We moved out of the hotel residence apartment to our current (permanent) apartment home on the 27th of July, which also happened to be Neil's birthday.
I was 27 weeks pregnant. My husband was traveling more than he was home. It was incredibly hot. These are the things that I remember vividly.
However, I also recall how wonderful it was to receive delivery of our main shipment from the States. All our stuff was finally here! And in our new home! Granted, it was not organized nor was our home set-up for everyday life- much less set-up to welcome a brand new baby in two weeks- but it was at least here!
I sat and checked off each box as it arrived.
The moving company was awesome and put all of the boxes in the rooms I requested and then unpacked and assembled anything I asked, Neil arrived home a few hours after the delivery began, and we spent the day with just the shipment.
On the 28th, a few friends and our driver helped us move our suitcases and a few boxes of items we acquired since moving here from the hotel to the apartment. From that point on, we were in our home.
The to-do list was (and still is) a mile long. And it had to be prioritized based on the baby arriving in a matter of weeks and having a place of our long-term guests, Neil's mom and dad, to comfortably stay for three weeks. One problem.
Neil went back out of town the following Monday
Luckily, I already have amazing friends here in Shanghai, and two of them came over and helped me sort and organize both the guest bedroom and the kid's rooms. It was amazing. I was so pleased, but Neil was truly ecstatic when he returned home to find that the majority of his weekend had been cleared to work on other projects.
Things have changed so much since then; we are fairly settled and getting more organized every day. The place is really starting to feel like ours. But, I am still driven crazy by the lack of art on the walls (which are made of concrete and plaster. One does not just hammer in a nail and solve the problem) and the unfinished nature of Quinn's nursery. But, we have time. And that is a good thing.
And, on a final note, here is the beginning of the long excuse as to my hiatus. When we stayed at the hotel, the wifi signal was routed in a way that allowed access to sites usually blocked in China- Facebook, Blogger (and any blog, for that matter), Twitter, and other social networks. We moved and POOF! Access denied. We knew the answer to fix the issue. But, Neil was traveling and needed to be home to fix it. When he got home, turns out we needed a new router too. That piece arrived from the US along with his parents. The day after his parents arrived... I had a baby.
And family has dominated that last four weeks as we settled into a new rhythm and pace and routine. And I let the blog continue to what while I slept when I could, cuddled when I could, and cared for myself as best I could.
More posts to come, but know that we are are settled in and everyone is doing really well here. I miss my family and my friends so much.
I leave you all with a few pictures of the beautiful garden walkways and fountains in our apartment complex. The girls and I take walks through them each evening before dinner, as do many other families with small children. That time together is fast becoming one of my favorite parts of the day.
