Photo Tour--For All of You Who Wish You Were Here Visiting Sunny So. Cal.

Steven's mother, Karen Garff came to visit this week.  In preparation for her coming, we used this opportunity as a goal to get the house (mostly) put together.  At least as put together as possible while trying to care for a 3 month old at the same time.

Per popular request, I have taken pictures of our new home.  I LOVE LIVING IN A HOME!  We used to live in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment with a small patio.  We have filled up the entire 3-bedroom house with our stuff (garage and closets, too!); only purchasing a few small items such as shower curtains, photo frames, and a bookshelf for the baby's room. How did we fit it at the old place?  Let's just say that Steven and I are good at Tetris...

When we first got married.  We had no furniture for a few days, save a folding table/chair set that we borrowed from Steve's uncle, Dave. I had the forethought to take pictures of our humble beginnings to remind us of our many blessings (yes, we slept on the floor in the University Village hard carpet.  I would NOT recommend it).  This was before we moved into the 1-bedroom in Palms and moved the dogs down to CA.

Are you ready for the grand tour?  Follow me into the living room...

Thanks Mike and Bri for the couch! Glad it couldn't fit into your place.  It has a good home now.

Need to use the restroom but don't want to go up the stairs?  That's okay, we have 2.5!

Need somewhere to stash your stuff (or a small teenage boy with magical powers)?  Plenty of storage in the cupboard under the stairs.

Our dining room is small, but you're more than welcome to stay for dinner. Maybe I'll even make you my famous cheesecake.

And you don't even have to do the dishes.

Tired after a long day? Kick back and relax in the den and watch TV.

And on those cold winter mornings, we can start a fire and drink hot cocoa.

Need some sun or a place to run around?  Check out the back yard and patio.

Complete with cactus garden, compliments of my dad and grandpa.

And if you need some good exercise, try running up the stairs.

The master suite...

And in case you were interested, I made the blanket chest and dresser back in high school. My sister Rosie made the nightstand.

Our master bath has a sweet tub to relax in after a long run.

If you'd like to stay the night, you can stay on our inflatable mattress in the office/guestroom.

Hope you don't mind the mess, moving is hard work when Liam doesn't take long naps very often.

And my pride and joy for my pride and joy:  the baby room...

I spent two days on this.  It was worth it. I love every minute I spend here.

The only new piece of furniture we bought was the bookcase.  Everything else (except the rocker) was in our bedroom.  How, I have no idea...

I found the most adorable shower curtain/shower hooks yesterday at Target. Matches the baby/guest bathroom perfectly with the aquarium tub and fish towels.

Hope you enjoyed your time at the Garff house.  Please come back soon!!!