Well- it's official….
We'll be moving back home to Derby after Eli comes.
We've been getting ready for quite a while now (my sister was still pregnant when we "announced" it- her child is now over a year and a half old.)
We put the house on the market the first week of March.
We contacted a real estate agent this summer and had him tell us what was left to remodel.
He laughed at us.
Dumass (seriously- that's his name):
We got the floors sanded and stained…here's a before.
It looks worse up close than far away.
And now….dark and rich.
We've taken multiple trips home with carloads of stuff.
"Pre-moving" if you will.
We loaded almost an entire car load full of JUST board games.
"Pre-moving" if you will.
We loaded almost an entire car load full of JUST board games.
Don't worry, we still have an entire shelf full in our closet.
Don't judge me.
We got to see BABIES while we were home the week the floors were getting done.
And hold them.
And stare at them.
Wonderful, sweet, tiny babies.
Sam got babtized….hence the tiny tie. He's so fancy!
Ben is only 6 days old here!
Rico held them both too. He's getting to be quite the baby holding pro.
Don't mind what looks like an awkward non-dad man-hold going on here (you know what I am talking about), I was leaning forward on the chair- I have an excuse
AHHHHHH- two cute babies in one room!
I can honestly say that we left and breathed a deep breath.
We could do this!
The friends we had grown up with were parents- and they were rocking it.
They seemed calm, cool, and collected.
We laughed and joked and smiled- like NORMAL people
I don't know what I expected.
Zombies?
Actually, that's not far off from what I expected- and they would have every right.
Instead, they were still themselves.
So wonderfully still themselves.
Beacons of hope.
I think I may have set some pretty high and unrealistic standards however:
#1- those little boys are SO cute and SO precious.
We both laugh that with every ridiculously cute child our friends have, the lower our statistical chances of having an adorable child.
We've basically given up hope at this point.
No offence Eli- but we aren't setting the bar high.
We'll still think your cute- right? I think that's how it works.
Seriously, our friends and family took all the cuteness.
Rude.
Oh well, at least I can awww over their instagrams.
#2- BOTH moms are teeny tiny. Yes, even Mrs. "I just gave birth 6 days ago"
What the heck ladies.
I'm just hoping to get back to pre-pregnancy weight within a few MONTHS!
I spent YEARS preparing Rico that my after-birth body was going to be under long-term construction, and then these ladies go and pull a TLC reality home renovation speed body over-haul.
Again, statistics are not on my side here.
We also took in a lot of Wichita favorites while we were home.
All foods…it's no wonder I've already gained 35 pounds (uh-huh…with 8 weeks left to go. My midwife gently told me that I might be ok dialing back on my high protein diet. "We DO want a nice big baby, but we also don't want you to gain so much weight that labor becomes difficult" Basically, a nice way to say, "Hey fatty, stop eating so much protein so you can actually get into all those crazy birthing positions you want to do!")
To be fair, we ate all these places BEFORE she told me this.
Picadilly (not like KC's version)
I made Rico get the pasta I ordered on the night we got engaged- hoping it would salvage our valentines.
It didn't.
Oh well, at least it was super tasty.
Casa Martinez
My VERY favorite Mexican restaurant in Derby. I have a t-shirt.
Madrocks
The local Derby bar- where you literally know the waitress.
Jimmy's Diner
An old 50's style diner that we both grew up going to ALL the time. Neither of us had been in years.
Oh, and there's the bump.
While we were home we also go to see:
Rico's grandparents
His parents
My parents
His brother and his baby
My sister and her "baby" (who now has to warm up to me like I am a stranger----SOOO sad)
And- had timing worked out better, we could have easily seen the other set of Rico's grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins (on both sides).
Are you starting to see why we might be moving back?
One night, we were all sitting in his parent's basement (I want to say we were all in Pj's, but honestly that may have just been my pregnant self) watching the Olympics snacking, and chatting and I thought THIS is why we are moving back.
I had the same thought while I was shopping with my mom and sister at Hobby Lobby next to a sweet mother and daughter couple who were giggling and smiling with each other.
Meanwhile, I hear MY mom and sister 2 aisles away bickering with each other.
I just had to laugh.
Friends.
Food.
Family.
It's the trifecta.
OBVIOUSLY I will miss KC.
I can't think about it too much or I'll cry.
Our first home, our cute little "downtown", the festivals, our lake.
A job that my husband LOVES with people that he actually respects AND likes.
It was a great place for us to spend our first 5 years of marriage.
I would do it all over again.
We've had MANY moments where we say to each other, "WHY are we leaving THIS?!"
Life is good.
But- now it's time to stop being strangers to our nieces.
Time to stop having to feel bad that we didn't spend enough time with so and so during our short visit.
Time to stop having to miss showers and birthdays and other fun events with our friends because of a 3 1/2 hour drive (1 way) and a hefty gas bill.
Time to stop being consumed by "busy", and to be consumed by family time.
Time to say goodbye to the ideal home that we thought we would raise a family in, and to say hello to a tiny little fixer-upper that let's us live on one income.
And, the most important reason of all- time to say that Eli needs to be near his family.
Ok, so maybe I need them more than he will for a bit- but either way,
a little boy needs his villiage…and we're moving back to our village.
And don't you DARE ask me
"When are you moving"
or
"What will Rico be doing for work?"
or
"Where will you live when you get there?"
or
"What will you do for part time work?"
or really any of the questions one should have an answer to when they move…because we don't know the answer to any of those things.
Any. of. them.
God knows. You could ask Him- but He hasn't even let US in on those little details yet- so I doubt you'll get it out of Him.
Seriously though, I'm "Letting go, and letting God"…and it's easier than I imagined.
He's always provided and delivered beyond what we could have imagined, so I can't wait to see what He has in store for us- even fully realizing that what He might have in store is a serious of the largest challenges our relationship will ever face and that His answers might be "no" more than they are "yes"
He's got this.
He's got this pregnancy.
He's got this labor.
He's got this move.
He's got this job situation.
We just have to do our part to move his plan along and to accept that whatever the answer is- there is a reason FAAAR beyond what my little whacked out pregnancy brain can fathom for why.
Until then- we sell a house, have a baby, look for a job, buy a new house, and move all within the next few months.
And you thought we weren't risk takers?!
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