Two weeks

Not many pics, but the time after having our baby and actually getting in the car and driving to Utah was two weeks.

So while I was trying to juggle, heal, nurse and take care of a newborn and life with three other kids (one who happened to be 2 and wasn't very thrilled with the new addition), we also had Mike leave for most of that time (thankfully his mom flew out and helped juggle!), coordinating all things moving - which was also the window of time we found out our house wasn't going to be done when we thought.  So I was packing for 2 months of 'temporary living' and shipping boxes via UPS.  With a newborn.  Oh, and there were all kinds of paperwork things and registering the kids for school, and getting them to start when I needed them to start (not when the school wanted them to start - but that's a whole different post).  And then figuring out where our 'stuff' was going to be stored since we weren't moving in when we thought.  And finishing up the final say on all the home choices - yes, it was our choice to finish building a spec home, and it did add a lot of pressure in a short period of time, but we feel like we've ended up where we need to be.  Oh, and not sleeping.  Ever.  Turns out you can't take those 'new baby naps' when people are in your home - inspections for the home sale, realtors dropping by to finalize paperwork, movers coming in to do their thing.  Yes.  So grateful for the many hands and 'jobs' people took on to get this thing in motion.  But man, it was a lot in a two week time period.

I cried.  A lot.  Because when you're a new mom, those hormones are crazy anyway.  And you're tired.  And overwhelmed as it is.  

But more than crying, I prayed.  All the time.  Prayed that things would work out how they needed to.  Prayed constantly that I'd be able to drive to the store without nodding off.  That my kids would adjust okay, and if they weren't adjusting, that I'd know what to do.  Endless prayers.

And you know what?  The Lord was with me.  Often.  In the smallest of ways.  And most often through others - who would stop by and pick up the kiddos.  Or would call with dinner.  I have tears as I type and think of the many small and numerous ways we were lifted and strengthened.  Because there's no way we could have juggled this alone.

 Hard to tell, but she spent some serious time on the counter.  It was the ONLY place I could set her down and keep her alive (anyone with a jealous/unhappy two year old and newborn can relate).  And all things baby were boxed up.  So that was a little weird too.  Instead of prepping a room, and having what we needed, it was all about eliminating everything but the absolute essentials.

 This happened many times as Mike was pulled back and forth from the end of May until the end of July.  But the kids would usually set him a spot at the dinner table.  I thought it was pretty clever.

 Yes!  I remembered to take a pic of her first bath...

 Quick, stop and enjoy the baby for a minute!

 This image ALWAYS makes me teary eyed.  Anytime I see the moving truck driving away to the 'new chapter' while I'm still standing in the 'old chapter.'

Such a sweet big sister!

The beds were taken a part a few days before we actually moved.  This was REALLY hard for this gal, and she couldn't sleep at night.  During the day - with all the people and noise in the house, I found her a couple times, asleep on the floor of her 'old room' (the room she had before the baby came), as if she was grasping for anything that felt comfortable.

And our last photo in the house!!  Our two year old embraces many of the emotions we all feel with change - not wanting it to happen!  And my two big kids were being so incredibly brave.  Grateful for the hubby and what a level head he maintained in all of this.

Checked into our hotel, and of course HAD to go to our favorite local bbq for our last dinner in Nebraska!

I think this is the only pic I took of our car trip to Utah.  It was rough with a newborn.  A little stressful as we were getting calls about our home being pushed back even more.  And windy for those bikes we were pulling behind us.  All of the above made the drive much slower than usual - we had planned to stop and stay overnight and break it into two days, which definitely helped.

And of course, I was a ball of emotions.  So much change at once, as we were driving away, I was thinking of all those I hadn't had a chance to connect with, and anxious about all the change ahead.  And did I mention I had a lot of hormones?!  It was a little crazy.  So grateful for the two big kids and the hubby who were SO positive!!