As if having a baby was not enough change . . .

We have decided to go ahead and throw moving into the mix!  I have joked with people that I have taken nesting to the extreme, but in reality we have been talking about this move for awhile now.  We knew when Owen was born that we were quickly outgrowing our two-bedroom townhouse, but we loved our neighborhood, and we weren't really in a rush to relocate.  We discussed simply buying a house down here, but the reality is that Luke's work is north and our ultimate desire was to shorten his commute.  We checked out several locations and settled on Fairwood as the next place for us to buy.  We started looking in March/April with a deadline of May 31st to find something or else we were going to put off purchasing until summer 2013.  As time was starting to run out, a house we had been watching dropped its price, and we decided to jump on it.  We put in an offer an offer on May 20th, and on the 21st we accepted the sellers counteroffer.  That began 30 days of craziness for us! 
Right after we put in an offer, Luke had to fly down to Oklahoma for a week of work.  We spent quite a bit of time faxing paperwork back and forth and working on finding a time to get the inspection done.  The inspection took place the following weekend and resulted in a week of negotiations over some of the items we wanted to see dealt with in the house. In addition to all of this, we had decided to keep our townhouse as a rental.  Once we had the negotiations worked out on the new purchase, we decided it was time to list the townhouse on Craigslist.  Within three days we had four appointments scheduled for people who wanted to see it, and by the end of that week we had a signed lease agreement with a tenant that was excited about moving in July 1st.  Since then, we have been packing, cleaning, and preparing for our move.  Needless to say we are tired and have learned a lot about rentals and purchasing a new home in just a mere 30 days!  Thank you to everyone who has listened to our questions, offered advice, and helped us get this place ready!  Tomorrow is our official close date on the new house and we should be getting our keys in the afternoon.  This weekend we are moving, and we plan to finish up the final painting and projects on the townhouse over the next week before our tenant moves in the following weekend.  Since I can't seem to write a post without a picture, here is one of the home we are saying goodbye to and the one that we are excited to be moving into!

Here is a picture of our townhouse.  It is certainly bittersweet to leave it behind.  I am glad we still get to claim it as ours even though we won't be the ones living there.

Here is a picture of our new house in Fairwood.  We had wanted an older home that had been updated but still had room for us to add our own touches.  This house really is the perfect fit.  It has lots of room for us to grow, some great updates on the inside, and also lots of areas where we can get in there and change things to make it our own.  Granted all these changes will take time and certainly happen after baby boy #2 arrives!

Our Big Two Year Old!

It is hard to imagine that Owen is already two.  I am pretty sure I say that every time I write a post about him, but the reality is I am never ready for him to grow older.  I must say though I have enjoyed each stage of his growth and development, and although we have certainly entered into the stage of strong wills and tantrums, I am loving his toddler-hood.  He makes me laugh daily and brings me such great joy even on the rough days!  Owen, it has been a wonderful year and I am so excited to celebrate you and your big birthday. 

Here are his accomplishments since 18 months:

• Owen is talking up a storm.  He mimics most of what we say and is starting to talk in 2-3 word sentences.  My favorite sentence of his is, "I love you".  It is music to my ears and we try to get him to say it at least a dozen times a day!
• In addition to talking he loves to sing.  Both grandma's have spent time teaching him their favorite songs, and we often find him singing to himself or to anyone who will listen throughout the day.  Here are the songs he can sing most of/part of: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, ABC's, 5 little Monkey's, Apples and Bananas, Happy Birthday, Zacchaeus, and Ba Ba Black Sheep.  He has also started repeating any song on the radio that has an easy tune and repetitive lyrics.  It cracks us up every time he breaks out in song with Selena Gomez or Justin Bieber.
• Now that Owen is talking pretty well, he is also becoming more opinionated and vocalizing it.  We are trying to teach him how to use nice and kind words, but it has been a challenge.  His favorite phrase right now is "go away".  He says it when he is mad or playing.  He also really struggles with sharing and is starting to have "favorite things" (more on those later).  The other day, while we were at a friends house, he broke out in tears probably ten times because he had to share a toy or someone else had something he wanted.  He is not normally that possessive, but he does have his moments. 
• Like I just mentioned, Owen has a variety of favorite things.  Here is the list of things he loves right now:
• cars, trucks, planes, and trains
• sports: specifically basketball, football, and baseball
•  Curious George and Winnie the Pooh
• Reading books on any of the above subjects!
• His imagination with these toys has recently exploded as well and we love watching him play pretend with his monkeys or race his cars around the house making noises.  Owen also loves building forts, playing chase, and anything that involves being outdoors. 
• Owen is also looking forward to baby brother showing up!  He loves to give my belly hugs and kisses, and as of late, he has started telling me "baby out".  It is hard to communicate the fact that baby still a good month or so left before he is ready to arrive.  Time is a concept that is rather beyond him at this point. 

It amazes us how quickly he is developing at this age.  It seems that weekly he is expanding his vocabulary, thinking/problem solving skills, and gross motor movement.  He is certainly hard for this very pregnant momma to keep up with!

Here is our attempt to get a picture for his birthday invites.  It gives a little glimpse into our active little boy.

He started out in the chair for only a few moments

Then he decided it was time to get up and run

 

We got him to sit down again by offering chocolate chips.  Here he is asking for one more.

However, It didn't take long before he ran again. We had to take a break to nurse a skinned knee.

 But eventually we got a few smiles and steady poses.