Settled

We made it! It was a crazy weekend but we are in the new place and I am IN LOVE. It's not much bigger than our apartment in square footage, and the place definitely has it's flaws, but it feels like home. Just the fact that their are three different floors - bedroom upstairs, living room/kitchen/half-bath main floor, and a finished basement/laundry and storage downstairs makes it feel just a teensy bit closer to having a house! John and I have had a lot of people question us as to why we aren't looking for a house (apparently it's the best time to buy a house right now?) It's hard not to get caught up in the - "we are married, we have a baby, it's time to get a house!" stereotype. But here's the thing, we could put ourselves into lots and lots of debt, buy a house, and pay a mortgage that's pretty equivalent to the amount of rent we pay. But we are still young, we are new to the area, new to John's job, who knows where we will be in 1, 2, or 3 years. We are NOT ready to commit to a house.. even though I dream of the day that we are! 

ANYWAYS (Excuse my house tangent) I am so happy with this new place. I am so happy that once it gets warm we can walk to our cute little downtown, or to church just up the street. I love the hardwood floors in the living room and the way our furniture looks inside of it. I love that I have my own bathroom to get ready in downstairs, and most of all, I am IN LOVE with my new kitchen! It's not perfect by any means. It doesn't have granite countertops or a gas stove. There's some quirks with the alignment of the cupboards to the countertops and there is a TON of space between the two sides. BUT it feels like MY kitchen. All of my stuff fits in it! I am already being obsessive about keeping it neat and tidy, and cannot wait to finish decorating. 

Jack's room all packed up :( 

Now it took us quite a bit of time to get to this point of happiness. John and I spent 6 hours finishing up all the packing on Friday night. We went to bed exhausted - not really noting the fact that it was the last night in our first home together. I got extremely nostalgic packing up Jack's room and couldn't believe all the emotion I had tied up in that stupid little garden-level cave-like apartment. Jack has been sleeping through the night consistently since Friday night and it is amazing. He seems to really be getting on a schedule, and he didn't let the madness of moving screw him up. After packing up his crib on Saturday morning he hung out in his little Nap Nanny watching Mom and Dad and snoozing here and there. I left for the condo before the boys came and packed everything into the GIANT moving van my dad rented from U-HAUL.. he really wanted to get it in one trip. I am sort of thankful I didn't have to see the place completely empty. I think it would have made me really sad.

I was so thankful for all of the help we had on Saturday. My mom stayed at the condo with Jack and I. We pretty much unpacked all of the boxes John and I had brought during the week and waited around for my dad, John, my brother, and John's best friend to come back with EVERYTHING. My sister Megan showed up to help too. Our moving day became a family affair, which makes even the most horrible tasks seem more bearable! Once all of our stuff arrived, it became madness. My brother and John's best friend were anxious to get back to school, because college students have much more fun activities to attend to. This resulted in boxes simply being piled up into a cramped space instead of being sent to their designated areas. They left us a DISASTER zone. 

My poor kitchen after the boys unloaded the moving van..

Once we had the furniture set up and clear pathways to work with, we abandoned getting any more work done for the day and went out to eat. My parents are leaving for Hawaii later this week so they needed to go shopping at a nearby mall and decided to just get a hotel and stay the night, Megan didn't want to leave the party so she stayed with them as well. It made for an awesome night, where no one felt rushed to leave the restaurant. Jack ate and fell asleep pretty much instantly after we arrived so we enjoyed delicious cold Smithwick's  (Did I mention I'm 100% Irish) and the world's best fish & chips, wonderful live music, and time well-spent with family. The more we get together with our family partially together, the more apparent it becomes how much we miss our family members so far away in D.C. - When are you guys just going to give up your big city lives and move to Michigan?!

Jack bellied up to the bar as we waited for a table on Sat. night

On Sunday there was no rest for the weary. My parents picked up Mr. Jack to take him along shopping and John and I set to work. We got the kitchen, living room, bathrooms, and master bedroom completely  unpacked (only leaving Bubba's room and the basement to finish). It felt amazing to see our new home come together.. Even though we were being sent distractingly adorable pictures of Jack.

Cute little fuzzy head on a shopping spree!

My kitchen made a beautiful transformation from the cramped, box explosion that it was on Saturday. Even though it is still a work in progress decoration wise, I could not be happier! 

1) I cannot wait to add shelves on that empty wall space to display our wine glasses/bar wear

2) John's dad refinished this table for us. I can't say I am in love with it. I do love that we have space for a kitchen table though! In my dream world I would paint this table white and display it's really cute antique-y features. Instead I am in search of a table cloth (as well as matching chairs) to pretty it up. We also have a BEAUTIFUL blue bowl (on the table) that I cannot wait to hang on the wall.

3) We displayed some of our beautiful wedding gifts above the cabinets :)

4) The other side of the kitchen.. There is room for everything!

Another new development since my last post is Jack's new found love for his highchair! He loves to be able to sit up and see everything that is going on. He happily eats his solid food, plays with toys, and even falls asleep in it! His grandma also brought his Christmas present (that we couldn't fit in our old place) to the new condo and he LOVES what I call his "flying saucer". New home + New toys = Happy, stimulated, and sleeping-through-the-night Bubba. 

Looking out the window with Aunt Megan at his new house!

He loves his high chair!

Playing in his new "Flying Saucer" and eating his mitten

Snuggling with Daddy for his nuh-night bottle before bed :)

The rest of this week is dedicated to finishing unpacking and getting organized. Today I have to go to the dreaded grocery store.. My favorite task to procrastinate doing. But it's a must! 

I am finally feeling at peace. We moved. I submitted ALL THREE of my grad school applications. I have Jack on a schedule. It finally feels like real life is going to start without a constant flow of things to be "waiting" for or "looking forward" to. I am relieved to feel like we are getting to that point of "settled".