Family Trip to New York!

Slowly but surely I will get this blog caught up, just less than 2 months behind now :) Anyways, here we go with the trip that had been in the works for years! Paige's husband Ben graduated with his Doctorate from Cornell's Business School! It was a 5 year program and Paige was married to him for 3 1/2 of those years. They had a long haul out in Ithaca, NY and my mom really wanted everyone to make it out for his graduation. Michael and Annika came along because he could also tour his mission while out there and since we lived in CT now, it was only a 5 hour drive to their place. This was also the only time we were able to drive to see them since they were moving to Utah later in July. Ben was offered a job at BYU in Provo so they will now be living out there leaving us all alone on the east coast.

I digress. My whole family went to Ithaca for Ben's graduation! Tyler was able to swing by Syracuse University on the way there for some business meetings. It was a little out of the way but it allowed us to get our gas paid for at least for part of the drive :) While he had a couple hours of meetings I hung out at a mall with the kids. We ended up being in this arcade for at least an hour and Jackson loved playing games to win tickets and Abbie was obsessed with Dance Dance Revolution.

That is a crowd watching behind her

 We then made it to Ithaca Friday night, at that point just Ben's parents were there and the rest of my family was coming the next day. There were several different graduation events happening on Saturday and Sunday. Some for the whole school, some for business school, etc.. The two big events each day were both outside and since it was unseasonably cold (and rainy) we didn't go to either of those events with our kids. We did go to the main event where his name was read and he walked across the stage. There were less than 10 PHDs and lots of MBA students.

The only pic of Abbie at the event, just a bit tired, no? She left early and fell asleep while Tyler drove around.

Walking across the stage holding William!

 

 

Paige, Ben PHD, Jackson and me

We had a lot of fun after that event. There was an amazing buffet of snacks and desserts in the business building. Tyler missed out as he was driving Abbie around and I got to chase Jackson around as he stuffed his face with brownies and played hide and seek with another little boy in a setting really not  suited for little boys.

The happy Lewis family at the reception, even William had a cap!

That night we went out for Thai food and then went back to their apartment for a little cake and ice cream party. Ben got an iPad, briefcase and other fun presents. It was a lot of fun being with the whole family and Jackson and Abbie had a lot of fun playing with their family! Jackson really bonded with Michael those couple days as you see him holding him in this picture.

The sleeping arrangements were interesting to say the least. Hotels are always booked months in advance in Ithaca so we were sleeping in some of Paige's friends empty apartments while they were away for summer jobs. Tyler, the kids and I were in what we referred to as "Chinatown" while the other Christensens were in "twin girl" world. Good thing my blog is private. Highlights involved Michael and Annika sharing a twin air mattress, Jackson spilling chocolate milk all over a new mattress, Chinese stinky food and just smells of all kinds, underwear scattered throughout and a next door neighbor who played the piano at midnight and 6 am very very loudly. Oh good times and lots of laughs for sure! But hey it was great staying in Paige's same apartment complex and for free :)

Sorry ste, we still love you

One of Jackson's favorite parts, getting a ride on Ben's scooter aka motorcycle!

The next morning was Memorial Day and Michael and Annika headed off on mission touring but the rest of us drove to Cooperstown, NY and the baseball hall of fame. We said goodbye to Ithaca, probably for the last time ever and tears were shed as I walked out of Chinatown, JK. But it was a beautiful drive through rural New York.

 Jackson loves playing baseball but the concept of a baseball museum wasn't quite hitting home with him (pun intended). He was not a huge fan of getting out of the car after a long drive and getting right in a stroller to be wheeled around a dark building. Eventually he got over it and ended up watching some show on Tyler's iphone the whole time. Tyler went off on his own for a lot of the time and took some pictures of some of the highlights. My mom and Steven could have stayed all day but the kids and my dad wanted to move at a quicker pace ;)

Jackson got happy when we got to the kids area, not going to lie I expected it to be bigger, but it ended up being just fine.

 He even got a bat and ball from the gift shop.

