The One in Emeryville

So we're in our new apartment.  Open living room/dining room/kitchen.  Two bedrooms.  One with a master bath.  Another bath in the hall.  And really that's it.  But WE. HAVE. TWO. BATHROOMS!  AND. A. DISHWASHER!!

Aww..it's the little things.  I started thinking about how long it had been since I lived somewhere with a working dishwasher.  It's something like 12 years or so.  I'm loving the dishwasher.

So most of our days are spent like this:

But we've started a gymnastics and an art class.  And we also joined a play place called Studio Grow.

And on the weekends when we're not looking at houses, we're doing fun family things.

Now if we can just find a house and a babysitter...I think things will be good!

The One with the first week.

 
Finally.  We're in California.  It seems like it took forever to get here.  And I'm sure there's lots more work ahead!

We landed and still had to pick up Hugo and pick up my car.  We had it shipped earlier so that we would at least have one car.  So the car service drove us to the storage and Andrew drove my car back to the airport to pick up Hugo and meet us at our temporary house in San Rafael.

It was a cute little house with a great view.



There was a hiking trail at the end of the street and a cute little park with a playground only two blocks away.  We liked it!

The house itself was small and had lots of nick-nacks but we made due.  We had to take AB to the ferry every day since we only had one car and there was definitely some adjusting to the new time zone but a few day time car trips helped out with naps.  And it made for some good sight seeing for me!

We went to the park almost every day.

There were sequoias in the park...so lovely!

We even started seeing some of the same people every day and I'm sure if we'd stayed we would have made some new friends.  I think Max was adjusting perfectly.  Which made it hard to leave.

After 10 days, our moving van arrived and we started moving into our apartment.  We were excited to get our own stuff and looking forward to adjusting to our new neighborhood.

The One with all the Running

So before I get to where I left off, I'd like to tell another story about a trip to San Francisco.

When I was pregnant with Max, Andrew owned his own company and had planned on taking a few weeks off after I gave birth to spend as a new family.  Well I didn't have the most story book birth experience.  (Jonah's birth experience was as close to perfect as anyone could ask for.  I only wish that every first time mom could experience what I did with Jonah.)

Aaaanyway...(I say that a lot in my story telling), Max was three weeks early, and Andrew had a photo shoot scheduled in Minneapolis or one of those cities in the middle of the country.  He was ready to cancel so that he could be with us but I insisted that he keep the photo shoot.  So instead we decided to take a trip to San Fran during my maternity leave.  I mean if we're all going to be hanging out doing nothing but spending time together, we might as well do it in a fantastic city.

So when Max was 10 weeks old, we flew to San Fran.  The trip was awesome.  Max was great on the plane and during all the walking and we even had a babysitter one night and went out for a fabulous dinner.  It was a really great vacation....until we came home.  I remember sitting at the gate and our plane was obviously late and they finally made an announcement that the plane was late and listed all the final destinations that needed to come up to be re-routed.  Columbus was not on the list.  But we knew we had a tight connection in Phoenix...and I had to check the stroller so I went up and asked.  She was one of the rudest and most annoying people.  She looked at me and said.."Was Columbus on the list?"  I said no and she said then we did not need to be re-routed.  I looked at the girl behind her and she agreed.  So I checked the stroller.  Looking back, I should have pushed a little more punched both of them.  So of course you know the end of this story.  We get to Phoenix and me and my 10 week old ran.  We ran as fast as a new mother holding a 10 week old could run.  AB stayed back and waited for the stroller.  Once he got the stroller, he ran.  I could see the gate up ahead...two nicer ladies waving their arms..."hurry, hurry".  I got to the gate and said..."my husband is right behind me.  He had to wait for the stroller."  They told me that I could get on but that they couldn't wait for him.  Ha!  So you expect me to get on the plane with my 10 week old and leaving my husband here?! That's funny.  I waited and waited...and then they closed the gate.  And then I waited and waited and then we saw him running.  I started walking toward him so that he would at least stop running.  We couldn't believe it.  They would not hold the plane for us.  I seriously wanted to punch those first two ladies.  We went to the counter and explained what happened.  There were no other flights that day.  We had to spend the night.  They put us up in a hotel and gave us some food money and some incidental money.  And then I realized...I had packed my breast pump and didn't have it with me.  Anyone that has ever breastfed knows how horrible this is for an exclusively pumping breast feeding momma.  WORST! NIGHT! EVER!  I tried my hardest to get Max to feed.  I tried whatever I could to relieve my pain.  But nothing worked.  I had a hard time with milk production and this was no help at all.  Moral of the story, always carry on your pump.  You never know what could happen.

