Okay, okay you win.  You guys keep emailing and commenting that you want to see more of our new house.  It still feels really unsettled and needs a lot more paint, but I’ll share a bit of what we have so far.  I probably won’t do a full house tour, but I’m happy to share a few of our favorite spots.  It comes as no surprise that one of those is – the kitchen!

The kitchen was a major selling point for this house, and honestly I still can’t believe that it’s mine.  It is big and gorgeous and I feel lucky to cook in it every single day!  Let’s dive right into the tour…

The wall closest to the entry is what I keep referring to as “the business center.”  Not sure why I feel the need to give the spot for bananas and cell phone chargers such a formal name, but here she is…

It’s pretty much the landing zone for all our crap – mail, keys, sunglasses, camera, loose change, pacifiers, etc.  There are some cabinets above that are currently housing our cookbooks, at least until I find a better way to display and organize them.

Moving right along – next to the business center is our fridge.  When we looked at this house, this space was empty.  But we were able to negotiate and have the seller add one before we moved in.  I was so so excited to get a French door fridge!

Bursting with food right now.  I spent three hours going to two different grocery stores yesterday.  No one is allowed to complain that there is nothing to eat.

Next to the fridge is our gigantic pantry.  I have never had a pantry in my entire life!  I wasted no time filling it up…

We have lived in really small spaces for a few years, and storage has always been a big issue.  I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who stockpiles pantry goods, but have never had the space to do so.  Now I do one big pantry stock-up trip each month, getting all the grains, canned goods, oils, etc. that we need.  It’s so nice to be able to buy extra!

All our grains and dry goods are still in ball jars.  I am really testing the weight limit of this shelf.

Above that is canned goods.  I try to always have a variety of beans on hand, as well as soups for fast lunches.

Right inside the door, you’ll find all my oils and vinegars.  I’m in and out of this area all the time, so I wanted it to be as accessible as possible.

You may remember from our previous kitchens in both Old Town and Fremont, we had some metal shelves with our spice racks hanging below.  The shelves aren’t really needed anymore since we have the pantry space, but I didn’t want to lose the easy organization of all my most frequently used spices.  I bought two small bars and hung the spice racks on the inside of the pantry door – works perfectly!

The middle of the kitchen is taken up by a gigantic center island, complete with gas cooktop!

The stove looks out over the living room, which is really great for keeping an eye on Cullen, or just talking with Casey while I cook.  Cooking here gives me culinary school flashbacks. 

Underneath the stove, I have room for taller appliances that don’t fit into shelves.  I also have my most frequently used sauté pans here for easy access. 

The island also houses a few big drawers.  Cullen has just started pulling up on drawers and trying to discover what’s inside.  I filled the lowest ones with baby-friendly things like bottles and dishtowels.  He loves opening this one and throwing all the bottles on the ground.

On the back counter, I have my cutting board station directly across from the stove.  This makes it easy to chop veggies and then add them to pots and pans quickly.  I always have oil, salt, and pepper out on the counter.

The far side of the kitchen houses our oven and microwave, along with the dishwasher and coffee station.  The cabinet above the coffee maker holds all our mugs, coffee, filters, and other coffee accessories.  I love having a dedicated space for all that stuff.

We have a good amount of counter space, but I still tried to prioritize which appliances would stay out, and which ones would get shelved.  Making the final cut – the rice cooker, juicer, Vitamix, toaster, and Soda Stream.  We use all of these almost daily, and it’s great to not have to lug them out each time.

We also have a nice DEEP sink!  You can’t even tell from this photo that it’s actually full of dishes.  Quite literally a dirty secret.

Perhaps my favorite feature of all – pull out trash cans!  So simple, yet so convenient.  I love having separate cans for trash and recycling, and these are tucked away from curious dogs and babies.

Here’s the full picture.  We usually have a big vase of flowers on the center island, but we didn’t make it to the farmer’s market last week.  Cullen loves to do laps around this island!

Beyond the kitchen, we have a pretty open floor plan.  The kitchen looks out onto our living room, which is next on our list of rooms to paint.  I’d like to get some color in here to liven it up a little!  We also haven’t hung anything on the walls yet (the mirror is temporarily propped up there).

The other side of the living room holds the TV, and a console table full of baskets that Cullen loves to climb and pull down. 

Behind the living room is our sunny dining room!  We stayed up several nights last week past midnight getting this room painted and finished.  I love the burnt orange color – it makes the white trim really stand out.

The dining room leads out onto our patio and yard.  I think Huey would like to be let outside.

