The Aardvark Home

Weeks 22 and 23 included some of the highest highs and the lowest lows, none (thankfully!) related to poor little Mango; s/he was just along for the ride.  We came home from Hawaii, tan and relaxed and ready to take on the house-buying world.  Little did we know we would spend our first days back at home trying to sort through a mortgage from hell, struggling to get in touch with the stupid Sovereign Bank mortgage lady (she only returned phonecalls from the mall, and only looked at documents on her iPhone), and wondering if, in fact, we would be homeless or homeful. 

After stress - lots of stress - and more time on the phone than either of us enjoys, our saga came to a close at the exact moment our house came to a close.  We did it!  And then we went back to the garage where the car was parked, Chris pushed me and the car to a start, and away we drove, all three of us (me, Chris, and the car - Mango doesn't squeal yet) squealing with delight. 

We met at the house that night after work, ate pizza, drank beer (just a teeny bit!), and celebrated our joy as the walls echoed around us.  We were home.  In the most quirky of all little houses, we were home.  And it felt wonderful. 

We moved piece by piece, but the majority of the work took place over the weekend with two saintly helpers: Scooter and Tracy.  No major glitches aside from the car being in the shop all day and the box spring not fitting up the stairs (enter saintly helper #1, Tracy, who drove to Franklin to retrieve a split-frame box spring for her pregnant cousin so that we would have a bed to sleep in that night).  We spent most of the day schlepping things around the house, but all told we were pleased with our efforts.  Oh, and the car was fixed (we think), and Chris was fed meat and cheese and a solo cup (yes, a SOLO cup) of wine by the Armenian mechanic, so all was right with the world.  AND we found the most wonderful little neighborhood tavern, Dunn Gaherin's, that we will call our own now that we have a home.  A HOME.  It feels so good. 

Some photos to share:

Our empty living room:

The kitchen, oh how I love the kitchen:

First dinner - pizza delivery - in the new home:

Celebratory sips:

Unpacking is not fun:

But caboose-like sheds in the backyard are (future home of the chickens)!

Back patio and tiered gardens for the Spring:

The back of our home (for some reason I don't have pictures of the front yet?):

And bathtub Mary (she came with the place):

A final reflection on the nature of a home: it's weird...up until now I knew we were having a baby, and I know having a baby doesn't take all that long in the grand scheme of things, but somehow now that the baby has a room, and we are settled into the home in which the baby will live...it all feels very soon!  In a wonderful way, but I think I'm now realizing just how crazy this whole pregnancy thing is... it's very fleeting...and, cliche as it may be, very precious. 

So far I've had what can only be considered an easy pregnancy - I felt crappy for a while, but nothing severe and not for too long - so often I almost forget what is happening to us, and, more specifically, what is happening to my body.  I'm incredibly fascinated by the whole ordeal...and I find it to be quite a peaceful experience to be so very in tune with some tiny little being with the cutest little fists I have ever seen...but time goes quickly, and life gets in the way, so I think all I'm saying is that constant reminders to cherish where we are in life and what we're going through never hurt.  Our first home, our first baby, our first year of marriage...we've lumped it all together into this magical year of change and growth and love...and even though it has just become our normal - our reality - sometimes it doesn't hurt to take a step back and reflect on the overwhelmingly positive string of emotions we have been blessed to feel this year.