We've Moved!

We have been in our new house for over three weeks now, and we absolutely love it. We're still in the process of unpacking (strangely enough, it takes longer with two little ones around!) but have whittled it down to just a few boxes by now. I had so many plans in my "decorating notebook" before we moved in, and am trying to take my time and do them gradually, so that A) I don't spend too much money at once, and B) so that it doesn't look cluttered or overdone. Slowly but surely we're working on them, however, and it makes me smile every time I see the real thing instead of just the drawing in my book. :)

We painted several walls before moving in - again, not too many because we've never had the opportunity to paint before and didn't want to overdo it. I did not want our house to be a different color in every room (been there, done that in a rental!) but rather to have a basic color scheme flow through the house. So...I chose the darkest shade of cream that the builder had as basic paint colors (it still looks very white) throughout the house. Then we painted our dining room a rusty orange:

I love the color (sorry about the glare from the windows). It took a lot of convincing to get Levi to be okay with orange...and he still says we need a big University of Texas Longhorn symbol to complete the look...but the color is perfect with our dark furniture and cabinets. Our dining room table looks really small in our larger dining room...a new one is next on the purchase list!

This is our family room, painted a nice brown (I think the color was called "Burnt Almonds"). We wall-mounted the TV ourselves, quite an accomplishment for two people who'd never even turned on the drill they'd had for 3 years...We also bought a new coffee table from IKEA with no corners for Caleb to run into as he learns to crawl and walk.

Another view of the family room. That hallway in the back goes to our room & the guest bathroom. And of course, you can see the stairs to the far left.

Our room! I told Levi I wanted to paint one wall as an accent, and let him choose between an aqua blue and a deep red. I think his choice was perfect! It looks very lovely with our new furniture and the iron wall decorations. We've never had new bedroom furniture (or two nightstands) before, so this is quite a treat! I am trying to decide if I want to carry the red into the bathroom and paint one of the walls there...

This is my "family" collage in the stairway. Words cannot express how much I LOVE it. The pictures are in old-fashioned style (remember this post here?), in black frames, hung gallery-style. I'll be able to switch out the pictures as the kids grow, too. Every time I walk by the stairway I smile. :)

Our office space in the bonus room. Yes, those are boxes in the corner of the picture. Yes, those are still there today. :P

The kids' playroom area in the opposite corner of the bonus room. Those shelves filled up fast! I still need to paint that blonde bookshelf white...but would like to get the rest of the house put together before tackling a new project. Olivia loves this space. We often find her up there, sitting on the floor with a pile of books next to her or playing quietly with a puzzle. She's such a good girl. :)

Speaking of Olivia...this is her room! While Di Massey (Nana) was visiting, she generously helped to paint the stripes on the wall (and by "helped" I mean that she did it while I held Caleb...) and Olivia absolutely loves them. She calls this her "Princess Room." She also has new bedroom furniture, in a pretty white that looks so good with her purple & pink walls.

On the opposite wall in her room are 3D fabric butterflies.

And some 3D fabric flowers with stems and grass painted on the wall (also Nana's handiwork). It really is a very cute room. :)

Caleb's room! I love how the decal stickers turned out...and so does he! I often catch him staring and smiling at the monkey on the wall. :) 

Our back porch. The kids and I bought Levi a grill for Father's Day! 

Finally, the view from our back porch. Lovely, yes? We may have a small backyard but at least there isn't anyone behind us!

So that's it for now...as I said, it's a work in progress. We still have artwork to put up on the walls in some places, the bonus room to finish (my craft nook), and the guest room to decorate. But all in all, it looks pretty great and we love to call it home!

So....who wants to come visit? :)

Caleb - 2 months!

Our sweet snuggle bug...cannot believe he is 2 months old already! He has grown so fast, and changed our lives even faster. Life with two kids is definitely harder but definitely worth the effort.

