I'm doing this whole blog thing (as recommended by my dear friend Carrie) so everyone can know what is going on in our lives. The first two were quite lengthy, I'll try to condense future posts so you won't get weary of reading them.
Please leave comments, I'd love to hear what you have to say!
Keep in touch everyone, we miss you all!
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
Getting things done
We decided that we needed NJ licences. Off we went to the DMV. We had a rough idea where the building was located and we aren't afraid to ask directions so we were all set. We got a bit misplaced but we easily found our way (OK, I did ask one woman for help). When I got inside I asked what information they needed. After reviewing the list of the 6 points of ID, I soon realized that we didn't have all of them. One of them was a social security number (SSN). Well, we decided to scrap the licence and get our SSN. We headed off to Trenton. There was a slight problem; we knew the office was in Trenton but we had absolutely no idea where. We headed on 1S and figured we would eventually stop and ask for help. And help was what we got from a very nice lady in a bank. She gave me directions and off we went. Here's a plug for my sense of direction, we were actually on the right street. We turned right instead of left. How cool is that? No idea where we were going and we were so close!
We got to the office, filled out the paperwork and waited for our number to be called. After having waited so long with customs, the half hour wait was nothing. Granted, the kids spilled an entire bag of fish crackers on the floor and, at one point, Stellan was lying on the floor driving his car around, but it was relatively painless. Amazing how my standards of cleanliness wane as I just try to occupy the kids and keep them from running around. I would never have imagined letting my kid lie on floor. Oh well. We finished everything in no time and headed home for lunch and naps.
After nap time we went to a local park that the kids love. It has swings (Stellan's favourite) and a basketball net (Jameson's favourite) as well as trains that pass by quite often (their new obsession). Met a nice lady and got her number for future play dates. You've gotta love the park, what a great way to meet moms and their kids!
We headed back to the hotel for dinner to be disappointed that they didn't serve it tonight. So we headed out for a family dinner. The kids were great in the restaurant and the food was pretty good. We decided to push our luck and take them furniture shopping. We need a new sofa, mattress set and counter stools. Well, our luck had run out and the kids turned wild as soon as they saw a store full of sofas. Granted, we don't let our kids jump on the sofas (they do try almost every day though) but they sure realized that they were in sofa heaven. The kids were literally running through the store. Guess who was leading the pack?! I forgot to mention that Stellan peed through his diaper (I could blame it on the fact that he drank a lot or I could confess that we forgot to change it). I didn't have a change of clothes but I happened to have a bag of clothes that I bought at Target (I couldn't resist, it's minutes away). Here's the problem, I typically don't buy many new clothes for Stellan since he has all of Jameson's old ones. So, there were only new clothes for Jameson and they were all size 4T. As you know, Stellan takes after his daddy and is on the skinny/slim/thin/wirey/whateveryouwanttocallit side. So, picture Stellan chasing Jameson through the store as his oversized shorts are slowly falling off his newly dry diaper clad bum. Quite a funny sight. I was chasing them trying to keep them in line as well as trying to keep his clothes on. We must have been quite a sight. After looking at the shockingly high prices we scooped up the kids and headed elsewhere.
The next store had a big fish pond in the middle of the entranceway. Nice idea but it was kind of stinky. A bit scary seeing as the store has literally been open for a week. I'd hate to smell it in a month. Oh well, the kids enjoyed the pond and it gave James a chance to see some sofas that I had checked out yesterday. The boys felt the need to put their hands in the stinky water, oh lovely. I'm sure Stellan tried drinking it too. After quite a few screams of protest, we eventually dragged them out of the store and headed back to the hotel. We washed them up and put them to bed, in separate rooms. Stellan fell asleep right away but Jameson sang to himself for an hour. Whatever!
Day 2 had come to an end and I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds in store. Off to bed I go, it's way too late to be up.
We got to the office, filled out the paperwork and waited for our number to be called. After having waited so long with customs, the half hour wait was nothing. Granted, the kids spilled an entire bag of fish crackers on the floor and, at one point, Stellan was lying on the floor driving his car around, but it was relatively painless. Amazing how my standards of cleanliness wane as I just try to occupy the kids and keep them from running around. I would never have imagined letting my kid lie on floor. Oh well. We finished everything in no time and headed home for lunch and naps.
After nap time we went to a local park that the kids love. It has swings (Stellan's favourite) and a basketball net (Jameson's favourite) as well as trains that pass by quite often (their new obsession). Met a nice lady and got her number for future play dates. You've gotta love the park, what a great way to meet moms and their kids!
