The Big Move

We're moving.

I'm packing.

Very slowly, I am packing up the last 7 years of our life in this house.

We aren't moving because we have run out of space with Wee Man now home. We aren't moving because our house is old beyond repair. Our lovely little 2 story home was built, by us, just over 7 years ago. We love our home. It is the perfect family home.

Why are we moving? I ask that question every day.

For years, almost 10 to be exact, Yvan and I have walked through the neighbourhood we live in. At first it was just the 2 of us when we first started dating. Yvan would come over to my little apartment (which is about 6 blocks from where we live currently) and we would take walks at night and talk about owing a home in this lively, lovely, family-friendly neighbourhood. We talked about the family we would have here. Then we added a cute, little Chihuahua to our walk, and then another one and last year Wee Man became part of our walk abouts. We dreamed of living in a core neighbourhood with trees so well established they could tell you stories of a 100 years ago.

There was one street in particular we always dreamed of living on, but thought it would be years, and years, and years in our future, if ever.

6 months after we first started taking our walks together, we bought a wee, yellow house on a corner lot. I LOVED this house. It was cute with 2 bedrooms, one teeny bathroom and a basement that was crumbling with a slight moldy smell but I loved it!



2 years later we decided to build a new house in the place of the old house.

We built that house over a 6 month period from start to finish. We moved in to it in the dead of Winter which in Canada means end of January! Lucky for us the day wasn't too cold.

The house took some time becoming ours. At first it seemed so big and empty in comparison to our little yellow house. As we added touches of art and photos to the walls it slowly became home. Every family gathering we had or party with friends we loved, our house grew to be a cozy, warm home full of memories. We endured our struggles to become parents here....we agonized over whether or not our dreams of having a wee one join us to make our home complete would ever happen.

We celebrated birthdays and holidays here. We hosted dance parties in our living room, we sat outside in our little yard enjoying Saturday morning over the paper with 2 eggs served any style. We grieved the loss of loved ones in our home. We celebrated running our first 10k here, my sis-in-laws staggette was held here. Yvan's brother lived in our basement for 2 years.

So many memories here in our home.



We cried here a lot, we laughed here a lot, and dreamed of our future here....a lot!

Then one day! Our biggest dream of all came home. Wee Man! We celebrated his arrival with close family. We struggled through our first year here as a family of 3. We had good times and some bad times but we got through it all - the 3 of us!

One day, we took Wee Man and the 2 dogs for a walk. We ventured down our favourite street and said "What if one day we were able to build our dream house on this street?" The actual statement that was made went something like this:

Me: "You know, I think I might be ready to build another house again."
Him: "REALLY!!!!!!" Insert here - wheels turning in his head and boy could you hear those wheels!

Now, you have to know I was thinking it would take at least 2 years to find the right spot...the right house to tear down.

Someone, somewhere had other ideas.

2 weeks after I made the above statement we were signing the dotted line on our new home. Or I should say our new home soon to be torn down replaced by our dream home. (Be careful what you wish for...it might just come true!)

You might say we were crazy to think we could attempt to build a new house in the first year of being parents (to a 2 year old I might add) and those naysayers - well they would be right! It was crazy of us...let's just add some more stress to the pile why don't we?

There have been some very trying times over the last 6 months (yes, I know really the last year) but adding in the build put us on the precipice of losing our sanity. BUT, we can see light at the end of the tunnel. We are making it through the craziness together. Our new home, on the street we have always dreamed of living on, is soon to be complete. 2 months from now we should be unpacking boxes and settling in.

Then the adding of art and photos, having family gatherings, and parties with friends we love to make our house a home will begin again.