Pink

When we first saw what would become our home, we  knew immediately the living room would have to be painted.   The owners had painted their living room a dusty, rosy, salmony pink.  It. was. awful.  To make it worse, they paired the wall color with red furniture. 

We wanted to paint the living room before we moved in.  The weekend before we closed, we went to Home Depot and bought paint samples and supplies.  We arrived at closing with paint samples, brushes, plastic sheeting, trays, etc so we could get the hideous color off our walls quicker than the ink could dry from our 452 signatures. 

Side note: When I changed my name, I surely didn’t plan on having to sign that entire name multiple times in one sitting.  I couldn’t decide which name to drop, so I just added my husbands at the end.  Four names.  Each time.  Each page. 

 

Now onto the pictures.  Here’s the before with our paint choices. 

Next up – the finished product.

Growing Up

Today is Darby's last day in his class.  He has been transitioning all week to the next class above him.  Tomorrow will be his first full day in the preschool class.  So, what will Mr. Darby be doing in his new class?  Potty training full time, drinking out of regular cups (ie no lids), and going to the cafe to eat.  This new class also follows a schedule with more educational goals.  I know Darby is ready to move up.  His vocabulary has just exploded.  He has been using two word sentences for a while now.   He loves flash cards.  And he absolutely loves colors.  He is more than happy to point out all the different colors - redt, lellow, buu.  I love the way he says orange.  I wish I could spell it how he says it.  Just imagine saying orange with a French accent. 

I had our promotion conference with his current teacher and new teacher. I was happy to hear how well behaved he is at school.  I got a little insight to his days at school. Apparently he saves his temper tantrums for his father and me.  I learned he also answers to "Barbie."  His favorite meal is pizza.  And he naps without issues (at school).  It's interesting to me to compare his school life with his home life.  I can watch him online at school, but it's different hearing your child's teacher describing him.

Isabelle is also doing well at school.  Both of my children are shy, but she is my gripped-by-fear-I-can't- talk child.  She has finally started talking to her teachers on her own.  She has made friends with her classmates and always has stories for me.  Her personality has continued to blossom.  She most definitely has opinions of her own and isn't shy to express them to those who she is comfortable with.

Her most favorite friend lives just down the street.   We are super lucky to have great friends who live in our neighborhood.  Their daughter, Alina, and Isabelle hit it off immediately.  Every day I'm asked if Alina can come over or if we can go to Alina's.  These two play so well together.  Most of the time they gang up on Darby. 

I love watching my kids grow up and develop their personalities.  It's very bittersweet.  Time goes by so fast and they will be grown before I know it. 

The Box

I have a box.  From the outside, it's just an ordinary shoe box.  To be specific, it's a J. Crew shoe box.  Very nondescript.  I haven't seen this box since it was packed in July 2009.  I knew where it was each time we moved.  I knew exactly which box contained my box.

When we moved to our home in December, I put my box in my closet.  It was still inside the other box, but I knew it was there.  I was comforted the box was close to me.  But I wasn't ready to open it until tonight.

After the kids had their baths and everyone was down stairs, I opened the box.  I took out those letters.  I read them.  I read about the weather in Alabama back in 2000 and 2001.  I read about mowing the grass, putting up jelly and going to church.  And I cried. 

These letters my not seem like much but they are precious to me.  My MawMaw wrote these letters to me when I first moved to Dallas.  I miss her. How I would love to have another letter.  Another conversation.  Another visit.  And I miss her more knowing my kids will never know her. 

I have stories and memories to share with my kids as they get older.  Isabelle has my old Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bag.  And I can't walk by a Cabbage Patch kid without thinking of her and Shawna, my first CP kid.  I remember the story of how she had to go to battle to get the "it" toy that Christmas.
I remember spending the night with her and baking cookies.  I'm thankful to have her old recipes - many of them handwritten.

I look back and see how precious that relationship was.  I was her only granddaughter.  I was pretty special to her even though I didn't realize it at the time. And now that I have kids and my parents are  grandparents, I want to make sure my children have that wonderful relationship with their grandparents.  I know it will be harder being far away.  But it will happen. I am determined.

Darby = Two

Hard to believe my baby is two.

Newbie

First Birthday

Handsome  

 Typical

Still Here

Yes, I'm still here.  Yes, I'm still blogging.  But you wouldn't know that by reading my blog.

I still have picture to get from my camera.  The same pictures I talked about in my last post plus every picture taken since.  I'm behind.  Way behind.  I could tell you all my excuses (moving, Christmas, JC & Gucci visit, etc) but who wants to hear them.

