The views expressed in this blog are personal and not representative of the U.S. Government, etc etc etc.
Read at your own risk.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

In the last three weeks

So, things have been busy.  With a new baby, life always gains the odd quality of being busy with no definable gain by the end of the day.  There seems to be a lot of sitting around, changing diapers, and feeding children with a lot of stress about the whole thing.  And when you throw in trying to get not only your child but your household ready to move to another country, life gets even busier.

My sister was kind enough to come and help out for the first week, for which I was tremendously grateful as Joseph thought he would try our patience by not sleeping at night for the first week he was home.  After Brandon spent two straight nights without any sleep, I took extreme measures and things quieted down during Brandon's mother's visit for the week before Thanksgiving.

Which was good as Brandon and I drove down to Richmond to fetch Joseph's birth certificate the day before my sister-in-law came with her six children for Joseph's baby blessing.  The children had a wonderful time with their cousins making havoc of our small townhouse, which I'm sure was never intended to house fourteen people.

The same day everyone left, Brandon and I went downtown where Joseph applied for his first passports and we booked plane tickets to Baku.  When I commented out that we could buy a Civic for the price of the tickets, Brandon pointed out that we would have a hard time driving a Civic to Baku.

Brandon's mother left the day before Thanksgiving, so we went to Maryland to join my Aunt and Uncle for Thanksgiving.  The next week I sent off another shipment, this one containing a swing set, dome jungle gym, digital piano, set of tires, and 150 pounds of sugar.  Our three final shipments, UAB, HHE by air, and the car have been set up for the week we leave.

Brandon picked up Joseph's diplomatic passport and finally turned in the visas applications after two failed attempts, and Joseph has a medical appointment scheduled this week so that he can be cleared and allowed to travel.

We've scheduled out the last three weeks we have in country and have plans for several dinners, a Christmas party, Christmas tree shopping, Christmas shopping, medical appointments, a visit from my brother, work consultations, Christmas itself, those aforementioned pack outs, and of course, flying halfway across the world with four small children.

One day I'll get some rest (and maybe even more than three hours of sleep in a row), but it won't be for awhile.  And until then, I'll have chocolate to help me out.  Thank heaven for chocolate.

8 comments:

Becky said...

What a whirlwind! Good luck!

Unknown said...

Wow! Just wow.

You put a swingset in your supplemental shipment? You must be well under your poundage... Sweet!

pillarofpeace said...

I don't know you but am in awe of your energy! I've been reading your posts for a long time now and am super-impressed by the way you've been getting so much done (even during the last few weeks of pregnancy and now with the new little one). As I only think about the fact that we have to move in 6 months or so and probably to a different hemisphere, my head starts to spin. Thanks for being my real life example of how moving with children and a whole bunch going on is totally manageable.

PaulaJean said...

Chocolate does make anything better. Particularly good chocolate. Even bad chocolate does in a pinch.

Good luck!

UnkaDave said...

Yeah, too bad. We fled he country without kids, and you have to drag them along. Can't just hire a baby sitter one day and quietly leave? Does Social Services get extradition power?

sarahflib said...

I laughed at the end of your post because I was just about to say, "Ashley, sit down!" Wow, you've been busy. I think I've had a baby recently enough that I can honestly say I don't know how you can do all of that with such a new baby . . . holy cow. Oh, and I'm glad you're taking your own park to Baku!

Bridget said...

Wow, good luck with all that!

Just US said...

HOLY COW!! You are making Superwoman look like a slacker right about now. Good luck with the move!