Home Sweet Home....at last

Well, we are officially masochists...I mean homeowners. On November 7, we dragged our one-week old baby into a shiny conference room and he watched as we signed away our lives. "Don't worry Fionn," I whispered. "They make you give up your first-born, so you're safe."

After four months of searching and negotiating and crying a lot of frustrated tears, the house-buying process is finally over and the house-owning process had begun. Back four months ago, getting a new house seemed like such a good idea. Nine months ago, having a second baby seemed like such a good idea. Now, as I sit here with both my parents in town to help and still feeling like I'm going to lose my mind, I wonder exactly what we were thinking!

Here's just a snapshot from our days lately: imagine a baby is screaming for food and then proceeds to fill his diaper with poop, meanwhile the toddler who's running around like a maniac fills his diaper with an even more fragrant concoction, then the toilet malfunctions and fills the bathroom with an inch of water, then the previously mentioned baby throws up half of what he recently ate.

Or the scene from this morning when I dared to take a bath and witnessed the following: my mother struggling to dress a newly-bathed and screaming baby who promptly spits up while my father chases the toddler around the house trying to pin him into his highchair to eat breakfast, meanwhile the dog that everyone forgot to feed breakfast gets attention by throwing up bile all over the living room carpet. Add to that flooring estimates and spackling debates and paint samples spread all over the kitchen table and you have an idea of what life is like these days.

I just keep trying to remember how nice it's going to be when all the work is done and I have a house done the way I want and a rhythm to my days with two boys (or at least a survival plan). It will be good, it will be good, it will be good......

Here are some pictures of our new home and our new addition. (Oh, and a big brother update - Emerson will now gently pat his brother's head, "beep" his nose and push him in his baby swing. We're making progress!)


It's a 1948 house on a quiet street about 2 minutes from our current rental:


Our new street:


This is a little late, but I couldn't resist:


Little Fionn...has the weight of the world on his shoulders at 2 weeks old: