So that empty plot of land I mentioned we bought back in this post, well, it's DONE! We closed on it January 2nd of 2020 and it was the best way to kick of the New Year. We of course had to have a little champagne to celebrate, and my husband was sweet enough to think of having the same exact kind that we had when we got engaged (he is truly the best sometimes).  All in all it was much less eventful than we thought, just a lot of signing paper and then they handed us the keys! We both felt a little, "uh...they are actually letting us have this grown up house no questions asked...WHAT?" 

Okay, so there totally were questions asked, obviously, during the approval for the loan, but it had taken place SO far in advance (house took eight months to complete with permitting taking about four of those months) that it felt like we just showed up and they handed us this awesome house. We thought there would be more drama involved since we had heard so many other stories that were the opposite experience but I guess that's when you are selling/buying at the same time and we were lucky enough to have all the time in the world to wait while we crashed at my in-laws who live 5 minutes from our new home. We actually just moved in a few weeks ago, really taking our time to fully transition.

It's a much (understatement) larger space than we come from so decorating has been a slow, expensive process. We still have empty rooms but I am happy to take my time and get things right that feel good instead of just throwing anything into the spaces to fill them. I'll share the rooms as they start to take shape. Our style isn't for everyone and I'm not a professional (don't want anyone to think I'm trying to be a home blogger) so I get intimidated to share things, especially when it feels like everyone lives in a picture perfectly designed house on Instagram, but it's a really fun process for me and 100% a labor of love so why hold back? It's exciting. They're just room outfits, right? 

Anyway, this year has already been a really great one for my family. Glad to be able to share it and so thankful to you if you are reading this! 

Oh, hello! It's me, Erin. If you're seeing this I'm the person you used to follow along with via this very blog. Then I had a baby, had to figure out what to do with said baby, realized babies are expensive AF, got super focused on my career, went through the process of building and buying a house, that baby turned one (here is a video I worked unnecessarily hard on of her first year), moved twice in the process (thank you in-laws), transitioned to suburban life, and here I am again. That baby is now almost 18 months! 

I took a very, very long break from the blog. The longest I ever have (eight months!) because I needed it. My time was just split too razor thin to allocate out any more of it, and it still is, but I knew it wasn't a "goodbye forever," it was a "see you later." Whenever I break for a long time I eventually feel like I've lost part of my voice, my creative side starts to tingle and misses taking photos, editing them, and then sharing them paired with a little writing. I like having something to say, even if it's just about food, or clothes, or home decor (which I now am pretty consumed with). 

I dusted off my camera, and with a small nudge from my mother-in-law, decided to do a little V-day shoot of my mini. I am embarrassed to say the last time I took real non-iPhone photos of her was when she was just six months old. I felt reluctant at first even to dig it out, almost as if I had betrayed a good friend or something ridiculous. As if a camera could hold a grudge! As soon as I started clicking it was like  riding a bike, and I realized how much I missed it. 

So here, without anyone asking for them, are some cute photos of my almost 1.5 year old daughter. She's as sweet as can be, this age is insanely exhausting because she is basically trying to kill herself every five minutes, but also so rewarding because they love you fiercely and are always learning new things.  As all biased parents say, she's my favorite.

We did a crazy thing. After starting a family last year we knew we would eventually need more space. After much back and forth about when to buy, where to buy, how much we could afford now v. later, being disheartened by the prices of things in our current location. Basically, everything that was aesthetically our style in Arlington VA is deep deep into seven figures and the ones that were within the tippy top of our price range would require a lot of work - which we would have little left to make happen. We came to the realization that we aren't really players for even semi-desirable homes in the Northern VA area, so we decided to do the thing we NEVER thought we would do and look our in the suburbs. Specifically at a planned community down in Stafford, VA.

We only knew about it because my in-laws live a short 5 minute drive from the community. We thought it would be fun to check out a model home or two back in January, not thinking too too seriously about it. We left Isla with her grandparents for the afternoon and ended up being blown away by one of the models that seemed to check all our boxes. We went back in February, multiple times and again in March. Having the knowledge that we could have a brand new beautiful forever home just 45 mins down route 95 was becoming louder and louder. By April we decided our dollars just went too much further down there to not move forward. It was the best decision for our family, and we were ready to buy. We had serious in depth meetings with the home builder representative so we knew the lot and model but when we got there, someone else had purchased the one we were looking at. We felt deflated...for about 30 seconds. Turned out the mirror image lot that was previously unavailable had just become available again and we were in luck. We reserved the lot, came back the next weekend to work out our structural plans, and here we are. We don't expect to break ground for a few months but we are so excited about this whole process I wanted to share the very beginnings here.

This next chapter is going to be a very new one for us with lots of learning to do. We have very little now as we live in a small one bedroom + den apartment so while moving to a big house is a dream, it's also very VERY intimidating. I can't wait to document the build, the design, and decorating process! Big things happening for the Soybel's in 2019.

The Soybel's "hosted" Easter this year which was probably as insane as it sounds since we live in a one bedroom apartment. Aunt Kaylin and cousin Hazel made the trek down from NJ and spent the weekend with us. We also turned Isla's bassinet into a standard size big baby crib the same weekend and I am slightly not OK about it. She is growing like a weed!

I got Hazel a matching PB Kids basket and my sister and I filled them with extra cute baby stuff (they are only 8 months apart). We let them "open" them together in their matching bunny jammies. Getting a picture of them in the hats was literally impossible so I stopped even trying. Hazel had her first peanut butter cup and I it was so awesome it put her in a tonic state for about thirty minutes. After dressing them up in their Easter best we headed to my in-laws for dinner, dessert, and trivial pursuit. Me, Mike, and Isla did not forget to take our standard holiday family pic in the front yard, in case you were worried. Side note - I actually wore this exact dress last Easter with my little 18 week bump!

I know I am not a "blogger" anymore but I had to snap a couple shots of my baby's first Easter basket. Making a basket for a seven month old isn't challenging per se, but you definitely are limited as they don't yet partake in sweets or even know how to "hunt" for eggs. We filled Isla's with a PB Kids stuffed bunny, some Baby GAP bunny jammies (we also got some for cousin Hazel to match), an Old Navy straw hat, the cute H&M bunny ears are courtesy of Auntie Steph, and lastly, this fun little "That's Not My Bunny" book which was sent to me c/o Lauren Hawkes. The book is part of a collection of adorable "touch and feel" books that have bright illustrations and patches of different textures on each page. We already have "That's Not My Panda" which I got as a shower gift and she loves to touch the pages (and honestly tries to eat each one - let's be real EVERYTHING goes in the mouth now). Make sure you check our her page (here) to purchase these awesome baby reads! I also splurged on a personalized Easter basket from Pottery Bard this year because I think she will use it for a long time and it was too cute with the little bun bun ears. Being a mom of one makes you 100% #EXTRAAF but I love it!