Movin' On ~ 12.3.11

It seems I missed a whole lot in November this year. I had high hopes, too... for posting and all.
But alas, sickness got the best of me and I was down for the count for weeks!
Still trying to recoup and now it seems pregnancy is getting the best of me.
I have much to be thankful for though.

I haven't talked much about the fact that we are indeed trying to move.

It seems that we can't just look forward to the joy of having a new addition to our family (and btw, I realize I haven't spoken much about this pregnancy on here as well! goodness me!), but need to add another stress (a baby is a bit of a stress but more joy, you know) to our lives.... we are indeed MOVING!

So in September, we took the plunge, got ourselves an amazing realtor and put our home on the market.
We've been quite content the past 9 years or so in our 3 bedroom townhome, but it does have it's drawbacks.
I love to have family gatherings and well, it's just not conducive to this- just not enough rooms to spread the people around and all.
The bedrooms were the perfect size but now, adding one more to this 3 bedroom would be pushing it. See, I say all this lightly because I know the homes that my parents, aunts and uncles raised children in were not much bigger!! So, I sort of feel the need to apologize for my wanting more space (and a yard and a little separation from our neighbors, etc).

I knew that we'd eventually have to move and I've been talking about it for YEARS- so much so that family just stopped asking when it would happen, thankfully.

We have just been content and so comfortable in our home and moving is SUCH a process.

Anyhoo, all things in the perfect time, yes? YES!

So after the decision was made to put the sign in the yard, I called my cousin, Gina. She has her own home staging business in a suburb of Pittsburgh called Lifestyle Stagers- and we got to work!

I really need to do a whole post just on THAT process because Gina was a LIFE SAVER to me. She took me from overwhelmed mom of 4 (plus one on the way) who was wading through clutter and trying to figure out where to begin.... to a completely staged home in a day. That's not the norm, mind you. I had done my homework and had been working on my home from the top-down. Closets were under control on every floor and extras had already been boxed in all the bedrooms.

Still, she made some changes to our place and that, coupled with a great amount of prayer and an amazing agent is what sold our house in about 10-12 weeks during a difficult time to sell (note to self: spring/summer is usually the best time my dear).
Once we were sold, I was determined to find our house in a week or less.
When you're moving, timing is of the essence, right?
We scheduled our marathon day of home tours and when I woke up that morning, I said, "today I will find us our home!"
And we did.

Through the rainy and the early darkness of that November day, our house was found and eventually our offer accepted.
So now we wait to get our move on...

which will be here before we know it!
We're starting 2012 off with a bang and moving mid-January. Then we'll be all settled (ha-ha) and ready to welcome our new little guy or girl ;) come early February.

Amidst all of this excitement and anticipation... Thanksgiving came and went and we were truly made aware of all that we have to be thankful for this year. We attended the Holiday parade in downtown Pittsburgh and enjoyed some time off together. Advent arrived just as it does each year and now we're trying to savor these days and prepare for the feast of Christmas.

Praise the LORD, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious Psalm 147: 1