What do all these things have in common???
If you guessed moving to Belgium, you would be correct. I still have to keep pinching myself that I'm actually here. After many years and months planning and dreaming about what life would be like living in Europe, it's finally a reality.
The day we left is such a blur. I know I cried a LOT. Saying goodbye to the people I love the most was insane. No one can prepare you for that. The plane ride was interesting with four kids. They all did really well, although not all the kids slept at the same time which meant no sleep for the exhausted parents. (Side note: If you are planning a trip overseas with small children, it's important to book your flight with the long plane ride first and not second. Trust me...It's just better.) But no trip (or who am I kidding) day would be complete without at least 1 of my children throwing up. Yep, Kadyn threw up ON THE AIRPLANE!!!! It was a nightmare. I will never look at airplane blankets the same again. ICK!!!!! And I thought that Maddy was going to follow suit cause she apparently gets motion sickness. It was an intense half hour to say the least.
On the airplane before the throw up incident
Which brings me the next phase of our journey...JET LAG!!! Oh how I hate jet lag. Basically you just feel like crap for a whole week and lay around like a lump on a log. The girls did surprising well though. Judah on the other hand, not so well. The first night he woke up in the middle of the night calling for me, when I went in there he was wide awake and said, "Mommy, I took a nap! Now I want to get up." It was so funny to see a little boy so wide awake and ready for the day. But after a couple of nights every child was on schedule.
One of the greatest things that I have enjoyed living in Belgium so far, is the fresh French bread and pastries. Dear God I pray I don't gain 100 lbs. There is just nothing better than waking up early and driving to the bakery to get some fresh baked goodness. Mmmmm.....my favorite one is a chocolate filled croissant with a layer of chocolate on top. Holy cow its AMAZING! And everyday having sandwiches on a baguette. I always feel so European.
So basically things would be pretty stinking awesome if it weren't for one little thing.
Sharing a TWIN BED with Nathan for 2 weeks. WHY??? Well you see, Our container (which was supposed to be here over a week ago) has not been delivered. It has our wonderful, glorious, comfortable, stupendous, delightful, beautiful queen bed on it. And the only bed available was a twin size mattress on the floor. Sure it was nice for a couple of nights. Gave me an excuse to cuddle. But after 2 WEEKS???? Yeah you might as well put me in a straight jacket. I am SOOOOOO done cuddling. (Just kidding honey). How does 2 grown adults sleep on a twin size mattress night after night for 2 weeks you ask?? It's pretty systematic. We both can't lay on our backs at the same time so we have to lay on our sides not pulling up our legs too far as to not knee our spouse in the gut or butt. We have to, in our sleep, feel when the other is about to turn over and then do the same....all night LONG. I bet we look hilarious.
Thank God our sleeping on a twin mattress is coming to an end. Our container arrives tomorrow morning at 8am. I am so excited! Like seriously excited!! We went to Ikea today to get a couple of things for our room. It's going to look so cute. I can't wait to post before and after pics. We also went to Bricco (Belgium's version of Home Depot) to buy some paint. If you have ever seen a pic of our bedroom you would know why we needed to paint. It was awful. Now after a couple of hours spent painting tonight, it's a beautiful off white color. A huge improvement from the burnt orange and cream with palm trees on the wall.
This pretty much sums up my first 2 weeks in Belgium. That and my lovely family. We just LOVE being together again. It's been a dream. Now if we could just get my other brothers, Holly, my niece Haddy and soon to be sister-in-love Hannah here, things would be perfect. ....Sigh...Oh well. Thank you Jesus for skype.....
...and for me getting out of a TWIN MATTRESS!!!!!
(Pictures taken in the airport before boarding for Belgium, eating our last mexican food meal)
