home sweet home.

In case anyone missed the big Facebook announcement, we are officially moving.  Matt was offered a new position at Salal Credit Union in Seattle and we'll be leaving Bellingham at the end of the month.  

To prepare we spent 7 hours today packing up boxes while the kids played at our nanny's house. Thank goodness we had the smarts to think ahead and get the kids out of the house!

Because of the craziness of life I haven't had a lot of time to just sit and refect on this move.  Today I knew we had a tight schedule and I wanted to get as much stuff packed before the kids came home so I never really sat and took in the memories.  Instead, I hurriedly loaded things up, marked the box and moved on to the next room.  But, as I sit here in a quiet house I realize just how hard it's going to be to leave this house.  Looking at the bare walls, empty bookshelves and cleaned off counters makes me very sad. 

For the first 6 months of our marriage we lived in a tiny 2 bedroom house about 2 blocks away from where we live now (obviously we loved the neighborhood enough to buy right down the street!).  Being naive young people we quickly house hunted and convinced ourselves a fixer-upper was the way to go.  After 2 long months of remodeling we finally moved in.  This house was awful when we bought it.  Green floral wallpaper covered the kitchen, glittered popcorn ceilings littered the entire house and a random built in ironing board stuck out of the wall in what is now Carter's room leaving quite the eye sore.  The bathroom needed to be gutted, hardwood floors redone, closets ripped out and pieced back together and new light fixtures needed to be hung.  It was a TON of work, but we (well, let's say Matt and his Dad) did it and made it our home. 

In the past 4 1/2 years we have built so many memories.  6 months after we bought the house we became even more naive and got a puppy.  A crazy, wild, loving, cuddly dog.  Our "practice" before having kids.  We thought it we could take care of a puppy, kids would be simple.  Little did we know!

We brought 2 babies to this home.

We spent countless hours fixing up not one, but 2 nurseries all the while imagining what life would be like with a baby.

We watched our big boy grow up.  He took his first steps right in front of the built-in bookshelf one night right after dinner.  And then, he did it again.  And then, never slowed down.

I'm probably making this much sappier than it really needs to be.  But, it's not really the structural house that I'll miss, it's the memories.  This house has issues.  Some I will not miss. Like when Matt had to go underneath the house dozens of times during the winter months to check on the sump pump in the middle of the night.  Like how it gets super hot in the summer and crazy cold in the winter.  How the hardwood floors creak in the just the wrong spots to wake up a sleeping baby.  The horrible lighting in the kitchen.  The tiny bathroom. 

But, it has memories.  Good ones.  Many that I hope to not forget.  So, just as a reminder for me to look back on years from now, here are some pictures of our house, just the way it always was (dirty floors and all!)

The kitchen.

Living room.

Carter's room.

Lucy's room (that she never even slept in other than a few naps!)

Our bedroom.

Bathroom.

Bathroom.

And our old gross backyard that the previous owners thought they could convert to some sort of garden.  As you can see, they didn't succeed.

Matt's hard work to make it so much better!