Two Weeks In.....

So we're now two weeks in the house and things are starting to feel a lot more comfortable.  Boxes are getting emptied and thrown in the basement, Blake is chasing Cash around, Grayson is smiling and being his wonderful self -- so feel like this is a good time to share a little update of how things are going.

Before the picture-sharing-explosion, it's time for some long overdue thank you's to the people who made this life-changing opportunity possible for me and Jon:

• First and foremost, none of this would have been possible without the amazing generosity of two wonderful women.  You are very missed and your memory will live on in the home that we will build together.  I will work my hardest to pay forward your generosity to my boys so that they can make their dreams come true too!

• Thank you to my wonderful parents, who (among countless other things) helped get our townhouse ready to sell, watched the boys and the dog whenever we needed it, moved and stored A LOT of our stuff in their basement, gave us a temporary house while we got things set up in Sellersville, and supported us in countless ways before/during/and after these last 6 months of craziness!!  We owe you so much

• A huge thank you to our "movers" who gave their blood, sweat, and tears (OK, no one actually cried...they're all very manly and strong) to move us out and in.  It goes without saying that we couldn't have done that on our own.....a big thank you party is coming your way!

• Lastly, thank you to everyone who gave us your encouragement, excitement, and well wishes!!  Sharing this process and reading the comments you left would often give me the little boost I needed to keep going

Now - onto the show!!  Here are some BEFORE and AFTERs showing what the house looked like the day we closed, and what it looks like today

(Note: These pics were strategically taken right before/during the kids nap time and after a thorough clean-up....please don't believe that our house is this neat while hurricane Blake is home)

FRONT ROOM
 

DINING ROOM

KITCHEN

MORNING ROOM

LIVING ROOM

LOFT

BLAKE'S ROOM

GRAYSON'S ROOM

GUEST ROOM

MASTER BEDROOM

I was going to share some bathroom pics, but there's nothing more exciting than towels going on in there right now, so I'll save that until we actually get to get some paint or tile up.  But I would like to share the following two special shout outs....

GARAGE - Jon spent his Father's Day cleaning this out so we can actually park a car in it so a big thank you to him!

BASEMENT - It's pretty sad right now, except for this cozy beirut area that Alex set up/gifted so another big thank you to him!

Next up - more unpacking, more hanging, more organizing...and then it's on to plan my big guy's third Birthday!!!  Until then, enjoy this beautiful weather and Happy Spring : )

Top Ten Favorite Things....Week of 6/9

Top Row
1. The perks of living closer to my family (like having the opportunity to run into this cutie while grocery shopping)
2. An awesome housewarming gift from my brother and sister-in-law
3. Watching Grayson gear up to start crawling
4. First cooking class with Blake at the new house
5. Surprise breakfast from Eaphis

Bottom Row
6. My New Kitchen - I may include this in many top ten lists for months because it makes life sooo much easier
7. Yummy chocolates from Amsterdam - thanks Dad!
8. 48 colors of sidewalk chalk and a vacant strip of side walk - drool
9. More empty boxes = more full rooms
10. Who has two thumbs and is adorable ----- THIS GUY

Two house closings in one day....go!

Decided to do a little photo journal of our non-top house closing tour...here's how we made it through that exciting, but very hectic day! My favorite - the construction paper one we had to add to our address so the PODs guy knew where to go.

Craft Time with Blake: Mother's Day Frames

One of my new year's resolutions (which I made in April...whatever it's been a busy new year) was to do more craft projects with the kids, so me and Blake kicked things off with some Mother's Day projects.  I was able to get a very cute picture of the boys together (by promising Blake a lollipop if he took it) so I thought it'd make a perfect Mother's Day Gift.  I found 4 of these plain MDF frames at Michaels for $1.50 each, so off we went

I wanted to make these white to have a backdrop for Blake to paint on, and I probably could've just primed/painted them really easily, but I had been itching to try to spray paint something so I went with that instead.  I don't know if it was the fact that they were made out of MDF and not wood, but these took A LOT of coats of spray paint (w/a built in primer).

The left side is about 2 coats in, and the right hand side is the finished product, about 6 coats in.

That might not seem like a lot, but considering that I had four of these to do, and I had to also paint the backs of the frames, and the backing pieces, this took a lot longer then I originally had planned for.


Once these were as solid white as I had the patience to get them, we took a drizzly afternoon at home and put the boy to work. I limited the color palate to 4 colors of craft paint so we didn't end up with muddy brown pictures and Blake got painting. I did tell him who each frame was for before he painted them, so these are 100% personalized by Blake.



Once these were done and dry, I inserted the aforementioned Boehmke boy pics and I used these great corrugated cardboard letters that I found to personalize even further. One of the frames I found had a wonky back that wouldn't let the frame stand horizontal, but stood vertical fine, so I dished out a 2nd lollipop and snapped another pic. The price we pay huh?

Although this is very belated, much like my resolutions, a very Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there who make me laugh, smile, and not feel so alone in this crazy world of child rearing!!

Things I'll Miss About Pottstown

Blake's School - He went there since he was 8 months old and just about every teacher/kid/administrator knew who he was.  Really hard to take him away from that

Giovanni's Pizza - If you've ever eaten there with us, you know exactly why it will be very hard to live without this place!

The Schuykill River Trail - perfect place to take the boys and Cash to stroll and throw rocks.  Happy that we got lots of pics during our last family photo session

Craft Ale House - We will definitely be making treks back to this place, but it'll stink not living only 10 minutes away

The Spring Valley YMCA - If you're thinking LDale Y, you're very mistaken.  Going to outdoor pool was basically like spending the day at a small water park.  Another place we will take day trips to

Our House - Even though there were a million reasons to move when we did, we will always miss our first house.  It was wonderful and will always be the place we started our family

The Playground - We spent countless weekend afternoons and nights at the little playground around the corner from the house.  I can remember taking Blake down the slide in my lap for the first time, and it was a great touchstone to see how big he was getting

The Little Gym Crew - Blake (and he LG BF Lila) started going there when they were both around a year and it's amazing to compare these two big kids to the little wobbly guys who first started!  Time to move on (and start again with the 2nd generation) but this place will always hold fond memories for me