Our New House!

I've been meaning to write a post with photos since we went out to Iowa in January to house hunt.  Finally... here it is!  

A little background:  We went with a list of about 11 homes to look at (our realtor added a few more once we got there).  After a very long day driving from house to house (our realtor drove us) we were becoming discouraged (very discouraged) as the homes we were seeing just weren't measuring up -whether it was that they didn't do justice to to their online photos, or the neighborhood wasn't what we thought it would be.  Towards the end of our search there were only a couple of homes that we were okay with leaving on the list, but again - they were just okay. 

Prior to our trip I had been praying that Heavenly Father would help us to find a home and that it would be a 'burning bush' experience.  Because our trip was going to be so short (only one full day to house-hunt) and we really didn't want to have to fly out again, I was (we were) desperately hoping to find a home (I say 'I' because my nesting hormones may or may not be a little more impatient than Justin's) that day.  I knew we had researched and scoured listings making and editing our list countless times and that we had done everything we could do... So we were now relying heavily on the Spirit to help guide us in our decision.

When we finally came to this house (last, of course) I was fully expecting to be disappointed after being let down on all of the previous homes, but was still hoping it might at least be better than the others - even if it ended up not being everything we were hoping for.  It didn't help that there had only been a few photos online of the interior of the home so we didn't even have a full idea of what to expect.  We'd just really (really) liked those few photos that were listed and were anxious to see more... Plus, it was in a great area and the description sounded exactly like what we were looking for.  But it wasn't just better than the others we had seen - it was everything we were hoping for and more!  It was hard not to be too eager with the realtor as we went from room to room...  Any maybe we didn't see a literal burning bush, but I know we both felt good (nay, great!) about the house.  Our realtor (not knowing how much we liked the house) wanted to take us to see a couple more houses that she had been considering showing us just in case we didn't like any we'd seen so we agreed, but after the first one we told her it wasn't necessary to see any more and that we really liked the Romford Ct. house. 

We then discussed what next steps would be if we were to make an offer and after going over what we'd offer, what we'd be willing to go up to, etc., I started to get nervous that we were being too hasty.  I asked her if we could go back one more time and the moment we walked into the door I felt the same overwhelming feeling of excitement/peace/well-being.  We had felt nothing even close to that in ANY of the other homes.  This was it.  And the rest is history!  We made an offer, the seller countered, we countered back and he accepted.  We got the final call that he'd accepted our counter as we were checking in at the airport the next morning (it was a long night of waiting!) and I immediately handed the phone to Justin, sat down and started sobbing.  I was mostly happy and excited, but it also made our move that much more real and the emotions (sadness, anxiety, happiness, uncertainty) were overwhelming.  Suddenly the need to sell our NC home (which had been officially listed only a week before) became critical so we would be able to close on the new home and that added an entirely new level of stress to all that was going on. 

Fast-forward... We are now only a few days out from closing on both the sale of our NC home and the purchase of our new IA home.  It has been a long and stressful two months, but we are so thankful for friends who have helped us get through it all!  Nellie and Jonathan watched ALL of our kids during our Iowa trip and not only kept them alive, but also managed to pack a ton of fun things into their first weekend away from home (including swimming at the Y, a trip to Discovery Place and more.  I think our kids were disappointed that we weren't gone longer! :).  We are also very mindful of the many miracles that have occurred to enable us to continue with this move... (Selling our home in only eight days being chief among them!)  I can hardly believe we've made it through all of this and that by this time next week we will be settling into our new home and new lives in Iowa. We are all anxious, nervous, excited, sad, and maybe a little scared - but we are also eager for this new adventure!  So, "come what may, and love it!"

Now for the fun part...  The pictures!  

Introducing our new home:

Our new home is a little over 3900 sq ft (finished) with 5 bedrooms and 5 1/2 bathrooms (holy cow - that is a lot of toilets to clean!).  There is an additional apprx. 100 sq. ft. of unfinished space in the lower level perfect for the home of our food storage/extra freezer/emergency preparedness needs.

Our lot is just under 1/2 acre which means lots of yard space for our outdoor loving kiddos!  (We will be putting up a fence asap, though!)  Our home is also extremely close (I can see it in the distance) to the elementary school our kids will attend and just across the street is a little creek and bike path that is sure to keep us entertained during the warmer months!

