Moving Part II – WE ARE HOME!

(23 weeks pregnant)

Let me just say this again. MOVING SUCKS!!!!!!!

I can say I do NOT see myself doing this again for a LONG time. Moving is NOT even remotely fun. OK. There is a bit of me that enjoyed the sense of control I had over knowing what we have and what I can now throw out/donate, and the complete organization of it all. That part was cool. But moving and packing and unpacking...the lifting. GROSS. NO THANKS.

Also, I truly feel like there is a hole in my purse and wallet right now. Money is just flying out the window. That part scares me being the one who manages our finances. I don’t even know what’s coming in and going out anymore.

This too shall pass…

First of all, we could’ve NEVER done this without the help of our friend Brian and his HUGE trailer. We moved a big load the week before the movers came and that helped us tremendously. This SAVED us.

This allowed me to get SOME of the kitchen set up and focus on CLEANING, CLEANING, CLEANING! A DEEP cleaning was SO needed – same with a full carpet cleaning. And we have decided to purchase three new toilet bowls. My parents are helping with the installation. We know how much Gare-Bear loves his toilets! I honestly can’t seem to get the toilets cleaned, or past the grossness of them. The bath tub remains an issue too. The faucet was never fixed per our inspection, so we’re still trying to figure out what to do there.

Oh, the list is plenty long, let me tell you.

ANYWAY, secondly, we are SO thankful for Matt’s Moving. We went back and forth on hiring movers. We knew it was a large expense, but we also knew we had TWO town homes jammed into one, after selling Karl’s for a dollar shortly after we were married and the market took a beating. We had three young guys in college come and move the super HEAVY stuff. And if anyone has been in our town home, they know it was stair stepper HELL on steroids. Holy smokes.

Can you believe we filled up the mover’s ENTIRE truck? And we STILL had stuff left behind. Keep in mind I donated 22 HUGE garbage bags of stuff and we gave Best Buy two of our TVS AND we’re letting our renter have our kitchen table and grill.

Got junk anyone?

We are also SO EVER GRATEFUL for my brother, Karl’s uncle and our friend Mike who came and busted their butts packing last minute things and dissembling bed frames, the dreaded crib and the curtains and rods.  Karl’s uncle kept asking if the air was on… Poor guy. Yes, it was. It was just THAT hot and sunny. At least he left with beer and wine!! Oh, the things you find in the man cave!

As little time I had, I made sure to fit in FUN for Jackson. Tried really hard to keep things consistent and NORMAL

All I could do was say "whatever". I mean, WHATEVER! Muddy socks and shoes the day before the move. OH WELL.

My awesome brother provided lots and lots of beer. The movers left with three boxes all wrapped up tight with delicious beverages. They said that was the BEST tip they’ve ever received.

Yes, I was jealous salivating. November, friends. November. I will be ENJOYING my beer in NOVEMBER. Due in October. But I think I remember being in a coma those first two weeks anyway. So I’m just going to say NOVEMBER.

It took a total of 6.25 hours to get us moved out and moved in. This pregnant momma felt like a train had hit her by day’s end. That was ONE LONG HOT day. I still wish I wore a pedometer or something to track calorie burn and the amount of steps I took that day. Don’t worry! I still gained my weekly pound. Baby seems to be growing just fine moving and all, regardless of how many calories I burn!

We’re so thankful for Karl’s parents who took Jackson for the ENTIRE night!!! This worked out perfectly because my head was all over the place. I was at an all-time anxiety high. I was ready to jump out of my own skin. I didn’t have a TON of time to think about being away from Jackson for the FIRST TIME. I felt like an ulcer was growing in my stomach and had a lump the size of a peach in my throat (I say peach because I’m craving those).

It went really well. It did. I’m proud of us.

The transition into the new place was tough. I compared a lot. I bought our town home brand new and kept it in AMAZING shape. The more I cleaned our new house, the more flaws I saw. The more Karl started a new project, five more popped up. He was stressed. I was stressed. And Jackson was extra crabby. Ufdah.
 

The towel rack came off the wall. The toilets didn’t flush right. The base boards had all been painted over in white paint. There were scuff marks all over the walls. There was fur coming out of the vents. A caterpillar crawled over my toe (at least Jackson enjoyed peeing on it in the “tunnel” in the toilet).

YESSS!!! Found a park!!!!!!

SCORE! FOUND ANOTHER COOL PARK!!

Breathe.

We transitioned Jackson into his new bed. I was unable to fix up his room like I had hoped, so it was thrown together. I already felt I had failed. I can imagine he felt a loss of control too. Where was his beloved crib? Where was he? Why was his bed so big? Why was his mom such a ball of stress?

Breathe.

ANYWAY, I can say, he is sleeping GREAT in his big boy bed now and it’s SO fun to lie next to him and read his nighttime stories and pray with him. I LOVE this.

The START of Jackson's new bedroom. BIG BOY bed and lots of construction trucks and tractors! He LOVES this!

Karl went on-call for work, so his stress level jumped tenfold and mine too, but that’s OK. I had a couple more days off work and unpacked EVERYTHING and found homes for things! Projects started getting crossed off the list. Progress was made. I found myself smiling. The nursery and garage are all that’s left.

BUT, that doesn’t mean there aren’t windows to wash, decks to stain and valances to be taken down, a yard to be weeded, a microwave that just died on us, toilet bowls to switch out and a slop sink to buy. Like I said, the list is LONG. But we’re getting there. Last night was the FIRST night I was able to sit on our new couches and, well, simply SIT. I have yet to turn on the TV (still haven’t figured that out. Don’t tell Karl! He gets mad when I don’t take the time to read the manuals. Hello, like I even have time to poop by myself.)

Had a water table waiting for Jackson when he got back from staying over at Gma's and Gpa's. HE LOVES. I think the bunnies love this too... I could have sworn I heard them swimming in it last night.

Change is SO incredibly hard. However, I remember the biggest change of all was when I became a mom. Or even when I moved to Minnesota. I bawled my eyes out. Just as I did when I pulled away from the town home after Karl dropped Jackson off for his FIRST overnight stay. So many great memories. Where would I put them now?? UGH. I had NO control!!! There was NO going back. I couldn’t STOP change from happening. I wanted to run back to my old life. JUST like I did after Jackson was born. IT’S MUCH TOO HARD! MUCH TOO SCARY. MUCH TOO UNCOMFORTABLE.

Dad and Jackson having fun!

Dad having more fun, maybe?

But guess what? I came out smelling like a rose after giving myself some time to adjust to motherhood and that move to Minnesota, and I hung on to that memory – the hope – that CHANGE is REALLY REALLY GOOD. Amazing things happen when you don’t let fear stop you.

Guess what? It has been great. And it’s been less than a week. It can ONLY get better.

We met our neighbors. We found TWO great parks nearby. We’ve eaten dinner outside a bunch. We chased bunnies in the backyard. We’ve snuggled. We’ve laughed. We found out the preserve is literally just a FEW steps out of our front door!!!!!!!!!! I shaved 15 minutes off my commute to work. We have realized that having too much STUFF is suffocating. But best of all, we realized the things in life that are priceless are things you just can’t buy.

A HOP, SKIP and JUMP away!!! SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!

I can't wait to RUN this!!!!!!!!

This has been good. No. This has been GREAT.