-Closed on our house at the end of June
-Spent two weeks trying to get the house at least ready for us to move in
-Took the kids to my Mom's in Green Bay for 2 days while the house was being packed
-The kids got their first real haircuts at my mom's friend Cathy's salon- Yellow Sox. They look so much more grown up with their baby hair cut off. Beckett no longer looks like a little old man trying to cover up bald spots. Much of Addy's curls were cut off because it was fizzy baby hair. Anytime you mention her hair or curls she says, "cut, cut" at which time I have to remind her that only Mom and Cathy is allowed to cut her hair because I can just imagine what she is thinking.
-Came back to Milwaukee to the "new house" which was piled full of boxes with an unfinished kitchen and lots of dangerous things like vents with no grates and electrical outlets with no wall plates
-I spent the first week desperately trying to unpack, clean, and put out remodel fires such as the fridge didn't fit. I took a crow bar and pried off the paneling which didn't help. We ended up having to get someone to come in and cut down the side of one cabinet. Oh and the power went out that day. And Eloise is super freaked out by noise so anytime anyone is here doing work she starts to SCREAM "Go, Go, Go" Do you know how loud it is to put in a new furnace, drill holes through foundation, cut wood and pipes and oh yea use an excavator to dig an oil well out of the front yard.
-The first week was miserable because I was in a panic to get everything organized because of course we were going on vacation after less than a week that had been scheduled for months.
-SAD NEWS ALERT... That week we also put our sweet pug Pickles to sleep. The move was too much for her. She was very confused, waking up crying at night and we had to carry her outside to go the bathroom. I spent that day crying in boxes and trying to figure out when our lives would ever feel back to normal.
-Then we went on our first real vacation as a family for a week. We rented a house in Door County WI which was minutes from the beach and probably the coolest area in WI during that week of a miserable heat wave.
-Vacation was fantastic because my mom joined us along with my brother Isaac and his girlfriend, Audrey, from Austin. It was a week of restaurants, fish frys, sand and copious amounts of ice cream. We also had a swing set in the back yard of the house which made me decide that I DON'T want one in our yard. At least for now. It causes lots of drama and fighting.
-It was a much needed vacation and made us realize that vacations are not a things of the past but of the future. This one still required lots of equipments like pack n' plays and sippy cups and toys but they just going to get easier the older they get.
-The problem with vacation is that lots of rules go out the window and since our lives are run by rules and schedules it made for an incredibly difficult return to our normal schedule which changed with the new house. So with the vacation and the new house the kids were totally off schedule and out of sorts for a few solid weeks. For example, we normally put them in bed turn out the lights and walk out the door. They may talk and laugh for a while but go to sleep on their own. Since the move they have been scared and we had been staying in their room until they fall asleep which may be 1.5 hours later. So that means that for 3 hours a day someone would be just hanging out in their room to prevent the hysterical screaming and crying when left alone. Sounds like fun but when you have whole rooms full of boxes and laundry and have to drag all the dishes into the basement to wash (no sink remember) every minute is precious.
-When we got back from vacation our Texas neighbor, Clarke, came to stay with us for the week. It was much needed help but poor Clarke probably wondered where the cute little baby triplets had gone because it was a rough week. They were so out of sorts and we still had people coming in and out of the house doing work that I'm not sure I have heard so much whining and crying ever.
-But we are slowly getting back on track. I'm still wearing clothes out of the same laundry basket that I took on vacation; I just keep washing it and putting it back in the basket because our bedroom is still a disaster and that is the only clothes that I can locate right now but at least the main living areas are pretty much intact and even baby proofed.
-This move has really been a total life changer for me. The kids have their own play room and we have a huge backyard that is already filled with a sandbox, slide, riding toys, kid picnic table and tons of toys. Just the fact that we can hang out outside and eat outside with minimal clean up makes my life 100% more manageable. The kids can play outside for hours at a time. The biggest challenge is the mosquito's and trying to convince them to keep the sand in the sandbox.
I have over 600 pictures from the last month between the move, vacation, and just general two year-old high jinks that I'm going to work on posting the highlights but just wanted to give an update of the craziness in our lives. I do post more freqently on Facebook so for more frequent updates you can follow us there- katebnewman (not savvy enough or patient enought to post a link).
So as I've said, this whole move thing has been an extremely long haul but it is coming to an end. We still have tons of work to do on the house including a total knock down/remodel in next summer but it is starting to feel like home. It is starting to feel like the place and community where our children will grow up. "Home" is a big word around here these days. Every time we pull into the driveway everyone yells, "New HOOOOUSE!!!" Or sometimes they talk about going "home."
I was talking to the kids about Pickles and I asked them where Pickles went? Addy said, "Home." Right, we are all finally home.
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