Our Moving Week

There are SOO many posts that I should do before this one, such as Benjamin's Baptism, our awesome going away parties, a tribute to Houston and all that we love there, the fact that Benjamin is 9 months old, Zack's graduation, Easter, you name it, I need to get on it! But, Since we did just move and everyone has been so sweet asking about the drive up and how things are going, here is a snidbit of our moving week!

The day before the big move:

We had family support that day, to watch the kids, help with the boxes and just to keep our spirits up, what a difference that made!

Thanks Jeff and Rani for stopping by, we sure are going to miss you two!

The Burkharts were in town for Zack's graduation wknd ( zack graduated on Friday, we moved on Monday!), and not only was it awesome to celebrate with them, they sure did their fare share of packing and kid watching! Really don't know what we would have done without them!

Thank you sooooooo much for everything!

Our precious neighbor and church friend, Catherine and her mom  stopped by. Bekah just adores Catherine and I adore her mommy, Mary Rebecca!

They even had a little goodie bag full of snacks and games for the car ride, so sweet!

We are truly going to miss these dear neighbors!

Moving Day:

One of Bekah's favorite people ever, Jack Byrd came over to say goodbye on Monday! They brought us yummy cookies and lots of hugs.

I will forever thank God for putting these supportive and loving friends in our lives!

We like to joke that Bekah Byrd has a nice ring to it : ).

Then, Val and Bekah's BFF, Lina came by with lunch! We  happily scarfed down lunch from our favorite neighborhood eatery, Matt's Market!

Courtney, your visit meant so much to me as well, wish I would have snapped a picture of us two!

Just a word to the wise, next time we move, I will probably send Bekah to a friends house, it was a bit much for her. I think it only stressed her out even more. Plus, between taking care of Benjamin and Bekah, I was no help what so ever, that day, with anything beyond childcare and we forgot a few things, there were a few loose ends that I know I could have tied up had I not been so worried about her. Regardless, we did it, thanks to Daddy working with the movers all day and keeping us on schedule! Around 4 pm we got on the road, to bunk up at the Louis' in Arlington!

Benjamin wanted to wear his Notre Dame attire, like Daddy, to symbolize our move to the great state of Indiana!

Bekah was all geared up, ready to go, with plenty of snacks, books, games, stickers and movies!

The plan was, to get to Dallas, and then, have 3 more days in the car, we broke it up into 6 hr days which was very doable! Not fun at times, but doable and I am grateful to Zack for realizing that pushing the kids through a super fast car trip was not necessary.

I had organized her games, Cd's and books into 3 days: Princess Day  (she would even get to wear a princess dress in the car), Dino Day and American Day

Leaving Houston was so sad and so very hard, but knowing we were headed to the Louis' that night was exactly what this tired and sentimental family needed, to be with old friends who would make us laugh and forgive us for our grumpiness and craziness! : )

Thank you Margaret and Henry for letting us sleep in your cozy room!

The gang, hanging out the next morning :

Benjamin loved having some "boy time" with his buds Simon and Henry!

Not only did they provide us with a cozy home and wonderful peeps inside of it to spend time with : ), they had some presents for Bekah and Benjamin for the car ride! You guys are so thoughtful! Thank you so much, Bekah loved everything!

Especially the sticker book with "finger nails!" : ). Soooo perfect for my little girl!

Rebekah also had her sister paint the sweetest picture for us, a picture of our Houston Home! I am going to post it in the post about our Indy home so everyone can see it, but oh my gosh, talk about thoughtful, I simply love it and when I set eyes on it, a part of my heart was healed, from the hard day before, of saying goodbye. I can't thank you enough Louis' for ALL of your kindness and love!

And guess what? Vaughanie and Christy and their darling kids came over before we got on the rode the next day! Really, having them "by my side" those two rough/sad days, was such a blessing to me, thank you Christy, Rebekah and Vaughanie! I love you girls!

Christy and Vaugahnie, thank you for your goodies for the kids as well! We put them all to good use on that looooong car trip!

Totally didn't know i would get to see Connor THREE times before we moved to Indy, amazing really! I am so grateful!

Around lunchtime, ( after the girls kindly packed a lunch for our family to take on the rode), we got back on the road and headed for Little Rock, our 2nd overnight stay.

I have to say Benjamin, you did soooo much better than I expected you to do on the trip, napping so well in the car, and having fun playing as well!

The pacy was a huge helper, I know!

Now, to all you families that road trip, I would like to give a little shout out to Embassy Suites! We stayed there in Little Rock , as well as in Nashville and it was great! Such a family friendly and affordable place to stay! We loved having a suite, after such a long time in the car, mommy and daddy were grateful to have some space! Plus, the breakfast in the morning is included in the stay and it is no continental breakfast, it's the works, with omlettes and all!

Next day, we woke up and were ready to hit the road to make it to Memphis by lunchtime for some BarBQ we had heard so much about!

Daddy was NOT dissapointed! I was happy that our "fearless leader" got what he loves most, some good food! it's hard driving your family for 4 days, big responsibility!

