Dear Sweet Second Home,We knew this day would come. When we bought you 4 and a half years ago, before our two kids (and all of their stuff,) we realized we’d one day be short on space. We moved from a darling first home in Sleepy Hollow and were so excited to have found the place where we’d add to our family. While we didn’t envision spending forever here, it’s still hard to say goodbye to a place that has held so many memories, been the only home our girls have ever known, and witnessed all of the crazy of the first few years of parenthood.
When we moved in, you were covered in floral wallpaper and gold fixtures. We saw your potential, though, and my 27 week pregnant self stripped all of the wallpaper and painted every.single.room before our first baby was born. I meticulously chose paint colors, bedding, and decor for each of our daughter’s nurseries, and the thought of taking it all down and packing it away pains me a little. Right at the end of both my pregnancies, I would sit in the rocking chair in the completed nursery and dream about what was to come.
You will remain such a big part of so many vivid memories. You welcomed us home from the hospital first as a family of three and then again as a family of four – We have pictures in the living room minutes after bringing each of our new babies home. Your amazing backyard was the place where our first little lady FINALLY decided to crawl after months of coaxing. Our girls both took their first steps (which in the blink of an eye led to laps run around the main floor) on your living room rug. Your upstairs bedrooms saw me at all hours of the night with both girls – who both just so happened to be awful sleepers for the first year of their lives – and were a comforting place while I struggled through the first several weeks of breastfeeding. Your kitchen walls witnessed me telling my husband we were expecting our second baby the day before Easter. These hardly scratch the surface – there are memories of Christmas mornings, Thanksgiving dinners, Easter egg dying, birthday parties, and cookouts.
You saw me change from a 25 year old expecting her first baby and working from home full time to a nearly 30 year old mom of two who has moved her once bedroom-sized office down to a corner of the basement playroom. You witnessed me yell way too much, burst into tears of exhaustion and frustration, sing my babies to sleep, dance in the living room, and grin from ear to ear watching them learn something new. You were my refuge as I navigated my postpartum anxiety, and learned how to parent two children while running two businesses from home with a husband who travels a large portion of the time. You have been a safe place, not only for me, but for my husband and kids, which is so necessary in this crazy world.
So, I guess this is goodbye. I truly feel like we left you better than we found you (and we found you in pretty dang good shape…minus the wallpaper), and I pray another family loves you just as much as we have. I can pretty much guarantee we’ll drive by anytime we’re in the area and will look back on our time here so fondly.
All Our Love,
Your Former Owners
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