We headed back to the hotel for dinner to be disappointed that they didn't serve it tonight. So we headed out for a family dinner. The kids were great in the restaurant and the food was pretty good. We decided to push our luck and take them furniture shopping. We need a new sofa, mattress set and counter stools. Well, our luck had run out and the kids turned wild as soon as they saw a store full of sofas. Granted, we don't let our kids jump on the sofas (they do try almost every day though) but they sure realized that they were in sofa heaven. The kids were literally running through the store. Guess who was leading the pack?! I forgot to mention that Stellan peed through his diaper (I could blame it on the fact that he drank a lot or I could confess that we forgot to change it). I didn't have a change of clothes but I happened to have a bag of clothes that I bought at Target (I couldn't resist, it's minutes away). Here's the problem, I typically don't buy many new clothes for Stellan since he has all of Jameson's old ones. So, there were only new clothes for Jameson and they were all size 4T. As you know, Stellan takes after his daddy and is on the skinny/slim/thin/wirey/whateveryouwanttocallit side. So, picture Stellan chasing Jameson through the store as his oversized shorts are slowly falling off his newly dry diaper clad bum. Quite a funny sight. I was chasing them trying to keep them in line as well as trying to keep his clothes on. We must have been quite a sight. After looking at the shockingly high prices we scooped up the kids and headed elsewhere.
The next store had a big fish pond in the middle of the entranceway. Nice idea but it was kind of stinky. A bit scary seeing as the store has literally been open for a week. I'd hate to smell it in a month. Oh well, the kids enjoyed the pond and it gave James a chance to see some sofas that I had checked out yesterday. The boys felt the need to put their hands in the stinky water, oh lovely. I'm sure Stellan tried drinking it too. After quite a few screams of protest, we eventually dragged them out of the store and headed back to the hotel. We washed them up and put them to bed, in separate rooms. Stellan fell asleep right away but Jameson sang to himself for an hour. Whatever!
Day 2 had come to an end and I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds in store. Off to bed I go, it's way too late to be up.
Our new life begins.....
So, our new life as New Jerseyans (not New Jerseyers as I thought....) has begun.
After a few hectic days we finally hit the road around 9 pm on Wednesday, September 5th. It was our intention of driving through the night with the hope that the boys would sleep most of the way. Based on their history, we didn't have high hopes. Actually, I doubted their sleep performance so much that I drugged them. Seriously. I slipped half a tablet of Dramamine in a spoonful of icecream.
James and I were quite anxious to cross the border. We had already spent a total of 5.5 hours in customs getting our VISAs in order. Apparently that time paid off because the customs officer looked at our passports, asked where we were headed, what line of work James was in and he told us to have a safe trip. Easy as that. We were ecstatic. Now it was 9:30.
By 10/10:30 both boys were asleep. As always Stellan was the first to conk out. Jameson, bored by the fact that his little buddy had fallen asleep, decided to give into dreamland as well. James and I were so pleased. We hoped they'd be out for about 9 hours. Yeah right...
We pulled over at 3 am to get gas. Both boys woke up and were as chipper as if they had slept through the night. Sheesh! I wanted to be upset and wish them back to sleep but they were just so happy to be awake when it was dark. So much so that they decided to enjoy it until 5 am. The joy wore off and the sleepiness took over. They became quite cranky and finally dozed off again by 5:30. I was quite tired by this point (James too, he was doing all the driving). The three of us (not including James, obviously) had a bit of a nap. We were all awake again by 7 am as we were nearing our final destination, the Residence Inn. We pulled in at 7:30.
We checked in, got into our room, complained about the room, got into the next room and then grabbed some breakfast. (My biggest complaint, very legit I must say, was that the safety lock at the top of the door was broken. That lock is the only one that my boys cannot reach therefore it is the only lock that keeps them in the room. See...very legit!) After breakfast we all went to bed. We decided against putting the boys in the same room for this nap since they play rather than sleep when they are together. I slept with Stellan and James slept with Jameson. Poor James, Jameson just didn't want to sleep. We were all awake (willingly or otherwise) by noon.
