It only took two hours to bring all our items from the old apartment to the new one. Fastest move ever (especially after the few cross-country ones). Cheryl stayed till past dinner helping me put things away and organizing my closet while I laid on the bed drinking a bottle of water. The first night was challenging, Bison was upset about everything and with me being pregnant and hormonal - I carried his mooing self around the house till he started purring again.

This has been our home for 3 days, and they've settled in and found special spots to feel cozy. Brian likes this place better than the old one. He says it feels like home, and the other place felt like an apartment. I think it's the wood paneling. ;) We just have a small load of items to bring to CT to store in Brian's parents barn, and a couple bags to bring to the thrift store, and a quick run to Ikea for a few organizational needs...and all my nesting projects will be complete. I'm hoping to finish organizing the living room and bedroom tomorrow and take pictures of those rooms. If my body will allow it.



Pregnancy Update: I was concerned about water retention, but at my Doctor appointment yesterday my blood pressure was great. I'm thankful for that, even though I cried for an hour after getting weighed. My midwife hugged me and handed me kleenex after kleenex while I bawled. She told me she could tell my surplus weight gain was definitely water/swelling and I would lose that quickly, and it's not something I could have prevented. I haven't failed, I haven't let myself go...my body is just really puffy all over. I am drinking a lot of water, I am eating less salt, plenty of protein, and vitamin C. I take my vitamins every day, which has B vitamins which are good for swelling. I'm soaking in salt baths, propping my feet up, etc. I was feeling beautiful and confident and great until I saw that number on the scale, and then I felt ashamed and depressed and unworthy of love. I'm sure there's a lesson about where true beauty lies in all of this for me to learn so I can teach it to our boy. And I keep telling myself that no one needs to know how much weight I've gained, or what I weighed at the end... And Brian is supportive and loving and sweet. I've got a lot to be thankful for.

I'm hoping all our furniture will fit, while still keeping this cozy space airy and bright. It's a basement level apartment, so I'm trying to come up with creative ideas to reflect as much natural light around as I can. Moving in 3 days. Full term in 10 days. I hope my nest is organized and ready for baby before he gets here.



I'll post "after" pictures once we're moved in and everything is looking pretty...

Yesterday I called our landlord to see if it would be possible for 2 adults, a baby, and 3 lazy cats to move into a 1 bedroom that just became available about a week ago. They said that would be fine so I went over to look at the apartment and the layout is really smart. The living area is big, the bathroom is large, the kitchen is a bit small, and the bedroom is adequate. It's 575ft. The rent would help us balance our budget. I'd be able to relax and sink into my role as a mother more - and have less stress to financially contribute. Just giving up 150ft of space will save us almost $4,000 a year. Welcome to Boston!

I'm excited to live in a small space without the usual "how are we going to buy food" and "I need to make $300 in the next 48 hours to pay rent" - the past 13 months have been brutal. God has come thru every time, but it has been such a roller-coaster of faith and my lack of faith. We waited over a year for Harvard to unfreeze raises they promised to Brian when he was hired... but it isn't happening (some union/HR negotiation gone sour) so it's time to simplify and downsize.

So these next couple weeks I'm packing up our apartment and we're moving across the parking lot. I've got the new nest organized and ready in my head. Pregnancy "nesting" hormones are amazing for moving. I feel like I could get the whole thing done myself in about 45 minutes if heavy lifting wasn't so ergonomically ridiculous.

I will be in my 37th week when we're in the new place. I hope that my energy level stays high so I can finish everything I've got on my plate before the boy comes.

Life is an adventure. 3 years ago we were financially set, we could have bought a house. We had so much in savings that we lived off of it for almost 2 years.

For the past 6 months it's been one financial crisis after another. It's almost to the point of ridiculousness/hilarity. At least I try to see it that way, because having a little man rolling in my belly with huge bills piling up in the mail isn't what I had so carefully prepared and planned for. I thought we had played our cards right in this life, to avoid situations like this. You'd think waiting 10 years to have kids, never having credit cards, making smart financial choices and living frugally would end up...I dunno. Paying off?

I thought I was "managing my household well".
I thought I was rockin the Proverbs 31 like a boss.

As it turns out...we've landed exactly where I was hoping to avoid: a little nest of debt right before baby comes, with no clear way to dig out.

Please say a prayer for us that we will make the right choices. I wish I could peek into the future to see what the best financial stewardship options would be... I wish I could hear God whisper what His plan is in all of this. I'm trying not to freak out and worry. I'm trying to allow this situation to grow and stabilize my faith and grow some fruit.

"But the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." Mark 4:19

I'm just...really disappointed.

I'm auctioning off a lot of stuff from my studio that I love but never use/wear and am passing on to whoever would enjoy it. I've got so much of everything, as I've been cleaning stuff out it's been like The Widows Oil. It just keeps growing and growing and I can't believe I had so much craft stuff. I feel a little sad getting rid of things I love, but I also feel happy to have a cleaner space and more room and not so many bins full of so many pretty things I never use. It was just too much... Too much pretty and not enough time to enjoy it all.

If you're interested, here's a sneak peek of what I'll be listing today. The auction is on my Facebook Page: Click Here to Join