Moving Day

I’m writing this in October. So to be honest, most of my memories from this day have faded but some of them seem as fresh in my mind as things that happened this morning. Funny how life works that way right? So, before we moved we talked with one of our maintenance guys about which moving companies were good and he suggested to us 2 Men and a Truck – we loved them. Great move. Happy we went with them .Anyway, we ended up needing 2 trucks and 6 men – the 6 guys were great and so nice to James. And nice to us. So … here’s the thing. When you are moving with kids you think you have all this time to pack and you really don’t. On moving day, we had the plates, pots and pans, glasses and silverware packed from the kitchen. And cleaning supplies. That was it. What else is in a kitchen you ask? Turns out there’s A LOT. It took us the rest of the weekend to make trips back and forth to get the rest of the stuff. Sigh. It was awful. I mean James was laying on cardboard boxes for goodness sakes and Cillian was napping on a play mat.

James literally laying on cardboard.

 

Both of them completely passed out after a trip to the condo.

 

Both boys had horrible times each day but the silver lining? They didn’t want to go back to the condo – they were finished with it. And that was something Doug and I felt to be a good thing.  Doug took two days off from work to unpack but spent them making trips back and forth to and from the city using a friend’s pickup truck.  At night, I did it. But we got everything and got out of there.

This was the cart from the condo on one of my trips down there.

We ended up moving just before they started on our balconies. The building was redoing everyone’s balconies – drilling out the concrete and redoing it. The noise from the other tiers was insane and I am so so so so glad we didn’t have to experience it on our tier. We made it with a day to spare I think. I just told Doug that James and Cillian couldn’t take any more noise. Truth be told, I couldn’t either. I had reached my max at 10 months.

Anyway, the movers got there at 7:30. The building told us they couldn’t get there until 8 but since we dealt with 10 months of construction and doormen taking bribes from the contractors so they could work after 5pm and make us listen to more noise, we felt that 30 minutes would be okay. I can’t remember all of the guys’ names but I do remember Big John – he was BIG. Like 6’6’’ and probably over 300lbs. He was a tank and James’ best friend for the day. It was adorable. I wish I had taken a photo. I was just running around trying to get things packed and poor Cillian was napping on the floor on towels in between eating. Holy Cow he was a trooper that day. The movers even remarked on what a great job he did. I don’t even think he had one bout of crying. What an angel. James too was a doll. So obedient and so willing to help. He was so excited.

By 4:30pm we were ready to drive up to Wilmette. We were ready to leave. We got in the car and left.


This was a photo I took (while Doug was driving) of us leaving the city.

We arrived at OUR HOUSE (omg) around 6pm. On the way up, we ordered pizzas and had them delivered so we could all eat some pizza – the moving guys were super thankful. Here are our guys right after we arrived home. (I love that I just typed that). Oh yes and obviously James wore his Culter jersey for moving day. And had Bo with him.

Around 8pm, we all realized that the screws for the baby’s crib weren’t with the crib. They searched the truck and we searched all over. Finally I said I would drive back down town to the condo and look. I found them on the mantel. I drove back up and around 10pm the crib was being put together. Cillian had been asleep on an air mattress on the third floor. Doug took his little body and carried him down the stairs and gently put him in his crib in his new room. I think Doug and I collapsed around 11pm.

The next morning Doug spotted this guy in our backyard at 5:45am when Cillian woke up and needed a bottle. I took this with my phone. Yes my friends, that is a skunk. Their tails are so poofy and they look very very soft and actually kind of cuddley? I had never in my life seen one that was alive. Only smelled them or seen them on the side of the road after an unfortunate run-in with a car or truck. So … welcome to the neighborhood? HA!

Then, at 7:30am, the painters arrived. And that intense pace of things has continued since then. It’s been unpacking, organizing, contractors, painters, yard stuff, tree stuff and the beauty of everyday life on top of things. But I will say this – it has been magical – It feels like a dream. But, it’s real – it’s our home.  Our wonderful home sweet home.