Bittersweet

The move to Maine is officially complete and we are no longer homeowners in the Commonwealth of Virginia. While we are extremely happy and excited to be moving on to our next chapter in life, it is bittersweet to leave that home behind.

What's the purchase of your first house without a little bubbly?

 As soon as we bought the place we started work. First thing to go was the tree outback that was in danger of crashing down on our house or our neighbors. With the violent rain storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, and freakishly large snowstorms over the ensuing five years, we're glad the tree was gone.

 Not too long after buying we added Harry to the family. Athena was more than happy to mock him at first.

One of the reasons we bought the house was because of the historic nature of it. Most of the windows had original glass - not the best for energy efficiency, but really cool looking in the winter.

 The energy efficiency was helped by having the windows restored. The one downside to this was while the windows were being restored some neighbors thought our house was condemned.

 ...and then the remodel. There's nothing quite like living in your master bedroom with two cats, a 70 lb dog, and your (in the grand scheme of things) relatively new spouse all while having your house become a construction zone. Thankfully we survived.

 One neat thing about the remodel was to fine the original siding on the house. Here you can see at least two or three layers of siding on top of the original. Not sure why anyone would every put up fake brick...

Remodel complete. It only took six months.

And then it started to snow.

 Among many memories of the house and our time there, the additions to our family will definitely stick out as some of the best. Here Molly hangs our in her new kitchen with her new best friend Harry.

 And really, when you have a newborn why not turn your patio into a construction site?

After Molly was born Katie started to get into baby wearing. While some in her immediate family (not me of course) may poke fun at her a little, the ability to carry the kids around without using a stroller or your hands has been amazing. It is hard to see how some people survive without it sometimes.

The final addition to our family was Wes. He may have not spent all that much time in the house, but he should know it was a good one. It was a great place to start and raise a family. Hopefully it will bring the new owners as much joy and happiness (and the stresses of owning a 150 year old house) as it did for us.

And then we moved to Maine

Giving Thanks

This past week or so has been a one of firsts for us. Some of these took way too long to accomplish, while others had to wait until the appropriate day on the calendar.

Right before Thanksgiving I was able to take a trip with the kids to see my grandmother in Keene, NH. Between my back issues earlier in the year and the move (and all that went with it) this was the first we were able to get out there. More importantly though, this is the first time my grandmother was able to meet her newest great-grandchild: Wesley.

Not surprisingly, Wes was all smiles the whole time.

 I really wanted this shot to come out. Wes had the best time showing off his ability to walk for his great-grandmother.

My parents were there too so they kids also got some more Grandma and Grandpa time which is always a good thing.

 

 We had the portrait lens on so it was difficult to get everyone in the frame for a good picture.

We (the kids especially) had a great time in Keene. Hopefully now that we're closer we'll be able to get out there more often.

And then came Thanksgiving. This was our first major holiday in the new house and the first time we'd made Thanksgiving dinner for a large number of guests (okay, so we had a lot of help this time too and only really made a few dishes - everyone else made the rest).

 Molly wasn't too sure about the turkey at first.

Wes, on the other hand was ready to eat.

...and what would a holiday be without a sink backing up (and backing up so much that a plumber was needed eventually). Thankfully (sorry) the previous owners put a sink in the mudroom which is right off the kitchen, thus preventing a complete disaster.

Not surprisingly, this was the best picture we could get of the whole group. Molly was up to her usual tricks of making interesting faces for nice, group photos.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we finally had Wes's 1st birthday party. Pushing the party back a week or two allowed more family to be there.

Yup, he's 1.

 At first Wes wasn't too sure of the cake and all of the people standing around starring at him.

He got the hang of it eventually.

This was Molly's 2nd 1st birthday party (as in, the second one she has been to, including her own). She did a much better job with the whole eating-cake-while-keeping-clean thing than she did for hers.

 After cake we decided it would be good to try and have a nice, orderly time of opening presents. Right. You can see the hoard of cousins that have descended on Wesley and his toys. Note to self: sugar + little kids does not = calm behavior.

Wesley got some great gifts, including some cool hats. Now it he would only let us put them on his head...

I would like to say the water mark on half of Wes's shirt is from a cup of water slipping. But that's not true. He drools like a madman. Hopefully he's just teething and isn't actually a madman.

Year One

One year ago we welcomed this little bugger into the world. It has been quite a year with many life changing events, most of which were for the better (we could have done without the severely herniated disc in my back).

At 8pm sharp on his due date Wesley showed up... and promptly stuck his tongue out at us (a sign of things to come?). Okay, so this picture was actually a day or two later, but still, he's pretty cute.

There really is nothing like a sleeping baby.

On the whole Molly has been a great big sister, but as the look on her face shows in this picture, sometimes she's not quite sure what to do with Wes (or "Wes-ha Ma-thue" as she sometimes calls him).

One of the better major life events has been the move to Maine. Here is Wes enjoying the fresh air and open space. While he's crawling in this picture, he has been walking/running since about 10 months. For some perspective, Molly didn't start to walk until her first birthday.

 What would a move to Maine be without blueberry pancakes?

 Sometimes having a big sister has its downsides. Thankfully he's too young to know/care.

One of the interesting things for me has been to see the difference in the two kids. Molly has always been a face maker while, so far at least, Wes pretty much oscillates between extremely happy (always a good thing) and extremely upset (usually because he wants food and he wants it NOW!). Thankfully he is usually in the happy, go-along-get along mood.

One of the many great things about having two kids is that they automatically have a playmate. Since the move especially Wesley has been very interested in what Molly is doing and wanting to take part. Molly, in turn, has been thrilled to have Wes there (most of the time).

What this picture doesn't show is that they are both watching Baby Signing Time. This DVD series teaches kids basic sign language, a huge help to both us and Wes. He has a lot of signs down pat and can tell us if he's hungry (which he usually is), thirsty, sleepy, etc.

Here Molly and Wes are in their "rocket ship" ready to blast off. Molly was adamant that the ship could not go anywhere until Wesley was inside as well. She could care less if the two of us were with her as long as Wesley is there.

 Our iPhones have been a huge attraction for both kids.  Thankfully so has playing outside.

Did I mention we moved to Maine? Because it's already snowsuit time for the little one.