We moved!!
When I was five months pregnant with our son, we added a new dog to our family. This pregnancy, we got a new house! We clearly don’t know how to not make big life changes while I’m pregnant.
For a few years now, my husband and I have been talking about finding our next home. Not necessarily our “forever home,” but the home that we saw ourselves raising our kids in and staying in for a long while. When we moved to our first home, we knew it was short-term. We knew it was our starter home for three to five years – a place for us to begin our married lives, to give our dogs a yard, and to have a child or two. Happily, it gave us all that we expected and more.
What I didn’t expect was for it to be so difficult to say goodbye.
In 2017, we bought a beautiful house, and we made it a home over the past three and a half years. We got engaged and married during our time here. We hosted great game nights, barbecues, and holidays. We had staycations and at-home date nights. We grew our family with a new puppy. We brought our son into the world within those four walls, and we’ve watched him grow for nearly two years there. We painted, built, shiplapped, and floored. We made that house ours, both beautifying it with updates and leaving the scars a well-loved house gains over the years.
So many people have asked how I feel about leaving the home where I birthed our son. To be honest, the thought hadn’t crossed my mind before someone asked. And when I thought about it, I wasn’t all that sad initially. I think because I always knew that house wasn’t our long term plan, I always knew I’d be leaving it. That home will always have a special place in my heart for so, so many reasons. Having homebirth memories is just one of those reasons.
But the waves of sadness really hit when I walked into that house the first time after it was empty. I saw the corner of trim where our dog Calvin nervously chewed one of the first times we left him alone. I saw the blue Sharpie on the wall that our son recently added to our decor (note to self: hang more art in the new house so he doesn’t feel like he needs to add). I saw the empty kitchen where my husband cooked so many amazing meals for our family. I saw the empty bookshelves in the office, one of the first home improvement projects we took on when we moved in. I stood in the mostly empty garage where my husband’s woodshop once brought life to so many pieces of furniture that found a place in our home. And of course, I saw the very spot on our master bedroom floor where I birthed our son while in my husband’s arms.
That home was so good to us. There are so many huge life milestones we covered in those four walls. Seeing it empty, echoing with the memories that we created there, ready for the new owners….it would have been too much for me normally, but add in the pregnancy hormones? I was just a mess.
To be honest, I thought we’d stay in that home longer. I didn’t expect us to be moving while pregnant and during one of the craziest housing markets our area has ever seen. Did I mention we’re bad at the timing of these big life changes??
Within the past two weeks, we’ve officially moved! I truly felt a little resentment toward the new house in the first couple days we owned it. I had trouble remembering that our old house was once foreign to us, and we didn’t know what greatness it would hold. There are parts of this new house that I hate, parts that I love, and parts that I know will change over time. I’m excited for our new home and its potential. It has all the space we’ve been hoping for as our family continues to grow. It’s very liveable now, but there are definitely projects we plan to do to update and make the space our own. There’s room in the backyard for a garden (and a chicken coop if I can convince the HOA…). It’s in a great area with lots of opportunities for our kids as they grow older.
My husband and I have always talked about finding a turn-key fixer upper – somewhere that we can easily move into and live but that has projects for us to tackle as the years pass. We have found that place, and the more we settle and unpack, the more I see what this new home has to offer.
I am so proud to call you clients and friends. You amaze me in every aspect of your life! With buying a home, moving, selling the first house and pregnant with #2 (My money is its a girl) you have taken on more than any normal sane person would be stressed out to the max, and you are handling it like a champ! Keep living life to the fullest! You’ve earned it! ❤