Sitter Sighs

13 Months, Week 4

I don’t think I posted about Nora’s last day with her past sitter - picking her up on her last day was heart-wrenching. 

Even though it was less than a year, Nora loved her sitter and Holly loved her. They built a fantastic relationship. I wasn’t even there 2 minutes when I started crying trying to thank Holly for all her love and care for Nora. We were so lucky to have found her - what a caring, generous woman. 

Both her and I were blubbering messes... Holly was squeezing Nora goodbye and said “This is the hardest job in the world,” and I could feel her sadness. I’m having a hard time holding back tears just writing about it. 

It’s funny that I cried more leaving with Nora from her sitter than when I first dropped her off on her first day!

However I know Nora’s new sitter will be wonderful - her references just gushed about Carrie and she’s a very gentle and caring. It’s just hard putting your child through such an adjustment and hope they make that adjustment well. 

I cried a little bit when I left Carrie’s today, but thankfully she distracted Nora with toys, etc. so I could slide out. I wonder how she’s doing and if she’ll even be able to nap in this new place... having to adjust to 2 news homes for napping can be another challenge. 

Trying to stay strong...

Edit 4:50pm

Carrie kindly text messaged me around lunch:

“Hi Christine this is Carrie, I wanted to let you know Nora is doing great. She has been playing and laughing all morning and has eaten well here. She really likes my son Joe, he read her a few books and she followed him around until he went to school [sounds like Nora and Bobby!].

She fell asleep around 8am. Everyone wakes up at 8:30 around here. It was really quiet and I think she just took advantage. She woke up happy and excited to see the other children.”

So I was so relieved and thankful she sent that text - it made me feel more comfortable and better about the few tears I had this morning : ) 

Moving Weekend - Monday

I feel like today is an extension of our moving weekend because it’s a day of adjustments. 

Nora woke up before 6am again... sigh. So as I finished up and took over Nora duty, Tim took Ailo out one last time before Invisible Fence came this morning to install a new base. I was watching Nora when I heard Tim knock on the patio door. I saw him holding Ailo with his opposite hand upheld, covered in MUD [for those not in the area, it’s been raining for a good day]. He simply said, “Take Ailo. Open the garage door.” Whoa. 

I tried to keep Nora and the dog out of his way while he got out of his wet, muddy clothes until Tim re-emerged from upstairs. Our new yard is a cool space, lots of plants and trees, but no real flat spaces. Dogs can maneuver those spaces. Humans with two legs and wet sneakers - not so much. 

We love Ailo, he is a member of the family. But moving affects pets, too. Ailo has always been a bit clingy, but it’s pushing Tim to his limit. This morning was the last straw so thank God the fence is up and we can let Ailo out whenever and Ailo can start to get acclimated to his space alone. 

As for me, I hiked up my big-girl pants this morning and drove to the Milford park-and-ride bus stop. It’s just between us and our new sitter [who we’ll see on Wednesday]. It had about 10 cars there as opposed to West Chester which housed about 100 cars. No joke. There were 4 of us on the bus when we departed. West Chester bus would be full. 

Despite calling it an express bus, we still make a handful of stops as we make our way down 50 into the city. It was a very pleasant drive, nice scenery and it was fun to see quaint downtown Milford and all the cute restaurants we’ll try over time. We even passed a new brewery called 50 West Brewery - Yes please! 

So from door to door it’s still one hour. About the same time. But it’s pleasant and the bus never filled up, so I’m going to keep at it for a while. 

Moving Weekend - Sunday

So we went to bed at 11pm on Saturday night... only for Nora to wake up at 5:30am. Seriously. But we could tell from her cry she was scared - not quite sure where she was despite our efforts to put her room back the way it was at the old house.

So Sunday started rough for Mommy & Daddy. Nora walked the first floor of the house all morning. Tim and I clutched our coffee for stability. Nora went down for her morning nap around 8am. Funny. But of course despite being exhausted, Tim and I couldn’t nap because now we were awake and wanted to start getting things together.