I'm not going to commit to a specific date for pictures.  But I do promise to have pictures soon.

I love being home.  In our home.  Our forever home.  We've painted.  And we're trying to make it ours.  But I am most happy about removing all boxes from my life.  Except shoe boxes.  Need those for my shoes. 

Unpacking has been different this time.  We are unpacking EVERY box this time.  Our last 3 moves we only unpacked necessities.  This time everything is coming out of the box and going somewhere in this house. 

Unpacking has been quite emotional.  I've found a lot of memories in my boxes.  I stumbled across a box of pictures.  These pictures were packed in July 2009.  I hadn't seen them since.  They were various pictures of my family through the years.  I was sharing them with Isabelle.  She pointed out Granddaddy and MawMaw Dorothy.  I showed her another picture of Granddaddy.  This one was from a while ago and MawMaw (my grandmother) was in it.  Isabelle argued with me over that one.  She didn't quite get it. 

I also found our wedding pictures.  I guess now I can finally have some framed and put on the walls (6+ years later).  Same for pics of the kids.  I found the picture of Gucci playing with his washtub.  It's exciting but bittersweet. 

We are home.

Homeowners

We are officially homeowners. We closed on our new home yesterday.  I'm so thankful the process is finally over.  Caleb and I went to lunch after closing to celebrate the new home and our anniversary. 

While at lunch we received a call that funding had completed and we were offical.  We headed over to our home and started putting paint samples on the wall.  We only going to paint two rooms before we move in.  The living room has to be painted.  It is a pink color.  Think salmon/rosy pink.  Not really our taste.

We are also painting Isabelle's room.  And we let Isabelle pick the color she wants us to paint her room.  If any of you know Isabelle, you won't be surprised with her color choice.  The color is actually called "Sleeping Beauty Pink."  Now she picked this color without knowing the name.  Just goes to show you Disney knows what they are doing.  And really, when you hold the paint chip up to her Aurora doll it matches exactly.  Personally, I'm not a fan of the color.  But it's her room.  And if it makes her happy, then I will be happy with it.

We didn't think Darby was quite old enough to pick his paint color yet.  But the bedrooms aren't painted any obnoxious colors.  So, we will move him in as is. 

I will try to blog about our new home and our moving progress.  We have carpet cleaners coming Saturday.  Movers coming Monday.  We will be in the new house Monday.  I can't wait. 

Isabelle and I already have plans to bake cookies in our new kitchen.  It has a gas range.  I'm in heaven.  And the kitchen is larger than any I've had before.  I can't wait to get in there and get busy.  I can picture myself rolling out my cinnamon rolls on the island.  Lots of counter space for jam prep.  It's exciting.

"I'll be Home for Christmas"

It feels weird to finally say it.  Yes, I will be home for Christmas.  No, we aren't making a trip to Alabama for the holidays. We will finally be in our house.  One that is all ours.  One that we can paint, hang pictures and do whatever we darn well please.  Well, we can do whatever we please as long as the HOA agrees. 

I feel like this home buying process has taken years.  And, I guess it really has.  The whole process started back while we were in Alabama.  After so many failed attempts at becoming home owners, we finally found one that will stick. 

I still worry that something will happen in the next week that will prevent us from closing.  Each time I get an email from our lender my heart jumps a little bit.  Our home buying luck has been horrendous.

I do think things happen for a reason.  There's a reason Alabama didn't work out for us.  And one day I it will make sense to me.  And in some ways, it already does.

Dallas is home.  Dallas has been home for us.  When we came back it was like we never left.  Honestly, adjusting to life here has really not been any adjustment at all.  Our friends are still awesome.  Our favorite shops are still here.  Our favorite restaurants are still here.  There has been some adjustment putting both kids in school full time and me going back into the work force.  But it all feels right. And I'm happy.

I do miss my family terribly.  I hate that my kids will not be physically close to their cousins, grandparents and great grandparents.  I got a little sad watching Lucy walk.  Isabelle and Darby loved watching it over and over and over.  And my heart breaks when Isabelle asks to go to Olivia's house.  Or when she wants to swim at JC's house.  Or when she asks for Aunt Linda to come over.  It's hard to explain to her why that's not going to happen.  But one day, Isabelle will realize how far apart Texas and Alabama truly is.

My kids will know about their Alabama roots.  They will know their extended family. They will understand Alabama football.  They may even learn a thing or two about cows.

And they will call Dallas home.