Just A Glimpse

not long ago, i did a post on "home".  although there are a tiny few of you who have seen our london home, there are certainly not many.  i thought i would take a moment to put up some pictures of where and how we live around here.  it is very different from our life back in the US and i want to have this blog post for future times in my life when i begin to forget what this life was like, how we lived, what our space looked like.

heath and i realized that we've been in our london flat for as long, and longer, than our american home. we hadn't even settled into our marietta home when i began to go through the adoption process to find our girl.  we had moved in in mid december and i started the process in february.  i spent most of my days on the phone, filling out applications, researching, praying and wondering.  reese, maddox and zane were ages 18 months to 3 years.  i barely felt as though we even lived there.  the chaos kept us from feeling "settled".  not that we minded.  our new american home was exciting, we were working hard to furnish it, tend to children and trying to add our newest family member.  we may not have felt settled but it was well worth it!

before we even had the clear for who our little girl would be, we soon realized we would be moving to another country.  talk about a whirlwind!  all of the "moving in" that we had done became "moving out".  what would stay, what would go?  needless to say, trying to complete what we had started in our US home, came to an abrupt halt.  we had to focus our eyes elsewhere.  london elsewhere.

i clearly remember the excitement when we found this flat.  it was all one level!  with the small children, a place with no stairs would be perfect!  at the time, we did not know if or how disabled our daughter, echo, would be.  we felt like a one level home was a safe bet!  i also remember loving that our children would all be sleeping so close to our bedroom.  we would be able to be so close!  we loved the idea of it.

fast forward to the here and now.  we've been living in this flat for 19 months.  this flat is very much our home.  we have shared a lot of moments and memories within these walls and i can't help but feel that, with our time coming to and end, well.....it's a bit sad.  we've had more family dinners here, in this home, than the other.  we've spent more "normal" days in this home with a regular school schedule for the children and we've grown accustomed to size and scale here within this space.

don't get me wrong, there are things that we are looking forward to having when we get back.  double paned windows, front and back yard, garbage disposal in the sink, an actual laundry room, enough bedrooms for all family members, central heating and air, toilets that flush properly...i could go on.  these were things (or lack of) that i thought would kill me!  i just knew that it would be difficult.  but it's been fine.  we adjusted to life over here.

i went around the house and took pictures a few months ago.  i want to remember each room.  i want to remember where life really happened in our short time here.  because as cool as our holiday trips have been, as amazing as this city is, as exciting as life is over here....true life and love happens right within the home.  the memories that we have within these walls are the ones that i want to capture and hold on to.

my favorite area to blog.  it gets a little chilly by the window
but it's a great spot to be inspired!

our dinning room.  the fireplace is mauve, one
of my least favorite colors, and yet...
it's grown on me.

the living room, lots of lounging and dance parties
with the kiddos have happened here.

other side of living room.  the kids have
attempted many times to spin the chair
and foot rest around and around.
i put the kibosh on that every time.

our entryway where i lay out the children's
uniforms each night.  reese is pretending
to me "mommy" as she lays out clothes for
the others.

the playroom where much of
life happens.  we have
the map above the couch to
chart the countries we've
visited.

we call this the "tiny bathroom".
only one at a time in this loo!

the endless hallway!  kids can run
up and down at full speed.  it helps
when we don't have access to a garden.

tiny kitchen but very functional.  washing machine and
dish washer are within one of the cabinets.  i can practically
stand in one spot and reach all areas at once.
brilliant!

enough room for 3 big kids to eat at the bar,
echo goes down at the little table,
heath and i stand or grab a fold out
chair....and our tiny dryer.  we don't complain
since a dryer is a luxury in many homes here.

echo's modest bedroom.  i can't wait to get her into
a bright and colorful room back in the states.

started out as zane's room, also used as a guest room.
once we learned that our precious nanny, emma, might
have to live in a hostel and continue to work, we
asked her to live with us.  so now this is emma's room.
it's a full house, ya'll!

reese, maddox and zane's room.  they love it!
we love it!  it's a little tight but the children
have grown so close by having to share
a room.  we wouldn't trade it!  (although it
will be nice to spread out a bit once we get back to the US.)
yes, those are wall stickers.  they are tacky but the kids
love them.  don't judge.

heath and i actually have a really big room
by UK standards.  we all spend a good bit of time
back in our room watching tv, bathing kids and
hanging out.

our flat is tucked back behind a gate.  we have
a couple of porters who watch over the building 23/7.
yes, 23/7.  an hour is spared for transitions.
kinda funny.

bottom flat is ours.  home sweet home.

this is just a glimpse of where and how we live.  this was certainly not the most exciting blog entry but, like i said, i wanted to remember each room and this was a great way to do it.  i will look back on these pictures and feel like it was forever ago.  there will be a part of me that feels as if it never happened at all, that the time went by too quickly.  i'm not sure what all my memories will be of the things that we've done during our time here, but i am certain that i will look back on our flat with happiness and love.  one day i'll come back to these pictures for a glimpse of the way we lived.