Oh yeah, we're moving... again.

I move about every 8 months or so.  At least that's what it feels like.  I did a quick count in my head the other day and this upcoming move will be my 11th move since graduating from college in 2002.  Yes, my ELEVENTH MOVE in 10 years.  That is ridiculous.  This will be the 5th place that Chris and I will live in together in our 4 years of marriage and May's 3rd home.  She's not even one year old yet and this will be her THIRD home.  Like I said, that is ridiculous.

Now, onto the good news.  We are buying a house! SO, if everything continues to go smoothly... we shouldn't be moving again for a very very very long time (insert giant deep cleansing breath here).  We found a precious ranch with a finished basement in Gurnee.  I spent my entire non-adult life in Gurnee and Chris spent a large part of his childhood there as well.  I am a little bit more excited about moving back "home" than he is though.  Where we live now is about 2 minutes from Gurnee but this is different.  I feel like we're coming home. Is that weird? Well, it is what it is.

Here are some pics of the new place.  Obviously, these are from the real estate listing.  I canNOT wait to start posting some after pics of all the projects we will be doing!

The outside... I hate that giant tree but I'm sure it will be there for years to come.  I think we'll be doing alot of landscaping and painting...

The family room... LOVE the gas fireplace and the hardwood floors (although it will be funny to watch May slipping and sliding around since she used to carpet)

Another view of the family room -- the opening to the right of the fireplace goes to the bedrooms. 

The Kitchen... A very amazing person is GIVING us a stainless steel fridge and oven... and I totally plan on painting the kitchen cabinets (one day when I have like, a month with no other plans and May has become completely self sufficient).  I LOVE the window above the sink.  I've always wanted that... I spend so much time standing at the sink, I love that I'll have a nice view of our back yard :-)

This is actually a formal living room in the front of the house but the previous owners obviously used it as a dining room.  It's oddly cut off from the rest of the house though so the entire wall to the right is coming down which will open it up to the kitchen eating area (below) and the family room.

This is the eating area in the kitchen - the wall with the built in shelves will be coming down and it will open up to the formal living room -- the wall to the left is also coming down and will open up to the family room.

This is the AMAZING shower in the master bath.  It has multiple sprayers.  I might not ever get out.

This is the time capsule basement... I'm not-so-secretly in love with the wood paneling and the leather padded bar.  The door in the back there leads to the laundry room and a storage area -- the storage area is going to becoming a 4th bedroom for the parents.  My dad is giving us a giant sectional and giant TV for the basement.  We're pretty stoked. (Well, I'm pretty stoked because I don't have to get those two giant items out of my dad's basement and into our basement.)

So, that's everything! The projects mentioned with the walls coming down will be happening on our second weekend living here.  My darling husband, the carpenter, is going to use his one weekend off to work on our home all weekend.  He's so excited to finally get to do work on his own home.

And, I almost forgot to mention that this house is on a cul de sac in a REAL neighborhood and there is a little playground at the end of the cul de sac! Yay!

Here's a picture of May... just because.

Then and Now...

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary.  I'm pretty sure that our wedding was the funnest wedding ever... maybe because I was the one who got married that day... so, that made it extra fun for me.

Our colors were black and white... it was a winter wedding so no other color made sense to me at the time... plus, I had this dark, romantic vision in my head. My bridesmaids chose their own black dresses (this was the BEST decision ever by the way).  

I felt like a princess in my giant pick up skirt and Chris looked dashing in his tux! 

The sanctuary was dimly lit and there were candles everywhere... ugh, so romantic! 

There were FOUR toasts which was probably a bit much to anyone attending the wedding but was SO fun for Chris and I.  To hear our closest friends share their stories and well-wishes for us was the perfect way to kick off our reception. We had our bridal party and their dates at a big giant square head table.  Thinking back, this was probably kind of awkward for the bridal party's dates but it was SO fun to have everyone at this big giant table, and I have gone to one to many weddings "alone" because Chris was a groomsmen, so we just went for it! :-)

Our first dance was to Van Morrison's "I'll Be Your Lover Too" -- Chris picked the song and my favorite line was, "I'll be your king and you'll be my queen and I'll be your lover, too."

The DJ was awesome and the dance floor was full all night... so so much dancing!

 AND, here we are now... a little chubbier but so happy to be living life together. :-)

 

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

Oh my gosh, my May is a dancing MACHINE.  I could watch her shake that little tushy all day long... here are two little video's for your viewing pleasure.  Do you think this means that she'll probably be a famous dancer some day? Probably.

Snot, Coughs and Cuddles

May is sick.  She has been snotty and coughing for two weeks now.  And, in true baby fashion, juuuuust when we think she's getting better (and juuuuuuust after we take her to the doctor on a good day)... BOOM, she gets worse. 

I share this because something interesting happened around here last night.  Usually the coughing doesn't wake or keep May up... this girl can sleep through a marching band in her room at night (not during naps, don't ever try that).  Until last night.  Between 9 and 10:30pm she had coughed herself awake and whined herself back to sleep 3 times.  I couldn't take it anymore... my poor little boo boo was in there coughing and whining and I felt so helpless. (Baby's can't have cold medicine, or cough medicine, or anything that would help them feel better, incase you are wondering.)

Now, let me explain that my baby has not needed mommy and daddy in the middle of the night since she was about 2 months old.  She slept all the way through the night at 5 weeks and woke up a handful of times to eat at night between 5 and 8 weeks.  And that was it... no more wake ups.  We have a magic baby. 

So, I decided at 10:30 last night that I would end the streak and go in her room for some tylenol and a snuggle.  I wasn't sure how it was going to go -- would she be mad at me for coming in and then leaving again?  So, I fetched the tylenol and snuck in there... she was on her tummy breathing so heavy through the snot and whimpering.  Poor little thing was whimpering! I rubbed her back to let her know I was there and she popped right up and started swiping the tylenol syringe out of my hands (this is super odd because she LOVES the tylenol syringe... that stuff must taste like cotton candy)... I think she was confused about what was happening.  Anyways, I scooped her up and rocked her in her chair for about 10 minutes until I literally had to FORCE myself to put her back in bed (which went down without a hitch, by the way).  I felt like I could sit there and snuggle her all night long.  It reminded me (in a good way) of rocking her back to sleep after middle of the night feedings when she was so teeny tiny.  I stroked her eyebrows (which always gets her to shut her eyes) and rubbed her back... and it was magical.  We did this again at 2am but daddy got to do the cuddling.

So, my point in writing all of this is that I couldn't help but think, "THIS is motherhood... being up at night, rocking your baby and wishing you could hold her all night..." (and, on an unrelated note, THIS is why people decide to have multiple children... remembering rocking your sweet little newborn in the middle of the night seems to magical and glamorous once you are 7 months removed, doesn't it???) -- (AND, on a related side note, NO, we are not thinking about having another baby anytime soon... just to be clear).

I am so blessed to have been given this precious gift of a little girl.