I know we've been MIA for a while...but for good cause. One day in March, mostly out of curiosity (and certainly not because we had made the decision to buy a new house), we decided to look at a house that had just been listed in a neighborhood near where we lived. It had a basement and a large lot in a cul-de-sac, which were appealing qualities. We thought, "where's the harm in just looking?" Well, within in less than ten minutes of walking through the front door in this house, we decided to make an offer on it. I introduce to you Exhibit A as to why we have gone crazy. Yes, without even being entirely certain that we wanted to move
anywhere, we made an offer to purchase a house (all while still owning
another that was not even listed for sale). To make the long story
short, we bought a new (to us) house at the beginning of May. In defense of our decision, this house has lots of unique characteristics, large rooms, and a to-die-for backyard that backs up to federal land surrounding Lake Allatoona. The instant I stepped foot in the backyard, I began daydreaming of beautiful flowers, tree houses, play sets, and games of catch - it would be the perfect back yard for a little boy to grow up in (and that his gardener mama could love, too).
So April was consumed with packing and planning...with an eleven month old. Which leads me to Exhibit B as to our insanity. Moving an entire household in a month is a daunting enough task, but throw in a baby to the mix and we're talking the very definition of crazy. There were many occasions during the month of April in which I questioned our decision. But now that the boxes are all unpacked and the pictures are all hung, I'm so happy that we made the decision that we did.
And truthfully, Caleb took it all in stride and was such a good baby while we were frantically packing and unpacking. Here are a few pictures that we snapped during the chaos:
Easter at Pepaw's House
"Helping" Mommy pack:
My view of Caleb while we shopped for things for the new house:
"Helping" Daddy paint (with headphones, of course):
Making a mess at snack time, as usual:
While we were moving, Caleb stayed with my parents and Tony's parents for a few nights each. From what it sounds like, he thoroughly enjoyed himself at both places. When he came back home (or soon thereafter), he was crawling, pulling up, cruising, and he soon started "talking" up a storm. I attribute all of these powers to the two new teeth that all of a sudden popped out:
And as my final piece of evidence that we've lost every last one of our marbles, I present to you the fact that only three short weeks after moving into our new house, we threw a big party to celebrate the completion of Caleb's rookie year (his first birthday). It was great motivation to get it all done - we were hammering, drilling, organizing, and cleaning from the moment Caleb went to sleep every night until we passed out from exhaustion. (As a side note, I am still amazed that he could sleep through all of that.) Miraculously, when his birthday rolled around, the house was in (mostly) presentable shape. All of our family and close friends came to celebrate (and check out the new house). Here are a few highlights from the big day:
In conclusion, I believe that that the evidence speaks for itself: we're certifiably crazy. But at least we now have a nice serenity garden to nurse us back to sanity.
