Moving
Well it's official. Tomorrow is moving day. Being as it has been such a crazy week, no pictures today. So here is an update, or more so and explanation as to why I've lost my mind.

After flying to Chicago to buy a house in Wisconsin we flew back home to prepare for "The Move". While working a full week I had to get two weeks of laundry caught up so that Andy could leave for Delaware this past Sunday. And so it began.
Sunday: Andy flew out early Sunday morning. He almost missed his flight because the lines were so long. He would have if he had not walked around the security line, went up to the security agent, and told him his flight was already boarding. I had just enough time to get home, bathe my little buddy and myself and high tale it to church. We had a good Sunday. It was the first time in 6 months I haven't had to leave Sacrament. Yeah Boston. So I went home and put Boston down for a nap. We then had a brown-out in my neighborhood. So within 20 minutes the house was unbearable. And my cell phone died. So I packed up Boston and went out hoping to find a friend at home. We ended up at the Waites. Later we moved to the Beams for dinner. When we got home that night, the air was finally back on.
Monday: I go pick up Nicole from the airport to help with Boston so I can pack and so I can work. After finding her, running to the store for baby food, feeding our children and such settling in, it was time to go to work. No packing done yet. While I was at work Nicole packed my books.
Tuesday: Get up and start packing, don't get very much done. Watch Boston do everything he can think of to crawl. Mostly just stink bug approach, but finally figured out proper form and started rocking. It is only a matter of time now. Finally get out the door for work, stand in line for 45 min. at the post office with time sensitive paper work for our new house, end up late for work.
Wednesday: Decide I need one last Cafe Rio fix before we move. So pack like crazy to make it a reward and worth the 30 min drive. Savor every lovin bite. Barely get to work on time because of monsoon storms and standing water on the freeway. Be an emotional wreck at work and cry all the way home because I love that job.
Thursday: Get up and pack like crazy. Run to store to get sponges to fix grout. Get home in just in time to meet buyer picking up our extra washer and dryer. Let the Waites fix the grout. Notice, since the dryer is now gone, that the rug in the garage is completely soaked. Nicole suggests the water heater as source. Run terrified into the garage praying she is wrong. No such luck. Freak out, call Andy with no response. Pace, bite fingernails, pack-up Boston to go to well baby check-up. Realize in doctors office it is covered under the home warranty. Get home call home warranty. Calm down, start packing some more. Have handyman show up, hem and haw, decide we need a new water heater. Have to go with out hot water for a full day. Oh well, it is hot anyway here. Stay up way to late trying to get the kitchen packed.
Friday: Get up to early, take Nicole back to the airport. Nearly get run over by no less than 10 cars. Come home pack some more. Wait for the handyman to show up with new water heater. Say a grateful prayer for renewing the warranty last week. Wait to go pick up Andy at the airport. Yeah for Andy coming home! Spend the rest of the day packing like crazy to try and be ready for people to move us early tomorrow morning.

So I feel I have lost my mind. We will just have to wait and see if it gets done. I guess if I blog tomorrow that means we didn't get done. We will spend Sat. night at the Beams since we will be all packed up. Go to church Sunday morning then hit the road. With a Wisconsin arrival date of Thur. Aug 2nd. Wow, I can't believe it is all happening. Everyone pray that we get to close a week early so we don't have to store our stuff.
Also just want to say thanks to Nicole for leaving her spouse and upsetting her childs routine to come help me. I don't know what I would have done. Hope you don't think I am to crazy after all the crying meltdowns this week. Sigh, just one more week......

Kenosha, Wisconsin

So most of you should have heard by now that Andy got a great new promotion at Discover, so we are moving to Kenosha. Headquarters are actually just north of Chicago in Riverwoods, but it is ever so much cheaper in Wisconsin. So because it only adds a few minutes to his commute, we chose to go across the border. I had no idea how much of an influence Canada had on the northern states. Everyone talks like Bobby's mom from the Howie Mandel cartoon. We were cracking up don'tcha know. So we are going to rent the house in Arizona, since we just bought it as well, with an option to buy. Then in a year it should be off our hands. The house we bought in Kenosha is great. A second starter home for us. It is a tiny little Cape Cod home about 5 minutes from the beaches of Lake Michigan. A Cape Cod means the master bedroom is in the attic and the ceiling is pitched. Most of the ones we looked out were so low Andy had to duck. He kept saying it's OK, I can duck. I just didn't think it was very practical for the next who knows how many years. I had my heart set on a 100 year old Victorian with amazing woodwork, but in the end, the better neighborhood won. So we are very excited, and of course, took a few pics.

