Tips on Packing/moving to LA with Toddler and Newborn in Tow-yikes!

We moved from Seattle, WA to CO when my son was about 18 months -- so I understand, and even though it was a corporate move and we had help, I had to prep the house -- I bought a toy chest -- and spent some time with my son picking out toys to fill it -- and those are the toys I kept out for him. It was hard because we were in "temporary housing" for 2 months and he didn't see a lot of his toys for almost 3 months -- but it was like Christmas when we finally got into our house! But I think having him help choose the toys to put in the toy chest (at babies r us or toys r us) really worked. I would definitely do the fly to CA if you have that option nad there are some great fares right now, so if you know the dates, I would book it -- traveling with 2 is not any harder than one! I do it to CA from CO all the time and I have to take 2 planes to see my family. :) Babies sleep most of the time! As far as packing, enlist the help of family and friends if possible...set a weekend morning, have all the boxes made up, plenty of tape, bubble wrap and paper and mark everythign that needs to be boxed up,etc...and then feed everyone beer and pizza for lunch -- it will be good for you, and if you are organized, it will be fun for everyone! Turn the music up, and have fun with it -- make it a memory. The road trip to CA is not too bad, especially if there is nice weather -- but it will be long. I haven't made a long roadtrip with my two -- 4 yrs and 1 yr -- because I dread long car rides where you have to stop all the time to go potty, stretch legs,etc...but my parents just made the drive and said the scenery was awesome! Good luck adn email me if you need any other advice!

Jenn
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We did the same thing in reverse November 2007. We moved from Northern CA to Thornton due to a job opportunity. My husband was gone starting in September M-F so I was in charge of two kids( at the time ages 6 and 4), 8 months pregnant with our third and working full time, so I can relate.

We were fortunate that my DH comapny paid to pack and move us, but keeping the house neat was an issue. Our realtor actually brought in a stager to stage our home and our kids were allowed one basket of toys each and that was it. We let them pick which toys they wanted and explained to them that the other ones were coming with us but we had to put them away( its a little harder explaining that to a 2 year old). We did have to prep the house for sale ourselves and that was hard since my DH was here in CO all week......Luckily, our house sold quickly for the the market at the time( 10 weeks and many, many showings!)and for $70k less than what we were asking......

As for the road trip, we actually drove here from CA. We have a dog that we brought out here with us. We took 3 days driving out so we could take our time( I was also 35 weeks pregnant so I needed to get out and stretch!). It wasnt that bad- I would have preferred to fly, but my OB in CA didnt want me to since I was so close to my due date. If I were you, I would probably fly, since you can have your 2yo in a seat and the baby on your lap...... Maybe your husbands company will pay for your plane tickets at least....

Good luck.....California is great- My DH and I were both born and raised there. We do love Colorado and so do our kids- at least you don't have to deal with the snow anymore!

Ugh - what an ordeal! We just sold our house and moved here, so I kind of feel your pain, but w/o the pregnant thing. I can't imagine. So I've recently sold a house, and am also looking right now, so am seeing what people are doing (or not) to show. For showing our house, we packed up a lot of stuff into the garage, as have a lot of houses we've seen. Seems perfectly acceptable to have a ton of boxes stacked up - better than clutter. For toys, we just made sure to put everything into big baskets and bigger stuff either in the garage or just neatly "parked" in her room or someplace else that wasn't the living room. I've seen some houses this last week that have every single toy put away, but it's kind of creepy if you ask me! Plenty of places have had toys neatly put into baskets or whatever and then ride-ons parked nicely. I think you can probably make up for it by eliminating whatever other clutter you can. Our realtor was more of the "this is a house and it's okay if it looks like you live here" approach. One piece of advice I got from someone - stash stuff in the dryer when you're clearing out for a showing.

If you can manage it, sounds like it might be worth paying for someone to pack your stuff. Or at least a partial pack of dishes and breakables. Could eliminate a lot of emotional and physical stress for a pregnant mama.

First your realtor needs a life! If kids live in the home it is expected to have toys seen. You can keep them picked up for showings but seriously no reason to hide them or put them out of sight!
At the very least for prospective buyers it makes it more family friendly!! My two cents there.

You can hire companies to help with the packing, organize some friends for a packing party, get some sandwiches, give everyone a box and ask them to help pack up specific things and label those boxes. Buy five permenant markers and make sure they just label. If you have family ask for help!
Also, consider hiring a sitter for a few hours each week to come in and occupy your youngest so you can get some packing done, have them take her to the park or something.
I highly recommend you talk to the moving company and have them take your vehicle on the truch with them and you fly!!! A long drive with a newborn and toddler alone is not even feasible and you need to save your sanity!!!

You need to be careful how much physical activity you do too with this far into your pregnancy, hire a company to help, ask the new company to assist, never hurts to ask for more and to be honest it is unrealistic for a company to want to hire someone from out of state and expect a pregnant woman with a toddler to do this alone!!! Have your husband take a few days off and help too.
Don't hesitate to ask for help.
Hugs and good luck to you!!! Congrats on the soon to be new arrival.

Hello J..
We did the trip from CA to Colorado. Moving and actually visiting. Anyways, at the time we had two girls who were 2 and 4 months. We packed everything during the weekends. You can put your boxes in the garage. Maybe put the toys in one clear container and it can be put away in the garage or your basement when you are showing the house.
We drove our moving truck and my husband's car with my two of my inlaws plus my husband. Then we flew back to get our kids. It's better that way. I would not attempt to take a toddler and deal with driving the truck. Will the company pay for the things to be moved plus a driver too(We drove our kids to CA and back and we were crazy to do this but that is a different story)? That would be great.

Honestly, if you are that pregnant you can't lift anything. If you can afford it, pay the movers to help pack or have friends and family to come over for the weekend and help you pack(This is a cheaper option). Order some food and provide drinks for them so that you can have company to help pack or at least have someone come babysit your child. My husband did most of the packing from CA to Colorado.
Then when we got here to Colorado after 4 months living in an apartment, we found a house so we had to move again. I had to pack most of it since my husband was working. He did help during the weekends of course.It was tough especially with two young kids and I was pregnant again. My sister had to fly out to entertain the kids while I had to pack and clean the apartment.
It's tough and I feel ya. Luckily, we didn't have to deal with selling a house like you guys are doing. Good luck.
N.