Unpacking and moving in

We have moved two times and had it down to a science, but this time turned out to be a whole different experience. Typically we would hit it hard for two days with Sam in daycare to get all the boxes unpacked and everything put away; pretty much everything but decorating. But because of three missing significant pieces of the puzzle, the same process took months.

Missing Piece #1:

JUSTIN

Justin felt like he absolutely needed to be there when the trucks unloaded our stuff, so he was there for that and then, he was long gone! Why? He was one of very few Lieutenants/co-pilots who could fly because of varying circumstances in his squadron and it was his first real job in the Air Force. He happened to add 6 different countries to his Country count in the month after our stuff arrived not to mention the local and training/refresher flights.
When he was home he was putting in LONG days because of it all being new and the busyness of his squadron. Pilot training was a piece of cake compared to this -- well at least for me. God did his best to prepare me mentally but I still took it hard.

Missing Piece #2:

DAY CARE

Sam was 2 almost 2 1/2 and we could see the effects of the move on him. Before arriving in Germany we had been without our stuff for over 3 months, slept in two hotels, two grandparent's homes and on the airplane ride here and dad had been gone to SERE training for 3 weeks of that time. He didn't know where home was or if dad would be around tomorrow. As mentioned previously, dad was already gone a lot. We didn't dare leave him in daycare, so it was Sam and I unpacking together. I was glad to have the company but we all know a 2 year old's "help" doesn't result in a lot of progress.

Missing Piece #3

CLOSETS AND CUPBOARDS

Anyone who has traveled or lived in other parts of the world understand that they don't build in closets or cupboards besides a few in the kitchen. A pantry? Nope! So as I unpacked boxes, the stuff went straight to piles -- piles Sam could get into. Ha, ha. Luckily we had 3 wardrobes, a garage shelf, book shelves we had of our own,  a shelf in the laundry room, a few cupboards in the kitchen, and a walk in closet in our room. Wait, didn't you just say there are no closets? Yes I did, our house was built to be a rental and the walk in closet you are picturing is not like what we have. But hey, we are  not complaining! We were counting our blessings! I was so glad we could at least get a few more options for clothes to wear. We had been limited to our suitcase for four months.

Whew, after that explanation you will now better understand the following pictures:
Do you see any closets or cupboards?

 Nope, not even in the bathrooms -- I'll have to add pictures of what cupboards/closets we did have.

 We bought this for Sam, so he would have something fun to play with while we waited a week or two before his toys and our stuff would arrive and so hopefully it would help entertain him while we unpacked.

 Picnic lunch after the moving truck left

 A German moving truck - Mercedes Benz

 Sam seeing his toys for the first time in four months -- it was like Christmas and birthday at the same time

 An empty house does make for a non stressful fun area for a 2 year old to play in

 We made many, did I say a lot of trips shopping  -- for storage furniture and anything else. We had fun exploring the huge BX mall, also a little overwhelming. I went from one end to the other looking for one thing.

 Another picture of a German moving truck with a view of our crates.

 The house is slowly filling up

 This activity of painting kept Sam entertained for hours. I didn't mind one bit that there was more paint on his body than on the paper.

 With the stress of moving, I wasn't exactly being a nice mom -- so we were working on keeping each other in check.

 We had to go test out our village bakery

 Don't forget the hour ride to IKEA and back for more storage furniture. We were so grateful for nice friends -- the VanKomen's to go with and show us the ropes.

 Yes, every spare minute Justin was home, he was building the IKEA furniture -- thanks honey

 Thanks to our friends, the VanKomens, we discovered a park right near our house, it was hidden down a path behind apartments.

 Picnics on the front porch

 Does he have underwear on at least? Yes he does. That's how we roll.

 Getting money into our German bank gave us a good reason to go for walks and check out our village water fountain

 Sam got a toddler bed

 Yes, we painted several days

 Thank you to all the wonderful families who had us over for dinner and play dates. So many caring people here.

Here are the storage furniture we added:

 The walk in closet.