I meant to announce this on the blog last week, but was so busy wrapping up work before scrambling to pack that I never managed to get a post up!! Over the past week James and I have been in the processing of moving into our first house!! I can’t think of a better time to buy a house than when you are in the middle of an IVF cycle and the busiest part of your year for work – can you?! haha! Thankfully we had the world’s best realtor, Lindsay Kronk, (seriously – we cannot recommend her enough!!!) and she made the process as easy breezy as possible on us!!
As it turned out – the timing was a bit insane with it all. In the same week – we found out my pregnancy was viable – then the next day closed on our house – then the next day found out we were having twins at our first ultrasound!! Needless to say – it was a whirlwind of a week at the end of July, and has been even crazier ever since!! Anyway, last week during the start of our annual “summer break” (a two-week hiatus we take from shoots/weddings/meetings each August to catch up, refresh, reboot and enjoy a bit of summer) we finally made the big move and are officially in our home now! (It’s full of boxes and a total mess… and we may or may not still have half our kitchen at our old place yet to pack… but we are in!! That’s all that matters, right?!)
We are doing our best to hurry up and settle in so we are ready to get right back to work and roll right into the 2nd half of our wedding season… but pregnancy exhaustion is real – so it is taking a pinch longer than I thought. Our first night here was last Friday – and Chloe had a rough start to the move… crying and whining all over the house for the first night and morning. But after that initial anxiety she has calmed down and appears to be LOVING the new place – not to mention totally wearing herself out just running around in here!! I’m so happy she has more space to play, explore, and of course – most important in her eyes – to protect & guard the house!! (The squirrels and stray cats are a REAL THREAT, you guys. Obviously.)
As I’m in the process of unpacking I’m making a real attempt to sort through things, organize, and purge when necessary. On Sunday night I was making a good dent in organizing and unpacking my office when I stumbled upon a box of cards and love notes between James and I over the years. A majority of the ones I found were from early on in our relationship – when we had only known each other for mere months. It was so crazy to read through them and see how crazy we were about each other SO quickly!! Not to mention, funny to look back and think about how I thought I loved James the most I ever could way back then! I had no idea how we would grow over the years and how our love would strengthen even more with each day.
After reading through a few cards, I called James into my office to show him what I had found. I started to read the cards out loud to him… as we laughed and reminisced about those early days. Then I got to a card that I had given James during our first Christmas together. We had known each other almost 8 months at this point, but you would never guess it based on the words that I had written inside.
I began to read it out loud to James and just a paragraph or so into it – I started to lose it. The tears began to flow and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was as if the words I had written 8 years ago, when I had only just met James were not meant for us to read then… but rather meant to be found all these years later and to be read right then, in that moment… standing in our first home together while almost 8 weeks pregnant with twins. Babies we had prayed and hoped and fought for over the past 6 years of marriage. Babies we started to question if they were ever going to happen for us… in a home we thought we could never manage to make a reality at this point in our lives.
The cover of the card said, “I don’t have any wishes left for Christmas.” … and on the inside read, “You already came true.”
I went on to write,
“I thought the card was perfect for the occasion. I mean, really – where did you come from & how was I lucky enough to find you? (Well, technically Jess found you – but you get the idea.) 🙂
Anyway, I realize Christmas is not your favorite time of year because not only is it cold, but you don’t have many great memories of Christmas. I hope that now that we are together you can see that that will change for you. I can’t wait to make new memories for you of the holiday season. Memories with people you love & people who love you (me)! 🙂 – and someday, memories with our own house & tree & kids who will be equally excited about Christmas.
I see this as a turning point for you (hopefully!!) & someday you will be as excited as I am… for the tree & stockings & decorations & me in the kitchen decorating cookies with the kids. (I can see it… just close your eyes… and you can picture it all.) I hope that this all comes true… You make me so happy & I feel so blessed & pray that I get to share many many more holiday seasons with you.
I am crazy in love with you & those freckles! 🙂
Merry Christmas, Love.
Yours always,
XOXO Christy”
There are almost no words I can add to that. I know we still have many many more weeks to go with these little babies and that we are still four to five weeks away from the 2nd trimester… but in that moment, it all came full circle for me. All these dreams… hopes… prayers… laid out right in front of me in the form of a card I had written eight years ago. Dreams that became tarnished and dinged up over the years. Dreams I worried might never come true.
And now, here we are… in our first home waiting on the arrival of our first born little ones. I still cannot believe this is real life. We are both eternally grateful and not taking one moment for granted. We are humbled and happy… and taking it all day by day.
I hope if you are out there struggling to reach something you’ve been striving for – that you read this and it reminds you to never give up. Every dream you have is worth fighting for. Some days they may feel light years away – but you will get there. The road there may not look how you imagined it would – but somehow the crazy, winding, off-the-beaten-path journey will make it all the sweeter when you get there. Just keep moving forward one step at a time. XOXO
