Packing Out!

We have been very busy organizing and packing since New Year's Day in preparation for our big move back to The States. (Of course we started prior to January 1st, but there's a fair amount that we couldn't do, or didn't want to do, until the last minute. Since the movers were coming on January 4th, every waking minute of Saturday and Sunday were spent either organizing or playing with Emma. We finished up by doing our last load of laundry at 1130pm before heading to bed.

Emma was either worried by us moving everything around or sensed our stress levels were high, or possibly both, but she was not her usual self. She was a lot more dependent and needy than she usually is. She would barely even use her jumper without one of us sitting right in front of her. Poor baby. Luckily, both of us were considerably more relaxed on Monday morning, and Emma took a cue from us and was pretty happy.

Kurt and I updated Facebook frequently throughout the day:

at 10:06: Looks like the movers sent one poor guy to box our whole house today. I guess the big truck will come tomorrow.

 

Around 9:45, the mover pulled up. When he first came in, Emma looked like she might start bawling at any minute, but after reassurance warmed up to him. We were both a little worried that only 1 mover showed up...to box up our entire house! If we were living in a one bedroom apartment, I don't think we would have been concerned, but our house is 4 finished floors!

 

 at 11:14: Kurt is labeling boxes. Otherwise they would all say "Kit - glass" or "Kit - porzellan" - although I am not doing much better. I guess we just sort it all out on the other side.

 

at 1:36: 1000-1330, first floor is almost done. 3 floors to go. Wow. But the guy is really nice and doing a good job. He just stopped for his first break. Crazy

 

He did an awesome job with the kitchen and living room though! He even showed us how one of our couches comes completely apart...if only we had known that when we moved it from one location to another!  

at 3:10: 3pm: 1st floor is done...onto the 2nd!

 

He picked the next biggest room to accomplish next...the office. Our office has a lot of stuff in it. From craft supplies to desk supplies, to all of our books. At one point, we decided to take Kurt's desk apart, the mover practically pushed me over so that I wouldn't lift the heavy piece that comes off of it! 

 

Kurt at 4:24: A truck and 4 more guys just showed up. Crazy.
Carrie at 4:30: OMG...4 little packing elves just showed up...it's packing insanity right now!

 

I notice a HUGE moving van pulling up to our house, the doorbell rings and 4 guys wearing red jackets swarm in carrying piles of boxes and say "We're here to help!" They walk into the house, whistle and the mover who has been with us all day comes down, directions are given and the house is all of a sudden in a packing frenzy! Wrapping paper is crinkling, tape is ripping, and our belongings are disappearing before our eyes! 

 

 During this time, Emma and I were in the master bedroom because there was more space to walk around and a mirror to play with.  She had fun using an empty laundry basket as a push walker! It took her a bit to let go of my hands and put them on the basket, but she got the hang of it really quickly. (I was right behind her the whole time with my hands about 2 inches away from her torso in case she lost her balance)

 

at 5:28: And we're done for the day! Time to relax!

 

So in about an hour, our house went from about 1.5 floors being packed up to about 3.5 floors! Insanity! They said they'd be back on Tuesday morning to finish packing and load everything into crates for shipment. 

 

 at 9:58: all boxed up, checked into the hotel, Emma is asleep, finally time to relax!

 

After they left, we packed up all our luggage in the Jetta (thank goodness Kurt is a master packer!), stopped at the food court for dinner, chatted with some friends we bumped into there, and checked into the hotel. 

 

Emma was amazingly good all day long. Even leading up to her bedtime when she usually gets fussy! She didn't end up going to sleep until almost 9:30, but she wasn't fussy at all! It took me a while though to get her unwound enough to lay down. It was a big day for her, but we think she handled it really well. 

 

We're also really pleased with the hotel we're staying at for the next 10 days. We have a suite, so Emma's room is the living room and we have our own bedroom. The only downfall is that there isn't a tub for Emma's baths. The sink, however, is large and we've tried sink baths the past 2 nights. Emma is not a fan. We may just end up taking her to a friend's for a real bath instead. She doesn't get that dirty, but she looks forward to bath time as part of her bedtime routine.  

 

So far everything is going really well and we are just eager to wrap things up and get to our new home!