All The Way to Waco

We had every intention today of stopping in Dallas...but then we got there, it was still early, Evan was hanging in and so we decided to keep going. We made it all the way to Waco (about three hours north of San Antonio)!

It was a pretty uneventful day. We started about 8:30, stopped for a quick Sonic lunch in Texarkana and managed to sail through Dallas with no issues. We arrived at our hotel by 5 pm and promptly headed to Taco Cabana for dinner...so GOOD! We brought Evan to the pool for a quick swim before bedtime and he was sleeping tonight by 7:45! I cannot say enough how great he's been...I have been pleasantly surprised at how flexible he's been, even when his naps have been either very short or non-existent!

You can tell we're tired; pictures are fewer and blog posts shorter. We'll be happy to finally be settled but that likely won't happen for another couple of weeks. We'll be in another hotel next week as we wait for carpet to be installed and for our things to be delivered. After that it will be unpacking and settling in. It cannot happen soon enough...

Evan was not as happy as we were to cross the TX border...this is the best we could do!

Leg Three To Little Rock

We made it...

We woke up bright and early at 6 am this morning to get a better start to the day. We did just that, heading out onto the open road by 7:45!

There were the usual couple of stops for potty breaks and playtime and a couple of extras due to Evan managing to get BOTH arms out of his car seat harness (what's my problem with this thing??) and throwing woobie around the car so that it landed in places I couldn't easily reach while doing 70 mph on the highway. Insert big sigh here...

We stopped for lunch at one of our standards, Chik-Fil-A, and learned too late that today was "Cow Appreciation Day" meaning, if you were dressed as a cow you ate for free! There were entire families (yep, Dads and all!) dressed as cows and lined up for their free chicken. If I had only known...or thought to at least get a picture of it!

After a long day of driving we stopped just after 4 pm in North Little Rock. We'll be back on the road in the morning headed for Dallas, TEXAS!!! We're so close....I can almost taste the breakfast burritos now!

You can't really see it but hanging from the top of the bridge is the "Welcome to Arkansas" sign. For obvious reasons we didn't stop for it. But it sure was nice crossing the Mighty Mississippi...

So we drove into the Arkansas Welcome Center and took this picture instead... It looks to me like the sign says "Kansas" but we're most definitely in AR (we can tell by the HEAT!!!)

Rules are a bit more lax on the road...here's how I found Evan after turning my back for literally 10 seconds. Something I have to do at each hotel room is unplug the phones...little dude loves dialing and picking up the receiver to say "hiiii"...so stinkin' cute.

Remove Nash, Insert Cooke

'Cause we're in Cookeville tonight, not Nashville!

Today was especially long, or it least it seems like it. For some reason it took three hours to leave the hotel this morning (at 9am!). We planned all along to stop in Lake City, where Scott's mom lived for quite some time and where he spent many Christmas vacations with his family (a side note; I tagged along on one Christmas trip in 1999 that resulted in our engagement - so the city has special meaning to me as well). Scott's aunt and cousins still live there and we thought it would be nice to say a quick hello since, well, we're never just driving through Tennessee. That detour added a couple hours to our trip. Once we were on the road again we decided to stop about 90 miles short of Nashville, here in Cookeville, TN.

Evan had an okay day. I had to wake him up a little early and as soon as he started his nap we had to stop for gas. Just after that was our Lake City visit so he didn't sleep at all until about 3:45 and even then it only lasted about 45 minutes. Oh well..

The time change gave us an hour, but it also meant Evan's 8 pm bedtime felt like 9pm. You can imagine the mood he was in by then! All in all, though he has done much better than I expected.

Tomorrow's plan is to drive 6.5 hours to Little Rock. We're trying to make up a little time since we didn't get all the way to Nashville today. It will be our longest day of the five...wish us luck!

Evan wasn't exactly in the mood for the Tennessee picture...

Good ol' Lake City

Hotel fun with Evan...we've learned to be creative!

West to Wytheville

Our first day on the road is done...and all went amazingly well!

By the time we said our goodbyes to Lee, Alex and Jackson, fueled up and got much-needed coffee, we were on the road at about 8:45 this morning. We drove about two hours before Evan started getting a little antsy, which I decided was due to him not eating breakfast this morning (even though I offered him three different things in an effort to (1) fill his belly and (2) get out that first poop before getting in the car!). So, we decided to stop just before 11 am for lunch. We completely lucked up on a McDonald's that had an outside playland (since I had not done my homework as Melissa suggested and mapped these out beforehand!). The weather was perfect and Evan had a great time playing both before and after lunch. With his diaper changed, hands wiped and belly filled, we loaded back into the car and he was asleep within ten minutes.

