Meet the Mocks: Moving Day

Well, we are officially residents of Katy, TX - so weird typing/writing that as my address. We officially moved on May 17th and it has been very bittersweet. We said goodbye to our home of nearly 6 years and will have so many great memories to remember it by. All of the blood, sweat, tears put into remodeling it and making it ours, bringing home our first two boys here, our nanny of four years, and some good friends Ryan made along the way from the neighborhood and his school. Here are a few pics over our time spent in the house. I realized I've never actually blogged on any home updates really, so this is probably more for my keepsake than anything else.

Here are some of the "before" pics of the house when we moved in August 2008

Here we are moving in and doing a little work to at least get the place somewhat out of the 1960's

Our projects spanned over about 4 years, but in the end, the entire house had been updated. Our first project was the upstairs game room which Wes pretty much did all on his own. From raising the ceiling, to installing recessed lights, hanging sheet rock, constructing built-ins, it was an undertaking.

We then, put in wood floors and tile throughout all the living space downstairs.

Bringing home Ryan - 3/28/10

In 2011, we decided to remodel the guest bath. I seriously thought this pic was of Bradley at first. Crazy how much they are starting to look alike.

And Ryan took his baths in the kitchen sink for maybe 4-5 months!??! It was a never-ending project.

In 2012, we decided we had enough of the "do-it yourself remodeling" and hired a contractor for our last big projects. I was 5 months pregnant with Bradley and Wes was in MBA school, but we knew we needed to remodel our kitchen and master bath before adding another lil munchkin to the family. So, we moved in with my parents for about 6-7 weeks while the house was a wreck. We were so pleased with how it turned out and that we were able to enjoy it all for a year and a half.

Bringing home Bradley 12/22/12

I captured this pic with our nanny a few days prior to us moving. Luckily, the boys are young enough to where they aren't too affected by the change, but it is sad to see a chapter of your life close, knowing they both adored her.

Ryan and I went back before we closed and he wanted to go through every room and check them out one last time. He had not seen the house empty since the boys were with my mom during the weekend of the move. It was sweet to watch him take it all in because he said he didn't want to forget it.

The move itself was mostly uneventful, meaning nothing too major happened. I would say we were 95% pleased with the entire experience. Being 7-8 months pregnant during this transition, we realized there was no way we could pack ourselves. Turns out, it was the best money we've spent in a while. Granted, the job was underestimated and we needed an additional packer, so there were a few closets and misc. items that they did not have time to pack since they came the day prior to the move. At the time, it didn't seem like a big deal, but it turned into being an extra 4-5 trips to the house to get it all. There were two packers for over 10 hours at our house and I was helping most of the day as well. The next day, the movers showed up bright and early, and of course, the move was underestimated as well! Wes and my brother had already moved an entire storage unit before the move, and they movers still moved 175 boxes. 3 guys arrived at 8:30 and by about 2:30, they had another 3 guys show up to help. It was all said and done around 8pm that evening. All in all, a few pieces of furniture were minorly scratched (which they have already repaired) and I think two things broke, so we were pretty pleased.

The unpacking has been a beast. Trying to get things unpacked with all of the boxes paper, and not to mention 4 little tiny feet running around behind you, is not an easy task. We are two weeks in and probably only have about 15 boxes left, but the to-do list could go on for days.

Here the boys are having fun in all of the paper.

B has really been exploring the entire house. They both are loving all of the space and just roam around checking everything out. The transition has been so smooth for both of them. From the very first night, they have both slept like champs (which we were slightly nervous about). They love our new nanny, love the park across the street, really are enjoying having a nice sized play room all to themselves, and B has been obsessed with the stairs (hoping he gets over this pretty soon). Everything is new and exciting and it's fun to watch. Ryan has been a huge help and loves to unpack and get organized!!