the next (rental) chapter.

this weekend we moved. it happened fast, and not without its share of stress. but we made it, and are settling into a townhouse that is significantly bigger than our last home.

the home we spent four years in.
the home we brought our daughter home to.
the only home our children remember.
the home that saw us through the toughest and sweetest, thinnest and fullest, most sorrowful and joyous times of our lives.

it wasn't perfect, and i'd be lying if i said it was my dream house. there were definitely seasons that found me feeling discontent so many things--the lack of yard or space or carpet in the dining room (who does that, anyway?). but through it all, i learned so much about contentment in being where we are for the seasons we are called to dwell there. and it was just what we needed, in those years of little means and a lot of faith. and looking back, i'm thankful for it and even feel a little sad to leave it. just a little, but sad nonetheless.

because we changed and grew and saw God work immensely in our lives within those four walls, for those four years. so as we see that chapter of dwelling come to a close, we are looking to the next one with excitement, and expectancy.

we are here. starting a new journey in a blank canvas of glorious sunlight and hardwoods. ready for us to fill it to the top with new memories of living and loving and dwelling.

so far, it's going so well. the kids absolutely love it and play and sleep better here than the old house already, and i pretty much burst with excitement every few minutes when i just stop to look around.

we are thankful.
it's good to be home.
(more pictures coming soon.)

love.

house tour: nursery

finally, the nursery. and it's only fourteen months later than i'd hoped. :) it's still not completely done--there are frames to be hung and little birds to spray paint and a bit of adjusting of furniture--but it's probably as close as we will get in this house.

in our next house we'll put up the art and move the chair out to give her more room to play. but for now, it's perfect for her, and she is very pleased with having her room all to herself to explore.

and i love it. it's such a sweet blend of modern and romantic, minimal with just enough whimsy, for our spunky little girl.

love.

little bits of our (christmas) home.

our christmas decorations are pretty simple this year, but i love them. and so does somebody else i know. and i'm pretty sure next year we're going to have to string some lights outside, too. because the same little somebody is enamored.

he makes christmas so fun.

love.

p.s. the template for our advent calendar is courtesy of the super talented life made lovely.

house tour {update}: master bedroom.

i've been wanting to share an updated house tour with you guys for awhile now, but have kept putting it off. the reality is, the idea of it overwhelmed me--i haven't gotten nearly as much done as i'd liked, and the house is never clean at the same time. but the other day it came to me that i didn't have to photograph and share the whole house (or large sections of it) at once. duh.

so, as a way to chronicle our lives in this sweet little house, and in honor of us approaching our third anniversary of moving here (yes--it's been three years!), i'll be doing a short series on what it looks like around here now. it will probably be sporadic, short and sweet, not terribly impressive, and probably only one room at a time.

but such is life, right?
___

the funny thing about our room is, we've ended up changing things around half a dozen times, having additional people staying with us, having a baby in a bassinet, and things like that.

but now, it looks pretty much the same as it did last time i showed you all. haha.

my husband is so talented--he did all of the photographs/design work shown above. the reality of being the wife of a photographer/designer is that you tend hardly have any photos of your family, or other art from said designer. but the perks are, when they get a chance, you get beautiful things.

oh, and a side note: that photo on our dresser is from coen's room. he snuck in the other day and switched them, to put the photo of nick and i next to his bed. he is so sweet.

we still have quite a lot of work to do in our room, as well as figuring out the best way to utilize the space. but for now, it's working, and it's a light and airy part of our home. i love it.

love.

house tour [part two].

finally.

it's been a busy go of it trying to get the rest of the house a little more settled. but, we're really happy with it. and i'm really starting to feel like it's coming together the way i had it in my head.

remember where we left off, right?

well now, it's totally different. so i'm glad we waited to go into our room. here we go!

he's so handsome.

see my cute little desk to the right? it's a little messy since that whole space is new, so i'll show you more once i get it a little better organized.

this is behind our door. it's a large version of our wedding programs. 

see the kitty box liner? they're super expensive, so we used bamboo placemats that nick found on clearance at target. win!

this is not an illusion. our bathroom is really this huge. and, to keep it real, let me draw your attention to the bottom right corner. yep. thats laundry.

boy's sink.

girl's sink.

our cook towel rack & our new shower curtain from ikea. we like it.

we still have some work to do in this bathroom (and the front one). but for now, it's coming along.

alright, back down the hall we go.

this room has had a lot of work done recently. we're not done yet, but it's finally looking like a little boy's room! thank you, ikea.

here's the mobile again. it's bigger in person. i love it.  

little baby poang reading area.

as neat as it gets, for now.

yep. that's mommy's coffee.

and now for the office.

just kidding. it's not ready yet. that's all that i can show you for now. that's for part three.

hope you enjoyed it!

love.

spring has sprung. early.

"and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils." - w. wordsworth

i love spring.

spring brings things like my birthday. the first bloom of the daffodils. the return of the robin's song. and this year, spring seems to have happened upon us without much notice at all. probably because half of us are waiting for our strange north carolina winter to rear it's ugly head. again. like it usually does.

and it might still.

but for now, the robins are singing. the daffodils are waking from their slumber. my birthday is coming. and this little guy got a new bike.

so, i'm embracing it.

and that means, spring cleaning has started. and spring organizing. and, well, spring-working-on-a-few-projects around the house that we just haven't had time to (surprising, right?).

last week, i was able to get out for a whole day with my lovely lindsey and peruse ikea. it was pretty glorious, to be honest. and after hoarding our christmas money, i was able to pick up a few things.

i'm excited to show you how they look, but i'm not quite done. hopefully soon, though. and with that i'll finally have part two of our house tour. and a few updates.

but, i can at least leave you with a glimpse of how c. is enjoying his new loot.

happy spring!

love.