We made it through the day but we were all quite grumpy. Not a very good combination. The boys were in bed by 7. They were sharing a room so that means they weren't asleep until after 8. In that hour that it took them to fall asleep, Stellan learned how to get out of his playpen. Thankfully Jameson is a tattle taler (is that a word?) still and quickly informed me of Stellan's escapade. I found Stellan on the bed with Jameson, smiling from ear to ear. I promptly put him back to bed with harsh words to go to sleep. A short while later Stellan opened the bedroom door, stuck his head out, smiled and said, "Hi mommy". Little stinker. If he wasn't so cute it would be a lot easier to get upset. I just wanted to laugh. More warnings were issued and he was sent back to bed. He wasn't in the mood to heed those warnings so within minutes he was out again and turning the lights on and off. Lights have been his lifelong obsession so he is quite thrilled that there is a switch within his reach. This was irritating Jameson so he tattled again. At this point I returned Stellan to bed and stayed in the room for a bit. Stellan pretended to be a sleep and Jameson promised to "sleep well" because he knew he's lose his train whistle if he didn't. As soon as I left the party started again. Finally James has to lie in bed with Jameson in order to get the boys to sleep. Jameson was quite upset this morning when he realized he didn't get his whistle. I think it was a sacrifice he was willing to make though.
We all woke up in much better spirits and started our day. That's for the next blog...
After a few hectic days we finally hit the road around 9 pm on Wednesday, September 5th. It was our intention of driving through the night with the hope that the boys would sleep most of the way. Based on their history, we didn't have high hopes. Actually, I doubted their sleep performance so much that I drugged them. Seriously. I slipped half a tablet of Dramamine in a spoonful of icecream.
James and I were quite anxious to cross the border. We had already spent a total of 5.5 hours in customs getting our VISAs in order. Apparently that time paid off because the customs officer looked at our passports, asked where we were headed, what line of work James was in and he told us to have a safe trip. Easy as that. We were ecstatic. Now it was 9:30.
By 10/10:30 both boys were asleep. As always Stellan was the first to conk out. Jameson, bored by the fact that his little buddy had fallen asleep, decided to give into dreamland as well. James and I were so pleased. We hoped they'd be out for about 9 hours. Yeah right...
We pulled over at 3 am to get gas. Both boys woke up and were as chipper as if they had slept through the night. Sheesh! I wanted to be upset and wish them back to sleep but they were just so happy to be awake when it was dark. So much so that they decided to enjoy it until 5 am. The joy wore off and the sleepiness took over. They became quite cranky and finally dozed off again by 5:30. I was quite tired by this point (James too, he was doing all the driving). The three of us (not including James, obviously) had a bit of a nap. We were all awake again by 7 am as we were nearing our final destination, the Residence Inn. We pulled in at 7:30.
We checked in, got into our room, complained about the room, got into the next room and then grabbed some breakfast. (My biggest complaint, very legit I must say, was that the safety lock at the top of the door was broken. That lock is the only one that my boys cannot reach therefore it is the only lock that keeps them in the room. See...very legit!) After breakfast we all went to bed. We decided against putting the boys in the same room for this nap since they play rather than sleep when they are together. I slept with Stellan and James slept with Jameson. Poor James, Jameson just didn't want to sleep. We were all awake (willingly or otherwise) by noon.
We made it through the day but we were all quite grumpy. Not a very good combination. The boys were in bed by 7. They were sharing a room so that means they weren't asleep until after 8. In that hour that it took them to fall asleep, Stellan learned how to get out of his playpen. Thankfully Jameson is a tattle taler (is that a word?) still and quickly informed me of Stellan's escapade. I found Stellan on the bed with Jameson, smiling from ear to ear. I promptly put him back to bed with harsh words to go to sleep. A short while later Stellan opened the bedroom door, stuck his head out, smiled and said, "Hi mommy". Little stinker. If he wasn't so cute it would be a lot easier to get upset. I just wanted to laugh. More warnings were issued and he was sent back to bed. He wasn't in the mood to heed those warnings so within minutes he was out again and turning the lights on and off. Lights have been his lifelong obsession so he is quite thrilled that there is a switch within his reach. This was irritating Jameson so he tattled again. At this point I returned Stellan to bed and stayed in the room for a bit. Stellan pretended to be a sleep and Jameson promised to "sleep well" because he knew he's lose his train whistle if he didn't. As soon as I left the party started again. Finally James has to lie in bed with Jameson in order to get the boys to sleep. Jameson was quite upset this morning when he realized he didn't get his whistle. I think it was a sacrifice he was willing to make though.
We all woke up in much better spirits and started our day. That's for the next blog...
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