21 inches long. His name is Jacob Anthony. His head was in the 97th percentile for size. His ended up being born on his cousins birthday (my fiance's brother's son), he turned 4. My fiance is from Bolivia, so my baby is tan with dark hair and he has my blue eyes (they started out a dark steel gray and have lightened to a blue gray when he was a week old and have stayed that color since)! He is such a handsome little baby. 

So we closed Sept 21. Painted the house the first two weekends. We've been moved in for a week and a half. It is so hard to unpack stuff when I have a little 6 week old baby. I dont want to leave him by himself in a room and I can't carry him room to room with me when I'm carrying other stuff. So I wait for his dad to come home from work to unpack and then Jacob starts crying lol and then I have to take a 20 to 30 min break to feed him. Slowly but surely it's getting done. Our couches are being delivered next Tuesday so that's something to look forward to. My parents and his family come over on the weekends to hang out ride the go cart around the yard, and help clean and unpack. So that's nice.

So that's my life in a nutshell right now lol. Sheep and pigs are going to be moved here before winter. I'm trying to find someone to cut 4 acres into hay so I have food for my sheep since I'm not sure when we are going to fence in the property. The house came with a carport which the neighbors moved with their tractor to a more convenient location for us, so we will probably just build a pen around that and feed the sheep hay. My fiance wants to build a house for his pigs, he's pretty excited. Oh and turns out, our neighbors father was good friends with my grandfather's brother before he passed away. What a small world! Though of course we moved to an area where I'm only a few miles away from that entire side of the family...great aunts and uncles (my grandfather is one of 5 or 6 kids) plus their children and grandchildren. So maybe not that small lol.


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## samssimonsays (Oct 20, 2016)

Wow! Congrats on all the exciting changes and the new little guy!


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## promiseacres (Oct 20, 2016)

Congratulations on becoming a mother! So happy things worked out for a home.  thanks for the update


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## Alexz7272 (Oct 20, 2016)

Congratulations! That is amazing!! Hope we can see some pictures of your little bundle of joy soon


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## Mini Horses (Oct 20, 2016)

Congrats on a lot of things - wedding, baby, new farm.


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## Bruce (Oct 20, 2016)

Going into labor on Labor day - priceless!

Congrats on the baby and getting your new place, even though the idiots at the 1st mortgage company put you through the wringer. 

Not sure about the pool being part of "perfect". Our house came with above ground 24' pool. Seems to me to be a time and money pit. There are the chemicals, the cost to run the pump, the replacement of the pump and filter and now next spring we need a new liner - $2,500 installed  5' deep in the middle, 3.5' on the outside. More of an adult wading pool, can't really swim in it and by the time I'm done cleaning it so my wife can wander around in it after work, I have zero interest in getting in it. Of course the girls (16 and 18 when we purchased in Nov 2011) thought having a pool was almost a necessity though they rarely make much use of it.

Soooooo, when is the wedding?


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## OneFineAcre (Oct 20, 2016)

Wow
That's a lot
Congrats on the new baby


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## Hens and Roos (Oct 20, 2016)

Congrats!


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## Ferguson K (Oct 20, 2016)

Busy busy!  

Congratulations on everything. Things are looking up!


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## norseofcourse (Oct 21, 2016)

Wow, congratulations several times over!  7.2 acres is a nice size, and to have good neighbors and relatives close by is wonderful.  Can't wait to see pics of the place and your new little one!

Good luck with that first mortgage company.  I'd bypass the person who's ignoring you and go up the chain, call their regular number and get a manager.  Glad you found a much better lender to deal with.


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## Baymule (Oct 21, 2016)

I am so happy for you! A new husband, baby and home PLUS 7.2 acres! Life just doesn't get any batter than this does it? It sounds like to me, that ya'll have found your forever home, big enough to grow your family, land enough to feed your addiction to animals, LOL.

BUT YOU HAVEN'T POSTED ANY PICTURES!!!


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## Sumi (Oct 21, 2016)

Oh my goodness, you had a busy year and so much wonderful news! Congratulations on the little one and the engagement AND the new property!  Post some pics when you get a minute, please!