And of course, the focal point of any young household – a jumperoo!  This giant hunk of plastic is centered right in our living space, but it’s only temporary and it serves a good purpose.  It’s not like we’re trying to pretend there is no baby living here!

So there you have it – our kitchen and living space.  It’s still a work in progress.  Like I said, I’d like to add more color and accents, but that will come with time and savings. 

My hope is to show you Cullen’s nursery sooner than later, but that means I have to decide where to hang things on the walls.  It’s been a month and I’m still over-thinking it!  Maybe this weekend…

Wow wow wow.  Remember me?  I feel like I’ve been running a marathon.  So last time I checked in, I told you that Cullen was sick, I was starting to get sick, and I still had a whole house to pack.  Yikes.

Unfortunately, things went pretty far downhill from there.  Thursday was one of the worst days I can remember in quite some time.  You know sucks worse than feeling like you have the flu?  Feeling like you have the flu and nursing/taking care of a baby. 

On any other day, Casey would have stayed home to watch Cullen so that I could crawl into bed.  But my sickness happened to land on the day he was taking a 9-hour exam (for work) that they only offer twice a year.  Double yikes.  So as I continued to feel worse and worse, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get ahold of him. 

I pretty much spent the day laying on the floor or couch and throwing toys at Cullen while he played.

When he napped, I napped.  When he was awake, I counted down to the next nap.  I knew it was mastitis again – my whole body ached and it hurt to even carry Cullen against my chest.  I fluctuated between being freezing cold and drenching my clothes in sweat.  By the time I finally tracked down a thermometer and took my temperature, it was close to 103.  A call to my midwives got me immediate antibiotics, and Casey rushed to go get them the minute his exam let out. 

When we started planning our move a few months ago, my mom offered to fly out to help with Cullen so that Casey and I could focus on packing and moving.  Her flight got in late Thursday night, and I have never been so happy to see her.  We needed her help even when I was at 100%, but with me feeling terrible, we needed her more than ever.  Cullen was pretty happy to have here here too. 

Unfortunately, all week I had procrastinated packing because I found it hard to do while watching Cullen.  Instead, I had told myself that I would do it in the last few days once my mom arrived.  But me being sick sort of derailed those plans, and we started out Friday morning with all our boxes pretty much empty.

My mom was completely amazing, and somehow managed to watch Cullen while also packing up my entire kitchen.  Casey worked at home so that he could help move and pack boxes, and keep an extra eye on Cullen as well.

For some reason, I found packing up Cullen’s room to be much harder than I anticipated.  There was so much love in that nursery.  I know stuff is just that – stuff – but I spent a lot of my pregnancy working on his room, picking out his things, and rocking in the glider just thinking about his arrival. 

I bought my baby home to this house and this nursery, and I found myself very emotional as I took down his pictures and packed up his toys.  I know his new nursery will be (very similar) and even better, but this was his first, and that made it tough.

Mom and I spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out how to save the wall decal.  We got about halfway through before I gave up and said forget it.  I’m going to get another one for his new room, but this one just wasn’t realistically salvageable. 

By Friday evening, we still had a lot to do and I could tell I had probably overdone it during the day.  Casey and my mom stepped in and let me rest while they packed up our entire master bedroom and closet.  Casey drove all the clothes over to the new house in several car loads.  I think packing and unpacking closets might be the worst job!

We ended Friday night with the house (mostly) packed, and all of us totally drained and ready to crash.

And we shared one last Friday night takeout order from Revel.  I’m sure I’ll still be eating there plenty, but it will be very different from when it was literally around the corner.  Probably much better for our bank account.

Saturday morning – moving day! – came early.  Cullen hung out in the jumperoo with Grandma, while the movers emptied out the space around him.  Casey and I tied up all the loose ends and packed up the last minute boxes.

And before I knew it, it was empty.  Sniff.

We moved into our little townhouse in Fremont almost exactly a year ago (next week!).  I arrived that day in Seattle by myself.  I remember taking a cab to our empty townhouse, and thinking it was so strange to be in such a far away city all alone.  Shortly after, Casey and the dogs arrived in the car, and our life in the northwest began.

We celebrated that night, which happened to be our wedding anniversary, with dinner out in our new neighborhood.  I was 18 weeks pregnant and still sick as a dog.

And here we are just one year later, but with lives that are so drastically different and full

It was a great starting home for us as we figured out life here in Seattle.  Our first home as a family of three.  It certainly had both pros (so walkable!) and cons (so loud!), but it was Cullen’s first house, and I know I’ll always have special memories of his first days, weeks, and months here.

Scenes from the other side – the new house – to come!