THE MOVE

Saturday, June 2nd 2012 was our move day.  The day before, Stadler & Jensen packed our breakable items and then bright and early the next day, Saturday, they arrived to load all boxes and furniture on to the truck.  The truck was so huge, they couldn't park it on the streets of CdM, so they parked it in the vacant  parking lot right next to Brad's office building in Fashion Island (it was a weekend so most medical offices were closed).  They used a smaller truck to load our things on at the house, then made multiple trips to the big truck, loading it and organizing it on there.  Speaking of Brad, my poor husband was up all night our last night in CdM, not at home, but in the office, packing boxes!  He had just gotten back from a quick trip to NY, and had less than 2 days to pack his office, plus he had to let his secretary go on Friday.  

No matter how far ahead you think you are with packing, there are always things left over, and its never-ending.  You never think you have that much stuff, but you do.  In the very end, when movers are an hour away, and its down to the wire, its like all of sudden these things crawl out from under the bed and from behind the bookcases!  I stayed up until 1am the night before, and still had more to do the next morning.  Brad on the other hand, stayed up the whole night, and still had half his office to pack on the day of.  Its not an easy task moving a household, a storage, and a business across the country!  I was in charge of the storage and household, and I managed to pack it all up, while Brad concentrated on his office.

Stadler & Jensen arrived 8am sharp, along with our babysitter Sam (who by the way, was a godsend our last week.)  She took the boys out on a stroller walk and park, only coming by when Jax was ready to nurse.  First delivery pick-up was the storage, that was the easy move.  Then it was on to the house.  Can you believe we estimated close to 16,000 lbs of boxes and furniture (total count of storage, house, & office)?!!!  We took up about 2/3 of the truck.  My sister, mom, and Chloe arrived at 11am and I then took a break and drove over to the Embassy Suites in Irvine (right next to the airport) to check us in to our a 2-room suite, so the boys (specifically Taji) could take his nap.  This was where we planned to spend our last 2 nights in CA, since our beds were going on the moving truck.  Embassy Suites conveniently provided cribs for the babies, free breakfast buffet every morning, and complimentary shuttle service to the airport (this was a must, because we had to leave our cars parked on Iris for the car transport pick-up.) After settling them in, and dropping off our suitcases,  my family then spent the rest of the day playing with kids at the hotel, while Brad and I continued finalizing things at the house and office.  Sam stuck around until the mid-afternoon, supervising the movers at the house while I was at the hotel, and then later dropped off our old electronics at an e-waste recycle center.  Saturday was pretty much the most hellish day because I was spread so thin, between the hotel, 609 1/2 Iris, and Brad's office.   Neither Brad and I had time to be hungry or tired, it was GO GO GO!  We did however take an early dinner break, and got Panini Cafe take-out.  As we sat in Brad's conference room of his office,  the emotion overcame me.... It's like when you take a second to slow down and finally rest, the physical and mental exhaustion finally sets in.  It made me feel sad to see so many of our friends and family get so emotional about our move..... that part was the most difficult of the whole experience, because there's no way you can really comfort them besides saying we will be back to visit and urging them to come visit us.  It was a new exciting beginning for us, but it was grief for them.  9pm finally rolled around  (13 hours after movers started) and all of our stuff was finally on the truck.  I was at the hotel a couple of hours before then, putting the boys to bed.  Brad was there till the very end, sleep deprived, but appreciative of the mover's work all day, that he tipped each guy $100.  You should have seen how sweaty they were from moving all of our heavy things up and down those stairs! One of the things that sticks out in my mind the most is the feeling I had when driving back to see our empty home (or what we once called home).  I was surprised I wasn't sad seeing it so vacant.  But honestly,  there was nothing there for me to be sad about.  My husband was finishing up in the office, my boys were at the hotel having fun, our precious stuff was on a truck, fond memories stored away in my mind, a new adventure and family life about to begin on the east coast, and all that remained at 609 1/2 Iris was the skeleton of our life.  609 1/2 Iris was no longer home, and it was then that it occurred to me, home is where your family and your belongings are,  the comforts, the laughter, the excitement of the household.  


When Sunday rolled around, we were able to breathe a bit better, relax a little more, and regained our appetite! Oh yes, pretty much our last CA meal was an Inn N' Out burger!!! The best way to pay tribute to the West Coast....our tummies thanked us! Both sides of our family came up to the hotel to spend time with us, and helped us tie up some loose ends.  The cousins got to bond all day, and we had a fun little pre-bath/ pre-bedtime at the hotel's indoor pool.  It was actually a perfect way to end this crazy weekend, with a hot jacuzzi, and plenty of sweet little giggles from the kids.

