Where are you going to put another baby??

As most of you know, a little over four years ago we bought a fairly dismal one-bedroom condo. It is pretty spectaluar now. Two years ago we finished the major life-safety issues of our remodel in the nick-of-time, literally the week before Tessa came home from the hospital. This was just when the housing market started to teeter and we really liked our cute little nest. So, although that would have been a normal point in our life's journey to move we stuck around and have been quite cozy.

Now...well - I am pretty sure we could make this place work with two kids. In fact sometimes I catch myself daydreaming about what it would be like to live in this condo when we add baby #3 (in some distant future), and how maybe the discovery channel would do a special about our non-materialistic alternate lifestyle. Of course, it would be extremely boring to watch me dink around the internet all day (I will still get to do that with three kids - right? ...right?) and there would be no place for the cameras...

Needless to say, now is an even more natural place in our life's journey to sell our one bedroom and find a two (or, dare I fantasize, three!) bedroom place (don't start getting excited/upset, we are staying in MA). So we are hemming and hawing our way to "getting this place ready to sell."

This is the latest finished project. These pendants took us literally YEARS to agree on. They are made from an Ikea fixture, a Lowes shade and canopy, and a plumbing pipe.

We'll probably do it, but just today I was telling Aaron about all the cool ideas I have for fitting another person into our dwelling unit and I almost forgot my real motivation for selling...

Two flights of stairs.

I can justify staying here with many reasons. Housing crappy market being a big one. Love it here, another biggie. And my favorite, most self righteous reason has to do with materialism and not trying to keep up with the Joneses and "our pioneer ancestors raised eight kids in 850 square foot cabins."

But.

But.

Those pioneers could just open the back door and let the kids and dogs and chickens run in and out all day. AND they did not have to carry a baby carrier up two flights of windy stairs with a toddler at their heels. (Cooking over a fire-heated stew pot a babe-in-arms and a toddler at your heels...piece of cake I'm certain.)

But anyway, while we are working on the very very very last projects in this house (I promise) we have rearranged. Its not conventional, and I think it takes people by surprise. But I love it.

Of course...it is always messy so I'm not going to post and pictures of it RIGHT NOW...here are some progress pics to give you an idea...

This is our study as it appeared for approximately 10 minutes on Thanksgiving...pretty hot isn't it!


Then later that weekend we moved our bed out of the, well, bedroom giving Tessa her own room. (This is it before we moved the toys into the newly dubbed "nursery").


Then Aaron and Tessa moved reassembled the bed in the study where the Thanksgiving table sat the day before.

Sorry the pictures are so vague...this post will never get posted if I don't just work with what I've got.