Last night after we ate dinner we moved the rest of our stuff to the new house. Conor had to make one trip first and then came back and got us and the rest of the stuff.
The kids were kind of melting down, so that was a bit of a pain trying to get all the toys put away and such. Luckily Elle had a late nap (because it took her FOREVER to fall asleep) so we weren't rushed to get her to bed. We left the other place around 7:30, a friend came to drop off a playpen for us to use until we get the crib put together, and then I think Elle was in bed by 815 and Finn went to bed just after 830.
Then we set to work unpacking. I sorted the clothes and Conor sorted out the food. We don't have any dressers yet (we bought one for ourselves but haven't put it together yet), so we each have one suitcase still for our clothes, but at least now Conor and I have most of our stuff hung up.
After that was done Conor was going to wash some dishes to be ready to use, but he discovered there was no hot water! This was déjà vu for us, because when we first moved here 6 years ago and moved into an apartment there was ALSO no hot water, and I think it took a week to get that fixed!
We located the hot water tank, but it was dark and we didn't know what to do, so Conor left it to me to figure out today. I called the property managers and she informed me that it's the tenants responsibility to light the pilot in the gas, oh joy! So I called Conor and I took a pic of the thing so he could look for instructions online, and I found how to get in there and saw some instructions, but decided I would wait until Elle's morning nap.
But then I realized we had nothing to light the thing with! So I went next door and was greeted by a nice old lady and told her my predicament (with two pajama clad children) and she said her husband was still sleeping because they have been staying up late watching the Olympics, but that she would send him over to help me.
She was so nice, and he came over a half hour later and did it all for me! I felt a little silly though when I realized that I wouldn't have needed a lighter, but oh well - gotta love nice neighbors.
Shortly afterwards our washer was delivered and they installed it and everything. We just have to install the dryer and I'm good to go!
I have to go back to the other rental place and do our dinner dishes from last night and some clean up, but otherwise we are getting settled in here.
Without TV and Internet we might get bored though! If I don't go to the mall tomorrow or Thursday with the kids. It's open late Thursday night so one of us will go and get a TV and some other odds and ends.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Can't wait
I can't wait to get into our new place!
Today during nap time I went over there for a couple hours. I was SUPPOSED to put together the last Ikea chair, a side table, and Elle's crib - but I got half the chair done, looked at the crib and decided I couldn't do it alone, and didn't even look at the side table (it's not essential that it get done now, I will do it one evening this week).
What did I do? Made up the beds. It was actually harder than it sounds because both of the mattresses were in Finn's room... do you know how hard it is to move a queen mattress alone? And get all the wrapping off it?
I also did a big general clean up. Most of the card board and wrapping were in one spot, but there were bits everywhere... so I collected and sorted it all. Tomorrow is garbage and recycling day, so I got that out. Unfortunately recycling goes out every two weeks, and the bin was already half full of flyers and junk mail, so I couldn't get rid of everything, but I kept some good big flat pieces and thought maybe I'll buy some paint and Finn can go crazy on them.
I got all the kitchen stuff into the kitchen and the bathroom stuff into the bathroom. I brought 3 of our 6 suitcases over there, but we don't have dressers yet, so we will still have our clothes in there. Although I can hang up a lot of stuff, so that will help with the "living out of suitcases" feeling.
The more it comes together, the more happy I am with this house! There's a brand new gas fireplace, and after having it on while I was working I could feel that the heat was making its way to the kitchen and hallways and maybe even the bedrooms, so that's nice!
We just have to find a way to get Elle to stop trying to touch it!
Here's a couple if pics: the living/dinning room and bathroom (there's a separate room for the toilet, and another room with a second shower)
More to come of the rest of the house once we get dishes and stuff all put away!
Today during nap time I went over there for a couple hours. I was SUPPOSED to put together the last Ikea chair, a side table, and Elle's crib - but I got half the chair done, looked at the crib and decided I couldn't do it alone, and didn't even look at the side table (it's not essential that it get done now, I will do it one evening this week).
What did I do? Made up the beds. It was actually harder than it sounds because both of the mattresses were in Finn's room... do you know how hard it is to move a queen mattress alone? And get all the wrapping off it?
I also did a big general clean up. Most of the card board and wrapping were in one spot, but there were bits everywhere... so I collected and sorted it all. Tomorrow is garbage and recycling day, so I got that out. Unfortunately recycling goes out every two weeks, and the bin was already half full of flyers and junk mail, so I couldn't get rid of everything, but I kept some good big flat pieces and thought maybe I'll buy some paint and Finn can go crazy on them.
I got all the kitchen stuff into the kitchen and the bathroom stuff into the bathroom. I brought 3 of our 6 suitcases over there, but we don't have dressers yet, so we will still have our clothes in there. Although I can hang up a lot of stuff, so that will help with the "living out of suitcases" feeling.
