In my haste to post before the kids woke up from their nap, I failed to leave out two very important things about our new living arrangement.

First, we have opted for NO CABLE. This was a big discussion prior to the move because I was a big trash-TV watcher, as in “Toddlers and Tiaras,” “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” and pretty much anything on HGTV. However, we decided that it is not worth the $120 a month or whatever it was for me to waste 2 hours of my life and countless brain cells every night. Our new set-up includes Netflix streaming, 4 free network channels in HD thanks to the ginormous antenna that the previous owners left in the attic, and shows purchased from Amazon’s streaming service. I have to say that I do not miss cable, at least not so far. It helps that I am so busy that I don’t have time to sit in front of the TV for several hours a night. It also helps that I’m not confined to the basement during the kids’ sleeping hours like I was in our old house. Our friends and family have bets on when we will cave in and get cable, but for now we are just fine!

The second thing I forgot to mention (how could I?!) is that PORTMAN HAS AN OFFICE WITH A DOOR THAT SHUTS!!! Yes, that deserves all caps! I cannot put into words how wonderful this has been. In our old house, the kids had to walk through his office to get to their playroom, and his office was really just an extension of their play area in the basement. This gave them plenty of opportunity to break his stuff, climb on his lap, play on his computer, and loudly participate in important conference calls. Portman likes to work from home and I prefer that he works from home, but it was just not an option without a real office. In this house we opted for a kid-free basement, now known as the “man cave.” He has a huge work area, a couch and a big TV. There is a baby lock on the door and the kids don’t even know he is down there during the day. Since moving in, he has only been into the office twice, and he swears he is getting a ton of work done. I love it because I can actually leave the house during nap time and run a few errands without all three kids!

Finally, Portman wanted me to share this photo because he took it and thinks that it is awesome: