Moving Up - Part II
Arrival and Unloading
We arrived in our new home at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, the 12th of July, exhausted, but very excited. We turned on all the lights and let the kids run wild while we set up temporary beds. The kids did surprisingly well sharing the same space (we even let them choose which room they wanted to sleep in that night.) Camping out in our empty house made me feel so young and giddy… like receiving a long-awaited-for Christmas present… in this case, like a doll house… only life-sized… and I get to plan and decorate it!
We rested on Sunday and began unloading Monday morning with the help of the youth group from Rochester Chinese Christian Church. It took about 2 hours, a damaged toe, and a foot splinter to get everything in.
In effort to thank the youth for doing a wonderful job in helping us, Jeremy set up Rock Band and ordered pizza for everyone at lunch. A few of our other friends from Church also stopped by to drop off a delicious strawberry fruit basket, complete with breakfast scones and whipped cream!
Unpacking
Let’s just say my pregnancy-fueled nesting drive combined with my type A personality did wonders in our unpacking progress. I felt like the energizer bunny - my mind and body were constantly unpacking, sorting, and organizing all our stuff. Jeremy’s parents were also wonderful in helping entertain the kids and putting together our furniture. In one week, our house was unpacked and fully functioning (with the exception of our living room which is our to-be-piano-room-but-for-now temporary man cave and office until our basement gets finished). Here are a few photos. I’ll be posting more details in part III of my “moving up” trilogy.
Getting Ready for Fall
In the midst of unpacking all our worldly possessions, we also had all the logistics to sort out (finding a pediatrician, an OB, a dentist, etc.), in particular, nursery and preschool for Calvin and Charissa. Calvin had such a wonderful experience at The Montessori School summer camp back in Baltimore that we decided to send them both to a montessori school here in Rochester. Montessori tuition in Rochester is about 30% less than Baltimore, which is an added bonus. Both of them will start school in September for 3 hours every morning, Monday through Friday, which translates into 3 hours of stress-free-errand-running (or more than likely, nap) time for me, five days a week, until the baby arrives. I can’t wait to see what they learn and bring back from school everyday! Now I just have to find them some “friends”… despite loving their new backyard and driveway, they really miss their B’more playmates. They even ask to go over to Janet’s and Becca’s house… they have no clue just how far away we are…
From left to right, top to bottom:
Row 1: Calvin enjoying his tricycle; At Lowe’s Saturday morning children’s workshop; Calvin writing his name on the driveway. Row 2: Building a pyramid with daddy; Charissa and her beaded jewelry crafts; Happy little girl. Row 3: Thanking God for providing all our needs; Habitat for Humanity paper house craft; Bedtime story
