Jersey Girls

We made it!! I am so sorry it has taken me so long to post, but we just got Internet and once you see our living conditions, you will understand the chaos. So far, our new home state is beautiful. I can see why they named it the "Garden State".. it is so lush and green with tons of ponds, streams and lakes. We are living with one car, and on the days I take Jarrett to work, I get to go over a really cute bridge on my way to Princeton.

Gorgeous right?!? Makes the trade from the ocean a little less painful.

Here are a few things we noticed about NJ:
1. East coasters go to the "shore" not the beach
2. You pay for a "Beach Badge" (a fee per person to go to the shore for the day from Memorial Day to Labor Day). Take advantage of all those free Cali beaches!!
3. On the Border is considered "good" Mexican food... yuck!
4. People don't refer to the freeways as "THE one-o-one" or "THE five". It is simply Route 33 or Highway 1.
5. The pools close after Labor Day.
6. Driving on Highway 1, there are no left turns or U turns. They have turn-out things called "Jug Handles" where you veer right, and wait at a light. It involves a lot of back-tracking.
7. Fun accent... they pronounce Jarrett's name like this: Jaaarrrr- rett. He was excited no one called him Jared. Hoping our girls don't pick up on it... too bad at least.
8. Bugs... there are a ton of mosquitoes, and all the other bugs just look bigger. Guess that is what comes with gorgeous plant life.
9. Nice... Most everyone we have come in contact with have been really nice, not what you expect with Philly and NYC so close.
10. Everyone smokes cigarettes.

There are a TON of things to do, and we are looking forward to checking out some of the fun festivals coming up: Italian Heritage, Cranberry, Apple and multiple Harvest and pumpkin festivals! Last weekend we went exploring and went to Lambertsville, 30 minutes west near the PA border.

Jersey Girls by location, California Girls at heart :) Nerd Alert: That's the Delaware River behind us, near where George Washington crossed during the Revolutionary War!!

We visited New Hope, where they had an adorable train that gives rides. We are totally coming back at Christmas for the Polar Express story time!

We are beginning the process of finding a home church, and my bible study starts up on Sept. 12th, which will help in making friends. We are super excited to be in the crazy, stressful process of buying a home, and can't wait to post pictures! Hopefully it will close around mid-October, and we will get to move in, out of our itty bitty townhouse.

Lulu in front of our rental. It's an end unit and has lots of light (when not blocked by boxes).

I have refused to put up an decorations. They did leave some cute cornice boxes, though.

Welcome to our storage closet... no wait, our dining room. LOL

I was thrilled withe the kitchen... granite and a DISHWASHER!! Whoo Hoo!

Master bedroom and Lulu's room. If anyone needs to cook up some pretend food at midnight, there is a play kitchen available.

Lulu's bed is surrounded by boxes.

Yep. Madison's crib is in the other room (yep only 2 rooms) and she is quite cozy.

We are really grateful for our rental, because our realtor helped us find a great deal and they are allowing us to rent month-to-month, which is really hard (and expensive) to find around here. Here is a sneak peak of our new place, which makes the waiting SO worth it...

11 Royal Oak, Lawrence NJ.... Our new home!!!

Jarrett has taken some really amazing pictures of Princeton, and I promised him I would do a posting. I was so jealous when he texted me one day that he was in Einstein's laboratory, and he ate lunch in Woodrow Wilson's house. The chapel is breath-taking, and there is a kids story time every Friday at the library on campus. We are officially Princetonians!

6 Months

Madison Grace, 6 Months

"Hey Mama! I didn't see you were there!"

Splish Splash... little ladies in the bath!

mmmmm... Peas!

Sweet Happy Girl

 

Wow!! Six months already?!? Our sweet baby girl has been growing, eating and her personality has been exploding! Here are her stats:

Weight: 14 lbs, 10 oz

Height: 25.5 inches

 

*Eating... We have begun giving Madison solids, introducing them in a veggie-fruit-veggie order. The first food we tried was green peas, and she loved them! Next we gave her pears, and she liked them pretty well with her oatmeal. Last week we did carrots, and she seemed to get a bit of a diaper rash (although heat cannot be ruled out since we were in Bakersfield). This week I introduced butternut squash (breaking with the fruit pattern..lol) and she seems to enjoy it, and no rashes yet ;)

*Sleeping... She sleeps in her crib in our room, but sleeping arrangements are pretty crazy right now because of our "cozy" townhouse... more on that later. Maddie got into the habit of sleeping with me while we were in transition, and loved the easy access to the milk buffet. Now that we are settled (sort of) I can forsee problems when we are nighttime weaning, because we are all in the same room and crying it out isn't going to be a great option. She has been taking 2 hour naps in the morning and the afternoon, and going to sleep around 7pm.

*Busy Bee... Madison enjoys watching everything around her, exploring things by grabbing or reaching and putting things into her mouth. She is very curious and coordinated, and will pass objects back and forth in her hands. Maddie gets frustrated by her lack of mobility, and wants to be entertained pretty much the entire time she is awake... I think sissy provides lots of that.

*Sitting... Maddie is offically an independent sitter, and is very proud! She loves to grab her feet, and pushes up while on her tummy. She rolls from tummy-to-back and tries so hard to scoot.

*Personality... Our youngest likes to make you work hard for a smile, and will critically look at you before making a judgement on whether or not she will be a fan. She hasn't reached the "stranger" phase yet, and likes to be tickled, bounced and silly faces. However, she does know Mama, and watches closely wherever she goes. She loves water and bathtime!

*Dada's Girl... Since reuniting with Jarrett, Maddie's been looking at him and saying, "DaDaDaDa". I think she tries to say "NaNaNaNa" for Mama... *wishful thinking*. Both of our girls love their Daddy!

*Appearence... Her light brown hair has been growing in, and is feathery. She has dark green eyes, and more of an olive skin tone, and we noticed a few dimples! Our baby girl has been fussy and drooling, and we think teeth are on the horizon, although none have surfaced.

Happy Half-Year Birthday to my Sweet Girl!! Love you Madison Grace!

Loaded Up....

 Last Wednesday evening we said goodbye to Malibu... here is our moving truck loaded down with all our earthly possessions and Jarrett's car. It was a huge relief to see it on the truck, moving towards our new future!

 Daddy and our little Malibu Girl... we sure are going to miss that view! I tried to get a family picture before we left, but just couldn't find the time.

This is what happened while I was packing boxes... she got a little artistic with the markers. Thank goodness it was washable :)
The girls and I have been homeless for the past seven days, living temporarily in Bakersfield with my family and getting stocked up on all the hugs and kisses the grandparents can squeeze in. We are going to miss you so much! We are looking forward to being reunited with Daddy on Saturday in our new home state!!