we bought a house

With our lease ending in June and Bobby's commute recently doubling, moving south of town was already looking good pre-Violet. And then we were blessed with our girl. So a move was really necessary (and I was dreading being 7 months pregnant and hauling my super-sized self up two flights of stairs each time the pup needed a potty). We started our search pretty early, expecting it to take us a while to find a place, bid, and actually have an offer accepted because houses were flying off the market down in Pearland. So on our first day we looked at a house we'd seen online and it fit our general criteria. It wasn't our dream home, but I thought "maybe this will be easier than I'd thought, maybe this could work." And then the realtor told us about a similar house that had just gone on the market. A fast-moving estate sale. We went to see it immediately, and it fit the bill perfectly. I'd expected to have to tone down at least one of our "must-haves" be it my high kitchen standards, a wood fire place, or a really stellar deep tub. But this beautiful, five year old craftsman with high ceilings throughout, in a neighborhood full of children, with lovely flowers planted in every nook and cranny was everything we'd asked for, maybe more. We put in our offer later that night and the unthinkable happened - they accepted within 24 hours of listing.

Now the actual buying process has not been nearly as dreamy as actually finding the house, but let's just say its kismet that we started the process so early. But all of our trouble stemmed from getting an aggravating loan required for the incredible grant that covered almost all of our closing costs. So it was stressful, but worth it. On Tuesday, April 21, we signed and initialed paperwork for over an hour and left with our house keys. It was such a happy, lighthearted, giddy afternoon of having all of the stresses behind us and having the home where we'd be starting our family in front of us. Surreal guys.

Highlights of our time since then:

• Our first time walking in, he carried me (and V) over the threshold.
• We found the sweetest note from the daughter who had to sell her mother's house. I plan to keep it taped in the cabinet where we found it.
• While setting up the new lawn mower, we met the family from accross the street and a next door neighbor. They pointed to three houses of new mom's because they knew I'd need community.
• I moved our kitchen before anything else, and I'm cooking chicken parm, Bobby's favorite, to celebrate our first dinner and first night in our first home.
• Dad and Ashley are driving in tomorrow with a truck load of furniture (including V's bedroom furniture, hooray for real nesting!), and I can't wait to show the place off.

Things I'm looking forward to about home-owning:

• I can open a door and let Bear tinkle all on his own in the wee hours of the morning. Hallelujah.
• I moved everything from our kitchen cabinets in our apartment and still had umpteen empty shelves, and a pantry. Space, space, and more space.
• Three bedrooms and a formal dining room AKA Violet get's her own room, we get our own room, we get to set up a guestroom/library and we will still have space for a huge office/play area for student mommy. 
• Baths where the water covers my knees (and maybe even both knees and boobs? say what?!).
• Our garden will actually be watered by the rain instead of covered by our balcony's roof.
• We have like 5 ceiling fans. Not having one (or even a ceiling light) in our apartment living room has been a challenge, especially in the hot-as- Hades Texas summers.
• I've already been invited for coffee be a neighbor with a baby who works from home. I love my friends here and afar, but having mommy-friends a stone's throw away sounds like a dream.
• It's ours. This means I can paint walls, build shelves, and not have to think about is it worth the work? because this is for the long haul. 

Photo dump tour (please forgive the formatting/quality of the pictures, we don't have wifi yet so this post is coming from the good ole iPhone):

Formal dining room (or in our case an office and playroom). 

Miss Violet's nursery, and this room has a twin right next to it. 

The guest bath. 

The living room (we have a fireplace ya'll!). 

A terribly photo of our really lovely master suite (that's going to be V's cradle nook in the corner). 

So our master bath is insane. 

... and too huge for one pic. 

And this is my room! Seriously though,I'd given up on having a nice kitchen in our starter house, and this blows.my.mind. 

Now smile at this picture of my cute dog.