The more it comes together, the more happy I am with this house! There's a brand new gas fireplace, and after having it on while I was working I could feel that the heat was making its way to the kitchen and hallways and maybe even the bedrooms, so that's nice!
We just have to find a way to get Elle to stop trying to touch it!
Here's a couple if pics: the living/dinning room and bathroom (there's a separate room for the toilet, and another room with a second shower)
More to come of the rest of the house once we get dishes and stuff all put away!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Elle - 12 Months Old
*This is VERY late, but I wrote most of it on her actual birthday, so it wasn't a TOTAL failure!
My little itty-bitty baby girl is ONE!! I can't believe it... it is seriously boggling my mind right now.
I don't think I got this emotional when Finn turned one, but I think a lot of it has to do with our big move on Monday.
Anyways, back to Elle.
She is awesome - she just has the funnest personality.
A lot of things are the same as the last post. Sleeping and Eating are the pretty much the same. She usually just wakes up once in the night now and has a bottle. She takes a while to fall asleep - about 30-45 minutes, but we don't have to rock her or pat her or anything, just lay her down again, maybe wrap her up once. She eats more than Finn does - she loves to eat!
Her favorite thing to eat is tomato. If you give her that at a meal, there's no going back!
Here's a list of some fun things she does:
- have a taste - she will hold out food to you and smack her lips together. It started with Grandpa asking her for a taste and he would make the noise of eating it, and then now when she wants you to do that she just holds out her hand and makes the noise herself!
- on her actual birthday she learned to say kitty, but she hasn't really said it since that day - won't say mama for me, just dada, over and over again!
- she really likes when Finn sings the alphabet - he knows now that if she starts fussing in the car to sing and she will smile
- she waves hi and bye, or night-night
- gives high fives
- really starting to cruising on furniture - standing unassisted for a few seconds
- since in Australia she has started this game where, if you are laying down, she will use you to get herself standing, and then she will stand for as long as she can and either land on her bum laughing, or slap her arms onto you. Sometimes she will do it over and over again. sometimes she will stand for a long time by herself, and sometimes just for a little bit.
- she used to lay her head down on me at random times and I would say 'AWW' - now if I say "say AWWW", she will lay her head down.
- she loves to dance. And she kind of moves her head from side-to-side while she dances.
- runs away on the bed, in the crib, puts her head down (she hasn't really done this since we've been in Aus, but she has usually been sufficiently tired to fall asleep right away, plus she is in a playpen so it's a bit different than the crib)
- sometimes hates having the diaper changed - I wrote 'sometimes' before, but now the ONLY time that she doesn't HATE it is if I have to change her in the middle of the night. Otherwise she always hates it and it is a big pain to change her.
- she loves being in the big bath with no bath ring - when we first got here I didn't have a mat in the tub and she was slipping around so much she hated it. Even after I got a mat as soon as I would put her in the water she would completely flip out. Yesterday though I got her some new toys and was really gentle and attentive to her in hopes that she would like bathtime, and it went really well - she didn't even cry when I washed her hair!
 |
| On the train at the zoo |
 |
| On her actual birthday, "helping" me pack |
She's sleeping in a playpen here. I was worried that she wouldn't like it, since she wouldn't sleep in it at my moms place for more than a short nap, but she's been totally fine with it. And she'll get a crib again when we move.
 |
| Birthday Party at Grandma Peters' |
 |
| Celebrating with my brother and his family |
 |
| Digging right in |
 |
| She LOVED that cake - her first time having cake |
 |
| She basically licked the bowl clean! |
 |
| A second birthday party/going away dinne with Conor's family She liked this birthday cupcake just as much as the first cake :) |
So there it is, I FINALLY did it!
I think she won't take too much longer to start walking, but SOMEONE is still adjusting to her crawling, so there's NO RUSH baby girl!
Bedroom set up
So we have a 3 bedroom place now, which means we can get Elle out of our room!
The problem is, I'm not ready for the kids to share a room yet, so I guess they will get their own rooms for now, but eventually they will share because we want the 3rd bedroom as a spare room/office.
The OTHER problem is that Elle still takes one bottle in the night (except for last night! Yay!!) and we don't have any extra furniture so do I bring her into my room to feed her and then bring her back to her bed?
I had planned on her just being in our room until we got settled, but I don't think the crib will fit through the doorways, so if we put it in our room now we would need to disassemble it all over again... I don't think we want to do that.
We will see how it all works out.
And we got our new Dodge Journey today - it's a nice ride! I kind of feel like a "yummy mummy" driving an SUV hahaha.
Conor is at the house assembling furniture again. We will move in on Monday :)
The problem is, I'm not ready for the kids to share a room yet, so I guess they will get their own rooms for now, but eventually they will share because we want the 3rd bedroom as a spare room/office.
