Goodbye Old Apartment

We had just a couple things left in our old apartment, so my family of four took a trip to pack up the last of our belongings and say goodbye to the place that Clay and I have called home for the last five years.  Although we had more than outgrown our space with the addition of our son in 2007 and then our daughter in March of this year, it was still surprisingly difficult to say goodbye. 

I ran my hands over the now bare walls as I walked from room to empty room and recalled all the memories we made in this place: my brother's surprise birthday party was here when a friend lost her memory, our cat Sophie drinking from the bathroom faucet, nights Clay and I would sleep on the living room floor after a date night, bringing each of our newborn children home from the hospital, watching Narls take his first steps in our bedroom... 

It is time to go.  And while I know this and I'm ready for this, it doesn't make saying goodbye any easier.  

First Night at Home

Up until now, we've been spending our days at the new house- moving, cleaning, unpacking and then still heading back to the apartment at night where our clothes & beds are. But not tonight! We have the majority of our furniture and personal items moved and tonight is the first night that we'll be staying "home".  I thought maybe the kids might be too nervous to sleep but that's definitely not the case.

Em fell asleep within minutes of being rocked and Narls? Well he's pretty excited to be in his bed in his new room.  We have some paint up on his walls too, incase you missed the lime green and bright blue; more on that later.  Oh and excuse the leopard sheets, they were on the top of the blanket box, rawr.

With both kiddos happy in their beds, Clay & I got to work unpacking a couple of the kitchen boxes. 

Everything's coming together, slowly but surely.  Now we're off to bed too.

Fine Wine

We decided on Sherwin-Williams' Fine Wine for the kitchen & dining room and what a perfect choice! I couldn't be happier with the paint color, which is so rich and soothing and balances beautifully with the warm tones in both the wood floors and cabinets.  It even goes with the mauve stripe in the backsplash! 

Primed and Ready to Go

My awesome brother has seriously been working his butt off.  He has our kitchen & dining room primed and will be painting the walls tomorrow afternoon.  I'm so excited!

A Gift From A Friend

Becky, one of my dearest friends, visited today with her daughter. She generously gave us Ava's nursery furniture, which isn't being using anymore since Ava is in a big girl bed. Up until now, my 6-month old daughter has been sleeping in a pack-and-play in our bedroom because she didn't have her own room in our 2-bedroom apartment. And I honestly don't know how we would have afforded a new crib for her considering most of our savings went toward the initial costs of buying our home. So this really helps us out and I cannot wait to get Emerson's room decorated now that she has this beautiful crib and dresser!

And how adorable are Narls and Ava playing in the dining room? I know that this is just the start of many of their playdates here.

A Family Affair

Only three days in as new homeowners and the projects have began! Luckily we have a lot of help from family.  My stepdad has been helping us move, my mom's been helping us clean and now my brother - who is a professional painter - is doing all the painting for us as a housewarming gift.  Thank you so much family!

Cory started in the room that will be my 2-year-old son's because this room needs the most work.  Not only are there layers of wallpaper to remove, there is decorative moulding on the wall that needs to be pried off as well.   Oy.

We're Homeowners!

We arrived too early and sat nervously in the car for about fifteen minutes, waiting until the clock moved closer to our pre-arranged meeting time.  We didn't want to appear too eager, like your stereotypical first time homebuyers, although we were eager.  Eager to get the papers signed, eager to hold the key that unlocked the front door, eager to start our lives in our house. 

The seller's realtor told us how close we came to losing this house, how our realtor messed up paperwork and missed deadlines.  Clay and I looked at each other in shock; we had no idea.  Now the three extensions of our closing date made sense. 

We met the seller who asked if it'd be alright if he followed us to our new house, his old house, to pick up a couple of items he had remaining in the garage.  Once there, he showed us the tree in the backyard that he planted when he and his wife first moved in 35 years ago.  He told us tidbits on our new neighbors and took us into the basement where we learned that the lone cupboard there is a remnant of the original kitchen before the remodel.  He gave us some pointers on maintaining the flowers his wife planted by the front porch and warned about the bee problem they created.  He was going to miss this house, he said; he and his wife are retired now and are moving to where is stays summer all year.  My eyes teared up a bit at the wistfulness in his voice.

I'm thankful for this tour.  I'm thankful to be buying a house full of stories and memories.  And I'm eager to create new memories and stories, here in our home.