The new place

So far we have absolutely loved being in this house! It really is giant. The bedrooms are huge, the living room is huge, the bathtub is huge. I decided Michael and I should take the smaller bedroom because that's where the washer and dryer are. It's pretty ghetto how it's set up. They took over one of the closets and shoved the washer and dryer in there. Then there's this whole ventilation deal for the dryer, you know so you don't burn the house down. Yea, they took some hose or whatever and ran it through the bedroom and out the window. I think it's best if the kids aren't left alone with that. Besides, there's still another closet and we have a huge dresser too. In our bedroom we easily fit the queen bed and both the night stands beside the bed! This is quite the accomplishment because I wasn't ever able to set our room up like that in the trailer home. Plus there's room on my side of the bed for the bassinet and room to walk around too. Then there's room for a rocker and a pack and play if we wanted. Plus that giant dresser we have fits too. Did I mention there are built-ins? Love it! It basically adds a whole extra closet. I fit most of our seasonal stuff, the linens, and the utility closet stuff (like tools, tape, random stuff). So that's 3 closets I used in the trailer that I was able to put that same amount of stuff in just the built-ins in this house. The bathroom also has built-in drawers and it fits everything I needed it too plus there's still extra space if we wanna stock up on toilet paper or something.

This is my room, eventually I'll share it with Michael, haha. 

Here's the weird washer and dryer set up. I'm thinking of getting some curtains to cover them up. I can still use most of the shelves in this closet, especially for things I'm not gonna use very often. Do you see the vent hose going out the window? Pretty silly. 

There are those built-ins! I still have a drawer that isn't filled, too. 

There's the other closet. There's so much storage space in this place!

The kids room easily fits both the kids beds as well as their giant dresser and has the potential for a crib for baby #3. Then there's still room to play and space for all their toys, either in the room or in the closet. We are moving again within a year, so I figured I would just keep all the boxes this time. But where do I put them? Most fit under the kids beds, under my bed, and in the closets. I can't believe I have enough space in the closet for empty boxes and all my stuff. It's gonna be hard to move from here if we have to go somewhere smaller. I don't even care that it's only 2 bedrooms! There is so much space that it doesn't feel like 2 bedrooms. There are 2 more closets in the living room. Since we're in the basement of a house, we have the space under the stairs. This is a surprisingly big closet. Then there's the furnace room. It's much smaller than the Harry Potter closet, but it fit a few of the larger boxes, like the wardrobe boxes, in it and I don't actually need to put anything else in there because everything has a place somewhere else. I figure that's a good idea so we could get to the furnace or water heater if we needed to.

This is Ivan's side of the room. Notice the bad carpet again? The door is on the left and more of the room is on the right. 

More built-ins! I only have stuff in one of these drawers. I put all the paper back books in the top drawer so the kids won't tear them up. 

All the decorations you see hung were hung by me. All the pictures, the curtains, everything. I even hung 2 sets of curtains in the kids room. Black ones to block the light and heat and cute ones cuz black curtains in a kids' room is kinda sad. I think this is gonna be where the baby's crib is gonna go and I'll move the toys into the closet. 

Notice how Ivan is in almost every picture. He kept running in front of me trying to be in every picture. Their closet is to the right. It has double doors, a shelf at the top, shelves on the sides and tons of hanging space. 

This is the reading corner. Ivan helped me put together these shelves. I put all the kids books on them and I usually pick up the books and put them back at least twice a day. Charlotte loves getting all the books out. Sometimes she's quiet and I can't find her. I go looking and this is where she is 99% of the time. 

One weird thing about this place is how many rooms there are. So I said we're renting a 2 bedroom apt right? Well there are actually 4 rooms in the basement. There is another bedroom just off of the living room. It doesn't have a window so we aren't legally aloud to rent it as a room. Bummer. It is a really small room, comparatively, but it would make a great play room. Then there's a big storage room right next to the small bedroom. No windows, and lots of stuff stored in it. There is another water heater, which I'm guessing goes to the upstairs apartment and just a ton of crap in there. It would be so nice to be able to use that space just for our boxes, but I'm not complaining because we are not cramped in the slightest. So as big as this place is, it could be bigger! Crazy!

Sweet fireplace, right?! We can't use it. The door on the right goes to the furnace closet. 

See what I mean by space? I comfortable set up the couches and there is still room behind the loveseat for whatever we want. I just love this furniture. 

There's that furnace closet again. 

Isn't that carpet something else? It's so bad I had to buy another rug, that brown one, just to cover up as much as I could. One bonus is that it doesn't show a single stain! I'm not sure it's worth the compromise in the end. 

The only bummer about this apartment is the dishwasher. There isn't one. I bought a bunch of paper plates and plastic cups but I also have 2 toddlers. So I wash sippy cups, silverware, and bowls like crazy. I'm really glad we have so many dishes because I can go almost a week without washing anything until we're finally out of everything. Doing the dishes makes me have some crazy contractions though. My belly is just getting big enough to where it hurts to push against the counter with it. So I stand even farther from the sink and stretch my arms as far as I can to reach the faucet. I can't wait for my belly to get even bigger and make it so I can't reach the faucet at all! This is one of those times that I really want Michael back, he's better at washing dishes than me anyway. I hate it so much I just scrape off what you can see, rinse it off, and call it good. No food poisoning yet!

There's also no air conditioning. And I'm pregnant. But you know what? It's Idaho! I don't need air conditioning compared to what I just came from. I just keep the curtains closed in the living room and the window open in the kitchen and it really stays plenty cool down in the basement. I seriously haven't felt the need for an air conditioner, not once.

This is my favorite little spot. I love all the rustic decorations. The door on the left goes to that weird extra bedroom we can't use. To the right is the living room.