Friday, October 28, 2011

There's no place like home...

Hi, remember me?  I have been *very* absent from blog land for a while.  We have been pretty busy around here.  Not only caring for Norah, who is 2 months old today (!!!)  but also moving...yes, you read that right, moving.  Really great timing, eh?  It has been a whirlwind of a month but I finally feel like I am starting to catch my breath.  Things take so much longer to accomplish these days and I am not near as productive as I once was but that is so okay because it means that I have a sweet little baby wrapped up in my arms who I get to hug and snuggle and kiss and rock and watch grow everyday.  It's pure love. <3

As I sat down to write this post , I wanted to pick out a few pictures to go with this post.  Two hours later, I have gone through almost my whole iphoto library getting caught up in how much time and life changes us (and how skinny I used to be :).  Reminiscing about so many memories; happy times and horrible ones.

We have lived in our sweet little house for the past five and a half years.  A lot has happened to us in those five and a half years, it was our first home (I am not counting apartment living) and I am desperately sad to be saying goodbye to it.  It almost feels like I am leaving a little bit of myself behind, leaving the old me.  I mean, that girl has been long gone since June 2010 but she had a lot of happy memories packed away in these walls.

There is also a part of me that feels like I am leaving a little bit of Harper behind.  This is the only place that she ever had life, this is the place where we planned for her arrival with blissful abandon and then didn't get to bring her home, where her tree is planted, where we learned how to grieve for her, where so many tears have fallen , this was her home and it breaks my heart to leave.  Some may say it is good to start anew, to make a fresh beginning but it is also hard to let go.  I suppose I never will.

This is also the place where Chris and I got engaged, and the place we came home to after our honeymoon.  This is where we brought our pups home and tortured them with countless halloween/thanksgiving/Christmas costumes and laughed our arses off at how wrong we were.  This is where, despite the sad times, we have had countless good times, great times.

This is where we anxiously went through a pregnancy after our loss.  The place that hope finally started to creep back into our lives.  This is where my water broke and I went into labor on a random Sunday morning.  This is where we brought our sweet rainbow baby home.  It will always be Norah's first home, even if it was only for 7 weeks.

I realize that home is where your heart is and as long as you are with your loved ones, then you are home.  I know that a house is just a house; sheet rock, shingles and brick but it's more to me.  It's  memories, laughter and pain all wrapped up with lots of love.  This was and will always be our "gingerbread house" (notice the web address of this blog :)...a very special place.


Under the mistletoe <3


Baby Zeus


The torture begins


Poor Zeus, can't you tell he's our first??


Meet Luna :)


She's bossing him around already!


Elvis


French maid...this wig *may* have been put on one of the human's heads 
but it was more like a really bad toupee. :)


I think they have had enough.


Happy New Year!!


Date night!


Harper's BFP's!!


The day we found out!!  Happy, happy!!


<3





Taken 3 weeks before she was born.


Harper's tree and our first balloon release on her due date.


Remembering


Father's day 2011. About 27 weeks pregnant with Norah.


Harper's first birthday





Big mommy! Taken four days before Norah was born.


Daddy putting all of our shower loot together. Frick and Frack in the background.


Sweet Norah. 


Looking at Daddy.


Sweet smiles. Wearing her "little sister" onesie for the balloon release on October 15th.


Love.

6 comments:

Dana said...

I love all the pictures! I'm so glad you posted them all. The dogs are so cute and I love all the costumes. I love seeing the pictures taken when you were expecting Harper and the pictures when you were expecting, and then holding, Norah. If those walls could talk, the things they would tell the new owners.

We moved out of the condo 3 months after Jacob was born. It was both good and bad. Good because I had so many dark days there when I just wanted to die, that it was good to be in new surroundings. Bad because I also had the best days of my life there with Jacob. I thought I would really miss it because of that, but it hasn't been bad. I feel a but nostalgic looking at the pictures and remembering how I looked out that window when pregnant, how I watched my belly grow in the bathroom mirror, how I threw up in the bathroom alot. But it was easier to leave than I thought it would be.

Lj82 said...

Congratulations on the new house. And how beautiful is Norah? :)

Allison said...

Aww, congrats on your new place! I can imagine how hard it is to be saying goodbye to such a special place. You and Chris have so many special memories there. The doggie pictures are so adorable. I loved seeing the pictures of your pregnancies with Harper and Norah. Your house will always hold special memories of your daughters and I know you will make many new wonderful memories in your new home. And Harper will be there for each one of them <3 Big big hugs! And I have to say again how beautiful and precious Norah is! <3 <3 <3

Caroline said...

I know I'm going to have a hard time with this too. This was really beautiful though - I loved each and every one of these pictures. So much love for the dogs (LOVE the puppy pics) and so much love between you and Chris and SO SO much love for those little girls <3 - that will shine through no matter where you live, I have no doubt. Just as I have no doubt those dogs will be tortured no matter where you live :)

Crystal said...

Congratulations on the new house! Norah is getting so big. I'm sure her big sister is looking down on you all with love and pride!

Big Love, Big Acceptance - or so I say said...

Love, love, love all the photos! Thanks for sharing!

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