flying into brooklyn and new apartment!

Continuing where I left off...

The flight wasn't so bad. I had the seat next to me open (luckily) so Riley and I were able to sleep comfortably. He really only got annoyed and fussy the last hour and a half or so.

We de-planed and were met at the airport by one extremely douchey driver. I looked all over for him, and specifically requested in-airport pickup because there was no freakin way in hell that I was going to be able to maneuver Riley in his stroller, pick up four extremely heavy suitcases and a huge carseat and make it outside. This man disappeared for like 10 minutes looking for a luggage cart. Um, hellloooo?? There's about a zillion around the baggage carousel!!! I think this man was seriously just looking around outside for one that someone left on the curb. Cheap jerk. Eh, anyway, he drove us to our gorgeous hotel (heh, yeah right) in downtown Brooklyn-- about a block from the projects. That's what you get when your boss is too cheap to provide accomodations for your arrival into the city, I suppose.

Tuesday and Wednesday was all about getting into our new place. This is honestly the nicest place I have ever seen in NY. It is all brand new, stainless steel appliances, 2 beds and 2 baths. It's insane. (But also insanely small.)

The top left is the kitchen (obviously), the one to the right of that is the master, and the one below is Riley's room. I'll try and get more pics soon!

So we are officially here, getting our things delivered one by one. The majority of our stuff from LA will be coming tomorrow. I honestly don't have any idea as to where we are going to put half of it! I think I might be selling more on craigslist...

The biggest adjustment for us is the grocery shopping and the public transportation. The subway is really easy to get around on, but it's not so stroller-friendly. I have had a few people carry my stroller down the steps for me, which is super nice!, but other than that it's a little hard to maneuver around. We are used to just getting in the car and going--but even when my car gets here I can't imagine that we will be driving much.

I can't wait for our lives to me more "normal."

a new chapter begins.

We are in Brooklyn, baby! This past almost-week has been one of the craziest weeks of my life. I'll start from the beginning.

In order to finish packing, I had to sell A TON of crap. And when I say a ton, I mean like a ridiculous amount. So, I had an indoor yard sale (because we seriously had a lack of yard, or a garage for that matter). I literally set everything from a bakers rack, to a microwave, to a TV (which didnt end up selling, btw :(, to clothing all in my living room. I had it all. The Mexicans came and went, with armfuls of my stuff for literally pennies (no offense to anyone that is Mexican, it's just how it was.) I think I sold about $200 (which isn't bad, I suppose) and before that I sold the bulk of my furniture on Craigslist. God Bless Craigslist-- I don't know what I would have done without it. So, after all was said and done, I got rid of a lot, but still had sooooooo much to do. Thank goodness my sister was there every day to help me out, because Benito had to leave 5 days before us to secure our apartment. We were up at 6am and didn't go to bed until 2am most nights. It was a blur.

The movers came on Saturday. They were awesome. Totally worth the price. I hadn't completely finished, but they came in and helped finish packing things up, and did it all in like an hour! I didn't have to lift one box. It was great.

Sunday was nuts. I still had odds and ends to get rid of, I had to somewhat clean because my walk-through was scheduled, and I was running on empty. By 11pm that night, we were all packed up and ready to go to Natalie's house. We stayed the night there because our flight was early in the morning on Monday. We all ended up piling in her bed, which I'm sure she hated because Riley was kicking and punching all night.

530am on Monday: Woke up in a daze. Wondered why in the world I would schedule a 930am flight. Then I remember that it's a 5 hr 45 min flight, and we wouldn't get into JFK until 600pm. So we hurriedly pack everything up in Nan's car, and book it out by 7am. Thinking this would be enough time, I was severely mistaken. Turns out that just about every route to the airport was jam-packed with traffic. (Surprise, surprise, this is LA after all.) We don't even get to the airport until around 815 or so. Run to the ticketing at Alaska Airlines with our 4 bags, 1 stroller, and 1 carseat. I booked our tickets through Alaska Airlines.com, but come to find out that my flight is actually being operated through American Airlines. They want me to run to the American terminal with all of our bags and Riley in stroller. These were honestly the rudest and least caring people I have ever seen. By this time, I know we are missing our flight. There's no other way. I was so overwhelmed and angry that I burst into tears. 1. Slightly embarrassing and 2. Really annoying. So we run (again) to the other terminal, stand in line and talk to yet another extremely rude person, and then get sent to another line to have our flight re-booked on the 1100am. $250 bag fee later, we are in the security line. Riley is hungry, I am hungry, and we are both exhausted. Made the 1100am and we were on our way.

