Looks like we made it...

...finally! 

Aunt Amanda, Andrew and I flew out of Philadelphia on Wednesday, 2/8 at 2pm.  Mike picked us up in San Francisco at 5pm (6 hour flight for those of you who need help with the math).  We were happy to finally be in California and together again. 

After two nights in a hotel, our belongings finally arrived on Friday and the work began.  The movers unloaded the truck, and for anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of someone else doing the heavy lifting for a move like this, let me give you a brief synopsis.  Two men (who didn't appear to be in all that great of shape) showed up at 9am, and the trucker showed up at 9:45.  The trucker got off and the movers went straight to work.  They worked for a good six hours straight, without even a lunch break.  The one mover said he would go home and play racket ball.  I will never underestimate how "in shape" someone is again.  My job was to play "Bingo".  I was given a sheet called the "Bingo Card", and as boxes came off the truck, the movers would tell me the box number that had been assigned to each box, and I'd check it off my Bingo card.  The only "work" I did, was trying to decide where all the boxes should go. I kept thinking how much my Aunt Julie would've enjoyed it... I basically played Bingo, got some sun and drank Corona all day!

The next day was where we got to work.  Aunt Amanda's job was simple (but not easy by any means) - keep Andrew happy.  Linda got to work in the kitchen, and I don't even know what Mike and I did, but I know I felt completely unorganized and scattered.  I definitely was wishing my mom had been there to help.  I think my Dad's words were "Been there, done that, no thank you."  Smart man.  Anyways, you cannot believe how many trees we killed doing a professional move.  Mike and Andrew enjoyed the paper (see pics below)... Linda, not so much.  She took on the task of folding it all so it would consolidate into boxes.

At this point, we've got the bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen done.  Don't worry, I'll post pictures once I've deemed the house post worthy.
 


First Stop -

 We managed to have a little fun while Aunt Amanda was still with us in California... maybe a little too much fun?  Here is a montage of our winery tour on a nice Saturday afternoon.  Notice that our composure goes down the tubes as the day wears on.

Mommy's Sippy Cup



Age Gets Better with Wine and
What Happens at the Winery Stays at the Winery

 Second Stop - Bent Creek Winery - our favorite so far! 
   

 

Andrew and Aunt Amanda Montage


How do I drink this while holding a baby?

  

 

Don't get any ideas kid!



Melissa and Amanda Montage

Mom and Dad - get the London trip reference here?

Andrew's first smell of lavender!

Getting sillier

Amanda showing off the view

Later that night at the bar...

Please don't call Child Protective Services - it was just water!!!  :)

Time for Some Shopping Fun!



Andrew's first time using the Shopping Cart Cover



Grandma and Andrew taking a break in Target



Wente Winery in Livermore

All that drinking left Andrew tuckered out!

The Move - Part 1

We were fortunate that our relocation package included packing. Our house is small, but the garage, eaves, my wrapping room, and every closet were jammed pack with "stuff" due to my borderline hoarder tendencies.  Mike made me get rid of several bags of bags and boxes of boxes, and overall I felt like I did a good job purging... but we still had a ton of stuff.  That, coupled with my Type A personality, made me very nervous for the packing part of our move.  I mean, the idea that someone else would be going through my underwear drawer, and potentially not labelling the boxes appropriately (ie cotton, fancy, fancy cotton) was almost too much for me to bear.  I was forced to let go of my compulsiveness and the packers came on Wednesday around 9:30 and had the entire house packed by 3:30.  Mike and I were there to answer questions about what stays and what goes, but overall didn't do much... if we had known this part of the move would have been so easy, we would've had mimosas that morning to celebrate!  That night, Mike, Andrew and I said goodbye to our home and moved into temporary housing at Aunt Amanda's (aka Gram and Grandpa's House).

 

The next day the movers showed up at 8:00 and stayed until 5:00, putting the boxes and furniture into the moving truck, like pieces in a puzzle. 

The trucker shared that our possessions would be travelling up to Connecticut prior to their cross country trip to California, and they would meet us at our new house next Friday 2/10.   We met at the house to do last minute cleaning, but got a little distracted by our most prized possession.

