It's a Christmas miracle

You know, that I'm actually getting to blog.  Between endless house stuff and these kids not sleeping EVER, I was beginning to feel like I was never going to get to blog again.  I hate that it's been over two months that I've been here.  Even the spammers thought I was gone for good.  I started getting tons of ridiculous spam comments on random old posts, like I'd abandoned my blog and the cockroaches tried to take over.

But I've shoo'd them away and I'm once again dusting off my poor little blog and once again hoping that it won't be this long before I post again.

And since I'm OCD I have to pick up where I left off, so bear with me for a second.  I'll just hit the high points.

When we moved to Pennsylvania, one of the first things I was excited about was how close we were to New York City.  I swore we were going to be in the City like every other week because it was so close.  It never happened.  Even though we were only two hours away, we never got around to going until it was time to move away.  It was our last weekend in our house before the movers came, and my two girlfriends and I packed up our eight children and we spent two days in the City and it was awesome!!  It was hectic with all those kids but completely and totally awesome and I'm thrilled that we got to do it. 

The one and only thing I wanted to do was go to the Museum of Natural History and take a picture with the T Rex.

The kids were completely melting down but I was totally geeked out.

It was an adventure and I'm so glad 

we got to make the trip.

We also took the kids to Frozen on Ice.  

Such a fun night!

Then the movers came and packed our house and 

we went to stay with friends for a week

before we moved away for good.

Our last night in Pennsylvania coincided with

the annual Halloween party.

This year we were residents of Pixie Hollow.

Drew was Lord Milori, I was Queen Clarion and 

Andrea was a Tink in training.

God, she's so cute.  How is it that she'll be a year old in two months?!

I couldn't get a shot of my Tinkerbell

until after we'd done our trick or treating and she was 

assessing her loot.

Even then she wouldn't put her wings or her shoes back on.

Such is life with a three year old.

Before we left for good, 

we had to get one last shot of the three musketeers.

One last shot of the moms.

I miss them so much...

Immediately after the party, we loaded the cars and with many tears and hugs we headed south.  We spent the night in Virginia, got a little sleep and finished the drive to North Carolina the next morning.

Stretching our legs and taking a selfie at the gas station.

And bing bang boom, we were driving up to our new home!

We arrived just before Halloween, so it's been what, a month and a half now?  It seems like it's been longer, as nearly all of the boxes are unpacked, but of course it's going to be a while before everything is they way I want it.  Every week I try to do one decorating thing; it'll take a while but I'm getting there, baby steps at a time. Our first night, Drew and I were laying in bed, just looking at each other.  "This doesn't feel real.  It feels like we're house-sitting for somebody else, somebody more grown-up than us."   It's so weird to call this our home, but Drew has worked so hard to provide for us and he has absolutely earned it.  The least I can do is make it pretty for our little family.

So bit by bit, I'm hanging pictures, I'm arranging stuff and it's feeling more like *our* home, and I think it's high time we had ourselves a house tour.  Of course, we'll call these the before shots....

 Here's my entryway.

I'm kidding I'm kidding!  No one wants to see pictures of bare walls!  That would be an incredibly boring house tour, so I ran around taking pictures of everything yesterday afternoon.  THIS is what my house looks like, for real.  These are the real before pictures and I'm warning you, the house is a wreck.  

Let's play "What Needs to Change!"

The wine rack is what you see right when you come in, just so you know what kind of people we are.  My mom came to help out right after we moved in, so while she watched the kids, I was able to unpack boxes and even get some decorating done.  I spray painted the wine rack and it's a vast improvement over the reddish wood that it was before.  The marble top is still cracked and at some point we'll probably replace it, but it's good for now.

This is the drop spot for all our junk and I desperately need to get a handle on it.  I need a spot for keys, the dog's leash and Drew's headphones, and I need to find new homes for all the other stuff on there.

The entryway is nice and big with a wide hallway, but

I need to do something with that left wall.

The dining room is to the left and I want to replace that bench.

I keep meaning to pull the two dining chairs at the end of the table to either

side of the buffet but I just haven't gotten around to it.

I don't like that you can't see the buffet all that well but I'll figure something out.

I had the movers put it like this at first but Drew 

thought it looked better the other way.

I'm going to go for something like this in the dining room.

One of these days.

image courtesy

The butler's pantry is through the dining room

on the way to the kitchen.

We had them take out the upper cabinet and tile the whole wall.

Eventually, we'll put in a couple of floating shelves.

For now, it's the drink station.

The main pantry is across from the butler's pantry and 

It. Is. Everything.

My mom organized it and sometimes I go in 

there to just stare at everything in its place and I feel calm.

I love my pantry.

There's my big ol' messy kitchen.

I love it so much.

