Goodbye 2317 North Delaware Street

September 17, 2013

As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, it has been a busy summer that has been consumed largely by our decision to move to a new home. This decision was so bittersweet because 2317 North Delaware Street has been such a good home for our family. We loved the proximity to downtown, Broad Ripple, Butler, and my sister and parents. And of course, we brought both of our girls home from the hospital to this lovely little bungalow. As they have grown, we've enjoyed how close we lived to the Children's Museum, to White River State Park, and to the Zoo, not to mention my work!

Nonetheless, we knew we needed a home that we could grow into as the girls grew, and we spent a long and arduous amount of time finding the perfect new home that would fit our family's needs. So, as we packed up to move to our new house, my sister and brother-in-law could sense how sad I was about leaving our home on Delaware Street, so they offered to take our photos around the house. As is so often the case, Scott took amazing shots, the highlights of which I've included below.

Our Front Porch
We spent a lot of time on our front porch, especially in the summer. Alan and the girls would use chalk to draw all over the porch. We'd blow bubbles too. It's where we took pictures of the girls on their first day of school. It's where we would wait for family or friends to arrive. I'll always remember Hannah looking through the window in the front room to see who was at the doorbell.

Upstairs

When we first moved in, this space wasn't complete. Alan and my Uncle Jeff worked together to hang all of the drywall. For a while, it was where we had our pool table...until soon after we had Moira and realized we would need more play space. This is where our friends and family would stay when they visited, and it's where we as a family would spent a lot of our time. Alan and the girls played together upstairs all the time. They would draw together, dress up together, play tackle and wrestle, dance, and so much more.

The Girls' Room

Originally, this was our office, and we transformed it into a nursery when Moira was born. I love this room. This is where I spent so much time cuddling with our babies, helping to soothe them to sleep (not an easy task), playing with them first thing in the morning, reading books right before bed, singing lullabies, and so much more. This is where Hannah said her first words ("Go Away"). It's where we would be just as likely to share a joke as to be asked profound questions like "Why was I born?" It's the room that I hoped I never had to enter at night but knew like the back of my hand because the girls often needed to be comforted at night. It's the room where I was so afraid to put a two-year-old and infant...but we made the leap and now they are inseparable.

The Back Garden

The girls love being outside. I'll remember watching them play in the bouncy house, with the water table, and of course, running around through all the tall grasses that Nan and Grandad planted once upon a time. They played a game of hide-and-seek in the photos below. I love watching Moira guide Hannah around in our back garden. They really do look out for each other and have so much fun playing together.