Setting up house + life update

There are so many things I've been wanting to write about but just haven't had the time to sit down and get them out! So after all the time that has passed, I think the easiest way to catch you up to speed with where we are now, is to give a list of the highlights from the last couple of weeks.

1-

If you missed my last post, we spent our last days at our Lakeland house (Lakeland is the name of our old street) and moved into our new house a week ago today.

our last picture at our old house

2-

In the weeks prior to moving, I would have the kids nap at the new house while I unpacked boxes and cleaned. Mimi (Matt's mom) was a HUGE help with cleaning, unpacking, and picture hanging! One of the many things she did was scrub away at the kitchen stove and clean the oven until they both looked brand new. It was a labor of love that was super appreciated by this mama who loves to cook and loves a clean kitchen!

Natalie was excited about the clean kitchen too. ;)

3-

While I moved from room to room, I brought the gang and some toys and tackled as much as I could for as long as I could. On this day, Mimi was there helping me hang pictures. If she wasn't there helping, maybe one picture would be up on our walls at this point- I was so thankful for her help!

When Ryan woke up from his nap, Mimi took him down to the backyard to explore and Ryan wanted to take a dip in the pool. I snapped this from the porch- love Ryan's nakey buns and Mimi's grin in this picture!

4-

The night before the move (last Sunday) we drove down to my parents' new house that they just moved into last week! So crazy that we ended up moving homes at the exact same time. But even amidst all of their own craziness, they let Ryan and Natalie spend the night (their first sleepover away from home!) so that Matt and I could move the next day and get their rooms set up at the new house. They didn't even have silverware unpacked but took the kids without hesitation. So, so sweet!

Sweet Nanni Girl (our nick name for Natalie) was down early, but she was there too!

5-

On one of our visits to the house, I stopped by the park that is very close to our neighborhood and explored some with the kiddos before unpacking at the house. We managed to snap a quick pic while we were there. :)

6-

Tuesday was our first full day at the new house, and Matt came home early from work to have our first official swim. Ryan was SO excited! And Natalie was too. ;)

7-

Wednesday morning we went for a walk in the neighborhood and Ryan got to ride his bike! We lived on a busy street at our old house, so I never felt super comfortable letting him ride since I also had Natalie and Tally with us on our walks. He was really excited to take his bike out and also thought the side walks were pretty cool. :) 

8-

Friday night, we had both of our families over for dinner and swimming and a tour of the house! Our nephew Jackson was talking non-stop about jumping off of the diving board prior to coming to our house, and was super excited when he got his big moment. Sweet buddy!

Tal is a big fan of having a little more space to spread out at this house!

Matt and I kept saying to each other how much we loved getting to host both of our families and not feel like we were squeezing everyone in. We both love having people over and now we have the space to do that!

Sweet Jackson and Tally :)

Popsicles on the porch!

9-

Sunday (yesterday) I turned 32 and celebrated with breakfast on the porch and the sweetest gift from Matt and the kids before hopping in the car to head down to the beach for a week! (we are nuts, hah)

  

I just cried when I opened this. On the back of the two larger frames are hand and foot prints of the kids with their ages. When I flipped them over and saw that I cried even more! So, so sweet. And also made me realize how much craftier Matt is than me, ha!

10-

Making the drive to Seagrove, FL to meet up with my family for a week!

And celebrating with my September birthday buddy, Maddox, after dinner. :)

Blog posts to come:

Natalie 7 months (working on getting that in before she turns 8 months) ;)

House Tour

Beach Week

A Tribute to This House

Well it's Friday, and this weekend we are MOVING!

The movers officially come on Monday, but we'll be taking the weekend to finish packing and getting everything ready for Monday.

Last night, Matt and I had our last date night on our patio after the kids were in bed and then spent some time packing and cleaning. We're about 90% packed! This morning, we'll take a trip in each of our cars and then I'll hang at the house while various installers/workers come between 8-12. I plan to put the kiddos down for a morning nap and continue unpacking. This napping/unpacking plan worked really well last week (I was able to get the entire kitchen unpacked!), so I'm holding out hope that all goes well again today. :)

I have to say, I have really missed my little morning blogging routine lately. I am ready to be in, and settled, and back in a routine of waking up and writing- not documenting consistently for the past 6 weeks make me feel like time has sort of stood still. So here's to the home stretch of this whole buying/selling/moving process and the start of normalcy again!

