New Jersey, day three (part one)

Sunday brought us beautiful sun, but much colder temperatures. I believe the high temperature of 55 had occurred at midnight and it got only colder from there. When we finally went outside it was in the mid-40's probably. Of course I LOVED it but I think it took a bit for the boys to get used to it. It didn't take too long though before Tyler wanted to collect some more "daventures" and skip stones.



Jason never did get used to cold weather. My mom brought him inside pretty quickly, even though he DID look darn cute in his hand-me-down arctic gear.

Tyler moved onto leaves. Quite fun.




Finally, a rest.

Then we all came in to warm up. Mom-mom certainly has her hands full with her 2 favorite little boys.

New Jersey, day two

Overnight and then into Saturday was, yes, more rain. Thankfully it eventually stopped and the sun came out. Believe it or not, it was in the high 60's! Once it cleared my mom stayed inside with the fussy boy.

Meanwhile my dad and I took Tyler outside. He wanted to jump in leaf piles (this was high on his list of things to do in NJ) but wet leaves didn't seem like a good plan. So he wanted to look for "daventures" (I think this is a combo of an adventure, treasure and discovery...or something like that).


We took a walk down to the lake as well so Tyler could continue his search. They ended up skipping stones, which apparently is quite fun.


Mid-afternoon we head over to my grandparents. Tyler got to see the sacred stuffed animal that waits for him out front. He was quite excited to be at G-G.mom and G-G.pop's New Jersey house! Meanwhile Jason slept, the whole time. Which is good because Tyler was appparently VERY tired and turned into a disastrous monster. Seriously. That visit ended early, as well as our planned outing to Chick-Fil-A.



Came home and once we got Tyler fed and to bed it was Jason's turn for fussiness. For a LONG time. It was a less than fun night.

Don't worry, the next post will be more positive, I promise!

New Jersey, day one

After a LATE night coming in from the airport, we awoke on Friday with much excitement. Our first day in NJ! Unfortunately the weather had other plans for us. Rain, and then, some more rain.

My grandparents (that's G-G.mom and G-G.pop to Tyler) came over to visit and to see Jason for the first time.



After they left Jason continued to be passed around from person to person (okay, mostly my mom). He was a very cranky boy. Of course she had plenty of time for Tyler too (aka: her "sunshine boy").



For dinner we got to order the best pizza in the world, Riviera. Nothing in the southern states can even compare. My grandparents came back to join us for dinner as well. I snuck this picture of my pop-pop playing tea party with Tyler. He'd kill me for sharing this publicly, which of course is why I'm doing so! Tyler holds a special place in his heart. I'm sure he doesn't have tea parties with just anyone. I love you pop-pop. You'll forgive me for this someday!


Uncle Jim and Uncle Chris joined us for dinner as well. Uncle Jim pictured.

We survived!

We did it. We survived our flight to NJ!

I'll admit, I really thought I was insane. I was incredibly nervous. I had spent quite a bit of time on Wednesday and again on Thursday trying to pack, which was tough with a demanding 4-year-old and fussy 7-week-old...meanwhile Al had left for Oregon. Our neighbor had to drive us to the airport and Jason SCREAMED about two-thirds of the drive. I felt SOOOO bad because obviously he had never cried that long without some attempt at comforting him, but I had no choice. There was horrible traffic and we were afraid that if we pulled over we would never make it in time for our flight. I was NOT a happy camper by the time we got there.

When we checked in I asked if it was a full flight. Yep. Lovely. However I asked again and was informed that there were something like 137/144 people on the flight. I asked nicely if there was anyway we could possibly be in a row by ourselves and was pretty much told it wouldn't be possible. I then explaind that I would be breastfeeding. It was amazing how quickly they got me switched to the back row so that we could have an extra seat. Score!

Jason cried quite a bit in the airport. We did quite a bit of pacing. I attempted to eat a caesar salad with him in the front pack. Not easy. I was a bit frustrated. By the time we were ready to board the flight I was ready to give up! However, I got on that flight, telling myself that I could only do what I could do and I'll never have to see these people again.

He cried a bit at take-off, but then he nursed and was okay. In total he fussed for maybe 15 minutes and couldn't have actually cried for more than 5 minutes, most of that was after the plane landed. He even took about a 40 minute nap in my arms. And, most surprisingly, Tyler even slept some! So, we survived!

a good sign that I've lost my mind..

I just spent at least 2-3 minutes searching the house for the Baby Bjorn. I then realized that I was WEARING the Baby Bjorn WITH the baby. I guess it could be worse. I could have been aimlessly looking for the baby.

Zoo Day!

Yesterday Tyler AND Al had off for Veteran's Day, so we decided we should find something fun to do. I remembered the aquarium being free one year for military, so I decided to do some searching. Not only was the aquarium free, but so was the zoo. Military perks rock! So we decided on the zoo because the whole family would be free, it's free to park, and did I ever mention that fish bore me? You've seen one, you've seen them all...

Anyway, we had intended on getting out the door in time to be there at opening, but Jason had other plans and vomited just minutes before leaving. Once getting him bathed again (and Tyler insisting he had to get bathed WITH him) we ended up getting there about an hour after it opened...and it was PACKED!

You can't see a primate giving you the finger at the aquarium!

And then there was the adorable nursing orangutan. How cute!

Tyler was quite impressed with the meerkats.

But later earned himself a time-out for something he had done (between the baby crying and his rudeness, sometimes it all runs together). Luckily after that it was smooth-sailing.

He enjoyed himself at the playground.

While Jason perfected his non-sleeping routine.

Tyler had fun playing in the water (yes Floridiaans, there were plenty of people in the water).


Then we fed some goats.

While Tyler went back to the playground, Jason proved that he can NOT be put down.

Must be held at all times.

Tyler then got to pick ONE ride to go on. The winner was this...

We then spent some more time with animals. Tyler especially LOVED the stingrays.


Last important stop was the manatees!

Cleared for take-off!

On Monday Jason had his follow-up appointment at the pediatrician. He weighed in at 10lbs2oz, so he's gaining well. They weren't worried about the vomiting and they said the fluid in his ear had cleared, so hopefully things will improve from here. They also said he's ready to take off via plane to NJ on Thursday!

Little stinker is still obviously uncomfortable. He won't let us put him down, but luckily he still likes the Bjorn, which gives us the ability to get some things done around here. Overall he is sleeper better at night though. Phew.

He still gets some REALLY cranky spells though. I think it was Monday night where he was up straight from about 4:30pm until 12:30am, most of which was spent in my arms (and then Al's arms when he got home at around 9:00pm). He was just fussy, fussy, fussy. I still think dairy might play a part in it, but his pediatrician doesn't seem to buy it at all. It's hard for me at this point though to tease out what is reflux, what is dairy, and what is just a fussy sick boy. So for now I'm trying to just watch the major dairy culprits (ice cream, cheese, milk, yogurt) and eat whatever else. I'll test out my theory later. WHY must this be so difficult?