move-in day

chaotic. frenzied. not-so-graceful but super productive. that sums up our move-in day.  so many friends and family have send sweet, supportive messages this week telling me what a great job i'm doing, how gracefully i am handling the transition, etc.  i appreciate it, but i want to be sure everyone understands that this is a blog and as the writer of the blog, i get to apply filters to my reality whenever i see fitting. so before i begin this post, please know that no matter how joyfully i am able to reflect on our recent days or how cute the photos i snapped may be, i have also yelled more than i ever want to, been on the verge of tears several times and am carrying a load of tension a mile high in my shoulders. just wanted to keep it real for everyone and remind you all that story tellers get to edit out some of the yucky stuff; often the first go-round isn't quite as tidy and filled with sunshine. :)

we woke up in our temporary lodging and went to bed in our own beds. what a glorious feeling. but man, there was a lot of head-on-swivel, fast and furious attention to details and logistics management going from start to finish. the first task of the day was packing up all of our luggage and acquired belongings while getting the kids dressed and fed. of course it went slower than it needed to so reid and peter dashed to the new house to meet the inspector for the walk through to identify damages/discrepancies and sign for the house.  the moving truck was there, waiting for the go-ahead to begin unloading.  our sweet friend holly had offered to bring her kids to come play with peter nearby at the playground for the first few hours of move-in day chaos, but once he saw the truck and put together that his bed and toys were coming out of the truck there was no way he was leaving our new house. meanwhile, i was still at the tlf finishing up the packing and getting myself dressed - then was the trick of getting the giant stroller and two babes down the stairs for the quick walk to the new house. am thankful for my health and my strength, so many tasks i've had to accomplish lately would be impossible without those blessings. we arrived and the packers were already going full steam unloading the truck and reid was checking off the box numbers as they carried the items in one by one. we had a crew of 5 japanese men who were all very cordial and professional - and all walked around in their socks all day so as to not walk into our house wearing their shoes as is their custom.  they set up some tarps on the lawn and made a path up to the door and just left their shoes on the porch. they worked extremely hard in the intense heat and humidity of the day, literally soaked through with sweat as they went and only took two short breaks. it was impressive what they accomplished and i was grateful they were there to take care of that intense job. once i arrived and realized none of my children were willing to leave our house or my side for the rest of the day, i thanked our friend and said goodbye and took over the job(s) of box-checker-off-er, traffic director and mother/referee (that's a hat you never take off) and reid went back to the tlf with a borrowed vehicle to carry all eight million of our suitcases down the flight of stairs and bring them to the house to get us checked out before noon. no sooner had he finished that than i was making silly requests like checking the post office for my cleaning supply order and lunch pick-up - we were so thankful his squadron buddy loaned him the vehicle, it was a life saver!  he was gone the entire morning working on those tasks so i was thankful, yet again, for the portable dvd player. we set it up in the front play room, the closest room to the front door so i could monitor/manage the kiddos and tend to the task of accounting for our belongings and deciding where to put them.  thankfully, curtis napped most of the morning in the pack-n-play we set upstairs in his room. the rest of the day he rode along in the ergo carrier, sweaty and hot but happy to be close to momma where he wants to be every minute of the day lately.
the language barrier was not a big deal, they all knew their numbers and could tell me what the sticker said (although sometimes they would switch those funny numbers and tell me a sticker that read "067" was "ninety-seven" or some little switch like that) and understood when i said "office" or "master bedroom".  even when one of them would come ask me a question in japanese, i could gather from the context clues and hand gestures what he meant and was able to communicate my preference. the crew leader spoke great english, so it was never a problem at all. and that's how the day went: ask what number. cross off the number. tell them what room. tell peter to stop kicking betsy. ask what number. cross off the number. take betsy potty. tell them what room.
moving gives you great perspective on your possessions. perspective on what you own and how much of it you have. as i continued bringing toys and toys and toys into the playroom, it seemed almost embarassing how many of them we have. as they carried boxes of clothes into the house, it was overwhelming and seemed a bit ridiculous to own that many clothes, even as a family of five, when so many people in the world have only the clothes on their back. i often wondered what the japanese men thought of our belongings or what they discussed -  how what we tote around in our life is different than what is brought along when a japanese family moves.  at one point i wanted to tell them to stop; whatever was still in the truck, just take it away, our house was full - and at that point, it really was full! when everything is in boxes stacked high, filling the corners and the walkways and the center of the room is just piled with stuff, it seems impossible that everything will ever fit into the house. but of course, once you start the magic of unpacking, getting rid of the boxes and the paper and start putting things in their places (oh man, that IS the best feeling in the world), it all seems a bit more manageable. we are blessed to have so much in this life, i am grateful for everything under our roof - but it is interesting to get that perspective - to really see and touch every. single. thing as it comes into your home, consciously taking inventory on how blessed your family really is.
the movers packed up around 3 and we continued the task of unpacking and putting away. our front covered patio is now filled with empty moving boxes (thankfully they will come take them away this week when we call) and our house is definitely getting there, inching its way closer and closer to feeling like home. the first night we all slept in our beds - the kids in their brand new bunk beds.  that feeling of finally sliding into your own bed, in your own sheets after 6+ weeks of sleeping in a different bed every week or so...oh its just heavenly. after another two full days of assembling furniture, organizing and reorganizing, we are definitely getting there. we even cooked a real meal in our kitchen tonight. yesterday we finally lit a candle which seemed to make everything a bit more cozy. and for some reason, i feel like once i finally bake a pie...then and only then will it really be official. we are finally home. :) xo

unpacking the truck in full swing - and there's holly and her little lady

the littles watching "my neighbor totoro" - an awesome japanese movie that they totally dig. i picked up a couple of these at target before we came - the movers all commented on the movie and all knew the characters. made me dance a little jig :)

the play room at the height of its chaos

finding ways to entertain themselves as mom and dad worked to control the chaos

curtis tried a little bit of mashed banana once his high chair was cleaned and ready - he was not impressed, but thought it was fun to play with and feel between his fingers

progress!