New House

We have exciting news...although I suppose it isn't new news for most of you...we just bought our very first house! In fact, we've been living in said house for about a week and a half and loving every minute of it. After so many years of dreaming about one day owning our home, its still hard to believe that this has really happened and its really ours. I suppose it will feel more real when we make our first mortgage payment. Here it is!

Front of our new house

Back of our new house

The whole process of buying this house really started back in September when we found a realtor and a loan officer. Robbie had taken a home buying class last winter in preparation for this experience, but our realtor insisted we both take a free, one-day class with her to make sure we knew what we were doing and were all on the same page. The class was really helpful! A month later we were ready to start driving around selecting houses that we wanted to peak inside. We ended up looking into 5 houses, and loved 4 for them. The other three houses were older and although were in "move-in condition", they really needed a lot of work. We are not the handiest of people, and while the prospect of learning how to fix up a house was really exciting to us (we love to learn!), we weren't sure how realistic that would be with a toddler to care for and hopes for another baby sometime in the future. Plus, even if you do it yourself, fixing stuff costs a lot of money! Money is something we definitely don't have...thank goodness for excellent credit.

The house we ended up choosing, our house, felt perfect to us though. It is a three bedroom cape with 1.5 baths, 2 living rooms, a brick hearth for a wood stove or pellet stove, a beautiful kitchen, and 2 acres of land. It is only 20 minutes from Robbie's work, its near a lake, and as we recently found out has an extensive trail system right down our road. When we walked into this house, I couldn't help but skip around. We loved it so much! There was a lot of activity going on with this house so we ended up putting in a bid for it the same night we viewed it (normally we would take time to think about these things but we loved it so much we wanted to sneak our bid in before we had to deal with a multiple bid situation). The next day we found out that our offer was accepted! And on November 30th, we closed on our very first home that we are comfortably and VERY happily living in now.

New homeowner!

Celebratory champagne and ice cream cake from my mom

The previous owner was very kind and made the whole process easy for us. He even put in a nice new front door and installed a radon mitigation system in the basement for us at no additional fee. We haven't had to do very much work...the house is in excellent condition, but even little things add up! Honestly, buying all the cleaning stuff, and random new things you find yourself needing whenever you move someplace new has added up. Combine that with Christmas, having to fix the car up for an inspection sticker, and we nervously have been watching our savings dwindle. So forgive us if we seem stingy for a bit...it's out of necessity! And boy do we appreciate all the help we have had from family and friends. Dad and Sue gave us some money to stock our fridge, and we certainly filled it right up! Thank you!

Robbie's parents rented a uhaul for us and my siblings, Robbie's dad, my step dad, and our friends Rob, Gib and Andrew all came over to help us move in. Dana was a huge help, and continues to be helpful in fixing things up for us. How lucky am I to have a carpenter for a step dad? We really couldn't have done it with out you all, thank you so much!

Our moving crew taking a break to walk on our boulder wall

Mattimeo loves his new house and has been such a good little boy through the whole moving process. I am so thankful for his gentle spirit and helpful nature. People like our mothers and my sister came over to play with Meo so that he wouldn't feel neglected while mommy and daddy were busy moving and unpacking the new house. Sometimes Meo even helped take things out of boxes for us hehe.

Playing with Grandma and Auntie Sam in the yard

Throwing leaves

Being rolled around the living room by Mema

We have been trying to make sure to have special Meo time and include him in the process whenever possible. We even took a break one day to bring him to the Children's Museum in Portland.

Trying on my glasses

Meo fell asleep on my back helping unpack the kitchen

Children museum with mommy and daddy

Children museum with mommy and daddy

Children museum with mommy and daddy

Children museum with mommy and daddy

Children museum with mommy and daddy

Children museum with mommy and daddy

Children museum with mommy and daddy

Children museum with mommy and daddy

Children museum with mommy and daddy

Nursing at Lowe's

Stuffing an entire crepe in his mouth when we went out to dinner

Helping Daddy install saftey

Running around with my hat on

Meo found my hat when we were unpacking and tried it on

Meo found my hat when we were unpacking and tried it on

helping me hang up diapers

helping me hang up diapers

helping me hang up diapers

helping me hang up diapers

helping me hang up diapers

helping me hang up diapers

Spying on napping Meo with the webcam Robbie set up for us

We took Meo for his very first wagon ride around the neighborhood and met a couple of our neighbors plus their cute dogs. The people seem very nice! While we were on our walk we discovered a trail that we own one ninth of for a bit before it turns into a snowmobile trail. We are very excited about this because it will be a great place for walks, runs, snowshoeing and even camping in the summer. Plus when we eventually do get a dog, we will be able to let it run on the trail!

