Home No More

In 23 days we'll sign some papers and our house will no longer be our home.  It will belong to someone else.  Strangers.  We'll pack up our things in brown, cardboard boxes and movers will come take all our furniture and possessions away.  And these strangers will move their belongings in.  They'll shower in our bathroom. They'll break bread with friends in our kitchen.  Maybe their dog will run around in our yard.

 

The place we've called home for over 5 years will be missed. 

 

It was the first home my husband and I bought together.  It feels like yesterday that we giddily left the closing attorney's office with keys in hand, in disbelief that we just bought our first home.

 

It is where we spent the very early years of our marriage and learned to be husband and wife.

 

It is the place we left in the middle of the night in November of 2010 as husband and wife, only to return 2 days later a family of three.   

 

It holds the living room where Lukas took his first steps.

 

It is the place where I snuck in Lukas' room in the middle of the night in July of 2013 to give him one last kiss before he was no longer an only child.

 

It is the only home our boys have ever known. 

 

Its rooms have been painted by our hands and those of our family.  Its porch was screened in by my husband and his father.  Its kids' room has been enriched by built-ins made from scratch from my husband and his father.  Its windows are all adorned with custom-designed and sewn treatments from my mom.  Its backyard was designed and executed by my good friend.  Its flowers bloom from our planting.

 

Its four walls have been filled with more love than I knew was possible.

 

I'm having a hard time letting go and feeling very emotional about saying goodbye.  I know in my heart that it is time.  I know that moving to a new house is best for our family.  I know that we will fill whatever new house we find with joyous memories.  I know that another house will become our home. 

 

But I'm still sad about parting ways.

 

 

Julian @ 8 months

Julian turned 8 months old last week!  Where does the time go?!?  So in an effort to keep the virtual baby book going, let's see what he's up to.  (For comparison, check out Lukas' 8 month update here!)

 

  

- J bird loves to do yoga.  He is a plank and downward dog expert!  He's a strong little dude and can pull to standing, which he loves, unless it is the middle of the night and he is in his crib.  In which case he just screams.  He's learning to sit down from standing, but for the most part he just falls over once he's done standing.

- He is crawling like a maniac.  You cannot put him down and expect him to stay still.  He does not know how to stay in one spot.  He is crawling on all fours with his belly off the ground and he is FAST man! I think he's trying to keep up with big brother Lukas!

- He has FOUR teeth.  The bottom two were the first to come in.  Next was the upper middle Left tooth.  And just last week the upper second left tooth has appeared.  So yes, they are coming in very odd and he doesn't have the upper middle right tooth yet! 

- He's not a big breastfeeder and I'm really struggling with this.  He is too busy to stop and eat.  He'll only eat if he's starving and in a quiet dark room without any sounds.  There are even mornings where he hasn't eaten in 12 hours but still doesn't stop to nurse.  And he bite me today.  Twice.  I highly doubt he'll hit the 18 month mark like his brother.  Honestly, I'm doubting we'll make it a year...

-J loves food.  He loves to feed himself so we're starting to start more finger foods.  He's eating stage 2-3 baby food plus puffs, peas and other random soft foods that we're eating (he tried pancakes last weekend and loved them)!  He seems to be an independent little one and would rather do things himself than have momma do it for him!

- He's a happy, happy baby.  He flirts with all the ladies and loves to smile.

- His sleep is still all over the board.  He CAN sleep through the night but chooses not to most of the time.  He usually wakes up 1-2 times per night and I give in and feed him (strangely, he LOVES to nurse in the middle of the night...go figure).  He's OK at self-soothing, but we're not consistent about it, so it's probably user error on our part!  He and Lukas are sharing a room and he starts every night out in his crib with his lovey and a paci.  He's started sleeping with Lukas' baby blanket this past week.  I love that it's something they've shared!  And 6 out of 7 nights J ends up finishing the night cuddled up next to me in our bed.

- Ju ju, J-bird and JR are his nicknames.  And Mr. Cob and Lukas lovingly call him "the little shark".

 

- He loves his teachers at Primrose - Ms. Mays and Ms. Angela - and they're so sweet with him!  He has a few girlfriends he crawls around with and hangs with all day.  I think he's a ladies man in the making!

- Despite the pictures on this post, J is still wearing his helmet.  He's had it for 3.5 months now and we go again in 2 weeks for more scans.  We're settling in for the long haul at this point.  The helmet has become a part of him and I find myself kissing it, instead of his head (since I can't kiss his head easily).  It is part of his journey and I think he's pretty darn cute in his little spaceman helmet.  And as an added bonus, it's definitely helped in this "fall down a lot and bonk our head" phase of learning to crawl/stand - so I'll be OK if he still has it when he learns to walk!