We'll be together, with a roof right over our heads

Baby Ida is killing me here with her cereal at the table...I remember when we moved was when she stopped using a high chair, at the ripe old age of 18 months. Thus began the many, many dinnertimes of telling her that if she got up "one more time" we would put her dishes in the sink and she'd be all done.

Matt and I bought our house just about 2 years ago. We closed and moved in the first week of April but the last 2 weeks in March was when we did a lot of the initial paperwork, notified our landlord, started organizing and tossing stuff, etc. etc....so exciting. I was also wearing an orthopedic sandal at the time, side note. I look back at pictures of that time and just laugh and almost feel giddy at how much I love life and how funny it is in retrospect.

In 2 years we have done a fair amount to the house and well, it has done a fair amount to us. (I'm talking to you, HVAC and water heater.) The biggest and most exciting change was bringing home a brand-new baby--everything else sort of pales in comparison. We haven't done anything gigantic but lots of cosmetic changes. Matt installed a lot of baseboards. The two of us with some help from Phil have painted every room except the main floor bathroom. I'm a little surprised to say that I already need to repaint 2 walls which have seen a ton of abuse from us. And spackle 2 that have about 30 nail holes in them. (not surprised at that part.) Matt has done lots of repairs on various appliances and other things that aren't visible but are still major. He has hung several doors, installed a backsplash, replaced almost every light fixture and of course the kitchen counter and sink with big help from my dad. We have gratefully accepted a lot of help from our parents who are all willing to roll up their sleeves and dig in to big and small projects.

I'm hoping 2012 sees a few more doors hung, a remodeled bathroom, a new kitchen floor, a new banister on the basement stairs, and shrubs in the front yard. And a lot of painting projects which I just need to buckle down and do: our new kitchen table; the kitchen cabinets (I am repainting them. Are you shocked? No?); all the doors. Also I really hope I figure out a nice way to ask our neighbor to ease off on using his front porch as an ashtray. Funny that 2 years have passed and we have still never mentioned it. I guess after the first few months I mostly forgot about it but occasionally I think about it and think, "What the heck? That is so weird." We have good neighbors though. I love our neighborhood. I love our house. I loved our apartment but I love our house more. I love to see and hear my kids run back and forth through the rooms, up and down the stairs, in and out the front and back doors; ride their bikes up and down the sidewalk; make a huge mess in the sandbox; "paint" the siding with water; and attempt tossing Frisbees in the side yard.

The past two years haven't been all painting and orthopedic shoes and giddiness. Matt got laid off and we got to know what it was like to eat lots of canned foods. Thank you, food storage. There was plenty of barfing--only from Theo and me since Ida and Matt for some reason NEVER vomit. Ida has never vomited in her life. Weird? (The food storage and the vomiting were not connected--I don't think.) There was LOTS of crying, pretty much just from me and the kids. At the end of the first year in our house, Matt and I both got new jobs at about the same time. Matt's, which he is very good at and which he really enjoys, is an hour's drive away. In the year since then we have discussed more than once the very realistic possibility that we could sell or rent out our house sooner than we planned in order to be closer to his work. That's not my favorite plan given the aforementioned love for our house and 'hood but it is a possibility and I am always up for an adventure.

For now, since that's all either of us can speak for, we are here. We are loving the home we have made and loving the people in it more than ever.