 

 

We then drove through Schoharie (one of Michael's areas) and got lunch before driving to Albany. Long story but I had ordered Jackson's bed and nightstand from the pottery barn there. It was an on sale floor model at an amazing price so we stuffed it all in the car for the drive back to CT. The rest of the family stayed the night in Albany and did some more touring around Saratoga and Michael's mission areas. We drove home and got settled in our own beds because Tyler had to be at work the next morning. The rest of the crew drove from Albany to our house in Avon (about 2 hours or so) the next morning. So it was fun to have all my family come see our new place so soon after we moved in. Luckily we were able to have everything in place before they came. 

Swinging cousins

One of Jackson's all time favorite people, Uncle Steven!

Getting Settled in CT

The first couple weeks in Connecticut went well once we got in our house. We moved in May 12, and I thought it was going to be 70 degrees or higher everyday at least, but I was wrong. I guess out here summer really doesn't begin until June. We had lots of days with nice weather but also lots of colder days and quite a bit of rain. But all in all it was good and Jackson enjoyed having all his toys again and a new house and yard to explore.

 Sadly all the pink flowers began to fall from our tree and ended up everywhere, all over our lawn, garage, even in our house. Still I'm super glad they were all in perfect bloom when we moved in.

We bought Jackson a few new toys for the new house, including a baseball bat and tee. He still prefers us to pitch to him though, trying to be like the REAL baseball players. This picture was taken from our porch and looks down onto our backyard, which backs up to this forest. Kinda funky out here, you can get to the backyard by walking out of the basement or go down stairs from the patio off the main level.

Love our green/yellow grass? Still working on getting it in good condition...

The first two weeks I tried to have fun with the kids during the day and then unpack and get settled during nap time and after the kids were in bed. The only problem was that Jackson didn't want to take naps anymore after we moved here. He just started climbing out of his crib and we ordered a bed for him right after we moved. Probably long overdue but while living in Florida he slept great at nights, took naps most days and never climbed out of the crib - I wasn't messing with it!

How I'd normally find him after I finished unpacking, the kid is in a climbing phase!

 The house had standard wood blinds on the downstairs windows and these great room darkening roman shades on all the upstairs bedroom windows. Well all of the windows except Abbie's room, she had the shades but not the room darkening kind. So lucky her, she got to wake up to the bright sun before 6 am! And lucky me to be there with her. We quickly ordered her some matching shades and hung up black trash bags in the meantime. Too bad they ordered the wrong size (just 1/2 inch too big) so it ended up taking over a month to get them in!

Wide awake in her bright room at 6 am, way too early for me...

 The kids get so excited when Tyler gets home from work! Now that he has a normal 8-5 job they both look forward to seeing him come home at a standard time every day. Sometimes Abbie is a little jealous as she watches the boys play outside.

We spend our afternoons playing in our basement! There's still a lot I want to get done down there to turn it into a super fun playroom hangout area, but for now it's a great spot to let the kids run around!

 During the mornings we checked out walking trails, parks, libraries and shopping that we will frequent over the coming years here!

My view along the Farmington River Trail

 We have picnics in the front yard, sometimes we'll go out and sit to wait for daddy! This blanket is the same one Tyler and I used when we had picnics while we were dating that summer in Provo. It always makes me smile when we use it with our kids now.

Living amongst the boxes. As soon as we unpacked a box we threw it in the garage. It was a good 3 weeks or more before we fit both cars in the garage. So many boxes and packing material! Finally we hauled it all away but in the meantime Jackson would make obstacle courses around the garage for his bike

 Nana sent Jackson this Animal Croquet set that he refers to as "animal golf" he played every day for those first couple weeks and since our grass was pretty long, we played on the sidewalk. It's still a fun toy now but he just was obsessed with it at first and got pretty good!

He golfs left handed!

 There were so many parks in Florida that we could either walk to or drive to in less than 5 minutes. Here it is not the case, but the parks we have found are pretty amazing! This one is Buckingham, in a neighborhood where we looked at some houses. Luckily for us we don't have to live there to use it, but it is about 10-15 minutes away. But we've gone a few times because it's huge and so much for Jackson and Abbie to do.

This is all one structure and just one part of the playground.

We still have a lot of projects to get done around the house but Jackson's room paint job was the first on the list and at least we did that. We spent most of those weeks just unpacking closets, bathrooms, storage, decor, kitchen items and figuring out where it all went. We were also getting ready to drive to Ithaca on May 24, for Ben's graduation! Then my whole family was coming to our house for a few days so we needed to just get the house ready for our guests!

