Apartment Photos!

You asked for it, friends.  A month and half into our new place, I’m finally ready to share some photos.  Welcome, and please come in.

Here’s what you’d see if you could walk in the door (little man included):

 

Then if you could turn about forty-five degrees, this is what you’d see:

And then a bit farther:

If you were really standing in my living room, I’d invite you into the dining room, where I keep my little desk, and Jacob keeps some toys.  And a sippy cup.  Always a sippy cup.

The art on the walls is courtesy of John’s brothers.  We love that we have a family museum.

I’d turn to show you our little (but workable) nook of a kitchen:

There’s more, but it’s tough to photograph.

And then there’s Jacob’s room, with all the fun stuff on the walls.  There’s an icon of his patron saint, Saint James the Greater, which Jacob’s godfather brought back for him from Spain.  There’s a pillow a friend gave him at his Baptism that says “God bless this little one.” (I love that!)

Then there’s some random fun-but-no-personal-connection stuff on the “learning wall”–number flashcards to come.

 

Above his bed is the rug my aunt made for him.  We have also one from our wedding in the living room.  Aren’t they pretty?  She makes them; she’s a rug hooker.  Check it out.  Cool stuff.  And finally, near his bed are a cross John’s family gave us at Jacob’s Baptism and a photo from the day, on which I had printed a quote from the Bible about Jacob.  See below for a close-up.  I love that, too.  Heck, I love all this stuff!

 

 

Kind of reminds you of the opening scene of The Lion King, right?  But kind of beautiful, too.

 

Out the window in Jacob’s room you can see the backyard and his baby swing.  All that’s missing is our room, but that’s pretty much just a big brown bed, big brown furniture, and a couple of hangings on the walls.

 

Thanks for coming to visit, friends.  Please stop by again next time you’re in Brooklyn!

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And the Verdict Is . . .

When I first learned we’d have to move, I started to wonder whether it would be easier to move while eight months pregnant or with a ten-month-old child.  We’ve now done both, and the verdict is . . .

It is easier to move with a ten-month-old child, more specifically, a ten-month-old child who cannot yet walk on his own (but can crawl around, gnaw on boxes, and try his darndest to climb floor lamps).

My reasons are as follows:

1. This is fairly obvious, but once the child is born, other people can hold him.  That means the mom can hold other stuff.  Perhaps too much of a given to be stated explicitly, but there you go.
2. When caring for a ten-month-old child (and not simultaneously pregnant), one can lift boxes of all shapes and sizes without being reprimanded by one’s family.  Also, the phrase “caring for a ten-month-old child” is secret mommy code for “look how toned my arms are,” which is doubly helpful when one plans to put one’s entire life into and out of boxes in the span of about two weeks.
3. For me, being pregnant meant being sleepy. Caring for Jacob makes me tired, too, but now I’m very focused on what I can do during his naps that would be dangerous for him to be around otherwise, plus there’s too much to clean up at the end of the day for me to go to bed when I should.  This sounds like a bad thing, but really it’s added a couple of hours of work time to my week!
4. Piggy-backing off #3, nursing said ten-month-old child means that at regular intervals, one must stop everything, sit down, and snuggle for a couple of minutes.  It’s a good idea to sing some hymns, talk to God, and give one’s eyes permission to shut during this time.
5. When I was pregnant, I was still working in an office full time.  Now I am at home all day.  Because I am surrounded by this giant project and not just thinking about it from midtown while trying to do something else, the process is moving much more quickly this time around.
6. Finally, because I’ve had almost a year with Jacob (can you believe it?!), I have a pretty good idea of what my lifestyle for at least the next year or two will look like.  Last year, before I’d ever really spent any time with a newborn baby, never mind my own baby, I had no idea what daily life would look like, and thus, what my home should look like.  Now I know it’s full of giggles, hugs, dancing, and reaching for anything in the bottom three feet of our home.  Can you say “shelving”?

Photos are coming soon, really.  It’s not quite box city here anymore; now it’s more like box rural countryside, where cardboard is spread out, but still all over the place.

Wow, weird metaphor.

Anyway, settling in is going very well—and very quickly!  Thanks again, reader friends, for your thoughts and prayers for a smooth transition.  Thus far, that’s exactly what we’ve had.

We’re Here!

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers for a good move, reader friends!  Things went very smoothly, the movers were quicker (and thus cheaper) than we’d expected, and with my parents’ help we got a ton unpacked our first day in the new place.  As John and I sat down late that night to say our rosary, I couldn’t help but tell him with a smile, “I love this place.”

 

I’m kind of amazed at how instantly this new apartment has begun to feel like home.  It’s still messy (come to think of it, that may be more of help than a hindrance!), but after months of waiting to search, and then three weeks between signing the lease and moving in, it looks like we live here.

 

As grateful as I am that our previous landlords told us as soon as possible that we wouldn’t be able to sign on for a second year, knowing we had to leave after being there only six months left me feeling like a squatter.  Before college, I had only moved once, and then, I was only eighteen months old.  Even though I moved to different dorms on campus throughout my undergrad career, and even with six months spent in Germany, then I still felt like I had a home base. I didn’t have that for the better part of the last year, and I got a little overwhelmed in these last few weeks without it.

 

Thankfully, God has given me the grace to turn to Him and offer up my fears and anxieties as best I can.  I’ve taken to signing “Amazing Grace” while I nurse Jacob, especially at the end of the day, and it has been more than therapeutic.

 

All of this brings me back to the same verse from Scripture that has often been on my mind lately:

 

“Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.”  Matthew 6:28-29

 

God is good.  God provides.  And thank God we have somewhere beautiful and wonderful to finally call home!

 

Photos soon.  I’ll spare you some of the mess for now!