The OTHER problem is that Elle still takes one bottle in the night (except for last night! Yay!!) and we don't have any extra furniture so do I bring her into my room to feed her and then bring her back to her bed?
I had planned on her just being in our room until we got settled, but I don't think the crib will fit through the doorways, so if we put it in our room now we would need to disassemble it all over again... I don't think we want to do that.
We will see how it all works out.
And we got our new Dodge Journey today - it's a nice ride! I kind of feel like a "yummy mummy" driving an SUV hahaha.
Conor is at the house assembling furniture again. We will move in on Monday :)
Thursday, July 26, 2012
We survived ikea!
This morning we went to Ikea at 10 am. We got through the showrooms and had some lunch at noon and then went down to the market place and finally drove away at 2:30pm.
4.5 HOURS! Finn watched 7 "Pokoyo" episodes about 100 times each on the iPod! I had meant to have a Thomas video that's an hour on there, but it didn't load properly, so every seven minutes a little voice could be heard saying "watch another video?"
Elle napped a bit in the stroller but otherwise she did pretty good until we were in the section where we had to collect the bigger furniture and she had a dirty diaper.
The best thing was that, starting today for a week or so, for every $200 you spent you got a $20 gift card... we even lucked out that our total was 74 cents past a $200 mark, so we got as much as possible!
I won't be telling you how much we spent, but we got a fridge, couch, two beds, table, chairs, a bed side table, dresser, and coffee table as well as a lot of kitchen odds and ends.
All we really need now is a washer/dryer, bedding, and a few more kitchen things.
We got the house keys today and signed the lease. The ikea stuff will be delivered tomorrow so Conor can start assembling it, electricity is on Monday and then I guess we can move in! We still have this place until Wednesday morning. But Conor starts work Monday and we need to clean this place up, so I think I will probably do that Tuesday evening.
The financing went through on the car so Conor will get that Sat morning and return the rental.
Elle is so thoroughly fed up with her carseat right now, she starts crying as soon as she sees it. But I can't blame her. She was in it for almost 16 hours straight for just the second flight alone. And then in and out of it several times a day since then.
I'm pretty fed up with the car and shopping too, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and then we can just settle in and get back to normal... or a new normal at least.
For now I'm exhausted and can't wait for bedtime tonight!
4.5 HOURS! Finn watched 7 "Pokoyo" episodes about 100 times each on the iPod! I had meant to have a Thomas video that's an hour on there, but it didn't load properly, so every seven minutes a little voice could be heard saying "watch another video?"
Elle napped a bit in the stroller but otherwise she did pretty good until we were in the section where we had to collect the bigger furniture and she had a dirty diaper.
The best thing was that, starting today for a week or so, for every $200 you spent you got a $20 gift card... we even lucked out that our total was 74 cents past a $200 mark, so we got as much as possible!
I won't be telling you how much we spent, but we got a fridge, couch, two beds, table, chairs, a bed side table, dresser, and coffee table as well as a lot of kitchen odds and ends.
All we really need now is a washer/dryer, bedding, and a few more kitchen things.
We got the house keys today and signed the lease. The ikea stuff will be delivered tomorrow so Conor can start assembling it, electricity is on Monday and then I guess we can move in! We still have this place until Wednesday morning. But Conor starts work Monday and we need to clean this place up, so I think I will probably do that Tuesday evening.
The financing went through on the car so Conor will get that Sat morning and return the rental.
Elle is so thoroughly fed up with her carseat right now, she starts crying as soon as she sees it. But I can't blame her. She was in it for almost 16 hours straight for just the second flight alone. And then in and out of it several times a day since then.
I'm pretty fed up with the car and shopping too, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and then we can just settle in and get back to normal... or a new normal at least.
For now I'm exhausted and can't wait for bedtime tonight!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Quiet day!
Finnian has been especially bad lately... which makes sense with all of the changes and the fact that we have been going shopping etc pretty much every morning and afternoon. This is when grandparents were always handy.
Anyways, it turns out we can't get the car until Saturday, but Conor had to go in there to sign his life away, and then this afternoon he is going into the school to get all set up there. So that means the kids and I have a quiet day today!
Elle is just having her morning nap and then I think we will go for a walk, I don't want to put them in the car at all today, but we may still go buy a few things if there are any stores near here that have what I need. Otherwise we will just go to the park or something.
Anyways, it turns out we can't get the car until Saturday, but Conor had to go in there to sign his life away, and then this afternoon he is going into the school to get all set up there. So that means the kids and I have a quiet day today!
Elle is just having her morning nap and then I think we will go for a walk, I don't want to put them in the car at all today, but we may still go buy a few things if there are any stores near here that have what I need. Otherwise we will just go to the park or something.
Monday, July 23, 2012
2 down, one million to go!
Well 2 purchases have been made!
We now have a house and a car (win a house, win a car! Sorry, inside joke).
