Quietly Home

Over two weeks ago we officially bought our house. They gave us keys and the garage door opener (a HUGE deal since I've had off street parking for the last 8 years!!) and we signed a few papers and it was ours. A few other things had to happen, but thats the simplified version. :) That night, I got to spend a few hours in the house by myself. We didn't move everything in until the next day, so it was just an empty unfamiliar house that had a big yard full of grass begging to be mowed. I sat on the front porch for a while just listening. I couldn't hear horns honking. I couldn't hear heels clicking. I couldn't hear the 4pm rush of people walk past as they made their way to the homeless mission down the street. There were no sirens, no buses, no cell phone conversations I couldn't help but over hear. No clouds of cigarette smoke lulling past. It was quiet. It was peaceful. It was perfect. The only sound I could hear was the wind. I had forgotten that the wind even made noise. My head has been clogged with all those other noises for so long I didn't even realize I missed the sound of the empty branches brushing each other as the wind danced through them. Soft sounds took over the very hard sounds I was so used to. And I felt home.

I had a LOT of fun living in the city. I moved there for the same reason any other new college graduate - the bars. I might have told my parents it was because it was closer to work - and in fact it was - but really it was for the fun and life of it all. The same reasons which made me so ready to leave the city were exactly what drew me there to begin with. I was once the loud mouth with clacking heels and cigarettes on my way to and from the bar 3-4 nights a week. I was at every event, every happy hour, so many concerts and festivals. For a while there was a part of me that thought I would miss that. But it's been so long since  doing those things felt right I don't think I will.

Within minutes of listening to those branches in the wind, I knew. This was my home. The home I've been waiting for. I've had apartments, dorm rooms, couches to crash on, other peoples houses to live in. But I haven't had a home since mine burned down in front of my on March 12, 1998. The void has been filled. I think I knew it before that moment on the front porch. When we saw the house, I immediately began planning where things would go. I envisioned Sam and Booger playing in the yard. I began to tell Sam bedtime stories about a boy named Sam and his dog named Daisy and their adventures in the woods. I knew it then. The wind just made it official. Well, that and the keys.

To say Sam loves it here would be an incredible understatement. He just runs from room to room with a slobbery smile. He comes and takes my finger (or if I'm lucky sometimes Phil's finger) and drags me outside for what could be hours of endless fun with bubbles, balls, and all those things he has been missing. My favorite moment so far has been going outside after dinner with Sam, Phil and Daisy. Daisy tends to run around like a maniac but the freedom of being off leash brings her joy you can see in her smile (which is almost as slobbery as Sam's). Sam and Phil blow bubbles. Sam cracks up when one pops on his nose or if it happens to land on Dadda's, well that's even funnier. I said to Phil, "It doesn't get much better than this does it?" His smile was big and answered my question without a word needed. We finally have what we have been missing. The closeness of family, both his side and my side (although I hate to say "side" since we really are all one). To have my uncle and Dad come by with truck loads of trees and shrubs unexpectedly simply because they wanted to help and know that our yard is in need of some landscaping. To have my aunts drop by and put away the kitchen or bring lunch or flowers. To have my sisters offering in anyway to help. My parents watching Sam while we get things organized. To know Sam will be closer to his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It all makes my heart happy. Grandpa is pretty much his favorite person on earth and I'm so excited that Sam will have the closeness to him that I had with my own grandfathers - who were just as important to me.

Sam quickly settled in. The first outing we took, he waved as we turned out of the driveway and said "Bye home." (Well actually he said "die, home" but thats just how his bye's come out.)

So here are a few (a lot) of photos from the last few weeks. Some are from our last days in the city, and the rest are our first days in the new house. A mix of film and digital shots.

Sam's learning how to use the light meter on himself.  

had to get some final "on the stoop" pics before we went from Hons to Hicks.  

Daisy is psyched to have a bed by a low window again. She stalks "our" groundhog. 

Sam's adapted to country life, with a little help from John Deere.

It takes a few hours to do, but Phil's already mastered the art of mowing the lawn.

When Grandpa's truck pulls in, the squealing and jumping up and down begins.