(more to come, Riley just woke from his nap)

Benito left for New York last night. How weird is it that by this time next week I will be living in New York? I can't even begin to describe the stress level I am feeling right about now. I have to finish the packing, have an open house sale, deal with movers, take my car to get serviced, do a walk-through with my landlord, have a fantastic last Sunday with my little sis, say goodbye to my life here, and take a 5 hr 45 min plane ride with a one year old. Whew. I don't know if I will live until next Monday, but if I do, you can bet that I will have some crazy stories to tell.

One thing that makes all of this worth it:

Riley took about 4 steps on his own last night! He has been standing very well on his own while holding random objects in his hands for a while, and he finally got the courage to put one foot in front of the other! It is the strangest thing to watch babies learn how to walk. Strange, but amazing.

moving up and moving on.

Wow. I just emailed our daycare to tell them that Riley won't be attending anymore as of Nov. 12. I can't help but be really sad. He has been attending there from the time he was 3 months old. It's all he knows, and he's so happy there. I really hope and pray that I will find a place as caring and happy for him in New York.

I got the official offer for my employment in New York. It might just be a little bit better than I could have expected. It will really help us be able to save more than we can now, which is a really exciting prospect for me.

almost one and moving to nyc!

The title pretty much sums it up. My boy is almost one! I can't believe it. I honestly don't know where this year went. It makes me sad, but on the same hand it makes me so happy and proud that my little man has learned so much in just one short year.

My mom was in town last weekend. We had a good visit. We discovered that Riley is saying words! It sounds so idiotic, but I didn't realize what he was jabbering about was actually talking. He is saying up, book, apple, all done, more, dada, mama, and even said tati (for his auntie nan!) He even knows the signs for more and dada. It's simply amazing how much this boy knows! He's not quite walking yet, but I know that he will any day now. He just seems a little chicken to let go when he is cruising around the house!

There's going to be some big changes in the next month. We are officially getting ready to move to nyc. It's a shocker, but long story short...We were originally going to move back to Phoenix. LA is getting to be too expensive, all of my family is there, and it's hard to meet people here that are our ages with kids. I told my boss about the plan, and he (out of nowhere) offered me a promotion to move to NY and run our NY showroom. After a lot of talk and consideration, we decided that it's a good opportunity career-wise, and financially, so we are willing to give it a shot. We are really excited at the opportunity, but also running around like chickens with our heads cut off at all of the preparation that needs to go into a cross-country move. Two years ago this would have been easy. Sell all the stuff, throw our clothes in a suitcase, and just go. Now, since we have a baby, I feel like we need to plan everything out to the T so as to not end up in a complete bind. So, now that the move is a month-out (actually a bit less than) my stress level is rising with every day that is passing.

So here's what I have on my plate for the next month: SELL, SELL, SELL! I need to sell my furniture, baby gear and my old car. I need to sell for work. And someone needs to sell me on an apartment in Brooklyn. Wish me luck!

been a while.

Little man is 5 months old already! He is learning so much-- like how to roll (he only plays on his belly now) and is exhibiting such an incredible personality.
We went for pictures on March 28. I am so happy with how they turned out. Riley was such a great sport (I wasn't sure how he would handle 3 outfit changes, but he smiled in just about every picture!) Here's a couple for your viewing pleasure:

He has also started eating solids! He loves his peas, sweet potatoes, pears, and apples. In fact, I had just started him on them about a month ago (mostly just at night when we got home from daycare). He started noticing that the other kids at daycare were getting to eat solid foods and he wasn't! So, he went on strike and would not eat anything until they gave him what the other kids were eating! Already wanting to grow up and show everyone that he can do what the other kids do, such a smart boy!

We are really excited because Grandma and Auntie Meagan are coming to visit us this weekend! We are going to have so much fun, and can't wait to show them how big Riley is getting!

That's it for now-- I'm hoping to start updating more :-)

gurgle gurgle

Hard to believe- our little r. chase will be 3 months next Monday. He is trying out his voice more than ever, sometimes even yelling! Not in anger, but more like to see how loud he can be.

He's also found something to do with all of the drool. Raspberries! He was doing them before and after his bath last night. So cute! (I say that now, but while he was doing it, I got a flash into the future-- I'm sure it won't be so cute when he's talking back)

He's also beginning to grasp his toys and goes crazy in his play gym! I took some video-- you can see it at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=alirileybenirom&aq=f

I never knew babies grew this fast! It's already whizzing by--but it's really a blast to see what he'll do next!

<3