Making Room...

Making changes, adjustments, plans for a little one has been very normal for my husband and I since we have welcomed 5 new lives into our family.  So, you would think that with number 6 on his way, it would be routine.  But while we are peaceful and content about this new little life in our family, the physical housing for our family has definitely been a bit of a struggle.  Normally, change, thinking outside the box, letting go and being creative in the adjustments has been fun and welcomed, but this time, in all honesty has stretched us.  We have a small 3 bedroom ranch with an unfinished basement(I know many of you know this already as many of my posts are about making a small space work for a large family)  The two rooms for the kids are just stretched to the max with just the simple beds and dressers.  And with the newest little one being a boy-there was simply just no room for a crib or dresser.  So we knew unless we planned on putting him in the living room-we had to make some real changes about how we are using the house, in particular the basement.

At first we were planning on eventually putting the girls in the basement when we could put in a fire safe window for escape and a second bathroom(which we could definitely use with soon to be 8 of us) but even though we have help with plans, designs, and work, we just cannot see room in the budget for the necessary remodel any time in the near future.  And instead of living in limbo and being stuck as the upcoming arrival approaches, Matt and I came to a decision that would help to give the kids what they needed.  Matt and I are giving up our bedroom and moving to the basement.  The 3 girls will get our bedroom with the much needed closet space(and finally get Madi's clothes out from under the basement stairs) The younger 2 boys will get the girl's room, and Cole will stay put in the smallest of the bedrooms. Matt and I are going to go industrial with our space;)  You may recognize this space as my studio.  Since I have been off of bed rest, I have been working slowly to pare down and focus my work because i knew I would not be able to work out of half the basement any longer.  We have gotten rid of a lot, reorganized, continued to look ahead to the amazing blessing soon to be with us.

We decided to do all of this now because I do not want our lives after baby to be about anything but baby.  No moving rooms, furniture, painting, etc-just time to grow as a family and soak in the new little one.  So-tonight, will be Matt and I's first night in the cave.  I am a little weepy about it but we are remembering the things we are losing are nothing in comparison to a life we can't believe the Lord has blessed us with!!

Here is the new work space for Whimsie Dots.  Now I can roll out of bed into my work-not so sure that is a good thing! We lost a good amount of play space for the kiddos, but should be able to add some to their bedrooms for the first time since we have been in our home.

Once we have moved our bedroom downstairs completely, we will begin painting our old room to get it ready for the girls, and then we will be able to move the Noah and this new little one into the girl's old room which will be fun to do.  So, we are moving forward around here and looking forward to settling in to the new groove of life!