A New Home for the Sitko's

We woke up to our first morning in Moline Illinois to about 5 inches of snow on the ground. We had perfect weather for our entire drive, aside from the last 45 minutes that showered us with a little rain. It started snowing about an hour after we pulled into Mom & Bob’s driveway. Perfect, right?

We went from nice, warm (or somewhat cool) weather in Georgia to cold, cold days in Illinois. I must have spent too many years in a warm climate. I lived in the Mid-West for 22 years…why am I so cold all of the sudden? But the cold wasn't slowing Dylan down one bit. And he looks darn cute all bundled up!

We had almost a week until our things were to show up at our new house, so we were spending some time at Grandma Linda & Grandpa Bob’s house. But we also spent most of our time working on our future house. We were cleaning the house, fixing small things, and filling up the fridge and pantry. Busy, busy, busy!

Then March 1st came and so did all of our Household Goods! Our house was about to become our home! Once again we had wonderful weather while they movers were unloading and it was followed by an afternoon of snow that started about 2 hours after they left. Thank you, Mother Nature, for your kindness!

The first room we tackled was Dylan’s. His room is awesome!  

Dylan has now made the transition to his big boy bed! And he is a rockstar!

He loves his bed and hasn’t had any problems with the transition. Here I was, all worried that he'd roll out, or be confused about his new room, or not even stay in the bed all night. He proved me wrong on that first night. And he is almost always waking up (in the morning or after his nap) in a good mood. Such a big boy!

Mom and Bob have helped me so much here at the house. Not only did they put in an unbelievable amount of man-hours before we got to town, but they helped us unpack and make our house a home. It's still not perfect, but it's getting cozy...and we are happy.

And the only reason we have this house is because of our landlady, Grandma Gisele. She seems to really like us being here, and I think it makes her happy to see her house as a home again. I'm sure we're going to make lots of happy memories here.

Moving Day and Getting on the Road

Oh, where can I even begin to describe the last month? I have experienced extreme stress, exhaustion, relief, sadness, and joy. It’s been quite the rollercoaster. I wonder if it will slow down anytime soon? It all started with our move out of Georgia and into Illinois in mid-February.

Using my desk that Matt took apart as his new recliner

My mom caught a flight into Jacksonville the day before the movers came to our house. And by the time we got back to the house, Matt and Brittany were there too! I don’t know how I would have gotten everything done without that house full of people helping. I know that I am so lucky to have such great friends in my life. Matt & Britt drove 3 hours to my house just to help clean, organize, and prepare for the packers. It was so hard doing the move without Josh. And I know it would have felt practically impossible without Mom, Matt & Britt. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Grandma & Dylan relaxing in our hotel room

Our entire home was packed into boxes in 4 hours, but the movers weren’t scheduled to come for another two days. Matt & Britt went home, and my mom, Dylan & I camped out in a hotel room and tried to relax for a couple days. I was really frustrated with the delay, at first, but I have come to realize that I really needed that day of rest before our upcoming road trip. One of many blessings in disguise throughout this experience.

Dylan and his Paczki

Our day off between the packers and the movers happened to be Fat Tuesday, so we picked up some Paczkis from Publix and let Dylan dig in! He only had one bite - but it was a huge one! I think he was a little overwhelmed. I happily finished it for him. We were thinking of Daddy while chowing down on our Polish treats. He usually buys them for us, and I didn't want to break the tradition, even if he wasn't physically there with us.

The actual moving day was pretty overwhelming for me! The movers took about 5 hours to get everything we own on the truck. Mom and I managed to finish cleaning the house, got the kid to take a nap in the car, we had the carpet cleaning guy come, I said goodbye to the best neighbor ever (we love you, Von!), turned the keys into the rental office, reweighed the car, and finally got on the road. It was several days worth of things packed into one. We were on the road by mid-afternoon.

We made it North of Atlanta and by the time we got into the hotel room, I was experiencing a level of exhaustion that I’ve never felt before in my life. I felt like I was moving through a dream. It was almost a scary situation. Thank goodness I had my Mama there! She was my rock when I needed some extra strength.

Behind the wheel, helping me drive :)

Dylan was an absolute rockstar in the car on the way back to Illinois. He and Grandma sat in the back seat playing games and having a ball the whole way. We managed to make it back to my parents’ house by about 7pm the second night.

Overall, Dylan has adjusted pretty well for a kid who has been dragged across the country and who has slept in so many different places in such a short amount of time. And the move was only the beginning. Stay tuned for more about the craziest month I’ve ever had to survive. Coming soon…