The Bryant Family: May 2011

I have not REALLY posted in AWHILE! Sadly, I don't have a ton of pictures of this transition in our lives, but I do have some :)

The past month has been a WHIRLWIND. In 3.5 weeks we sold a TON on Craigslist, had a yardsale, took a ton to goodwill, arranged to have our things shipped across the country, found a place in NC to live, packed EVERYTHING, got our house set to go, had job interviews, lots of extra visits with friends, PLUS normal life! It. was. crazy! Friends and family helped us alot and the kids really did well though I'm sure it was weird for them.

Some friends were gracious enough to throw us a going away party which was nice. I kindof assumed I would be a basket case then and when saying goodbye to other friends and family. I did not cry one single time which was weird. I think it's because I was saying goodbye to so many people, places, and things I couldn't wrap my mind around the reality of it. I was also so busy my mind didn't have alot of time to dwell on it. I did cry as we left our house. Yes, I was sad about the house, but the tears were more for the memories and the entirety of leaving our home, friends, and family.

My friend Kayli, and I did alot of packing together and did well if I do say so myself. Jared and his helpers were able to pack our 21 foot moving quote into 13 feet of space which saved us around $1300! Yay!

On Mother's Day I worked HARD (as did Jared's mom) . We got up and busted our tails until probably at least 7:00 and then headed to Jared's parents house.

The kids did AWESOME on flying day (May 9). I DREADED it SO MUCH! We spent the night at Jared's parents and then got up SUPER early on Monday morning and Jared's dad drove us to Seattle (about an hour and a half). We got all checked in at the airport and everyone did so well going through security (which is quite the ordeal with 3 backpacks, a purse, 2 computers, a stroller and 3 kids - walking through getting computers out, putting things in the bins and getting everyone's shoes off and on). We had plenty of time and got loaded on our first plane which was a widebody. We were in the middle section. Kylie cried a bit. Jared took her and she calmed a bit. Before takeoff the stewardess came and told Jared the entire back row was empty and he and Kylie could go there if they wanted. So they did. Then there was only one person in the row in front of that and he switched with me and the boys. We felt like we had tons of space (which is wonderful on a 5 hour flight). Kylie got her own seat and all the kids ate a billion snacks. The boys colored a bit and watched movies. When we landed we had to RUN to get to our next gate. Kylie didn't get a chance to walk but the boys got some energy out. Bathroom breaks, got Kylie changed, grabbed some dinner to eat on the plane (since we really hadn't had a real meal yet) and got on just in time. It was CRAZY. That plane was MUCH smaller and there was ANOTHER lap child next to me. The kids were DONE but overall had good attitudes. That flight was only an hour so we got through it.

We stayed at my parents the first two nights and then "moved in" to our new place. We all slept on air mattresses. The boys have been fine but I would like to say that I don't think air mattresses are meant to be shared :) The townhome is about half the size of our previous home so it's quite an adjustment but it is going well. Overall, I like it. I definitely like the location. We are within 5 minutes of practically everything we could want to be and then some. The kids like the home and the adjustment there has been easier than I expected. What I'm still not used to is the TINY (as in so small you have to shut the door to fit inside it) master bath and the fact that the "yard" isn't fenced. I'm sure I'll get used to that too!

Our things arrived here a week and a half after we did and we were able to round up one friend available to help us that night so we could get the truck out of here :) Without Luke I'm not sure how we would have made that happen! VERY Quickly our home was PACKED to the gills. I'm not sure how. We sold SO much stuff and began feeling like we should get rid of more but as we have been unpacking it's gotten much better. Working on the garage (which we are so thankful to be able to store our other stuff in for now!) today so we will see if that is packed or not :) Alot of the unpacking has been finished but we still have a ways to go. I'm overly anxious to get settled :) So far we've only had a few liquid food items spill in the boxes (but they were bagged so it wasn't a problem) and a few furniture scratches - which is lame but it could have been much worse. When you send your stuff on a truck across the country it definitely gets DIRTY and your stuff ages by like 10 years :) My advice... don't take it if you don't have to unless you REALLY want to or it would cost you a fortune to replace :)

The kids have had a bit of a rough transition but are doing well overall. Definitely some behaviour and sleep problems but that has been improving over the last few days.

Kylie is turning into a kid instead of a baby. Her vocabulary has improved at a crazy rate. It's super cute. Her new thing to say is "ot!" all the time (Hot) She ALWAYS says it when we get in the car. And she is drinking a ridiculous amount of water.

Jackson seems to have abandoned his frog. Super weird. My mom had gotten a bunny and frog (for kylie really) for their house. But Jackson and Jaden got SUPER attached to them and brought them to our house. For a while Jackson was more into the new frog but kept his old one around. Now he doesn't really pay attention to either of them. Very weird. And kindof sad. We'll see what happens as we get more settled.

Got internet on Sunday which is awesome!

Still looking for a vehicle which is harder than I expected. Our car up in WA has sold, but our Van has not.

Our house did not sell. Strangely we have decided to rent it out. It wasn't really what we wanted to do or expected but we feel God arranged the whole thing. They are a nice, Christian family that came our way “randomly”. We will be able to make our mortgage payment with the rent which is a blessing. They may choose to purchase it later. I'm pretty nervous about the whole thing but know God is providing. We needed it sold or something right about now and I'm thankful to not have to have that payment anymore

I miss our house but it already seems a distant memory. Being in a smaller and different place that is not our own will bring to mind the things I miss about it throughout the day but it's more of a fondness and not a disappointment. My family and friends, however, do not seem distant. I think, in my mind, because I can email/call/text/whatever with them and so my brain just thinks I will see them soon. It's all so strange.

My sons despise bugs. Seriously hate them. There just aren't many bugs in Washington and they are EVERYWHERE here. We were at some friends for dinner and ate outside. It was fine at first but then my kids started FREAKING out (embarrassing) so they went inside to eat :) Then when we left we sent them on the porch to put their shoes on and after a minute the started screaming and pounding on the door to come in. Shortly after that though they saw lightning bugs and they thought that was cool. They went in our "back yard" one day for about 2 seconds and came back in because "there was too much bugs" (I'm sure they only saw one) At my parents house Jackson stepped on an anthill or something and ants crawled all over his foot and bit him. I do not blame him one bit for freaking out (I probably would have too) but you would have thought the world was ending. He was screaming like he was mortally wounded. It was insane. Just this afternoon Jared went out front with the boys because they were leaving then he came in for a second to grab something but shut the door behind him. They saw a bug and started screaming and pounding on our (unlocked) door (wonder what the neighbors think.... :) ) Sigh. I'm sure they will get used to it.

We are blessed to allready know a few people in the area. Luke and Jared (or Big Country back in the day) were good friends in high school and I became good friends with both of them. They seem to have the kind of relationship where they might not even talk for years (sadly) but when they reunite it almost as if they didn't skip a beat. We met Rockie (Luke's wife) once before and I had dinner with them once myself but she is wonderful and I can't wait to get to know her better. None of us had met all the kids yet (they have 2 young boys) and I'm looking forward to playdates in the future! Luke helped us unload the truck and we would have had big problems if he wasn't here :) I look forward to reconnecting with others in this area and in the Charlotte area soon!

I'm sure there are many more stories I could tell but my brain is operating on half capacity. I wanted to go ahead and give an update before TOO much time had gone by. Forgive the haphazardness.

I've already posted a few pictures but here are a few more... some may be repeats....

hot