They finally changed out the Jesus fish lights to the ones I originally chose, but the third pendant is on backorder somewhere and I'll probably get it when Andrea is in kindergarten.  These lights have been the bane of my existence.  However, the rest of the kitchen is beyond lovely and I love everything about it.  I love the glass subway tile, I LOVE my soapstone island, I love the countertops, I love my white cabinets and I LOVE all the space.  It's a pretty awesome kitchen if I do say so myself.  One day, I'm going to get three barstools for the island, but for now this is how we're living.

The breakfast nook needs window treatments like woah.

Our back porch is screened in and I had high hopes for having a cute outdoor living 

situation, but it gets drenched when it rains so 

I don't know what's going to end up happening out there.

Check out our awesome Christmas tree.

Sofia kept taking the ornaments she could reach and throwing them

all over the house so I had to toddler-proof our tree.

We have an open floor plan so I can see the family room from the kitchen, which I love.  There was a wall in the old house and I hated not being able to see the kids while I made dinner so this set up is a million times better.  Eventually, we'll hang the TV over the fireplace and put bookshelves where the TV is now.  You know, one of these days.

The guest bedroom and bath and the mudroom are also down here but I forgot to get pictures.  They're pretty basic and the guest bedroom is so bare; there's just a dresser and bed in there, our poor guests.

The stairs to the second floor are in the family room, I was picky about that.  I'm not a fan of seeing stairs right when you walk in a house, so instead of the staircase coming straight down and spilling out into the entryway, they turn and go into the family room.

Standing on the stairs.

And Sofia has a star over her because she's naked.

She's always naked.

I'd like to get a sectional, and when the tree is down, 

we'll move the chair over to that corner and 

obviously we need window treatments here too.

The playroom is at the top of the stairs, and that room

is nowhere near where I want it to be, but the toys are somewhat corralled.

Eventually, this TV cabinet will go up to the third floor and we'll

hang the TV on the wall so we can have more space.

I need to organize so much in this room.

But at least I organized the crayons!

Previously, they were jumbled up and hidden in a drawer

and they never got used.

This way, they're accessible and getting played with.

I have no idea why I didn't open the shade in Andrea's room

to take pictures.  Again, please consider these the before shots.

Craigslist here is awesome.  North Carolina is known for their good furniture and Craigslist does not disappoint.  I scored her dresser soon after we moved in and I love it.  It's a little beaten up but it's going to be even more gorgeous with a new coat of paint.  I'm staying with the pink and gold theme in here and I plan to sew a cover for the floor pouf.  Eventually.

My neighbor's husband hung the shelf for me and I plan to put a frame collage

under the shelf or maybe drape one of those rag buntings.

I like them?  I think?

I'm not sure.

image courtesy

Sofia's room is somewhat set up, but of course

there's a ton I want to do with it.

Her last bedroom was navy and raspberry and I'm

staying with the blue and pink theme,

but this time it's peacock and bubble gum.

I took my inspiration from her storage boxes.

I'm absolutely in love with her storage boxes and I snatched them up when they went on sale.  Drew built Sofia's dress-up caddy over a year ago and I finally got around to painting it when my mom was in town.  Honestly, I'm happiest when I'm painting something and time to paint is the best gift anyone can give me.  That, and some new boots.  I want some new boots.

Anyway, Sofia's room!  Yeah, it needs help.

I found some peacock sheets at Target and her lamp still works in the room, 

but those poor walls!  They need art, stat!

Sofia has a big walk-in closet and she has a Craigslist dresser in there, so the dresser in her room is more of a catch-all for toys.  Her room is a great size and I like the furniture placement, but I just need to tweak some things.

And then there's the master bedroom, or 'owner's retreat.'

I guess master bedroom isn't PC anymore?  

I had no idea.

Maya's in here with us too, because it felt cruel to make her sleep downstairs by herself.  I kind of don't even like the kids to be sleeping in their own rooms, but they seem to end up in our bed at some point during the night anyway.  

Oh look!  More windows that need curtains!

Once I get things truly decorated, I'll take pretty pictures.

Right now, I'm just happy to be blogging.

Obviously, this is from move in day.

But this bathroom is so fantastic.

I love it so very very much.

I mean, I *would* like to do something with those builder mirrors,

the counters already look cluttered and it needs more decor,

but it's still so so SO much better than the 

"master bath" we had in Reading.

SO much better.

The girls love the big tub and 

maybe one day I'll get to take a bubble bath in there

with a glass of wine and a book.

A girl can dream...

There's a third floor too, but I didn't get any pictures of that because it's just a big room with another trio of windows.  One of these days, it'll be workspace for Drew and me, where I can sew and do my crafty stuff and he can do work stuff.  One of these days.  We have a long way to go to making this house our home, but if you gauge lived-in by how big your mess is, then we are most definitely home.

Whew!  That was a monster of a post, but now my OCD is at peace and now I feel all caught up.  I sure hope it's not another two months before I can come back.  I miss writing and I miss checking in with you.  I hope you're all well, and just in case I don't get back here before Christmas, have a very merry Christmas!  I hope all your wishes come true!