Moving and Settling In

Well, it's been five weeks since we moved into our new home, and I have to say, moving was absolutely insane and I never want to do it ever again! lol! Chris and I moved most of the stuff by ourselves with his trailor and my van. In hindsight, that was not a smart idea. We had help on the weekend with the really heavy furniture, thankfully, because I could not have helped with the piano and couch. But overall, we made probably 20 trips each from one house to the other. But we have never moved before so we just didn't know how difficult it would be or how to make it easier. If there is ever a next time, we will definitely hire more help and some moving trucks. We were so exhausted when it was all over that we didn't have the energy to even get our mattresses set up in the floor for two days, so we stayed at my parent's house for a few nights. Not to mention, Christian had surgery to have 8 teeth pulled the week we moved AND Chris and I had such short notice on our move date that we didn't have an opportunity to take off work. So, it was absolutely crazy!! I'm really glad it's over. We have everything unpacked at this point, furniture is all put together. I had to order some new furniture, because the house we moved from was pretty small, so we didn't even have enough furniture to fill the new house. I ordered the boys new bedroom suits in November and they still haven't come. I also ordered some night stands for my bedroom suit and they aren't supposed to be here unti April! COVID has put a huge delay on things like that, but it's alright. We have no choice but to wait, so we are. I've also started painting which is exciting for me because paint just so totally changes a room. I decided to start with the boys room since there isn't any furniture in there right now, so it just made sense to me. I painted an accent wall a pretty navy color and the rest a grey that goes really well with it. There are some built in shelves in their room that the previous owner had built, and I liked them, so I left the shelves and painted them white. It's looking really good and their furniture is supposed to be here next week, so hopefully we can get their room fixed up and done. They are excited about having it done! A lot of people asked me how Christian has done with the move. When we had talked about moving and were looking at houses, the boys were really excited and loved seeing new houses. But when it came time to move, they were both understandably anxious and a bit sad. our old house is the only home they've ever known and so it was a huge change for them! By the time moving day came, they had both resolved that they just wanted to stay at the old house. I totally understand. New is scary. They worried that we might leave some of their things behind. They didn't like that the new house didn't smell like our house (they are both sensory sensitive). But once we moved, I made sure to talk about it a lot with them and reassure them that the house would take on our smell eventually, and that all their things were here. They have adjusted well and are happy now to be here. They definitely love having the extra space! We all do. We aren't on top of each other all day and are able to step away if we need privacy or quiet. That just wasn't something we could do at our hold house. Christian has also done really well with learning the layout of the new house. He of course had to learn the furniture and where everything was, which was extra hard to do for a few weeks while we unpacked boxes and decided where things would go and moved stuff around. Several times he would be in our living room and he would yell for me or his dad "Where is the bathroom? I can't find it!" lol! He's got a much bigger space to map out now, but he's figured it out amazingly well. he's helping himself around the house very well now! One of my big concerns was the stairs. We were hoping to find a one story home, but what we happened upon ended up being a two story house. I talked at length about the stairs and stair safety with the boys and they really have done well. Chandler has slipped off a step one time and landed on his lower back/bottom and caused a red mark. He was fine after the initial scare was over. Other than that, we haven't had any incidents and I hope we don't. Both boys are being really careful on the stairs and being cautious, thankfully. No one has tried to push the other down the stairs in a box or anything like that...yet. lol! We had a random warm day back in December where it got up to about 70 degrees one weekend, so we spent the weekend outside getting the boys trampoloine put back together from the move. They were so excited to have it back! We just got it this summer and they spent a lot of time on it this summer, so they were thrilled to see it back up. I think it made it feel a bit more like home for them. And funny enough, we have gotten snow about 3 times now up here! The biggest one was decent enough to really play in, so we made a snowman! We lived down in a valley before, and now we are up on the hill next to it, so we get more snow, just eight minutes down the road. Here are a few cute pictures of our snowday! :D

Almost every day after we get off work, Chris and I work on something around the house, just because there is so much to do. Something needs to be unpacked, cleaned, fixed, or put away. So, every day when we work on things, our house feels more and more like home. We still have lots to do, but we've made huge progress! I'd love to do a quick tour around our new home, maybe on a facebook live or something, if anyone would be interested to see it! I have no pictures hung yet, and there are several walls that desperately need paint, and lots to clean, but I'd love to have everyone see it now and then again when we get it all fixed up how we want! I love before and after home remodel photos, so this would be a fun way to do it! Anyways, thanks for jumping on and following along about our adventures. We appreciate you being here and look foward to sharing more!