We Moved!

If these walls could talk they would tell you about the many indoor scooter rides, the sleepless nights of navigating life with a newborn and then a newborn & a toddler! They would tell you about Henry’s ‘Santa Secrets’ & his yellow obsession. Of course, Oli’s crib gymnastics & her Club Oli nights. They’ll give you a glimpse of the kitchen ‘concerts’, holidays entertaining family & friends, baby & weddings showers, Halloween parties & low country boils with my sister.
If these walls could talk, they would tell you how I would lay down next to Henry every night to pray, sing & talk with him before he fell asleep. He would keep his hand on my hand as he went down & if I moved before he was in a deep sleep, we’d have to start our nighttime routine all over again. I did this again with Olive but in her rocker. We rocked & checked for the ‘monstas’ every night.

If these walls could talk, they would tell you about the 496 needles that it took to make baby Oli. Fast forward to going into labor with Olive & shuffling around the home with a swifter & a confused toddler. And then bringing Olive home from the hospital and being greeted at home by Henry & his Nana on the front porch.

If these walls could talk & replay a reel of our last 5-1/2 years, you would see lots of superhero’s & sometimes those superheroes would run the streets in our neighborhood trying to save lives and fight crime. These walls would also tell you that a certain boy in our home wouldn’t let mommy wear her hair in a ponytail. They might even tell you a tale or two about a flocked Christmas tree & our pet Mini Gator.

If these walls could talk, they would tell you about the first time that Henry saw leaves on tree thanks to his new glasses. I never want to forget Oli taking her first steps to daddy in the kitchen either.

If these walls could talk, they would tell you how we started waiting for daddy to come home when Henry was a baby! Most nights included bubbles, popsicles & only a diaper, which turned to big kid undies.

If these walls could talk, they would tell you it’s not about the paint on the walls or the ‘things’ that and are inside. It’s about the memories that were made & that is why I’m having such a hard time closing the doors on this chapter in our lives.

Bye bye sweet home.

We moved!

It’s been a whirlwind, to be honest, and nobody warned me about 1) how emotional that would be and 2) how HARD moving was! I’m not going to lie, that was much harder than I ever expected. To our defense, we didn’t just move down the block and keep the same schools, dry cleaners, doctors, etc. we moved about 45 minutes away back into Charlotte. So the trips (with kids) to and from with carloads of our belongings was a bit overwhelming.

John and I always lived in uptown or Southend until December of 2013, and that’s when we made the hike to the burbs of Huntersville, and we stayed in Huntersville for five and a half years. We loved our home, enjoyed our neighborhood and adored neighbors, but something was missing. We knew before Henry started kindergarten that we would move – the timing of that milestone felt right.

Henry at two weeks old the day we moved in and Henry at five and a half years old the day we moved out. 

We said that we lived in Charlotte, but slept in Huntersville and that’s not far from the truth. In ten months, I put 24,000 miles on my car from the back and forth driving in and out of the city to serve my clients beauty needs. My job requires a lot of on-location appointments, which are typically in and around the center city of Charlotte. John works uptown, and we just spent so much time south of the city, so it made sense for our family. To be transparent, the thought of driving spending another minute inside the car and away from my family after a day of beautifying ladies just stressed me out.

It was incredibly hard to leave our house that we made a home. I wasn’t expecting that either. So many memories from the kids early years left behind. I’m not one to get attached to things, but I am very nostalgic and reliving memories can get the best of me. Especially after experiencing how quickly the years with the kids has just flown by. I walked through our empty home alone… echo from my steps and flooded by memories – the years of rocking Henry and laying next to him as he fell asleep. The thought of never experiencing that toddler superhero phase again… all of those memories are trapped in that home; I’ll never experience those again! The hundreds of injections that John and Henry gave to me to make sweet Olive. The Christmas mornings of the kiddos running down the stairs and leaving the reindeer food outside. The Easter egg hunts. The Halloween parties that we had for five years straight. The night that Henry told me that a baby sister was in my belly and that her favorite color was green… guess what, a couple of weeks later we found out it was a girl. The kitchen dance parties and the kiddos waking up on their birthday morning and seeing the excitement from their swollen, sleepy eyes are just a few of my favorites. Sweet Olive going through her ‘monsta’ phase.

Let’s say this move hit me hard. I went into a temporary hibernation while I digested my emotions and adjusted to our new change – which we love! So here we are… after living with friends for one week, we’ve been settled (and I say “settled” very lightly) into our new home for about three weeks now. It’s a mess. Nothing is in order or organized… baby steps, grace and patience! The first two and a half weeks I drove to and from the kiddos (old) school four times a day (that is 180 minutes // 3 hours total per day).  We’re still living out of boxes and we just (tonight!) set our tv up! We’ll get there! What we do love is our new location, yard, and quiet neighborhood. The kiddos have been living outside. We love the proximity to everything, especially my clients and the husband’s work!

It’s been a wonderful change, and I’m so thankful for our tribe who loved and cared for us during these challenging couple of months!

We miss the memories that we made in our old home terribly, but I know that we’ll fill this new home with a lot of love!

Day we moved in with a two week old Henry and the day we moved out with a five and a half year old Henry and a two year old Olive and two very (thankful!) and exhausted parents. 

Henry in his room!  That’s the wall his crib was once on. 

Olive was not phased by us moving out! lol. This was wall my favorite project and transformation in our home! 

Olive taking it all in! 

This one kills me!  Two week old baby Henry on the day we moved in and five and a half year old Henry on the day we moved out! 

Tears! 

Olive’s last night in her bedroom!

Last night sitting in his room… this child has been sleeping in our bedroom since December, BUT since moving – he’s been in his own room again!  

Olive’s last gymnastic trick in her bedroom! 

Olive’s last sleep in her bed and mommy’s last trip sleep stalking her in her bedroom!  Que the tears! 

We went to read one last book and realized we packed them all! So we took a picture instead! 

My coral, HomeGood’s piece was the last piece to come off the wall! 

The kiddos we’re so good and resiliant to the change… most of all – excited! 

We built our home too!  This last pic was as I pulled away from the driveway for the last time.  

Last dip in our (old) neighborhood pool!