Our House is a Very, Very, Very Fine House

I didn't really get to say goodbye to my old house. With all the hustle of getting everything into the new house, getting the old house cleaned, and just general everyday busy life; I never got to walk around my old house, take stock in the memories we made there the last four years, and just say goodbye. We close later today, and I still won't likely get that chance. So here goes.

Being the first house that I've ever owned, that we've ever owned, moving out is a bittersweet thing. Our family is growing, and we need more space.

There were times when I hated that house - like when the basement flooded and our cat, Scout, got sick in the same week. Or when water randomly started spraying out of the wall, and we realized the overall plumbing was crap. Or the leaky nightmare closet in the basement that I didn't like to go near when home alone. Overall, the numerous times something went wrong in that first couple of years.

But after putting time, energy, love (and yes, quite a bit of money) into that place; it became home, a haven, a place I looked forward to greeting each night.

It was the first house that truly belonged to us, and therefore truly belonged to my cat, Stewie. It's the house where we said goodbye to Stewie for the last time. It’s the house where we gave two wonderful cats, Scout and Wren, forever homes. It's the house where we put up real Christmas trees, laughed countless times, cried countless times, celebrated countless times, and hugged countless times. It’s the house where our first neighborhood greeting was by the wild turkeys that live in the area.

I survived my first pregnancy in that house. Our daughter spent her first 22 months of life in that house. It’s the house where Ahsoka and I watched the snow fall from the living room window; her eyes alight with wonder and excitement. I learned so much about life, home ownership, myself and what kind of parent I want to be - while living in that house. It's the house where I watched my husband become a wonderful father; strengthening our bond as partners, and our love for one another.

So thank you old house - thank you for all the memories, good and bad, and everything in between. I hope your new owners love you as much as we did.

The Child

I had my 20 week ultrasound for little Babs (we call her Babs because we still refer to our toddler as "Baby", and don't want to confuse her). Babs is healthy and on schedule! But most importantly, I am now half-way through my pregnancy. WOOT! Admittedly, I have already hit the point in pregnancy that every pregnant woman tends to hit deep into their third trimester - I am just done with it. I'm tired, sore, a bit overwhelmed, and ready to have a healthy baby. But I have 20 more weeks to go. I can be patient, but boy am I having a tough time this go around. I suspect that it has to do with aging.

Since baby is healthy, and I'm mostly healthy; I think I can largely attribute the difficulty and discomfort this time around to the fact that I'm pushing 39. My body is like "ENOUGH!" Don't worry body, we'll get back to our usual non-baby self in... I don't know, 2-3 years? I mean, it's not like you have the baby and, BOOM, body back to normal. There's breastfeeding for a minimum of a year (although possibly much longer as baby will dictate). there's the fact that it can take a couple of years for the uterus to go back down to the original size, and then there's the post-pregnancy and breastfeeding and weaning hormones. Dude, hormones are mother-fuckers. They can really throw things out of whack.

But I digress. I'm super excited to be at this next stage of pregnancy, and now that I know the baby's sex, I'm already debating a list of geeky-inspired names for the child. Oh man, maybe instead of referring to her as Babs, I should start calling her "The Child". Or "Baby Yoda". Okay, "Yoda" would also confuse Ahsoka since he's one of her favorite characters in her Star Wars board book. Seriously, if you want your toddler to start loving Star Wars early this is the book to add to their collection:

While I always encourage people to support their local book store, you can find it on Amazon HERE. You're welcome.

I Don't Understand Fashion

In today's random observation of pregnancy fashion, I just do not understand pregnancy jumpers (not to be confused with the British term for sweaters, but actual one-piece outfits that you have to take off from the top down). Especially since pregnancy, at least for me, comes with a fair amount of running to the bathroom almost every hour of the day, I feel like this fashion trend makes little to no sense for the average pregnant woman. Does the material shown below look lovely? Absolutely. But can I imagine my preggo ass looking flattering in said outfit? Not even a little bit. Aside from this very lovely model, who would?

Don't get me wrong, I don't really understand fashion or am very fashionable even when not pregnant. But for pregnancy, I'm mostly sticking to leggings and either oversized t-shirts for home, or leggings and dresses for work. Whatever is comfortable and soft as possible is my go to. Boring, probably. But pregnant or not, comfort is my priority above all else. I do love dressing cute, but that cute dress better have some functional pockets!

And that ends my rant for the morning. Carry on.