Lewis

Though our new home was already in progress, it was at a pretty early stage, but we were able to see a finished house with the same floor plan (The Lewis) and LOVE both the house and our lot! We have enjoyed visiting it over the past few weeks!

Dax and Addy got their first look about a week after we officially signed the paperwork.

We had also taken an idea from some friends that built their home a few years back and spent some time choosing Bible verses that were meaningful to us or relevant to our home. On that first visit with the kids we spent time writing those verses on some of the beams and praying over the construction and space that will be ours for many years to come. It felt pretty incredible to make it our own and to know that God's power and love and our faith are all built right into the foundation of our home. (We originally intended to write out the complete verses in each location, but Dax and Addy's patience was fading fast so we pared it down to writing just the location in the Bible and keeping the words and meaning in our hearts.)

Garage entrance to the house: "You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out." -Deuteronomy 28:6

Kitchen: "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some people have entertained angels without even knowing it." - Hebrews 13:2

Kids play room: "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." - Timothy 4:12

Main level stairs (center of the living space): "Be kind and loving to each other. Forgive each other the same as God forgave you in Christ." - Ephesians 4:32

Upstairs living area: "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." - James 1:19

Addy's room: "She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future." - Proverbs 31:25

Dax's room: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:9 

Master bedroom (from our wedding): "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." - Colossians 3:12-15

Basement: "He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built." - Luke 6:48

We have visited several times since and the kids are already requesting to play at the playground in our new backyard rather than the ones near our current house. The selling agent in the neighborhood sends us photos and construction updates and every part of the process is incredibly exciting!

We will be there soon! 

Moving!

After several years of tossing around the idea of a different house, we finally decided it was time. Last summer we met with our realtor, Patti (she is AMAZING - call her if you are thinking about buying or selling a house!), and started the process. Her decorator came and told us what to change to get the house ready to show and then Patti's recommendation was to use summer to prepare the house and list in the fall. After a minor panic attack, we adjusted our timeline to be ready to list this spring.

Pretending to help repaint the basement

Actually helping repaint the basement!

In March we contacted Patti again to get back on track. Her decorator would be leaving for Florida a few weeks after that so we quickly set a date for staging and scrambled to clear out enough and finish small projects to prepare for that. Staging was a whirlwind of clearing out, rearranging, bringing in new artwork and furniture, and giving our house a facelift. It. Was. Crazy.

All the staging stuff ready to return to Patti once the house was sold. I
don't have a picture of the giant pile of our stuff we moved out of the house
and into my parent's garage 

About a week later, Patti's photographer came in to take photos of the house and a few days after that, our listing went live! We almost immediately had showings scheduled, showed 11 times over that first evening and second day, and were able to accept an offer that evening. We were thankful for how quickly it went because keeping a house ready to show with young kids is not easy - "Why are you in this room? What did you touch? Put that back! Leave those pillows there. That's not ours..."

Life was not yet back to normal, though. Selling our house meant we had a short timeline before we would become homeless so we started seriously hunting for our new home. Dax and Addy tagged along for a lot of the house hunting and LOVED choosing where to look first and deciding which room would be theirs in each house. We saw lots of nice houses and some not so nice houses, but none that were "the one."

Snack break in the back of the van during a day of house hunting

After a little over a week we were starting to feel nervous and Patti suggested we take a look at some spec/inventory homes. When builders are working on developing a neighborhood, they will typically take some of the lots and build houses even if they haven't had someone purchase it yet. They are still new, but the buyer doesn't get to make decisions as the houses are either already complete or in progress, but with materials already ordered. We looked in several neighborhoods across a few different builders and one Sunday afternoon we found our forever home!

Dax's class mascot, Buddy Bear, got to visit our house one day.

We could not be more excited to move into our new house and get settled into our new space and routines! If you are available mid-June, feel free to swing by to pack a box or two ;)

Catch Up

Well, it's been awhile. Consider this a recap of the last few months. It's a long one, but it's a good one. :)

November:
We voted, checked out the rare super moon, decorated for Christmas, got Addy's first haircut, and celebrated Thanksgiving.

December:
Gingerbread houses, elves, snow, programs, Santa's Workhsop at Macy's, a light exhibit at the Arboretum, a giant snow fort, and Christmas filled our December!

January:
In January, we skated, played, visited friends, played some more, and celebrated our sweet Dax's 5th (fifth?!) birthday.

February:
We volunteered for Feed My Starving Children, Celebrated Valentine's Day, and enjoyed some rare warmer winter weather outside!

March:
Soccer, a school carnival, homemade Shamrock Shakes, and lots of play filled our March.

April:
In April we celebrated Dax and Addy's friend Eve's birthday at Rockin' Jump, prepared our house to move (Post coming soon with this big update!), enjoyed Dax's spring concert, visited my school to see Farmer Nelson and Perfect the Pig, and celebrated Easter.

May:
After starting the month off with May baskets, we've spent may so far playing, registering Dax for kindergarten, attending his kindergarten open house, and playing some more!

Whew! See you in 6 months. ;)