So moving....
Moving day went VERY smoothly. Because we're in seminary, we know a lot of people who move a lot. I basically sat back on moving day while these geniuses managed to pack in way more stuff than should ever fit in a moving truck and left us room to spare. I joked about needing to go rummage saling to fill the space. Jeremy didn't find it funny.
We're very thankful for all of our friends who helped us out! The truck was loaded up in two hours and then we were able to finish cleaning the house while a neighbor watched the kiddos (thanks Amy!)
We "camped" out in the new house that night since our beds were still loaded and the next morning a bunch of church people came and helped us unload. I think they're going to have a difficult time finding people to help us load up next summer when it's time to leave now that everyone has seen how much crap we have, how heavy it is, and how we wanted all the heavy stuff up or downstairs.
The kids have adapted very well considering. They've been a little on the naughty side lately, but more because we've been too busy to spend time with them than that they're upset we're in a new place.
They also enjoyed all of the time spent with their grandparents during the moving process and we were GREATLY appreciative of all their help!
A couple of things that helped all of us transition better:
•We talked about it...a LOT! We read books about moving, we researched the new town and told the kids things like, "Wow! Our new library has quite the collection of Star Wars books! Micah- would you like to read those when we get to our new house?"
•We visited ahead of time and brought the kids and the camera with. When we went through the house I said things like, "And here is the kitchen where I'll make you macaroni and cheese." to correlate it to existing things we did at our current house. We took pictures and then showed them to the kids often, so when we actually got here, the house felt very familiar to us all. Plus, I knew where I wanted to put stuff then since I had been looking at photos for months.
•We included the kids in the packing process..."Do you want to bring your ponies with you or leave them here? Where should we put them at our new house? Let's look at the pictures and decide!" We also had them around for loading up the truck even though it would have been way easier not to. Liliana did NOT do well with this. I was really surprised since Micah was her age when we moved the first time and it was a great therapeutic experience for him to be involved. Liliana screamed because she didn't want her toys going on the truck no matter how many times we explained it to her. She was excited to ride her bike up the ramp though.
•Moving is a great time for transitions and "losing" items in the move. Any really loud annoying toys got "accidentally left" at our old house. It's also happens to be the law in our new town that you're not allowed to have sippy cups if you are over the age of 2. How convenient!
•We role played scenarios with our kids since our new neighborhood is MUCH different than living in seminary student housing. We pretended different people rang the doorbell and had them practice what to do besides shouting, "Come on in, it's open!" like Micah did at first.
•Not always possible, but Jeremy and I went for just the day the week before we moved and totally unpacked and organized the kitchen. It was AWESOME to be able to walk in and have one room completely set up and ready!
On a funny note- we asked Micah what he thought tomorrow was (the correct answer being Daddy's first day of work.) Instead he said, "Hmmmm....are we packing up again?!?!" Jeremy and I both simultaneously shouted, "NOOOO!!!"
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