Photo Booth Friday #25: Ch-ch-changes

Today I am a little sad.

Happy, but…a little sad…because we said good-bye to my brother and his family last night.

They’re headed up north where my brother will start his new job working as a program director at a Christian camp in another state. It’s the perfect job for him, one they’ve been praying for, and we are thrilled at the way the Lord has worked in their lives.

BUT…

It’s a change.

And I don’t like change.

Even the good kind. It takes some adapting.

We’re gonna miss them. And Lily’s gonna miss her cousins…she loves her cousins. I watched them on Wednesday afternoon so the kiddos could play together one last time {and so Brad and Jenny could have some time to pack in peace!} I don’t know if I’ve ever heard Lily giggle so much.

  Yep, Lily’s gonna miss hanging out with “Eee-ya” and “Kay-kay” {Eli and Mykaela}!

Come back and visit soon!!

Happy {sad} Friday!

Cribs :)

It's here! The much anticipated, long awaited picture post. I give you...our house! Just to warn you -- I took an obnoxious amount of pictures. You asked for it ;)

I tried to put these in some sort of order but it got all messed up...so we'll start with the spare room. This is upstairs to the right of the staircase. This is the master bedroom -- the view from the far corner. Don't we have awesome furniture? ;) The room is huge -- they could've probably made it into 2 separate bedrooms...but we'll take the space -- once we have more kids it might be a place of escape ;)

View from the door -- the glider doesn't fit in Lily's room anymore which I'm very sad about :(

I think I forgot to mention that on moving day, we only had 2 casualties -- one was this wall inside the door which my cousin Mark takes credit for. We forgave him as long as he promised to come back with drywall (kidding of course! ;) The other casualty was our fish...and I promise you, I had NOTHING to do with it. Really, I swear! (We have a history -- if you haven't read about it, click here) I mean, despite harboring a little bitterness towards him, the little fella went through a lot with us -- so I actually felt sad that he went belly up -- I even attended the flushing ceremony :)

This is the tie rack in the master bedroom -- you have NO IDEA how excited I was when I saw this on our first trip through the house. Dave has an obnoxious amount of ties accumulated during the Bible college years and they always fell of the hanger. I pretty much just gave up on picking them up after awhile so they decorated the floor of our closet. But no more! And see how neat they look? Yup, I'm that easily pleased ;) As you can see, they also hold belts, and my swimsuits...which may or may not get to see the light of day again :)

This is more of the walk in closet! Never had one of these before!

Master Bathroom -- which I've decided definitely needs some color -- because there's no shower curtain. And by the way, this door is every bit as much of a pain to clean as it looks -- I'm officially not a fan of shower doors:)

More of the bathroom

This is the other bathroom upstairs

Alright now we're in the basement (sorry, the order is a bit random). This is where we shoved all the stuff I didn't feel like unpacking yet.

This is the little "office" in the basement -- could be an extra bedroom someday...when we have our 5th child ;)

More of the office

This is a view of the basement from the far corner by the window

View from the stairs

More stuff I didn't want to unpack...also the fish tank still half full of water. Lovely :P

This is going down the stairs to the basement (I TOLD you I took an obnoxious amount of pictures!)

This is the view from the dining room looking into the living room

View from the kitchen into the dining room

This is a super cool bowl that our super cool realtor gave us when we closed on the house. She was the bomb!

Another one of my favorite features -- the mini dishwasher -- HA just kidding, it's a trash compactor. Which if you are anything like me, you are thinking..."Wha.....?" Still not sure how it works. We tried it and it didn't really seem to make things very "compact". But ALSO notice to the right the Lazy Susan in the corner! After I saw this and the tie organizer, I was pretty much sold on the house. Good thing Dave was with me to check out important things like the roof and the furnace and the water heater, etc. etc. Eh...those are all just accessories...;)

Kitchen from the garage door

View of the kitchen from the dining room. I love all the space and how open it is! It reminds me of the kitchen in my parent's house growing up.

More kitchen

From the kitchen looking into the living room

From the front door looking into the living room.

More living room

View from the back porch

Our yard and little shed (the previous owner's had this wired for cable...for their dogs! We don't even have cable in our house!)

And that is it! I'm missing pictures of Lily's room -- everytime I think to take one, it's during naptime. It looks a lot like her old room...but seriously downsized. Her old room was HUGE -- this one I would say is probably...1/3 of the size? We painted it the same color though and everything else is the same except I'm going to do something different with the letters for her name. I'll post pictures of it when I'm done.

So that's it! We want to paint eventually, and put stuff on the walls. So in the future we'll have lots of home improvement before and after pics.

We've been incredibly blessed and I'm so thankful to God for giving us far beyond what we deserved or dreamed we could have! We are hoping we can use this house to glorify Him!

Hope you enjoyed! Happy Friday to all!