View from the front door into the formal dining area (back) and a formal sitting area (where the piano will be).   The pictures just don't do the size justice.  It's a very large and open space and we will be needing to (eventually) buy furniture to accommodate it including a very large dining room table/chairs for the dining area and then a couple of chairs/loveseat for the sitting room area.

Justin's dream - a three car finished garage that will actually house both of our cars as well as have additional storage!

View straight ahead from the front door.

View from front door and slightly to the left.  We already have plans for what we're putting in the art nook and we love the travertine tile floors!  Immediately to the left (not pictured) is the garage door and then (pictured) is a large coat closet.  Straight ahead into the dark opened door to the left is the half-bathroom.

The office.  Sa-weet! :)  We love the glass-paned double doors.

Utility/laundry room!  The cabinets may be moved to the opposite wall (not pictured) since our washer and dryer are on pedestals and we're not sure they'll fit underneath.  We're also planning on adding more counter-space so I can fold the laundry in the laundry room.  :)

Second set of stairs that lead to the upper level and view into the kitchen.

View from the living area back towards the office/closet/garage door.  The door on the left opens to a set of stairs that lead to the lower level.

Another view of the 2nd set of stairs that lead up.

The kitchen!  It's huge!  And the island is amazing... I'm in love. :)

View of the sitting/piano area and to the right you can just see the front door.

Living room (opposite of the kitchen).  We'll use this as a more formal living room since the real fun will be in the lower level. :)  The sliding doors lead to the deck.

Lower level.  The TV will go above the fireplace.

Lower level.  The far right door is a full bathroom, the far left door leads to the food storage area.  The first door on the left opens to the storage space underneath the stairs.

View from the TV towards the stairs and rest of the lower level.  It's huge!

The 5th bedroom (which will be our guest room. . . Hint hint!!!).

Bedroom #5 view out to the family room.

Another shot to try to show how big this area is.  Plenty of space for the kids to run around!  We'll also be getting a sectional (at some point) for down here.

The wet bar area.  How fun will this be for movie night?! 

5th full bathroom (lower level).  See - guests will even have their own bathroom! :)

Full bathroom #5 -The opposite side.

The large soon-to-be food storage/freezer space!  It's huge!  Definitely big enough to hold our year supply (once we get one...  Baby steps!)

Upper level:  Master bedroom with fireplace.  *sigh*

View from master into the master bath (heated tile!).  Just before the bathroom on the left is a huge walk-in closet.

Garden tub, dual vanities, granite counters.  (The potty is to the left.)

Shower (it's huge!) and a sitting area?  Not sure that will ever be used, lol... This mama does her makeup in the car. ;)

View from the master to the hallway.

The future nursery of Baby Wilde #5. :)  This room is right next-door to the master and is by far the smallest bedroom, but perfect for a nursery!  

Opposite side of the nursery.  Right across the hall is a full bathroom (we refer to as "the baby's bathroom" since each bedroom has their own bathroom connected or near it.

The boys' room.  This bedroom is enormous... I don't have a wide-angle lens so I couldn't capture just how big it is, but it will EASILY fit the boys' bunk beds, an extra full-sized bed, a couple of dressers and still leave plenty of room to spare.  I wish I had the dimensions!

Here's the opposite side facing the closet.  And behind the open door is the bathroom door.

The bathtub/shower in the boys' bathroom.

View into the boys' bathroom.  I love the tile and the dual sinks!  

Norah and Beckett's room.  This room is also very large (though not as big as the boys') and will eventually be Norah and Baby Girl's room.  We're putting Beckett with Norah for now since Norah has been dying to have a buddy to share her room with.  Once Baby Girl is old enough we will move her into this room and then move Beckett into the boys' room.  

Opposite side of Norah/Beck's room.

Their bathroom doesn't have dual sinks, but still has nice tile and a shower/tub which is awesome. :)

View from the top of the stairs looking down.

View of stairs from the dining area as well as the arched doorway from the dining area into the kitchen.

Another view from the dining area to the upper level and to the garage door /entry way).

I can't wait to post pictures once we've moved in and have started making it feel like home.  The whole house has a very 'Tuscan' feel (thank you HGTV) with the earthy colors and exaggerated (beautiful!) wood trim work throughout.  We feel so blessed!  Justin's work is only 20 minutes away (and in Iowa, 20 minutes is 20 minutes!  Not 20 minutes = 1 hour with traffic.)  Costco and Trader Joe's are a mere 17 minute drive and Target is even closer...  Now I need to find out where Michael's and Hobby Lobby are and I'll be set! :)