After showering up, Nora got up at 9:30, snacked and we were out to get a few items at our anchor stores: Kroger & Target! They are both close by which is extremely helpful. Kroger thankfully had the natural/organic section that I’ve grown fond of, so I’m happy we don’t have to go elsewhere for our organic foods.

One observation on Milford vs West Chester - Milford is a little “older” while West Chester is full of young families. And both store weren’t crowded at all - it was amazing. We would rush to Kroger early Sundays before the crowds filled all the checkout lanes. Tim and I like “old and quiet.”

We got back at noon in time for the Krons & half the Kieffers to come for a visit to see the house. Nora was excited to see her family again. She reached up for Bobby who gladly picked her up and held her. So cute!

We actually had a little bit of downtime with Nora early Sunday afternoon which was nice. The afternoon nap was a fat fail because somehow there aren’t any curtain rods in any of the bedrooms nor blinds so I imagine Nora couldn’t fall asleep due to the lighting issue. So after we got her back up, Tim crudely nailed a dark curtain to her window just so something was on there to block light.

We left the house again at 3pm for a dear friend’s father who sadly passed after a heart attack. Nana again graciously watched Nora so we could pay our respects in Franklin and also swing back by Netherland for one last sweep through and shut down. It was a little sad, but I’ve been so exhausted I think I couldn’t dwindle on the emotions.

Tim and I ate Taco Bell for dinner. Yeah date night!

Nora got to bed decently last night and Tim and I vacuumed and washed down the slate floor from all the foot traffic the past two days. Just a heads-up to family and friends; I’m probably going to have a shoe drop in the entry to keep the new floors tidy : )

We buttoned up a little bit more while finally enjoying some celebratory champagne and called it a night by 10pm.

First morning in the new place - can’t wait to see the trees with leaves!

Empty Netherland

Moving Weekend - Friday/Saturday

(I’m breaking up the moving days so it’s easier to read and digest in smaller bits)

Friday Tim picked me up at 2:30 and we made our way to the Hollow Creek closing. It was much quicker than Netherland and less awkward - who wants to make small talk with your buyer/seller? 

I do find it a little bizarre that both our buyer and seller were divorce cases. 

Tim and I made it home a little ahead of schedule so we got Nora together with both cars loaded up and took Nora to Nana’s for 24 hrs. HUGE help having Nora taken care of.

After dropping Nora, we went to our new home to vacume and unload some boxes. 

Friday night we packed up the rest of the old house until 12am. I hit a wall at 11pm because that’s the latest I stay up anymore. We woke up at 6am, showered and got coffee and doughnuts for the movers. I packed up the Subaru again along with Ailo. As I was closing the door on Ailo, the movers arrived at 8:30am. 

Our friends, the Barkers, now live very close to us - about 15 mins away - so they graciously offered to take Ailo on moving day. Maggie is their younger retriever who is Ailo’s girlfriend.

I swung down to our new house, dropped a load of boxes, then quickly got back to old house to cram more stuff in the car at 10:30am. Tim and the movers were close to finishing - 95% of our stuff in ONE truck in ONE trip. I’m still amazed. We hired 4 guys, but got 5 since we were the only job that day. Afterall, it’s the end of January for pete’s sake. 

I had to be back by 11am because the washer/dryer were being delivered between 11-2pm. I believe Tim and crew arrived around 12pm. Washer and dryer arrived at 12:15. Talk about coordination. We turned off the heat since the doors were going to be open for a while. I stood in the entry way in my puffy coat, gloves and coffee and directed the movers for one hour. I will pay for 4 movers again in a heartbeat. So efficient and quick. They were a motley crew from Kentucky, quite the hillbillies, but great work and very friendly. 

The movers were gone by 1:45, Tim and I went back to old house for one last load then back to new house by 3pm for Time Warner Cable. I left at 4pm to get Ailo, home at 5pm, then left to get Nora at 6:15. 

We were noticeably exhausted according to everyone which was funny. We left within half an hour so that Nora wasn’t too off her bedtime schedule. 

Tim and I cracked some beers and continued to unload boxes - I don’t like chaos and clutter, so we have been pretty efficient at unpacking quickly. 

Saturday night we fell into bed at 11pm.

Ailo is always hard to see in shadow, but this was him moping around the last day.