I've been thinking a lot this week and trying to soak in our last days in this house.

So much life has happened in this house over the past 5 years.

It was the first home that Matt and I purchased together.

It was a place where we learned about all sorts of house projects and learned how to be patient as we chose one or two projects a year to complete.

It was the place where we experienced the heartbreak of miscarriage and the incredible joy of two pregnancies.

It was the place where brought home Tally...

...and then Ryan...

and then Natalie.

It's the place where we could talk to each other from any corner of the house whether doors were opened or closed.

It's the place where we played outside and waited for daddy to get home.

It's the place where we met the most amazing neighbors in our same stage of life and did our best to get our crews together for pizza every other month.

It's been the place we've called home for 5.5 years. So much life has happened in such a seemingly short amount of time. Knowing that we will be in our next house even longer, I can't even imagine how much life is going to take place inside the walls that we'll call home starting Monday.

So here's to one last weekend in this house and lots of weekends to come in our new one.

Long Weekend in Orlando

It's evident by how infrequently I've been updating this space that life around here is a bit crazy!

We are moving one week from today and are getting so excited to be in our new home! I'll share more details on that later this week. Today, I wanted to give a recap of our trip to Orlando.

Over the Labor Day weekend, we took a break from all of the house prepping and decision making and took a trip to Orlando. Matt wanted to go to Florida State's opening game, so we thought we'd make a weekend of it and visit family while we were there.

The trip was planned before all of the house buying and selling began, but we're so glad we had it booked- it was the perfect break from all of the craziness! Plus, Ryan and Natalie got to spend time with their Great Nanna and Great Papa and the rest of their Orlando family, and also got to be in the same house with Mimi and Papa (Matt's parents) for a few days, so it was fun to spend extra time with them too!

The only problem is that I completely forgot to take pictures with everyone and just have some random pictures from our weekend- oops! Guess that shows how much we really did just unplug and try to enjoy time with family.

Ready to go!

Ryan thought it was so cool to ride the bus to the airport. :)

This Little Miss rocked her second flight!

Orlando's airport is a tiny taste of Disney- and it did not disappoint!

Once we got to Great Nanna and Great Grandpa's house, Ryan was introduced to the magic that is a laundry room filled with toys from 50+ years ago. I'm convinced they don't make toys the way they used to. We spent a lot of time in this great space (particularly those quiet hours before the rest of the house considered it morning) ;)

On Sunday morning, we went to Great Nanna and Great Grandpa's church. Ryan and Natalie made it through the opening and the worship (where Ryan sang Jesus Loves Me no matter what song was being played :) ) before we walked out to the lobby.

And then we hung out with the sweetest little Sunday school class during the message- the kids were so sweet with Ryan!

Back at the house, Ryan met our cousin Lynnea's pups and did some tricks with them.

:)

Papa and Ryan watched a rain storm from the front door

On Monday, we had a big lunch with about 15 of our family members and hung out all afternoon before a large group went to the FSU v. Ole Miss, but I completely forgot to snap a single picture. Man!

Tuesday morning, Great Grandpa had to go to work, so Ryan kept him company while he had his breakfast. :)

We searched for lizards, snakes, and frogs in the backyard...

... and got really excited when we found a baby lizard :)

As we were getting ready to jump in the car for the airport, I realized I hadn't taken one picture with Great Nanna! So we snapped a quick one (and let Crabby be in the picture too)

Crabby is Ryan's new friend that his Aunt Leslie gave him on the trip- the look on his face when she said he could keep him was precious! 

And of course that was the friend he wanted to carry on the plane, haha

Grabbing a quick bite before boarding

And then the sweetest little moment happened where Ryan reached to hold Nanni's hand while he played a game on the flight. Love these two!