We applied for a got approval on a house today! It's a bit older but it's 3 bedroom, hardwood floors throughout (or timber floors, as they say), has a big back yard, it has two showers (one with a bath tub!), 2 of the rooms have BIRs ( built in robes - closets, in other words), nice big windows in the kitchen and living room. It's about a 20 minute walk from the big shopping center in Doncaster, and less than 10 minutes to the bus stop for days when Conor takes public transport. There are two play grounds in walking distance, one of them just around the corner. I'm very excited!
We get the keys Friday and we don't have to be out of this place until Wednesday morning, so we have a few days to get set up there (although Conor starts work on Monday).
We also bought a car! Conor ended up getting what he wanted, a Dodge Journey. There was a good deal on this one because it's a 2011, but it only has 600kms, so it's basically brand new! As long as the financing goes through, we will get that on Wednesday morning, just after we bring back this rental.
So like I said, 2 purchases down, but now about a million to go to furnish the house!
We now have a house and a car (win a house, win a car! Sorry, inside joke).
We applied for a got approval on a house today! It's a bit older but it's 3 bedroom, hardwood floors throughout (or timber floors, as they say), has a big back yard, it has two showers (one with a bath tub!), 2 of the rooms have BIRs ( built in robes - closets, in other words), nice big windows in the kitchen and living room. It's about a 20 minute walk from the big shopping center in Doncaster, and less than 10 minutes to the bus stop for days when Conor takes public transport. There are two play grounds in walking distance, one of them just around the corner. I'm very excited!
We get the keys Friday and we don't have to be out of this place until Wednesday morning, so we have a few days to get set up there (although Conor starts work on Monday).
We also bought a car! Conor ended up getting what he wanted, a Dodge Journey. There was a good deal on this one because it's a 2011, but it only has 600kms, so it's basically brand new! As long as the financing goes through, we will get that on Wednesday morning, just after we bring back this rental.
So like I said, 2 purchases down, but now about a million to go to furnish the house!
Not forgetting Elle
Okay I still haven't done her 12 month pics, but I will try tomorrow, I promise!!
One little update: Elle has turned into quite the daddies girl! Heaven forbid I try to take her from Conor because she will throw the biggest fit ever!
She also HATES to be changed and hates bathtime. Both of which tire me out but also make me sad - I love bathing babies!
BUT, because I was getting so fed up with trying to change a squirming screaming baby, Conor did it once the other day. And did Elle hate it? Nope, she squealed and giggled with glee! what a monkey!!
One little update: Elle has turned into quite the daddies girl! Heaven forbid I try to take her from Conor because she will throw the biggest fit ever!
She also HATES to be changed and hates bathtime. Both of which tire me out but also make me sad - I love bathing babies!
BUT, because I was getting so fed up with trying to change a squirming screaming baby, Conor did it once the other day. And did Elle hate it? Nope, she squealed and giggled with glee! what a monkey!!
Sunday, July 22, 2012
BIG meet up
Tonight there was a going-away party for our friend Louisa who is moving to Rome for a couple of years... but it kind of felt like a welcome party too because we knew a good number of the people who were there!
Up until now we had only seen one person we knew, so it was nice getting to see mostly everyone else in one place. A few of the people didn't even know we were back in Australia, so it was nice to see their surprise!
I think we've agreed on one place that we like, so we are going to submit an application for it tomorrow. The realtor seemed really nice, and I mentioned that we didn't have any rental references to submit, but she said "don't worry about that, I've been in this business long enough that I know good people when I see them". So that was encouraging. I don't think there are actually very many people out there right now looking for what we are looking for, so I'm hoping we won't have any competition!
So keep us in your prayers for that, and I think Conor is going to try to test drive a vehicle tomorrow, so hopefully we can narrow down what we would like from that.
Up until now we had only seen one person we knew, so it was nice getting to see mostly everyone else in one place. A few of the people didn't even know we were back in Australia, so it was nice to see their surprise!
I think we've agreed on one place that we like, so we are going to submit an application for it tomorrow. The realtor seemed really nice, and I mentioned that we didn't have any rental references to submit, but she said "don't worry about that, I've been in this business long enough that I know good people when I see them". So that was encouraging. I don't think there are actually very many people out there right now looking for what we are looking for, so I'm hoping we won't have any competition!
So keep us in your prayers for that, and I think Conor is going to try to test drive a vehicle tomorrow, so hopefully we can narrow down what we would like from that.
Friday, July 20, 2012
House and car shopping
Yesterday we looked at 2 houses as well as today, and tomorrow there are 3 we could look at, but we will probably only make it to 2 of them.
