Exhaustion at its finest

We - finally - moved back into our house last Thursday. When the moving truck arrived, it was questionable whether that huge thing would make it up our street but indeed they did, with lots and lots of 100 point turns at the bottom of the hill.



I always forget how torn I am on moving day. I am always, always, very excited. Especially because, for us, it usually means that we are finally seeing our things again after living in corporate housing for a short while. As I watched our bed roll out of that truck I thought I heard angels in the background singing "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" (okay, so maybe that's a slight exaggeration but when you've been sleeping on a pull out couch in the middle of the living room for 30+ days and your back is KILLING you, it's a darn great sight to see.) I imagine Jacob feels the same way when he saw the boxes and boxes of toys unloading before his very eyes. Those were treasures he hadn't seen in some time.

But then, about an hour into the unloading, panic sets in. I can tell you exactly when it happens. It sneaks up on you suddenly when you realize you can barely see the floor anymore because you are surrounded by furniture and boxes. For me, claustrophobia sets in and I feel the need to start unpacking and putting things away as quickly as I possibly can. The elation that I felt a short time ago turns into pure panic as I realize that there is SO MUCH to do and it is going to take FOREVER to get settled in this new place. And the words "How the heck do we have SO MUCH STUFF" escapes my frustrated lips at least a hundred times.

So, Mark and I hit the unpacking hard this weekend so we could get as much done as possible before he is gone for the next couple of weeks for work. Our focus was the new playroom. Let me tell you -- building this playroom was the best decision we've ever made. The playroom also became the dumping ground for any and all boxes we couldn't immediately identify a home for so when the moving truck pulled away, the room was floor to ceiling boxes. NO JOKE. Every time I looked at it, I wanted to cry.

But, back to the playroom (I have lots to update on). We decided to convert our garage to a playroom because we absolutely knew that the toys would overrun this little house and we really wanted Jake and Maddie to have a place to play. Since the garage is right off of the kitchen, it was a perfect spot. After entertaining all different types of conversions, we decided to do it all -- build a back wall, ceiling, cabinets, and add carpet to make it look like a real room. We hired a contractor to build the wall and ceiling but my amazing husband, (Oh SO amazing husband), built twelve (I repeat TWELVE) cabinets. And these were not small cabinets people. He did a few each night and I have to say, they look incredible. We decided to paint the room a pretty apple green and the room really looks amazing. We spent all kinds of hours unpacking it and getting it ready over the weekend so the kids would have a place to play while Mommy worked on the rest of the house and it has been a HUGE help. Jacob loves playing in his new room and we even put a little TV out there where he can watch a show or movie. I don't think he's ever going to want to play in his own room! Honestly, why would he?!

We have a few more small touches to add (touch up paint, base boards and an awesome wall mural) but this is how it looks so far. Amazing!



I love that we decided to keep our old refrigerator and put it in the playroom. Just extra room for drinks and snacks!



Look at these awesome cabinets Mark built! I wish I could show you the inside of all of them. Stacked to the max with toys.



That door in the back goes to a small storage space which is also very nice to have.



I also love that I can do laundry in here and we stacked our washer/dryer to save space!



Slowly but surely the rest of the house is coming along. We haven't slept much in these last few days but it's been worth it. The fact that I am even taking time to blog is proof enough that things are starting to look normal around here because I feel okay about sitting down for 30 minutes to do something other than unpack. It's great to be back in our old home. It just feels like an old glove that fits perfectly.