Our new crib...

At last! I am finally posting our final moments at our old house and capturing firsts at our new house! It has been a busy yet exciting time for us. It all began last fall when we set out to find a play kitchen for Ella on Craig's list. We called on one in Zeeland and what do you know, it was a couple that lived right up the street and not only that but I had gone to high school with the wife! While we looked at the kitchen set we were talking about why they were selling it and they mentioned that they just decided they wanted to sell the house. Just for fun we asked them to show us around because we thought it was cute. Needless to say we really loved it! We told them to contact us when they decided for sure what their game plan was and to make a long story short, within a week we had worked everything out and our house was put on the market. Within 3-4 months our house was sold and we feel totally blessed. All along we felt, along with the other couple, that this all happened for a reason and it was just awesome to see how it all fell into place. Now that we are in our new house, it is clear to us that this is where we belong.

Here is us with the former homeowners, Jeremy & Kate VanEyk, when we officially got the keys to the new house that Saturday. We are blessed to have them now as friends!
Ella quickly making herself at home in the living room:)

Ella exploring her new room for the first time

Before we could move in we still had a lot of packing to do and only 3 days to do it so we needed a few helpers;) Thanks Ella for helping Mommy and Daddy pack and thanks to our parents for all they did to help (babysitting and moving stuff)!

Our last picture together in our old house (I know, I am such a sentimental dork)

Here is a couple of pictures of Ella and I the last night in our old house - I was getting sad... thinking back about her being brought home from the hospital, watching her grow and seeing all of her firsts, putting her to bed at night, and all those precious moments in between. I kept having to tell myself that my home is wherever Brad and Ella are but saying goodbye for me is always hard to do. (Please don't mind all the pacifier pictures, the move was a bit confusing for her and that is her security blanket:)

The next day, Tuesday, after work I stopped by our old house on the way to our new one
to do a final walk through and let Ella say goodbye to our house. I kept telling myself that she needed that closure to understand what was going on but I think I needed to go back that one last time. Here is Ella saying her goodbyes to her room:)

Here is our new home...7 doors down:)

So excited to see Daddy...it had been a long and busy week...and we were happy to be home!

Brad seriously did almost the entire move on his own on Tuesday- he was so awesome, making trip after trip between the two houses. He was so great about it and never complained. He made the whole move go super smoothly - thanks honey! On Tuesday night we did get some extra help moving the large items and we want to sincerely thank Curt & Jamie, Chris (& Grah) for their help!...thank you for saving my husband's back:)

In the days following our move, we have been enjoying settling into our house...

Here is Grandpa Essenburg hard at work painting Ella's bedroom. He did such a great job and we so appreciated all his time - great job as always Grandpa!

Ella checking out the scenery from the porch...she loves to look for birds and watch the cars go by:)

The VanEyks had a fish in their kitchen so whenever we had come over to see the house, Ella loved to look at it so we decided we would get one of our own once we moved in. She absolutely loves "Gil" and every morning the first thing she wants to do is go see him and feed him;)

Although we haven't had many people over to see the house yet because of all the unpacking and organizing to do, my parents came over to check out our new house and help with some projects...

Ella enjoying her playroom...

and the great outdoors...

and the kitchen...

and the living room... (playing "ring around the rosies" with Daddy:)

It has been a great journey but we are happy to put it all behind us and enjoy our new home.