Three weeks and counting...

There are times that I sit here in the morning and drink my warm coffee and realize how wonderful life is. I do not have to rush out in the morning now that Dev is home from preschool, I do not have any major requirements that I have to accomplish now and life in general is very relaxed. While I lived in Las Vegas I seemed to be going somewhere all the time. I did love it and I absolutely miss having coffee with my girlfriend and playdates with other friends especially now that spring is in the valley and soon pools will be opening for the season. I thought that maybe since we are booked up every weekend here in NJ for the next 6 weeks that I would be able to "forget" about what I moved from-but I do not.



this am in O's jammies



Truth is, I really miss my friends. I had a great bunch of ladies out there with whom I spent the better part of my week with. Riley just yesterday was coloring a Strawberry Shortcake dolly skirt with water and I was videoing her doing it bc she was singing Adele. Upon completion she said that "this is for Maddie." She dedicates most of her art to her friends Maddie or Olivia. She did make a craft shamrock the other day and said she wanted to give it to Cami another one of her friends. Sigh. I sent the video to Maddie's mom and got all teary when I did because those girls really loved one another. They are exactly a week apart and played so well with one another. She has some of Olivias hand me down jammies and prides herself in the fact that they were once her "best girl" Olivia's. She tells me all the time that they were Olivias jammies when "Olivia was Rileys age."

I did have our first NJ playdate yesterday. The kids have gotten to play with friends and cousins while we were moving in when they came over to say hi and see the place, but yesterday was just a play day. No more unpacking while trying to talk. Kids had a blast playing with a friend named Cole who is 3.5 and a doll. He ran around wtih both kids and they all played so well together. My kids have met him before, but it was a year and a half ago and neither one remembered one another. Needless to say, the lapse in time did not matter and they all jumped in head first to a seriously intense playdate of running around and being imaginitive. Devin was crushed when his buddy had to go but after he calmed down he said he is excited to go to his house and play with all his toys "since they are different than mine since Cole has a big brother and not little sister." Ha ha I love his thought process.

I am looking forward to many more days like yesterday, and that spring will be here in another month or so. I will be volunteering as the Neeta lax coach this spring as well which will help me stay in shape. I intend to run with the girls and play with them. The school would have had to cancel the season had they not have found a volunteer coach in time. My friend Deidre is the volunteer hockey coach and is teaming up with me to watch my kids while I coach the girls. Practice is 3-5 and that is nap time so D is coming here while I jet over to the school for practice/games. That is why I love SJ. People do anything they can to make things work-especially so kids still get a chance to play sports. So sad that the budget is that tight that they cannot afford to pay a teacher to stay after school. When I went there, the lax program was very competative and we looked forward to the season....16 years later they are struggling to keep a program alive. It is only 6 weeks (no preseason) so it will be over before I know it, but I look forward to meeting a new group of young ladies. We shall see how different they are (maturity and thought) wise than the freshman I had for a few years while I coached field hockey.

The kids are all settled in and loving living here. They are allowed to go and play in the back yard as long as they stay on the grassy/mossy part and for the most part they listen. I only do this when I am at the table or doing the dishes so I can see them through the big picture window. Our neighborhood is super quiet and I am not worried about them being out there alone with no fence. Granted I would not leave the picture window with them out there alone....but they love the freedom. Once we get a fence, they will get to play a little more alone, but for now I need to be able to keep an eye on them and make sure they stay out of the trees and off the driveway. I have met a lot of neighbors already. Most of them are older than us by a lot of years. Two of the four I met have kids that I graduated with, so they are original owners...and the others are mid 40s?  Our across the street neighbors are younger but not very social. They pull into their driveway and walk inside even if we are outside in the yard. The kids love watching the squirrels and birds in the back yard eat seeds and such every morning. I am so glad they get to see nature up close. I want to go on lots of field trips this spring to local places-Mrs Woodford, Batso, Philly Zoo, Cape May zoo etc. Love having that all around here. And of course to the farms to pick some fruit!

Things that kids do that make me crack up

A while back I had a few posts about things they say, example one, example two and example three. There are more, but those are some of the first ones. My kids, and really all toddlers are super funny. Their train of thought is really really funny to figure out and listen to why they say and do the things they do. I really love to watch them do things and interact when they do not realize I am watching. Devin can be the sweetest brother to Riley and he can also be a total pain in the rear as well. I guess that goes along with sibling being close in age. They are less than 2 years apart and it's great at times and at times I need to play referee.

