Holiday Busy-ness

It is the Sunday before Christmas. Phew.

That means my in-laws (parents, siblings, and their families) will be arriving at my house in two days! No, I'm not overly stressed because I have pretty amazing in-laws. Yes, they are staying in a hotel so that makes the stress lighten exponentially.

Today is spent doing some last minute cleaning, to finish off what has been two months worth of cleaning and organizing. The last inhabitants of our house were apparently slobs. That's saying a lot coming from me. I like things to be "neat", but I don't necessarily care as much about things being "tidy". I like knowing where everything is, but I don't mind the crumbs from dinner around the table. This has gotten a LOT better since becoming a mother, especially once Jackson became mobile, but I still am not a sanitize and cleanse person. So when I say that the people who lived here previously were slobs you know it must be bad. I have scrubbed the walls and there is still some residue left over! The walls will be getting more scrubs, but for now I think it is acceptable for company. Unfortunately, the management company of our house didn't feel the need to hire professional cleaners before we moved in. Boo. Also, the "paint" job they did on the walls is horrible. Just patches here and there (which are very obvious) and the baseboards and door frames have scratches and scuffs... which make it looks so much messier than it actually is. The previous occupants had kids (I can see the finger smudges) and a dog (lots of scratching on the walls and corners) and I just hope I never get so lazy that I live in a house as horribly maintained as they did.

So today I am cleaning and finally taking some pictures to show to friends and family who are interested in our new house. I am hoping to straighten up each room and take pictures as Jack naps. He has been down for about half an hour now but my husband is taking a nap on the couch in the living room. So hopefully husband wakes up soon so I can get this all done before child awakes! It is so nice and refreshing to have a clean looking and clean smelling house! Ok, Daniel, Mumma is ready for your to come! Before the house gets all messy again! (Speaking of which, 22 weeks today!)

I have also been hanging a few more picture frames and have to hang a very heavy mirror in the entryway this afternoon. Picture frames really add to the personality of your home, IMO. I have been using the 3M Command strips in our past few homes and they are so nice! Hold most frames without a problem (though we did have one fall and break, unfortunately) and so easy to remove! No patching of nail holes for us in the future! I love that it gives me freedom to move frames around if I want to redecorate without having to work with the old nails or have ugly holes in the wall.

Tomorrow I plan to go buy a folding table so we have enough room for our whole family to have meals together (7 adults and 2 toddlers) and also buy groceries for our holiday meals. Then we're all ready for everyone to arrive Tuesday morning! It is so nice having a home to be able to open up to our family comfortably. We have plenty of space for everyone and a large playroom for the kids. Our fenced in backyard will be great for the kids to blow off some steam, if it isn't too cold. Supposed to be in the 30's so we'll see how chilly it feels. I am excited to have guests here and to be able to play hostess, but also to have some help since it is family.

So I have been rather busy with these preparations, but I love that. It has been a good kind of busy. Cheers to the holidays and spending time with family.