Living the American Dream?

I never thought I'd live in a condo. It was not part of my life plan. When Darling Daddy and I first started looking at buying a house about 6 years ago, condos were not in our search. We looked at house after house after house. (Our poor real estate agent - I think we looked at like 25 houses...) Because buying a house with a yard is the American dream, right? We both worked really hard at our own separate careers, we deserved this dream. We had offers accepted on two different houses that both fell through. What was God trying to tell us?

At the time we were looking to buy, the government was still offering the first-time homebuyers $8,000 tax credit and we really wanted to cash in on that. Free money! We had been told that it would probably be going away soon, so we should act on it sooner rather than later. So, to make a long story short, we added condos into our home search so that we could buy something. Anything. We figured it was basically like renting, except for we'd have an investment at the end. And, here we are still living in a condo over 5 years later. Was it our dream? No. The American Dream? Not really. But it's our reality and to be honest, we really don't see ourselves going anywhere anytime soon. 

It's taken me a while to get to this point in my life, and a lot of prayer, but I feel as though I'm finally content in where we live and I'm no longer constantly searching for that next perfect house. I've given up on that. I know that God has a plan for our family and our life. We just need to trust Him and let his plan unfold. 

"Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

I'm not sure why I was against condo living 6 years ago, but I will say that it was pre-kids and also that I was blissfully unaware of all that goes along with housekeeping and home maintenance. However, God knew what was in our best interest and He had a plan for us. He knew we'd have our hands full with active little ones and be quite busy with them ;)

First off, let me say that living in this condo is what has allowed me to be a stay-at-home mom! I'll take this quality time with the kids while they're young in our 1,400 square foot condo, over having a real house any day.  

We've got an eat-in kitchen, living room, basement family/play room, 1.5 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms. The bedroom situation has proved to be the most challenging part. And really only when Ginger Boy was a baby learning how to sleep and while Curly Girl has been learning to leave the room quietly due to overnight potty training. But they love sharing a room and do it really well. There is silence in the room for 11-12 hours a night, so we obviously make it work :) 

[Note: the plan is for the two of them to eventually share the bunk bed, but Ginger Boy is quite hesitant to leave the crib, and he doesn't try to escape, so we're keeping him there as long as we can :) ]

Now, some of the major benefits! Tons of yard space to play on (probably more than we'll ever have with a single-family home) and lots of pavement space to ride bikes on.

Our "backyard" - it's technically all considered common area, so we can go wherever we want! 

A walk-out basement onto our own patio and a mini deck that doubles as a garden space.

A small walkway and stairs that need to be shoveled when we get 300 feet of snow. The rest of the area gets plowed. 

Throwing out stinky trash & recycling whenever we want or need to. Can I also mention this has been HUGE in helping us live a more minimalistic lifestyle. Cleaning things out and getting rid of junk is just so easy. 

No outside maintenance. I repeat, no outside maintenance. Leaky roof? Ice damns? Call the property manager. Paint chipping or peeling? It's taken care of. Yard work? None! (And remember we have a HUGE yard to enjoy!) 

So while we have young kids, Darling Daddy and I have actually embraced condo living. It gives us so much extra time with the kids and we don't have to worry about watching them or entertaining them while we tend to the outside maintenance of a house and yard. We still have the inside though and sometimes, that's enough ;) 

So no, we're not looking to move anytime soon. It's kind of the anti-American dream, but we're a family with young kids who don't mind living in a condo. We know God will let his plan unfold for us and we're happy and content just waiting for that to happen :)

Summer fun - part 1

I realized that I haven't been sharing much on the blog about what we've been up to this summer. We've been staying pretty busy so I thought I'd give a few snapshots of our life in the sunshine.

We spent 10 days in Maine and a lot of time at the beach. Curly Girl is quite the mermaid (but would rather be swimming than taking pictures.)

But she will take a picture when she's in downtown Portsmouth, NH and in the right company ;)

We had quite a few campfires where we cooked our dinner and made s'mores while visiting in Maine...

Curly Girl is collecting freckles this summer :)

Ginger Boy is collecting freckles too, as well as some fashion advice from his big sister...

We had a fun hike around the summit of Mount Agamenecus in York one morning...

Golf cart rides with Gaga are a big hit! 

Curly Girl is playing with dolls a lot and it is so sweet to watch her play mommy :)

We've taken trips to Tangerini's farm to pick raspberries and blueberries....