He slept like a champ, which was a concern considering he's never really napped in the car. He slept on and off for about two hours. Yippy!

Once he woke up we decided to stop again for a little leg stretching, snack and playtime. Again, we lucked up with a Burger King inside a convenience store with an inside playground. Both these playgrounds today were fully enclosed tube structures which made me a bit anxious since I could only hear where Evan was climbing and not see him. To my surprise (and delight) he wasn't scared at all...he climbed through them like he had done it a million times before. I did have to rescue him from the last stop at Burger King, however. He didn't see the need to stop "driving" the car to find his way to the slide so that we could leave. He wasn't happy with me...

After that stop we drove about another hour and landed in Wytheville, VA. This was our planned stop for the night...about 5 hours away from Columbia (although we arrived at 5pm!). Our plan is to drive about 5 hours a day (or a little more if Evan will let us!) to get to San Antonio by Sunday.

Tomorrow we plan drive to Nasville...about 5.5 hours.

Some pictures from today:

This morning we decided it would be fun to take a picture with Evan at each state line we crossed. Not long into our trip this morning we passed this sign; and then had to turn around to make sure we got this picture! Not 1/4 mile down the road from this sign was one welcoming us to West Virginia - we decided to skip it; especially since about 15 minutes later we were back in VA...not sure how that happened. Guess it's the crazy way these three states lie geographically.

This was taken at our McDonald's lunch stop. Evan loved climbing up the slide rather than using the steps...of course! One time he slid down holding one of his shoes. I was SO GLAD he thought to retrieve it before coming down...I would not have wanted to go in after it!

Mommy and Ev enjoying the slide at Burger King. This playland was exceptionally challenging...I almost needed GPS to find my way through the tubes to the slide. And what is it about these slides that causes you to be shocked all the way down? They really need to do something about the static electricity problem...I can't believe kids think this is fun!

One of my two trips into the tube of terror to talk Evan out...he loved the thing! He especially loves steering wheels lately...always wants in my car to "drive"!

Almost there...This was taken just before we stopped driving for the day. I radioed to Scott to bring me the camera as soon as he stopped so that I could catch this. Notice he has a leg thrown over his seat AND one arm out of the harness. Guess I need to tighten those up tomorrow!

Homeless

It's official; we're "homeless".

The last days have been a whirlwind of activity. Our packers arrived on July 2nd and proceeded to cram all our worldly possessions into some boxes (which, by-the-way is like Christmas on the back end when I get to open them all and see what's inside...sometimes I actually forget about things I have when I haven't seen them in three weeks!). It wouldn't have been the same without some drama so, in true Murphy's Law form, that same day Evan had a temperature. Thinking I should get him checked out before we hit the road, I brought him to the doctor. Luckily it turned out to be just the sniffles but I did ask the doc to take a look at Evan's by-then-red-and-swollen lower lip. We decided it could've been the start of a fever blister and Evan and I headed home. Over the course of the next hour we watched his lower lip continue to swell, then the upper lip, then the cheek, eye....We left the Emergency Room at 9 pm that night after a dose of Benadryl and steroids. It was an allergic reaction of some sort but, as usual, we have no idea. Maybe he's allergic to moving...

Friday the 3rd was relatively quiet; the calm before the storm.

On Saturday (that's right, July 4th) we waited for the movers to arrive. By 10 am our things were being loaded into a very large truck. That process didn't finish until 7pm! Debbie and Nancy were lined up to watch Evan for a few hours on both the pack and move days but, with his fever we all decided it best to keep him home. I was completely anxious at the thought but Evan was a trooper! He mostly stayed out of the way and took long naps in the pack and play...in the closet. If I had only known how well he sleeps in there I may just have made it his nursery two years ago!!

Sunday and Monday were dedicated to cleaning and painting. By then Evan was feeling better and able to play with his friends Josh, Molly and Monica for a few hours on Sunday. On Monday Evan had his last day with Debbie while Scott and I repainted his room (whose idea was it to paint the nursery, anyway??) and finished cleaning for the walk-through at 3pm. We took it right to the wire and when I left to pick up Evan the management company was just arriving for our inspection.

This move has taken an especially emotional toll on me. I think it's a combination of having great friends who I've grown really close to in such a short time and this being Evan's first home and first friends. On Sunday we said goodbye to our neighbor, Nancy and her sweet kiddos, Josh, Molly and Monica. Josh and Molly have been special playmates to Evan; Josh even recently knocked on the door asking if Evan could play which is super-sweet considering Evan's only two and they could just think of him as "the baby next door". Evan's also been giving Monica some training as a Mother's Helper as she has watched him several times so that we could work more efficiently at getting things ready for the move. It was a tough goodbye...

