There’s nothing like a new home
I’ve been pretty stressed lately dealing with moving on top of a baby and new job situation—Ok, so this all has happened over eight months but I feel like it finally all caught up to me this last week.
We didn’t have a refrigerator for over a week. Then that came but we still didn’t have Internet… Well, we still don’t… But I found a way to tether my phone so I’m not shaking with Internet withdrawals anymore (mobile surfing just isn’t the same). Try online Christmas shopping without the Internet! No bueno. Not to mention I just bought an iMac off eBay (have I mentioned my addiction? Check out my collections* and follow me!) and have hardly been able to enjoy it. But now that I’m back up and running I can upload pictures (on my 2TB HD, whoop!) of these two cuties again without having to run to Chick-fil-a to make it happen on their wifi. (I don’t even want to know how much weight I’ve gained from my constant eating there).
Despite that drama, I’m absolutely LOVING my new home. LOVING. It’s amazing having so much space. In our nine years together my husband and I have been in apartments, duplexes, townhomes and condos, and this is our first HOUSE. I feel so very blessed and I love having room to play with my kids. Our place has a huge open formal living and dining room that we have made into a playroom with a small office space for myself at one end. Then we have an additional large family room, and a breakfast area in the kitchen.
The only thing is I need some serious help figuring out where to hang things. I should to take pictures and get advice but my main issue is deciding how to hang the alphabet wall in the playroom. I have a HUGE wall and need other artwork to place around the alphabet but I’m trying to decide just how to do that. I know decorations aren’t permanent and I can always change them out but man, it’s nerve-wracking trying to pick the right stuff. And amazing how much of a difference a bookshelf or artwork can make. I wish I had an extra $20k to spend on filling my house with beautiful things but we’ll be here a while (forever according to my husband) so we’ve got time.
Actually I’m having a bit of trouble with decorations in general. I’m organizing some of my ideas and potential for home decorating, playroom toys and my photography displays. I used it for a bit a lot of my Christmas shopping list too.
My absolute favorite thing about my house right now is that I have a rocking chair in almost every room. Or rather the rooms I sit in most… The playroom, Big T’s room, and the family room. And near all of those rockers are books!
I have little bookshelves in each of those places, as well as my daughter’s room and it seems almost every time I sit down she’s grabbing one for me to read to her and they both snuggle next to me on the chairs. I LOVE reading to my kids. Maybe I miss anchoring or something but I really am getting into it these days. We like to make up stories around these parts but reading them is more fun for me lately. And Lil’ J just sits and absorbs it all, asks questions, anticipates what’s coming next, guesses the rhymes… It’s really exhilarating watching her learn. She’s only three but I’m SERIOUSLY considering homeschooling. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
I’ve been reading a lot of my books on my iPhone lately, but there’s something about holding a book the good old-fashioned way. I’m trying to order my favorites on the cheap, and I’m also hoping to check out our new library today, and check out some books. It’s not quite resolution time but the it’s one thing I’m excited to do more of next year is read. I only read a few books this year and I want to read a few a month next year. –Books for myself that is.
Big T is getting huge. He’s still not crawling but I’m not so upset about that. If I remember correctly things get more difficult once your baby is mobile.
I do randomly find him sitting up in his crib babbling away when I go to get him in the morning or after nap. It’s insanely adorable.
So we’re still just getting settled and enjoying the holidays around these parts. Feeling extremely blessed.
*My eBay Collections were curated as part of my collaboration with eBay.
Tags: ebay, family, love, new home, new house, ramblings, update
Congratulations on your new home! We are coming up on our 4-year home-iversary. Just in time for another baby!
Thank you! And congrats to you! Do you still love it just as much? I hope I never want to upgrade again! haha.
I’m 18, and I was homeschooled my entire life. It’s AWESOME, and I highly HIGHLY recommend it to everyone.
Hey thanks for sharing! I hope if we decide to do it that my kids will love it as much. Did you find a way to do sports and such? I think those type of extracurricular activities in high school are the only things I worry about them missing out on.
Actually, I’m the oldest of ten children, so we never really had time for everyone to do sports. But, I have homeschooled friends who play sports with local homeschool teams, such as basketball. I don’t know about where you live, but recently my state passed a “Tim Tebow law” that allows homeschool students to join public school extracurricular activities (because Tim Tebow was homeschooled). The final decision is left up to the superintendent of the school, but it is legal now.
Mostly, though, when we had an interest in music or sports, or something like that, my mother would find people who had those skills and we would learn from them. I showed goats at our county fair for three years with my next door neighbor (who also happened to be a close friend from church) and learned how to feed, milk, and groom them. The same girl also gave me and my sister piano lessons for a year or two in exchange for my dad tutoring her brother in math. I learned cake decorating and soap making from two different women at our church as well.
Homeschooling is very hands-on, and one of the best parts is that each student gets individual attention from the teacher (parent), so teaching can be tailored to the child. My sisters learn very differently from me and each other, so my mom gets different supplies that she thinks would work better for them individually.
The greatest benefit though, is that the parents are the role model for the child/student. Not a random teacher hired by the state (not that I have anything against them personally, but you didn’t choose them, and if you don’t like them, you can’t change them), or students that happen to go there, but the parents, who can mold, invest and be involved with the child.
I have several public-schooled friends who hate their mothers. They don’t want to be around them, or talk to them, or take advice from them. But I rarely ever see that with my home-schooled friends. Usually when I talk to them, their mothers are one of their closest friends and confidantes, like me and my mom. I don’t think it’s just a faze, to be at odds with your parents, I believe it’s in how you’re raised.
Last bit here, I promise. In GENERAL, home-schoolers out-preform public-schoolers. Standardized testing once a year here is a bit of a joke, and it’s more just a time for home-schoolers to get together and maybe see their friends that live a little farther away.
So… That ended up being a lot longer than I meant it to be. But I truly believe I would be much more worldly and less godly person if I had been public-schooled (Not that I’m trying to say I’m a *very* godly person, I’d just be much less godly.), and it’s a very important topic to me. 🙂 I think it would be great for Lil J and Big T!
D’oh! Phase, not faze. I knew that looked out of place.
Congrats for new home, new home means new environment and it comes with so many problems like skin infection. So enjoy your new home but with care about your skin. I can give one suggestion to use Organic skin care product will give you more benefit.
Jenn, Congrats on the new home! I have a friend whose wife home schools their children. You can check out her blog at Fairly Happy (dot)come. It’s been a while since she’s posted but she’s expecting baby #6 so she’s kinda busy! (yup.. LDS family!!)
Congrats on the new home! Can’t wait to see more pics! 🙂
Ours right now seems a perfect size for 2 adults and 3 kids…but adding a fourth means the kids will share for the first time ever (we have 4 bedrooms.) There are certain things I would change (we had to move out of state for hubby’s job so didnt have time to build, but bought a 4 year old custom built home.) We do have a finished basement as our play area and 3.5 bathrooms so that does help!
What did you end up doing with your daughter clothes from when she was a baby? And do you have any suggestions on where to go to get patterns?
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thank you and have a great continuation
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who wouldn’t love a new home?! i myself totally throw a 2 day party when we settled on our new home last June. Congratulations Jen! L)
You should check out goodreads.com. It is a great site for recommendations but I also discovered they host a LOT of giveaways. It’s a random lottery type thing but I pretty much enter any giveaway that interests me. I’ve won 4 books since the beginning of January. It’s pretty awesome :]
Congratulations on your new home! We are coming up on our 4-year home-iversary. Just in time for another baby!
really cute