Last year at this time we had a bubbly little 16 month old and a baby bump to boot. We were also living in an 800 square foot house. Now, there is nothing wrong with this and we were very thankful to have a roof over our heads, I was just running out of ways to arrange and purge in order for our growing family to be comfortable. Also, we weren't in an ideal environment for a growing family. I had a repetative prayer for contentment, but also that the house would sell (we had been on and off the market for over a year).
After arriving home from a fun Disney Cruise with my family in January, we had a nibble. It was a VERY low ball cash offer, but we didn't care. However, after a few weeks of going back and forth, we threw in the towel of any hope of the house selling. I was frustrated and willed myself to continue to brainstorm how we could make this space work for a family of four (or how we could rent it and move).
A few days later, another showing was set for a different buyer. I begrudgingly loaded Henry up and left the house with little hopes that they would actually show the house (we had had many appointments and then they wouldn't even come in the house). We had an offer in writing later that night.
It was another low ball offer, but we had been saving in preparation of this. There was a tremendous amount of guilt felt by me that they house I had bought was causing my husband to dip into the savings he had worked so hard to build. After doing some research, I learned that my teacher retirement fund was almost the exact amount of the lose we would take on the house. I quickly filled out paperwork to withdrawal the money.
Some might see this as stupid, we saw it as an answer to prayer.
We closed on the house and moved in with Chris' parents to recoperate and allow ourselves plenty of time to find something we loved. I quickly became sick of looking. My belly was growing and so was the stress. Along with the endless changes that were occuring, Henry and I were repetitively sick. We hardly ever were sick.
Towards the middle of April we went to look at a house some friends had told us about. The couple who were selling had recently listed online just to see what would happen. I was reluctant to look, the house didn't meet my "criteria" but I trusted this friend. While on the tour, I broke down into tears in the master bathroom and asked our realtor if we could just give them a verbal offer then and there. The house met all of our needs perfectly and was less than we were thinking we would spend (the same amount we loss on the house and took out of retirement).
We closed and moved into our house in the middle of May. I was almost 8 months pregnant, had no voice, a rib out of place from coughing, and was turning 30. BUT, we had new carpet, new paint and new furniture. Our first night was bliss.
Six short weeks later, little boy Tucker arrived. He is a beaut and totally dreamy. Having two children is so much different than one. It took a long time for me to find how to balance attention between Henry and Tucker. The first three months were a lot of tears and frustration. Baby blues had a whole new meaning this time around. But, we finally got into a routine and I also started allowing myself and my kids a lot of grace. Our day to day is messy and not perfect, but I am learning that is ok. More to come on baby boy Tucker and I need to post several weekly updates (this entry has taken me five days to finish, blogging is hard ha!).
2014 was a little crazy and hazy. So much good occurred, so much stretching, lots of joy and sweet toddler and baby giggles. More than anything, our little family learned and continues to learn to live in the now. We dream of the future things (two kids not in diapers, building a house, paying off debt, vacations where people don't say you can't sit beside them on the plane because you have a baby... yes that really happened), but life is good right now. The pop in guests, the laughter around the table, the toys all over the floor, the dust bunnies in the corner, the money I save on make up because most days I don't wear any...
So long 2014 and thanks for the sweet memories.
