Our New Home!

We're back! Last week we went to England to look for a house. We spent one day looking at six different options. Honestly, those were the only options available that met our requirements. It is so hard to look for a place to rent because you can't do a whole lot to it to make it your own. I know that a house doesn't make a home, but we are moving across the world from family and friends and I just wanted to at least feel like I could make it into our home. We finally found one that just felt right. There is one catch...no closets. We are going to have to invest in some serious wardrobes!!

Here are some pictures of our new home!

Our door is through the little opening.
Our home is on the back side of the blue house.
A view of our new street.
The realtor standing in front of our one closet. This is the view as you walk into the house.
This is the half bath on the first floor. There is literally only room for a toilet and a sink.

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. The oven is really as small as it looks.

Same thing here. I guess we will be going down to the market more often...

The dining and living area of the kitchen.
The kitchen. Small, but at least it is new and neutral!! Oh and the farthest cabinet on the left in the back? That is our washer-dryer combo...seriously...not kidding...

The one, full bathroom. At least it has a separate bath and shower.


The landing on the second floor.
Three floors...lots of walking!

This is the smallest room. I can literally almost touch both walls at the same time!

The upstairs living area. I actually really love this room. Large, tray ceilings, this molding and wide-plank wood floors!

This is the outside area. Brady is thrilled that there is no yard to keep up, but I definitely think we will need some type of live foliage back here!

Norwich is definitely not Wichita, but it will be home for the next 3 to 5 years!!

so little space, so much to think about!

Okay Sam, reality check...this is England. You are not going to have a master bathroom, walk-in closets (okay, any closets), 2 bathrooms or storage space. You are not moving here for an upgrade in living conditions (those of you who know where we live now know that these houses must be really small:). You are moving here for the experience. This will be an amazing time for your family and awesome adventure.

Okay, now that I have given myself a pep talk, I'm fine. The house that we are going to see again tomorrow is small, with no storage, but it is charming with a new kitchen and within walking distance of everything we need. Norwich is a beautiful little town, I mean city (apparently in England, it is considered a city if you have a cathedral--stick that in your "just in case I get on jeopardy" pocket). Norwich actually has a over 200,000 people, but it feels small because everything is centrally located. The city centre is super cute with lots of old buildings and stores. And, much to Brady's worry, Norwich is apparently the place to shop for the region...:)! Oh, and there is a castle--cool, right?

This is going to be a great place to call home for a few years. I have taken a lot of pictures, but I can't put them all up right now. I can't wait to show you all our new home (mainly so you will want to visit:)!

This is really happening

I'm pretty sure it is 3:00 AM and I can't sleep. In three hours we are driving back to Wichita to leave for England to look for a house. Seriously?!?! This is crazy! I think that I have kind of been in denial for a long time and I think this is about to become very real in the next 24 hours.

I am also struggling with the thought of leaving Parker for 6 whole days. I have never been away from him for more than 48 hours and that seemed like an eternity. It's funny. When you know you are going to have to leave someone for an extended period of time, you try to spend as much time as possible with them like it will somehow make up for the time you are going to lose. I know I am being a little melodramatic, but how can you blame me with a face like this?

"I Poddy"

Can we really be ready for this? Surely not...but, Parker is 18 months...oh no, I'm not ready for this. I haven't read enough, and I have no idea what I am doing!! Is it really time to potty train already?!? Parker has been very interested in "poddy" for a couple of weeks now. He plays with his diaper when he is going and now says, "I poddy" when he has gone. We progressed on Thursday in the car. Here is what our conversation looked like... Parker says, "I poddy, I poddy" SoI say, "do you have to potty?" Parker says, "yes." I say, "well, just go in your diaper." Parker says, "I pee, I pee...I done...bye bye." This conversation caused me to get out his little potty chair and set it in the bathroom. On Friday, he said, "I poddy" so I asked him if he wanted to go on his little chair and he said yes, I sat him on the chair. One problem...little willie (yes, this is what we have named him) is sticking out over the splash guard and I don't know how to pop it in. (Seriously, he is going to have issues). So we give up on this chair and I put a diaper on him. Saturday, we were at a hotel and again he said he had to go and I asked him if he wanted to sit on the big chair, he said yes! So, I sit him on the chair and...he potties!!!! Yay!! I ended the story there because seriously, now what? I am completely out of my element and I don't know if I should just go hard core and try to teach him or to just ease into it. My other dilemma is that we move to England in less than two months. I kind of feel like I should either do it now or wait entirely until we move. This lead me to a search for the 3-day method. In this method, you let your child run around without pants for three days. Ok, I can do this, we have wood floors so the mess won't be terrible. Now, I was thinking that I would be done after three days. Oh no, you then have to try to stay close to home for THREE MONTHS while you continue to let them run around without pants. If you do leave the house, you are supposed to put them in loose-fitting pants and buy a cover for your car seat in case of accidents...AHHHH! Holy cow, this is crazy. I know, I know, potty-training your child in three days was a bold thought, but a girl can dream. I am still searching for an answer to my question. Until then, I guess I will just let P-Man "poddy" in the big boy chair anytime he wants!