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## TAH (Oct 21, 2016)

Congrats on everything!


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## SheepGirl (Oct 21, 2016)

Thanks everyone! 

This is him when he was 4 weeks old...



 
Yes, that is a sheep wubanub! 

And our new home...


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## Baymule (Oct 21, 2016)

Beautiful baby boy, I just want to scoop him up and hug him, cover him with kisses and hug him some more! What a cutie! You will have so much fun being a Mom, watching him grow up. You are blessed.

Love the house, what a fantastic place to raise a family. Again, you are blessed.


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## Sumi (Oct 22, 2016)

Oh my word, can he be any cuter? 

Lovely looking house too! I hope you guys are going to be very, very happy there!


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## SheepGirl (Nov 30, 2016)

A lot has happened in the past month... for one, I got a new job and I start on Monday! (Well, if the background check is done by then...if not then it will be Dec. 12.) I am not ready to leave my baby boy, and we still don't have a solid plan for day care for him yet. I'm thinking my sister in law and then my dad on his day off.

And we've also started to build a pen for the sheep and pigs. The field will be bush hogged this weekend. I found 4x4 alfalfa round bales for $40 -- so I am going to be jumping on that offer and get me a couple. I still don't know who I'm bringing to the new house. I've sold off quite a few sheep... a couple yearlings, most of the lambs, I sold Bella and her twins from last year to a Spanish family that ate them in a BBQ for their children's birthday parties. I would have kept them all since I had a lot of space for all of them, but since I was on maternity leave, I had to have my car payment and insurance paid for. The money I had saved up before baby went to home inspections, radon testing, furniture, blah, blah, blah and my fiance had saved up for the down payment. But now with this new job our income will double (I will be making almost 80% more than what I was before) and we can get more of what we want done!  Hopefully we can fence in the property in the spring.

So pretty much I'm down to 15-20 sheep (I lost track...not easy since I'm not there all the time!). Oh and I lost Ali a few months ago. I don't think I ever posted that. One day I had found her under a piece of plywood. She couldn't stand for two weeks. She could crawl around though. I tried with supportive therapy, but one day I was working, my mom went to give her some kitchen scraps as a treat and she gobbled them up and literally an hour later she was dead  I was so heartbroken. I cried for forever. And being pregnant didn't help much, lol.

So, off the top of my head, I know that I DO have these lil fellas:
Ciqala
Lady Gaga
Katy Perry
Rosie
#19
#25
#30
#31
#36
#37
Odysseus
Chevy
Chevy's lamb
and there are like 2 or three ewe lambs whose ID #s I cannot remember. 
Plus Goat Goat
And the 6 pigs

So I think I'm down to 15? I will need to get a better count next time I'm over there.


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## SheepGirl (Nov 30, 2016)

Oh and 1 chicken.


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## Baymule (Nov 30, 2016)

SheepGirl said:


> Oh and 1 chicken.


 
Only ONE chicken??  You need MORECHICKENS!!!


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## Bruce (Nov 30, 2016)

This is BYH, not BYC


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## Baymule (Nov 30, 2016)

Bruce said:


> This is BYH, not BYC



don't matter, I have chickens too. I started on BYC, but would much rather hang out here!


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## Bruce (Nov 30, 2016)

Same here, 12 chickens, 2 alpacas. But I come here first for my morning and evening "foruming".


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## SheepGirl (Nov 30, 2016)

Lol, I had more... started with 5, then had about 65, then down to a couple, back up to 130 or so, then down to 13, now down to 1


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## OneFineAcre (Nov 30, 2016)

Good luck with new job
Lot happening for you
Treasure every moment with the baby
They grow up so fast
Before you know it they are going to middle school dances and wanting to upgrade their iPhone


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## OneFineAcre (Nov 30, 2016)

SheepGirl said:


> Lol, I had more... started with 5, then had about 65, then down to a couple, back up to 130 or so, then down to 13, now down to 1


I remember you had quite the chicken business going 
I've got one 8 year old Buff Orpington


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## Goat Whisperer (Nov 30, 2016)

Just caught up! So much happening! 
Your son is adorable, that hair. 
Sorry about the lost ewe, but glad to see you still have your goat! Congrats on your new home as well. 

