Glimpses of our new home + fall happenings

We have lived in our home for well over a month now. While there are ways we look forward to further make it our own, it already feels like "our" home. I wanted to share a few photos of it so far. I love noticing how light greatly alters the feel of a space. The way the afternoon light casts shadows and warmth on the kitchen tile. The morning sun through the window. My coffee on our table in our kitchen. Leaves on our deck on a cloudy, rainy day. The sinking sun peeking through the trees in our backyard.

Our home isn't "finished," but I did want to share where it is at the moment, in progress, still wonderful for us. Still our home that we love. I've felt especially thankful to be here, with Nicholas and Cooper.

I wanted to share a few of those glimpses — room by room or space by space.

The kitchen

A place where I spend so much of my day — preparing food, eating, feeding cooper, cleaning up, etc. It gets a lot of light throughout most of the day.

The living room

Still a bit of a work in progress. We settled on this sectional configuration after awhile. We're awaiting a new entertainment console, so they the room will look a little different.

And a happy toddler on the stairs before the walls were all painted white:

Upstairs

Two bedrooms upstairs, our's and Cooper's.

Guest bedroom (main floor)

We still need to add a few pieces to this room as well, specifically wall art, a dresser, and a nightstand or two. My mom sewed the quilt on the bed, I love it.

Apart from house-related things, here are other little things happening in our life, lately:

I cleaned and conditioned our leather couch.

Nicholas raked leaves, and we will need to rake again, and clear out the gutters.

We started weeding the back garden, dreaming about what type of landscaping we'd like to do in the spring. Cooper played in the dirt and had the time of his life (and then he had a bath).

I've baked cake, zucchini bread, pumpkin muffins, apple crisp, molasses cookies, paleo chocolate chip cookies, etc.

I've been knitting a few stitches on my Atmen shawl before bed. I'm working on the border slowly, since each row is well over 450 stitches.

We've been searching and trying to decide on rugs + other purchases to make our home feel more like "us." The feeling of overwhelm and buyer's fatigue definitely hits me after awhile.

We've visited parks, right down the street and across town.

We've played in the backyard a lot (there's a swingset)! Cooper loves the swings and the slide and finding any and all rocks he can.

I visited a local pumpkin patch with a friend and her kiddos a few weeks ago. It was a foggy, gloomy day, perfect for pointing at tractors, being enamored with the guards, tapping pumpkins (all Cooper, for the record).

I've roasted asparagus, potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower. We've had bacon and eggs for breakfast nearly every day. I've made slow cooker smoky chicken chili, and chicken fajitas and crispy orange shrimp (I use tapioca flour and a whole egg), and pulled pork in the instant pot. We've snacked on organic pears, berries, siete queso, homemade baked goods, and our favorite raw nuts blend (cashews, macademia nuts, and walnuts) from Aldi.

We've walked around the block, and on much longer routes, visited the park, met the neighbors, started to learn more names.

I've folded laundry, prepped cloth diapers, dusted and vacuumed and cleaned, wiped down the counters and all the mundane tasks of keeping a home. I've drank a lot of afternoon coffee. But even if these things aren't exciting, they are a little more exciting since this is our home.

I've worn overalls a lot. So has Cooper.

We did a virtual cooking class through Nicholas' work with a chef. So fun! The meal was wonderful and it was fun to cook alongside so many of his coworkers (via zoom).

I've done some decorating, making our dresser feel a little more put together.

We went to IKEA with my sister-in-law, ate packed lunches outside in the grass, since it was a beautiful day.

We've admired the hues of late afternoon sunsets, as the days grow shorter this time of year. Colors peeking through the trees.

We've snuggled Cooper more than ever. He knows the phrase "get cozy," and he reaches for a quilt and tucks in beside us. He has more opinions. Wants to be outside as much as possible. Will follow me around holding his shoes, because he wants to go outside. Loves to "help" push the button to open the garage door. He says, "Wow," and waves at every train horn he hears and any big truck that driving by. He gives the best hugs and kisses. He absolutely loves the aeropress funnel, and sleeps with it for every nap and night (we don't know why either ;). He will help me in the kitchen, wiping the floors (albeit briefly), or putting a potholder away, or sitting on my hip as I make coffee. And he will spontaneously blow us kisses. Oh, we love him so.

I finished reading In Good Company by Jan Karon and loved it. Just picked up Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good. An apt title, don't you think? Cozying up with my two boys in this little corner house, in our little corner of the Midwest.