Coming Home

I've been collecting these boxes since August!

Who knows what it is about Colorado.  When I first moved to Denver it was July 1, 2002.  I was 22 and for the most part moved on a whim.  I would tell people and still tell people that "it's close to home but away from home".  And when you are 22 the last place you want to be is where you grew up.  So I jetted off to Denver, 450 miles away from my parents house.  There was one small moment in time when I thought about leaving Denver the 13 years I lived there.  I knew I didn't want to go back to Albuquerque, but didn't know where to go, so I stayed in Denver.  Leaving Denver 19 months ago was probably one of the hardest things I ever had to do.  But knew it had to be done.  And never did I think that after we left would we be back.
Well we are coming back!  I'm super excited and nervous.  This move has been a long time coming. I've been thinking about moving almost daily since Chris came home and told me that he no longer had his job at the hospital here, which was back in August.  Because I'm such a planner I immediately thought of the next big holiday: Christmas.  And I would ask myself, I wonder where we are going to be for Christmas?  Then when Christmas came and went I focused on the next big deadline: our lease expiration.  Our lease expired at the end of April.  I would wonder what will come first?: Moving or our lease expiring?  With no real job prospect for Chris I soon realized that our lease would be expiring before any big move.  And since the lease was the only thing keeping us here I immediately thought: Lets just move back to Denver.  Which is what we are doing.  It's been a LOT of back and forth for Chris and I, but we finally have things set in stone.  We are buying a house in Thornton that is a very similar layout to our previous house and close on June 30th!
It's all very overwhelming because never did I think we end up where we left.
When we visited Colorado last month driving over the state line and into Colorado I got so emotional.  I felt home.  I felt this is where I'm suppose to be.  We looked at houses while we were there but didn't make an offer.  I left Colorado devastated.  Planning yet another version of my life.  Once Chris and I got on the same page we decided to put an offer an a house that we saw while we were there.  Which in all honesty tells me something was meant to be with this house, because after being on the market for almost 3 weeks it was still available (in the Denver market houses are usually only on the market for about a week).  And that is the house we are buying!
It's crazy that we left Colorado as a family of 3 and are now moving back as a family of 4.  What I'm most looking forward to in all of this is not moving again.  I'm not one to move around, and this unstability has not been good for me.  My mental and emotional self are not good right now, and have been in the worse shape they have ever been in.  I'm looking forward to just feeling settled and getting a routine.  It'll be a welcome change because I haven't really felt settled since August.
For the time being Chris will still be traveling back and forth to Sacramento for work, but we definitely have a goal to get him home and living with us full time!  But at least this way he only has to drive 30 minutes to the airport (compared to 90 minutes to drive to El Paso) and will have a non-stop flight.
I myself will also have to go back to work, and I have some things up and coming in that department too!  For now I'm working on all the logistics of this move.  First is finding a good moving company because I don't want to experience what we experienced last time!  So if you have any recommendations: please share!

Denver Trip

City Park

Alice, Marty, Helena, Mary, and Bennett

Marty, Chris, and Bennett

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The week after Easter we went to Denver.  The trip was multi-purposeful, and we had a great time.  I loved being back in Denver and experiencing it with my kids!  We got family pictures taken, Bennett's smash cake pictures, Bennett baptized, my in-laws came into town for the occasion, Chris and I had a date night out to one of our favorite Denver restaurants, we had play dates with Grayson and Dahlia, and we even shopped for a house!

We drove up the Wednesday after Easter, I found a really nice townhome on HomeAway.com and got everything unloaded, which took forever.  Thankfully the house had a lot of baby proofing items since Bennett started walking the beginning of April.  I had made a menu and grocery list prior to the trip so I went to the store to stalk up on everything.  I also stop by my friend Andrea's house and met her daughter Dahlia for the first time and picked up some toys and books that she graciously let us borrow while we were in town.  We got Tokyo Joe's for dinner and got the kids town for the night.
Thursday morning we went down to City Park for pictures.  There was a breeze that made it a little cool, but we got some great pictures!  We got lunch at Cafe Rio, then got the kids down for a nap while Chris and I did some house shopping.  That evening I planned a special date night for Chris and I to Guard and Grace, probably our most favorite restaurant downtown.  It was amazing.  Friday we met Andrea, Grayson, and Dahlia at Monkey Bizness to play around.  All the kids had a blast!  Grayson and Helena played so well together.  It was so nice to just hangout.  Friday afternoon Chris's Mom, Dad, and sister came into town.  I made dinner at the house and we all just hung out.  Sunday morning we went to church and Bennett got baptized.  It was amazing to be back with my church family.  Seeing Pastor Ken and the whole church was just a feeling of being home.  Seeing Bennett be baptized was such a blessing.  Pastor Ken made mention what we talked about while he was guiding us before he married us.  He remembered me mentioned that if Chris and I had kids I would bring them back here for him to baptize.  I was so impressed that he remembered something that I had mentioned almost 5 years ago!  After church everyone came back to the house where I had an amazing cinnamon french toast cooking in the crockpot.  The house was a very happy chaos with Grayson and Helena running around, and Dahlia and Bennett trying to keep up!  My cousin Cheryl came down from Fort Collins, and our amazing babysitter Chendra was also in attendance for Bennett's big day!  That afternoon Chris and I did some more house shopping.  Early Monday morning I drove Chris to the airport for him to fly back to Northern California.  Monday morning we had another playdate with Grayson and Dahlia at a local park.  Both kids loved the park!  Then we drove back to Albuquerque.
The trip was full!  I wish I had taken more pictures!  It was so great for my in-laws to make the drive to meet us there and I'm so thankful for my mom who did so much!  ...she watched the kids and so much more!

1 year of Bennett

My sweet sweet boy turned 1 on April 25th!  It has been such a crazy year, and through it all I'm so grateful to have this boy.  I'm happy to report that we have both survived!
Weight: 21lbs 10 oz (41%)
Height: 30.5 in (93%)
Head: as the doctor stated nobody is going to accuse him of a small head. :)

When I think about the past year I can't help but feel so blessed.  I've had a small village help me raise my two beautiful kids and I'm forever grateful.  I often ask how in the world I go so lucky to be gifted theses two amazing kids.  Helena set the bar high for ease, and I often prayed that my second child would also be "easy", and He definitely delivered.  Bennett is just easy, unless he is super tired he's just a breeze.  He tolerates his big sister and as of right now is a great listener and eater!
He did a great job on our trip to Denver (I still need to write about that!) and loves being outside.  He still refuses to hold his bottle, which I guess I'm ok with because in another few weeks I'll be taking the bottle away from him.  Lately he loves to give kisses and hugs which just melts my heart.  He falls and bumps his head and destroy of all things!  He has ruined so many books!  He plays well by himself but loves attention.
I love him so much!