Luuuucy...

...we're home!

Yep.  2,000 miles.  Three and a half days on the road.   We are very glad we made the decision to drive instead of fly.  Our route took us through western Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and finally Washington…a part of the country that we would probably have never seen otherwise.  Granted, 90% of it was boring, flat, nothingness, but the 10% up in the mountains made it worthwhile.  Awesome.  Stopping to see some friends and family along the way didn’t hurt either. 

Stories (and photos) from the trip will have to wait.

Luckily, the apartment was available when we arrived, so we didn't have to stay another night in a hotel.  Unpacking and repacking just that one suitcase every day was starting to make me crazy.  

It's a beautiful apartment complex and neighborhood.  Very upscale.  Feels awkward, as if we're "living above our paygrade", but I think we'll survive.  Our apartment is very open and the provided furniture is really nice.  I'll put up pictures when we've finished unpacking and organizing and things look halfway decent.

I'm loving the weather!  This place looks like a rainforest, but surprisingly the humidity isn't noticeably different from [some days in] Kansas.  The weather forecast had me a little nervous - a solid week of rain following our arrival.  And it did keep up a drizzle for our entire first full day here (didn't keep us from getting out for a much-needed walk!), but since then we've seen the sun at least a few times a day.  It is wonderful.  High temps have been in the 60's, but when the sun comes out the air warms up just enough - not too hot.  And no wind.  No! wind!  We are going to get so spoiled.

Daniel is in his third day at the office.  So far they have just been working out the kinks in getting everyone's computers and stuff working, but next week I think they're really going to get started.  It sounds like a nice place - big windows with views of the Sound and Whidbey Island, and only about a mile from the apartment.  

Well, Hollie's been doing great.  Her sleep seems to finally be getting back to normal.  During the drive she got into a pattern of going to bed really late and waking up really early (only sleeping about six hours) and taking two long naps in the car...and continued that for our first two days here.  This morning however, after waking up at 5:45, she and I went and sat on the couch and she dozed off again...for another two hours!  A good step back toward normal.  

We're trying to get by without using any baby-proofing like gates or cabinet locks, so it has been about 80% clever organization on our part, and 20% reminding Hollie to please not to dig in the trash can.   

When we got here, she definitely had an instinctive feeling of being in someone else's house, which kept her from really getting into the exposed TV cords and unraveling the toilet paper rolls.  It gave me a nice grace period to get things, at a minimum, safe.  That feeling is slowly wearing off, but it has been a good learning experience for her - she can take everything out of the kitchen drawers and cabinets and I won't stop her (let's face it, I can't), but she needs to put everything away (with help, for now) before she moves on.  I know that it's only a matter of time before she starts to truly feel at home...then we're really going to have to keep an eye on that toilet paper.  

Happy Memorial Day weekend!  And congratulations to my little sister...graduated from high school yesterday.  I can't believe it.  Sorry I didn't call you...I will this weekend.  

First appointment with my new OB is next Tuesday!

Much more to write about...coming soon.             

Finally

Travel plans.  We have 'em.

Earlier this week they told Daniel they wanted him to start in Seattle next Monday.

First, we thought it might be possible for all of us to fly out together this weekend.  Then we thought Daniel might fly out first, and Hollie and I would follow a few days afterward.  Then we thought Daniel might fly out this weekend, work a few days, then fly back here and make the drive with me...
It went on and on - juggling what the relocation people could make happen, and what was actually going to work for us.

Finally, two days ago, we figured, why don't we just drive all together this weekend?  Get it over with.  

Ran it by the managers yesterday and got the go-ahead.  Daniel won't be starting on Monday...more like Wednesday, but they're okay with that.  Airline tickets on such short notice are craaaazy expensive, so we're saving them a chunk of change.  It will be a long drive, and a busy few days getting ready to go, but I am so-so-so happy that this is finally happening.

Fortunately, while we were waiting for all these things to fall into place, we were mentally preparing, so now the actual preparing and packing is off to a great start and hopefully will continue to go smoothly.

