The move.

Last week was our big move.

We have been preparing for weeks in order for things to go smoothly. For this move we had to plan for three different shipments, long term storage, stuff going straight to Mexico, and stuff going to Virginia. We have a weight limit for each, so we had to carefully plan what stuff was going where. This can be quite a process with different seasons of clothes, kids growing quickly. We had to try to plan what stuff would fit who and when. A lot to think about.

The movers came on Thursday and Friday.

Ben was in charge when they came. Jack, Thomas and I checked into a hotel to stay out of the way. (Trying to keep a curious two year old out of the action is almost impossible.)

The ones that came on Thursday were nice enough. They came, packed up all the items going into long term storage, and left.

A different group came on Friday. They were a little disgruntled. It seemed that all they wanted to do was tell us everything they didn't/couldn't do. That was fine, we just had to rearrange some things. Then Ben asked about lunch. We thought it would be nice to buy them pizzas. Ben asked what kind of toppings they wanted. The response was, "we had pizza yesterday, we would like something else." Wow, that was unexpected. What could we do? They are handling and packing all of our stuff. We didn't want any "accidents". Frustrating.

After all of that, our things are now packed and gone.

We are not sad to leave, but we will miss all of the wonderful people we have met here in New Jersey. We are better because of them.

Jack and all of his excitement.

Goodbye Old Friend.

Tonight we bid farewell to our good friend - our couch.  In human years, I am pretty sure that this couch is at least 110 years old.  It has been through it all.  We received the couch when we were first married and didn't have (and couldn't afford) a new couch.  The family that gave it to us had it for several years before they gave it to us.  We were going to buy a new one awhile ago, but we thought, if we are going to be moving, we don't want to put a new couch in storage for several years.  So we hung on.  We bought a couch cover to try to make it better, but it was still an old couch.  Every other week when we sat down, a spring would break, or something would start sticking out.  The couch has seen better days.  We love this couch, (and the amazing people that gave it to us) and we are at peace with our decision to send it the way of the landfill.  To give it away would just be prolonging its pain.  It's better this way. 

Good bye old friend.  Thanks for the memories.

Real Housewives of New Jersey.

As a real housewife of New Jersey, I thought I would take the time to give the true story. I have picked a few of the highlights (according to me) and tell you how it works for our New Jersey family.

1. A kid gets a car for completing summer school.

What kid doesn't get a car for completing mundane and trivial task that should be done the first time? My Jack gets a car every time we go to the store and he is really good. This only happens probably once or twice a month.

2. Taking your child to a talent agency in NYC.

At the mall the other day we were approached by a company that would represent Jack and send his pictures to different agencies in the area, it would only cost us at least a grand to get it going. It's just normal...everyone is doing it.

3. Plastic Surgery, breast augmentation.

Well...okay, no to this one, but being pregnant certainly has helped things out. I also have the lips of Angelina Jolie in the mornings...amazing things happen when you are pregnant.

4. Having a book written about you being arrested, then you bring it out at a restaurant to make a scene.
This one is really out there, although, every time we go to a restaurant we usually have some sort of drama with one of our family members (I won't mention any names).



So, the show is really pointless, and really out there. However, just like any reality TV, sometimes watching it helps you feel better about your life.

One year, complaining and preparing for the little one.

This week has been an adventure so far. As of Monday, we have lived in New Jersey one year. What a year it has been. The day that we moved in was about 100 degrees and 100% humidity. It was HOT. We didn't have any air conditioner or fans, so we went to Lowe's to buy some window AC's. We came home, brought them up all of our stairs and found that one of them was damaged, and did not work. Ben almost threw it out the window. Ben had to carry it down all the stairs, buy a new one, and bring the new one the two flights of stairs to our apartment. It was miserable. Our only saving grace- our good friends invited us over for dinner. They had central air, and we stayed there as long as we could. It probably got a little awkward for them how long we stayed. Luckily, it did not affect our friendship, and we are still friends. Things have definitely become much better now, and there are a lot of wonderful things about living in New Jersey, right now my favorite is that I don't have to pump my own gas. We now love almost everything about Jersey, with a few exceptions (more details to come later).

Now for my complaining-Ben went out of town on Tuesday. I thought that it would be fun for Jack and I to take a road trip up to Rochester, NY. This was a great idea, and we were going to stay a few nights, and go see some LDS church historic sites. I was so excited. I served my mission in Rochester, and there is a special place in my heart for the area. All of our bags were packed, I had bought some special road trip food, and we had everything all ready. Then, at 2:45 Tuesday morning I woke up having some contractions. They lasted until about 6:30 am. I didn't get any sleep. Jack, who normally wakes up at 7:30 or 8:00, decided to wake up when he heard Ben leaving at 5:45. I made the decision that I probably shouldn't drive with very little sleep, and wasn't sure if the contractions would come back-which would make a miserable trip. So we didn't go. I am so bummed. All I wanted was something for Jack and I to do that was fun during Ben's trip...lame.

To occupy our time, Jack and I started to set up everything for the baby. We set up the pack-n-play, the baby swing, and took the car seat out of storage. I think we are ready. (Although, I am not sure that Jack is ready for the vast amount of sharing that is coming his way.)

Jack needed to test the swing to make sure it was safe for the baby.

What a good big brother.

Sunday afternoon stroll.

Jack and Ben heading up the hill. Jack made it all the way up!



