Packing up & Hotel Living

At the end of June, we were officially kicked out of our house after renting back from the buyers for the month. I have to admit I left kicking and screaming.  I was not yet ready to leave this home and looking back now on these photos (packing mess and all) makes me miss it.  I loved that little house!

Turns out that we totally underestimated how much stuff we had and just how long it would take us to organize everything.  We ended up scrambling the day the movers showed up, literally snatching things out of their hands as we realized we needed it.  Here you can see us attempting to pack our suitcases for two months while the movers tried to pack around us.  Next time, I will have a plan so that this does not happen again!

Things were getting a little desperate towards the end of the day as Daddy had to use a plastic stirring spoon he found to cut up Lilly's food.  He was lucky to even find that!

In hindsight, we think it might have been a good idea to gather help (i.e. grandparents) to make the packing a little more successful.  With Genevieve in tow we were having a hard time managing taking care of her, making sure everything was being handled properly, and finishing all that we still had to get done.  Fortunately, a wonderful friend of ours from Charleston took Colin for the entire day which we could not have been more grateful for.  Colin did not see one box and did not have to worry about a thing.

We were able to get ten days of a hotel paid for by the military and were fortunate to have a Residential Inn just around the corner from our old house.  Instead of going back home to a house filled with boxes, Colin was able to go straight to the hotel where we spent the next two weeks.  After another day of packing and a final day of loading our house was empty.  

The moving truck filled to the brim.

All that was left to do was to clean it up for the new owners.  I spent one final evening in our house just me, some sappy music, cleaning supplies, and a whole lot of memories.  I needed to say goodbye and doing it in this way was very cleansing (no pun intended). I plan to make this a tradition for myself in each of our homes. By the next day, when we handed it over to the new owners, we were ready.

Our little man was definitely confused.  He didn't understand why were were staying in a hotel room.  I hadn't spoken to him about moving as he was still a little too young to comprehend but he knew something was up. He was still going to school, seeing his friends, and knew we were close to home.  For the first few days when we walked into the hotel room he cried, "House bye bye House bye bye."  It broke my heart and I couldn't believe all that he was picking up on even though we were trying to shield him from it. After a few days he got use to it and by the end of the two weeks the hotel room became home.  Its crazy how quick these little ones can adapt!  

Here are just a few highlights of our hotel living:

We did our best to make our little one bedroom suite as comfortable as possible.  We covered up the yucky hotel couches which made our stay so much nicer.  The maids would even fix it for us.

We spent some time in the gorgeous pool.  (Genevieve had her first time in the pool but unfortunately there are no photo since Mommy was alone.)

Lots of brother/sister bonding time:

Same shirt, different day...

Genevieve had lots of tummy time....

While big brother had lots of TV and Ipad time...

And Lilly had lots of cage time.

That's right, LOTS of cage time.  Why? Because this was a pet room and with a pet room comes a ton of smells, and Lilly could. not. control herself.  First thing she did when we got in the hotel was pee three times! Disgusting.

It was not a pleasant odor.  Even G agrees...

Colin got to open his birthday presents from his party in the hotel.  We were so happy that the gifts gave him something to do:

The kitchen was quite minimal and with a toddler and infant and decided I wasn't even going to attempt to make dinner.  Fortunately, the hotel offered dinner several nights a week and on the other nights we ordered out like this pizza night.

We all enjoyed sleeping in one room which really turned out not to be so bad.  The best part was getting to see Colin asleep.  Since he's always been a difficult sleeper, we never dare turn a light on around him sleeping or peak in his room but here we had no choice.  I just loved getting to see my little snuggle bug in bed.

And for naps, Genevieve typically laid on Mommy in the living room while Colin slept in the bedroom.

All in all hotel living really wasn't all that bad.  I could get use to free meals 4 nights a week and a maid to clean up after us.