Our First Home

Here it is, our first ever home. The first house that I was able to buy with my first job out of college after living at home for a year with my parents and planning a wedding. I moved in on April 30, 2008 and Matt joined me a couple months later after our wedding.

This home was the site of many get togethers and parties with old and new friends, the mixing of my college friends, my high school friends and my new work friends. We opened and put away our wedding gifts in this house. We brought home our Layla puppy to this house, we hosted 3 foster pups in this house and had our big Golden boy Bentley with us for 4 years in this house.

 

We became parents in this house, brining home our sweet girl Lydia to her new room in this home. We lost a baby in this house, we let a balloon go in that back yard on that babys due date. We rejoiced at a positive pregnancy test 1 month later and brought home our handsome boy Garrett to this house. I never imagined I would bring two kids home here. It's not big, only 1256 square feet. We sure squeezed the life out of those 1256 square feet though. We put in new floors, we replaced appliances, we became adults in this house.

We moved in as babies, ready to start a life together whatever that life may look like and today we are parents, Matt has his MBA, we both have new jobs, we have 2 children and those same two doggies (although Matt would not be able to pick up Layla anymore). This week we pack up this little house and move onto the next chapter, one with more space and more room to dream and grow as a family!

Being a Young Mom

Sometimes being a mom at 24 was hard, I felt older and so far separated from what others my age were doing especially my friends. If I said all of my friendships lasted and are still strong I'd be lying, my little family moved to the top of my priority list (where they still stand), we started hanging out on Friday and Saturday nights with our immediate family's letting grandma and grandpas pass around the baby and just enjoy some time using both my hands.

We started leaving Lydia with my parents more often, they basically had a nursery set up in my old room so Lydia slept well there and was comfortable there, we never had any guilt about leaving her. She had a blast with my mom and dad. However, we would make plans to actually go out meet up with people and by midnight matt and I are looking at each other across the table with "when can we leave and go home to sleep" looks. We aged a lot when Lydia was born. We didn't have to necessarily give up social functions but there comes a time that you want to give those up and you want to be in your comfortable environment of family.

We are now on our 2nd baby at only 27 years old. (That feels old to me but I know it's not) my friends are just starting to have babies or are thinking about that next step. Soon they will understand why we left the bar at 11:30 or why we stopped having parties and get togethers at our house. I'm hoping we can start to see them all more often as babies play on floors together and get passed from one set of arms to the other. It has started and it makes me happy to not be alone in the world as a parent in our circle of friends.

I think about how my sister and brother won't be having babies soon, I'm sad my kids won't have cousins their age like I did growing up. But I think about how this is an opportunity to raise my kids to be good examples, to love others, to be good big cousins to their baby cousins one day. I think about how when we no longer have a baby to snuggle, our family and friends they will be having baby's that I can snuggle.

The world as a young mom is something I never saw myself being a part of. I thought we would wait 5 years or so to start a family but 1 1/2 years later I had the bug and we had Lydia. It was by far the best decision of my life. I like being the go to mom for my friends because I've been there (twice) and lived to tell about it. I love that my body was able to take pregnancy and all of the changes with no problem, I love that I have the energy to get on the floor and to chase them around, to play big airplane with Lydia.

What else do I love?? That Matt and I will have all of our children out of college, out of the home in time for us to enjoy some alone time again. To enjoy the later 1/2 of our lives together and experience life with hopefully better funds then we started this life together with.

God is good and everything happens for a reason, being a young mom is hard but so worth it. I love that I listened to that itch and that calling that we were supposed to start our family when we did. My babies are a blessing, being a mom changed me at the right time in my life, it put things into perspective and gave me a purpose when sometimes life can be the hardest.

Come to think of it...my life pretty much rocks and God is totally a show off, I love that about him!!

7 Months

Garrett,

Oh my sweet boy, I think this has been the biggest month for you so far. You seemed to have grown and developed so much this past month.

You are now sitting up like a champ and this makes you so happy, you can now play with your toys, interact with your sister and dance along with fresh beat band (yes they are back in our home again) We were also able to get rid of your newborn sling in your bath tub so now you get to sit up and splash and play in your bath tub, you love bath time now.

You can now eat and feed yourself the yummy little baby puffs. This makes for a much happier boy while the rest of us our eating our dinner, I think you were feeling left out once I was done feeding you your dinner. Not anymore! The dogs also love that these little yummies are back in our home, they wait right under your feet for you to push a few off the side of your high chair for them.

You are now a big wiggle worm when I change your diaper or clothes, trying to reach back and see who might walk through your door. Never wanting to miss a moment.

You smile with your whole face, moving your eyebrows and wrinkling your nose, it might just be the cutest thing in my life right now. You love your sister and still think she is way cooler than anyone else in the room. I can make you laugh by making monkey noises. You love to reach out and try and grab the dogs.

You are something special and I love being your mommy!!

Love you always,
Mommy