Sooooo, back to our moving story.  We get to the airport and there were again some delays.  And we had another close connection.  I started to get worried.  I did not want a repeat performance.  And we were flying through Detroit!  At least when we got stuck in Phoenix, my friend James came over for a visit.  But Detroit?!  Argh.  We finally got off the ground in Columbus.  It was short flight but we were worried.  Once we were closer to Detroit the flight attendant started giving out gate locations.  We scouted out our gate on the airport map...it was going to be tight!  We put a plan together.  I would stay with Jonah and wait for the stroller.  Andrew and Max would run.  It's funny.  We had this plan of grabbing some lunch and taking it on the plane.  Didn't happen.  As soon as I saw our stroller, I strapped in my 25lb child and ran.  My flip flops made a really annoying "clip clop" noise and it echoed throughout the airport.  It was so loud and annoying that everyone would stop and get out of my way.  Just imagine hearing a really loud "clop, clop, clop, clip, clop" and turning and seeing a 30ish (I like to think) mother running while pushing her bushy top blonde boy in a crappy stroller.  Ha!  I guess I would get out of her way too.  We had to run from one concourse to another.  There is a shuttle tram but it wasn't there when we got to it...so we kept running.  Jonah saw the tram at one point and pointed and said "choo choo".  Too bad we didn't get to ride it.  We got to the gate and they were announcing last call for boarding.  There were around 8 people standing around trying to get on our flight stand by and she said if we did not board, they would give up our seats.  Shew....we had BARELY made it! 

We were off to our new home.  Sweaty, tired, hungry and with a leg cramp.  But dude we didn't have to spend the night in Detroit!

These two crashed once we got off the ground.

PS - I added a few pics on the last post.  

The One with the traveling and moving.

So the last few weeks have been a whirl wind.  It began early on a Monday when the movers showed up before we were ready.  I'm not even sure we were dressed...I just remember my sister putting on clothes in the living room with men walking in and out.  We got the boys up and ready and sister took them to the zoo for the day.  (She's my sister not The Hooker when she takes care of the boys!) :)  I thought the packers would be done quickly...but I don't think anyone realized how much stuff we have.  We also had the closing that day.  My sister had taken my ID to get into the zoo on our family pass and at some point I realized I would need that at the closing.  I thought about getting my passport but it was in the safe and the key was at the hotel that we were staying at.  She put the boys in the car and met us at the closing to hand off my ID.  Shew.  Crisis averted.

When she left, I knew she would be sad but I powered through...but I think she saw Andrew and they both said goodbye in tears. 

We spent the night in the hotel and heading back to the house to meet the movers.  They loaded the truck which again took all day long.  I took the boys to a playground then we met up for lunch and then drove around during nap time.  We were feeling a bit homeless at this point so we called Billie and Willow for a playdate.  We enjoyed the cool air and a birthday cupcake.

We went back to the house and met up with Catelyn and she brought over her vacuum and finished up at the house. The house was empty.  I had never seen it this way.  Andrew bought the house before we met.  I wasn't in love with it...but it was still where our first kiss was, where we made our babies, where we brought them home.  A lot had happened in that house.  Lots of family and friends and lots and lots of love.  But still I was ready to move on to our new adventure.  We said a big goodbye and headed back to the hotel.

The next morning was a scramble to get Hugo to the airport first.  His flight was at 7a.  Ours was 10ish.  We got everything together and made it to the airport and AMB met us there to take our car back.  It was a little teary but not too bad.

And after a few delay's....we were off the ground.  Shew.  But the crazy had just started....

to be continued....

