Our closing date is set!

May 2nd.  That is just over two weeks away and I am in shock.


When we first started this path, we were going to be in one floor plan (the smallest, and most inexpensive in the community), and it hadn't even been built yet.  We picked our finishes, and we're so excited to be closing June 30th.  One day, while driving by the home site, we saw that the yard was going to be a hill, and a complete waste as a play area for kids.  We were on a corner lot, which was great, but the yard was a deal breaker!  We emailed the sales rep, letting her know that we had to have something change about it, and waited on her response.

While waiting for her answer, on a whim, I looked at the mls, just to see what else was out there, and I found that one of the standing inventory houses in our community was reduced to just 5k over the home we were under contract with (that's about 20 dollars a month in our payment).  We immediately called the sales reps and said, "how do we get THIS house?".  We went in and talked with them and the builder was totally fine with it.  We now had a bigger house, with a much better floor plan, and a flat, albeit small, yard, and it had all the finishes we had chosen for our initial house.  Our closing date was June 3rd. 

Fast forward a few days later and we get a phone call from our finance guy, asking us if we'd be interested in letting the builder pay our the remainder of our lease..."uh, yes please!".  He also payed us the difference between our rent and our mortgage payment for one month, so that starting our house payments, would be more like starting a month later.  Now our closing is May 2nd.

For those of you that know me personally, you know that I'm a worrier.  I want to do things right, and sometimes I get so bogged down with nerves and concern that I can't see the gift being handed to us.  If we had gotten our offer approved for the original house we put an offer in on (they countered with the one that hadn't been built, so that they wouldn't have standing inventory on that model), we would not have been able to get out of it to be put in this home.  If our offer last year on an older, smaller, and overpriced home, had been accepted right away (the seller contacted our agent a month later and asked if we wanted the house for our offer price) we wouldn't be moving into this dream home.  If we'd moved last year to a new rental and payed an extra 600 dollars a month to do so, we wouldn't have any money saved up to be able to buy.  There were so many factors that went into this becoming a possibility, and seeing God's hand work in our lives to allow us to have this, has been surreal.  I tried so many times to tell him that we weren't deserving of this home, and that he must be shutting doors, but no matter what happened, he would open another door.  I've never seen his hand work quite so prominently in our lives before, and I'm in shock and awe over it.

Thanks for listening to this nice, long spiel.  I hope that you'll continue to come back to see what we do with this gorgeous little present!

xoxo
Bird

Gray's side of the story...

I must say, for all the hype about girl rooms, boy's rooms are JUST as fun!  I'm actually really excited about his spiderman room in the new place.  I know it's kind of a decorating nightmare to do comic books, but I'm going to do it with a smile on my face, because that's what my sweet boy wants.  It will be strange to graduate to a totally different look, but we'll be using the stuff from their bedroom here, in the new playroom. 

We'll be using the same quilt and duvet with his Spiderman bedding, though I'm not sure how much longer it'll last.  PBK doesn't always produce the highest quality.

The kids have a wonderful view of a shed with a giant hole in it.  Won't be sad to say goodbye to that!  Do you spy the adorable little girl in the picture?

We started a nasty little habit of needing a fan in order for them to sleep.  Oh well, at least it reduces the possibility of SIDS.  The alphabet poster was the best find of the room.  We got it at Goodwill for 4.99, and it was already in a frame that was totally perfect for the room.  It has vintage animals, and I LOVE it!

Even though it's "her" changing table, we wanted it to fit with his colors too.

That was my big brother's rocking chair.  He signed the bottom of it.  Gotta love family history.

This dresser was such a fantastic Craigslist find.  It's Ikea, but it's made so well, I really think it's going to last him a long time. 

Grandma got the cars at Wights.  They are purely for show, but they fit his transportion theme so well!  The clock and boxes are also Wights.

I can't wait to give this kid the room he's been asking for, for so long.  He's going to be so excited to see his big boy room!

XOXO

Bird

The most exciting part of the new house?

The kids rooms!!  I can't wait to get my hands on those bedrooms, and make them the perfect escape for my loves.  Grayson has decided he wants a spiderman room, which I'm holding him to, now that we purchased the sheets.  Delaney said "quack quack" when I asked her what she wanted, so I'm taking artistic liberties in her room and hoping she likes it.  In the duplex, they share a room, so I had to come up with a shared living environment that was enjoyable for G to be in, but also quenched the thirst I'd had for years, to decorate a baby girl's room.  I went with 50's inspired vintage feel, and I loved how it turned out.  It's not what it could have been, but it served a great purpose for the last year and half.

This was my Aunt's dresser when she was child.  I stripped it down to the wood and painted it a deep, warm red.  We changed out the knobs to coordinate with G's dresser.

This is Delaney's full corner of the room. I went very feminine, and I was so happy with the outcome.

This is the mobile that was inspired by her bedding. I used floral wire, string, mini clothes pins, and scrapbook paper to make this.  I think it's one of my all time favorites.

The bedding.  Loved it.  It's a Land of Nod classic.

Her memory boards to display her counting cards, also another favorite.  I'll be sad to pull them apart to make new ones, but I don't think this is the direction we're going for in her new room.

So that's Laney's side of the shared room.  I'll share G's with you soon!

xoxo

Bird

While we're waiting...

I'll have to pass the creative time with mini projects.  This is my good friend's daughter's birthday "1"sie.  My sister-in-law and I made these for our kids last summer, and we decided they are now a must at all first birthdays.  Hint hint to all my friends, I love making these, so make some more babies for me to put in these!

xoxo Bird

New House=exciting?

Not always!  As of today, we're under contract for a new house.  This house has not been built yet, in fact, they haven't even broken ground.  With this ever changing market, the prices have dropped, but we're in an old contract.  Shoot.  Also, the slightly bigger places have come way down in prices, so now we must decide what's more important to us, a view, or more indoor space (as a SAHM in the pacific northwest, what do you think my pick is?).  This time that is supposed to be so exciting is getting to be a stress filled situation that I'm just ready to be done with.  Trying to remember that it's not us who are in control, but it's much easier said than done!  I'm looking forward to getting into this house, and decorating it up to make it our sweet escape.

Stay tuned for what happens when we go into talk to these people about what we're going to choose.  Remember husband, happy wife, happy life!

xoxo
Bird