So far only 1 of them really fills the bulk of our criteria. But it doesn't gave a bath 😞 so we will see. One of the ones tomorrow, from the pictures and location, looks like it has everything we are looking for, so cross your fingers that it does, and that if we start the application process everything goes through!! Haha
On the car front, we had kind of decided what we would get before we came here, it was just a matter of actually looking at them and seeing if we would go new or pre-owned. I wanted a mini-van, but Conor was very opposed, so he was trying to compromise with a 7 seater crossover. Specifically the Dodge Journey. In Canada the Dodge Journey and the Dodge mini-vans are around $23,000 base model. Here the Journey is $37,000 and the mini-van (Chrysler) is above $80,000!!! Can you believe it?!?!?
So we are NOT getting a mini-can for sure. And realized that since Dodges are American they are more expensive here. SO now we are looking into Kia's 7 seater cross-over, Rondo. Those are around $26,000 new - so we will go to a dealership tomorrow morning.
Wish us luck on both fronts!!
So far only 1 of them really fills the bulk of our criteria. But it doesn't gave a bath 😞 so we will see. One of the ones tomorrow, from the pictures and location, looks like it has everything we are looking for, so cross your fingers that it does, and that if we start the application process everything goes through!! Haha
On the car front, we had kind of decided what we would get before we came here, it was just a matter of actually looking at them and seeing if we would go new or pre-owned. I wanted a mini-van, but Conor was very opposed, so he was trying to compromise with a 7 seater crossover. Specifically the Dodge Journey. In Canada the Dodge Journey and the Dodge mini-vans are around $23,000 base model. Here the Journey is $37,000 and the mini-van (Chrysler) is above $80,000!!! Can you believe it?!?!?
So we are NOT getting a mini-can for sure. And realized that since Dodges are American they are more expensive here. SO now we are looking into Kia's 7 seater cross-over, Rondo. Those are around $26,000 new - so we will go to a dealership tomorrow morning.
Wish us luck on both fronts!!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Wintertime!
It is sooo cold... I think it's 5 degrees or something right now. At least it looks like it's going to be a sunny day.
We all went to bed at 7:30 pm last night. Elle woke up at midnight so I gave her a bottle, but she was out of sorts and crying, so for the first time ever (or at least since she was a newborn), I brought her into bed with us. Finn woke up at 530 to pee and then didn't sleep again. Conor went in there and Finn was just talking and talking and talking to him,
Elle started stirring shortly afterwards and then woke up around 6. Since that's about when she normally wakes up, I didn't bother trying to get her back to sleep, so she woke up and had another bottle.
It's 8am now and I'm going to try to put her down for an early morning nap soon - then we have to go get cell phones, bank accounts, groceries, and head to the school to say hi and pick up some papers.
This afternoon we will go look at a couple rental places, pray that we find something suitable in our price range and that we get it when we apply!
We all went to bed at 7:30 pm last night. Elle woke up at midnight so I gave her a bottle, but she was out of sorts and crying, so for the first time ever (or at least since she was a newborn), I brought her into bed with us. Finn woke up at 530 to pee and then didn't sleep again. Conor went in there and Finn was just talking and talking and talking to him,
Elle started stirring shortly afterwards and then woke up around 6. Since that's about when she normally wakes up, I didn't bother trying to get her back to sleep, so she woke up and had another bottle.
It's 8am now and I'm going to try to put her down for an early morning nap soon - then we have to go get cell phones, bank accounts, groceries, and head to the school to say hi and pick up some papers.
This afternoon we will go look at a couple rental places, pray that we find something suitable in our price range and that we get it when we apply!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Safe and sound in Melbourne!
Well, I was in line at customs in Melbourne thinking about how great our entire journey had gone, other than a few little minor things (and one thing that could have been a HUGE thing)... I was thinking about what I would write on this blog... and then the power went out, in the airport, NO POWER!
Let's rewind.
We got to the Vancouver airport with Conor's parents, my mom and my brother. We planned to get lunch together before we went through customs, but it turns out that as soon as we checked our bags we had to go right through to security, so we had to say goodbye right then, and not get lunch together. I'm patting myself on how well I did, I hardly cried at all!! (Don't worry, the tears will come soon enough! Actually on Saturday night Finn spent the night at my moms and we picked him up in the morning for church and he just kept crying out "Finn go back to Grandma's house?" and I started crying, because he wouldn't be going back again!)
We had just been talking about flights being delayed, specifically when people have checked their bags and then don't show up for the flight, so the bags have to be taken off the plane. Well that happened! BUT, then half an hour later the people were on the flight... I guess their previous flight was late, so for whatever reason they were allowed to still get on our flight that late.
It was okay though, the kids were fine and we eventually got going. They both did great that flight. No one slept, but that was okay. Then we had our layover and there were a couple mix ups about what terminal we were supposed to go to, but again, nothing huge, and we had a lot of time and the kids were still doing great.