I couldn't sleep on Sunday night in anticipation of what would surely be another difficult day of goodbyes. Difficult it was. I picked Evan up and watched him and Debbie play at the top of her stairs as she tried to coerse him into changing his diaper. And I cried. I just couldn't help but think this was the last time I would see them interact this way, witness the special bond that is theirs, see how much she loves him. I like to think he'll always remember her but, sadly, I know that's probably not true. Luckily I will.

We said our long goodbyes to Debbie, Mason and Micah and headed back to the house to say goodbye to our newest neighbors, the Beyers. Even though we've only known them since March we have come to be really great friends. Since the weather has warmed up Greg and Scott can be found a lot of nights shooting washers in the back yard as the kids run through and Katrina, Nancy and I chat on the side. Ashley and Evan have become fast friends. He absolutely loved playing chase with her; a sign of things to come, possibly? Older girls chasing after him!?! The day the moving truck arrived Ashley cried because Evan was moving away. Made my heart melt...

After many hugs and well-wishes we were on our way. Since Saturday we've been staying with our friend, Lee and his two kiddos. They've welcomed us warmly and we're so thankful. Today Scott heads back to Fort Meade for some final out processing and then we'll be packing the cars for the long ride to San Antonio tomorrow.

Some people pity us and this transient life we lead. Yes, it's more challenging in a lot of ways but it's more rewarding, too. I have friends in Missouri, Texas and now Maryland that I never would have otherwise. Each place holds friends who have known me at a specific time in my life; in Missouri I was newly married and had never lived so far away from home, in Texas I was venturing into a new career, and in Maryland, a new mommy. My friends in each of these places have supported me and helped mold me into who I am. I can't imagine who I'd be without them.

Today I'm a combination of sad and excited. I plan to let my fond memories propel me forward into what will surely be an exciting time in Texas; the second stop on what has become Evan's Big Air Force Adventure...because now it's really all about showing him the great places and faces of, hopefully, the world.

Goodbye friends...until we meet again.

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test and don't ask why
It's not a question but a lesson learned in time
It's something unpredictable but in the end it's right
I hope you had the time of your life

~Good Riddance, Green Day

The Countdown Begins

We are T minus 11 days and counting; we're currently planning to pull out for the long drive on Wednesday, July 8th.

I can say things have finally started taking shape. It definitely looks and feels like we're moving. It's funny to me how I've forgotten these feelings from moves past. How, really, everything just feels the same; our daily routines are intact, the house looks lived in and things are still in their place. I have caught myself sitting and thinking, "wow, it sure doesn't seem like we're moving in TWO weeks!" What I'm trying to say is that I had forgotten how quickly a move really comes together. One day you're sitting on your couch watching TV and the next that same couch is shrink-wrapped and your TV is in a box. It's amazing to me how much I forget about moving during the three years we spend on station. You'd think this would be old hat by now, but it's not. Sure, we now have lists of lessons learned, things we need in the cars for the trip, etc. But the shear magnitude of moving coupled with the speed at which it happens - surprises me everytime. Maybe it's just that my emotions are slower to catch up.

In any case, we are in final prep mode; pictures and curtains are down, everything is washed and waiting to be packed, only what we need for the next month (towels, clothes, etc) is in use. Tomorrow we'll continue the process of getting ready; pools have to be deflated, toys separated, and the list goes on.

The packers are scheduled for the 1st and 2nd with the truck picking up all our worldly belongings on the 6th, traipsing them halfway across the country and hopefully not losing them along the way!

We will be moving in with the VanCleef's (our friend, Lee and his two kiddos) for the last 4 to 5 days before we head out; I think it would be too difficult to live in our house with all our possessions boxed and not be able to open them if I needed something!

I'll be sure to update along the way...the plan is to be in SATX on July 12th. Right now I'm still having a hard time believing so much will take place in such a short amount of time!

My Daily Soundtrack

I've said it before; Evan LOVES banging on anything with everything! He bangs trees with sticks, puzzle pieces together, the baby wipes box with his toy hammer...you name it. His banging is generally encouraged unless it's - oh let's say - taking his toy bat to the TV stand...or dining room chairs...or glass-top table. We have to set some boundaries, right?

Anything else is fair game and Scott and I have learned to function amidst the chaos. Sometimes that means raising our voices to continue our conversation and sometimes it means reirecting Evan to a softer toy to bang with and "misplacing" his drum sticks!

This morning was no exception. The first thing he picked up was his drum and sticks...sigh...

A little sampling of his musical prowess..