drumroll please...

It's official... we're buying a house!!!

Better pictures to come... this one is just from the online listing.

Making this announcement reminds me in a way of when we found out we were pregnant... part of me wants to jump around and squeal with excitement, and part of me wants to curl up in a little ball in the corner. (I'm not so good with major changes...) Don't get me wrong, the house is going to be perfect for our first home... just enough space, a yard for the dogs, a safe neighborhood with lots of families. But it's yet another step that Joe and I are taking that proves we are now adults. We have our first baby and now we're moving into a home that we own and are responsible for. No landlord to call, no free maintenance repair service. It's a step I have been looking forward to for a while (and there really won't be a better time for us to buy), but like every big change in life it is a step forward that seems to call for a brief look back. I realized once we decided to go through with the purchase of this house that I have to shift the way I define myself in my own life. I have to embrace the new joys and struggles ahead of me by learning from the ones in my past, but not by holding onto them. While I am still my parents' daughter, I am now also my daughter's mother. While I will always be welcomed with open arms (and a very happy mother) into my childhood home, I now have the responsibility of creating a home for my child.