Finally Getting Back to Blogging...

The House is finally on the market, and I think we have all had enough time now (3 weeks) to get used to our new routines to keep the house spotless and organized while we try to sell it. By the way, we have officially been on the market for 23 days now, and we haven't had a single showing. Yes - this is frustrating, but we are all just trying to enjoy having an immaculately clean house for a change...

Kristi and Melanie came over this past weekend for lunch, and they both commented on what a large study we have. Before, it was the designated storage/junk room in the house, and you could barely get to the desk. So, we have made several changes in the house to say the least.

As part of getting the house ready to sell, our realtor Jenny Carroll (who is great, by the way) suggested that we place a park bench in our back yard with a plant next to it so there would be something nice to look at from the windows in our Master Bedroom. So, Michael and Jack enjoyed a Saturday afternoon doing "guy stuff" and building the bench together. Jack was actually a big help to Michael, and as you can see, he was more than happy to get down on the ground and tighten all the bolts holding the bench together.

Jack is really such a big boy now - Michael and I were looking at him from across the room this past weekend, and Michael noticed how long Jack's neck has grown. There is really nothing left of our round-faced baby boy anymore - he is all long, lean limbs and you can see the beginning of the angles in his face, especially around his jawline. It makes me sad to think about how fast he is growing up - it is a good thing that we have another baby boy on the way!

Making Progress

I think that we are about to fall over from sleep deprivation, but we are making some real progress in the house. We are still getting everything cleared out to get the new carpeting in, but we are going to officially list the house on June 12. Hopefully, buyers will find photos like these appealing:

Vincent did a great job on the painting in our Master bedroom - let me know if you want his number! I have to say that organizing the bookcase was a major achievement, and I am pretty proud of how it turned out. We still have lots of books, even after I took several dozen to Half Price Books, and Jack and Abby have a ton of books of their own. But Jack is an avid pre-reader, so I think we will hang on to what we have for now. Overall, things are getting better, and I think we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel - but we still have a lot to do.

One nice thing about this whole process is the fact that you are forced to go through all your stuff and think about what you really need, and wonder why youhave hung on to some things for so long. After going through our closets, this is just a portion of what we have found that needs to be given away to someone else:

Just to give you some perspective, you are looking at 9 piles of clothes, each of which is about 20-24" tall. Sadly, almost all of that came out of my closet. Some of the shirts have been with me since high school. That means I have been moving them around with me for over 14 years. I can't even tell you when I last wore most of these things. It was just easier to pack them up and take them along, and then allow them to sit in my closet for the last 6 years. Please don't let this happen to you!!! I used to dread going into my closet because there was no room and I couldn't EVER find what I needed. Now, I can actually see what I have, and I will wear most of what is left in my closet (of course, I am hanging on to a few of my nicer things in much smaller sizes, in the hope that I will one day return to my pre-babies figure). Plus, I am sure there is someone else out there who needs these things, and will use them. So, this whole moving thing is not going to be so bad after all!