She still loves playing in Jackson's room best :)

Our First Week in Connecticut

Our first week in Connecticut had the most beautiful weather! Actually our first day was probably the best of the week. Spring was in full bloom and everyone was excited for the nice 70 degree temperatures after a long cold winter they had. Patio seating was full at all the restaurants and parks and walking trails were packed.

The first morning we headed to Wells Fargo to get our cashiers check we needed at our house closing. I took this picture while waiting in the car with the kids. These bright pink blossomed trees were 
everywhere in Hartford and even line our street. They don't last too long each year so it was a perfect welcome for us moving in.

We didn't take any pictures at closing, but that sure was interesting. Imagine a group of attorneys, our realtor along with Tyler and me and our two kids in a conference room of our attorney's office. And then imagine us waiting for 30 minutes while they got last minute paperwork corrected. They had a small bin of toys to play with for the kids so it was quite noisy and rambunctious closing. We were probably there for an hour but it seemed like all day. But we got our house keys and I guess since this our second house, we didn't take the cheesy first time homeowner holding the key picture ;)

After we got the keys, we did drive over to the place to check it out again. Oh how I wish all of our stuff could have magically been there waiting for us, but alas we had to wait until Sunday. We had fun running around in it empty for a few days though.

Jackson approved of the toilets and especially the park across the street

He had Tuesday off, but the rest of the week Tyler was off to work at his new job! (although he had been working with the team for a few months) This was now the first official time in his new office at his new desk. He hadn't had an office job for over 5 years so this is quite the change! He loves it so far though.

Meanwhile the kids and I hung out at the hotel in the mornings and then went off on different adventures. I drove around to get acquainted with the neighborhoods and shopping areas. We went to playgrounds, libraries and even checked out preschools. We got him registered at Pine Grove Nursery School in a M/W/F morning program in the fall. He is so excited for school and I am so excited he got the last spot of any class that year :) A couple of the other schools were already full and this one really seems great! We had some rough moments that week and emotions were high with Jackson at times but it really went much better than I was expecting it.

Typical breakfast scene, Abbie got used to eating in a normal chair and with normal sized spoons

The Avon Library, well a small portion of the kids section. My kids love it here!

Playing at another preschool we checked out, didn't go with this one.

Still no couches

 We tried to explain to Jackson that the big truck in at our Florida House had all of our stuff in it and they are bringing all of it here to our new house. I think he actually did understand what was going on. Every day we'd go to the house and he'd look inside and say, "not yet mama, the truck didn't bring our stuff and our couches."


But luckily our cars did make it! The car carrier pulled up on the side of the road next to the hotel and the new van and Acura were now in CT! Jackson did like seeing our cars but was more excited about seeing the "white car" again, since the van is still new and the Acura felt more familiar to him. We started to put his car seat in the van and he did not like that at all. Since he was still so sensitive we went with it and drove the Acura for the first couple days.

 

The house really was in really good shape and although there are some projects we'd like to do (new kitchen being the main one) none of them needed to get done before we moved in. The house was built in the late 90's and is one of the newest neighborhoods in all of the area. Since it was lived in by a lady with older kids, the house really had been maintained well. We liked the flooring, and wall colors other than Jackson's room was purple. So we had someone come paint it gray with a red stripe up top that week before our furniture got in there. Getting that paint picked out was really the only project for the week.  He finished up the job Saturday evening and we had our final night at the hotel!

The next day was Sunday (Mothers' Day) and "the truck brought all our stuff"! It was a pretty crazy day trying to wrangle 2 kids and direct the movers of where to put everything. But we survived it and it all went very well!

So the company packed for us and also part of the deal was they would unpack for us what we wanted them to. Which was nice, but also meant there was a ton of stuff everywhere. Eventually I just told them to stop unpacking because it was more of a mess and a hassle having to tell them where to put every plate and dish in the kitchen. But they did unpack all of our pantry and miscellaneous kitchen items and I was left with the scene below.

I love having a clean kitchen so this scene did not sit very well with me. The other factor is this kitchen is much smaller than our old one. So finding places for everything was a challenge.