Drinking in the Vitamin D

Today is one of those days where it is easy to be in a good mood. Sunny and in the sixties...I'm so thankful God gives us these little reminders that winter does not last forever! I'm sure there will be more cold days ahead but today I am basking in this glorious sunshine!

This is a picture of our house, by the way. I know what you are thinking -- I found the camera! Well...sorry to disappoint you, but I did not :) I found this on our computer -- it is actually the picture that was on the realtor's website and was taken last July by the previous owners (hence the green grass :). But still -- consider this a teaser of what's to come! With weather this gorgeous, I can promise you I won't be digging around in the basement looking through boxes for our camera today. But when I do find it, I'll indulge you with an entire post of JUST PICTURES. At least now you know what the outside looks like!

Happy Thursday -- if it's not warm and sunny where you are, pull your slippers on, grab a blanket, close your eyes, and dream of spring -- it WILL come! :)

I'm No Scientist But...

Today I am going to prove to you that George Lemaitre had a housekeeper. Who is this George you ask? He is the guy behind the “Big Bang Theory” (we’re talking the actual theory here, not the TV show. And yes, I had to look his name up on the Internet :)

This guy could not have EVER kept a house. If he did, he would not have drawn the conclusions he did about the origin of the earth. If YOU’VE ever been responsible for cleaning a house, tell me:

• How does it get clean? Answer: Somebody cleans it


• How do things get put in place? Answer: Someone puts them there


• Does your house ever clean itself? Answer: No


• Has your house EVER once after you have cleaned it stayed that way for more than a matter of days? Answer: NO


• Have you ever cleaned your house and then had YOUR HOUSE actually go one step further for you and by some sort of “natural” process become EVEN MORE CLEAN AND ORDERLY? Answer: I WISH!

So George, I mean no disrespect, but when you propose that some things blew up and then put themselves in order and continued to evolve to be somehow even more orderly and complex, I’m sorry but as a keeper of a house I’m not buyin’ it.

P.S. Yes, I know that there are people out there who would have a field day tearing up my reasoning. I was not attempting to be scientific here, please don’t get your panties in a wad ;)

P.S.S. Also, there are a lot of very smart people out there who do not believe in the Big Bang Theory and they can actually argue intellectually about it. Please don’t judge them based on me :) http://www.answersingenesis.org/

P.S.S.S. I also don't think Mr. Lemaitre ever moved without a moving company. I'm just sayin' ;)

Home Sweet Home

I'm not gonna say it but I'm thinking it.

"We are NOT moving again for a long time."

I won't say it. Last time I said it was 8 months ago :)

But seriously all I can say is next time I might seriously consider hiring a moving company ;)

No really, it wasn't that bad. This was probably our best move yet! We had 8 guys and 4 trucks and everything was in by noon. Not too shabby! But if you consider the countless hours I spent packing and unpacking on my own last week, it acutally took a little bit longer than that. I definitely felt ready for a break from moving by Sunday!

Last night Dave did one last sweep of the duplex to make sure we hadn't left anything behind. When he got back he came upstairs, gave me a huge hug, and said, "I love you." I so romantically replied, "What was that for?"

He said, "I love you, because where you are is home." I couldn't have said it better myself! While there is always a small part of me that misses the place we move from, really it's the people that fill the place that makes any house a home. So even though right now it still feels a little bit like we are living in somebody else's house, I know we're going to make this our home by filling it with memories with the people we love.

Pictures are forthcoming....I really, really, really promise. I just can't find the camera...

Lily's Pad

I can’t do it. I can’t pack Lily’s room. It’s the only room in the house that I have not yet touched. Everything else we have is pretty much gone but her room is still intact. This is the room we brought her home from the hospital to. This is where I focused a vast amount of my time and attention this summer preparing for her arrival. We painted this room just for her. This is where I spent the first few weeks in utter exhaustion, nursing her in the middle of the night and holding her when she was crying. I have no sentimental feelings for the rest of this duplex, given the fact that we’ve only lived here for 8 months. But THIS ROOM is special. She won’t even remember it. But it almost makes me tear up a little knowing that someone else is going to move in here and use this room as an office, or a spare bedroom. I sort of want to say, “No, you can’t use it! This is Lily’s room!” It’s ridiculous, I know. We have this whole new big beautiful house and here I am moaning about a room! I’ll get over it, don’t worry :) But for one more night, I’m gonna keep it the same. For one more night, it will be Lily’s room and we’ll kiss her sweet face as we put her to bed in the room where she spent the first 5 months of her little life – the very first “Lily Pad” :)

Dave getting our garage sale bargain crib put together -- no directions or anything! Whatta guy! :)

Painting day! Thanks to the other Amy for helping since this one couldn't handle the fumes :)

Ready for baby!

Our cozy little corner

Muddle of Pud

I have been gone for the past few days -- not GONE, just not on here. The reason of course being that we are moving -- YAY!! And would you believe me if I told you that things are going remarkably well? They are! It's still crazy and a little unorganized and slightly stressful at times, but on the whole, I am pleased. Big Moving Day is this Saturday and Dave and I have done a pretty good job so far this week of getting things cleared out of the duplex and into the new place.

