We currently live in a townhouse that we bought when we got married 10 years ago but long outgrew. It was perfect for us as a married couple and even fine with one child. We were waiting to move because we were considering a few other job options for my husband and we wanted him to finish his PhD program at NC State here in Raleigh. We wanted to make sure we picked the best job for him and the best location for our family so we didn't rush into it. Our townhouse is 3 stories with 2 bedrooms upstairs, the main living area on the main floor, then a finished basement. It has 3.5 bathrooms and a lot of storage but the layout just doesn't work for a family with 2 small kids. The kids are sharing a room which hasn't been too bad but Mary-Grace is getting to the age where she wants her room to have a certain style that fits her personality and I want to decorate a room just for Benton since he never had his own nursery. In our new home, we'll have 3 bedrooms upstairs with a large playroom so each of them will have their own room with a separate playroom. We currently have a play area set up in our basement which works but it'll be nicer to have a whole separate room. I'm also looking forward to having a formal dining room. I know it's not "on trend" right now with home designs with everyone wanting an open floor plan but we currently have the open floor plan and it just seems crowded to me. The new house will have our kitchen open up to the living room and breakfast area though. I'm also looking forward to having a mudroom and garage. We currently have neither and are in need of both! We get some pretty severe storms here in NC and we're always worried about our cars getting damaged. It'll also be a great place to store the kids bikes and wagons.
Below are some photos I've taken of the building process. We went under contract with the home after it already started to be built. The framing was completed but we've gotten to watch the process of installing insulation, drywall, cabinets, woodwork and more. Trying to sell your current home while going under contract with another is not the easiest and stress-free process as I'm sure you know if you've gone through it. Our house sold fairly quick- in 6 days but during that 6 days we had 15 showings and with 2 little ones that wasn't easy! I was constantly wiping things down, trying to explain to them why they couldn't drag out tons of toys, etc. then trying to get them out the door and having to stay gone for an hour or two. Anyhow, it was all worth it and we're now in the packing process and will be in about 2 weeks from now!
Do you have little ones that have started school? Mary-Grace started kindergarten at the end of August. I posted about it on Instagram but she is attending the elementary school that will be close to our new neighborhood (only about 2 minutes away actually!). We thought it would be a lot easier on her to start the year there and not have to transfer after just a couple of weeks so we've been driving her every day (kind of a pain but worth it for her). She loved preschool and was very excited to start. It's been a little of an adjustment though since Kindergarten is all day and she has homework every night. She's already missed four days of school, two for being sick and two for hurricane Dorian. It's been an adventure!
