On June 1, our dream of owning a new home came true! While we felt blessed to have purchased the first home we did just before we were married, and it served our needs extremely well, we were frustrated by the Interest Only loan we had been put in and felt like we were going to struggle to make any headway on it. Once we sold our home, it was hard to think about leaving. After all, it was where we started our married life together and brought both of our babies home. However, when we thought of all the greatness that was to come in our new home, which was everything we ever could have wanted, we were thrilled to start our new adventure!
This is our last night in our first home!
(Emma was already sleeping and John was a little nervous about what was to come, so he needed a few extra snuggles that night.)
The moving truck has arrived!! We knew that we needed help with moving because I was still unable to lift anything after my surgery and we had several heavy things, like a gun safe, etc that we had gotten while we had lived at the house. They were able to arrive early, since we had an early morning closing on our house and thankfully, the people moving in didn't want access to our house right away. Our dads were amazing cleaners as the movers got everything to the truck, as we signed away our first house and became homeless for a few hours!
The last, empty look at our first home... After our second closing, Phil went with the movers to our new house to start them on unpacking the truck and I headed back to our first home to make sure everything was completed. I helped our dads with the final cleaning and did a last walk-thru as they put the cleaning supplies in the car. It was sad to be alone in our house for the last time, but at that point, it was just a house then, and certainly not our home!
A few days after moving, it was time to head to the park to have some down time for the kids while mom painted!
Like I said, our new home was truly our dream home! When we had talked about building a home two years ago when we were on the market, we had wanted a 2-story with an open foyer and an open floor plan. Ideally, we also wanted a walkout basement and a large yard. Knowing this was not likely to be found in neighborhoods these days, the moment we walked into our house, we knew this was it! We loved the arch doorways and huge kitchen, but knew the fully yellow house would have to go! By July 3, over 2,000 sq ft was painted by my dad and I.... and I'm fine not seeing a paintbrush for awhile again!
Here are the before and after pictures!
The family room
and now...
To paint, we had to rent scaffolding for our two story foyer. There were a few parts the scaffolding didn't reach, so Phil and my dad rigged up a few ladders and planks. They said it was safe, but we didn't get pictures!
The kitchen...
The playroom (officially the living room) then....
and now...
The Dining Room then...
and now....
The Master Bedroom then...
and now...
Emma's room is definitely perfect for a little princess! However, we painted it in a way that if we are blessed with a little prince again some day, it can be easily altered too!
Here is the beginnings of her pink stripes on her mint green walls!
John's Bedroom before...
John's new big boy bed arrived!
John's new comforter and red pillows (his favorite color!)
John LOVED his room when he was able to see it! He had spent the first week with Emma in her room, because he wasn't sure he wanted his own room right away. He liked sharing with Emma and liked knowing she was there at night and now that we had a 2-story house and we weren't all on the same level all the time, he was also unnerved by that, so he preferred to be with her at first. We made it a big deal though that he was going to have his own room and he helped picked it out everything for it, so he was thrilled when he was able to move in!
and now his completed African safari room...
The outside of our house during the first snow last night!
(I just had to add that one in there with the pretty snowflakes coming down!)
We feel SO blessed to have been able to purchase the house we did, when we did! We know God was watching out for us through it all and we couldn't be happier!
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