One Year of Nora!

13 Months, Week 4

I cheated a bit, the 4th photo is really 13 months, but ya’ll can understand we were a bit busy...

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

13 Months, Week 3

So not only am I moving to a new town tomorrow, but I also was told on Wednesday that I’m being reassigned to a new team and new brand at work. Huh. 

I knew I wanted to get off the Febreze brand by the end of 2013, but realizing that in 6 weeks I won’t be working with my team anymore really does make me sad. I’ve spent years working with them and building relationships that will probably dwindle since I’ll also be moving across the building. Which is a bit of a blow. I’m probably sitting in the best seat in this entire office - it’s against a window by the entrance with almost double the space of most cubes. Now I’ll be going to zero daylight and a normal cube with low ceilings. It’s a hard pill to swallow [since I’m spoiled right now] and I’m seriously worried how my spirit will react to the physical environment. 

Change is good though, right? You start to go through the motions and you get in a comfort zone. It really will be good for my skill set and build my portfolio. Two major parts of my life are changing in a drastic way and I hope I can handle it...

Thursday morning I woke up at 4am and my brain was alert. This morning I woke up at 4:30 and the brain kept rolling until I got up at 5:50am. Even my theta waves couldn’t lull my brain down. I’m sure it’s going to take another week or so before I can get a good night’s sleep and my brain can calm down...

Calm Before the Storm...

13 Months, Week 3

After last weekend’s insane schedule with a baby shower, friend visit and three caregiver interviews, Tim & I were looking forward to a “quiet” weekend of packing and buying a washer/dryer.

For those interested - we went to Roeker & Berger with the intent of a set of scratch-n-dent, but for about $200 more we got a new matching set so we sprung for that and were still within our budget. Win! Front loading machines feels so luxurious to me!

We finalized our Netherland home closing - Tuesday late afternoon. FINALLY! And we should be scheduling the closing for Hollow Creek on Wednesday. FINALLY! It’s still a week away and January has felt so long knowing the end of the month held the light at the end of the tunnel. 

We are fortunate enough to have care for Nora AND Ailo on moving day. Nana is even taking Nora the night before so Tim and I can not only finish packing her room, but can go to the new home to vacuum before furniture lands. 

I don’t feel stressed about moving weekend, it’s just a finely choreographed dance if you will. But I thrive on organization and planning, so I’m in my element. The lists and scheduling are piling up! 

Monday [MLK Day] is our final walk-through of Hollow Creek. This will be the second time I’ve seen the house. Ridiculous, right? Let’s hope my gut is still happy with the choice! 

We’re so excited and our pocketbooks are rather drained, but it’s a good feeling and a new chapter as we move ahead! 

Baby is packed!

New clubhouse

Caregiver - Check!

13 Months, Week 2

Big weight off our shoulders. We interviewed 3 caregivers this weekend, each girl and her home had various pluses. Tim couldn’t even sleep last night because he was going through all the different attributes for each girl. 

At 7am this morning we had decided on someone as I walked out the door. By the time I got into work this morning at 7:52, we’d switched who we want Nora to be with! She’s a 26-yr old single Mom with two boys in school. She watches about 3-4 kids total, various times and overlapping. She’s about 2 miles from our house and only $5 more a day than we’re paying now. She’s extremely sweet and gentle, had really great referrals and just feel that she’ll truly care about Nora and watching over her. 

Big relief! 

Next weekend we’re packing up nearly everything else and have to find a washer/dryer. 

2 weeks left!

Nora’s Self Movie

13 Months, Week 1

Nora loves my phone as most toddlers do - she sees photos of herself and says “Baby!” She looooves pictures of babies. So I left her to take her own movie. Of herself. 

Moving Forward!

We found out the sellers of Hollow Creek are making the significant repairs to our inspection list - woohoo! Very grateful. 

We are on track to close on Netherland on Jan 18th, with our buyer getting occupancy at the end of the month. We close on Hollow Creek on Jan 23 with immediate occupancy. Moving day is Saturday the 26th - here’s to hoping there won’t be a snowstorm that day!

Happy Family!

Packing up!