0ur Final Fl0rida Farewell

Whoooo, what a week!
I left parad*se 2 weeks & 2 days ago and said goodbye to everyone I count as my family. Not going to lie and say it was easy. The boys and I sobbed for a good 3 hours up the interstate. It was a parade of goodbyes for 2 solid days and as the final night turned into early morning, I locked up the house that I love and handed my martini key over to the new owner. What’s done is done. I will always call paradise ‘Home’, it is where my heart is and I think my soul will forever rest on *sland time. I arrived with 3 not so happy boys and 1 confused little girl and dog at 7:00pm to our new place. My very handsome husband walked out and met me at the car. I think I literally collapsed on the spot. I sobbed in his arms for a good 15 minutes and I shivered. It was cold. Not like the May parad*se heat we had experienced for several months. The kids ran off to check out their new home while I dreaded taking my first steps inside. I felt like I was cheating on my home and I wanted nothing to do with it. I know that a lot of my fear comes from the 2 years of misery when we moved back to WV. It was the exact same week almost 8 years ago that I welcomed a new life and instead was dealt the death of my Dad and Papaw. The dates are all frightening the same.
As Col would tell me repeatedly, “You are not going back to WV, this is different and new, don’t think of it the same.” I focused on those words for 9 hours up the road.
Saturday morning, we were greeted by 3 Southern Gentlemen that PM's DH had sent over to help us unload the trucks. There is very little in life that I know with 100% certainty, but I do know this: There is no damn way in hell that we could have done it without them! We will be forever grateful for their help. They were so kind and eager that a part of me began to view this GA thing differently.
EG was extremely happy to see her Daddy and she spent the following few days in the Erg0. I felt it necessary to keep her close to me so she felt safe during this crazy transition period where all of our crap was was completely disorganized. She was a trooper and she did great. I didn’t see any ‘shut down’ moments or any meltdowns. She would nap on my back in the Ergo and we all made sure we were there for her at every moment of the day.
THE SHORT & SKINNY OF EACH of US…
Daddy: He is super happy to be back with his family. He celebrated right after our arrival (29th) and I can tell that the 40’s are not going to be kind to him;0)
G: Still claims he never cried, but he sobbed right along with me all the way to GA. He won the Pres*dential Silver Award at his school and several others sent texts & emails about other awards he received. We are still waiting for them to arrive in the mail to see what his standings were when he left middle school.

He also seems to be the most excited about his school and life in GA.

C: Cried himself to sleep in my arms the first night, but quickly warmed up to this GA thing when kids came knocking and he went playing in that creek behind our house. We caught him on day 2 with water ski’s and poles from my shoe rack trying to ski down the cliff to the creek. No fear I tell ya. He also found a best bud very quickly beside us shares his name, which make things tricky when I yell it out!

W: He’s pretty damn happy wherever he is, as long as there is food=0) Not kidding. He also become best buds with the boy beside us in the cul-de-sac named Will. He also told his Mom upon the first meeting that 'You're pretty cute"...yeah, he's a playboy like that.

EG: Has transitioned beautifully. For the last 2 months, we were flying solo in Parad*se while Daddy was working in GA. It sucked for her & me. She was a hot mess and I blogged about it. She constantly needed to know the whereabouts of her family members. “Daddy Ge0rgia” she would announce to every Tom, Dick and Harry. We taught her to follow it up with “Daddy Ge0rgia, Mommy Fl0rida, EG Fl0rida, etc….” Now she does role call and we are all in Ge0rgia. Something clicked in her once we arrived here and met Daddy and all of her toys and familiar stuff started arriving. It’s as if she got it. I am optimistically cautious. But she seems more settled. She’s not acting out, but instead she’s her sweet self. She has slept and napped with no issues, to the point where I felt like the waters were safe enough to scoot her crib into her own room & she has continued to do well. It’s as if all is well again in her little world and she can now relax. Not sure, but I’m watching her closely for any behavioral issues that might translate into all the other issues of PT**SD/attachment/sens0ry overload/ or anything else on the freak out scale of life with a special need child. & as if that wasn't enough, she has decided that she’d like it very much if I’d remove her diaper and rush her to the potty when she likes. We weren't planning planning on potty training till the kids went back to school and life was more settled, but EG would like us to move that plan up, I'm trying.

Me: I'm actually doing better than I ever imagined that I would. I've only let the 'f*&% U' word slip once since receiving a very special text photo of my girlfriend on *sland time....& that's the part I will miss the most. I've been very busy getting our home life settled and since I have a deep longing to decorate all things new, I've been busy! However, we already have our first house guests here and I've been learning how to relax and enjoy life, even in the midst of a non perfect home. I must admit, I'm enjoying the Ga life better than I ever thought that I would.

More to come soon, now that I have my wireless Internet up and running!