Brad's Job:
Last time I wrote, our living situation was still up in the air. Brad was sought out by Amazon and interviewed a few times with them. He flew out to WA to do the final round of interviews. He told me it was all going really well until his last meeting with the person that would be his boss. During the interview, he said he could feel himself not doing well, but he was too distracted. He couldn't figure out if the guy was wearing makeup or not. Lol. During his trip, he met a guy from Ireland who had just been hired and was there for more training. The last night he was there, they met at a local place for some dinner. He asked Brad if he wanted to grab a couple of drinks nearby. As they were sitting at the bar, he turns to Brad and says, "Alright American, let's see who can drink more." As a true Enneagram 8, Brad couldn't walk away from a good challenge. Sure enough, dude outdrank an Irishman. When the guy asked how that was even possible, Brad answered, "It's all because of a girl named April Pressley!" (when Brad first started with AVG, part of the culture was to go out for drinks with the higher ups, since that's basically all Europeans do. Lol. He was still pretty new to alcohol, and his tolerance wasn't very high. April literally taught him how to drink so he could keep up with them without getting drunk). I have a feeling however much they'd had was plenty though, because then they went outside and the Irishman challenged him to a foot race. Brad won that too. LolA week or so after he came home, we heard back from Amazon. They really liked him and felt like he'd be perfect in that environment but maybe in a role with more leadership. Basically we're pretty sure his potential future boss picked up on Brad's confused vibe.
House:
Since Amazon wasn't happening, we knew we needed to start looking at homes soon. After Brad's dad got remarried (still weird, fyi), Laura and his dad gave us a lease agreement that we had to sign. It was all so stupid. The original plan when we sold our home was to use that money to pay off debt, save up a little, and start fresh. There also wasn't a lot on the market that we liked when we sold the house. Anyway, fast forward to after Granddad was married. We didn't really have any options. We didn't have time to find a home we loved that we could afford (remember the original plan here... this was only a few weeks after we had moved in). And my main concern was Noah. He had already gone through so much (another post in itself). Moving again would be horrible. So we settled on paying almost the entire mortgage. Aunt Joanie would still work there a few days out of the week, so Granddad subtracted $200 from the mortgage. They gave us until February 28, 2019 on the lease to decide if we were going to move elsewhere or just buy the house.When we first moved in... again, a different post with all those details... Brad would randomly talk about "what if we bought it?" I would almost gag at the thought. It needed so much work. It held so much baggage and sad stories. Fast forward two years... I was the one telling Brad I wanted to stay. We had done so much work on it already. It felt like home. Diana took her first steps in the upstairs hallway. We could assume the loan and avoid some of the extra fees. I begged God to make it work. And as always, for some reason, He decided to make me smile again.
This was my post on instagram about it...
"We're officially closing on this house today. It's a little surreal. When I was 12, I would ring that musical doorbell (literally plays songs) in hopes Brad could come out and play. His brother once grabbed a heart shaped cake pan and stick it out the door while we awkwardly talked on that porch. He handed me a Christmas gift there when we were 14 that his sisters grabbed and wrote "to the love of my life" and "to my wife" on the wrapping paper. I still have it. It's where we had our first real kiss when we were 16. I spent many hours talking him through his oldest brother's death in one of those rooms. It's where he made me a first anniversary dinner with his mom's China. Our sweet dogs were born in that garage. It's where he first told me he loved me when we were 15, whispering late at night over that landline phone so our parents wouldn't hear. I fell down those stairs in college trying to bring him balloons after his heart surgery and ended up in the ER. He broke up with me and broke my heart in that driveway in 2006. He brought me back a few weeks later and on Christmas Eve, he proposed. We spent so much time together here with his family, helping raise our nieces and nephews. We took care of his mom, grieved her loss with his dad, and then through a weird twist of fate, moved in 'temporarily' during a transition stage of life with our 3 babies. I moved forward with my business here, fulfilling a dream of mine. Our kids now see this place as home.
When we signed that lease two years ago, we randomly said 'February 28, 2019' as the end date. Fast forward and (I don't believe in coincidences), today on our last lease date, we're scheduled to own this wonderful place full of memories. I can't wait to make more."
Yep. We closed on the exact date of our last lease date. We assumed the loan and got the home for way less than what we probably ever would've paid for it any other way, based on the location alone. It's been a process trying to update it and breathe new life in it. But man is it gorgeous once you show it a little love. Just like everything else. :)
Kids:
Noah - he is doing SO well. We switched therapy clinics last summer. We adored the last place he was at. He had been with Pediatric Hands On Therapy since he was 3. However, last Spring, he and his OT weren't quite meshing well anymore. She kept reporting him being moody, hitting, etc. I know my Noah. If he's acting out like that, something is up. Turns out, Brooke was going through a rough time. She had a baby at home that was stressing her out, and she also was dealing with complications from oral surgery. Noah was definitely picking up on what she was putting out there, because he was only acting like that with her. He probably thought she wasn't happy with HIM. Anyway, we decided to give him a break from OT. We kept seeing Ms Lisa though for speech. He really loved her. They were for sure buddies, and he was always happy with her. She had a baby and after a few months back to work, she was really needing something more routine. Being at the clinic had a lot of extra paperwork vs just clocking in and out. So she took a job at the hospital and literally was choking back tears thinking of leaving Noah. We said goodbye to our therapists turned friends and clients. It was hard leaving them, but definitely time.
