Huh?

Our time in the 'Lou is quickly coming to an end ... and Kyle and I are frantic to finish all of those last minute details before we leave our house (hopefully to a lovely family we came across this week!!) and continue our time of chaos in Houston ...

That doesn't sound right. But things are (and, we know, will continue to be) a bit chaotic.

Our house is (almost) packed and (almost) clean and (almost) empty. The movers came Wednesday and most of our household goods drove away. Now we have a card table, an air mattress and a pack-n-play. (And a few other odds and ends - largely cleaning and house project supplies.)

I leave (with Olive) Monday morning for Houston. We are flying, for many reasons, but largely because Olive's current car-ride-tolerance is about 3 hours ... and the drive to Houston is a TAD longer than that.

Kyle and his Dad will drive down the things we need to exist for the next several weeks (plus a bit more, I'm an over-packer and come by it honestly) as well as some of our fragile things. He has work stuff to wrap up, and house chores to finish up so they'll come later in the week. (Getting some of our messier chores done while Olive is crawling around is very difficult!)

We will stay with my Mom and Tim for a few weeks, take a vacation to New Mexico for a week and THEN close on our new house and move in. We are hoping and praying that things will continue to go as smoothly as can be expected and that the final house details come through without too many hitches. (Has anyone ever closed on a house without hitches?!?)

That is our brief-ish schedule, but how are we?

Olive is largely well. Her last day of day care in St. Louis was yesterday. (We LOVED our day care. Childgarden was a WONDERFUL place for her!!!) So we will see how she does when she is out of that routine for a few days. We can tell that the move is wearing on her (not surprising, it is wearing on us!!) as she is having trouble getting to sleep and she is becoming quite clingy.

Kyle and I are hanging in.

We are tired.

We are a bit stressed.

Moving is stressful. Moving long distance is stressful. Renting our home and getting it ready to be rented is stressful. Finding and buying a house is stressful. Starting new jobs and finding new routines is stressful.

BUT those things are also very exciting as well. I am VERY much looking forward to getting dressed and ready for work in an office again very soon (although I've done a bit of work lately from my kitchen table, the mental preparation - for me - of getting ready for and going to work is key).

We are focusing on the little details of our everyday life - like Olive's smile and laughter in the morning - that make us happy and eyeing a more settled September! (Trying to enjoy the now while also looking to the promise of the future. Not a bad life lesson.)

More to come for sure.

H