lighting

The lighting in our new house is very different from our old house. It is taking a bit of time to get used to all the natural light that is flowing in. We have a ton more windows than we used to and it is truly glorious, but adjustments need to be made. I find that my exposure is too light most often so I have been playing around with my aperture trying to find the sweet spot. It feels good to be taking pictures again. I barely have time for it right now, but little by little there will be more. Anyway. Things are moving along. It's hard to believe that we have been in the house for almost 2 weeks! In some ways it feels like we have been here for much longer!

The girls are settling in although we have been experiencing speed bumps. I feel good about Maddie and Charlotte sharing a room, but I think it has fully sunk in with them that they share a room. We've had to go in twice in the middle of the night because they were making noise and found Maddie in Charlotte's crib. And tonight after we put them to sleep, Maddie was in Charlotte's crib and they were sharing pacis and giggling. They didn't fall asleep for over an hour. They stayed in their room, and after I extracted Maddie from the crib they each stayed in their beds, but they stayed up way too late. At least I'm hoping that they will sleep in a bit tomorrow! I love that them rooming together is starting to form a bond between them that wasn't really there before. I'm sure it has something to do with Charlotte not being a crying, needy blob anymore (aka a baby) but I also think that they truly like being in there together and are starting to become friends. That being said, I need for them to go to sleep when its time to sleep and I don't want to have to start the bedtime routine at like 6:30 just for the added giggle time they need at night. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to handle small children sharing a room? I hope that they just need time to adjust and eventually (soon) the newness will wear off. We need to get into a better daily routine and stick with it, but so far we've just been trying to get by and tweak our schedule to see what works. I think they both realy need some consistancy and they need it quick!

On a different note, our microwave arrived today and I am mostly happy with it. It was not at all what I was expecting but I can deal. Dan made another trip with the trailer full of stuff from the old house. The builders gave us 2 weeks to move and we did the big moving the first weekend, so we've had some time to slowly get the rest of our stuff moved over. The only things left are the swing set and our compost barrels. I think he's gonna bring them over tomorrow after work and then we'll be done. I spent a good part of 3 days over at the old house cleaning. Technically we didn't have to do that, but I felt like I needed to. When we bought that house it was a pre-forclosure and when we moved in it was a mess. We did so much work, and cleaned it all up, and I don't want the next owners to go through the same thing. I want them to have a clean house to come home to. Maybe that makes me a sucker?!? After packing and moving and cleaning the old house and unpacking the new house, I don't feel even a little bit sad anymore about leaving our first home. Our new house is seriously rad, and so much more amazing that I don't even miss the old house.....not even a little bit. I have plenty of pictures of it so someday I can show the girls where their lives began, but I think we'll be in this house much longer and this will be where they will have their memories that they keep with them.

Oh, and currently we are short 1 kitchen island and 2 light fixtures. Gotta love craigslist. I was sad to see the island go, but I really didn't have any place to put it. I think that the woman who bought it will treat it well! lol Now the girl who bought our entryway and kitchen light fixtures is another story. That woman was annoying! And I have far less attachment to those lights. That is the one thing that is challenging about craigslist....sometimes you have to deal with crazies!! I just finished listing our dishwasher and microwave and I'm hoping I get some interest right away because I don't want to have then collecting dust in our garage. But I have a feeling they will be gone in the next day or two.....I priced them well. Oh, and for those of you who don't know about, or don't use craigslist, it is the most awesome website known to man. Check it out when you have a little time to get sucked in and I promise you will become an addict just like me. It's garage selling from your computer! I would say that half of what we own has been bought off craigslist, and we have sold a good number of items as well. Ahhh.....I heart craigslist. They should seriously make shirts that say that......I would totally wear one. Okay.....it's getting late. I'm sure you can tell by my rambling. I need to get to bed, I may have a 6:00 am wake up call. Till next time, here is some candy for your eyes.

Sometimes she makes the goofiest faces!