The Gergi Year in Review - 2016

Oh.... 2016. I'm sort of overwhelmed reflecting back on this year. It was a pretty good year but to be honest, I am definitely looking forward to a fresh new start in 2017. If I recall, we started 2016 off with lots of colds and ear infections and trips to the doctors office. Pretty standard for the winter time when you have little kids. It just so happens, we've closed out 2016 in the same fashion - with the stomach bug, ear infections, fever viruses and the like. Seems we've gotten an early start on our winter round of sickness, and I'm praying for a healthy start to 2017. We all need to catch up on sleep and recharge our batteries because we've been totally out of whack essentially since we moved at the end of October!

This year to me, was all about challenges and growth. Many ups and downs, all crammed in together. I had two deaths in my family in the spring, both were a surprise and really difficult to navigate through.  I feel like even though you find ways to cope in the present, the emotions seem to linger long after the passing. So it was a trying time for sure. Shortly thereafter, my sister got engaged! Bringing the term - emotional roller coaster - into full effect! It was a very exciting time and as we look forward to 2017 - we can't wait for their wedding in May! Don't know how they feel, but I certainly feel like it's coming up quickly :) 

Much of the middle part of the year was about enjoying the summer and prepping to put our house on the market.  Sometimes I wonder how we could have been so crazy to take that on when we did.... but now that we're settling in, I know it's because we were confident it was the right thing to do. The stress of moving, especially with little ones, is second to none. Oh.my.word. I wont say, never again, because who knows.... but if we were to ever move again, the girls would certainly be able to help. I am SO glad that its behind us!

Then in the midst of the craziness of showings, prepping for Kindergarten, etc, etc.... I dislocated my shoulder. Which really sounds like no big deal, but when I tell you it was one of the most challenging things that's ever happened, I'm not exaggerating. Second to my recovery after Anna was born, this was TOUGH. Being a working mom with small kids, in its own right can often be difficult but when you add in something like this where you are completely useless around the house, it took the stress to a whole new level. Again, I'm glad that's behind us because it seemed like a real test of how much can you handle at once. And... we survived, phew :) 

Also in there, was Kindergarten. My sweet Madelyn Jayne started Kindergarten... what a huge milestone for her, that I completely under appreciated. The change, the nerves, the emotions... all of it, plus she started at a school that we knew she'd only be at temporarily, and 6 weeks later, she switched. Sure glad that's behind us too....So many tears, mostly from me, I feel like we put our super sweet, sensitive, cautious, curious girl through the ringer, and she did great! We lost sleep, had many of fights, hugs and talks trying to sort through the emotions of it all, and it finally now feels like we're in a routine. 

So, if you follow me on social media, you see smiles and pretty pictures of where we are or what we're doing. But looking back, this is what jumps out about our year. There were so many emotions, and situations that needed navigating and talking through.  More life and new stuff to figure out than in months or years past. There was lots of lessons, stress, and tears... and lots of wine ;) Through all of it though, I feel proud that we're still smiling, and happy. We're healthy and we have lots to be thankful for. Looking forward, I'm hoping for more quiet to start the year, and more rest. Some people don't like the January/Feb months when its cold and dreary... but for some reason in particular I am very much looking forward to the next few weeks/months. I can't wait to organize our house (finally!), clean, and have lots of QT with my family. Snuggles on the couch, movies, hanging by the fire, building snowmen, playing games... and hibernating. Not much on our calendar, and I'm thrilled! 

Thanks for following along, and reading my novel! Hope you have a wonderful New Year - cheers to a great 2017! XO

Our stockings are hung...

By our new chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon will be there :) We have family coming in tomorrow AND we are actually hosting Christmas Day. Eeeeeek! I am SO excited for this first holiday in our house, to be with family and for all the fun because the girls excitement is at an all-time high. Between the advent calendar at our house, the calendar at my parents house, the elf, and our numeric Christmas countdown, the non-stop Christmas song requests by Anna (Santa Baby! is her favorite, LOL!) - every inch of our new house is Christmas-ified and it's amazing!

We lost a week with the stomach bug but we've made up for lost time over the last 10 days or so. We've decorated some more, done lots of wrapping, drove around looking at Christmas lights in the area, made a few nice donations, given out a few special gifts, and made our annual trip into NYC last weekend. The girls LOVED their first train too! There really is nothing like it - this time of year is just so special, for adults and kids alike.

Sharing some photos from our recent adventures and wishing you and yours, a beautiful, safe and joyful holiday!

Merry Christmas

XOXO

Mini master bath update!

