"Dumpy Little Apartment"

     So my adorable nephew, Brenten (Josh & Lindy's smarty pants), visited recently and heard we were moving.  He listened quietly, soaking in all the adult conversation. Then when we had a one-on-one moment he looked up at me and in his very advanced way, shared his congratulations.  

     "So, I hear you're moving?"

     "Yes, Brenny!  Isn't that great news?"

     "Yep.  I'm real happy for ya.  You finally getta move out of this dumpy little apartment!"

     HA!  I about died.  Well put!  Wise words from a terrific tot.  We couldn't be more thrilled to be leaving our dear, humble, "dumpy little apartment" and be moving to a home, a real home, in beautiful Smithfield in just a matter of weeks.  

Things That Were Less-Than-Desirable

• Shared walls...ugh!  Our babies would wake up in the middle of the night because of crying on the other side of the wall (I'm sure we kept our neighbors up a fair share of the time, too).  Our "front yard" is a scary parking lot.  The walls are thin and the neighbors...interesting.  It is hard to be at the mercy of everyone else and feel like you just haven't graduated into the world of a real adult quite yet, living in a noisy apartment and having no control of your own surroundings! 
• Limited space.  When Hannah joined the fam, we tried several different sleeping arrangements in our two room apartment.  Madi was a great sleeper, consistently giving us a full nights' sleep, and we didn't want to disturb that arrangement.  So Hannah slept in the hallway for a while.  When she could roll, we decided she better be confined to a safe space (not at the top of a scary staircase) and moved her to the pack-n-play in our bedroom (terrible set-up).  Matt is such a light sleeper and Hannah woke up several times a night so Matt resorted to an air-mattress downstairs (I don't know HOW he survived this for months and months...I can't make it through a single night on one of those death traps)  Eventually we bought a tiny twin bed for Matt and put it in Madi's cramped room.  They tried sharing the same space for several nights, but Madi would wake Matt up, too, and it was so hot and uncomfortable for him in Madi's room.  So now Matt carries the mattress downstairs each and every night and sleeps in the cool of the downstairs on a real (although small) bed.  We are sooooo looking forward to the time when we will be sleeping in the same bed again soon.  Oh, bedtime botherations in a small apartment where Mama does her best to guard everyone's sleep but there is simply no solution for noise control!  But I guess it's true..."What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger makes you want to die!"  (Ah, blissful, deep, uninterrupted sleep)  :) 

Things We Loved about Fairway Lanes

• The location---our "backyard" was the driving range across the street at the Logan River Golf Course.  We have been within a short walking distance to three gorgeous parks, the Willow Park Zoo and our beloved River Trail.  Walmart and Macey's, McDonalds and Wendy's were just a 3 minute drive down the road.  
• Our fabulous/funny ward.  It took us far too long to dive in and get to know our wonderful, wacky ward members (a mistake on our part that we won't repeat).  But once we started minglin' with our "peops" we have made many great friends.  It will truly be sad to leave!
• The cheap rent :)  ...I'm really trying to think of positives.
• Starting our marriage and family here.  This was our newlywed pad and the home we brought two precious newborn baby girls home to.  Our little shanty has been filled with laughter and love--fun family time and precious memories.  Madi learned to talk and walk within the walls of this dwelling.  Hannah has made this home our haven--filling it with smiles and joy.  It is the only home our sweet girls have ever known.  It will forever hold a special place in my heart for being the "first chapter" in our family story--the setting to our humble beginnings.  

So I am hesitant to share these embarrassing pictures, but had to record this chapter of our lives for posterity's sake.  After Matt's gall bladder surgery, I tried to let him get a couple of nights of good, restorative sleep by turning over the master bedroom upstairs to him and moving down to the family room with Hannah in the playpen, me on the terrible twin mattress.  One day, while Matt was upstairs resting, I pulled out the camera to freeze a moment in time that just made me chuckle (better laugh than cry, eh?)

Please allow me to explain/justify the open dishwasher, the vacuum out--chords everywhere, just the general state of clutter and disarray.  So, I don't think I'm necessarily messy, I just constantly get interrupted and go from one project to the next without ever really finishing any of them.  So please withhold judgment and just enjoy! :)

  

We accidentally left our highchair at the neighbors who watched the girls while I was at the hospital with Matt.  We didn't get it back for several days so improvised with this "Meals On Wheels" get-up.  Breakfast on the go!  Hilarious.  The girlies sure didn't seem to mind.

Madi can perform her stretches in between bites and Hannah is happy as can be with her front row seat.

Cute and Content...Hannah is not too bothered about living in a "dumpy little apartment."

Now pan back and get some perspective of the living room/bedroom/nursery/bathroom/kitchen area.

To Remember:  That open door into the little half bathroom is the area where Hannah would take her naps.  For a few months, she would only sleep in her carseat in the pitch of black inside the "chokey" with the fan blaring to block out background noise.  She liked it DARK and QUIET.  

Another perspective...oh, dear goodness!  I may have never gotten around to putting that vacuum away, but at least that tiny patch of visible carpet is CLEAN!

Madi's gesture just sums it up!  Yikes, Ma...YIKES!

***Just found this unpublished post that was in "Draft" status and ended up forgotten.  It goes along so perfectly with this "Dumpy Little Apartment" post that I'll just include it (unfinished and everything)

A post for posterity's sake.  Not proud.  But whatchya gonna do?

Matt and I would literally SELL OUR SOULS TO THE DEVIL for a decent night's sleep.  We are so grateful for our girlies, our cozy apartment and all of life's wonderful blessings but for the next few minutes, please allow me to bellyache and lament.  :)

We have tried EVERY nightime sleep-inducing set-up we can think of (but are certainly open for suggestions--Hannah out front in the minivan, perhaps...would the Department of Child and Family Services be required to get involved?  Okay, then plan B...wait for it to warm up, then Mom and Dad move out onto the deck, Hannah can continue to reign the master bedroom and Madi can go on snoozing in her quarters...promising!)

We have a two-bedroom apartment.  The girls are incapable of sharing a room at the present time because of their non-synched sleep schedules.  Thus the living room downstairs doubles a bedroom most nights.  

These pics were taken during the winter of Matt's student teaching at SkyView.  The girls look so little.

This is the family room downstairs.  You can see Matt's awful air-mattress with pad and blankets on the floor behind the playpen with two sister nuggets kickin it inside.  Poor Matt would wake up on the floor, in a puddle (for some reason the condensation during cold winter months on the floor would make the air mattress wet), with the air mattress completely deflated.  How he survived for months sleeping like that, I'll never know.    

It almost feels like a dream, just too good to be true, to be moving into our beautiful Smithfield home so soon.  I wonder what these little princesses will think of their new castle?!?  I hardly feel worthy.  So very, very grateful and excited!