Laying Low and Playing Slow

I have fond memories of the brief period of time when Kev and I moved from Florida to Virginia.  We didn't know anybody and it was just him and me exploring our new stomping ground and finding our feet.
As much as I was resisting moving and leaving everything we were comfortable with, I have really enjoyed the last three weeks here in our new digs.  We don't know anyone so we have no outstanding commitments except to each other which is a little bit refreshing.  We are spending are evenings together, I am cooking dinner almost every night, we are laughing more, and that is the real reason why we made yet another big move.
As for the house...I know pinning over a house was a little bit silly, but I really liked my old house.  We had poured some love into it and I was more attached to it than I thought I was.
This is the front of our new house

I put it on my instagram the other day and one of my friends commented "this house was made for you."  I call it our little blue cottage by the sea.  It is missing things that we had before like a garage, a large yard, and room to park both of our cars, but just a minute from our door we have this.

And most days or nights we take our girls for a walk and I take pictures like this with my phone because I can't get the camera to work.

I would say that we are settling in just fine.  In fact we met a man the other night who told us now that we are here we are never going to leave.  Maybe he is right, maybe it is because summer is easing itself in slowly and being outside is better than being in, but I am loving the easiness that comes with living near the beach.  

Before I end this post, since blogging hasn't been a priority in my life lately I throw these strawberry picking pictures in at no extra charge.  The girls and I drove out to the country our first week here to pick some lovelies.  We lingered there all day and when we came home we made Kevo a strawberry rhubarb crumble...it was tasty.  I actually wish I had more of it right now.

One more thing, I am very aware that the little girl above and below is about to loose her title as my baby.  I've been savoring things about her that still seem so little to me, like the way she talks, and the way she sleeps with her mouth just so.  I know that when her brother arrives, if there were traces of baby left they will all but melt away.  She is my shadow, my little helper.  Even now she is sitting at my feet pretend cooking while I type. I hope that never changes, even when there is a new baby in my arms.  Nearly 2 1/2 years later and I still think she is the sweetest little thing I ever did know.

I think that catches me up, sort of.  Maybe next time I'll stage the little blue cottage and take some pics for you.  Right now there is still no pictures on the walls, and there are toys on the floor.
Even if I stage pictures, there will probably still be toys on the floor and I'm okay with that. :)
I like it here.
Grace and peace
xoxo

Breath In Breath Out

I have let this space fall silent before, but this might be the longest I have ever let it go.
The last few weeks have been full of getting things in order for our move, and doing things in Richmond one last time and saying goodbye to friends for the time being.  It was all harder than I thought it was going to be.

The movers arrived last Monday and I watch through bleary eyes as they took apart the playroom that I had put so much thought into, and as they took every single family photo down that I strategically placed on the dinning room wall.  Very wisely, Kev could see me coming unglued so he sent me to my friends house for the rest of the day.  When we returned and I saw my house, that was "perfect" for us, completely taken apart I cried. (There is going to be a lot of "I cried" in this post).

 We were sitting in the Libby's room, probably one of my favorite spaces in our old house, while the girls giggled and climbed on mountains of boxes, Kevin was talking about the lists of things we still had to do before we left and I just cried.  I can't put my finger on exactly what it was that made me so sad, but I think that letting go of things is never easy, especially when nothing truly bad ever happened there.  My friend did point out that I basically lived there alone for the last 6 months and that we were moving to the beach and that things were going to be just as they should be.  So for the next two days when I went in the house I chanted Scarlet O'hara in my head "I'll think about that tomorrow." Somehow when I pulled away from Hunter's Chase Court I didn't fall to pieces, I just told the girls "we're going to our new house at the beach," and we talked about all the fun things we would get to do once we settled in.

When we pulled into our new house, our cottage, all I could think was how small it looked in comparison to what we just left.  As move in day carried on, my anxiety was mounting, I could feel it.  I was short with Kev, I was short with girls, I was loosing it.  At whatever ungodly hour I crawled into bed I looked at him and asked if we had made a huge mistake, and then the tears came back, and cried until I fell asleep.  We  were so comfortable at our old house, the girls could run, the dog could run, everything had a place.   At that very low point Wednesday night I felt like we just walked away from the perfect life.

I woke up Thursday morning and remembered a text that my friend Julie had sent me the day before, all she said was that "joy comes in the morning."  The sun was shinning, the beach was just down the street, and I had a house that I needed to turn into our home.  I put my rubber gloves on, Kev started unpacking, and because they are so unbelievably good at it, my darlings laughed and played all day long.

 Joy did come in the morning.  Friday morning I was picking up Libby's room and I heard myself say "I love this room."  We are settling in slowly.  There are still a lot of boxes to unpack, there are curtains to hang, and I still need to find just the right space to hang all of our family photos, but I think the sadness over what we had is past.

Our new house is in a really unique setting.  We are, as I mentioned before, blocks from the beach, it is a blue cottage which marks the 4th house that Kev and I have lived in that it a shade of blue.  We have met lots of our neighbors and they are interesting to say the least.  We clearly aren't in suburbia any more.  There is Miss Audrey our 90 year old neighbor who lives alone and I think she seems like she needed us to move in, there is Vodka Kris, who though she is almost always intoxicated, still manages to give us helpful neighborhood tips, our neighbor the 50 year old surfer,much to delight of my husband,  and the man down the road with the dog treats, who is more interested in Gus than us.

That is where we are right now.  Together, happy, looking forward to what the next few months have in store for us.

One thing we know is that God has placed a little boy in our path.  In the midst of all the chaos of moving, we had a ultra sound that revealed that my girls were right all along, they are getting a little brother.  I love the way that God works.

 I always knew, even before I knew I was pregnant, that Liberty Rose and Maggie Bell would part of our life.  I don't what it was, mother's intuition or something, I just knew I would know them, I even feel like I had an idea of their personalities.  This one though, he had me stumped.  His sisters knew, they took care of it for me.  From about the time my belly started to show they named him Cooper and have told everyone they come across about him.  Finally, we know that they were right, and our new baby is a little boy.  I can't wait to meet him.  Mother's intuition is kicking in and I think I'm learning a little bit more about him each and everyday he is with me.  I am so thankful that I am able to experience this one more time.  I wasn't sure it was going to happen, but it has and I am grateful.

 I am grateful for every kick and wiggle that tells me he is here and preparing to meet us in the time that God appointed for him.  I am anxious to touch his skin, to watch him stretch, to feel him close to my face.  I can't wait to fall in love even more with my family when we welcome him into our lives here on the outside.

It is all going to happen here, in this little blue house by the beach.
It is a beautiful thing.

Grace and Peace

 xoxo
 Thanks to my friend Beth who took these lovely family photos for us at our old house before we left!