New House!

We finally moved in to our house on the 2nd! Sorry I haven't put pictures up sooner, but with trying to unpack/organize, work, and take care of a very clingy child, I have just now had the time!  And I apologize for the mess in all the pictures, but we just haven't quite found a place for everything yet.  I guess that makes them even better 'before' pictures!

There isn't much we need to do to the front exterior of the home (thanks to a brand new roof and gutters!)  Blake is going to tear out that overgrown bush and put in a different mail box (we think it just looks weird on a stack of bricks!)

The front door opens to the living room.  We are going to leave the carpet for now, but maybe someday we'll upgrade it.  At least it is a very neutral color.  The only thing we need to do in the living room is paint, and change the curtains.  And of course add some more decorations to the walls!

Here is the kitchen.  It is a little smaller than the one I had in Iowa, but laid out very similar.  But the appliances in this one are newer/better, so that's been a plus! I do have to use the hall closet for extra pantry storage, but that's not a big deal.  The floors however really need to be replaced because they are carpet...yuck!  With a 1 year old, it's just not a good idea to have carpet in the kitchen/dining room!  We are hoping to put in wood laminate floors later this summer/fall.

There are 3 bedrooms on the main floor.  I just have a picture of our master bedroom.  It is pretty plain right now, but hopefully that will make the 'after paint and decor' pictures that much better! :)  I don't have any pictures of Brooks' room because he was taking a nap at the time all these pics were taken.  His walls are bright orange with a pooh and tigger border all around the room.  I can't wait to get that painted something else!!

The basement of this house is a great plus for us.  Our house in Iowa had a 4th bedroom in the basement, which would have been nice, but the rest of the basement just wasn't that usable.  I think Brooks is just going to love having the open space to play in this one provides!  It's nice too that we will have a place where his bigger toys can go! (instead of in our living room like we had to deal with at the duplex for the last 10 months!)
There is a dry bar at one end of the basement, and I have claimed that area as my scrapbooking/office area.  I'm so excited that I will have a whole corner of the basement just for scrapbooking! (not that I've had that much time to work on it lately, it's nice to have a spot for it just in case!)  you can tell we need to do a lot more organizing in this area, but we'll get there!

The basement is in an L-shape and has a pool table in one corner.  I think we are going to get rid of it somehow because it's kinda a waste of good playing space for Brooks.  And how often would we really use the pool table anyway? (I know I wouldn't!)  The walls are a lovely Husker red at this point, so I can't wait to paint over that too! Not that I don't like Husker red, just not on my walls!! :)

The upstairs bathroom was recently redone with tile in the shower and floor, and a brand new window.  We are so glad we don't have to remodel that!  The basement bathroom (which I didn't take a picture of) will need some work.  It has carpet floors...yuck!, an older vanity, and ugly paint colors, but it shouldn't take much to fix it up.

Here is my fun little corner of the basement hallway.  I just loved these Wall-Pops (get them at York ACE Hardware!!)  and had to do something with them!  The space was just open space between the bathroom and furnace room, so it needed something!

 The backyard is really quite nice, but it will need a little work.  It has a retaining wall that is not very sturdy between the deck and back fence, so Blake is working with ideas on what he should do with it.  The grass needs some help, and so does the landscaping, but that will come with time.  He spent a good part of last weekend trimming back the trees along our fence line too.  It looks so much better with some of the dead ones gone!

We love the deck the dining room sliding doors open up to.  It is very shaded with all the trees around us, and will be great for evening BBQs!

And yes, that is Brooks and Blake playing in the empty sandbox we found at the Henderson garage sales last weekend.  I don't think Brooks cared one bit that it wasn't full of sand yet!

All-in-all, we love our house.  I know I will love it even more once we get it organized, painted the colors I want, and I get all my decorations up!  Stay tuned for the after pictures! (someday!)