Unaccompanied Baggage

Yesterday our unaccompanied baggage went out. Essentially it is "express baggage" and flies by plane... instead of boat like all our other stuff. This shipment is supposed to take about a month (compared to 2-3 months). We couldn't pack furniture, but were able to pack linens, some clothes, toys, baby stuff (in case our stuff takes over 3 months), an air mattress, fold up chairs, etc. Pretty much we could end up in a house without anything, so at least this stuff can get us by. Our household goods will leave in less than two weeks... yikes. This is going way too fast. Right after our shipment went out, Adeline's friend Mary came over. Adeline immediately said, "We can't play with the strawberry shortcake toys because they are on their way to Germany". She has been a really good sport thus far and has been surprisingly positive. She is just worried about missing her friend Mary; which she says is also her favorite thing about Boston.




While the movers were here Abe brought some donuts for them. Of course the girls needed first dibs on them. Adeline pretty much just eats all the frosting right off the top and then is done. Norah on the other hand will eat the entire thing, but for some reason won't touch it. Maybe too sticky? She leaves it on the table, leans over and eats it with her mouth. She is such a crack up.

Adeline's first day of school

Adeline missed her first couple days of preschool since we were in Utah, so she started last Friday. She has the same teachers as last year... Mrs. Waekling (used to be Ms. Kelley but she got married) and Mrs. Brickley). Adeline also has a handful of kids in her class that she is friends with or knows. She loved school last year too even from the beginning, but didn't talk to the teachers or socialize very much with the other kids because she was so shy. This year is quite different. She is very comfortable since she knows some of the kids, her teachers and is in the classroom across the hall from last year. Adeline loves it so far. Apparently some people may think it is rude of me for putting her in preschool when she will only be there for 5 weeks since she is "taking up a spot", but she loves it and it is nice for her to have an activity every morning. Plus I have a little time in the morning to get more done. Today after I dropped Adeline off at school, Norah and I went walking all around base for the 2.5 hours. I did stop for 15 minutes at the commissary to pick up groceries and about 15 minutes at home to drop them off, but it was really nice to get some sort of exercise. I am started to freak out a little bit with the move coming up and the big changes that lie ahead. Our first shipment goes out tomorrow... hopefully I can do a blog update :)

End of Utah and back to reality

It was SO nice to go to Utah and pretend like I had no worries :) The girls had a blast seeing their grandparents and cousins and I was so happy to be able to see Abe again. We were in Utah for two weeks before he arrived. The entire time he was gone, Norah seemed a little lost. She was ALWAYS asking where Abe went and was extremely clingy to me. I would be in a different room in my house and she would start to panic if she couldn't see me. That was a long 6 weeks for her.... and me... and Adeline. Adeline is such a little cowgirl now and wanted to go horseback riding just about everyday. We also spent a lot of time on the swings both at my parents house and Abe's parents house. Abe even sent me some pretty flowers on our 6th anniversary and then we celebrated by going out for a night once he got home. Here are some of the highlights of our trip...





























Now we are back in Boston trying to figure out what needs to be done. Between all the move stuff, my church calling that is all of the sudden seeming demanding to me, photography (almost done!), selling our car, sewing a handful more sewtinybaby covers and the baby in my belly.... things are CRAZY!! Adeline started preschool today (3 days late due to Utah) and had a great first day of school. I will post pictures this weekend. We also had a ultrasound today (I am 21 weeks) and the baby looks nice and healthy. We did not find out what it is, so that will be a surprise... even though I am pretty sure it will be a girl :)

More pictures

This is mostly a grandpa/Norah picture overload from when we went to the Park City splash pad. I couldn't help but post all of them because they are so dang cute. Norah loves her grandpa.

Counting the days...

Ten more days until I get to see Abe. Until girls get to see daddy. We all cannot wait! It has seemed like forever since we saw him. We have totally managed on our own, however it has been tough trying to get everything ready for Germany. I did not have ANY IDEA how much went into an international move. We will have 2 shipments, 1 day of storage and will also have to ship our car. We also have had to get Chloe "ready" for the move, flights booked, military passports on their way, we will need travel passports for the girls, etc. etc. etc. Thank goodness I have had friends willing to help watch my girls while I have had several appointments to schedule everything. A couple weeks ago I was sick and completely overwhelmed with everything (& had to get a root canal) and called the airlines in tears trying to change my flight to Utah to go a week earlier. Unfortunately I was going to take over $600 to change our tickets and I decided it was not worth it.

On Wednesday the girls and I flew in to Utah. I think it was almost 6 hours of flying time (plus a layover) and the girls were complete ANGELS. I was so relieved. As soon as we got to my parents house, Adeline ran inside and immediately put on her jeans, cowboy boots and begged my dad to take her on a horseback ride. She LOVES riding the horses. Norah was a little worried at first sitting on the horse and wanted to get off. As soon as my dad started riding with her, she was laughing, moving back and forth and saying "giddy up!". We have only been home (in Utah) a couple days, but it is so nice to be around family and not be doing EVERYTHING myself. My sister Sierra came in town for a handful of days so we could see her and our kids are having a blast together.