At the train station by our house they had "Cruise Nights". People bring their old cars and everyone votes for their favorites.
Ben's favorite. My favorite.


Things are going really well for our little family. Jackson and I are getting ready to head to Utah in a week, and Ben is really busy with work. I asked Ben if he had anything to say for our blog, and he told me that I was beautiful. Then I told him I couldn't put that in, but he said that is what he wanted to say. So there you go.

Our Beach trip.

"I don't think this is a good idea!"

Ben's favorite thing to do at the beach is bury himself and build sandcastles.

We went for a few days to the beach, (in New Jersey it is referred to as "the shore"). We had so much fun. It was so nice to get away for a few days. It was our first official vacation as a family. (I know-sad.)

We could see the ocean from our hotel room, and we were within walking distance of the boardwalk!! It was perfect. We spent the mornings at the beach, then we would go back to the hotel room for Jackson's nap. After his nap we went to the boardwalk and walked around. There was an aquarium, which was small but a lot of fun. Ben loved the aligators and Jack loved the big fish. I was a fan of the shark tank.

The funny thing was Jack hated the sand. He would not touch the stuff. The first day he wouldn't even leave my lap. By the time we left he still didn't like the sand, but he liked the water, and we would dip him in and he would laugh. Jack loved watching all the people on the boardwalk and everytime he would hear a bird-he would point and just watch it. Great times.

We had so much fun. It was fun to be together as a family. I was not sure what to expect at the beach we went to, but it was family friendly and pretty clean. We really hope that we can go again.

Ice Cream

This week has been crazy for Jackson and me. We have had to run a lot of errands, and Jackson has been a trooper. I wanted to treat him something he loves, so we went out to ice cream. It was one of those moments that we were both having a good time and everything was right in the world.

Laundry day.

The most exciting day of our week is laundry day. Every Monday, Jack and I load up the car with our laundry and head over to the laundromat. We love it! I love it because I can do as many loads as I need to at once, and Jack loves it because he loves to push the carts around and "help" me. His favorite way to "help" is to take the clothes out of the machine that I just put in. He looks at me with every piece of clothing and just laughs. We also both love watching the washing machines. No matter what he is doing, if he hears the spin cycle, he will stop and watch.
The other reason I love it-there is an amazing bagel place next door, so Jack and I share a yummy bagel every time. It's the little things that make life great.

Laundry day is such a fun day for us!

Our Place.

Since most people will not make it out to New Jersey to visit us, here are some pictures of our apartment. We really love it. There are some funny things about our place, but overall it's great. We still have some things to finish up, but we consider ourselves moved in.

When you walk in the door. The "office" is on the right. They hallway on the left.

The office. The family room is on the left.

The family room. As you can see we have the coffee table blocking Jackson from the TV.

The kitchen.

The hallway. The first door on the right is the bathroom, the second Jack's room, and the room at the end is our room.

The bathroom.

Jack's room.

Our bedroom. I would not subject you to the rest. Things are a little cluttered in our room.

That is the mini tour of our house.

New Jersey!

We have arrived.
Wow! What a week it has been. We arrived last Sunday afternoon. It has been a whirlwind since then. We have made countless trips to Walmart, Lowe's, and Bed Bath and Beyond. We have everything unpacked, we just need to figure out what to do with the empty boxes. We have met our new neighbors, and they are really nice. There are several families that live in our building which is great, there are also a few families that Ben works with in the area-that has helped make the adjustment. Life is really wonderful. It is nice to finally be settled for a little while. I really like it here. I feel so blessed to be where we are. The only downfall is that Ben has such a long commute, but we really like where we are and it makes it worth it.
Ben really likes his job so far, and is enjoying not having the pressure of training. Jackson is adjusting well, the first few nights were rough, but I think he is starting to like it. He likes to explore everything and crawls up and down the hallway looking in the different rooms to see what is going on. He likes to be involved in everything that is going on. I am just getting used to carrying groceries and Jack up our third floor apartment. Always so fun.

Unpacking boxes.


More unpacking.

Ben and Jack putting the coffee table together.

New Jersey

We took our house hunting trip this weekend to New Jersey. It was a four hour trip, and Jackson was great in the car. He slept most of the way which was great at the time, but that night when he was up until 11:30 it wasn't so great. We took him to the hotel pool which was a lot of fun. He liked it, but it only lasted a few minutes because it was pretty cold.

The Hunt

We started our search close to where Ben's office is going to be, which is in New Jersey, just outside of New York City. We found a two-bedroom apartment that was very small on top of a chiropractor's office for $1500 a month! We looked in other places and it just wasn't that great. No where that Jack and I would feel comfortable walking around the town by ourselves. The next day we decided to look a further out. We had to get out about twenty miles before we liked what we saw. We did find a place, and we are very excited about it. Unfortunately, we are living about 40 miles away (an hour commute) from Ben's office, but with traffic, even if we lived close he would spend that much time in traffic. So, it should work out well. It is a pretty big apartment. The building is from the early 1900's so it has a lot of character, all wood floors and nine foot ceilings. The little town is quaint, and there is a lake a block away. It is going to be great. There is another family that we know out there, so that makes it even better. So, we were successful on our trip.
On our way home, we decided to drive through Manhattan which was really cool. We are looking forward to being close to NYC. I was particularly excited when I saw all of the shopping!!!











Driving into NYC!

I always picture steam coming out of the streets, and taxis when I think of NYC.

Jack and mom swimming!

Jack and dad sitting on the pool steps.