Ballard to Kenmore

My excuse this time is that we don't have internet at the new house yet and we won't until the 28th. Even if there was time to write I had no way to post (let's see what excuse I can come up with next time).

The noteworthy update? We moved. We have a week in at the new house in Kenmore.

We aren't sure how we feel about Kenmore quite yet except our neighbors are nice, our house is neat and our yard is big. Being here is such a peaceful, amazing and somewhat shocking experience. It is quiet, private, we have so much space, I feel like I am in a the mountains - which I love! People don't agree with what I'm about to say - but I am certainly more of an introvert than an extrovert. When I am out and about with people, sure, I am all about it and love it! But I need my alone time so I can be present when I am with people. I need time everyday to be quiet and still to gather my thoughts and center myself. This house, this private little mountain house, is like my recharge sanctuary.our view from bed 

There have already been a few times Jette's little noises fill the space while Erin and I are sorting through our things deciding where they should go and I just cry. My heart could burst. Being with my little family in this house is more than anything I've ever imagined and it makes me feel like the luckiest person on the planet AND forces me to find ways to try and bless the lives of other people in ways that I can.

I love being Kenmore AND I miss Ballard. Erin does too - probably more than I do. Erin loved living in the city and took quite the leap agreeing to move forward with this house. All of the things I love about the new place are so different about the old place - and that's what I miss. I miss being in a busy  neighborhood, the walkability, the small and crammed rooms and rusted bathroom. That little house was our first house together - and it was Jette's first home too. I have a lot of good memories of Harley there. It was close to our favorite coffee shops and a lot of good restaurants - and the Ballard Market! We loved walking to the Ballard Market - and of course we'll still go - we just won't be able to walk there.

We are still getting situated in the new place. I suspect we will be for awhile. There is a lot of space in this house - it is more than double the size of the house we came from - we don't feel like we need to fill it all up - but we surprisingly have stuff for nearly every room. It's incredible how much stuff we crammed into the old place. We are wrapping our heads around the yard and what it will take to keep up with it. I imagine Lowes will be a frequent retailer.

Erin and I both feel like we are doing a lot of adulting (as they say). A baby, a house, things that come  with a house. We recently got life insurance. We spend our time talking to arborists and plumbers and window people. We are in bed by 9:30pm (at the latest) and are often up at 5. We talk about what to do in the yard - which feels a bit intimating. Neither Erin or I have much of a green thumb but we're eager to learn. We have ideas that it will be a fun learning experience and something we can do together.

We are being intentional about leaving time for fun and even more intentional about building strong community - which will lead to fun and a lot of balance. We laugh every day - it seems a lot of our laughter is because of Jette. Goodness, she is magic - the amount of joy she brings into our home and into our hearts is remarkable. She doesn't have to do much and we just beam over her. Her little personality isn't little at all. She is a happy baby and smiles easy. She is very curious and loves being outside. She steamrolls all her toys and gets around by rolling around. She scoots a little - mostly rolls. She takes a couple naps a day and is getting up twice (usually) at night. She loves avocado - just likes her moms and isn't into bananas. She makes the cutest noises all day and night. She still loves the bath but is nearly too big for her baby bathtub yet too small to be in the bath without it (she's probably just fine without it - I realize baby bathtubs haven't been a thing forever). I am obviously biased but Jette seems to be such a cool person. She has a great temperament. I love watching her learn and grow and I appreciate the differences I am noticing in myself.

 

We got a house

Goodness, so much has been going on. And 5am seems to be the only time of day I can sit down and write about it. #momlife.

First things first, we are adjusting to life without Harley boy. I miss him terribly. There are moments when I forget he isn't home and find myself excited to see him when I open the door for a split second. When I remember he isn't going to be there my heart breaks a little. I have had my share of meltdowns AND I have to admit that there is a sense of relief. I didn't realize how much I altered my life for that pup. Of course I was happy to do it AND it's nice not to have to do that anymore. We will pick up his ashes this week and are planning to take some with us to our new home and spread them in our new back yard (which is more like the forest) and take the rest to his favorite beach. I'm eager to do that.

And yes, our new home! We got a house and we're closing on the 15th. WILD. We are moving to Kenmore into the most beautiful house and we are over the moon about it. The nerves from when we first learned we got the house have settled a bit. I mean, we never in a million years thought we'd get this house. From what we understand there was quite a bit of interest and several offers. We put our offer in just because - and it was accepted. We were shocked. Our shock quickly turned into a nervous excitement. The nervous part  because this house/the neighborhood is so different than what we're used to. We can walk everywhere from where we are now. There are weeks Erin won't use a car because she can walk to work and everywhere else she has to go. Not anymore. She will (we both will) have a 30ish minute commute and will have to jump in the car for a couple minutes to get to where we have to go (store, coffee shop, restaurants, etc).  We close on the 15th but have until the end of the month to get out of our current place. I'll keep the blog updated on how it all goes.

A few pictures from the original listing:



We returned home from Zion National Park Tuesday night. We spent 5 days there with my family. It was incredibly special to be there with all of them. Zion and the rest of Southern Utah is a very special place to me so having all of the people I love most in a place I love very much was fun for me. Plus, Erin and I aren't seeing each other much. She goes to work when I get home from work - so getting out of our routine as often as we can feels particularly important. I love spending time with her being outside. I love that we both enjoy hiking - even in 100 degree weather. We are both up for pushing ourselves and trying as much as we can with baby. Jette seemed to be the youngest hiker on all the trails and it made me feel proud of us. We are continuing to do the things we love to do. Sure, it looks different - we might not be able to go as far or fast as we would without her and we may have chosen to do different hikes if we left her at home - but we did most everything with her strapped to one of us and we loved it! Aside from the hiking and swimming it was so fun to watch Jette interact with my parents, siblings and her cousins. My fam adores her and she seems to adore them too. I look forward to watch how my family evolves as time goes on.

Jette is a very social baby. She doesn't seem to mind when others pick her up. She is equally chatty and smiley and it's the cutest. She has gotten to the stage of grabbing things and instantly putting whatever she grabbed into her mouth. Sleeping through the night isn't her favorite - which is nudging Erin and I to get strict(er) about a routine and sleep training. She doesn't like to be cuddled or rocked. She likes to be in positions where she is upright so she can see what's going on around her. She is incredibly curious. She loves being outside and she loves music - particularly when we sing to her. She is such a cool little person and I love watching her learn and grow.
Watching her learn and grow while watching what's happening in our country provokes a bit of anxiety. The hurricanes, the flooding, the fires, DACA, Charlottesville and so many other things, too. It seems we aren't caring for each other and our planet is reacting. And of course, we aren't taking care of our planet. Erin and I were watching the news yesterday and in the middle of story after horrible story we committed to do a little more. We are going to be more aware of recycling and composting and using less water. We are going to be less wasteful. It feels little and insignificant but if everyone did that perhaps we could make a little bit of a difference. And of course, we are finding ways to support our immigrant friends and neighbors - because we are them and they are us. When anyone hurts we all hurt in some way - and there are 800,000 people who are hurting right now.

There is a lot of exciting things happening and a lot sadness right now, too. Having Jette and interacting with all the other little people make me believe that everything will be okay. It has to be.