Julie's Moving tips.

We arrived in Tucson, finally, after a very long and painful ordeal that only couple's counseling can fully fix. :) Here is my long list of moving tips for any of you. I'm sure that you will get the idea of what happened to us along the way just by reading these tips.

1. Do not count on the kids' nap time to get things done. When you really have to do something, they refuse to sleep. It is imperative to farm the kids out when you need to pack the house or things take four times as long.
2. Never close up a box in front of a two-year-old, especially if it has his stuff in it.
3. Never leave your two-year-old with grandma to go to Arizona on a home finding trip, then come home and pack up all of your things telling the two-year-old that you are moving to Arizona. He will never sleep and will always whine, only for you to discover several days later that he thinks you are leaving him behind and taking all of his possessions with you.
4. The baby swing should always be the VERY last thing packed, no matter what hubby says.
5. Always check the weather over Donner's pass before driving to Sacramento to pick the moving truck. Saving the extra money to rent out of Sacramento isn't worth getting stuck on the summit in a blizzard with chains required, especially when the elder's quorum is coming at a specified time to help load the truck that is stuck on the summit.
6. Moving truck companies lie. A 16 foot truck does not fit the belongings of a 2-3 bedroom house.
7. Always rent the biggest truck possible, it isn't fun to track down another truck and re-load it.
8. Call different people to help you reload the bigger truck than those who helped you load the original truck. You don't want your friends to be glad that they aren't ever going to see you again.
10. Unloading and reloading the truck will set you back several hours on the trip.
9. Never pull into a Motel 6 parking lot with a 26 foot truck towing a car behind on a trailer. You will get stuck and have to wait for hours the next morning for people to check out of the motel and move their cars before you will ever get out of the parking lot. This will set you back many hours on your trip.
11. Always plan on not getting on a stand-by flight when the wife and kids fly stand-by to meet hubby at the new place.
12. Never tell a two-year-old who is traveling stand-by that we are going to fly on an airplane.
13. Two-year-olds have big melt downs in the airport when they don't get to go on the plane that you just promised them they were going to get to fly on.
14. Invest in a toddler leash. Two-year-olds run very fast down the jet way and on to the plane that you just promised them they were getting on, but didn't. Airline employees do not like it when people who are not on the flight try to get on the flight.
15. Running full speed down the jet way to catch said two-year-old while carrying the 2 month old in the BJorn will wake the 2 month old up and cause her to start crying really loudly.
16. Carrying a tantrum throwing two-year-old and a screaming baby gets a lot of looks at the airport.
17. When you send your shared cell phone with the hubby who is driving the truck, don't expect there to be pay phones at the Reno airport. There aren't any, and no way to call anyone to let them know that you didn't get on the flight.
18. When the kids are still screaming and there is no pay phone, your bag just went to Tucson with the car seats, it is okay to cry.
19. A crying mother with two screaming kids gets a lot of sympathetic help at the airport.
20. Candy from strangers really helps two-year-olds to calm down. Teddy-bears from strangers get thrown back in stranger's faces.
21. Waiting four hours for the next flight out requires a lot of patience and prayer that you will get on the next flight.
22. Two-year-old's prayers are answered when they ask to get on the airplane, and there is only one seat, and a sweet lady offers to take the next flight so you can have her seat and get on the flight. Thank you to the lady who was willing to give us her seat.
23. Always offer a crying mother with two crying kids a phone to use to call someone. Thank you to the sweet lady who let me use her phone.
24. A crying baby is louder than a jet airplane.
25. The dvd player batteries do not last long enough to get you through the flight, the layover, and the next flight.
26. When you hit some turbulence that sends your stomach into your throat, expect your two-year-old to shout that it not only tickles his bum, but tickles everybody's bum. This too is louder than a jet airplane and can be heard by everyone on board.
27. When you are a grandmother and hear of your daughter's ordeal in the airport, jump on the next flight possible to meet daughter at the layover spot to help her the rest of the way. Thanks so much, Mom, I don't know how I would've done the rest without you.
28. There's something about having your mother there that makes everything okay, even when you still have another flight to catch with the same two screaming children, and you don't know if hubby will really get to Phoenix before you to pick you up at the airport due to all of the delays that he faced.
29. Always carry phone numbers with you. You'll need them when you send the shared cell phone with the hubby and now have no way of calling anyone. Oh wait, you can't call anyone anyway, pay phones don't exist anymore!!
30. Never have the utilities company come at 8:00 a.m. the day after your intended arrival. You won't be there yet.
31. If you are breastfeeding, make sure to pump. All of this travel and stress will cause mastitis.
32. If you develop mastitis at the same time the swine flu is going around, expect everyone to think you have the swine flu.
33. When you are finally reunited with hubby, give big hugs and forgive each other for the terrible mess that you each created.
34. Once arriving at the new house, expect two-year-old to tell you each day that he is walking back to Reno to play with Hannah, only to return to the kitchen to ask for a bottle of water to take on his journey back to Reno.
35. When all of the stress of the move causes you to use some curse words, expect two-year-old to repeat them. Camden now like to say da*&it whenever something doesn't go his way. Guess we will have to clean up our language and teach him better words to say.
36. In the end of it all, look around and enjoy the new, bigger house you are in, the beautiful weather, and the great opportunity to try something new.