Moving Abroad with a Little One

Moving with a little one under any circumstance is going to be difficult never mind when you are moving over 4,000 miles away from where you call home. We were lucky this opportunity came when it did as Calleigh was still so young and had no ties with school or friends in England. We knew that Calleigh was going to be okay as we came out to St Louis the year before we decided to move here. She was only 7 months old at the time. 

When we found out that our Visa had been accepted we didn't have long before our move date. And Paul had to come to St Louis on his own in order to secure us a house and get some other things in order so it would all go smoothly when we moved. This left Calleigh and I in England to tie up loose ends here and pack. We moved in with my mum to make the process a bit easier. This left the house empty so I could pack everything up that we didn't need. It was still very difficult to do alone as looking after Calleigh took up a majority of my time. I must admit if we did it again I would allow ourselves a little more time.

When the move date came, obviously Calleigh didn't understand what was happening. But family did, and saying goodbye to Calleigh was really hard for them, as it was for us. 

We knew travelling was not going to be a problem, as despite her young age she had already been on a plane 6 times- 4 on our trip to St Louis and the other 2 going to Denmark- so she is pretty well travelled. Nothing seemed to bother little Calleigh, even when we missed our flight and got stranded in New Jersey. To her it was just another little adventure.

When we finally landed in St Louis our house was not ready so we spent the first couple of days in a hotel. It was the same hotel we stayed in on our initial trip out here so we knew the staff and the place very well. Calleigh thought it was just another holiday. 

Moving day finally came and we got the keys to the house which we will call home for the next two years. We were extremely lucky to find a house which came fully furnished, meaning we didn't have to go out in a mad rush to buy ourselves furniture. The only thing we needed was a crib for Calleigh and furniture for her room, as before it was an office. 

Before long we had finished Calleigh's room and everything was starting to settle down. My mum had returned home so it left just us as a family, Calleigh had started daycare, giving me a child free day every week to stay on top of the cleaning and once our stuff arrived from England Calleigh had all her toys back.

We make sure we stay in touch with Family every week so they can see Calleigh and vice versa. It has not been easy and I do get upset when I think about what Calleigh could be missing out on by not having her family around. Calleigh doesn't seem to mind so much, I know she is still so young she doesn't quite understand that when she sees them on the computer that they are actually in a whole other country.

Moving here was Calleigh was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Even though we had our problems and set backs we made it here and we have made an excellent start on creating a life for our family here. Calleigh is happy, she gets so much attention from Mummy and Daddy and that's all she seems to really need. We plan to take trips back home whenever we can to see family and make sure that Calleigh knows who they are. 

Home Sweet Home

After a long, long wait our stuff has finally arrived with us here in St Louis. It was very exciting to get back all our belongings and find places for them around our new home. 

For me the best thing was getting all our family photos and home decorations. Straight away from getting them out of the box I was hanging them on the empty hooks I have been looking at for the last 8 weeks. Now I can say that this place is really starting to feel like home. 

Paul was most excited about getting his Xbox and all his technical gadgets. Although his excitement didn't last long, as because we are (once again) without Internet or TV there wasn't much he could do with them. We decided to change service providers last week but unfortunately there was a long wait for set up. Hopefully they will be out on Thursday (I can't wait!).

Calleigh's toy box arrived safely with all her toys inside, she was so happy to see all her toys again! 

Although she did seem more interested in playing with the boxes. 

We are so happy everything arrived safely and although there is still a bit of cleaning and sorting to do everything went well and our house is now a home. 

We Have A House!

It's official Paul has secured us a house! 

It is so beautiful and comes fully furnished, I can really see us settling down in there. 

The owners of the house are actually English and are returning home for two years , I mean if that's not fate then what is. 

Here are a few photos of our future home 

It is such a beautiful home. It really makes me excited for whats to come and I finally feel like this is really happening. Now all we need to do decide on a moving date. Unfortunately even this is posing a problem as neither of us can agree on a date. But I'm sure now that we have the home we will be able to sort something out. 

Hard Times

It's getting closer to the big move and even though we do not have a set date yet we know it will be sometime in April and that puts a lot of pressure on us both.

On Thursday Paul flew out to St Louis, he will be there for the next two weeks. Mainly to work but also to get everything sorted out for when we move out their with Calleigh. I mean we need somewhere to move to, which means we need to rent a house.
Whilst Paul is busy doing that, I have moved in with my Mum and Sister. Mainly so that I do not get too lonely (and it's always nice for the extra help with Calleigh) but also to make it easier to pack up the house.
Or so I thought...

Calleigh's room turned upside-down

Today I went round to pick up a few bits and move some boxes of our personal stuff somewhere safer, It was not easy. I looked around at the house which looks like someone has just walked in and chucked stuff in the air, tripped over a box, trapped my finger in a draw and struggled to manoeuvre my way around a curious Calleigh. I almost broke into tears right then, luckily my Mum was there with me and convinced me to leave it for now and have a cup of tea.. such words of wisdom.

Paul on the other hand has had much better luck than me and may have even found our future house.
It's a bit more than we wanted to pay but comes fully furnished which eliminates the hassle of manic furniture buying when we get out there.
Hopefully he can seal the deal this week and we can finally start arranging a move date.

I'm hoping to get some more information soon so will let you know what happens..

Until then you will find me knee deep in boxes and Peppa Pig marathons.

Packing Problems and Bubble Wrap

Since we have had our Visa's come through we have been busy trying to pick a date that suits both of us and have started packing up some stuff. 

After much deliberation Paul has got a date for his trip. 

He will be going without us first for a couple of weeks to look for a house and get some other stuff sorted. We decided this would be the best option for us as the thought of me staying alone in a hotel with Calleigh for too long is a little daunting and not fair on Calleigh. 

Whilst he is away it would of been my job to pack everything up ready to ship over. However, this is a massive job, especially with a 15 month old baby around, and so Paul decided it would be best if we started doing some of it now. 

It seemed like such a good idea at the time but now not so much. 

It's hard to pack up a house you are still living in, add that to the fact that Paul hardly wants to take anything and I want to take everything and cue arguments over sentimental items and whether pretty candles are necessities. 

The house is a mess with bubble wrap and boxes everywhere I step. Which is made worse by the fact the house was already a mess with baby toys anyway. 

Calleigh just wants to play with the bubble wrap. 

Paul just wants to chuck everything away. 

And I just want it all to be over. 

I'm sure we will get there in the end, well, I hope we will.