A lot

A lot. Those two words pretty much sum up the last 10 days for us. A lot to do, a lot to think about/keep track of, a lot to clean, a lot to carry/move around, a lot of time spent wondering what it will take to make the boys behave, etc. I could say too much, but we are really trying to be positive, and we're surviving, I guess. Oh, I forgot to add: a lot of room at the hotel. Thank goodness for that.

Another blessing: the moving company was excellent. I feel greatly relieved about that. Five men came Tuesday (15 Feb) to pack/wrap all our things, then loaded the truck the next day. Everything seemed really well-packed, and they worked quickly. All our stuff filled 45 cubic meters of crates (7 full size + a half size), which doesn't really sound like a lot when you hear the number, but the truck was massive. It will take about 2 months for our stuff to reach the US and then it goes into storage for the time being. The boys spent a big chunk of those two days at a friend's house, while I was at the house helping Frank supervise the movers and working on organizing all the things going into our suitcases and our unaccompanied baggage shipment.



For those two days we all had to live out of one room.

The same company packed and loaded our unaccompanied baggage on Thursday. You can see about a third of it in the background here...I don't think we got close to the 1300 lbs. we were allowed. This will take 4-6 weeks to meet us in St. Louis, and contains Frank's computer, other electronics, more clothes, and some household stuff.


Obviously the boys have been up and down. They've been entertained by movies, toys, and running amuck in the empty living room only so much. They are feeling the lack of our attention, for sure. But I think we're doing all we can...making sure they are well-rested, eating their normal foods, having little new toy surprises here and there. Zach told me today that he likes the hotel, but I know that he is looking forward to going on the airplane and seeing Grandma(s) again.


We treated them to some time at the playground, even though it was really cold and we don't like cleaning up the sand (which is the main attraction, of course).


We are staying at the same apartment hotel as when we arrived in Brussels, because we liked having a kitchenette, and were expecting something altogether too small for us (like last time). So we were pleasantly surprised to find that our apartment has so much space, and I don't think we'd be surviving without it.


We'll see some of you very, very soon!

Stuntman #2

Like we needed this to happen right now...I came in from the kitchen (in shock) to see him almost dive off the arm onto the tile.

He's been spending lots of time in the pack 'n' play the last couple of days while we've been working on stuff in the house.

Down to the wire

There are photos and stories and info we want to share, but it seems like there is always something else to do besides e-mail or blog. None of you are surprised, I'm sure. This is just a quick update:

My birthday was good, and I had a fun time in Paris, even though I felt a little flu-ish (only lasted a few days). Abby and Loic are doing well. I saw some places I'd never been to, including an ice cream/tea shoppe, a little park in the middle of the Seine, and the Statue of Liberty.

Yesterday was the boys' last day at daycare, and their caregivers gave them Handy Manny and Mickey Mouse coloring books, which they were really excited about. It was very cute.

Frank and I have been a little stressed out by all the uncertainty surrounding us. He has some big decisions to make related to his job-hunting, which of course had to happen right now, at the end, when we have a thousand other things to do.

We're happy to be selling/finding homes for all the stuff we want to get rid of, including our old plaid couch and all the European voltage appliances. We're excited about eventually getting back all our stuff in storage, but also a little nervous that we won't have room for it all.

We haven't started explaining the move to Zach yet, but I guess we'll tell him that we are saying goodbye to the house in a couple weeks. At this point all he knows is that we're going to go on the airplane to visit the Grandmas again soon. He told me that he wants to make sure Monkey and his little robot go on the airplane too :)

When we have some news, you'll know. For now we are just trying to sort everything out (including all the stuff we've accumulated up to this point). Wish us luck!