We got our boarding passed and then went to stretch out our legs, we got a nice spot where there weren't many people around, so the kids got to play with toys and run and/or crawl around. Then we went to board the plane, and when the lady took our stroller she told us our car seat hadn't been approved for flight, so we were going to have to check it.
THIS was going to be a major pain! The whole point of buying the seat for Elle was for this SIXTEEN hour flight! I could not imagine her sitting on my lap for that!
Luckily at this point Elle was getting pretty tired and cranky... as was I, so the lady took pity on us and went to talk to another lady who signed off as the carseat being approved, and we just had to cross our fingers that the flight attendants at the door didn't turn us away. In the end I don't think the carseat was actually an approved one. They made us having it sitting facing forward, which means the seatbelt was NOT secure, but we just put a blanket over top so they couldn't really see! Elle fall asleep just as we were boarding the plane.
For that flight we had 4 seats in a row, so we sat CONOR-ELLE-ME-FINN. Finnian fell asleep pretty shortly after we took off and they BOTH slept for half of the flight, 8 HOURS!! It was AMAZING. It was so much more than I could have hoped for. The next half of the flight was tedious and long, but the kids did pretty good. Elle was getting grumpy so we took turns walking around with her, and letting her crawl a bit (she got so filthy!) until I knew she would have a nap, and she did once I got her in her car seat again.
We got off that flight and I was sooo excited, I couldn't wait to get our stuff and get to our "hotel". There was a LONG line up at customs, but eventually there were only about 40 people in front of us, and the line was moving pretty quickly, when the power went out. I couldn't believe it. Then the power came back on, and then it went off again. It was the worst ever.
The kids were getting cranky, but this little friend that Finn had made, who shared an interested in Thomas the Train, came over and played a bit, and his dad set up the iPad with a Thomas movie. They also very generously let us use their mobile phone to phone our friend and let her know were there, just waiting for the power to come on. There was also an Italian family behind us with a young boy and girl who kept Elle entertained almost that whole time... that was great!
We landed at 830am, by the time we got our bags and our rental car it was noon! The kids weren't handling it that well... but really, they handled everything a lot better than I thought they were going to! We loaded some of our stuff into the rental, and some of it into our friends vehicle and went on our way
So we drove to our temporary accommodation, only doing one wrong turn! The place is really nice. Finn was fast asleep when we got here, so Conor put him to bed. Elle had slept in the car from the airport and then woke up when we got here. So after the 3 of us had some food and organized our stuff a bit, Elle and I went to the mall to get cell phones... which we didn't end up getting because I forgot my passport and we don't have bank accounts here yet! The lady who helped us with our luggage had done some grocery shopping for us!! She had bread and butter and jam, milk, lasagna, pasta sauce and pasta - she's amazing!!!
It's 7pm, and we are just seeing how long we can hold off Elle, since Finn had a long nap, and then it's BEDTIME!
Thank you everyone for your prayers, they were definitely answered!!
Let's rewind.
We got to the Vancouver airport with Conor's parents, my mom and my brother. We planned to get lunch together before we went through customs, but it turns out that as soon as we checked our bags we had to go right through to security, so we had to say goodbye right then, and not get lunch together. I'm patting myself on how well I did, I hardly cried at all!! (Don't worry, the tears will come soon enough! Actually on Saturday night Finn spent the night at my moms and we picked him up in the morning for church and he just kept crying out "Finn go back to Grandma's house?" and I started crying, because he wouldn't be going back again!)
We had just been talking about flights being delayed, specifically when people have checked their bags and then don't show up for the flight, so the bags have to be taken off the plane. Well that happened! BUT, then half an hour later the people were on the flight... I guess their previous flight was late, so for whatever reason they were allowed to still get on our flight that late.
It was okay though, the kids were fine and we eventually got going. They both did great that flight. No one slept, but that was okay. Then we had our layover and there were a couple mix ups about what terminal we were supposed to go to, but again, nothing huge, and we had a lot of time and the kids were still doing great.
We got our boarding passed and then went to stretch out our legs, we got a nice spot where there weren't many people around, so the kids got to play with toys and run and/or crawl around. Then we went to board the plane, and when the lady took our stroller she told us our car seat hadn't been approved for flight, so we were going to have to check it.
THIS was going to be a major pain! The whole point of buying the seat for Elle was for this SIXTEEN hour flight! I could not imagine her sitting on my lap for that!
Luckily at this point Elle was getting pretty tired and cranky... as was I, so the lady took pity on us and went to talk to another lady who signed off as the carseat being approved, and we just had to cross our fingers that the flight attendants at the door didn't turn us away. In the end I don't think the carseat was actually an approved one. They made us having it sitting facing forward, which means the seatbelt was NOT secure, but we just put a blanket over top so they couldn't really see! Elle fall asleep just as we were boarding the plane.