Main floor powder room
Spare room/office/?
Front door and living room.
Living room view from the front door. The door you can see leads to the kitchen.
Loft outside the Master.
Boston's room, yes we are going to paint it like his current room.
Kitchen

Kitchen, check out the spacious backyard through the window.

Basement facilities.
Office/Home Salon/ Tammy's room?
Family Room/ Rec Room
Master.

Boston is still just growing up way to fast. I just want to freeze time and keep him little. Today when Andy got home from work, he thought he looked bigger. On Wednesday Boston will hit 6 months. I just can't believe it. He is doing so well though. We have so much fun playing with him. We love to watch him eat. He cries between bites if we take to long to spoon it out. He will chase the spoon with his mouth wide open, grab your hand and pull it in. There is nothing he won't eat. Now he gets big eyes when we eat. He just has to have a lick of whatever we are having. So here are a few more pics and of favorite subject. Enjoy.

Sitting

On the 4Th of July Boston started sitting up. Here are the first pictures of him doing so. With me in the back ground, terrified he is going to fall, and putting my over-protective hand barrier around him.

Boston's everyday fav activity, folding in half. Extra bonus, eat a bear while you are at it. My girlfriend thinks he always folds in half cause his abs are so ripped he can't straighten up.
Sit and look and the soggy bear while mom worries some more.

Study the soggy bear.
Throw the bear across the room.
Tell mom to back off, cuz I can sit just fine on my own.

Crash and burn, Mama doesn't look so dumb anymore now huh.

"Crawling"
Boston is trying really hard to crawl, I'm trying really hard to not let him grow up so stinking fast. Sigh, alas, I lose. Well the crawling efforts aren't going as well as he would like anyway. He mostly just reminds me of a camel, sort of. You know how their humps sways from side to side when the walk?, well Boston's bum sways from side to side as he tries to crawl. So here we go, crawling 101 according to Boston.

1st. Dig your head into the ground, then stick your bum into the air.
2Nd. Sway your bum one way while not really getting anywhere yet. Grunt a bit.
3rd. Sway your bum the other way, grunt a bit more, nearly push your bum over your head and do a flip....almost.
4Th. Crash gracefully onto your side without having moved at all. Cry cause you are so mad you didn't make it anywhere.

5Th. Most importantly, try, try again every time someone puts you down.

Random MomentsBoston has really started reaching for everything. He wants to touch, hold, destroy. I think it is so cute when he reaches for the toys on his swings and bouncer.
Here is a better shot of him reaching for the fishes.
So cute, asleep in the hotel in Chicago.
Playing super-baby with dad.

Wow, oh so tough and super while eating a stuffed bear.

Rant and Rave

I just gotta vent about something real fast. This weekend when we were at the museum, I was so irritated. We had a wonderful time and were headed back to the car. To get to and from the Getty you have to ride a tram. At the bottom of the tram is a flight of stairs to the parking garage. There are also four elevators that are very slow. The first time I went we took the stairs. It wasn't a huge flight and it took maybe a minute. But this time we had the SUV stroller so we were taking the elevator. Tammy pushed the button for us and then, seeing the huge crowd, walked down the stairs to meet us at the bottom. Well as we stood there waiting more and more people kept shoving around the elevator. Two elevators came and went with out us cause there was no room. Why?, because perfectly healthy walking people were shoving their way in. I couldn't believe it. The bell would ding and light go on to indicate which elevator was arriving. And people would shove up close to be the first one in. So we are standing there with our stroller, our mouths hanging open, next to a woman with a double stroller also being shoved out of the way. So because we are so big and not as agile, I realize we are not ever going to get on one. So we just pick one to stand in front of and wait for, while everyone else stands in the middle on the ready to jump for the next available. Well the one we chose happened to be the next one. We start getting on and a bunch of perfectly healthy walking people still jumped in around us. So I block the door with my body, let Andy drive the stroller in, and invite the family with a double stroller in. They say no, it's ok, we will wait. I am so annoyed by now, I loudly say, no. Elevators are for strollers, and wheelchairs. All the rest of these very healthy people can take the stairs. I should have added lazy, but ya know, I didn't want to cause a riot. So the woman and her family join us on the elevator, with a bunch of rather sheepish looking people that wouldn't look me in the eye when I stared at all of them.

So here is my soapbox, WALK PEOPLE. Unless you have a stroller, a wheelchair, a cane, or some other handicap, take the stairs. This my friends, is why we are a fat nation. I am gonna guess, all those people that were so anxious to get to their cars ahead of us, were stuck in the same traffic we were and didn't get home any sooner.

