One of the last mornings in our first home

This morning we woke up to a massive thunderstorm, with an awesome crack of lightening and ominous boom of thunder shaking Taylor from her bed and causing her to scamper into our room and crawl up between Chris and I. And after snuggling into us, the sweet grunting pleas of our little man started echoing out of the nursery, begging us to free him from his crib. And then there were four of us curled up together. And then Ruby jumped up to make the quintet complete. And as we sat there and warped into one big ball of family love, watching the leaves and branches dancing in the rain out of our big window, I closed my eyes and took a mental snapshot. This is one of the last mornings in our first home.

So to say I’ve been riding an emotional rollercoaster the past few days would be a bit of an understatement. I am so excited to move into our new house. Let me repeat that:  I AM SO EXCITED TO MOVE INTO OUR NEW HOUSE! We close on Thursday afternoon, and hope to be sleeping there on Saturday night. But I just need to get in there. Because for the past week I’ve been cleaning out cabinets and closets and under sinks and above appliances, and have pulled out and dusted off enough memories to last a lifetime.

This past weekend I tackled the half-bathroom, and underneath the sink I found a paraffin spa, ten different head and back and foot massage tools and a dozen votive candles, all with two inches of dust on them. And I showed them to Chris and said, Hey! Remember before we had kids and I would light a bunch of candles and then give you hot-wax hand treatments and rub your back? And then he got all starry eyed and said, DON’T throw the massagers away. We might use them again... Right?!?! Ah. My husband, the dreamer. LOVE that man!

I’ve also been going through lots and lots of clothes that I’ve been holding onto forever. I had cleared out most of the maternity wear and loaned it out to Libba. And last night I found a big tub full of old pants and skirts that I stashed away after getting pregnant with Luke. I really don’t like my skinny clothes looking at me when I’m a heffer. So I decided to torture myself and tried on a bunch of small pants, and I’ve still got a little bit of work to do. But I did find an old worn pair of JCrew khakis that I got when I was a senior in high school, and THEY STILL FIT! They looked awful, and when I skipped down the stairs to show my husband the accomplishment, he took one look at the highwaisted, ankle length threads and laughed and said, You’re NOT keeping those, right? And I twirled around him and chirped, NOT the point. I FIT INTO THEM. Go put on your letter-jacket and let’s slowdance to Celine Dion.

And while it’s fun to find these hidden treasures, and equally rewarding to toss a bunch of junk I’ve been holding onto for the past nearly-nine years, it’s pretty much impossible to get any packing or cleaning done while the two little people in our family are awake. And it’s equally challenging for Chris to try to paint rooms and make wear and tear repairs with the kids following him. So our most productive hours take place during naps and after bedtime. Which means that while the kids are awake, it’s business as usual. And this morning was no exception, as after Chris got up and started getting ready for work, I showed Taylor a couple of treasures I found while cleaning out closets the night before:

And then Luke showed off his bed acrobatics:

We then moved into the nursery, and my little man continued to stress me out by flexing his climbing muscles:

Taylor declared it was a ballerina sorta day, especially since the storms foiled our pool plans:

And then we made our way downstairs to eat breakfast, which happens to be one of Luke’s favorite parts of the day:

Yep. All this fun before the clock struck eight. And since I had a couple cups of French Roast in my system already, I sat down to record it. And now I sit here and wonder what our morning routine will be like a week from now, as we make our way through strange rooms and start transforming this new house into our home. It’s an adventure we have been talking about for months, and now it’s almost here. And before this new chapter in our life begins, we must say Goodbye to this home. The place where we have been making memories for the past nearly-nine years. And it’s going to be very emotional. But we have many, many memories and milestones ahead of us, and a new, wonderful place to make them.