Sunday, October 25, 2009

My Journey HOME...

I was really hoping to be able to blog during my trip home, but it was to hectic, I didn't even get a photo of Graham on his first plane trip.

Let's rewind to the last week. My long time BFF Wendy arrived last Sat to help me pack and move. She is a saint for helping us. It was the most un fun week ever. We both recommend NEVER trying to move cross country with a newborn and a 2.5 year old not to mention two older kidos. The beginning of the week was all right, we packed and organized.The truck arrived WED. we started to panic and pack like mad women. Chad started loading the truck WED evening. Thursday he took the day off work to pack and load the truck. We were packing and loading into the wee hours. Friday Chad took a half day and we packed some more. Wendy, Graham, Scarlette and I were due to fly out SAT at 10am. We literally packed and cleaned until 4am. I got in bed at 4:20 after showering and Scarlette decided she was hungry.. so did not get to sleep until 4:40am. Had to get up at 7am to get ready to catch our flight. We got the whole upstairs empty and cleaned, the dinning and living rooms empty and cleaned, the downstairs bathroom cleaned. Which left Chad and the girls to clean the master bed and bath, the littles room, family room and kitchen. Not to mention taking apart cribs and finish packing/loading a ton of random stuff.

They took us to the airport at 8:30 then went back and worked until after dinner time. A bunch of stuff did not make it on the truck.... so freaked out to see what it was. Not much I can do about it, but it bugs me. They made it to TN last night and Arkansas tonight.

My neighbor Robin saved us over and over. She fed us all week, she took Graham to her house to play all day except for nap time, she helped with the loading, she held Scarlette, she let the girls stay their last night at her house as we had no beds, She helped get rid of the stuff that would not fit on the truck, and she helped Chad and the girls clean and pack ... Chad said she was the only reason they got it all done. Graham is missing her all ready.

Wendy the littles and I said our goodbyes to Chad and the girls... and Robin, she had to help take us to the airport because Chad's car is too small for all of us and mine was shipped all ready. We checked our 4 heavy suitcases and one car seat. Off we went through the airport with the two kids in the double stroller, Grahams car seat and 5 heavy carry ons.


We get to security and put our bags on the conveyor, took off our shoes.. I of course packed badly and had shoes with ankle straps that had to be buckled. We even had to take off Grahams shoes, he had to get out of the stroller and walk through and I had to carry Scarlette.
(Don't forget we only got 2.5 hours of sleep)
Sheesh that was tiring... oh but wait. Every ones shoes have to get back on... buckled and tied. Kids strapped in stroller bags back in stroller and off we went.
We get to a eatery near our gate and get breakfast. Before I even take a bite Scarlette decides she needs to eat. Get her fed.. we eat and then go to the bathroom and to the gate. We look at the airplanes then Graham needs to go potty so back to the bathroom we go.
Boarding time started a few minutes after that. I put the moby wrap on... get Scarlette in it, we grab all of our bags and head onto the plane. We get Graham out of the stroller, collapse it and on the plane we go. Wendy got Graham's car seat buckled in and then got him in his seat. I stuffed the bags under the seats and get seated. We flew from Greensboro NC, to DC.. which is a super short flight. It was Grahams first flight and he loved it. We get off the plane with all of our stuff, get the stroller back... get the kids in the strolled and head from concourse A to concourse C. Go to the bathroom, get some food and time to load onto the plane again.

Repeat above process. There was a nice man on the plane who helped carry my bags back to our seats because he felt bad for us:) We then flew to San Diego CA, which is a 5 hour and 15 minute flight... of which Graham slept maybe an hour. Wendy and I got about a twenty minute nap in while he was sleeping.

Graham did really good until the last hour.... then he started to get restless. I told him we would be landing soon and then we had another short airplane ride. WRONG thing to say to a little boy who had all ready been on a plane for 6+ hours. He freaked out and started screaming at the top of his lungs. EGADS I was scared to death that people were going to give us evil looks, but everyone was really nice and said how good he did... PHEW. Miss Scarlette was soooo good the whole time it was amazing.
We had a one hour layover in San Diego... which was long enough for a bathroom break and coffee for Wendy and cocoa for Graham and then back on the plane. (Repeat whole process again) He was really restless on this flight too but did good... no screaming. Scarlette gets a bit fussy around 9pm usually and needs to be cuddled and walked a bit. When we were on that flight it was that time on the east coast so she cried a bit and at the same time Graham needed to go potty. YIKES We jump up and I take him potty and Wendy does the jiggle walk with Scarlette up and down the aisle.

We arrived in San Francisco at 5:53pm Pacific time. Went potty AGAIN... got our luggage and waited for a few minutes for my sister to come get us. THEN we had the one hour car ride to Santa Rosa. Wendy and I were so tired at that point we could barely speak or think clearly.

My parents and granparents came over to my sisters house to see us. So good to see the fam again. My nephew (who is 3 months older than Graham) and Graham were fast friends.... so cute. So nice to be back in CA.... However feel disjointed with out my hubby and girls.... It is also weird to not have be at our house yet. Poor Graham is so confused.... he is not wanting me out of his sight. Poor little dude.

Hope that all made sense as I am still tired and it is late
Bed time!


7 comments:

Kelly said...

Oh hunny!
Sounds busy!
Still apparently moving is one of the most stressful things you can do.
So glad the children were good too, it must be very overwhelming for them xx
Best wishes to you all

Lots of Love

Kelly xx

Unknown said...

Holy moly Jen, just reading that made me anxious & exhausted! I can't imagine actually living through it. I'm sure you're glad its over and ready for things to settle down again!

Artfulife said...

Bless your heart! Glad you made it. Ot sounds like quite the trip. Good luck in getting everything moved in and settled.

Wendy @ Ramblings from the Sunshine State said...

Sounds like a heck of a trip! At least you made it. I hope you can find a house soon!

The Rosenlunds said...

Wow, welcome home. I hope you get some rest I feel bad for you...you are a survivor!!!

Heidi said...

I can't believe you had the energy to write about it. Glad you made it safely.

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness it all sounds dreadful , you poor thing ! I'm sure it will all be lovely when you get into your own house , take care and best wishes .