TMI Tuesday: Getting Used To New Surroundings

Our son was a little thrown off on Friday when he got home from daycare. He woke up in the townhouse and my wife brought him home to our house that same afternoon. Honestly, it was a bit of an odd experience for my wife as well. While there was a bit of an uncertain look in his eyes as my wife carried him through the door, it slowly subsided as we walked him around the house showing him all the rooms (including his bedroom and two playrooms), the variety of windows and views, and the bounty of grass that he will be able to enjoy when the weather gets warmer.

It was an abrupt change for him that first night but one that has gotten easier over the past several days. When we got him up the following morning he was more interested in exploring and less overwhelmed by everything around him. Slowly he became more comfortable and he seemed to come to the realization that we were now home. This is clearest when he is sitting the playroom downstairs. Every once in a while he will stop playing with his toys, flipping through his books, or trying to pry up the foam letters on the floor and look out the window at the grass and woods behind the property.

Overall, our son seems to have followed in our lead and becoming much more relaxed at home. While there is still a clear adjustment taking place, he is much more active and happier overall. Actually, he seems to enjoy it when we take him around the house now that things are still new yet also familiar.

He is also getting used to the extra space in his room. There is a greater freedom in not having the walls so close and there is less interruptions to his sleep now that mommy and daddy no longer have to sneak by his room to go to bed. Just this simple fact has made a huge difference and, in a certain regard, has proven to be the biggest change to which we have had to adjust.

The important thing is that our son seems to be happy with his new home and my wife and I are happy to have found a home for our son. This is the place where he is going to grow up… but, right now, he is still getting used to it. Of course, what he doesn’t know is that there are more changes coming his way next week.

Mortgage Monday: The Beginning

It is time for a new series… having purchased and moved into our new home last week I thought it appropriate to write a post every Monday about being a new homeowner. While the topics may vary these blogs will all be rooted in our recent purchase, the process, and some of the things that happen along the way. I will be writing about the services we use, experiences we have had, or simply how much things have changed in comparison to our years (and year) or renting. It is certainly a change for us but a great one that I want to share with all of you that continue to read these posts.

The process of finding a home was a long one to say the least. As I have written about numerous times before, this has been a dream of ours for years (certainly preceding the formation of this blog) and a search that has taken us to numerous places throughout the area, into other states, and even to a foreign country. While our criteria has changed since our first discussion about what we wanted our home to be, we currently find ourselves in the perfect place at the perfect time. Finally, we have a place to set our roots and a place where we can raise our son.

Looking back there are certainly things that we would have liked to have changed along the way. Even recently, it took a deal falling through on inspections in order for us to find our perfect home but, as we have been told many times before and as we keep telling ourselves, things happen for a reason. However, while we are happy with this wonderful change and becoming homeowners, my wife and I definitely agree and wish that this whole process had gone differently. Our ability to find a home came at a price that we were forced to pay and we know that we would give this all back if a refund were offered.

Look for more posts in the future that will get into some of the additional details about the process and some of the experiences that we have along the way both good and bad (hopefully there will be an absence of content for the latter). But, for now, we are going to enjoy this new way of living and the additional comfort and security that owning a home has to offer to us. And, of course, some stories about the adjustments that we are all making to this new reality.

Frequent Errands

One thing that has definitely increased both since we found out about our son’s arrival and since his birth is the number of errands that we have to run. This is pretty much on a daily basis as there is always one thing or another that we have to pick up, drop off, exchange, or just get more information as well as a plethora of appointments. And it really doesn’t matter how well prepared you think you are, there is always that one essential item that is missing from your stockpile of baby stuff.

I do my best to take care of most of these things, so long as they can wait until the end of the work day when I am on my way home, but, for the most part, my wife is the one that has to run back and forth trying to get everything done during the day. This would be hectic enough if it was just her but adding the preparation and logistics needed to get the baby ready and out the door adds to both the length of the commitment and the energy it takes to get some of these seemingly simple things done. I don’t know where she finds the energy but, somehow, she is managing to get all of the constant errands done.

All of these small time and energy consuming trips during the day are something that we tried to prepare for but, in the end, we weren’t expecting. While no one thing in particular is consuming the hours in our days, all of these small trips have added up. Some days more than others and overall having a huge impact on our schedules. Hopefully things will calm down a bit in the coming months but we are definitely not holding our breaths for that.

This is why I have been trying to stick to a more consistent schedule at work. In the past, my departure from the office has been fairly open ended. There were some nights when I would get back home well past eight and sometimes long after 10. Now I am doing my best to get home by 7 while trying to walk through the door around 6:30. This allows me to both get some of those other things done but also allows me to spend more time with our son while giving my wife a much needed break at the end of her day.

It is not a perfect system by any means but it is working fairly well thus far. It may be time to take a day off here and there to better prepare above and beyond our anticipated needs. Until then we will have to keep trying to become more and more efficient with these small trips.