The Craziness that is The Eby Family: 2 weeks and 3 days later....

Well we finally made the big move to Cincinnati 2 weeks and 3 days ago. As far as moves go, it went really smoothly. The kids were super, the actual movers were fantastic, and the new house is great. We still have a LOT of unpacking and picture hanging to do before the house looks its best, but it definitely feels like home.

Jake has adjusted to his new school. He says that he loves his new teacher and has made lots of friends. He has a lot more homework than he did in Dexter, but he only really fights me on Sunday nights to get it done. They have weekly spelling tests, an upcoming play, and a report on Alligators due the beginning of May. Sometimes it seems like a lot for a 1st grader, but then I see how quick he gets through it and I realize its just a lot for me to keep track of and just the right amount for him to do.

Brenden has made a few new friends. Our neighbors have 4 girls and their 6 year old, Annie, comes by daily to see if Brenden wants to play. They have had a lot of fun playing and I think it makes Brenden feel good to have someone come to the house for him instead of Jake each day. There is also a boy, Connor, that lives very close that will be in Kindergarten in the fall that Brenden has played with a few times. He also enjoys having his quiet time and playing with the other neighbor girls.

Rylan is also making friends. In the 4 girls next door, Greta is 17 months and Avery will be 3 at the end of May (the 4th, Ella, is 7 and in 1st grade at Jake's school but not in the same class). Rylan has been having a blast going down to their house to play outside. They have tons of outside toys like scooters, cars, slides, etc. and Rylan has loved all of them. She is also learning a lot more about sharing. I have to say so far she is not a fan. She gets really upset when one of the other girls goes after whatever Rylan has her eye on, we've seen more than our fair share of tantrums, but in the long run its good for her to be learning how to play with other children.

Chris has been traveling tons. Since moving here he has had to go back to Michigan 4 times for either work or moving stuff. He has spent as much time at our old house as he has at the new house. And when he is home its been lots of work getting the house in order. He hasn't had much time to just take it all in and enjoy. He does really like the house, but until the beginning of May he's not going to have much chance to enjoy it.

And for me. I LOVE the house and have felt at home since day one. I feel comfortable getting around the area and I haven't had any trouble finding things outside of Anderson. I had an interview at a local country club and am waiting to hear back. I have also talked with another coach in the area about coaching opportunities with year round programs. I've enjoyed my small break, but it would be nice to find something to get me out a bit and to make some money since I'm pretty broke at the moment :)

And here are LOTS of pictures of the house with our stuff - Please don't mind all the messes and boxes, we just moved in for pete's sake! ;)

The House!

The Neighbors down the hill - They have 4 girls, 7, 6, almost 3, and 17 months and their parents own 25-30 acres of woods behind them so we don't have to worry about new houses going in!

The Entry Way

To the Right of the Entry is the Dining Room - I eventually want to take off the lower wallpaper and repaint the entire room

To the Left of the Entry is the Formal Living Room - We are currently using this as Chris's office and we eventually want to make it a library/sitting room - Lots still to unpack in here!

Through the Living room is the Family Room - We still need to hook up our 2nd TV on the shelf to the right of the Fireplace TV and decide what else we will do on the shelving, but the rest is set and we're loving it

Kitchen - The cabinets are new, but we are going to update the appliances SOON and eventually change the corian counters to granite, but that will have to wait awhile most likely.

1/2 Bath off the Kitchen and Mudroom/Laundry Room - Isn't the bath gorgeous? ;) No immediate plans for that, but likely to remove wallpaper and paint. Mudroom/Laundry room we're planning to build in cubbies/lockers on the right wall and put in storage and a bench on the left wall. You can't see it, but there is a door off the mudroom that leads out to the deck.

Heading upstairs - Exciting, huh?

Jake's Room - We had it painted Green when we moved in and gave him our old guest bed and my old dresser, such a big boy room!

Brenden's Room - We had wallpaper removed and the room painted Blue before we moved in. Brenden got to keep the Bunk bed and got the desk from our office in our old house.

Rylan's Room - There is a door that joins it to the Master Bedroom that we will eventually fill in and make a bigger closet, but thought it might be good to have for now if we have another baby. We have a twin bed set up for Rylan, but she's still in the crib for now.

Kids Bathroom - it had newspaper wallpaper and was SO dark so we had it painted before we moved in and hopefully we'll be able to replace the vanity for a 2 sink vanity at some point, thinking with 3 or 4 kids it'll be nice to have an extra sink.

Master Bedroom and Bathroom - We are replacing the ceiling fan and will close off the door to Rylan's room as I mentioned, but that's it for these rooms. I did get new dressers and bedside tables for Chris and I from Ikea - Nothing but the best for us! :)

Basement - Lots of room and nothing we have to do, YAY!

Guest room/nook in Basement - Its not closed off and its small, but its off to the left away from the other stuff in the basement and there's a half bath behind the bar so at least anyone staying down there has a toilet and sink.I like to think it's cozy :)