Moving and My 24th Birthday

Moving day happened to fall on my birthday. Wouldn't have been my first choice of days but it ended up being a pretty good day and very memorable!

 

Overall the move went over pretty smoothly. There was a bit of a mix up with the truck in the morning, but thankfully we were able to get it straightened out. We had movers to do all the packing. And they did an okay job. The men were respectful, but not the best packers. In the end we had several dings and marks on our furniture. And the majority of our boxes were not labeled and poorly packed. Thankfully nothing was seriously damaged. And we were able to find everything in the end. But it was funny to find the printer in with kitchen stuff. And the pots and pans box ended up in Collin's room. And it took days to find a missing piece to one of the baby gates, but we did eventually find it :)

 

Since we had movers to do the hard work, Collin and I got to spend the majority of the day hanging out with our dear friends the Bird's, while Michael supervised the work at our place. Which really made by birthday so much better then it would have been if we were doing it all ourselves. In the morning I did leave Collin with Becca to run some errands, help Michael with taking apart the crib, and to pick up lunch for everyone. So nice to run errands baby free- that was a birthday treat on its own! Then the rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out at the Bird's. I had one of our good friends stop by with a birthday treat and it was so fun to have her stay and visit for the rest of the afternoon. And after some crying and breaking the Bird's blinds-we did get replacements for them :)- Collin did take a good nap for me in the afternoon.

 

But perhaps the 3 top highlights from the day were:

1. My birthday present from Michael and Collin- a Silhouette! I have had so much fun with it already. It was a little intimidating at first, I didn't even take it out of the box for the first couple of weeks. Granted all my nap times and evenings were being spent unpacking. But I have gotten a little braver and already learned some fun things to do with it. It is a machine with endless possibilities! And I am so glad there is a Hobby Lobby in town to satisfy my crafting whims.

The day it arrived! Michael ordered it online so it was delivered a few days after we moved to LJ.



1. All the birthday texts, Facebook comments and calls throughout the day. (And the many well wishes for a smooth move.) They always made me smile whenever I checked my phone. And at the end of a very long day I was overwhelmed with gratitude for all the people who cared about me and my family. I am sure there were some moving emotions in there that made me a little extra sentimental about my birthday ;)
2. The day ended with such a wonderful birthday surprise! When Becca learned that we were going to be moving on my birthday she insisted on having cake and ice cream at their house that evening. We decided on a time and I thought it was just going to be our families. Michael ended up calling me back over to the house a little before it was time for cake (and I should add that this was not planned, just ended up working perfectly). There was a bit of a scramble with the movers- they hadn't managed their time very well and had left things in each room and the cleaners were showing up and the packing wasn't finished and the truck (remember our mix up in the morning- we had to get a smaller truck) was getting really full. I will add that this was the most stressful time of the entire day! Anyway, little did I know that while we were dealing with this, some surprise guests were arriving at the Bird's. When I walked back over the kids were all playing outside, and as soon as they saw me they all ran inside and were yelling she's here! I walked in laughing and found some of our closest friends waiting in the living room. And hilariously Becca and Collin were missing- somehow we had missed each other walking between our apartments. Collin and Becca came back, Michael was able to escape a little later and we had such a fun time! There was Costco chocolate cake- complete with 24 candles and singing- ice cream and lots of fun visiting one last time with our friends.

By the end of the night, everything got done. The cleaners did a fabulous job- so nice to not have to worry about that. Our truck was packed to the max. Michael had to go pick up an extra little trailer in the morning for a few things that didn't fit. We made it to our hotel (thankfully just down the street) sometime close to 10 pm. Collin was exhausted but thankfully went right to sleep. Michael and I relaxed for a little bit and downed some McDonald's (dinner was kind of forgotten in the rush of everything) before bed.

My one picture from moving day.

 

In the morning it was gloomy and raining- fitting for our sad mood. We stopped by the apartment for the last bit of food in our fridge and to load the trailer. Then we headed over to the Bird's for our hardest goodbye. Tear were involved and we ended up hitting the road to Lake Jackson later then planned. Oh well. And before we left I insisted we get a few last pictures by our front door.

 

 



 

Michael drove the truck and Collin and I were in the car. I had been nervous about making the trip with just me and Collin. But Collin ended up being a fabulous traveler. He slept part of the time and was pretty content the rest of the drive. Our one bathroom break I think helped too. We made it to LJ with just enough time to pick up some lunch and head to our new home to meet Michael. We ate lunch and right as we were finishing the movers showed up to unload.

Exploring our new patio area. We are lucky and got an "oversized" one.
Although it is mostly rocks and weeds so not very kid friendly.

 

 

Collin and I escaped the chaos and walked around our new complex. Much prettier then SA!

 

When we got back Collin was so exhausted and less then thrilled that the movers were still here!

 

And before we knew it we were left with a maze of boxes everywhere! We returned the truck that evening, grabbed some essentials at the grocery store. After a long couple of days of moving I am pretty sure that we all crashed that night!

Helping Daddy set up his crib for bed. This move brought out Collin's love for helping daddy with his tools.

 

Where's Collin??

 

Where's Michael??

 

Our mess for the first couple of weeks.





We were able to have everything unpacked within a couple of weeks and even got some things hung on the walls. And have been settling into our new life in Lake Jackson very nicely. Now hopefully next time we move it will be into our very own house!! Cross your fingers for us!

 

 

Collin loved that there was so much stuff for him to get into while I was unpacking.

 

His personal favorite was the Tupperware cupboard- that is until we put baby locks on them :)