Month: November 2012

feels like home

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

I’ve really neglected the before&after pictures of the house, I know.  But mainly it’s because they wouldn’t really be “after” pictures yet since nothing’s totally done. (I’ll let you steal a couple sneak peeks in the pictures below).  However.  As I mentioned in my Halloween post…we DID officially move in!  We started staying at the house on Sunday 10/28.  Three months + 1 day after closing.  After we made this decision I started thinking it was super dumb because Theo is transitioning to a big boy bed AND both boys are transitioning to sharing a room with each other.  On a Sunday night.  Genius.  Seems like something you’d want to get a handle on starting on a Friday, right? Eh.

As it turns out, so far it has been fine.  Our big boy really has proven to be just that so far by staying in his bed, not partying all night, and not keeping his brother up all night.  They are fine if we put them to bed at the same time, but they will talk/yell to each other for about 30-45 minutes.  It seems to work better if we put Dexter to bed about 20-30 minutes earlier than Theo.  He has been really good about staying quiet when he knows Dexter is asleep.  Theo is a pretty sound sleeper, so even on the days Dexter wakes up early for milk (yes, we still heat up milk for Dexter at 5:45 am most days), Theo sleeps in.  Saturday both kids slept til almost 8.  EIGHT!  Couldn’t believe it.

So the big bed and room-sharing is great.  The mom/homemaker/nurturer in me has been happy as a clam for the past week.  Theo and Dexter have been getting along so well.  My heart bursts every time they hug each other.  Every time I catch Theo trying to teach Dexter something.  Every time I sneak a peek into their room because it’s too quiet and see them sitting on Theo’s bed playing with something together.  It feels amazing to just cook their dinner and give them a bath here and do the most normal, ordinary, mundane, boring things.  That’s all I wanted.  They love this house.  It’s far from done, but it’s home.  It’s already our home sweet home.  Blood, sweat, and tears have all been shed here to make this place our home.

The OCD person in me still sees unpacked boxes and piles of tools and unpainted cabinets, etc.  But those things can wait.  We’re home now.  We’re with our kids every day.  I never have to miss a bedtime or dinnertime or storytime.  It’s all I’ve been wanting for the past 3+ months.

Best friends.  Two peas in a pod.

It’s home.

xo,
~C~

happy/sad Halloween

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest
Rooney Doodle from the Doodlebops

Pirate Parrot

The boys had a great time in their costumes and just loved going door to door.  Theo was excited last year but even more so this year.  Dexter just went along for the ride and had fun carrying his bucket.  It got really heavy but he would not let me hold it for him.  Too cute!
Ugh… now the not so great news.  I’m just sick about it and can’t stop thinking about it.  We went to our old neighborhood to go trick or treating.  We closed on our old house on May 31st and neither Ryan nor I had driven back by the old house.  It’s just been too sad … we’re homesick for that little house after everything we’ve been through.  Also, we didn’t want to confuse Theo by going by there before we moved in to our new place.  Oh, did I tell you?  WE MOVED INTO OUR NEW PLACE!  That’s another post.  
Anyway, we went to the old ‘hood and drove by our house (it looks lovely) and by our next door neighbor’s.  The lights were not on, but it was right at 6 so we thought maybe they just hadn’t turned on their light yet. We went up a couple of other streets. Theo really was so cute, saying over and over “isn’t this fun, Mom?  Getting candy is SO fun!”  His face lit up every time someone put more candy in his bucket.  By 7 we made our way back over there.  Kitchen light was on but not the porch light.  We went to see another neighbor across the street and learned that our dear neighbor, Roger, is terminally ill with liver cancer.  HE HELPED US MOVE at the end of May.  Needless to say, we went over there and visited.  He is about 50ish and has lived there with his mother, who is close to 90.  We thought if anything had happened, his mother would be the one to have fallen ill.  
Guys… Roger.  Oh my goodness.  He was lying there in his hospital bed.  His entire body swollen, his face gray.  He looked just awful. Let’s just say he looked bad enough that I’m checking a certain section of the paper every day. The boys just stared at him.  Theo talked to him.  Roger told us we were wonderful neighbors and that he loved us.  He said he’d tell his mom to make sure to call us when he died. Seriously?  A night of fun and merry-making turned into THAT.  That quick.  Just as quickly as his health deteriorated.  It’s a huge reality check and such a heart-breaker.  Anyway, sorry to be a party pooper. But that’s what I think about when I think about Halloween 2012.  
Linking up with Melissa at Growing Up Geeky! 
xo,
~C~