Dear Thatcher

Dear Thatcher,

I wanted to write you a letter to tell you how special our time together this summer has been. Before I even typed the second letter, I started crying my eyes out :) Don't worry, it's happy tears. I'm crying because I am overwhelmed with joy and love when I think about you, and when I think about all the special memories we have together as a family, and as mother and son. I make it a point to cherish every day we have together, just the two of us, because soon your baby sister will be joining us. I know you probably won't remember much of your life before the age of 3 or 4, so I wanted to journal it for you in a sense.

Last summer you weren't walking yet, and it was a nice cool mild summer. It never got too hot. This summer, not only can you walk but you can RUN, and you can especially outrun me because I am big and pregnant. And it has been HOT. We have done a lot together this summer, play dates with friends, the zoo, the children's museum, and the public pool. Some days we just hang out with each other at home too, playing outside, going for walks, or watching cartoons.

One of my favorite memories this summer has been taking you to Joliet Splash Station. That's where the picture above is taken. We would go at least once a week, tried for 2, and sometimes even got a third day in. I was very proud of myself for taking you there on my own, and I was very proud of you because you were always a good boy there for me. We would arrive, find a chair, put on sunscreen, and then you were off and running into the pool. You LOVED it and squealed with glee every time. We would spend about a half hour to 45 minutes in the pool, sometimes we would go in the lazy river, but then we would take a break to go eat. We usually shared a bosco stick or a soft pretzel. You loved dipping your food, whether it be in ketchup, cheese, or marinara sauce. I loved to watch you as you sat with me at the table eating, enjoying our sunny day together. Then after we ate we would dip in the pool for about another 20 minutes, then we would head home.

Thatcher I love you more than words can say, you are more than I ever could have dreamed of. Even though we have a new family member coming soon, you will always be my first baby, my first son and I promise to always make time for just me and you. I cannot wait to see you as a big brother; I know you will adore your sister and she will absolutely adore you. Protect her and love her always; she is your family.

Love and many blessings,
Mommy

My dream house.

Thatcher and I are sitting here on the computer waiting for the house appraiser to come. He gave us the window of 9:30 to 10:30. I'm really clueless as to how all of this works, but 5 years ago when we bought the house we took out two loans, and the one loan is coming due this year, September 1st. With the new baby coming and the loan coming due, we thought we'd give selling the house a shot. We only had two showings, and really the thought of packing up and moving 7-9 months pregnant or with a newborn is not too appealing to me. So we pulled the house off the market to refinance. Now the prayer is that it appraises high enough for us to be able to refinance. If not, we owe a lot of money very soon.

My dream house is one that allows me to have a place for my family that is safe, clean, and cozy, where we are all together. The house we have now provides all of that. Even as I sit here I am tearing up because of how blessed we are. This is our first home, where a lot of our blood sweat and tears went into making it a cozy place for our family. I really do love this house and I know I will cry a lot when we eventually move and leave it. People keep asking me "What are you going to do??" in regards to bringing another baby home without a bedroom just for that baby. Well hello, what would you do if you were in this situation? You would survive and make the best out of it. People throughout time have had a lot less space with a lot more kids than this. Our family will have no choice but to be close and spend a lot of time together :) We will list the house again in the spring, and see how things go. Waiting allows us to save more money, and I believe God has the right buyer and seller in mind for us in His timing. We are very blessed that we don't have a huge house to try and sell that has lost $100k in value. We have a very humble home that I really think we can break even on.
So, with all that being said, here are some things I would love in our next house (my "dream" house):
A fenced in backyard.
A breezeway (I grew up with one and just happened to have one now, it's weird to me when houses don't have them).
A basement? (Not sure about this one, we are fine without a basement now, and not having to worry about a basement flooding is kind of nice)
A master bedroom with a master bath (and if that bath could have 2 sinks that would be wonderful).
A master bedroom big enough so that our bed can be in the middle of it instead of one side pushed up against a wall, so we can both have a nightstand.
At least 2 other bedrooms for our children/guests.
A big beautiful kitchen and dining area. I love to have people over.
A nice open floor plan. Some houses are "big," but they are broken up so much they feel small.
A second bathroom.
I would prefer an older house with character instead of a cookie cutter house.
Garages aren't really a big deal to Ben and I, so one big enough for one car is fine.
A lovely safe neighborhood, like the one we live in now. We love this location.
WALK IN CLOSETS. LOTS OF CLOSETS. CLOSETS EVERYWHERE. (I really do miss having closet space).
A porch in front and/or a deck in back.

I think that about sums it up.
And FYI, the guy didn't come until just after 10:30. Way to push it mister.