We tried to have some fun while we waited, too.

 

Yes, painting with q-tips.  Yes, shoes are on the wrong feet.  She's a tough one to argue with about that.

This girl is funny.  Here are a few of the new and crazy things we've heard from her lately:

"Oh my josh"

"Stay here.  I be right back."

One morning she woke up after Daniel had left, and when she asked for him I said, "Oh, Daddy went bye-bye."  She shook her head and insisted "Daddy hello!"

When we're out walking and we look for cars before crossing the street, she's got the script down pat: "No cars? No trucks?  Okay, go!"  No prompting necessary.  There have been a few times that she's run away even after we've yelled for her to stop, which we've let her know is unacceptable, but she's never run into the street.  I think she has, what I like to call, a "healthy fear" of moving vehicles.

There's more, but it's late and my head's full of packing checklists and things to do tomorrow - our last full day to get ready.  I have new belly pictures accumulated, so next time I have a minute (ha) I'll get that updated.

Next time you hear from me, it will probably be from Washington!

Revise

So, we didn't leave this week.  Now it's looking like May 19th at the latest (but possibly earlier).

We had a little scare - almost immediately after getting the green light to go on this trip, Daniel found out about a little wrench in the works that might prevent him from leaving Wichita.  There's another project that might need him.  Put a little damper on our excitement for a moment, but on the other hand - flattering that my husband is in such high demand at work!  Anyways, it seems to have been worked out, and we've been told, again, that we are going to Seattle as planned...but there is a meeting next week to decide for certain what's going to happen.  From what I understand, everyone's aware that this trip will be a great opportunity for him and they won't keep him here unless they really really need him.

So, after being given a 100% affirmative, an "out-of-the-blue" negative, and a 99.9% affirmative all in a short time, we're just going to sit tight and wait.  It's been nerve-wracking at times, but thankfully it's in our nature (as a couple) to stay relaxed, wait and see, and make the best of whatever happens.  But that doesn't mean that Daniel's been twiddling his thumbs.  He's been hounding them to commit to travel and start dates and just make decisions about this...possibly relaying the stress he's been getting at home from a certain pregnant someone.  Preliminary details (housing arrangements, new facility clearances, etc) are starting to fall into place, and he feels like these things wouldn't even be happening yet if he wasn't staying on top of it.  He's taking care of us.  :)

Whew!  I know everyone who reads this has probably already heard it from us in person anyways, but still feels good to unload.

I've been keeping myself occupied by making mental packing checklists.  Since we don't have to take furniture, it seems like we're actually bringing very little: clothing (for all four of us!), Hollie's toys and books, baby gear, stuff like that.

After a pleasantly short search for good OBs in the area, there are several so far that will be willing to see me.  That's a huge weight off my shoulders.

Looking forward to a huge weight off my midsection, too!  I was 32 weeks yesterday, and saw Dr. J earlier this week, for (hope I don't jinx it!) the second-to-last time.  Everything is good, as usual, and baby's head seems to be down.

For a while now I've been having sciatic nerve pain that has been almost constant, but of course that pretty much comes with the territory and there's not much you can do about it, anyway, aside from taking Tylenol and applying heat.  Always frustrating to me to be unable to fix the cause, and only treat the symptoms.  However, I've found that sitting cross-legged and keep my back straight really helps...even reduces the pain for a few hours afterward!  

The very bottom of my belly button is now out in the open, in case you were wondering.  So cool.  :)

<---Two new belly pictures up...

I haven't told you much about what Hollie's up to these days, and I will be sure to fix that.  She continues to amaze us daily with the things she says and does.

Example:  I gave her a bowl of blackberries for a snack.  I usually stay with her when she's eating anything that could result in a bad stain (like blackberries), but this time I got distracted.  Later I saw her without the bowl and freaked out, started running around the house, imagining an overturned bowl and blackberries smooshed into the carpet somewhere.  Looked everywhere...couldn't find it.  Don't know why I didn't just ask her where the bowl was.

She had put it in the sink.