 

 

Mike's truck also left on Thursday for it's journey across the country.... sans Mike. Our relo package paid for one car to be shipped out, but not both.  So, on Friday, Mike and Linda left for their mother/son road trip - driving my car (jam packed with stuff) to CA.  At last word they were stuck in a snowstorm in Iowa. Stay tuned for a blog from Mike about their cross country trip!!

Andrew's First "Vacation"

Well, the Foster's House Hunting Trip in CA was a success!  We came home with a signed lease, a bank account with a Federal Credit Union in CA, and most importantly, we did not get kicked off the plane for having an uncontrollable baby!  Yay!

Our 5 day trip was exhausting, but worth it since we now have the peace of mind that we will have a place to live when we make the big move in just a few short weeks. 

Andrew was a complete trooper, despite 9 showings, 5 nights in a small hotel room, 4 plane rides and 4 trips to visit day cares (and a partridge in a pear tree). 

To keep our little cherub cherubic, we tried several tactics:

Shhhh!  He's sleeping!

Reading the "magic' Yummy Book.

Airplane rides in the Airplane!

Funky Monkey Blue always does the trick!

Just finished eating!

If all else fails, scotch and wine helps!

Our first day in California, we drove around Livermore and pulled into a community near the lab.  We thought this must be a sign!:

And another good sign, the Greek "taverna" we ate at in Livermore, had the same beer that we drank every night on our honeymoon - Mythos! And a miracle occurred - Andrew slept through dinner! (We weren't so lucky the next night, it was our first time having to leave a restaurant due to Andrew's behavior!)

Another first for Andrew, was sleeping in bed with Mommy and Daddy.  We had a crib in the room, but it didn't seem to go over well the first night, so we thought if we're in CA, and have a CA King, why not let him sleep with us?  Well, this leads to yet another first - the first time Andrew peed the bed.
Here are some pictures of Hotel Room fun:

A cow right outside the window!

Practicing our new skill - Sitting up!

Andrew looking out over Philly as we approach "home" for the last time.

California Dreamin'

Well, it's a new year, and the Foster's are starting a new life, in a new state, with a new job (cue stress!).  Most everyone's heard by now - Mike has been offered a post-doc position at Sandia National Lab, in Livermore, California.  Livermore is about 40 minutes outside of San Francisco - check it out at www.cityoflivermore.net.  Mike took the below pictures while driving around the area after his interview in December.

We got the unofficial offer on Mike's birthday, December 21st, but there were a lot of details that still had to be ironed out. So, although I still spent the week after Christmas getting ready to put our house on the market, I was (in pure Melissa fashion) anticipating bad news. Fortunately, my worries were needless (as usual) and Mike got the official offer on January 6th and our house went on the market the same day.  Did I mention we have a wonderful realtor? 

We are leaving on January 18th to go house hunting.  It will be Andrew's first plane ride! Which of course, means that Mike and I are both pretty anxious about this trip - stay tuned for a report on how that goes!

Our goal in house hunting is to find a rental starting February 1st.  This is all moving very fast... did I mention it's slightly stressful?  ;)   We are looking for a McMansion with at least 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a pool... so, everyone start planning your trips to California - there will be plenty of room! 

I am posting some pictures of our first house - the house we brought Andrew home to - for posterity.  We bought our house unexpectedly in May of 2008.  The reason why I say this purchase was unexpeceted, is because we were not house hunting at all, and still had quite a few months left on our lease in Jenkintown.  But, our fabulous realtor is always on the look out, and she had just listed this cute Cape and thought we would love it... and she was right - thanks Mom!  We put our blood, sweat, and tears into this house (even though it didn't really need it... but we like projects).  To name a few of the projects Mike completed: he updated both the bathroom and kitchen, put in new insulation upstairs, installed ceiling fans and a gas fireplace, as well as dug numerous flower beds.  I'm sure that I'm missing several other projects, but I have been continuously impressed by Mike's natural talents and determination.

  

It didn't feel right not having at least one picture of Andrew in this blog, so here's the winner!  He's just shy of 5 months old in this one.