We Just Couldn't Wait To Have You

I aim to be grateful for what I have and believe that envy is one of the most poisonous emotions. But on my weaker days I have found myself scrolling social media envious of most family pictures I encounter. Not because of the families, though. It's the damn perfect houses in the background. On days I lack confidence, I feel bad for not being able to give my kids a cleaner, prettier home.
Peter and I bought our house in May 2012, almost 2 years before Lucille was born. It's big! 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and an extra room that could easily be converted into a bedroom. We still plan on turning it into a bedroom. It's not one yet though....
When we bought our house we could have bought a starter home. 2 small bedrooms, but fully updated. No hideous wallpaper or shag green carpet like our house had. Our realtor made us look at starter homes as he thought that would be our best bet. But it was never what we wanted.
We wanted 3 kids and a house big enough to raise them. Big enough for everyone to have their own room.  To stay in our budget though, we knew that would mean a house that needed work.
We figured we'd work on it slowly, 1 room at a time and in 5 or so years it'd be exactly how we wanted it. It's been almost 7 years.... it's not even close to done.
One bathroom is in such rough shape we pretty much just pretend it doesn't exist. Our kitchen floor was coming up so bad that we tore it out and now our kitchen is just sub flooring.
Don't get me wrong, there's nice parts of our house too. Lucille's room, the upstairs bathroom, our living room and what is supposed to be the dining room but is pretty much a play room. Those 4 rooms are exactly how I want them. The others are in worse shape than they were 7 years ago.
And that's okay. Our home projects have been pushed off because we've been too busy raising a family.

Note the panelled walls and subflooring in the background of this and all kitchen pictures.

You kids have taken all our time and all our money.  And I'm so happy for that.
So yes, sometimes I look at Facebook and see a baby eating in a beautiful kitchen and I feel envious. Particularly on days that I've spent trying to clean appliances older than me and get yogurt off of sub flooring. But then I remember why we're living this way. A few more years living in an outdated mess = a few more years with my kids. We could have waited. We could have put our renovations on our to do list before having kids... But how boring would living in the perfect house be without my little loves?
So kids, Every time I'm frustrated by the state of our house, I just look at you. And having you here means so much more. It complicates renovations. Besides a lack of funds, we have 3 more people to work around and relocate. Plus, you offer up suggestions like "I want a rainbow kitchen" in complete seriousness and become heartbroken when your parents don't agree.  But, hey, maybe some of your suggestions will be.... usable.  I'm excited that our whole family is able to work together to perfect our home. But the most important part of our home is already complete: the inhabitants.