The early morning view out our bedroom window . . .  

our BIG front yard...

boxes and a fancy leprechaun

Lots of boxes at our house. An obstacle course, if you will, to get from the front of the house to the back. But boxes provide endless entertainment for 2 year olds. So it's a win-win. Except if you actually pack his toys, then all hell breaks loose. So I let him pack them himself. Which he has been doing for the last several days. It takes forever when you put things in and take them out over a hundred times a day. But that brings us back to the endless entertainment. :) 

We celebrated our LAST St. Patrick's Day in Federal Hill. And the celebrating was more about the fact that it was out last St. Patrick's Day in Federal Hill than the fact that it was St. Patrick's Day in general. No more bagpipes (played poorly). No more traditional Irish music blaring starting at 7am (and by traditional Irish music I mean Rhianna, Nikki Minaj and Pitbull of course). No more dodging puke on the sidewalk during an afternoon stroll. Ahhhh. Next year I can enjoy the holiday staring at LOTS of green. Green fields, green grass, green pancakes. Sam picked out his green shirt this year. I asked him if he wanted to be a fancy leprechaun, and he replied with an enthusiastic "Uh HUH!", so we went with the tie. ;)

Balloons, Cameras, Cakes, and a Car-Car

The weekend of birthday events was a success. We scaled down big time this year and just had a small party for Sam. Thankfully, this was the LAST party EVER we have to have at my sisters house. We're grateful they are so generous with their space, but dang is it annoying to host a party somewhere else. The next Boyer event WILL be in the new house. And I'm sure my sister won't mind that one bit either!

There was lots of cake, lots of jumping up and down with excitement, lots of clapping, lots of sugar, and lots more sugar, lots of cars, trains, elmo, and lots of fun.  We had to leave his new car-car behind at my sisters since we don't have room for it here, but he will be reunited with it in just a few short weeks. He did ask about it 3 times today but I distracted him fairly easily with other things.

Here are a few from the birthday festivities!

Carson was upset because we didn't turn off the lights for "Happy Birthday" . . .  

. . . so we sang it again, the right way.

two.

Tomorrow he's two. Whoa. While I can easily say I can't believe he's already two, I can just as easily say I can't believe he's ONLY two. It feels like he's been in my life forever as I can't remember life B.S. (that's before Sam, not my usual meaning of BS). The more I think about it, the more I realize that "two" is about to me my new theme. I'll have 2 boys. Two hineys to wipe. Two mouths to feed (well, three because I guess Phil still counts :) ). Two cribs. And too little time to myself in all likelihood. But I've transitioned. I don't care about pedicures, and I don't care about what my hair looks like. Although my UPS driver would probably say I should start caring about the latter - only he sees me at my "finest".

All I really care about is whether Sam is ok. Whether he having is fun. He wants to help me scoop my coffee into the coffee maker each morning. Is it easier to do it quickly myself? Definitely. But he pushes over the kitchen chair and climbs up holding the scoop as if he knows how important it is for me to have my coffee. He counts with me to 4, although every number sounds like "none". He wants to feed Daisy at night. He grabs her bowl and places it under his arm while he carefully pulls out the heavy dog food tub. He lets me scoop out and helps me count. He makes her sit and again while carefully balancing the bowl against his leg, he makes Daisy "give him five" before putting down her food. He still pushes around the corn popper while I vacuum, mimicking my actions. He claps at the end of the Sesame Street theme song but when Super Grover flies into that street sign, he looks concerned while saying "Oh no!". He wants nothing more than to put on his shoes and go outside. Or to Dada's car-car. He hates Mamma's car-car. He loves things that move - cars, trucks, trains, fire engines, etc - and calls them all "car-cars". They all make a "chop-choo" sound when he is playing with them. He likes to break things and watch me fix them so he can intentionally break them again and fix them on his own. Every time I ask him if he is excited about the new house, he tells me to get his shoes as if he's ready to go right this second. (So am I Bubba, so am I)

His world is about to change. He's going to have to share me. I don't know who its going to be harder on, me or him. But I know he is going to be such a good brother. He is so concerned about everyone else. He straps in his stuffed dog to his booster seat so he can eat lunch too. If he sees Snoop Dogg laying on the floor alone, he runs to him picks him  up and hugs him. Placing him in a better spot when the hug is over.

Already two.
Only two.

I love you Bubba. More than anything in the whole world.

(And a few from my minolta 35mm film camera. . . I've picked it back up and I'm determined not to be intimidated.)