The time had finally come and we were ready to move. It came down to Friday's (September 20th) electrical inspection and even at 5:45 pm when Alliant Energy turned our gas heat connection on. We were set to go, and Brycen was having fun packing up his things to move. Since we first started framing the new house, Brycen knew exactly which room was his. It became even more exciting when the first coat of paint went on and he was special enough to have a blue wall in his room.
As shelving went up in the closets, and carpet was laid earlier in the week, we started taking more and more each day. We kept telling Brycen how he would get to take a nap in his new room on Saturday afternoon. Grandpa Fara drove over on Friday night and was there in the morning when Brycen woke up. He was EXCITED! We started packing up the two trailers, three pickups, and two Highlanders that morning. Brycen got to help with a few things in his room and had fun directing traffic. We had already moved quite a few of his toys to the new house and had them in a corner of the basement so he could play out of the way.
Once lunchtime came, we had the bedrooms set up and Grandma Blanchard was able to stay at the house while Brycen took his nap in the comfort of his bed in his new room. By Saturday night, we had most of our possessions at the new house stuffed in the garage and corners of the basement. We were blessed to have wonderful helpers! Waking up on Sunday morning was a new experience getting used to the train whistles in Walford. No one told us about those! Brycen luckily slept through them until a little after six. We took another trip over to Swisher and gathered the rest of our things and spent the rest of Sunday settling in.
Otis spent two nights with us at the new house before going to Grandpa and Grandma Blanchard's house for a while. We needed to have black dirt delivered in order to have the lawn seeded. He spent about a week in Belle Plaine before going to Chris Riddle's in Grinnell for two weeks.
Burke and I took the entire next week off when transitioning, which was a very smart move. There were two days where Burke and I were able to go to Brycen's school together and Brycen really liked that. We closed on our house in Swisher on Friday, September 27th and ended the week when we both picked Brycen up early from school.
Brycen had very few moments where he missed our home in Swisher. There were about three or four times where he had cried because he missed his old home and neighbors. He was always full of questions why we have a new house and why we don't live in Swisher anymore. Overall, Brycen took moving very well. By the time our move day finally came, he had spent countless hours on weekends and week nights at our new home.
It was early on when he decided he needed to bring his tool bench and all his tools over to help Daddy, Grandpa, and Aaron. Grandma Blanchard was a big help when she brought two tubs full of old tractors and other trucks to have in the basement to play with. The tractors had many hours outside in the dirt while we were putting in the underground fence and building the screen porch.
Now Brycen likes to listen for the trains that go through town and race toward his room or the front door in order to see them. He loves his new room and all the places that he now keeps his toys. Although he doesn't get downstairs very often, he has spent many hours in the basement playing with tractors and other toys. He's got full rein of the basement and enjoys the very long run of open space to ride in his car or take a stroll on his bike.
Another challenge is keeping Brycen concentrated on his supper rather than distracted by everything else. We now eat at the kitchen table for supper every night and we pull up to the bar-height counter for breakfast every morning. There is something about the lower height of the chair that tempts Brycen to get out, but he does alright.
We couldn't be more proud of the little guy going through so many changes at one time. He had his last day at Jean's house, said good-bye to friends he'd known his whole life, started a new daycare, and moved to a new house within three weeks. We're lucky to have such a good little guy who really "gets it" and asks a lot of questions.
No comments:
Post a Comment