Maggie had her first sleepover last night! Cousin Evey stayed at our place and we couldn't help indulge them in "luxuries". For 2 and 3 year old girls, this translates into Winstead's for dinner (cheeseburgers, fries, and cherry shakes), lots of jumping on the bed, and watching the Care Bears in footie pajamas. It's fun for us to watch Maggie connect with another little girl. Or at least recognize that there's someone out there who likes a lot of the same things that she does. (Strollers, fuzzy blankets, pancakes for breakfast...)

I'm pleasantly surprised how well they get along. This is possibly attributed to Evey being older and wiser and knowing when to give in. We only had one little meltdown when Maggie was borrowing Evey's "Pinkie Pie" (i.e. scary my little pony talking thing) and was not willing to end her turn.

Oddly enough it was Maggie who had trouble at bed time. Perhaps it was the sugar rush of the cherry shake but she was not at all interested in sleeping. And once she did get to sleep, she was not at all interested in staying asleep. In turn, Graham and I only got a few hours last night and we're exhausted today. Small price to pay for big smiles from these two.

We caught Maggie fully engrossed in a West Elm catalog. Seriously. She spent a full 15 minutes on the couch with it, turning and reviewing every page.

Living here is changing us all in little ways. I feel like I have aged about 10 years since the move. Not necessarily in a bad way, but I've found myself doing things that only grown-ups do. I pack school lunches now, we contracted a lawn service, I watch Suze Orman while folding laundry... what's happening to us?

Everything is slower now, days feel so much longer and I have no need to rush through anything. Today, Maggie and I placed little owl window clings on the window in her playroom together – over and over and over again – rearranging umpteen times until she was satisfied. In our former life, I may not have had the patience for that but today I did. I love everything about that.

Such pride when she straps on that backpack! We're proud of her too. She has been the most amazing little trooper as all normalcy in her life has gone out the window.

Hopefully a new normalcy will take shape soon and we're starting to see small glimmers of it, now that we have beds and clean sheets and dishes in the kitchen cabinets. (No real food yet to put in them, however.)

There are some really wonderful things we're discovering in our little house, too:

1. All the original tile work is still in tact in the bathroom. (yay!) It has been painted over in a peutrid (sp?) mauve but underneath is glossy teal and pink 1920s tile.

2. Radiant heat is actually really really nice.

3. I've finally discovered the key to having a house that smells like an Anthropologie store. Apparently all it took was a candle called Volcano. Who knew?

4. Our furniture fits. All of it.

There are, of course, a million changes we want to make in this house but I'm trying to take-on a new mindset that doesn't equate to "now". Hopefully that doesn't turn too much into "someday" and ultimately "never". I hope to document the changes as we go and one day reveal that tile work that is screaming to be seen again.

More than one change has been happening to this little family.

As of last Thursday we have officially relocated to Kansas City, Missouri! It was a long time coming with lots of deliberating, planning, bleeding, sweating, and tearing. (Well... maybe only a few of those things.)

We have purchased an adorable little house on a beautiful street, convinced our employers to let us work remotely (no idea why they agreed to that one), and enrolled our dear girl in... wait for it... school! (Well... an "early childhood learning center" to be more specific.)

She will be attending this wonderful little place three days a week for the early part of the day and these photos document her first venture in. She's extra lucky because her big cousin, Evey (3), attends the same school so she has someone older and wiser to look out for her if things go awry.

As we predicted she had absolutely no reservations about getting into the fold and no problem at all with us saying goodbye for the day. As we also predicted she did have reservations about – gasp – sharing toys. (A concept she has thus far been able to avoid.) Regardless, she was more than happy to go back in for her second day today and we're so happy to see her exposed to a new environment and lots of new faces.

We will have more on the move and the house and the everything as time goes on. I am really hoping that my new found lack-of-commute produces more free time and opportunities for hobbies like this blog.