We have 3 bathrooms in our new house. The one we refer to as the master isn't actually an en suite, but it's directly off our room and just happens to be the largest of the three. I'm hoping someday we can figure out how to make it a true en-suite without losing much of our closet that's next to it...

Anyway, it had white walls and a plain oak vanity, with an opposite wall of extra cabinets too, and plain tile floor. While brainstorming ideas of colors to paint the walls on a Friday afternoon, suddenly a whole new update came to mind (and fruition) pretty quickly! I went to buy paint that afternoon, and my Friday and Saturday nights that weekend consisted lots of sanding, priming and painting, the vanity! Brian removed the extra upper and lower cabinet, and we had the wall patched up. Then, this past weekend, I painted the walls and picked out a rug. We need a few more accents and I hate the excessive amount of towel racks, but what an improvement! Even Brian is really impressed and happy with the update, and that's saying a lot ;)

Before: 

Afters:

Or not...

Ha Ha Ha... I'm working on a new post, and happened to glace over my last post and the fun holiday weekend we were going to have.  As the saying goes, the best laid plans often go awry. We did make it to the stroll at least and the girls just about lost their minds when they spotted Santa. Madelyn's face in this picture.... this.is.the.magic!

Anyway, this sweet, happy girl came down with the WORST, I repeat, WORST stomach bug in the middle of the night on Friday. Thank God, it lasted only 24 hours because it was intense. I almost wonder if it was food poisoning from our dinner out on Friday, because it really packed a good punch. Ughhhhhhhh. Brian was my "runner" for all our errands, and we hung in pj's and blankets until we left the house on Sunday night for dinner at my parents. They were nice enough to let us come over, under the circumstances. So far, the rest of us are holding out ok...

 but I'm sure I just jinxed it! 

At least by the end of the weekend... she was back to smiling again :) 

This weekend is Santa's visit by helicopter at the park, so they'll get another Santa fix then. Brian and I actually have plans (and a sitter!) to go to a party - please Dear God, I hope we're all healthy to do that! Mommy (and Daddy!) Could use a (date) night out! Hope you are well, healthy and enjoying the season!

Holiday kick off phone dump!

It really is the most wonderful time of the year. We had a break in illness and chaos in time for a really nice Thanksgiving, and jumped right into the Christmas spirit the day after. 4 straight days out of the office, with little plans and was amazing. We really got to enjoy the house, finish up a few small projects, hang, decorate and play.

This weekend will be busier but hopefully another really fun one! Madelyn is ALL about our Elf - Emily, and the advent calendar and Anna is totally obsessed with Santa. Tonight we have our town Holiday Stroll, and tomorrow we're taking a trip up to Lake Compounce - typically a summer hot spot, they do a big holiday display with lights, carolers, and Santa with some rides open too. It doesn't look like we'll make it to the Polar Express this year, so this will have to do :)

Have yourself a merry little weekend!
TGIF
XO

Thanksgiving day game session!

Up VERY late the girls loved watching the games play out

Happy Birthday, Scott!

Madelyn helping Mimi in the kitchen

A table full of love on turkey day!

A trip to the tree farm for our tree - my favorite tradition!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My favorite holiday is here! The last few weeks have been a complete blur, thanks to bad sleep, sickness and unpacking chaos, so I feel like I blinked and here we are. Wasn't it just Halloween yesterday? yikes! 

I make a conscious effort to have a grateful heart every day but I love this holiday for all that it is, the joy it brings and celebrating with my family. So very much to be thankful for, and it's so exciting to be in our new beautiful home just in time for the holidays! 

I started this blog over 5 years ago, as a journal about our house and pregnancy. Here we are, and I'm still writing about yet our 3rd house, my little ones and our adventures. I don't really know who "keeps up with" us, but I really enjoy writing/sharing and I am grateful for you, too! Wishing you a wonderful holiday filled with love, laughs, full tummies and happy memories! Happy Thanksgiving! XXO

~ h o m e ~

Now that we've moved, and been living in our house for 2 weeks, I have to admit that I had some doubts about this house. I don't like the "forever" label, because we know I like houses too much and it's just too hard to say right now, if we'll be here forever. The house needs a lot of work, but also has a lot of potential. It may not have the most ideal floor plan, but it's one that we were drawn too. It does have a lot of space, a great private yard, a pretty neighborhood and the whole house is light and bright. It just sort of feels, happy. As much as I pushed for a move, and for this house, as it was happening, I was nervous. Is this the right time? Should we really buy this house? Is this a good fit for us? etc, etc, etc. Its only been a short time, but for some reason, the transition has been almost seamless. We've decorated a little, entertained a bit, changed out every light fixture, and painted the exterior. A few things that make a difference in making a house feel like your home. So far, soooooooooooo good in our new home-sweet-home. I'm almost embarrassed that I ever doubted it. 

