++Wow++

I thought I was ready for this madness. I was really good about not being too sappy about leaving my friends and our little house, etc. I think I really had myself fooled that this wasn't going to phase me. I was doing really well ignoring the small pangs of sadness and diving into box after box. The funniest thing made me feel sad, though. I went to the grocery store here and then it hit me...I'm not on vacation and I'm not going home...this is home now.

Still no pictures. I keep taking them though so I'll have lots to post later. Technically we don't have internet access yet. I'm "borrowing" it from some unsuspecting neighbor. There's lots to talk about. I'll add more details later. Here are the highlights of the move:

--new house: I think we are going to get along just fine. I love the family room and kitchen. In fact, that's pretty much where we live. The living room and dining room are empty right now.

--memphis: can't quite say yet. I didn't leave the house until my trip to Kroger this afternoon. The weather the first day was fabulous but today it felt eerily similar to Minnesota at twenty degrees.

--wyatt: he's getting by. I think he was pretty confused. He was away from his bed for ten days. Then he came to this new place...but all his stuff was there. He isn't sleeping or napping very well. I'm not sure if it is all the changes or the cold that he seems to have caught.

--irony: I never thought that there would have been so many things that I actually preferred about our little old house. Yes, the old bathroom was pink and black and the three of us shared one sink. However, in the new bathroom (which is far larger than our old bedroom), there is no place to hang our towels...go figure. Also, if you stand outside the house and look into the glass front doors there is a straight shot on the far left side into our clear glass shower. You can't see the bed, the sinks, the toilet. Nope, just the glass shower. Good thing we figured that out before we learned the hard way.

--savior: my father-in-law has been here with us the whole time and he has been great. He plays with Wyatt all day and helps us out at night. Yesterday they went to the park, but when he decided it was too cold out, they went to McDonalds for french fries instead. That's the kind of thing Grandpas do best.

We're hanging in there. We're down to the last ten boxes or so. All the things that were stashed in the basement because they didn't really have a home in the old house. Now we need to try to find a home for them here. Or just throw them away. That is what Mark will vote for I'm sure. My parents arrive on Friday and my mom can help me find the smart spot for everything. Everything in the kitchen is technically put away...just don't expect me to find anything.

Keep in touch! I laughed as I looked at our art collection. Half of it is Minnesota stuff. People are going to think we are obsessed...maybe they are right.

++Homeless++

We have some great photos of Christmas and the move...but I have no idea where my camera cord is. Typical. I do know that our cable box is securely packed in a box and on a truck bound for Memphis...exactly where we told them not to put it.

So far things are going well. Being homeless isn't so bad. Only a few tears were shed when we left the house. I shed a few more after lunch with my best friends today. I would have cried harder but we were in Macy's and people were looking. Thank heaven for that.

We should be in the new home as early as Sunday afternoon but definitely Monday. I can't wait for Wyatt to cruise around the new place. Speaking of the little one. He has spent the last three days with his Grandparents in Wisconsin. It has been heaven for everyone involved. Mark and I loved not having to worry about his schedule amidst all the chaos...and Grandma and Grandpa are so good to the little guy it's like summer camp for toddlers. He comes back to MN today and we will fly down together on Sunday. Tennessee...here we come!

++Mini Goodbyes++

Wyatt's best buddies (you see them in all the photos) threw him a fabulous goodbye party. Now that the kids are mobile it's really challenging to get all four of them to sit together for a photo, much less have them all looking in the same direction. Wyatt had his very first playdate with these kiddos when he was about two weeks old (we jokingly called it a meeting of La Leche League). It's so sad that we won't be seeing them weekly anymore.

Playing a goodbye tune
No party is complete without a cake. He LOVED the trucks (the icing wasn't bad either!)

++Signed, sealed, delivered++

Last week we officially signed this house over to the relocation company. Today we signed the papers to buy our new house. So, technically, we are now citizens of Tennessee. Sure doesn't feel like that yet.
Yesterday we had our first day above 20 in a while so I took Wyatt out to play in the snow. Don't call child protection services on me since he doesn't have boots or snowpants...we were only out there for twenty minutes. He loved every second of it. I am just too practical to stock up on all that stuff since we are heading to the tropics (ok, not really, but compared to 10, 50 feels pretty tropical!) Here is our little snowman.

++The long goodbye++

The farewell festivities have begun. I am still in denial. I made it through our first goodbye party without any tears. They have been coming more frequently in recent days. Can't wait to see what 12/30 brings...

Our great friends Brad and Emily (to whom we are connected in so many ways: Michigan, Carmichael Lynch, Neighbors...and kids who are 3 weeks apart) threw us this great going away party at The Loon Cafe downtown. We enjoyed the kitschy Minnesota decor and their famous chili. I had a beer...A BEER...and realized if I was going to get up with my son at 6 in the morning, I should stop there. So sad.

Gotta love the cake. I guess it started as a High School Musical design.

Brad and Emily (not sure who took this...kinda looks like a prom photo...)

The guests were mainly my fabulous girlfriends and their husbands. I have been so blessed to have each of them in my life over the past...wow...ten years for some of them! It has been so fun to be with them as each of us has gotten married and many of us has continued on to have kids. We meet every other Wednesday night under the 'guise of a knitting club. I can't remember last time anyone actually brought out their needles. A few of them still bring their bags though. Hopefully we'll still be together when we all should be knitting as old ladies.

The girls

Our dear friends Shawn and Kelly

The long goodbye continues. Coming up next: Wyatt's going away party.

++Snapshots from the trip++

Here are a few highlights from the trip. I have more to add about the details of our move, but I thought I should cover this event first so stay tuned. The boys had a lot of fun together. It made us sad that they don't get to spend more time together. We had Larson-a-palooza while we were down there with a celebration in his honor every day. He is going to be let down the next time he heads to Florida and doesn't get gifts every day. So these are my favorite shots:

The audience watching the post-dinner entertainment (a.k.a. two boys running around the living room chasing each other)

Larson's vocabulary never stopped cracking us up. This is Larson checking out the "dead gecko" Note the lack of swimsuit...this is due to the lost luggage.

The big boy at his Birthday party.

Aunt Kate found this great train conductors hat. Doesn't he look so cute in it? Note the train in each hand. The green one (Percy for the Thomas novices) never leaves his hands.
Do these boys look like troublemakers or what? All dressed up for Larson's re-scheduled Baptism (due to the cancelled flight).
Wyatt checking out the lawnmowers on the golf course. I just loved the shot.
Playing on the golf cart with dad.
We can't wait for Christmas. It was so fun to see Wyatt react and get excited as he opened gifts. This is the fire truck he got from Nana and Bompa.
Boys being silly.
Wyatt LOVED the beach (read: giant sandbox). Heading to dip their toes in the ocean. Bompa, Wyatt and Dad.
Boys in the box. Note their matching shirts. I'm the one with too much time. We'll let Susan off the hook.

++A walk on the beach++

We're in Florida this week with my entire family. After a rocky start for Susan's crew (which included a night on the floor of O'Hare airport and another day without luggage) we were able to start "vacationing." I put it in quotes because it seems there really are no vacations when one- and two-year-olds are involved.

This year for my parents' Christmas gift, we hired a photographer to take some photos of our family at the beach. Here are a couple of other fun highlights.

The cousins are enjoying each other. It's so fun to see what we have in store for us in less than a year. Larson never stops talking. Yesterday Bompa took the boys on a neighborhood excursion in the golf cart. The highlight was seeing diggers at a building site on the golf course.

Thursday it's back to reality...and snow. Hopefully we won't have to dig our way back into our house. Leaving Minneapolis in January will be so much easier than June!