New Jersey!

We had a great trip to New Jersey. I have a couple of pictures taken at the airport, but I'll update those later (on the iphone, not on the little point and shoot).

In any case, Jenna traveled really well to New Jersey. She wasn't too fussy and when she arrived at Nana and Tot's house, she was happy, giggly and excited to *not* be sitting on Mom or Dad's lap anymore. We had a good time. The trip was short, but meaningful.

Wednesday we arrived. Let the eating begin! I was super excited as normally I get a stomach ache each day I'm there from the amount of food being "offered" (read: forced) to us. This time, due to the nursing, I was hungry!

As usual, pictures are out of order (this time they loaded in reverse order) so I'll talk about the trip and caption in reverse chronological order.


Here's Jenna as squirt at the wedding! Nick's cousin Larissa got married on Halloween. We happened to be there (and were invited, we didn't invite ourselves!) so we went. We put her in her costume for the first part of the reception, but it was too warm for her, so it only lasted a short while.
Here's Jenna, Nick's Mom, Me and Nana (Nick's Grandma) at the wedding (in her dress, she had many outfit changes on Halloween).

This picture is the primary reason for wanting to head to New Jersey. Nick's grandfather (Tot) had a quadruple bypass and a valve replacement (along with stints galore) this past summer, shortly after Jenna was born. We wanted to make it out to New Jersey so Nana and Tot could meet their first Great Grandchild. I have pictures of when I was a baby and I got to meet my Great Grandmother shortly before her passing. I still cherish those pictures. So, we took this one (along with many others) of Jenna and Nana and Tot.

Thursday morning (we arrived Wednesday) I was holding Jenna in a recliner and Nana came out to grab her from the bassinet. When she looked in the bassinet she seemed a little panicked then looked over at us. She told me to go back to sleep and she'd care for Jenna since she was awake. When I came into the kitchen, this is what I found:

Nana got Jenna a little 'First Halloween' outfit and put it on her. What you can't see is that she just put it right over the PJ's she was wearing from the night before. Needless to say, she got a little warm and we had to pull those off.

This is one of my favorite pictures. Tot and Nana are known for encouraging eating of all kind. If we lived in New Jersey, I'm sure Jenna would've already started on solids unintentionally because Tot would've fed her while we weren't looking. Luckily, we had Nick's parents watching her the entire time and the only time she ate was when I fed her. However, if you look at this picture, Jenna's going for the little 'witch' shoe which happens to be filled with peanut m&m's. And, who's encouraging!? Tot. This was within 20 minutes of our arrival to New Jersey.

So, all in all, the trip was good. Here's the list of what we did in order:

Wednesday: flight, we arrived. Jenna was social and happy then went to bed. We ate a ton.

Thursday: Up in the morning, Jenna got her special 'first Halloween' outfit from Nana. A big breakfast, shopping with Nana and Nanny. Nick and Poppie went to McDonald's with Tot for his daily gathering with other people to 'talk about the medical treatment' they're getting (read: daily gossip hour). We went out to a late lunch, then went to Aunt Ginette and Uncle Jerry's to visit. We ate a ton throughout the day.

Friday: Wedding day! (for Larissa). We got up, ate a huge breakfast, and all got ready. We drove down to the shore for the wedding, risking our lives in Nana's car with Nana driving. An example, we pull up to pay the toll and she rolls down the back window. Nanny had to pay the toll because Nana was confused (ugh). I ended up driving us home. Oh, and we ate a ton today. (Are you detecting a theme?)

Saturday: We were slow to wake up, ate a huge breakfast then waited for Tot to get back from McDonald's. We went to lunch at a diner and Jenna was a little fussy from minimal naps the two previous days. Then, we went to the craft fair. Oh, did I mention she hadn't pooped since the plane ride? Well, while at the craft fair with Nana and Nanny (have I confused you yet?) she started grunting away while in the Moby. Poor thing. She eventually had a little poop but was so tired. Finally, we went home, put her down and we ate a ton. Nina (Nick's Aunt) and cousins came over for a visit along with Olga and John (Nanny's cousins). It was good to visit with everyone and to be surrounded by family.

Sunday: Up early and flight back. Today, we did not eat a ton, thank goodness!

We decided it's a good thing we don't live in New Jersey. If we did, Nick and I would be at least 10-20 lbs. heavier. However, that being said, it was nice to be surrounded by family for 4 days. It's hard to imagine living in such close proximity to all the family as we just don't have that as an option. With Nanny and Poppie living ~ 2 hours away and Grandma and Pop living in Arizona (and Reno, but that's another post entirely) we just live spread out. It's good because when we get to visit it's all very exciting and we have every minute planned but I'm bummed that we can't have a longstanding "Sunday Dinner" with extended family. In any case, the trip went well. I'm so excited she got to meet her Great Grandparents, second and third cousins and many, many others.


4 months