Dear Etrain

Dear Etrain,

Today we moved out of our home. Our first home we shared as a family. The first home your dad and I lived in together. The home we brought you to from the hospital as a newborn. The home you learned to lift your head, roll over, crawl, and walk in. The home you and I have spent almost everyday in together playing, laughing, crying, learning and exploring. The home in a great neighborhood with amazing neighbors. The home Ginger had her puppies in (bad idea, but more on that another time). The home our family shared so many wonderful memories in. Needless to say I'm a little sad. No, I'm really sad.

Our family room where we hung out the most. We turned the dining room into a playroom for you, but had to put the table back for photos.

Our awesome backyard. So much room to run around.

Your bedroom. We spent many hours in here together.

We decided to sell our house so we could upgrade. We want to be on the other side of the freeway and closer to the ocean. We also want a slightly larger house and your dad really wants a pool (I'm sure I'll love having a pool, but right now I'm nervous about you and a pool). There's all the financial reasons that you'll understand when you're older too.

We wanted to upgrade, have been hunting for a while, and we found it! The perfect house. Well, almost perfect. We found the most awesome house at the perfect location, and it has a pool...and a view. You are going to love your room... and it's bigger than what you have now.  The positive and negative is that the house is dated. The negative is that we have to live in an apartment while we finish buying the house and then renovate it. The positive is we get to renovate it and make it look exactly how we want it.

So today we are leaving an amazing home and moving into a super small apartment. Half of our stuff is in storage (you loved playing in the pod when it was empty) and the rest in getting crammed into the apartment that we'll be in for at least 3 months if not longer. I'm grateful we have a place to live (when so many others in the world don't) and I'm grateful we have the means to do all we are doing for our new home (it's going to be amazing). It's just tough leaving the home I've loved for years and to be in transition for months.

You are such a trooper. We can take you anywhere and you just adapt to wherever we are. Right now you are hanging out with Nana Vigil for the day while we move, but you've already seen the new apartment and seemed just fine. We brought over some of your toys and you dove right in. The apartment complex also has a pool, which will be great for the summer. You already love the water, and now we can work on your swimming.

My parents always talk about the house we lived in for the first year of my life, and I have zero memory of it. You're so young that it'll be the same for you...which makes me a little sad. So your dad and I made videos of the house so you could at least see what it looks like. Mine is sort of silly because I filmed it on hyper-speed using my phone. Your dad has a fancy camera with a wide angle lens so you can see everything better.

I know you won't remember it, but know it was a wonderful home. Our new home will be awesome too...probably better.

Love,
Mama