Devin has been a trip pretty much his entire talking life. He says really funny and VERY matter of fact things. Our first day in the new house I was organizing the shed so I told the kids to go and play in the woods. Devin looks me straight in the face and says "They are not woods mom, it is a forest." I laughed and said they are woods and that a forest is usually when there are a bunch of pine trees. He asked what a pine tree was and I said like a Christmas tree with needles instead of leaves. And that woods are just where a bunch of trees are. He raised one eye brow and looked at me and then called Riley over to go play spy guys.

I had bought some cheese at the deli at Shop Rite the other day and Devin told me very seriously that I bought the wrong kind when we were putting away the groceries. I asked why he thought it was the wrong kind. He said I needed to buy the square kind (chunk) so we can bring some over to Grammy's and feed the mouse that is in her house. I guess he saw that on a cartoon at some point? I told him that we needed cheese for sandwiches and that Grammy can worry about catching the mice in her house.

Riley went to go potty last night in the powder room when we were eating dinner. She starting yelling that she peed on the floor. I thought maybe she did not make it? She has been potty trained for just about a year now so I was a lil confused when she said this. I went into the bathroom she was sitting on the lid of the toilet and had peed on the lid therefor going all over the floor. Poor thing.

Devin is doing a very good job at reminding new guests that they need to take their shoes off when they come in the house. I am glad that he understands this because I definitely did not want him and Riley tracking all sorts of dirt in from the yard. He and Riley also both know they are not allowed to eat or drink in the new rooms. Both stand outside the playroom with a sippy cup and they sit on the step that leads into the family room if they have a snack. I know this will not last forever but being less than a week in the house I would like to keep it as new as possible.

We were at my Aunt Dawn's the other night and Riley said, "That's my dad, his name is Frank." Frank just cracked up. He told me this since I did not hear it. I then asked her the next day what my name was and she said Mommy. I said what is my other name and she said Shannon. At least she knows what her mom and dads names are. She definitely does not call us by first name and I did not even know she knew our first names but it is cute to hear in her little squeaky voice.

Devin knew our address in the old house and knew pretty  much how to get there turn by turn from 5 or so turns away by street name. I did this one day because I was trying to keep them awake and was quizzing him on street names and it stuck. I told him we have a new address and he needs to learn it and he said that it is not 1-o-3 that it is 1-zero-3. I laughed and said yes there are only numbers and no letters in the house number. Smart kid.

I really love that I can hold a conversation with both kids and that both kids can play independently with one another and actually be imaginative and role play. They really have a great time together and love to play with other kids. Devin has take on a role of being a big brother and although at times is bossy, he is a rule follower and I definitely prefer that over an out of control child. Riley is the sweetest thing and is a lil crazy at times but she is also so sensitive and so sweet.

LV vs SJ

Ok so obviously there is a lot to get acclimated to going from the desert at 2800 ft in elevation to the woods at sea level....besides the blaringly obvious temperature change here are a few things I need to get used to.

1. no garbage disposal-ever.....This so far has been the hardest thing to get used to. Since I have a septic system I can never have a garbage disposal. This stinks! I got so used to having one pretty much since graduating college in 2004.

2. bugs-there are SO many bugs here. Not a biggie, I grew up in the woods and I know them all-but still weird to have so many (everywhere.) For example, I had the kids playhouse roof laying on the grassy back yard for a few days until it got assembled and there were a dozen or so baby slugs stuck to it. Just yesterday I found a black tick on my hip. There are lil spiders in the garage. All harmless bugs but I really got used to the fact there were really no bugs in Las Vegas.

3. wireless. So in Las Vegas the houses are stacked similar to that at the shore. While sitting anywhere in my house you could pick up about 12 or so neighbors wireless signals. Here at the new house....one (mine.) Crazy!

4. Driving-Where I am is all trees.  In LV I looked at mountains in every direction. It was beautiful and I will/do miss them.  Until I drive into Medford or Voorhees/Marlton I see nothing but trees and I LOVE it as well. I would never want to live in overly developed areas of SJ because of the local/highway traffic. I love that there is no traffic out here. In Vegas there was always local traffic.