On our very first night in our new house, our kitchen wasn't completely unpacked yet so we ordered some chinese take-out for dinner.

First dinner in our new house

veggie lomein

My fortune

Meo also had his first bath in the new house. By that time, he was very tired and cried for most of it. It was still exciting nonetheless.

First bath in the new house

"I want Mama!!"

"I want Mama!!"

"I want Mama!!"

"I want Mama!!"

That's better :)

Meo is sleeping great in the new house, although it was a bit of an adjustment at first. He has his very own room now, but we are sticking to the same routine we had before where he spend the first part of the night in his room, then when he wakes up we bring him into our bed. The first couple nights he kept crying off and on even in our bed despite me nursing him constantly. It was pretty rough and led to a couple of tired parents (thank goodness Robbie had a whole week off to move in!). It was frustrating a bit and Robbie and I were zombies for a couple days (although Meo was very cheery).

First morning in the new house

honking Daddy's nose

nose honking

But since those first nights, which honestly were the worst nights we ever had with him since he was born, we have begun to have the best nights of sleeping ever. Previously Meo would go to bed around 7:30 and need to be soothed back to sleep around 10:30. Then he would end up in our bed a little after midnight. Well fir the past two nights he has gone to bed at 7:30 and not waken up until after 2! We are thrilled! Meo seems very comfortable in our house at night now.

Pi and Theta have done well with the transition too. This is about the fifth time they've moved, so they ought to be pros by now. Theta is our more skiddish kitty, and spent the first couple days under the couch. But he was brave enough to come out at night even from the beginning and has been sleeping in our bed with us and snuggling with us as we watch Dr. Who in the evenings.

Theta feeling brave the first morning

Pi has turned into super love and purr machine. He is constantly sitting on my lap or meowing at me or following me around and his purr motor is on nonstop. I think he likes the new house! He was used to being a part-time outdoor cat at Grandma and Grandpa's house, so I was worried how he would deal with becoming a housecat again. But he's been great, although he has escaped a few times...

Pi purring on the wreath

Pi hugs in the morning

One of Pi's new "spots"

Moving has been exhausting, but we were able to finish unpacking all of our boxes by the end of the first week!

Celebrating our kitchen being unpacked

Taking a break

Fine china and spice

All the bottom shelves are dedicated to Meo

New fruit basket!

At the end of the week, my mom came to spend the night so she could babysit Meo while Robbie and I went to his work holiday ball. We had been really excited to go, but we were so tired by Friday that we ended up staying in and hanging out with my mom instead. My mom got us Chinese food and we made popcorn and watched the Fellowship of the Ring.

Mom bought us chinese one night

True story!

Getting ready to watch the Lord of the Rings with my mom

We of course miss Robbie's parents and Buddy cat tremendously. The past year that we spent with the Robinson's was truly a blessing. Not only did it help us financially (that's an understatement), but how amazing is it that Meo got to see his grandparents every single day? Meo loves his grandparents so much, and I am sure part of him will remember that time he spent with them and they will always be close. Thank you both so much for opening your homes and hearts to us. We love you and we miss you and we expect to see you at least a couple times a week! We are also looking forward to continuing our tradition of Taco Tuesdays on a monthly basis.

Our first Taco Tuesday with Grandma and Grandpa at our new house

Our first Taco Tuesday with Grandma and Grandpa at our new house

Our first Taco Tuesday with Grandma and Grandpa at our new house

Our first Taco Tuesday with Grandma and Grandpa at our new house

The biggest, sweetest hug good-bye to Grandpa

Sweet hug for Grandma

We love our new house, and we feel so fortunate and thankful that we are able to live here. It is going to be a wonderful place for Mattimeo to grow up and we have so many ideas and dreams for what this home will become. Stay tuned! And thank you to everyone who helped make this dream a reality!