Moving with a Toddler - Part 1

Moving is work.  Moving with a toddler is A LOT of work!  Our move is a little different because we have moved into temporary housing while our home is being built.  Our family decided to bite the bullet and fork up the big bucks to live in a furnished apartment for 3 months.  Even though, the apartment came furnished, there were several items we needed to bring with us including Griffin's crib and glider, our clothing (summer and fall), cleaning supplies, beach items for our trip to Destin that we took in September, suitcases for our trip and my husband's weekly travels, laptops and printer, toys, toiletries and bathing items for Griffin and ourselves, leftover food, etc.  Believe it or not, all of this stuff adds up!!  Especially when you are hauling it up to a third floor apartment - lol!  Here are some tips I found that made Moving Part 1 a little easier....

• Embrace and accept the talents of your family and friends!  My mom is one of the most organized people I know.  She was an incredible help with packing up our items that we put into storage. We organized all of our boxes with coordinating labels for the room in our new house.  This will make unpacking much easier! My in-laws own a spacious SUV and were happy to come down to assist me with moving items from our old house into the apartment.  Our generous friends, Bianca and Jose, own a truck and offered to help us move Griffin's crib and glider.  This was incredibly helpful!  
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• Try to do as much as possible packing-wise when your kiddo is asleep.  I planned much of my packing around Griffin's nap schedule.  
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• If s/he is awake, include your kiddo in the packing fun.  Griffin enjoyed playing with bubble wrap and empty boxes while I packed.  I also gave him a Swiffer Duster and showed him how to use it.  This seemed to keep him busy for awhile :).

If I had to do this again, I probably would have gotten some help moving items from our house to the apartment through a company like 2 Men and a Truck.  Lugging everything up the stairs was a royal pain and exhausting....I have no desire to start a moving company soon but if I did , it would be 1 Lady and an SUV.  I don't think it would be very time efficient though - lol!