Selling our first house

I suppose it's no secret at this point that we are in the process of a big move!  We have been looking off and on for a couple of years now, until we finally found the house that made us pull the trigger on listing our house.  It's been a roller coaster of emotions, and believe me, it won't be easy to leave this place for the last time. 

There is so much about this house that we love.  It has so much character, the best neighbors on earth, and an awesome open kitchen.  I will truly miss this kitchen.  It's been really hard not cooking like I normally do these past couple months while we were showing the house, and even harder packing up my kitchen this past weekend.  Obviously, I will be thrilled to be in my new kitchen and start cooking/blogging again! 

This living room/kitchen/dining area has been the heart of our home since Annalyn was born.  We spent almost all of our waking hours there.  When we bought the house, this whole room was wood panelling.  With a lot of primer, paint, and effort, we painted all the trim and paneling to match the white trim throughout the rest of the house and brighten it up.  I just love the results, especially the white mantle.

Affectionately referred to as "Grandma's room," our guest bedroom played host to many friends and family members over the years.  We were also so grateful to have a place for people to come stay with us.

This room was always nice for watching movies, taking naps, and entertaining. Again, I had a little fun with the painted paneling and it made a nice accent wall.

When we first moved in, Michael and I ripped the old carpet off these stairs and refinished the oak.  They were gorgeous! Then we put carpet back on them when I was pregnant with Anna for fear that I'd slip and fall or that a kid would tumble down them some day.

Next to my kitchen, this is the room I will miss most from this house.  I painted the whole room when I was pregnant with Annalyn and little by little added the creative touches.  Michael made her house bed frame just after her second birthday so that the crib would be ready for Emma. 

Another big adjustment in the new house will be having our master bedroom on a separate floor than the girls' rooms.  And not having the crib in our room. 

We listed our house the end of January, got an offer three weeks later, and are closing on both houses this coming week.  Some days have seemed so long, but the weeks have flown by.  Little by little, we've packed up nearly everything.  It's really weird to see our house no longer looking like our house.  Even in these pictures (taken from the listing), some of our things have already been taken out to help stage the home (I'll try to post some of my winter home staging tips in another post!).  I can only imagine it will be like Christmas for the girls when we unpack all of their toys.  Many of you reading this have probably been to our house, but I wanted to type up a quick post for the girls to be able to go back to and see later.  I doubt either of them will even remember it ten years from now, but we sure won't forget it or the five years we spent here. Goodbye, first house. I hope your next owner has just as much love and appreciation for you. :)