Moving Day Pt 1

We "sold" the truck this week, it SUCKED. In a previous post I mentioned how the truck had started to fall apart, after the repairs were paid for we only pocketed about $300. I absolutely hate not having a car,
Tuesday was exhausting. I spent literally all day cleaning in preparation for the move but at the end of the day the house looked exactly the same to me. I was in desperate need for a break so I took a taxi on base and sat in Starbucks for an hour, it was so relaxing. That evening I walked to the store in 12 degree weather to get Steven a soda, that's love!

Yummy candy cane

Wednesday: Moving day. Housing came at 8 am to take the couch, chairs, mattress, dresser, side tables and night stands that we had borrowed from them last year. HHG (household goods which moves our stuff via boat) was supposed to come at 9 am but ended up be over 2 hours late, naturally they showed up about 20 minutes after we put Avery down for a nap. The movers packed everything except for our luggage and a few items that we put aside for UB (unaccompanied baggage moves our stuff via plane). We made a barricade out of luggage to keep Avery out of the way while the movers did their thing. The movers tracked muddy shoe prints all over the house and ate Steven's cookies :/

Avery trapped in the luggage barricade

That afternoon Pagi took Avery and I on base. We dropped Avery off at the CDC before running errands. I ran into several roadblocks and got absolutely nothing accomplished. Steven and Eric, Pagi's husband, moved our 5 bags into the hotel and picked up Avery while Pagi, Bentlee and I waited at the apartment. While they were gone our landlord, his parents (?), and our realtor showed up to inspect the apartment. None of the Koreans said a word to me but were very chatty once Steven showed up lol. We ended up paying a bit for a cleaning fee but got most of our deposit back :)

One last look out of our bedroom window

Our very empty living room

The first night in the hotel was beyond awful. Steven hadn't eaten anything all day so he was cranky and not making much sense. Avery hadn't napped all day so she was crying almost non-stop. We had to pay for the hotel stay out of pocket and wait to be reimbursed. Steven and I decided to upgrade to the suite to make things a little easier on us. The suite has a little living room, a kitchen with a fridge, stove, microwave, and dishes. It also comes with a separate bedroom which was a big plus for us. Avery will not sleep in the same room with us so we set up her playpen in the living room. I had packed Steven's little bedroom fan for Avery and her night-night lion (a small security blanket) to make the playpen feel more like her crib. My poor baby had a really hard time sleeping in the hotel and woke up screaming throughout the night. I think waking in an unfamiliar room was startling her :(

Our "home" for the next week

Our sleep was just as awful. The bedroom has a smoke detector that blinks brightly every few seconds, the bed and pillows are rock hard and there is a motion sensor thing that fills the room with red light if you so much as turn your head. Every minor movement we made set the motion sensor off. Around midnight Avery started screaming, Steven flipped out of bed like a ninja and rushed to get her. He thought it was morning already and brought her into the bedroom with us. After Avery saw me she was wide awake and spent the next few hours in our bed giving us kisses, raspberries, and laying on our heads.

The second day in the hotel was slightly better. Steven, Avery and I were all exhausted from our difficult night. Avery made sure we were up bright and early so we ate the free hotel breakfast, Avery tried some oatmeal and split a juicy with me :) After we ate I took Avery to Clothing & Sales to buy a pair of ACU pants for Steven. We managed to let the movers pack his uniform pants and boots which he needed to officially sign out of the Army. Steven got into uniform and ran errands while I walked Avery to daycare. I grabbed some coffee on the walk back, ate lunch and sat in bed relaxing.

Walking to daycare

Friday was pretty lousy :/ I was already sick of the hotel breakfast which consists of bagels, cereal, apples, juice, muffins and milk. I walked Avery to daycare in the snow. When we got to daycare I realized that she had been throwing things out of the stroller during the walk. I was able to retrace my steps and find everything but between the snow blowers and the snow plow it was a bit of a challenge. Steven came home with bad news that day. There was an issue with paperwork and we had to pay for Avery's plane ticket out of pocket. The Army will not refund us for the ticket...oh and there were no spots left on the plane so she'll be in our lap for the flights, all 13 hours of them.......I was not a happy camper.

Walking to daycare again

Steven picked up Avery and took her to the PX to give me some time to myself. The ladies at daycare were very sad to see Avery go and printed off some pictures of her that they've taken over the last few months. Avery really liked her daycare workers and the other kids there, it will be tough to replace them.

By the time Saturday rolled around the 3 of us were dying of boredom. We went to the PX and commissary to kill time. Avery's eczema has been terrible lately so I took her back to the PX to look for baby Benadryl. The box said it wasn't safe for her age so we went to the after hours clinic to get it from a doctor. The pediatrician wasn't available so we didn't get anything for her skin but I found out Avery weighs 20.5lbs and to be honest going to the AHC was the most eventful part of my day haha.

The doctor called us back the next day after she consulted the pediatrician. We were given a safe dosage amount for the Benadryl. The doctor told us it will either make Avery very relaxed or hyperactive. We had plans that day and decided not to try our luck with the Benadryl. I'm hoping it makes her drowsy so we can kill two birds with one stone for the plane ride.

Avery checking out the view from the hotel

Steven barely slept because of the blinking lights in the room so I let him sleep in. Avery and I went to Addie's house for a play date. Avery was happy for about an hour and a half before she began to have a meltdown. It was so bad that I ended up having Addie call me a cab so I could take Avery back to the hotel. I was disappointed that I had to leave but my poor baby was exhausted and took a long nap when we got "home".

Bonding

Avery's constipation along with the juice I've been giving her finally caught up with us that evening. She crawled into our bedroom and got very quiet, which all parents know is a bad sign. I went to investigate and realized that she had an explosive diaper. I tired baby wipes but it was a hopeless cause and she ended up getting an early bath. Three hours later Avery had a repeat performance. I was in the shower at the time of the second diaper blowout so she joined me to clean off. Nothing like scrubbing another human's poop covered butt while singing a stupid song to keep them happy, oh motherhood.

Avery manually pushing around the ceiling fan

That evening was also our going away party. We had dinner at our favorite Korean restaurant: Hwa Hwa. We had 10 people join us for dinner and as always it was delicious. It's difficult saying goodbye to friends but that is part of the military life. By the end of the night Avery was so tired that she went to bed without a peep. Two more days.

Avery Quinn - 11 months 21 days