On a Monday from my new house

Well, it's Monday afternoon and I'm currently sitting at our little card table, the card table we brought up from the basement after selling our dining room table at our house on Fleur.  It's the card table that I blamed for prompting our moving hell that occurred in the month of November, a month that now seems so far away.  This time, though, I'm sitting at this card table in my dining room, looking out my four over-sized windows onto our new backyard.  This spring, we'll plant green grass, hang a clothes line, and go explore in our new neighborhood.  I look the other direction and see this house we've dreamed up for months, with its dark wood floors, its creamy white plank ceiling, and butcher block island, and none of it feels real quite yet.  I keep waiting for our contractor to call with a question, keep trying to think of what needs to be ordered or decided next, and then it hits me that we're here.  It's ours, this house, and now the work begins.  Boxes to be unpacked, furniture to be placed, memories to be made.  It starts here, yet I'm not sure where or how to begin...

We officially moved in on Saturday, even though our first night sleeping here was Sunday.  I underestimated (once again) the amount of cleaning that needed to happen before this place was ready for our movers to come, but thanks to my mom and Ben and Noah from Concept to Creation, we were pretty much ready by Saturday afternoon.  We laughed that we seem to always pick the coldest day of the year to move, as we moved into our first house on a very similar day in January eight years ago.  We never expected the same on the day before March!  This time, though, we had a moving company come, which made our work much warmer.  I, much to my husband's opposition, directed the vast majority of our boxes to our enormously empty basement, with hopes I would unpack little by little and keep our main floor intact rather than creating a sea of stressful boxes for our kids to come home to on Sunday.  Let's just say our basement looks a little overwhelming at this point, but I still think I was right. :)

After unpacking the kids' rooms, washing all of our bedding, unpacking the kitchen, and setting up some very college-dormesque furniture to get us by until our new stuff comes in, we were ready for our kiddos to join us and so excited to see their reactions.  Mom brought them over around suppertime and said they had been excited all day long.  Cruz kept asking random questions about it and even told Mom over lunch that he was going to get to sleep in bunk beds.  I'm not quite sure what he was visualizing, but I hope his new Captain America sheets won him over just as well!  Cruz immediately went searching for his Batcave, his most prized possession that had been in storage, and was over the moon when he started to realize the magnitude of toys that he hadn't seen in nearly four months!  He even shut the door of his room, acting very possessive over his new space, signs to us that we think he is a fan.  

Mila was a little hesitant at first, but soon started taking advantage of the open space and waddling her way from room to room.  She liked the toys, too, but much rather preferred to start checking out the inside of our cupboard doors and trying to climb on the furniture!  There was much to explore and both kids seemed to be on a sort of high as they got acclimated to the new space.  

It was weird telling my parents goodbye after living with them for almost four months.  It was time for us to all have our own space, yet, it still felt bittersweet to see it come to an end.  A part of me felt rather childish as I closed the door, like a very small girl in this large house without a clue of what to do with it.  I remember feeling the very same thing the night I got engaged, the day I walked down the aisle, and the day I brought both of my babies into this world.  The big, grownup days where you stare life's biggest moments in the face and know your world is changing before your very eyes.  It is in those vulnerable, life-changing moments when you realize that sometimes it just feels good to have your mom by your side.  

So here I sit, this small person in this big new house, without a clue what to do next.  Maybe I'll unpack a box or two, maybe not.  Mumford is coming to Waverly in June, which has caused me much distraction today.  I think I will turn it into motivation for getting this place ready for house guests.  Just don't tell my eager husband that. :) 

Pictures from our first night...

Mila trying out our touch-sensored faucet.  Thanks for introducing her to that one, Papa... 

I love the look on his face - his eyes are exuding happiness.  Kids are so adaptable, it amazes me.   

Mila finding her favorite place to sit...

I'm sure I will sometimes miss our wood burning fireplace, but it's pretty neat to have a fire with the flip of a switch.  We had one going all day yesterday and Mila learned the word "hot" pretty quickly!

Frozen pizza, applesauce, and blueberries - our first official family meal.  Signature moving meal, right?