This last weekend we went to California to visit Tammy and the beach. We figured it would be our last chance for some time. Plus we have been dying to take Boston to the water. We had a great time and got a great sunburn, well Boston didn't get burned but he likes to sleep in the shade a lot.

Some of these are totally out of order, I wasn't paying to much attention when I loaded them. Boston was on my lap and he gets really bored when I am dinking around on the computer.

The Beach This was our last night at the beach. You can see the sun starting to go down behind Andy. By this point Boston should already have been in bed, so he really didn't care.
This is my all-American-family on the Santa Monica Pier.
Another beautiful pic of the sunset. I love the color of the water at this time of night.
Boston's first time in the water.
Jumping out of the way as a wave came in. We like to dip our toes, not our heads.
Some random little girl that has no idea that she will forever be in our memories and scrapbooks.
You can see he has one foot up, he wasn't sure yet how he felt about the sand. I, on the other hand, was grateful for the exfoliation on my heels.
A family pic in front of the Venice sunset. Believe it or not we are facing the camera and Andy is holding Boston. Doesn't the sand look amazing? I love how the water almost turns it into a mirror when it washes back out. (Sigh) The beach at sunset, could you ask for more.
Andy playing with Boston in the water.

Andy and Boston looking at who knows what.
Boston yanking his feets out of the water when a wave suddenly catches him off guard.
Andy saving Boston from being washed away.
Boston sitting on a beach towel playing in the sand with Mama.
Boston really enjoying his first visit to the beach. After this all three of us fell asleep for an hour, don't worry, I kept hold of Boston the whole time. Boston felt wonderful and refreshed when he woke. Andy and I felt the sting of a wicked sunburn.

The Getty

Being as it was our last time to Cali for some time, we thought we should do some touristy things Andy hadn't done before. So here we are. The amazing, beautiful, breathtaking Getty Museum. Another first for our little Bean Dip.

Us posing out front with the naked lady. This is a family pic, Boston is in the stroller.
One of the great views of the city from The Getty.
A family pic in the gardens at the Getty. This is a historic picture. I took a picture in this same spot 2 years and and 1 month ago. It was that picture that I posted, which Andy saw, which led to our first date, 2 years ago this Saturday. Holy Crap, have we come full circle or what. If you had told me that I would be standing in the same place with my family 2 years from then, I would have laughed in your face.

Another amazing shot of the gardens.
Boston and dad hanging out in the Getty Garden.
Boston totally tuckered out after the museum.


The Dodgers

We were just driving somewhere when we saw a sign to Dodger Stadium, so we decided if they were in town we would go. Well they were, and here we are. They were handing out free hats that night. The Dodgers played the Padres. I have never seen such intense fans.

Andy and Boston. Doesn't Boston look so excited.
Late in the game.
Us, quite sunburned if you look close, leaving the game early. Unbelievable. What has happened to us? Andy says we are old and boring. Until Boston came along I would never ever for any reason leave a game early. But the poor child was so tired. We had totally screwed up his schedule for days so we could play. The crowd was so intense they would wake him up with every play. So we took off after the seventh inning stretch. Heaven forgive me.

Random Moments.

People need to get a life. This guy spends a month changing his car all the time. It had real vegetation growing on it, a working water fall on the roof, and a running Thomas the Train on the hood. Ian, this pics for you!
Tammy playing with Boston after Church.
Andy and Boston posing in front of the the Chinese Theater.
Boston standing at his mothers star, according to the temple sealer.

Just after this picture we started heading for the car. I got side-tracked looking at some street vendor jewelery. As Andy was patiently waiting, some Asian tourist started admiring my son. A lot of them, probably ten of them. As I walked up to leave, they all whipped out their cameras. So we had to stand there waiting in shock as they took pictures of us. We kept wondering if they thought we were famous. After no less than 15 pictures, they nodded appreciation and smiled. One guy came and smiled at Boston and touched his cheek. We smiled back and left. It was so weird. Maybe they think we are weird Americans cause we "wear" our children like accessories. Maybe they just liked Boston's little hat. Who knows. But we are officially going to be in a lot of scrapbooks on the other side of the world. Look kids, look at these Americans we saw in Hollywood.

Here are some random pictures to catch you up on how cute Boston is. Having a snooze at Tammy's house.
Playing with Dad after church.
Notice the huge spit stain. Geez.
Just woke up from another nap.
Discovering a new toy.
Mmmm, tastes good.

Classic bum shot.