We've been enjoying fresh vegetables from the CSA we joined at Medway Community Farm...

We've enjoyed fun times with cousins and tractor rides with Papa...

A fun, full week at Vacation Bible School...

A beautiful sunset out in western MA...

A trip to the Curious George exhibit at the Springfield museums with friends...

Some unexpected and uncharacteristic car sleep on the busy days...

Some basement and backyard play on the days we're at home...

A little start to potty training...

Some fun playground play...

More fun with cousins and aunties...

And the discovery of a new, fun place to swim - Sweatt Beach on Lake Pearl in Wrentham.

So far, our summer has been great! 

When things don't go as planned

I'm a planner. Always have been and probably always will be. Before having kids, I had it all planned out. It was going to be awesome! All of it. I had all of these amazing adventures planned out in my mind - fun ways we'd spend our days, places we'd go to frequently [going into Boston on the train was one of those things and it hasn't happened once... you can see where this is going...], my kids would nap whenever and wherever I needed them to and if they didn't nap, it'd be ok, they'd be fine we'd get through the day seamlessly and they would just go to bed earlier that night.  I was going to have playgroups and play dates alllllll the time, my kids would always obey, eat any and all fruits or vegetables I put in front of them, only drink water, only watch one tv show a day... I had it all planned out.

Then I had kids.

I should have known things weren't going to go as planned from the very beginning. I had a wonderful birth plan written out and none of it was followed. Not a single thing. The completely natural birth that I had hoped for turned out to be the farthest thing from it. Pitocin, epidural, laying flat on my back, vacuum extractor, you name it. It wasn't in my plan. I think it was just the little preview of our life with Curly Girl.

Things don't go as planned with kids when they're young. They just don't. It's been a tough pill to swallow for someone like me, but I feel like 4 years into this parenting thing, I'm finally starting to accept it and not let it get the best of me. I'm trying to just go with the flow and let it be what it will be. Easier said than done for sure, but I'm working on it.

I've started to realize and understand that it's not my plan anyways. It's God's plan. He's got our life planned out and He's the one who determines what will happen to us. I've got to just follow His plan. He's led us through so many twists and turns with these two little gingers, but we are learning so much about ourselves and Him.

So, my plan (haha!) with this blog was to share pictures more frequently and be somewhat up to date with them. That doesn't always happen. But there are a few that I want to share that depict the true reality of our life these days.

Easter Sunday this year. Ginger Boy came down with a nasty little cold the day before, so I decided he shouldn't share it with the other little ones in the nursery at church. I said I'd stay home with him while Curly Girl and Darling Daddy had a date to church.  This was the best picture I could get of her moving little body before they went to church. [Dress made courtesy of the oh-so-talented Gaga in Maine!] 

 

 

Ginger Boy got to try his first Peep while they were at church. Did I ever think I'd allow my 2 year old to have a Peep? No. Did grandparents provide them in the Easter baskets they gave the kids? Yes.

When Curly Girl & Darling Daddy came home from church, Darling Daddy suggested that I go to the second service. I honestly hadn't even thought of that, so I wasn't really dressed for it in the jeans and sweater I was wearing, but I headed off. I arrived a bit late, so I sat in the back row, alone. Not really how I ever pictured church on Easter Sunday. When I came home we got Ginger Boy into his Easter outfit and tried to take pictures. Taking pictures of the two of them is always a challenge. Here are our best three pictures. The plan was to be able to see their entire outfits and maybe have some Easter baskets in the picture. But, as I've learned over and over, things don't go as planned with my kids :)

Then came Mother's Day. I'm not big on gifts, so I really wasn't expecting much. They got me a beautiful hanging plant for the front porch. Perfect. Curly Girl wanted to have a picnic lunch. Great idea! I told Darling Daddy what I wanted to eat, he got me a wonderful salad from Whole Foods. He made the other lunches and we had a great picnic together.

Then the one thing I asked the kids for, the ONE thing I wanted on Mother's Day was to take a nice picture together sitting among the tulips. These were the best we got. 

Not my plan. One wouldn't take their hat off or look at the camera, the other just wouldn't cooperate at all [I blame the red hair gene!] This photo session ended in screams and everyone going inside for early naps. 

Things just don't go as planned these days, and that's ok. I'm coming to terms with it more and more with each passing day. Someday I'll be able to plan again, but until then I'm enjoying these crazy days with the little gingers.