Caleb is so different from Olivia at that age: calm while she was noisy, big while she was tiny. For two babies that look so much alike (see last post!) they have very different personalities so far.

Caleb's likes:

-sleeping on someone's chest

-his legs swaddled

-playing with his hanging lion & frog in the bouncy chair

-watching his mobile in his crib

-sleeping in his swing

-Olivia to play with him (but not with her hair in his face)

-breastfeeding

Caleb's dislikes:

-RIDING IN THE CAR 

-daycare

-drinking from a bottle

Caleb has his own room now, decorated in a jungle theme. He loves to watch his mobile or stare at the monkey decal on the wall. He sleeps in his crib every night because he outgrew the bassinet already. He wakes up once during the night and once in the early mornings to eat, which is pretty good!

We love you, sweet boy. 

Snuggle bug. 

Monkey #2. 

Little Man. 

Buddy bear.

:)

Two peas in a pod

From day one, we have been amazed at how much Caleb resembles Olivia...it's like they are twins but 4 years apart! There are several pictures that highlight this, and we're glad that the outfits in them give a clue to gender because otherwise in 20 years it may be hard to tell who is who!

Olivia's birth announcement photo

Caleb's birth announcement photo

Olivia looking over Daddy's shoulder

Caleb looking over Daddy's shoulder

Olivia smiling for Mommy

Caleb smiling for Mommy

Am I right? The resemblance is amazing. Except for the eyes. Olivia's were always a hazely-brown (now pure brown) and Caleb's are a definite blue-grey.

And simply because I cannot resist...a few extra pictures of the two of them, now:

So, so sweet! I have several of these poses and I love them!

Olivia is very good with him. And he loves looking at his big sister when she stays still long enough for him to focus on her.

Playing together

Caleb getting manhandled by his feisty sister

Up next...Caleb at 2 months! :) Stay tuned.

Long Overdue Update - Family!

I know it's been 2 months since I've updated. I know this because Caleb is now 2 months old! (8 weeks exactly, today). It's gone by so fast! We have had lots of family visitors, which was very helpful, and we have moved into our new house - which is another post entirely, and one I'll get to soon. :)

Part of the reason I haven't updated is because, well, we've been quite busy adjusting to our new family of four and moving and all. The other part is because I wanted to wait until all of our visitors had come so I could post pictures of them all at once. So...here you go, in order of appearance! :)

Melba Jackson - "Grammy"

Joe Jackson - "Papa Joe"

Joe & Melba came in a few days after Caleb was born, so they got to see his sleepy side. :) Olivia had a ton of fun playing with Grammy...I think they wore each other out every day!

Tim Lickliter - "Grandpa"

Kathy Lickliter - "Grandma"

Tim & Kathy arrived around 2 weeks after Caleb was born. Can you tell his favorite sleeping position? We called him our little Snuggle Bug...or Stink Bug, depending on the diaper situation! He still prefers to sleep up against your chest like that, actually. Mommy and Daddy are building amazing arm muscles!

Mary McDorman - "Great Grandma Mary"

Jim McDorman - "Great Grandpa Jim"

Jim & Mary were able to stop in for a day on their way home from vacation, which was nice. Great Grandmas have wonderful laps for rocking, and Great Grandpas are fun for big sisters to play games with. :)

Joanie Weber - "Aunt Joanie" (blurry but the only picture I have!)

Chris Weber - "Uncle Chris"

Joanie & Chris came for a weekend at about 3 weeks of age. It was great to see Joanie's own little baby bump growing, too! :) They both got in some practice holding a newborn...

Di Massey - "Nana"

Di came to visit when Caleb was a month old...and since our little Snuggle Bug doesn't like to sleep for more than 10min unless someone is holding him, she was invaluable help as a babysitter while I packed up our house to prepare for moving!

Thanks so much to all who have come to visit and help us out in the first several weeks of being parents of 2! It was wonderful to see everyone, and great to have all the help! We love you!