Tuesday, February 5, 2013

2 years and the changes



This month marks 2 years since Norah came to live with us!
How life has changed in almost every way imaginable!  Adding a child to your family certainly never makes life easier, just more blessed and full
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When Norah came to live with us:
I was still working 3 days a week
Brett worked at the call center at Compassion
I was pregnant
Brett was in school full time
The girls went to daycare, regularly
I had no clue what the true journey of adopting a child and bringing them into your home really meant
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It is sacrifice.
It is giving up ideas and impressions you had in your head of what you thought it would be like to be a parent
It is choosing to love, even if it doesn't always feel that easy
It is giving up the ideal of being in control and allowing God to the lead way
It is messy
It is fun
It is expensive 
It is exhausting
It is completely different, yet exactly the same as having a biological child
It is humbling
It is realizing that you don't get invited over for as many dinners

Yet, it is the biggest blessing our family could have ever known. She is a blessing
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Now here we are, 2 years later
3 children, all girls :O)
Brett works in the Accounting department at Compassion
Brett  also graduated from college!!
I work out of the home 7 hours a week (1 day), which I am pretty certain puts me more in the category of stay at home mom.  A title I thought I would never have, yet the Lord knew 
I don't know if Norah even has a memory of daycare, and the word will be forever foreign to Sarah

You can see how truly blessed we are!

And now we are putting our house on the market..... like this week!

 When we bought our town home it was perfect for what we thought the idea of our life would be, small family, no yard maintance (which can be difficult and expensive in dry colorado), gain a little equity in 5 years.  Little did we know how the economy would crash and our family would explode!  There has never been any possible way for us to sell our home until now. And we desperately need a Yard!

 So here we go!  Goodlin house for sale!

Oh and I have no idea how I might keep sane having to always having a clean home, get 3 toddlers and a cat out of the house to be ready for a showing? This is one of the many reasons we are praying it sells quickly!!! We have never sold a home before so if any of you have tips I am more than happy to hear them!




6 comments:

  1. I follow your blog through Celine's! We sold our house in SC with two 4 year olds running around! Here's my one tip... Buy extra laundry baskets and when you get that call and life is life and the house isn't perfect, throw everything into the laundry baskets, load them in the car and deal with it after the showing! Crazy --- absolutely, but did it save my sanity and anxiety-- more than once!

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    1. love this idea!! Anything to reduce stress and anxiety will certainly help! Thanks you! did you end up selling your house?

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  2. Our house goes on the market next week! So as I pray for a quick sell for us, I'm going to pray for you. Also, if you need a place to come during a showing, call me and bring the girls out. Hopefully, mine won't be showing at the same time. I'd love to see the girls and I know they like coming out here. love you guys, Kathy

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  3. I haven't sold a home yet, but I lived in a rental that was on the market, so we went through frequent showings during the time we lived there. My tips would be first, declutter the best that you can. If there is anywhere you can hide clutter, do it, because anyone coming to look at your home will look everywhere...every closet, even in cabinets. Obviously, you still need to live though, so you can't keep your home "show ready" all the time. Lay out a plan of what you will need to do before a showing. Talk to your realtor and tell them what a reasonable amount of time in advance is to schedule a showing so you have time to get the house around. I was once pressured into a showing 2 hours in advance, and even with only 1 child at the time, that was extremely stressful!
    Good luck and I hope it sells quickly!

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  4. Jenni! I love reading about the path God is leading you on! Your family is precious! My tips would be to take down as many "personals" as possible..ie: family pics and things. Declutter to the point of taking out furniture is necessary to make things look spacious. And, though they are more expensive, any wipes you can purchase, Windex, Lysol, etc...will be so helpful when you get a last minute showing and need to quickly wipe down mirrors and counters. Love the laundry basket idea too!!! (I hope it sells quickly and you find a new home with a yard! The rates are so great right now!!) Love ya!

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  5. Jenni - So exciting that you are selling your home...praying you will sell it quickly and find something perfect!

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