Looking forward following your journey 




OneFineAcre said:


> upgrade their iPhone




@Baymule 
I'm with ya! I was on BYC like 7+ years ago. Promptly left. Wasn't my type of people…
Lurked here for a few years and finally decided to join. I got a few long standing members to join BYH before I ever did.


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## NH homesteader (Nov 30, 2016)

@Baymule and @Goat Whisperer me too...  I think I made one post at BYC. And never went back.  I'm happy for the people here who will talk chicken with me so I don't have to go back. Sorry BYC-ers. 

SheepGirl I am new enough that your hey I'm back post is like a hey I'm new post.  Lovely little one,  lovely place.  So exciting isn't it? Congrats!


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## Latestarter (Nov 30, 2016)

Congrats on everything that you've succeeded with! The Hubby to be, the son, the new home, the new job, everything else that's coming together for you. Dealing with incompetent bankers/lenders is a nightmare from hell... Glad it all worked out in the end for you.


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## SheepGirl (Dec 1, 2016)

Thanks everyone! I also forgot to mention my fiance bought three English Bulldog puppies, two females and a male. But Sunday night one of the females didn't eat her dinner and she didn't want to walk around the yard with everybody else to go potty, she just kind of planted herself in one spot. When we woke up Monday morning she was dead  We're not sure what happened, it happened so quick. We've had them for a few weeks now.

And now he wants to buy another one. I told him no, not until these others get potty trained. We also have two pit bulls that are a year old who spent most of their puppy hood in a cage and are not potty trained or trained for manners at all. So they're outside all day with their invisible fence collars on. At night they sleep in the laundry room (which is like 8x8). They were in the pool area, which has a 4' chainlink fence, but after the first week they started jumping over it. Luckily the house came with an invisible fence, we just had to buy one more collar.

And at first they wanted to kill the puppies (especially when looking at them through the window) but now they lick them. I just get worried because they want to play so they will jump and start nipping at the puppies and then I get into a little panic mode because I know when the pit bulls play with each other they start playing and then they get into nasty fights. I just don't want them to get nasty with the puppies. But the two pit bulls, Rocky and Stella, sure do enjoy their newfound freedom of running all over the yard! And boy, do they respect the invisible fence. Only problem is is that the invisible fence cuts into the field where my sheep will be, so I'm a little worried about that. Rocky was around the sheep when he was a puppy and he became scared of them, but Stella is a holy terror. She loves to chase anything that moves. But when they're outside they get into EVERYTHING. We've had to move our trash can outside their fence, they get into the bag of charcoal for the grill, they eat the soot from the fire pit, they chew on wood, they're ridiculous. And you can yell at them and tell them "no" and they will stop, but an hour later they're at it again. It gets old after a while.


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## samssimonsays (Dec 1, 2016)

I thought we were crazy for doing 4 puppies (and a litter) in 3 years.... You win!  You are like a saint to deal with all of that! I am so sorry about the loss of your pup. So heart breaking


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## SheepGirl (Dec 1, 2016)

This is Stella



 
This is Rocky


 
These are the three English Bulldog puppies. The dark brown patched one with the spots is the one that passed away.


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## samssimonsays (Dec 1, 2016)

Love them! So pretty! Do you plan to raise the bull dogs? Just curious


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## Baymule (Dec 1, 2016)

sorry about your pup. It is never easy to lose an animal, even one you've only had a few weeks. Big hugs.


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## SheepGirl (Dec 3, 2016)

samssimonsays said:


> Love them! So pretty! Do you plan to raise the bull dogs? Just curious



Yep, that's the plan. They're registered, I told my fiance to go and show them. I'm not sure if he will, though I'm sure it will be fun lol


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## samssimonsays (Dec 4, 2016)

That would be loads of fun!


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