Reason #4: PACKOUT!

We closed on the house on July 14, and the movers were supposed to come on July 15 to pack up our stuff, or so we thought. They had the 16th as their day to arrive, and so that’s when they came. They were supposed to be at my parents’ house (because there’s a bit more space in their basement than in Lisa’s condo) between 1 and 4, but the individual they packed out before us added a thousand pounds or so to his shipments, so the packers didn’t actually show up until 5:30. They finished up fairly quickly, or so I hear. I had class, so Katie, my parents, and Peggy were there to ensure they did their job well.

Nonetheless, preparing for the packout took a lot of time. We went through all of our stuff, and a chunk of Lisa's, and tried to figure out what we had, what we thought we might need over the next 6 weeks (while we wait for the air freight to arrive), and the next 2-3 months (for the rest of our Washington-based stuff). Additionally, we had to guess at how much space we'd have in our suitcases, and what we'd need to bring with us. Oh, what fun.

Reason #5: Gotta go, gotta go!

The next week was spent getting ready to leave. We had numerous last minute errands to do, and phone calls to make – although some of those didn’t get done, either. Additionally, there were things at the new house that needed doing; most importantly we had to better cover the entrance to the crawl space to keep rain and runoff from getting in. James and Erica hosted a goodbye party for us on July 24. We spent the 25th packing, only to discover that we didn’t have enough bags or, more importantly, a high enough weight allowance, for all of our stuff. Nonetheless, we packed it all up, loaded up my dad’s minivan, and took it all to my parents as we moved out of Lisa’s place. We left it there on Monday and Tuesday as we finished up our local errands, and on Wednesday, dumped it all out, rifled through it again, and packed up our six bags, at 50 lbs a piece. We also packed some 4 boxes of stuff to ship to ourselves, until we left my parents house for the airport – only to arrive at the airport with just over an hour and a half to spare before the flight was scheduled to depart.
There was another family at the airport that planned on bringing their two dogs with them on their move abroad – this one a military family relocating to Heidelberg for their first move overseas. Unfortunately for them, one of their kennels didn’t meet FAA standards, and the guy running the pet desk for United was not the most efficient we’ve ever seen. We waited about 15 or 20 minutes, getting more nervous by the second, until Katie noticed that some of the other 40 lines were empty, and approached one of the other employees. They processed us and our stuff pretty quickly, and so we only had to half-run through security and along the terminal to get to the plane – which we, our luggage, and the dogs, all made it aboard!

Sorry, no pictures for this one - it was a bit crazy, and I'm surprised we actually pulled it off!

Reason #6: ¡Bienvenidos a Argentina!

We have arrived safely in Argentina. We were met at the airport by my office sponsor, Vanna, and a large van to get all of our stuff, us, and the dogs to our new apartment.

Our apartment is quite large – occupying half of the 11th floor of our building. We have 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, plus a maid’s quarters that has its own bedroom, bathroom, and “living area”. Right now, the dogs are in the maid’s quarters! The elevators are tiny, which doesn’t makes Katie very happy, and we don’t have internet yet. They say it could take a while for the internet set up, but luckily, there are numerous cafes and restaurants that have free wifi – which is how we’re sending these blog entries. The only other major hurdle we face is the stove. I figured out how to light the burners yesterday, but we still haven’t figured out the oven. Soon, Ojala (the Spanish version of Inshallah).

So far, so good – and thankfully we got some Spanish before we left, because you definitely need Spanish here. It’s coming back, and getting stronger. We’re just a few blocks away from a large park, and everybody here really is super dog friendly. Even Gracie’s mostly behaving herself! We still have to find a place where the monsters can run, but they’re doing well with their twice-daily walks.

We went to the Embassy on Friday, and got most of the administrative check-in done. I still have some more to do, and Katie's gotta come back in on Wednesday for her ID, but we're in good shape. My office seems pretty busy, but a good group of people should make for a good time!Our stuff may arrive sooner than expected, which will be fantastic.