Saying goodbye to my family very late in the evening:

The move could not have gone any better or smoother without our families help!  Its amazing how much family is there for you when the tough gets tougher.  Thank you Fetters and Rustman family, and my mom (Babi) and Grandma Sue & Poppa Gene for all of your love and help in getting us moved!

Monday morning we rolled out of bed and got ready for the final piece of this moving journey, the flight from CA to NY.  Little did we know what madness was in store....

Taj, ready with his spiderman backpack (great idea Grandma Sue!)

on the plane, he got his own seat this time!

First of all, nothing prepares you traveling as a family of 4.  Second of all, nothing prepares you traveling with 2 babies (that still require carseats and LOTS of stuff).  We have flown a couple of times with Taj (when he was a baby and could remain in our laps), but nothing compared to flying with 2 little munchkins.  I will never forget our travel experience that day, a day that could have gone very, very badly if it wasn't for the sympathy of the airport security officer who (bless her heart) put her job on the line (she did this in front of a disapproving supervisor) and allowed us to cut in front of everybody in the long security line.  If it wasn't for her, we would have never made our flight out of Orange County, would have possibly lost our luggage we already checked, could have been stranded at the airport, and much worse.  Close your eyes and picture this...me carrying Jax in the Baby Bjorn carrier, with my purse and diaper bag draped over my shoulder, a boppy pillow in one arm, and struggling to hold (let alone carry) Taj in the other arm. Brad with a backpack on his back, briefcase, 2 carry-on duffel bags, and Taj's carseat.  Now, picture us running through the airport, through the security line, then through the gate, where once on the plane, we had to somehow unload all these things, shove them into the compartments above, attach and secure Taj's carseat on to his seat, and not be in anyone's way.  HA!  The funny thing is both mine and Brad's face expressions were that of utter panic, Taj was having mini melt-downs from all the rushing, but leave it to Jax to have a gleeful smile on his face from all the motion (he must of thought he was on a ride with me hopping around the airport!!!)  At least, one of us was having fun!

To make things worse, I got these wheels that are supposed to snap to the bottom of the car seat so you have a makeshift stroller (and toddler strapped into it), but we couldn't figure out how to put it on, and didn't have much time to study or practice it over the weekend.  If we could have had that in place then it would have truly eliminated some of the physical strain.  Let's just say we were more than relieved we got on our first flight, because everything from there was a piece of cake.  The boys were fantastic. It was Jax's first time flying on a plane, and he fell asleep right away on the Boppy after nursing during both take-offs!!

Jax's guilty pleasure: chewing on my hair!  That little boy always manages to grab my hair and suck on it (even if its in a ponytail!)  Do you think he likes the smell or taste of my shampoo?

Taj was a good boy too, playing in his carseat, and later fell asleep.  The flight was not bad at all, we had a 3.5 hour flight to Chicago, then we ate dinner and walked around the airport, until our last 1 hour flight to Buffalo.

I like to flip around this quote ..... Its not the journey that matters so much, its the destination.   Sometimes, its not so much how you made it, but that you finally made it! We arrived at our destination safely, soundly, with all bags (and checked baggage) intact.  We had a rental car waiting for us, which we drove the 2 hour treck south to Chautauqua Lake, then to our cottage in Bemus Point.  Our cottage welcomed us with open arms.  I was SO glad I had Diapers.com deliver 2 big boxes of diapers, wipes, baby food, and snacks, so we didn't have to pack it with us. We already had a pack n'play (travel crib) there from last year, but our friends also dropped off another one for Jax to sleep in.  We were so thankful to have survived the endless and one of the craziest experiences, and to finally plant our feet and go to bed soundly.  Our plan was to stay in the cottage until our move-in date of July 11th (pics of our new house coming soon!!!).

Exactly 5 days later, Saturday morning (a week from when the movers came to pick up our stuff and only 3 days from the time our cars were picked up in CA), our things AND cars were delivered.  We moved our furniture and boxes directly into 3 storage units (only taking the necessities, like high chair, baby bath tubs, baby gear, and stroller to the cottage.)  Brad has set up a temporary office in one of the cottage's bedrooms until his office space is ready.  I'm amazed at how we pulled off the biggest move ever, and magically nothing went wrong.  Still can't believe after that kind of a move and flight madness, we finally made it!!!  Pinch me! We are really in Bemus Point, NY!!! Our stuff is here, our cars are here.  We have arrived!  Bemus Point, are you ready for us?!!!