I do think that there is some sort of disconnect between the creative part of my brain and the organized part of my brain. They don't always work well together. Which is why I have not been posting (that and a serious lack of time!). And even today's post is seeming a little muddled -- I have lots I could tell you but I just can't THINK (which you probably already realized due to the title :) Some highlights:

• Lily turned 5 months on Sunday!! Some milestones from last month -- she learned to roll from tummy to back, has started learning consonants -- the latest is "L" -- she loves to lay in her bed when she wakes up and sing -- "La, la, la" something like that, she sounds better than me and is much cuter when she does it :)
• As mentioned, this is Moving Week and things are going well. The Procrastinator has won some battles, but I think The Perfectionist is winning the war ;) I won't declare victory until Saturday though :)
• Outfit of the week: Old college T-shirt with a hole in the armpit, jeans with a hole in the bum and some seriously crazy hair that I did not wrestle into a ponytail. I wore this ensemble on Monday morning, at the time not knowing about either of the holes and not fully realizing the extent of the hair -- I do believe I scared the carpet cleaners a little bit :)
• Lily is sick with a cold :( She is stuffy and I feel bad for the little punkin -- but she is still just as smiley and extra snuggly :) She has a much better attitude than I do when I'm sick -- and again, looks so much cuter :) I think we're over the worst part (KNOCK ON WOOD!)

That's all for now -- I told you this was random! No time for pictures but I DO want to put some pictures of the house on here! It's beautiful, and I love it, and I can't wait to get all moved in and start doing some serious organizing! That spells out F-U-N for me, and I am really not being sarcastic! :) Hope you all are having a good week and I can't wait till I have time to sit down and get caught up on what everyone else is doing!

P.S. I love today's weather (sunny and close to 60) and have crazy spring fever!!!

My Split Personalities

Well, I’m back...didn't take me as long as I thought it would. I'm at least somewhat organized now. Not as much as I’d like to be, but I am NEVER as organized as I want to be – I need to learn to deal with it :)

Anyway, I did get much accomplished BUT my To Do list is never ending and it just got longer because….drum roll please....we bought a house! Not just a house -- we bought our very first house, all our own!

Yup. I’m so excited! I really am. But reality has set in and just thinking about the amount of work we have to do between now and the time we move has me in a state of sheer exhaustion.

I am determined to make this move as orderly as possible…but I have said that every time we moved and it has always seemed to end up being an experience just slightly under the level of utter chaos. Every. Single. Time.

We always start with “The Plan”. It usually goes something like this: I tell my husband that I plan on packing up as much as I possibly can ahead of time, and we can move those “non-essentials” first, and unpack them into the new place at a leisurely pace. Then on The Big Moving Day, we pack up the rest of the bare necessities, get together some strong guys and a few trucks for the big stuff, they take care of moving while the ladies stay at the new place and unpack.

My inner Perfectionist LOVES this plan. It is designed to minimize clutter, which drives me CRAZY and maximize the use of our time. Unfortunately, my inner Procrastinator, well, she’s got ideas of her own. And thanks to her, every move we’ve ever made (all have just been across town) has gone something like this:

I start packing our “non-essentials”. The problem is, this usually includes things like our office supplies, magazines, and books. The books prove to be too great a distraction. As I’m pulling them off the shelves I’m thinking, “I forgot we had this book. I need to read that sometime.” I do this with a couple of books until one REALLY catches my attention and I start flipping through the pages. Dave usually comes home to find me on the floor surrounded by partially filled boxes, thoroughly engrossed in whatever it was that distracted me.

Day Two: I start once again with good intentions, but this time it’s the magazines that catch my eye. I end up making a list of new recipes I’d like to try and tagging a few pages with hairstyles I love, and, if I’m lucky, packing another box or two.

By moving day, I’ve usually only got about half of what I had hoped to packed, which means instead of being at the new place to unpack and help direct the guys as to where I’d like the furniture placed, I end up frantically shoving things in boxes so they can be ready to go by the time they get back for the next load.

The Perfectionist is screaming, “You just packed a box full of glass vases and put them in a box without taping the bottom,” and the Procrastinator is screaming back, “There’s no TIME, shove a towel in there and mark it Fragile!”

When I finally get to the new place, the bedroom furniture is in the living room, all the boxes marked Kitchen wound up in the basement, and there is enough clutter to drive a pack rat up a wall. At this point the Perfectionist in me has retreated to some far corner of my mind in defeat and the Procrastinator throws herself down on the bed in exhaustion and says, “Let’s take care of this tomorrow."

As I said, utter chaos.

Well, not this time!! I have 2 weeks until we close and 3 weeks until Big Moving Day. It’s time for my Perfectionist to flex her muscles and show the Procrastinator who’s boss for once. (Right after I finish this cup of hot cocoa….;)