For that flight we had 4 seats in a row, so we sat CONOR-ELLE-ME-FINN. Finnian fell asleep pretty shortly after we took off and they BOTH slept for half of the flight, 8 HOURS!! It was AMAZING. It was so much more than I could have hoped for. The next half of the flight was tedious and long, but the kids did pretty good. Elle was getting grumpy so we took turns walking around with her, and letting her crawl a bit (she got so filthy!) until I knew she would have a nap, and she did once I got her in her car seat again.
We got off that flight and I was sooo excited, I couldn't wait to get our stuff and get to our "hotel". There was a LONG line up at customs, but eventually there were only about 40 people in front of us, and the line was moving pretty quickly, when the power went out. I couldn't believe it. Then the power came back on, and then it went off again. It was the worst ever.
The kids were getting cranky, but this little friend that Finn had made, who shared an interested in Thomas the Train, came over and played a bit, and his dad set up the iPad with a Thomas movie. They also very generously let us use their mobile phone to phone our friend and let her know were there, just waiting for the power to come on. There was also an Italian family behind us with a young boy and girl who kept Elle entertained almost that whole time... that was great!
We landed at 830am, by the time we got our bags and our rental car it was noon! The kids weren't handling it that well... but really, they handled everything a lot better than I thought they were going to! We loaded some of our stuff into the rental, and some of it into our friends vehicle and went on our way
So we drove to our temporary accommodation, only doing one wrong turn! The place is really nice. Finn was fast asleep when we got here, so Conor put him to bed. Elle had slept in the car from the airport and then woke up when we got here. So after the 3 of us had some food and organized our stuff a bit, Elle and I went to the mall to get cell phones... which we didn't end up getting because I forgot my passport and we don't have bank accounts here yet! The lady who helped us with our luggage had done some grocery shopping for us!! She had bread and butter and jam, milk, lasagna, pasta sauce and pasta - she's amazing!!!
It's 7pm, and we are just seeing how long we can hold off Elle, since Finn had a long nap, and then it's BEDTIME!
Thank you everyone for your prayers, they were definitely answered!!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Chaos
Okay everything just feels very crazy right now, so I'm not going to get Elle's 12 month post up until next week probably.
We fly out tomorrow at 3:30 pm Vancouver time do please please keep us in your prayers for that time and especially the 23 hours to follow!
Next time I write we will be in Australia!!!
We fly out tomorrow at 3:30 pm Vancouver time do please please keep us in your prayers for that time and especially the 23 hours to follow!
Next time I write we will be in Australia!!!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
I hate packing...
It is the worst thing in the world. And I'm purely talking about suitcase packing.... where you have only a certain number of suitcases you can bring, and a certain weight.
We only get 1 suitcase each - so 4 suitcases - and we decided a long time ago to pay for a 5th suitcase. But we just packed them up, and we still have to throw in all the last minute things (the clothes we will be wearing for the next few days, bathroom stuff, shoes) and we are overweight. We have a bit more room in each suitcase, but no more weight allowance.
I hate this! So one of us are going to MCC shortly to buy a cheap suitcase and we will be bringing a 6th suitcase... I don't even want to TALK about how we are going to move all of our suitcases in LA... because yes, we have to collect our bags and bring them to the transfer, they don't do that for us... this is on top of pushing a stroller, carrying a carseat, and managing our carry-ons!
Oh, please pray for us!
We only get 1 suitcase each - so 4 suitcases - and we decided a long time ago to pay for a 5th suitcase. But we just packed them up, and we still have to throw in all the last minute things (the clothes we will be wearing for the next few days, bathroom stuff, shoes) and we are overweight. We have a bit more room in each suitcase, but no more weight allowance.
I hate this! So one of us are going to MCC shortly to buy a cheap suitcase and we will be bringing a 6th suitcase... I don't even want to TALK about how we are going to move all of our suitcases in LA... because yes, we have to collect our bags and bring them to the transfer, they don't do that for us... this is on top of pushing a stroller, carrying a carseat, and managing our carry-ons!
Oh, please pray for us!
Happy Birthday Elle Chiara!
I have a proper post in the works, but in case I don't get in up until tonight -
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Kitties don't...
- sleep
- go potty
- have time-outs
- say sorry
Finn likes to pretend he's a kitty, or a bunny, a lot. Lately he particularly likes to pretend he's a kitty when he is supposed to be doing one of the above.
And then he tells us that kitties (or bunnies) don't do that, or don't need that.
- go potty
- have time-outs
- say sorry
Finn likes to pretend he's a kitty, or a bunny, a lot. Lately he particularly likes to pretend he's a kitty when he is supposed to be doing one of the above.
And then he tells us that kitties (or bunnies) don't do that, or don't need that.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Blogging blues
I miss blogging - but I just never seem to have the time... actually I don't really take the time.
I never take pictures anymore, and I hate not having pictures to add to a post.
