Off to Italia!

And so, once again, off we go to Italy to stay with the in-laws, this time for 5 1/2 weeks. I'm a bit nervous of the trip there, and dreading the first couple of days as far as sleep goes. I'm really excited about the first couple of days as far as showing off my little munchkins to all the friends and family. I'm really dreading the trip back, since we leave in the morning, so we really can't expect them to sleep.

I'm quite busy packing for myself and the kids. I've actually already packed all of our clothes in one big suitcase, but I think I need to pare it down a bit, as there are still some things that need to go in there and it's getting pretty full. The kids have so many clothes! I admit, it's partly my fault, but there are a lot of people in their lives that like to buy them clothes. Packing with two 12 1/2-month-olds running around is a challenge.

In the meantime, our house is still deep in the throes of construction, and it changes every day. We now have a front door (yay!), but can't get into the garage directly from the house, so I have to carry everything out the front door into our courtyard (which is just dirt at the moment) and around to the front of the garage and go in that way. I also had to block off the new hallway to the new guest room, as that is completely unfinished and there are nails and dust and all kinds of stuff the kids could get into.

On top of that, while we're in Italy the contractors at our house will be demolishing closets in all the existing bedrooms plus our main storage closet in order to construct a hallway to our addition, which consists of a master bedroom, bathroom, hallway window seat, and laundry room. So in addition to just packing our stuff for the trip, I need to get stuff moved out of four closets or at least boxed up so the contractors can move it easily. I think it's an understatement to say I am overwhelmed. My husband has been doing a lot of day trips for work, including some late nights, but luckily no overnight trips.

In any case, the kids SHOULD be napping (they're not, but I know they're tired, so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping they drop off soon) and I should be carting stuff out of closets, unpacking the car, washing dishes, unloading the dishwasher, packing my carry-on, and about a hundred other things. So off I go! Wish me luck!

P.S. I started a post about having more children, and it's been tough to write. And it's getting long. I hope to have it up soon after we get to Italy.