Right after we moved in, was Halloween and then Madelyn's 5th birthday. At the same time, Anna came down with a double ear infection, which hasn't gone away, and now pink eye. Madelyn and I have a bad cold, that I cant shake, and even the dog has been sick and back and forth the vet a few times. So, our days are busy, and we've all been sleeping so-so, so I'm especially looking forward to this weekend, and the holidays next week. Lots of QT with my faves, and time to relax and enjoy it all. 

Here's a little before and after of our exterior :) We debated this project being the first, but we are thrilled with how it came out! Lots more to come of inside-updates as they are done. 

Happy, happy! xoxo

before:

after:

Closing Day!

Today is closing day!! We closed on the sale of our house and the purchase of our new house earlier this morning, and oh my, what a relief! Yippe! Hooray! Time to celebrate! Especially since, although we had movers, we left more than we realized for us to finish, and spent 7 HOURS last night, packing up cars and bringing things to my parents garage. Into the wee hours of the morning, we did laps around our house, getting every last piece of us out of there. I got very teary when I first got there last night and saw all of our furniture out of the house. However, by 2am, I was far too tired to be emotional. Certainly a bit bittersweet because that house was an amazing opportunity for us, and at such a important time for our family - we made wonderful memories there. 

Again, we had an interesting home buying experience, that we feel fortunate about. I've talked about my love of houses, real estate etc, and sometime in January I came across our new home online. I love to look at what's on the market, how people decorate, etc. Offered at a very attractive price, on a cul-de-sac with lots of space, this house was immediately appealing to me. When the first open house popped up, I twisted Brian's arm for a visit. I had to know more, and see for myself, if it was as good as I thought...  The girls immediately went running through the house, as if we owned it and I was very drawn to it. It's called a colonial split, and the floors go from front to back, rather than sideways. It needs mechanical updates, A/C and a new roof... but I loved the unique floor plan and space. Brian, on the other hand was very quick to dismiss it... he called it a "triple-split" and said "no way, don't like it."

As winter turned to spring, almost weekly I watched the house online for updates. There were open houses often, as the owner had moved and the house was empty, and then the price went down. Sometime in early June, I bugged Brian to go back so I could get it out of my head. I wanted to see if I felt the same pull towards it, and if it was as great as I remembered. It was, and to my surprise Brian's attitude on did a total 180. This time, he walked out saying... that's a really great house. If we could sell ours, I'd buy it. Hold the phone... really? I couldn't believe he was interested. 

The next few weeks/months were a little insane. Connecting with a realtor, the paperwork, the prepping of the house for sale, listing our house and 2 different offers falling through on the house we wanted. Everything was happening at the right time, allowing us to actually make this possible. Sometimes, it's truly amazing how things work out and it reaffirms my faith that if it is meant to be, it will be. We put an offer on our new house, with a contingency that we had to sell our house first. Typically these offers aren't strong in a buyers market, because there is competition. Our seller was an older woman, recently widowed - who lived in the house for 50 YEARS and raised 5 kids there. Amazing right? Anyway, she learned some about us and our little ones, and I think the idea of a "young" family was appealing to them. They agreed to our offer and very patiently waited as we anxiously hoped ours would sell. 

And here we are :) We had the chance to meet our seller last night at our walk through, with one of her daughters and for some reason I was so teary (yet again) when meeting them. Their love for the house and obviously all the wonderful memories they had there, was written all over their faces. I think its so neat when there is history like that, and I'm so excited that we're the lucky ones to get to make memories there too! It's like the passing of the torch :) So much potential for this house, I can't wait to get started. Although, I keep being told "you dont have to do it all at once, wait to live in it for a while." Wait? Nope... I'm not good at that. Tomorrow is a big day, painting bedrooms, hanging all new light fixtures, getting cable and all of our furniture... and hopefully this weekend we can start to settle in. Next Tuesday Miss M turns FIVE! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh - so my goal is to be fully moved in and ready to celebrate her - because she is SOOOOO excited for her birthday. 

Don't you worry - I'll be (over) sharing lots of pictures and before-afters of any projects we may do in the (hopefully) near future! Until then, I'll be buried in boxes :) Have a great weekend! 

XO