My Mom and I changing Amelia's major diaper, on Mother's Day, out the back of our SUV in the parking lot of a diner in Phillie. Nestor snapped this without our knowledge...obviously! Hilarious!!!
We're really doing it! We're moving to LA. All the gears are in motion and it's happening. We are in escrow (and love) with a home in Woodland Hills. It's charming and we couldn't be happier. It has a woodsy feel to it which we are very drawn to. I think we'll be very happy there and I know Amelia will love it. She's going to have her very own room. I've been going crazy looking at furniture, paint and accessories (I want to get her one of those little chandeliers from Target and a cozy chair we can snuggle up on and read books...or have a lazy breathing treatment in the middle of the night)...so fun! I think we're going with a very pale pinky peach color and a shabby chic kinda thing. Of course the bed is the main focus. Amelia's been in a crib and now she's going to transition into a big girl bed. Of course, that's been a bittersweet point for me because it's going to be an adaptive bed. Our friends have a sleep safe bed which they love. We went there to visit them and I was happily surprised to see how nice it looked in real life, as opposed to online. However, at the end of the day, I WANT A PRINCESS BED FOR AMELIA!!!!! So we're just going to have to adapt Amelia's adaptive bed into a princess bed. That's all there is to it!
I'm still sorta in a calm denial that our life is about to change dramatically. We sit on the phone and talk to people out in LA -- making plans, getting referrals, planning for "when we get there" without the reality that this is ACTUALLY HAPPENING. I think when we actually start to roll up our sleeves and get down to the business of throwing out, donating and packing up, it'll hit us!
One of the many major changes for me will be making real grocery lists. I make them now. Puny ones. Ones that are sufficient for a day -- but in the 'burbs, there's no "daily" lists. In NYC, if I run out of milk or forget eggs or decide I want to make cookies...I have hundreds of places (well, maybe not hundreds) less than 20 feet from my front door to go get whatever my heart desires at whatever time of the day or night I desire it. That little party is over. I better start practicing the fine art of figuring out what I need before I leave to go to the store and not just trying to remember what I need when I get there.
Also, when Amelia comes home from school on a beautiful day, I throw her in the stroller and we hit the streets. We go to the park and swing, or the grocery store, or to see puppies in the window, or mommy gets frozen yogurt, etc. Can't do that in LA. I'll have to pack up, get into a car with her, drive someplace and I can tell you now that the energy in a mall or state park is quite different than the energy in the west village.
All that to say, we are ready! Ready for a real house, with real closets and bedrooms. A place to invite family and friends over to hang out. SPACE!!!!! Also, a real backyard with a BBQ, ooh -- and an extra bathroom! Oh, it will be so nice!
The details have been crazy. Firstly, we have to make sure the whole house thing even happens -- from personal experience I can say that as sure as you may be about something, there's always that slim chance that something unforeseen happens. Secondly, we have to sublet our place in NYC, which is well underway and looking good! Also, we have a POD from our house upstate that we packed up last summer that we need to ship out west and now we have to pack up the NYC apt and get that stuff out there. Then there's shipping cars and Nestor's motorcycle. Plane tickets...traveling with Amelia on a plane...transporting medical equipment and supplies. Then, there's setting up all the new services for her through the North LA Regional Center, CCS (California Children's Services), Medi-Cal, all new Drs. and nurses. New Team Amelia!
So the plan is for Amelia to finish school here in NYC at her incredible preschool, Roosevelt Children's Center and then hop a plane out at the end of June and get her into school to start summer session at her new preschool, Sven Lokrantz, by July 7th.
California here we come!
