Colo-RAD-O
Wow! It has been a minute since the last post...We have had just a few major updates in the last couple of months...The most significant one being we decided to move our family across the country to Colorado! Specifically, Lafayette, perfectly situated between Denver and Boulder. Let me back up, though, and explain how we got to where we are today.
Between the pandemic and Elliott’s diagnosis, we had to face the music. We realized rather quickly that we needed to be in a place where we could envision settling down for the long term and where family was closer. Colorado was the obvious choice, as both Nathan and I are from here and wanted to raise our kids in the mountains.
The serious talk of moving started around the holidays in 2020, and the house search began in February. While searching for a house, I also spoke with all our Austin doctors to get names and recommendations for whom we could transfer our care in Colorado. This was, by far, the most stressful and time-consuming part of the entire move for me. Elliott was in amazing hands in Austin, with his doctors and therapists, and the idea of starting over felt daunting. However, time and again, I was told Denver had great medical facilities and that we would have no shortage of amazing specialists and therapists. Most doctors also gave me a direct name I could contact, which continually reassured me we were making the right choice for our family and greatly eased my mind.
In April, we signed a contract for our house after losing out on five previous houses (um hi, this market is INSANE right now!), and the reality of leaving Austin really started to sink in. We didn't take possession of the new house until July, so the rest of the spring was spent selling our Austin condo, researching preschools for Elliott & purging through all our stuff.
The months leading up to the big move came and went, and in the final weeks, we made an Austin bucket list and a rule: we would just say YES to anything that came our way. We said yes to late nights, activities way past bedtime, and get-togethers when we were tired. Every week, we did something new, and every week, we were diligent about checking things off the list and spending quality time with all of our people. We said some of our hardest-ever goodbyes (or see ya later's ;) and before we knew it, it was July, and we were living under dozens and dozens of cardboard boxes.
I will spare all the dirty details of what life looked like moving with two littles-in the middle of July, in Texas — but what I will say is, when we all four made it to Colorado in one piece and walked into our new home together, I felt like I could breathe again and I was able to let out the biggest sigh of relief.
Within a month of arriving in Lafayette, Elliott has started speech, we saw two specialists, we hosted a large BBQ bash with all of our college friends, threw a baby shower for my very pregnant sister-in-law, had Harper's first birthday party, Nathan's 33rd birthday party & a surprise 65th birthday party for my mom. We jumped all in with both feet, to say the least.
Six weeks post-move, Elliott has started school (AND IS LOVING IT!), I am currently sitting outside listening to the birds chirp, Harper is playing at my feet, and the sprinklers are running in our beautiful new backyard. Ultimately, amid the craziness, Nathan and I both feel we are in the perfect house for our family, and our blood pressure has eased a bit since we got to Colorado. We were desperate to settle down and find a house that we knew could last for years, and for that, our family couldn't be happier.
*Stay tuned on more specific Cerebral Palsy updates with doctors appointments and new therapists in the coming weeks!*