We went to Neely's, which is a very well known place in Mephis, we would recommend it to anyone! The Neely's even have a show on Food Network! Would love to make it back, on our trip home next summer in fact!

( Today was our princess day, notice bekah is wearing her dress. love that she is wearing a princess dress in a down home barbq joint!)

Good thing my girl likes to read books!

That night, we stayed in Nashville and made sure we got a hotel close to my friend Erin so we could meet her cute little boy, Jackson! Erin and I taught together in Dallas and I had not seen her since my teaching days in Richardson, waaaay too long!

Jackson you are so cute and you have such a wonderful mommy to take care of you! Thanks for letting Bekah and Benjamin play with you!

Hope to see you soon, we are only 6 hrs away, afterall!

Surprisingly, the hotel situation went well every single night! We put Benjamin down first in the pack and play, and then, Bekah quietly read books in the same room, for what felt like forever, but, she was quiet and always feel asleep eventually  . . . : )

Next day, was Dino Day!

Timing was never perfect with where we wanted to stop and where we had to stop, based on napping, meals and nursing schedules for 2 kids and a daddy who likes to eat : ), so we found ourselves at a McDonalds, Ed would be proud!

After "doing her daily business"  ( thank goodness for clorox wipes!), Bekah walked out of the bathroom announcing to Daddy, as well as everyone else in McDonalds that she "went poopoo daddy and I feel so much better now!" teehee!

I had to laugh at ourselves, a way too hyper and and talkative toddler, a fussy and and wiggely baby, an exhausted daddy and a frazzeled mommy, we sure did represent a typical American family on a road trip! I have to say, that burger tasted better than ever! 

Here is a shot of Benjamin which is obviously taken from the seat between the two kids. I probably sat there about half the time of our long car trip. It made a difference, in giving him bottles, feeding him, keeping him happy, playing with him and reading to him, reading to Bekah, it was very fruitful, but my was it tiring! I was sore at the end of each day, not from a workout ( to say, burn off that McDonalds burger!), but from climbing back and forth all day!

Timing didn't always work out for us to eat at certain places or see certain things ( we really wanted to drive around Vanderbilt), but look what we drove past on Dino Day! Pretty great coincidence, that was a total accident!

The teacher in me was VERY excited that it went along so well with my "lesson plans!"

Bekah couldn't believe her eyes!

And alas, we arrived to our new city, Indianapolis! The movers were not coming with our stuff until Friday morning, the next day, so we got a hotel room in downtown Indy, which was fun!

( A special thanks to my parents for taking Charlie for a bit, it made the car ride so much more bearable, I dont' think we would have had room for him either! Plus, we had a better pick of hotels.)

Bekah is very excited to be in her new town! It took some explaining to help her realize the hotel was not our new home, as fun as it was!

On our way to dinner in our new town!

Here is Bekah with  her companion the whole trip. She is princess minnie and had such a vital role in our family that week, we even had to "wait for minnie" as she walked down the sidewalk : ).

Gotta love her imagination!

Daddy, Benjamin and Bekah in downtown Indy:

(benjamin wanted to wear his UT onsie, to represent :  ) )

We found a Bucca di Beppo just a block away from our hotel and we had such a great time, celebrating our first night, and praising god that he got us here safely!

See that wine glass in Zack's hand? Just a few moments later, next thing we knew, Benjamin was holding and empty wine glass and the contents were all over the floor! Thank goodness for his iron grip, keeping the mess to a minimum safety hazard!

Next morning, we woke up early, and headed over to our townhome!

I will do another post about our place, but here we are, about to enter!

Bekah calls it her, "pink house!"

(Not really pink, but hey, whatever helps her make the 'transition!")

We let her choose the room she wanted, which she was amazed by!

Speaking of AMAZING! Here is our Aunt Sarah WHO, drove up from St Louis, the very same day, to meet us at our new home to help us with the kids and ALL the unpacking!

Sarah, you are the best and had it not been for your selfless and loving help, and Zack's super ambitious idea to have everything unpacked and on the walls by Sunday night, our place would not have felt so homey, so quickly!

Having visitors ( Sarah) and getting packages at a new place always makes it feel more homey as well, so thank you Gramommy and Pops for sending us some move in goodies, like a new nightgown for Bekah!

It was a very long 5 days, but we are here, safe and sound and for that I couldn' t be more grateful!

Thanks again to Daddy for his excellent driving, to Sarah for all her help, to Benjamin for always bringing a smile to our faces and to Bekah for being my precious brave girl, who needed me to put on a brave face. I learned alot about being a parent that week, about being mature and focusing on their needs, trying to remain strong and stay faithful! A part of my heart is still in Houston, but I know that God has great plans for us here in Indianapolis! Funny how Zack is back in this state ( Notre Dame is here), who would have thunk it, this Texas boy living in Indiana twice in his life! And for me, it's my first time to live anywhere but Texas, let alone a new time zone! ( we are one hour later here) It's so interesting, living somewhere completely new!

Oh and thank you to everyone for your prayers, emails, sweet texts and phone calls this week, we sure felt all of your love during a long and sentimental week!