Two Bedrooms? Make that Three

We have a two bedroom house.  I believe it would be called a "bungalow."  Four years ago we absolutely fell in love with it, it was one of the first homes we looked at!  We even made an offer, walked away, then came back a couple months later because we just couldn't get it off our minds.  Back then, we figured we'd live here for a couple years as a newlywed couple before adding Baby #1.  We'd turn the back room into a lovely little nursery, then wait another year or two before trying for Baby #2.  With the arrival of Baby #2 a move would be imminent, but not urgent.  If need be we could keep Baby #2 in our room for awhile and possibly even move Baby #1 into the basement for a little bit until we could sell this house and purchase House #2.

Well...it's been 4 years.  We did live here happily as a newlywed couple for 2 1/2 years...however, that is where life stopped going according to plan. (Well, maybe it happened sooner when we found out we were infertile but that's another story)...  Suddenly we had twins on the way and a new plan emerged- the lovely little nursery for one became an efficient little nursery for two, twins share a room, right?  It's a given...or so we thought.

Fast forward 15 months.  We've tried lots of things to get Things 1 and 2 to sleep well and still share a room- white noise, binky tethers, bottles long past when I thought they'd still be getting them, even separated nap times with Evelyn sleeping behind the bar in a pack 'n play in the basement.  Well, this week we've reached a new level of unplanned chaos in our home. Mom and Dad are now bunking up in the basement.  We share our space with the dog, a bar, a guest bed, a set of snow tires, Andy's weight bench, and the laundry chute.  Our bed is tucked under the stairs and my "closet" is actually a pipe that runs along the ceiling in the storage area with two Rubbermaid drawer towers underneath.

Honestly, lest I sound disappointed with this situation I could not be happier with this option for our current home.  No, it's not the master bedroom I thought I'd have entering my fifth year of marriage, but my family is happy, warm, and getting sleep that is disrupted much less than when our bed resided in our bright and airy "master" with the dove gray (I love that color) walls.

My babies have their own rooms.  Evelyn has taken over our old room, but it's not overly girly just as Elijah's is not overly boyish (we aren't doing the true remodel here folks, it just doesn't seem necessary).  Her sweet little white crib takes up just one corner of the room and over it hangs a favorite mirror I picked up at a garage sale several years ago complete with a bunny resting in a hammock that suction-cups to the mirror- a beloved stuffed animal from my childhood.  The rest of it gives them both room to play, play, PLAY!  We were able to pull my grandmother's old dresser out of it's storage spot and fill it with little girl things.  We are finally using the great orange lamp I bought that never fit in the jam-packed nursery.  There are no longer toys covering every inch of my living room floor and when the kids walk into their bedrooms they can clearly see exactly what they can play with and all the parts for each toy are in one spot!  I am also finally going to be able to pull out the doll cradle my grandpa made and grandma painted.  I've wanted to show it to Evelyn for quite awhile but there has never been room.

Best of all, I now know that when one of my babies is sick, teething, has a nightmare, wakes up early from a nap, or just plain wants to play, the other one can continue sleeping peacefully while Mommy and Daddy calm (or honestly, sometimes ignore) the other baby.  In truth, that peace of mind is priceless. It's a little weird to think that our kids have the true bedrooms in the house while we sort of feel like we are still in college living in our parent's basement, but this is where we are right now and truthfully I always liked college.  The economy hasn't been kind to any of us and I am just so thankful that we are healthy and happy in our little two (make that three) bedroom bungalow :)

(Pictures to come but not until Andy organizes his clothes in the basement and the carpets get cleaned!  I'm honest but not THAT honest...)