'Moving was a success!'

Now when have you ever heard that phrase, "Moving was a success!"?????

Well our move was a success in that, I don't think we lost anything that we haven't already found; we arrived all in one piece; we have CABLE (as of yesterday- no internet YET); and the girls are more happier than I've ever seen them. My parents have ever commented about how they are two different kids (good, happier kids).

New beginnings

Well, after all of the stuffing, packing, taping and more stuffing-- we finally call a new place our home. We moved from our TINY tiny tiny two-bedroom apartment with no backyard/garage/closet space... into our beautiful, HUGE, four-bedroom house with a huge backyard, garage with two garage doors, dog run, boat parking and two white horses. Yes, we are neighbors to two white horses that we've named "Honey" and "Sweetie," courtesy of my girls and my mom.

It is beautiful and such a blessing. I still cannot believe that we are homeowners.

The kitchen is unpacked, the playroom (yes, playroom- the girls have a room JUST for their toys!), girls' room and our room have all been unpacked. What's left to unpack are the boxes of closet stuff that I forgot about. Wrapping paper that will actually have a place in our office/den in our built-in desk in our room. Harley accessories that will know call the garage their home. Brooms and a new vaccum in the broom closet. And the girls brand-new trampoline in the backyard.

I mean as I type these things- I still can't believe it!!!

Our house is beautiful and we love it. The girls love it. And the number one that I was most concerned about, was their sleep. How sleep affects children- as a parent, you know what I'm talking about. If they don't get sleep or their normal daily naps- they are "toddmonsters." (That's my made-up word.) Ava had a rough patch in the middle of the night on our first night, but since then they've slept through the night, unless it's a potty break or they hear the train noise from afar.

For the update on my packing dilemma=great advice from my friend, Brandy. The color coding thing worked like a champ! I knew which colors meant what, even if I had to think for a second what the heck "pink+orange" meant (girl's closet). I did not use her handy way of listing what was in the boxes, I just wrote a general recap in a word or two what was actually in the box. Though towards the end of packing (which was the day-of...) I just wrote what room the box went into. Can't thank her enough!!!

My favorite is to hear from Ava: "I don't want to go home. I want to go to the new house."

Now I don't know how to post a video from FB, but here's a video of the girls JUMMPPPPINGGG!!!

Dirt, 'honey' and 'sweetie'

Why is it this time that I find that the girls are sooooooooooooooooo dirty once we leave our new house to go back to sleep at our old house? I swear, they get so dirty. Maybe from playing in the dirt ... or because of the HORSES IN THE BACKYARD!!!

We have two beautiful white horses that live (not technically) in our backyard. Yeah, I know, it's awesome. They come right up to the fence and say hello. Since we can't feed them due to special diet restrictions that I keep hearing about from the neighbor, but not actually the owner.. they are the best pets I've ever had. They are sweet to the girls and come and say hello when we want to say hello! But I don't have to feed them, clean up their big poops, pay their vet bills or anything!

So welcome to the family, Honey and Sweetie (names the girls picked out with my mom). Honey is the girl and Sweetie is the boy (was named after we found out how 'happy' he was one day).

What I don't like about these animals is the dirt they kick up! We still have to put up a fence in that section of the backyard (it's divided and the other side has a fence), but will still have enough space on top to say hello to our beloved, free pets!

Room position

We have a dilemma! Help! Room position for the girls? We have enough bedrooms so that they can either have their own rooms or share a room and have a playroom/toyroom. I want them to share a room (Ava will be 3 at the end of July and Emma will be 2 at the same time) and my husband wants them to have their own rooms. They currently share their room and are used to each other's cries, screams and championship it takes to share a room with a sibling.

Not only will sharing a room, slice the times they open and shut their door at night (when we put Emma in a toddler bed), all of the toys will be in ONE room.

My husband thinks that they are given the luxary and joy of picking their own room.

What do you all think?

Keys!

YAY! We are officially homeowners. CANNOT believe it!

Hooray!!!

Now off to skim the ads for sales for a fridge, washer, dryer, rugs, hoses, dog houses... you know, all of that fun stuff!

'How to' pack and move with a lot of stuff

After posting that dreadful post about the 'process' of moving and packing, etc. I've had a lot of positive feedback that I thought I would share with all of you!

A few things I do practice everytime I move, is a basic labeling system. Label each box with what room and the general idea of what's in the box. For example, for a box that contains wrapping paper and ribbon, I would label the box "Closet-wrapping/wrap." Pretty simple and I'm sure everyone does this. And I also write it on every side of the box and on top... because obviously the boxes aren't going to appear how you staked them at home... in your new home.

Now I received A LOT of great advice from my friend, Brandy. She's moved three times with her little girl and her advice was extremely helpful and I'm using some of it.

Tips from Miss Brandy:

* Have your children pick out a few things that they really like to play with and put them aside. Also, have the kids pick out a few books and dolls or whatever. (Will use as we get closer to the moving date.)


* She advises to buy a bunch of clear Rubbermaid containers with colored lids and put really fragile things and clothing. It's costly, but something you'll use over and over again. (I haven't gotten to the clothes yet and my cost-efficient advice is to use big garage bags and just shove all the clothes in!)


* This is her biggest hint: buy colored masking tape in a couple different colors and label each box with the corresponding room. For example, use pink for your child's room, blue for the bathroom, yellow for the kitchen and so on. I tried to go this route, but the tape was pretty hefty in price and we didn't have the funds to buy tons of rolls (retail at Michael's was about $5 a pop and Target was a little less than that). Instead, I bought tiny little post-its and have used the coloring system (pink-girls, kitchen-yellow, bathrooms-blue, closets-purple, etc.).

Here's my master list, along with my supplies.

 * Buy new bedding and let the kids pick it out! This goes along with potty training for any child and if/when they transition to a big kid bed. If there's something new and special, and something they picked out-- it will be even more exciting (and less scary) to be in a new bedroom/house.

* She advises also to number the boxes. Write a list of what's inside each box and have a corresponding number to match on a master list. When movers move your stuff and put it all in the garage or front room, you can find items quickly and efficiently. For example, if you want to work on kitchen dishes, look at your list and find where the kitchen dishes are (yellow #2-4) and there you go! 


Thank you, Brandy!!!

If you have any more great advice or tips on how to move with little ones, please comment below!

Process

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