We found out that we were moving to Tulsa, OK for a job transition around the middle of August. After that point, it was just one giant logistical puzzle to put together with the birth of a baby where the date was unknown at the time, Jonathan moving before us into a hotel, rental cars as our cars moved at different times across the country, making sure we had car seats in any car we had, kids' sleeping arrangements since 2 out of 3 are still in a crib/bassinet, etc. Jonathan and I also visited Tulsa by ourselves to get an idea of the area and look for a place to live. In that weekend we found the house that we wanted to buy, so we spent the next 1.5 months in the home buying process from a distance. Luckily, we had an amazing real estate agent that made the whole process pretty easy. I randomly asked a barista at Starbucks when we were visiting Tulsa how she liked the area, and she gave me the name of the real estate agent she had just used. That inquiry ended up being one of the most helpful things of our trip :).
Anyway, after a long 1.5 months of planning it was finally time to move! A few days before our actual move, a company came to pick up Jonathan's car. The boys thought it was so cool. It's kind of hard to see, but they loaded his car on a huge truck carrying multiple other cars, and this was the boys' view from the window:
Jonathan's company hired movers to come pack and move 99% of our belongings besides what we would need during the transition. Ann took the boys out for the majority of the day to breakfast, the park, the store, etc. to keep them out of the movers' way. I stayed home with Mary since someone needed to be there to do the inventory management. Mary spent the first part of the move sleeping upstairs before they packed our room, but I spent a good portion of the day walking around holding her when we had no where to sit. Here are the boys coming back from their day wreaking havoc on the end of the movers time there:
They were picking up bands that tied down furniture, running up and down the stairs, pushing furniture, and all things that little boys find interesting. It was a long day for them as well, though, because there were no naps and they were outside on a hot day.
Once all of our belongings were out of our place, we spent the next two nights in Irvine in a hotel. I was a little afraid of the sleeping arrangements since we were in close quarters, but we had a two bedroom suite with a living room. Jonathan's mom stayed with us one night before driving our mini van for us to Tulsa. My mom flew in and stayed with us the second night so she could help me fly with the kids. A grandma slept with Owen each night in a room, and I slept in a room with Jack. Mary slept in the living room since she's a loud sleep as to not disturb Jack and I could feed her on the couch in the middle of the night. It all actually worked out great, and we got much better sleep than I expected! We also ate out quite a bit, and the picture below is Jack giving the thumbs up to his grilled cheese. I think Jackson will enjoy vacations someday since he was so relaxed in the bed watching a Curious George episode. Owen just had fun pulling utensils out of the mini-kitchen cabinets.
September 30th we flew out of Santa Ana airport, we had a connection for 2.5 hours in Houston, and we ended up in Tulsa that night. The day started out with some challenges. The first picture below shows Owen having one of his classic tantrums right after arriving through security. After laying his face on the germ-y floor several times I'm happy to say he did not get sick :). Jack used the bathroom and managed to have poor aim where he peed all down the back of his pants and underwear. Once we got on the plane, though, it was better. The flight to Houston was 3.5 hours, and the boys did great with all of the activities and snacks both grandmas had helped to put together for them.
Once we arrived in Houston it was what would have been nap time for the boys. This is when the poop started to hit the fan. They were both really grumpy and defiant in the airport most of the layover. And then the flight to Tulsa…sigh. Owen cried about 98% of the 1.5 flight to Tulsa just from being so tired before he finally fell asleep 10 minutes before we landed. The man next to us was less than amused. My mom and I laughed to the point of tears when we got off the plane, because most people on the flight were in the hall waiting for their bags checked at the gate when we got off. They were all just staring at us when we got off. It felt like the walk of shame getting of the plane, and all we could do was laugh out of a little bit of delirium. I do have to say that the picture of Mary above is what she looked like the entire day besides when she was half awake to eat…thank you Mary!
In Tulsa we had to pick up a rental mini van, and the rental agency did not have the correct number or type of car seats. We were tired, hot, and frustrated while waiting an hour for them to find the right type of convertible car seat for Owen. They also cannot do anything with the car seats, so I had to install them myself in the parking garage. It was a loooong day! We finally made it to the hotel to meet Jonathan. We all slept pretty deeply that night, the boys included.
The next morning on Oct 1st, Jonathan and I signed all of the closing paperwork for our house while my mom stayed with the boys at the hotel. We headed over to our new house that day, and the movers showed up with our belongings two days later. We are so glad to be here and mostly settled in now.