The movers were gone around 1:30 and we even made it to the last hour of our new ward here. We were planning to have a gourmet meal of frozen lasagna, asparagus and french bread for dinner but our new friends the Pulleys invited us over for dinner. It was great getting to know them better that night and super nice of them to invite us over even on Mothers' Day.

And here is that scene one more time, with yes, our couches.

Even weeks later Jackson still says "the truck brought all our stuff" at least once a day. He tells his grandparents on the phone and people we'd meet on the street. He still did ask for his familiar Florida friends to come play at this new house which breaks my heart. But he really did super well adjusting to that fact that this is our new home. We love it.

Moving Days

It happened on Cinco de Mayo, the 5th of May! It was a Sunday and it was moving day at the Jennings House! And it arrived in the form of this HUUUGE truck. It blocked our neighbors' driveway too, this thing was massive. Our stuff didn't fill it all but they had another small family's stuff to fit in there as well.

And then they got to work. Day one was just packing boxes, wrapping all our pictures, and disassembling all the furniture. You know just packing up our entire lives! There was a team of 4 movers and they did an amazing job.

 While Jackson did like seeing the huge truck, it was all a little too much for him so for most of the morning he hung out in the living room / front of the house or outside on the patio.

Abbie walking around outside

Then we went to church and said goodbye to some of our friends there. We didn't stay too long because Jackson was still not doing too well. For the first time in his life he actually didn't want to go to nursery if that tells you anything. But then I came home and the movers were just finishing up. They arrived at 8 and were gone by 1:30. Not too bad for packing up an entire house!

They left me a little counter space in the bathroom luckily...

 While all dressed up we took some graduation pictures! Since we missed the big day on Friday we had to put the cap and gown to use before we needed to return it. So, here it is! I really am so proud of Tyler for sticking with his goal and after jumping through a series of hoops, even getting his company to pay for the degree!

 At this point we had it arranged for Tyler's parents and Jackson to stay the night at a Disney Resort. The relocation company paid for one night hotel in Florida as part of the package. Even though we didn't "need it" since the movers didn't take apart our bed until the next day per our request, it was best for Jackson to be out of the house that night. He had a lot of fun over there with his grandparents, but still wasn't quite back to our normal Jackson yet.

Tyler and I stayed at the house doing some last minute cleaning and packing we needed to do while Abbie took a nap. That evening we went over to the Hilton and it was so nice! They were upgraded to a suite and even though they weren't actually going to Disney it was nice resort for non-disney goers too. And now I'm mad that I have no pictures! But it was this hotel.

The next morning the guys were back and ready to load the truck! I love these two pictures below that show Abbie just walking around watching the madness, totally oblivious to what was really going on.

Meanwhile Jackson was having the breakfast of champions over at the hotel! He finally got his appetite back and we were so happy he had a buffet of food to devour that day.

They finished around 1 or 2 again and I guess I didn't take any pictures that day but Tyler took these and put it in an instagram collage.

The last thing they packed and loaded was Abbie's crib. We let her take that nap while everything was loaded and when she woke up the house was empty. The movers finished up and a little bit later Jackson came back to see the truck drive away and see the empty house. It was really hard for him, he was still so irritable and seeing things was confusing to him. We had some friends come over and say bye but it was really hard while Jackson was there so distraught.

Our flight was later that evening and since our cars were also being moved, we needed a ride to the airport. None other than Jacque Munns, the woman who made us a part of her family, we stayed at her home for weeks, convinced us to live in Windermere, and sold us our house, she drove us to the airport. Honestly it would have been really emotional had there not been as much going on with Jackson.

But we also said goodbye to Tyler's parents, Terry and Vicki were so amazing that whole weekend and I couldn't think of anyone better to be there for Jackson. They were up with him that night in the hotel but did not complain once. It was not the trip to Orlando they had been envisioning, that's for sure!

But getting to the airport and onto the airport was really the first time our family of four had been together just us in over a week. We were just so grateful to be together, to be healthy, to be so blessed and to be on a quick 2 hour flight to Hartford after all our things were moved for us. The kids stayed awake the whole flight but were generally happy. When we landed they were getting pretty tired and were both asleep within seconds of driving away in our rental car.

We got to our hotel around 11 pm and were so ready for bed! But we couldn't sleep long because the next morning we were going to close on our house.