The Moving Blues, part 1

Well, it's been almost a month since I blogged, and I have a giant list of posts that need writing, but let's start with one of the biggest--the move and the subsequent DRAMA... Settle in for a loooong story.

We hired packers and movers (best money ever spent--so expensive, but so worth it) to come on Wednesday, April 17. The crew showed up bright and early at 8 a.m. and started to immediately dismantle and put things in boxes. Cara had an ENT appointment, so we took Po to the vet and cleared out of their way.

Cara's ears checked out totally fine 6 months since tubes, and she thought it was so fun to be at the doctor with Mommy AND Daddy! We took her to school and went home to check on things. We had done some packing and unloading in the weeks prior, but these guys were such pros, and did a great job making quick work of our house.

We checked back in with the house stuff every so often, but for the most part, we stayed out of their way. There was a HUGE loading truck, 4 guys with tons of boxes, newspapers and shrink wrap. We basically lived in my car, ran errands around town to pay bills, pick out a fridge and dishwasher, napped at Sonic :) and let the paid crew do their job. Once they were done, we took a look around in amazement. There were a few things that needed to be loaded in my car (and a few things they packed by accident, like my toiletry bag with my toothbrush, etc., so we had to make a run to HEB), but the house was emptied from 8-3:30. The guys took the truck to their warehouse for storage overnight, and we went to get Cara. Sweet Amanda offered to cook us a meal so we wouldn't have to hang out at an empty house. Cara and Reed were excited to play!

We went home to an empty house and let Cara run around. She was a little confused, but she had fun.

We slept on an air mattress and a Pack-and-Play that night (and Cara woke up FREEZING from Mommy forgetting jammies...) and then got ready for the last time Thursday morning. Cara went to school and we went to closings. Before we left, we took a family picture in the hallway for the last time. Cara looked at the phone and smiled on cue! So sweet.

We went to the closing of our new house first and got to meet our sellers. It was a little tense because they didn't really want to move in the first place (changed their minds once we were under contract, and were a little ugly about inspection fixes to the new house), but we got the keys and went back to our old house to load up the overnight things.

I had held it together all week, dealing with my emotions about moving out until that afternoon. We made a last walk through the house to make sure we'd gotten everything, and we ended with Cara's room. I stood in the door and UGLY CRIED because the flood of emotions hit me. I thought about bringing her home from the hospital, all the memories those 4 green walls held, the fact that our time in that house was summed up by her arrival and presence. So many memories and attachments came flooding out. Sweet Chance let me cry it out until I was OK, and then I was good to move on. We took a last selfie in front of the house (with my tear-stained face) and drove away. :(

 We closed our old house at lunchtime, then we drove to meet the movers at our new house to have them unload the truck. AND Mom came about that time to help us too! The movers unloaded for about 4 hours, they built our furniture back, placed couches and big stuff, and moved all the boxes into our large back room. It was organized chaos, and I was so glad that I didn't have to be the one to do or direct it all.

Thursday and Friday were a blur of boxes, organizing, playing with Cara, helping her to acclimate to the "new houssssssse", etc.

I felt so sick that whole week, and hadn't had a voice since Monday, so Mom made me go to the urgent care clinic Friday afternoon. I had to wait FOREVER to get a shot and a prescription, but I did start to feel better ASAP. Mom knows best...

Mom stayed until Saturday morning until we went to Reed's birthday party! We needed a nice break to play with our friends. Cara had a great time being such a big girl at the party.

We love Reed!! Can we save these for their wedding slideshow?

Sunday was Easter (a whole separate post), and we had fun with family and unpacked more boxes. After church and lunch, I spent 9 HOURS in the back room, going through boxes, organizing our giant storage closet and trying to keep Cara happy. She had some difficulties adjusting to the place, and I tried to get things settled as quickly as possible, which meant not giving her as much one-on-one attention. She was fussy fussy for most of the weekend, which was hard. I had to balance house settling and mommying. That night, I finished all but the office boxes and felt so accomplished! Chance took Cara for endless wagon rides around the new backyard to keep her happy.

Monday I was off of work, and I woke up SORE from all the unpacking, unboxing, etc. Cara went to school, and I got on top of life. I put away a few more things, ran a ton of errands, picked up Po (!!!!!) and got ready for school the next day. I was so ready for normalcy, but it wasn't going to happen that day.

Cara had so much fun playing with Po when she got home, and we had a great evening together. But after she went to bed, everything changed. Part 2 of the move (the fire and aftermath) is coming soon!