Our New Home

Before showing our new home, here's some background on how we talked to Bekah,

 about her new home : ).

We have known about moving to Indy for a long time now ( since Thanksgiving!), but we chose not to tell Bekah for awhile, we didn't see any reason to do so before about a month out.

So, when we did, we told her we were about to go on an adventure, like the Little Einsteins do, and we had a mission! Our mission was for daddy to learn how to help people see better and for bekah to expereince the four seasons! We gave her a placemat map and we talked about Indianapolis ALOT!

She seemed very excited and interested. The idea of it being sad really didn't come up too much.

Just like the Little Einsteins, we chose a piece of art, and a piece of music to go along with our adventure! The piece of music was Vivaldi's Four Seasons ( I joked with Zack if we wanted to keep things thematic, we should have STAYED at the Four Seasons on the road trip! teehee!) and then, the piece of art, was a Renoir painting of people ice skating. She really got into it!

Then, thanks to Ms Ting ( and Ms. Morgan!) for our beloved book, Goodnight Houston!

Every time I read it to Bekah, I got sooo sentimental, and often time, cried! I just love this book and by the end of our time here, it served as a "bucket list' for us, making the last few weeks in Houston, very special. Here we are in "rocket" making sure we see the sights!

 The book talks about all the special places in Houston, even the Children's Museum! And I can happily say, we have been to every place, minus 2! One place that Bekah really wanted to see was the Buffalo Bayou, which is simply a drainage ditch that is a characteristic of Houston! Haha! It is actually really important, it helps to keep the city from flooding.  . .But when your daughter looks up at you while reading the book and says, "Mama, i wish i could go to the Buffalo Bayou too!" how can you say no? So, Zack found a "prettier" area of this "destination hot spot" and Bekah was happy!

Here she is, holding up the page in the book that mentions it!

So funny!

I had gone up to Indy with Zack back in Feb to pick out a place, and I found a townhome that seemed to be perfect for our little family. We showed Bekah pictures of it,

 which I think helped to get her excited.

And here is our new place!

Bekah wanted to "help" daddy hang things up around the house, so she grabbed her plastic hammer

and jumped right it! That's right folks, she is not ALL princess, there is much more to Bekah than one might think! We have a fireman costume, astronaut costume and construction worker outfit!

Benjamin's room

He gets his own room this year, before, his room was also the guest bedroom!

I like how Zack made this arrangement above his crib. thanks again Amy, for one of my FAVORITE parts of his nursery, his bible verse!

Grandpa's hand made sign made the trip.

For anyone who saw our Houston home, you will begin to see that we brought MUCH more than we thought. I don't mind though, having a good deal of our stuff here made this place feel like home pretty much instantly, which really has helped to keep this homesick family in good spirits!

Bekah's room

For a good week, she had the hardest time falling asleep for naps and nighttime. We tried to make her room as similar as possible, but understandably, she still had a hard time.

One of our favorite features of her room, that is a new addition, is Lina's going away present to Bekah, this beautiful frame that now hangs above Bekah's dresser! The picture is perfect ( they are cheek to cheek!)  and the wording is perfect, they sang this song together ALL the time, those two girls LOVED all things princess!

Bekah talks about Lina every day and misses her so much! What a precious gift! 

I ended up taking about 2/3's of their toys, and the dollhouse was a must!

Here is Bekah's "Indianapolis jacket" that hangs proudly on her door, it's too cute to put in the closet!

A friend of mine, offered to make Bekah a jacket when I simply complemented the one she had made for her daughter! She told me to pick out some fabric and she would take it from there! Well, it was the hardest thing ever to narrow down the fabrics ( it is reversible), but when I saw this fabric with the old fashioned McCall's pattern dolls, I could NOT resist! Bekah LOVES playing with dollies, and the minute I showed her, she called it, her "dollie jacket!"

Thank you Stacey for making such a special gift for Bekah! I love the way it turned out, what a perfect thing for our new adventure up here in the north!

Yes, Bekah is still in a crib.

I know, at what age should we be embarrassed? Our thinking was to do it once we moved, but with her sleeping issues at first, it didn't feel right, and now, that her sleeping is better, I am scared to mess it up! Soon! She won't be a 4 year old in a crib, I promise! Oh my gosh, poor girl!

We made sure to bring about half of her stuffed animals, to throw in a corner like in Houston. It's a "safe place" for her, if she is sad or scared ( thunder) , I can always find her in there.

Our room!

( all 3 bedrooms are on the top level)

Being a townhome on the end, gives us so much natural light, we hardly ever turn on lights until it's dark, which isn't until 9:30!

Our stairs going down to the (2nd floor) main floor that are a bit too steep if you ask me, Bekah has already fallen down them, twice!

 I thank God she is okay, and we have had MANY lessons on holding on to the railing, since then.

I love how Zack started putting crosses over the bedrooms in Houston, he wanted to do that here as well. We decided we will do that wherever we go. : )

Look at those stairs! This is the view from the front door, on the ground level, which is where the garage and the guest bedroom are.

It was fun, arranging all the same stuff, in a new way, like a puzzle! And sticking to our guns that we are not going to buy anything, it's just a year!

I really like the way Zack arranged our pictures here in the stairwell, they seem to symbolize the different chapters in our lives.

clockwise- pre kids, where we traveled alot; the "bekah years"; our wedding/ dating years; and now, our family of 4!

On the main floor is the kitchen, dining and a large area that we turned into a playroom. Here is the space between the dining room and playroom.

Probably my favorite part of our townhome, the play area! The kids have never had so much space to play in and Bekah uses it ALL the time! Since we stay home alot more than ever before, this play area has been such a blessing to us!

playroom . . .

Close up of another going away gift that melted my heart! Courtney was sooo sweet to give us a warm and cozy blanket for the winter up here, full of pics of our friends back in Houston that we miss so much! It was too meaningful to fold up, so I have it hanging on the banister in the playroom and Bekah and I find ourselves talking about it and looking at it all the time, we feel like our friends are right here with us!

Thank you Courtney so very much!

Our dining room:

A pic of the playroom that isn't so dark, with the kids in it!

TV room.

Bekah loves all the natural light in our townhome and calls it our treehouse! Really, if you are ever going to get a townhome, get one on the end!

Kitchen where I have been spending alot of time these days! A few of my friends gave me cook books as going away presents and I have had more fun delving into them! I even made mushroom risotto the other day, and it was actually really delicious!

Next post, I will do a snapshot of what we are up to here. Life has definitely "slowed down" a bit, and we truly miss our friends and family, so we hang out alot together here, just the 3 of us, while daddy works. I can honestly appreciate our simple life, giving us so much precious time together,  and really, what's more of a blessing than time with your family?  I get to enjoy my kids every single day, and they get to enjoy each other! It's the sweetest sound when I hear them laughing together, about something I know nothing about! Benjamin adores Bekah and I couldn't ask for a better big sister in Bekah, now more than ever before!

 I couldn't be more grateful for this comfortable, safe and pretty place if we are going to be here alot, especially when the weather gets so cold! I am so surprised with how it really feels like our home! This move has proved to me that home really is where the heart is! 

My friend Catherine who always has an encouraging thing to say, emailed me these loving words, our last weekend in Houston:

"The four of you. God's love. Together."

Thank you Catherine for lifting me up like that,

I just love the simplicity and the truth in those wise and loving words!

Much love to everyone!