Just when I think things are not hectic enough I choose to throw another wrinkle in just as we are about to meet our second son. We are buying a new house and selling our very first home. It was a whirlwind, but not a decision we took lightly. Parts of me will miss the home we took down to the studs and rebuilt. I will miss the kitchen I designed and the fixtures I picked out myself. But the truth is not matter what we leave behind it is just stuff. Where my family is, that is my home.
It is with much excitement that I look at our new house with it’s crazy wallpaper and early castle kitchen and think about all the possibilities. I look at the in law suite in the making and am grateful my children will grow up with their grandparents as a major part of their lives. The playroom that will hold all the toys that we have accumulated somehow in less than 3 years and the basement where my husband will finally have his real man cave. I see the bedrooms where my children will sleep and grow up. The home office where I will work and put my flowers and pink things to balance the testosterone by which I am surrounded. The family room where we will gather for big family holidays has plenty of space for everyone even extended family. Perhaps the most fun is the pool where we will all swim on hot summer days and the large yard for the swing set. Even the front porch where we will sit and wave to our neighbors is alluring in its possibilities.
We have never been the type of family to aspire to obtain fancy things. We like to start with good bones and build around that. It is a family tradition to renovate homes and make them our own and build our lives behind the walls we have torn down and rebuilt. That metaphor we use for improvement of ourselves and our relationships. We have come very far you see and overcome adversity individually and together. We have been so lucky, but we have worked hard on ourselves and our awareness and we are grateful for everything.
We have a long list of renovations for this new home. Here is the rundown. First and foremost removal of the crazy wallpaper. You will see from the pictures I am not lying when I say it is crazy. A friend who saw it said quite politely. “Well they certainly didn’t play it safe with that choice.” Then we will paint the walls some soothing colors. I love paint samples. I really enjoy the process of design that starts with the warmth of new paint. Next put in some new flooring in the family room and master bedroom and some new carpet on the stairs and in the upstairs hallway. Followed by reglazing the tub and shower in the main bathroom and getting a new vanity and toilet. You will see why this is a necessity as well when we reveal the mock wood 1970’s style vanity currently present.
Our fingers are crossed that we will only need a new roof and the furnace and air conditioner will hold on for many more years to come. Outside we need to extend the fence near the pool and fence in the yard and get a shed for the new and necessary ride on lawn mower. I am looking forward to leaving the boys in the house and learning to cut the lawn. An escape that will be all my own in the fresh air in our new yard.
The most important thing to my husband aside from the man cave is perhaps the basketball hoop we will install in the driveway for endless hours of fun for him and the boys. I may even get in on that action now and then. After all there was a time before I was a mom that I was quite the athlete.
Of course there are some other things we would like to do, but many can and will have to wait and that is ok because no matter what the house looks like it will be filled with love. As this new chapter begins and we welcome Emerson into our lives and we move our family into our new home, I am reminded that this journey is truly amazing and I must welcome all that comes with open arms. I truly am the luckiest girl in the world even if I do have some crazy wallpaper to remove here and there.
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