Big News!Well, many of you already know our big news but just in case, here it is for those that don't. About a year ago, I posted that we were staying in Connecticut, mostly due to my and Shannon's jobs. Quite a few things have changed in that year and now we can say we are
NOT staying in Connecticut, but moving to St. Louis, MO!
The new baby due in July is one big reason why we are not staying. Connecticut is very expensive and we pretty much priced ourselves out of the area we live in. We would have had to move a ways away to stay in the state, which would result in a long commute and general unhappiness. And really, we weren't sure we saw ourselves here long term anyway since we have no family near us. So, we figured we would just move to where we want to be a few years from now instead of down the road.
The challenge in doing so was the job situation. The worst case scenario was that Shannon would have to work and I would have to stay home with the babies (which I would happily do if needed!). The best case scenario was that I kept my job at APT and worked remotely from home and Shannon stayed home with the babies. We were somewhat worried about how Millie might react to a move since she is very attached to her day care and friends there (Audrey....Leo....Ella.... Millie's list of friends she recites every night), so we figured having Shannon stay home would be a great way to ease the transition (not to mention it would make it easier for Shannon to have sufficient time to bond with the new baby). Lucky for us, we found out last week that our best case scenario is a GO! My work graciously agreed to keep me around and let me work remotely. We are every grateful for their flexibility as it is best for the babies
and we don't have to look for jobs in this somewhat chaotic economy!! It will also allow me to be really close to the family at all times. (But sadly, they will have to let me work!).
We are very excited for the move to St. Louis. I have spent enough time there over the past 8 or so years that I am very comfortable. We should be within half an hour of Shannon's parents and siblings. Shannon also has many friends still in the area that we are excited to reconnect with. We have always been a close knit family of 2, and now 3, so we never had too hard of a time, but we are excited to be an active part of an extended family (something that is really only possible to do that if you live nearby). So, St. Louis was the obvious choice since we can live in a diverse metro area (close to downtown, close to airports, etc.)
and close to family. We also think that this will make it much easier to get to Michigan to see my family more often. We regret that we have been so busy over the past year or so that it has been tough to get there.
As luck would have it, we were in St. Louis last week for Lauren's wedding shower. We got the news from APT in time to set up a bunch of house showings! We are going to try and buy a house this summer and then STAY PUT for awhile!
We are planning on moving in late July or early August, after the baby is born. We are dreading the logistics, but realize the short term pain will be worth it in the long run.
This post got somewhat delayed due to the aforementioned house showings. It was quite a busy week. We got a ton of help from Ric & Elaine and Millie was a big time trooper. Sadly, we did not find our dream home. Out of maybe 20 houses, we found one we really liked and it got sold before we even had a chance to go see it again. We found some others that might be options, but nothing we really wanted to go for yet. It was very well time spent as we got more familiar with the areas we are looking in and our realtor got a better idea of what we are looking for. So the search will continue and I will likely be taking a trip back to St. Louis without Shannon (she is getting to the point where she can't fly).
Anyway, time to finally post this. We will keep you posted on the details!
