Last Days in VA and Moving!

November! Woah! I thought October was crazy, but November definitely topped it. Moving was hectic as expected, but it was also an emotional roller coaster of goodbyes. There has been something special about each place we have lived that we were sad to leave. In Charlotte it was our first neighborhood and house and all the amazing friends we made while we were there. In Greenville it was being an hour away from the beach, and where we became parents and brought Sky home from the hospital. But, the memories and foundation we built in Richmond were by far the hardest to leave. It was the only place Savannah has ever known as home. It's where both of the girls took their first steps and said their first words. And it is where, after much effort, we found an amazing team of people to care for Skylar and to help us help her reach her fullest potential. I think I knew moving would be hard, but the last time we moved we had only a 9 month old- and it was way harder this time than I remembered! :)
But, I am hopeful that we will make lots of new memories in Memphis too!!
Skylar and Savannah had an exciting last week of school...
Skylar got to dress as a baker for career day, and of course was the cutest little baker ever!


We savored every single second of outside time that we could. Lots of walks and wagon rides and tree gazing during our last week... 





Enjoying some Halloween candy! 
Of course we had to fit in a sick visit to the doctor too! Sky looks thrilled ha..
We had a sad couple days of saying goodbye to all of Skylar's therapists that we love...
Miss Wendy (PT) who had been with Skylar since she was 10 months old, and Mrs. Sara (ST)...
Mrs. Karol (OT) and the whole gang on Skylar's final day! :( They will be greatly missed!
They spoiled Savannah too and let her play on all of the therapy equipment :)

Savannah's artwork collection that she made to show Daddy when he got home..(she loves cutting things and then taping them back together!?)
Last week of swim lessons...
Savannah on the far right and her teacher Mr. Gabe...

Crazy swimmer face!
We had to squeeze in one last visit to Jumpology too!...
Picture day at preschool...
Daddy comes home tonight and movers come tomorrow! Tyler was getting in around 6 and I got the girls all ready to go pick him up from the airport. We got in the car and the car wouldn't start- dead battery. I had to call AAA and while we were waiting for AAA Savannah started throwing up for the second time this week! Ty ended up having to take a cab home from the airport! And movers started at 7:30 the next morning!..
Our moving truck showed up on a Thursday and they packed and loaded Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday...
Needless to say, it was a wild couple of days...
That's right kids- you're just enjoying another completely normal dinner not surrounded by boxes lol...


Over the weekend we had our saddest goodybe of all to our wonderful friend and babysitter Fegan. She will be irreplaceable in our lives and we were so fortunate to find someone that loved and cared for the girls as much as she did. 
Savannah having a rough morning...
She's still recovering from a meltdown, but is all dressed and ready to celebrate her birthday at school!  Last day of school in VA for everyone! :(
Birthday cookies for Savannah's class...
Pictures from Skylar's last day that her wonderful teacher Mrs. Cole shared with us... We are going to miss her school and all her teachers and aides so much! Skylar was well loved and well taken care of! She was surrounded by an amazing group of people that have a passion for all kids and especially kids that need special help. They definitely spoiled us with an amazing Kindergarten experience...
Skylar and Mrs. Donna...


 Skylar and Mrs. Cole...
Mrs. Zamparello and Mrs. Cole...
 Skylar's homeroom class...Mrs. Zamparello reading the letter that the class wrote for Sky... :(
Goodbye letter...
 A little package from Mrs. Zamparello's class full of pictures for Sky...
Final loading day...

It was a gorgeous gorgeous day on our last day, and I got to take one last walk through Sunday Park when I picked up Savannah from preschool...


Enjoying a little time in the yard because our house is completely empty...

We had decided to spend one last night in our house even after they had loaded the truck. We knew it would be a late start to try and head right out of town. Which turned out to be a great decision because Savannah got sick again and spent the afternoon at the doctor and getting lab work done. :(
Camping out in their empty rooms...
It was Skylar's first night in her new tent, so of course we had to have the stalker cam on her :)...

Everyone did great in their tents and we made our final walk throughs and goodbyes...and headed out towards TN for the last time!...
We even picked up a tool for Ryan during our stop in Knoxville that he bought from someone on Craigslist.
NOW we are full! :)
It was so fun to spend the night in Knoxville on our way and celebrate early for Savannah's birthday...

Amazing cupcakes from Aunt Minde!...
Our cute nephew Beau!...
Cousin Cinderellas...

Little girl heaven...
Our cute nephew Wil!...
We headed out the next morning, dropped off Ryan's tool in Nashville, and trekked on to our new home in Lakeland!
The girls seeing their new house for the first time...
Running wild after a long day in the car...
After probably the craziest week of her life, and two full days in the car with not a wink of sleep, Savannah fell asleep 10 minutes from Gigi's house...
We arrived in Memphis on Wednesday night- a week after the movers started packing us up. So, we had been living out of suitcases for a week already, but Gigi and Grandude were nice enough to let us live with them for a few more days while we got our house in "order". 
It's a good thing, because it was complete mayhem! We had great movers and are so lucky Target moved us, but there is just no easy way to do it- it's a messy process!
The movers unpacked most of the boxes for us and put all of our things wherever they could find a place anywhere...

Toy explosion!...
Yes Sky!- That's how we all feel!... :)
By Friday the movers were done and gone, and we had just enough time to prepare for Savannah's fourth birthday on Saturday! :) 

1 comment:

MJH said...

Well, I just cried and cried and cried looking at this post. I pray that you will carry those warm memories all throughout your life. What a special home you made there. I know that there is more happiness ahead:)