The One with the Countdown

Eight days and counting.  The house is ready for closing.  The utilities are scheduled to be turned off.  The mail has been forwarded.  The movers are scheduled.  The temporary house has been rented.  The long term temporary apartment has been rented.  Airline tickets have been purchased.

Still to do:  Hugo's airline ticket and crate.  Car shipping.  Packing.  Relaxing.  Eating all the frozen food in our freezer.  Drinking all the open liquor containers.  Should be fun.

I'm feeling a little like this:

The One with the Night Out

The Hooker and I are close.  She comes up and helps with my boys and they love her.  She's like a sister wife...but better because we don't share a man.

But recently I was trying to help her out.  Trying to find her a date.  It was a memorable evening with the Hooker and her best friend, Susan.

Photo bombers in the back! :)

So we were in our hometown in West Virgina and we saddled up to the bar.  I was chatting up the guy next to me...but he was with someone so I didn't think much about him.  He later told me that she was just a friend.  He had dark, curly hair and a beard.  Both had specks of gray.  He was nice, funny and charming...even if he was totally decked out in 80's gear.  Dress shorts, pin striped button down which I believe had a big RL or Polo logo on it and brown loafers..with no socks.  But I had hope.  Clothes and hair you can fix.  

We continued chatting about my husband and kids and his daughter.  He asked me about The Hooker.  I told him she was definitely single.  He was interested.  She was interested.  And so they began chatting.  And his sister's were there pimping him out.  We were discussing the high school he attended so I asked what year he graduated.  He said '83.  My sister and I looked at each other and it was like a choir was in the background singing HALLELUJAH!  We almost immediately said.."you look good"...our math may have been off since Hooker looked liked this:

But I was certain he was older than us!  He told us his sister was 28 and I said.."wow big age gap there" and he agreed and said..."long story".  We proceeded with the chatting.  And we also chatted with the photo bombers.  They were hilarious!

At some point Susan was talking with his sister and then the wispering started.  He looked at me and asked what was going on.  I had no idea.  Finally Hooker told me he was BORN in '83!  She was out of there so fast.  He said, "she's not going to talk to me again is she?"  I said..ah No!  And you don't look so good for 29!  LOSER! (Ok..so I didn't say those last two things until we left!)

Regardless, we had a good time.  Such a good time that we ended the night at Taco Bell at 2a...with a broken purse.

Good times...good times!

The One with the News

We've done it.  AB accepted the job.  We're moving.  West Coast in the houuzz!  We're leaving our comfortable Mid-West life and starting a new life somewhere in the Bay area.  

We've had so much going on the last few months.  In March, he had the phone interview.  April we went to visit and just think about the possibilities.  May was a lot of negotiating.  And thinking.  And we did a little NYC trek.  One day I would be totally against it but Andrew was full throttle.  The next day I would think, "he's right" and jump on the band wagon.  The next day Andrew was worried about my sister and her relationship with the boys.  And I would convince him she'd come to visit and their relationship would be even more special.  We would go back and forth for days.  One evening I couldn't stop crying.  Thinking of the worst things that could happen.  My parents.  It still chokes me up.  But I know they want me to be happy.  I'm not even sure when we made the decision to go forward.  It just kind of happened and we started making the plans.  Getting the house ready to sell.  Mapping out the dates to give our notice.  It just all started taking shape.

The best part of this for me is that I'll spend every day with my boys.  There were days that I would go to work and just feel so guilty for having someone else watch them.  It's so important to me to teach my kids..and I was letting someone else do it for me.  I don't think daycare is a bad experience or horrible.  In fact, I think it's pretty awesome.  But I want to be productive in their world and some days I really didn't feel up to it...and really wasn't doing anything I felt good about.  I was doing a job.  And although I enjoyed my job...it wasn't fulfilling any thing for me. 

The next best part is that I will be fulfilling a life-long goal.  When I was in high school I wanted to live near the beach.  I wrote in my high school journal that in 10 years I wanted to be living on the beach, working in fashion...maybe married.  I didn't mention kids because I wasn't sure about kids until I was around 25.  So I've worked in fashion for about 13 years.  It was a good run and some day...I may go back.  But now...it's time for the beach and my boys!  I can't wait!