Three Chicks, Two Babies and a Carrot

This weekend my good friends Robym and Crystal came for a visit and we had such a good time. Crystal came in from Phoenix and Robyn from Ohio. We spent the weekend hanging out aruond the apartment, taking walks, and getting really good at getting four adults (one of whom is pregnant) and two babies with all of the accessories in and out of our borrowed minivan. We had a nice time having dinner with Aunt Lisa on Friday, going into the city on Saturday and hitting Eastern Market Sunday morning.

While it is obvous in the picture who the three chicks and two babies are, the carrot is actually Crystal's baby. For some reason all of the pregnancy books tell you how large your baby is in terms of food, so Crystal's baby, who is 21 weeks along, is the size of a carrot! So there you have it - all three of us, and all three of our babies in one shot!

Milk Drunk!

Katie loves to look at Ethan after he's eaten, mostly because he looks drunk. Yup. Wasted on milk. Look at these pictures, and tell us what you think!

First Night

My parents have been after us since Ethan's second week to have them babysit so Katie and I could go on a date. While I think they just wanted some alone time with their grandson, We were very appreciative of their gesture. After we successfully fed Ethan a bottle in PA, I called my mom and asked if they could watch Ethan the forthcoming Friday night. "Of course," she replied!

About 5 pm (or was it 4:30?) on Friday, June 4, Mom came over. Katie was about to feed Ethan, and I walked Mom through Ethan's changing things, and showed her where everything was. Then Mom and I picked Dad up from the parking lot and took the dogs to the dog park. We came home, Katie and I got changed, and then gave my parents some more instruction on Ethan's caring. Mom took a picture of Katie and I out for our first date in almost a month (the last one was the night before we went to the hospital), and we headed out. But, this blog's no longer really about Katie and I. Who really cares that we went to a nice French restaurant in Old Town (La Bergerie), or had a four course tasting menu with accompanying wines (from an award winning wine list)? You all want to know about Ethan. Which is completely understandable.

First off, Mom has decided to rename Ethan "My little screamer." It's appropriate, and if you have doubts, check out the posts from May 20 and 22. He screamed most of the night. When we got home at 10, or 10:30, Golden Girls was blasting from the television, so we assumed that he had been up to one of his tricks.

Mom was also amazed at Gracie's transformation into ultranmaternal dog! Courtesy of Dad's birthday present from Aunt Barbara, we have video of Gracie checking up on Ethan, kissing him, and, yes, petting him! It's pretty amazing stuff, check it out here.

And, for Ethan's grand finale, he proved his atheleticism! At age 4 weeks, Ethan rolled from his tummy to his back. He also inchwormed his way across the floor, without assistance. This kid's something special.

Weekend in PA

We spent Memorial Day weekend in West Chester, visiting with Katie's family. As a result of a slight hangover on my part - something about tasting 9 bourbons, and two of them twice, and then some rum, and the natural delays of trying to leave the house with a 3 week old, we were a bit late to hit the road. Hold back your surprise, please!

On Saturday, we gave Katie's grandmother (Grammy) her prize for winning the pool - several hours visiting just with Ethan (and us for logistical support). Don't tell her, but we would've done that anyway... That was mostly it for Saturday. Except, I feel like I'm missing something. Oh, yeah. Now I remember. Courtney graduated from UD! Congratulations, Court!

On Sunday afternoon, we had a little party for Courtney's graduation. Although we know that several people want to meet the E-man, this was Courtney's day. So, Boo, Carol, Larry, and the Moffits came by to congratulate Courtney, and, as an added benefit, got to meet Ethan. Laura, the semi-professional photographer, took many pictures - but I'm still waiting to see them! :-)

It seems that Paul (AKA Grandpop) and Ethan hit things off well - Ethan danced with him - as in this picture, and slept on him outside for several hours.

One other first for Ethan's life - he took a bottle for the first time on Saturday morning! Now I can feed him, which I did on our (or is it Lisa's) balcony yesterday. Other people can, too, so perhaps Katie and I can go out for a little bit at some point.

In other news, we booked our tickets for Argentina. We're all set for Economy Plus, and the dogs have reserved space in the hold. We've got our housing assignment, and will have plenty of space for guests in our Belgrano apartment.