5. silence. We sit in the house and its silent. I can hear a bird now and then but it's very quiet. Before I could hear garage doors opening, the mail man putting mail in the cluster, cars driving down my street...

6. pitch black. our street is pitch black at night. I mean I cannot even see the porch step when letting the dogs out. There are house lights here and there and we have some on the driveway, but for the most part nothing but stars lighting up the sky. In LV it was street lights galore and even though I was as far removed from the strip as I could get, I could still see the Luxor light and the sky on a cloudy night was lit up by the casinos.



V egas yard



7. yard size. When our neighborhood was bought and developed it was during the boom in Vegas. Land was a serious premium. Our house was built on .11 acres and that was considered huge for my development. Our lot was $40k more than across the street because of yard size and because it was above elevation than the street that backed up to our house. Original buyers on our street looked at our lot but did not want to pay the premium for lot size. Not like it did much since we had to move during the bottom of the recession....but still it was a great yard for new build in Las Vegas. Here we have over an acre of private woods and on a corner lot. A fence will go up sooner than later, but for now I am glad my dogs listen and don't run away



NJ yard



8. Sunshine. I have been in NJ for 13 days and I think it has been sunny 3? of them. I forgot how gloomy it is in the winter here. The temps are not much different in Las Vegas as they are here. Vegas was seeing 30s at night at 60 during the day and here is 30s at night and 50s during the day. Really  no different. Just rainy/snowy here so it does feel a bit chillier since its moist. I know this is not typical but I am not freezing.

9. Moisture in air! Hallelujah! My skin is not dry, my hair is full of body and my lips are not chapped. moisture is a phenomenal thing :)

I am sure I am missing more...but those are the things I can think of off the top of my head. Something to note. I really do miss having my laundry room on the second floor between the bedrooms. It is now in the mudroom. I have to walk down the stairs, through the kitchen, through the family room and into the mudroom. Boo! All builders should put them on the floor where the bedrooms are!

In NJ and getting settled

The week I got to NJ was probably the most stressful and upside down week of my life. I do not want to go into details because it plain sucked....but thankfully things are FINALLY starting to even back out and I am beginning to feel like a normal human again. I gained 4 lbs in the past 6 weeks from eating crap and not exercising and although I know I will burn that off almost immediately now that we are settled it still blows.

The house is coming alone. Majority of the boxes are unpacked and I am finding homes for most of our stuff. The entire house needs to be painted but the kids rooms will come first. Two reasons...1. I know what colors and 2. because they are the only rooms in the whole house besides the family room that does not have wallpaper on the walls. Both have stenciled border but that is a easy peasy thing to paint over. Devin really wants the Star Wars bedding from PBK but I told him he has to wait a few months. Up until the PBK catalog came he wanted Spiderman....so I want to make sure this idea sticks before we pay for bedding he loosing interest in. Riley wants the "Grace" bedding from PBK and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It is apparently a super hot pattern since it is always sold out. Both kids need window treatments since they have more windows in this house than our Las Vegas house. I wish roman shades were not so expensive because I love them.

If it were not for caffeine, I do not think I could make it through these super long days anymore. Packing sucks-but unpacking is worse in my mind. Our new house is 3000 sq ft but for some reason I cannot find a place for everything. I know in due time it will come together-but I just want to get rid of these boxes! Frank's commute is not bad-especially for NJ, about 40 min in areas with no traffic. Straight through the blueberry bogs and peach tree farms. Gosh I love living in SJ again! Frank was hesitant with moving into the woods and not in a development like he grew up in. I am glad I talked him into it out here because he LOVES it ;). Once the weather stays above 65-70 we can go for family bike rides and then in the summer we can go to the farms and get fresh produce again. That is one thing that stunk about LV...not a great place for fresh produce.

Other than that-kids love their new house and fantastic back yard. They have had lots and lots of play time already with family and friends. I miss my friends in LV, but welcome all great things to come here in NJ.

My bags are packed and I'm (ready) to go....



guest room



guest room packed







Well....I think I am done. I am exhausted and my back hurts so I am throwing in the towel. Every box is filled to the brim and taped shut. It is amazing how you under estimate how many you will need. Thank goodness my neighbor had 4 extra ones in her garage-Thanks! Everything else that did not fit is going to be picked up Tuesday at the curb. I still have to clean the house since it is sold...but that can wait until Tuesday am when I come back to the house from the hotel and grab the dogs. I did start crying twice today (now three times) while I was packing. I know the next chapter in life is going to be great, but it is still sad to break down the rooms that you have made your home for years and say good bye to some great people. Enough of that because I cannot handle the emotions right now alone.

