The Move

You would think we are professionals at moving across the country by now - and we are getting pretty good at doing it cheaply! After looking in to u-hauls and moving trucks (for around $1700), we decided to buy our own flat bed trailer (6' x 10') and shrink wrap our goods onto that. The shrink wrap worked amazingly well and held up fine through all the weather George encountered on his drive east. As it worked out, we couldn't get in to our rental home for a couple weeks so the trailer sat outside and only a minimal amount got wet - nothing damaged fortunately.

We also decided to leave all our big furniture behind, except for our bed. I have become craigslist queen and almost have our house completely furnished for under $500 with items that I think are pretty good quality...this includes washer, dryer, couches, end tables, twin bed, queen bed for spare room, crib, dresser, bookcases, high chair, area rugs, nightstand, kitchen table and chairs, and a slide, kiddie pool, and patio furniture for the back yard. I'm ok letting others buy at retail value, I love craigslist and garage sales!

 Bora (the Ford Escape) and our shrink wrapped trailer containing all our goods...not too bad for a family of four.

 Saying bye to papa before he headed out on the long drive to Florida. Sheesh Jack, let that belly hang out!

This photo of Sawyer pretty much sums up his last couple weeks in Utah. He was a wild man and ran around crazy while we tried to pack up for the move. Thank goodness for Grandma, Grandpa, and Sara's help - taking him so we could get things done! We did have to call the poison control center one morning as he had gotten into a bottle of allergy pills and spread them all over the bathroom. The guy I talked to on the phone said that if he'd eaten more than ten he'd have to go to the ER. So grandpa and I got busy counting the remaining pills. Thankfully we counted 59, and the bottle only had 60 and grandpa knew he'd already taken one. So Sawyer actually hadn't eaten any, just spread them everywhere. He is SO busy. Another milestone in this 21-month-old's life is that he dialed 911 from our house phone last Saturday. What are the odds that he could do that number combo? They had to send a cop out, even though it was an accidental call. Awesome. I suppose he will be cutting his own hair next?

Anyway, back to the move. George made the 40 hour drive in exactly 3 days. He left at 3 p.m. on Friday July 6th and got in to Titusville at 3 p.m. on July 9th. This gave him a week before he had to report for his first day of work. He flew to become current and tried to study as well, and also looked at a lot of different houses, with no luck at finding the 'one'. So grateful he made the drive safely without any car problems, and that we (read two little boys) didn't have to be in the car that long!

We flew in three days after George on July 12th. Grandma saved the day (and actually all 12 days she was here) and flew with the boys and me. I would have had it ROUGH by myself. We had two great blessings on our flight. Our flight was completely full. Except one seat, which thankfully Sawyer occupied. Who wants to sit by a baby and a toddler on their flight?? Thankfully no one, so that's how Sawyer got the last seat available. He does SO much better when he has his own seat instead of being a 'lap child'. Grandma handed Sawyer a little pillow before we took off and he leaned it against the window and went to sleep. Just like that. I was stunned. This is SO unlike him. He was asleep before take off and slept for an hour. Blessing number two for sure. It was so nice to be able to breathe for a minute. Both boys did really well on the flight.

Arrived in Florida! Going on two hours of sleep the night before, a 3-hour drive, and a 5-hour flight with two little boys. No prob! I like Sawyer's dazed/crazed look to match mine. This picture does not show our two car seats, two duffel bags, and two suitcases.

When we got to Florida we weren't exactly sure where we'd be staying (hotel as a back up plan). As it turns out we had some good friends that were just leaving town for a long weekend and they offered their house to us. That was such a blessing in and of itself. The even better part was that they have kids, so Sawyer was in heaven with all the news toys. It was so nice not to have to worry and watch out for him breaking anything, and those little conveniences when you have a baby - like a baby bath, and nail clippers on the table by the recliner...stuff like that made it SO convenient. Mom was amazing and watched the boys while George and I looked like crazy for a good rental home.

Here Jack sleeps in Grandma's arms...this was his preferred position.

 We tried to sneak in some fun to keep the kids (and ourselves) sane. Water usually does the trick!

Anyway, it'd been almost a week and we still hadn't had much luck finding a place. So Kyle and Beth offered all five of us to stay at their home. So generous of them! Grandma took the couch, and George, the boys, and I took the spare bedroom. It was fun in the morning to try to keep Sawyer quiet with his 5 am wake ups. Nope, not really fun actually. Thank goodness for Grandma's help! By this point George had started his new job. Poor guy, I felt so bad that things were so crazy and unsettled still. Everyone thought we were crazy to come to Florida without a house already lined up, and at this point I was starting to agree. But I hate committing to live in a place for a year sight unseen.

Finally we found a house we liked, but it was having some remodeling done and wasn't going to be ready for another week. This house had almost everything we were looking for (fenced-in backyard for a busy boy, ceiling fans. enough square footage, garage, etc.). The only problem with it was that it wouldn't be ready for another week. I wasn't sure if I could handle the transient living as we were going on two weeks of it already. All routines, sanity, and organization had gone out the window by this point. Considering all the houses we'd already looked at, we decided to go with the house that wouldn't be ready for another week. Mom and I decided to take a road trip with our 'spare' time. (Post to come on that.)

I am SO glad my mom was here with me to help. I'm sorry it wasn't more of a 'fun' trip for/with her, but hopefully it wasn't too bad and she'll return to visit so we can play :)

For now we are working on making our house a home. Which I might add, takes about a million times longer with my two little helpers. Life is good. We are so blessed. We are truly thankful for this opportunity. I just had to keep reminding myself that while chaos ensued, but things are settling down around here quite nicely. We are comfortable, happy, and healthy.