I'm a few days late in publishing this post (even though I was organised with the photos) but I've a really good reason as at the end of November we bought and moved into our first house! Things have been so chaotic that I just haven't had a chance to sit down and write. There are still boxes to unpack, a not so new oven to test for baking and curtains to buy but for now I want a bit of time with my blog.

We had been house hunting on and off for months but nothing really took our fancy. We were checking Rightmove daily but we live in quite and expensive area so houses were selling fairly quickly. We then spotted this house and if I'm honest we did dismiss it at first. It's a mid terrace with on street parking and the photos really didn't do it justice. We decided to go visit it one Saturday morning and immediately we were both hooked.

The sellers had lived in this house for 38 years so it was quite an emotional process for them to even consider putting the house on the market but when we visited it we knew it was the house for us. It's three bedrooms and so much bigger than our tiny 2-bed end terrace that we were renting. There is a good sized garden to the back which is something we were both desperate for with a young child. 

Some people have odd requirements when moving house but for me it was about the smaller details. I wanted was to be able to wash the dishes at the sink and watch Ethan play safely in the garden. I wanted a kitchen that could fit a table so our future children (and the little man of course!) could sit round baking or crafting or building Lego while I cooked dinner. I wanted a house that would grow with us, one that we wouldn't have to move out of in a few years but not somewhere so big that we would feel lost in it. 

And this wee house ticks all of those boxes.

Yes, it needs a bit of work doing on it including replacing the bathroom and kitchen at some point but, it's ours. No longer are we paying someone else's mortgage, through our own hard work we saved for our deposit and now have our first foot on the property ladder.

We were lucky that there was no chain but as always, we had issues with the solicitors and the Friday before we exchanged we were being told that things might take a bit longer and we may not exchange for at least another week. Small issue though was our tenancy was due to run out and even though our Landlord was lovely and said we could extend if need be we got straight on the phone to them on Monday morning stating we would be homeless with an 8 month old baby and they needed to get their act together. The sellers and the estate agent got on to them too and the pestering worked. 24 hours later we exchanged and 48 hours after that we completed - phew!

Thankfully the move went smoothly thanks to my family - we couldn't have done it without them. Two of my brothers and my parents came over for the weekend to help us move (and babysit Ethan) - you can guess who had which job haha! The boys also helped with some redecorating and if I'm honest I don't think we would have achieved even half of what we did that weekend without their help. We seriously owe them one!

On the Monday evening Mr T drove my family to the airport and I noticed Ethan sounded a bit wheezy on it. I put it down to the cough he had lingering from a cold from a few weeks ago, but when Mr T got back he thought he sounded worse. We phoned 111 and fast forward a few hours and we ended up in A&E at Harrogate hospital where they admitted Ethan to the Children’s Ward with Bronchiolitis. It was a very surreal experience especially as we left A&E and I was wheeled up to the ward with Ethan in my arms holding an oxygen mask over his face. We went past Pannal Ward where I had given birth, past the SCBU and on into the Children’s ward. After a rough night we were discharged the following day armed with an inhaler and a 24 hour pass should his symptoms get any worse but thankfully they didn’t.

Now, for most people that would be enough to deal with but then the following day my mobile rings at lunchtime and Mr T is calling to say he’s on his way home from work feeling ill. This man has had 3 sick days in 10 years so I knew it was serious and he was only home an hour when he started with vomiting. Turns out he had got food poisoning from something he had eaten at the hospital and I was so glad we didn’t eat the same thing otherwise I dread to think what we would have done.

So yeah… that’s a bit of a ramble for this month’s Me and Mine post but as you can see it’s been a pretty big month; actually scrap that, it’s been a pretty big week!

These photos are fairly awful as we both look a mess, it’s only Ethan that looks decent but we were knackered after moving, both filthy and we wanted to snap a photo before we forgot. It’s almost dark too but this photo means so much to us. Years of saving has finally paid off and we are now homeowners!