Truck comes tomorrow at 7 am and I am hoping they run a little late. We do not have to leave the house until 8 am so hopefully they will not arrive until 7:30 or so giving us a lil time to get moving. It is estimated they need 8 hours to inventory and load so hopefully they will be done by 3 so we can get checked into the hotel and maybe the kids will take a lil snooze. Doubt it, but here's to hoping.

Tomorrow's schedule

7-turck comes

8-get in the car and head to school

8:30-8:40 drop off

GET CAFFEINE

9:30-drive across town for last post op appt (9 mo now)

Drop off stuff at franks office
swing by vet and get sedatives

11:15 back across town to pick up Devin

get them food-come home

1-dogs to groomer

Riley now has a fantastic cough and ran a fever today of 102.0. Sweet. So....hopefully she will be in good spirits tomorrow since we have A LOT of running around to do. I know I will have a lack of sleep and will probably be grumpy. I was planning on dropping the kids off to a friend tomorrow for lunch so I can get stuff done without them, but that looks like it may not happen if Riley is still sickies in the am. I would have a glass of wine-but I cannot afford to be sluggish tomorrow. Fingers crossed that there are not major issues.

I should buy stock in drug companies-Devin's first love "art"



yesterday



Riley decided she wanted to NEVER become a model. First we are in Babies R Us yesterday buying her a new pack of  "b"s and she decided to dilly dally and walk right into a metal rack end cap. We literally went to the store for one item just to buzz back out and continue errands. I cleaned it up best I could in the store and texted my Aunt who is a nurse practitioner but used to be an ER nurse and my girlfriend Stacy who is a OR nurse. Both said the ER was not necessary and that I could steri strip/butterfly it myself. Ok Fine. I put neosporin on it to keep it moist so I could wrap up my last two errands and we went home and patched it right up. Stacy checked it out last night too and it was ok. 

today



Today while at The District Riley was playing on a 2 ft stone bench/wall thing and wasn't paying attention and walked off it and hit the pavers with her forehead. Riley is typically a very agile kid. She has just been too distracted with other things and two head injuries in the same 24 hours is just too much. She did not have a concussion and never complained post accident of a head ache. I did give her some Tylenol just in case but MAN ALIVE kid~watch out!

Devin on the other hand has been on amoxicillin since Monday. He has not had a fever since Tuesday so I figured the meds were working. We did not even have to do any breathing treatments yesterday. Today when I picked him up from school he was fine and then within an hour of being home he was burning up. He had a fever of 101.9 so I gave him some Tylenol with codeine and told him to take a nap. An hour into the nap he was screaming and crying that his ear hurt! UGH! An hour later (now 2 since the meds) I took his temp and it was still resting around 101. After a few rough  phone calls I got a new antibiotic called in (omnicef) and we just picked that up with some more Motrin to alternate with the Tylenol. Hopefully this works because if not, we are F-ed for the plane ride Tuesday.

  



a homemade transformer?



On a much lighter and warm fuzzies note, Devin received a note from a girl at school today. Her name is Kennedy and she is a doll. She has played with us before at after school playdates and they have been paired up before for Christmas/Spring concerts both this year and last. I asked him if she gave a this "mail" as he called it, to other kids and he said no that she only gave him it. I asked what she said and he said that she told him she made him mail because she likes him. Not sure what that means, but its adorable. I guess its not a note per say-but some art work since she did not write him anything. Sweet none the less. He wants to take her one on Monday. So glad he had one more day at school to see her.

I am completely done packing my room minus the bathroom, all Devin's room. all playroom besides TV and all of Riley's room minus the few books still on her shelf. The only things I have left are the odds and ends in the kitchen, under the kitchen sink and the downstairs full bath as well as the odds and ends in the garage. We are in pretty good shape and thank goodness since I only have two days left to pack. AHH! Truck will be out front Monday at 7am.  I am going to have some wine and catch up on last nights Private Practice instead of pack the undersink areas. Its been a hell of a day and I am DONE.