Last Week of Packing! (And Then We Never Do This Again)

1

The final countdown to moving has begun!

Tomorrow the truck comes and we move into our (hopefully) forever home.

Then I get to enjoy my pretty kitchen! I'm so I'm so pumped for counter space y'all!

2

My goal has been to pack a box or two everyday. In reality, I go through off packing days and days when I pack up 5 boxes. There still feels like an infinite list of packing and cleaning tasks to work through!

3

With our last move, we were spending a good week in hotels and we had professional packers come in and pack and load the whole apartment in two days. 

This time around, we are largely packing ourselves and only moving locally. That means we are spending many many more days living among boxes than we did in any of our previous moves.

And I hate it. It stresses me out to feel like my environment is NEVER put to rights or clean.

4

Solution: leave the house strategically! 

We have been making good use of our Y membership. Breaking up our time in cardboard box land. The kids get essentially a Park day (they have an outside play structure) with more kids than we can find at the park before schools let out, and I get a workout. Lots of win!
Felicity has become the official living baby doll of the kids spot. When I come to pick her up, she’s often sitting in a bumbo chair surrounded by adoring preschoolers all wanting to show her a toy and get her to laugh.

My favorite picture I've taken of Felicity sitting up!
She's a big fan of the "sit and put one thing into another thing" game.

5

Children’s adoration has been a blessing during our packing time too!
While it’s always a wiggly squirmy hour, I don’t feel bad about it when it’s an hour specifically for small children in the adoration chapel.

But babies do like to find the best/worst timing to develop new skills.
This week little Felicity has learned how to roar. Like a lion. She waited to display this new skill until we were praying a decade of the rosary during adoration, and the squirming had come down to a minimum.
At first I was mortified thinking it was my bigger kids who know better. Then I see some of the big kids just about to fall over in silent laughter, and I realize the huge sound is going from the little baby tripod sitting on the floor next to me.
She was quite pleased with herself.

6

Things I have learned about my kids in this time of packing:

- John will carefully fold and pack clothes for HOURS. Happily and precisely.
- Therese is now capable of hauling built dish pack size boxes up the stairs from the basement.
- Felicity will fall asleep on my back, if I wear her long enough, despite herself. Those generations of nomadic people genes kick in at good times!

7

My parents and one of my sisters fly in today to help with the move!
We have always lived multiple states away from immediate family, so getting to go through a big life change with immediate family present hasn’t happened since our wedding day.

Linking up with This Ain't the Lyceum for 7 Quick Takes.
Who else is moving right now/soon? Tell me all your cute kid stories because they make this process much more fun!