Yesterday we had a going away party here. It went really well! Pretty much everyone who said they were going to come came. It was a drop in party so that people could come anytime after 4 and stay for as little or long as they wanted.
The weather was AMAZING! A little on the hot side for some, but so nice in the shade. We were a little worried when we set the date that the Mosquitos would be in full force, but they were only really bad near the bushes, and not even THAT bad.
Our friend, Sioban, made a cake. We weren't going to give any speeches or anything, but decided to say a little thank you and "cut the cake".
This next week, our LAST week, I tried to make sure I didn't make any bug plans for any big events, but we are still fairly busy.
- Tonight is yoga.
- Tomorrow my sis-in-law is taking Finn for the day so I can get some stuff done. Then there's a girl night in the evening.
- Wednesday morning we are going to the zoo, that night Conor has soccer and I might head over after the kids are in bed, they are going to have a cake and stuff.
- Thursday is nothing, I don't think - maybe Starbucks in the evening
- Friday Finn goes to my sis-in-laws again and Elle turns ONE (gasp!) so we are going to have dinner at moms
- Sat afternoon we are going to a wedding and reception.
- Sunday last church day and family dinner with Conors family.
Monday we fly away! Oh boy.
PS I promise to do at least 1 more post before we leave, for Elle's birthday... but then I hope I'll get back into my blogging (and picture taking) rhythem when we get to Melbourne.
I never take pictures anymore, and I hate not having pictures to add to a post.
Yesterday we had a going away party here. It went really well! Pretty much everyone who said they were going to come came. It was a drop in party so that people could come anytime after 4 and stay for as little or long as they wanted.
The weather was AMAZING! A little on the hot side for some, but so nice in the shade. We were a little worried when we set the date that the Mosquitos would be in full force, but they were only really bad near the bushes, and not even THAT bad.
Our friend, Sioban, made a cake. We weren't going to give any speeches or anything, but decided to say a little thank you and "cut the cake".
This next week, our LAST week, I tried to make sure I didn't make any bug plans for any big events, but we are still fairly busy.
- Tonight is yoga.
- Tomorrow my sis-in-law is taking Finn for the day so I can get some stuff done. Then there's a girl night in the evening.
- Wednesday morning we are going to the zoo, that night Conor has soccer and I might head over after the kids are in bed, they are going to have a cake and stuff.
- Thursday is nothing, I don't think - maybe Starbucks in the evening
- Friday Finn goes to my sis-in-laws again and Elle turns ONE (gasp!) so we are going to have dinner at moms
- Sat afternoon we are going to a wedding and reception.
- Sunday last church day and family dinner with Conors family.
Monday we fly away! Oh boy.
PS I promise to do at least 1 more post before we leave, for Elle's birthday... but then I hope I'll get back into my blogging (and picture taking) rhythem when we get to Melbourne.
Monday, July 02, 2012
Boys Golf Weekend
Conor, along with one of his brothers, his brother-in-law, a cousin and a friend, have all gone up to Kamloops for a couple days for a little golf trip.
They left this morning, will be golfing today, staying there one night, golfing in the morning, and then driving back.
I'm just a little jealous! One whole night without ANY kids! My consolation prize is that Finn is going to stay overnight at my moms tonight, so I "just" have Elle... I say "just" because she has a cold, so I definitely won't be getting much if a break! Haha!
Our days our filling up, this week includes me going out for coffee with a friend, Conor having soccer one night, double date with one of Conors siblings, and then a double date with my brother and his wife... Then a final family dinner with my family, and then a open house going away party on Sunday!
Whew! In between all that there are doctors appointments, selling of furniture, buying of any last minute things needed for flights and entertainment... and hopefully some sleep!!
Oh, and HAPPY CANADA DAY!
Our last one here. We were at church so missed the parade, but it's right up the road so I let Finn get out and look at the fire truck that was still parked. The guys kept trying to convince him to sit inside but he wouldn't! Silly kid :)
They left this morning, will be golfing today, staying there one night, golfing in the morning, and then driving back.
I'm just a little jealous! One whole night without ANY kids! My consolation prize is that Finn is going to stay overnight at my moms tonight, so I "just" have Elle... I say "just" because she has a cold, so I definitely won't be getting much if a break! Haha!
Our days our filling up, this week includes me going out for coffee with a friend, Conor having soccer one night, double date with one of Conors siblings, and then a double date with my brother and his wife... Then a final family dinner with my family, and then a open house going away party on Sunday!
Whew! In between all that there are doctors appointments, selling of furniture, buying of any last minute things needed for flights and entertainment... and hopefully some sleep!!
Oh, and HAPPY CANADA DAY!
Our last one here. We were at church so missed the parade, but it's right up the road so I let Finn get out and look at the fire truck that was still parked. The guys kept trying to convince him to sit inside but he wouldn't! Silly kid :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)