We started at a new place in Mooresville, which is nice because it's only 20 minutes away (vs the 40 min drive to Gastonia). It's SO nice. It's just very well run, professional, and organized. My friend Meredith used to be an OT there before she got married and moved to GA. Right now we have Noah enrolled in Speech and OT. Funny thing about his speech therapist Erica. When she walked out to greet us on his first day, I told her, "You look really familiar..." She said, "You do too!" We finally put two and two together and realized that she was Noah's very first speech therapist when he was in Early Intervention back at Pinewood Elementary. He was only three years old when we met her. She had moved away, gotten more education, got married, and moved back! So crazy how life works out that way sometimes. I've been super impressed with her so far too. She's been working on initiation with him, and it's really carrying over well at home. We're getting more conversational type comments from him, which is really cute.
After he had some time to transition to the new clinic, we enrolled him in food therapy (OT). He's regressed so much with food, and I'm worried about his protein intake as we head towards puberty (insert breathing into paper bag bc I am so not prepared for this next stage...). Anyway, I was fascinated listening to the lady that evaluated him. Karen observed that Noah purposely picks foods that dissolve easily, only chews on the left side, and only in up and down motions. He doesn't know how to form his food to swallow and doesn't move his food around with his tongue. So basically he doesn't know what to do with foods that don't break down easily, and he panics (which is why he would spit out new foods). He doesn't trust them, so there's some anxiety there as well. He's been seeing Adam for several weeks now. I can tell he really loves it. He always walks out smiling and seems to enjoy having a guy therapist for a change. The tough part is that he won't eat anything for either Erica or Adam, not even his preferred foods. I think it's because it's at the clinic, and we don't eat there. We eat at home. But at home, we're having so much success. He's now licking new foods and even holding some in his mouth. Things like sautéed red peppers and mushrooms. I'm so proud of him!
Hayden - my sweet little buddy. He's my shadow and biggest helper. Hayden helps me watch after everyone and will even hold Noah's hand in the parking lot or other places to make sure he stays with us. He has the BIGGEST imagination. None of his toys are ever what they seem. He makes up elaborate plots with his sharks, hot wheels cars, penguins, dinosaurs, and basically anything. They're usually in a video game or will somehow teleport to a different dimension. Unfortunately his big imagination also has its downside. He is so terrified of being alone. Like canNOT be in a room alone. If he is, we have to be in the next room over, doors open, and he will ask over and over every few minutes, "Mommy?? What're you doing?" For awhile he was sleeping great in his own room. Now he's so anxious that he's back in the bed with me and Brad. We feel so bad for him and are trying to figure out how to help him. It all started when he was a tiny guy and Noah would panic when he got too loud. Noah would lock the door and shut it on him so he wouldn't have to hear Hayden. Obviously this traumatized poor Hayden. He's scared to death he's going to get stuck, so doors have to stay open all the time. I'm hoping this is something we can just work through with him until he feels confident again. But again, his imagination doesn't help... now he thinks there's ghosts, mummies, etc in the bathroom or the closet. The most intense/scary show he's ever watched is probably the Lego Batman movies, so it's not like he sits around watching scary movies.
Aside from the anxiety, he's still the most silly, funny, tenderhearted little guy. He loves me so much. And I don't say that in a bragging way. This boy is at my side 24/7 wanting my attention and is pretty demanding and needy. He's been that way since birth. I'll never forget the second night in the hospital with him where I only got 45 minutes of sleep the entire night. He needed to be next to me. He's the most beautiful kid too. His big brown eyes and sweet face. It's his saving grace some days. Lol.
He loves to dance, play with his toys, and be outside. He is ALL boy. Currently anything potty humor related is hilarious to him. And fail videos on YouTube. He loves them. Brad took him and Diana to the Monster Truck show a couple months ago, so now he's into those too.
My favorite is at the end of the night, he becomes my sweet baby boy again. He always wants me to cuddle with him, which is the sweetest. I tell Brad that Hayden will be the one to take care of me in my old age. ;)
Diana - omg this girl. She's a mess. She's seriously everything I ever hoped for in a little girl, but also everything that terrifies me. Lol. She has zero insecurity. She's funny, confident, incredibly smart, friendly, loving, and ADORABLE. She wins the hearts of every person she comes into contact with. She's Hayden's best friend. Once she came along, his speech sky rocketed. My favorite thing she does right now... aside from her normal goofy antics... is when she gets mad. She yells "Ugh! I'm mad! I not playing anyMORE!", stomps all the way up to her room, slams the door, and then re-emerges three minutes later like nothing happened. Lol. She has natural rhythm. We're going to enroll her in some sort of dance class soon... either ballet or hip hop. Girl got Brad's dance moves with my booty. Lol. I adore this girl.
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