WE ARE HERE!!

WARNING: This is long!!!!!

Well we are finally out and settled for the summer! It was a rough go getting here. We traveled with a friend and her son, thank goodess!! We got to SLC airport and the Delta rep "couldn't find us in her system." So we were calling everybody we knew early in the morning to see if they had access to the internet to look up our iteneraries while the Delta lady scowled at us like we were trying to sneek on the flight...seriously. Like we would wake our kids up at 5 in the morning and go through the hassel if we really weren't on the flight. Once we got the iteneraries she said "oh that's weird, here you are." I really could've punched her. I'm here to tell you, I am not a big fan of Delta after this trip! Anyway, we had one layover on our flight and it was in New York. The first flight from SLC to NYC was 5 hours straight. I was really worried about Madi but she slept most of the way. Once we got to New York is when the trip went down hill! The plane circled for 45 minutes before we landed which limited our time to get to our next flight. We literally sprinted across the entire airport with both our strollers and about 3 bags each. I was out of breath and all sweaty only to read a different destination at the gate. It took us a half hour to even find a Delta rep to figure out what was going on. Our flight had been cancelled and we were directed to a gate back to the other end of the airport. We waited in line there for another 40 minutes only to receive help from a lady that seemed to think it was our fault that our plane had been cancelled. Anyway we stayed the night in New York because there were no more flights going out that night and flew out around 6 the next morning. Oh and we stayed in the most ghetto motel New York offers. Anyway, we made it!
Together in Boston...

Madi's first sunny day!



The apartments are nice. It's more of a hotel set up which works out perfect. We live on the 4th floor so I just put Madi in her stroller and take the elevator down. The work out room and loft area are in the basement of our building so that's really convenient. Our apartment complex feels really safe this year, thank heavens, and such a relief since last years weren't. We even have a little park next door where kids play soccer and Lacrosse every day. Boston is very very different and hard to explain but I am going to try. The weather here has been pretty gloomy but we have had a couple days where the weather was just perfect, a good temperature with a little breeze. It is not humid at all yet and the rain here is like a mist. It really feels like you are walking through a mist machine because you don't get wet. The houses here are all different, not like Utah where all the houses in the neighborhood are the same. The houses have 3 or 4 stories with a family living on each level. We were warned that the people in Boston are cold but they have been very polite. I absolutely love the New England accent. I hadn't noticed it at all at the apartment complex but John took me out to eat at The Outback and that's where I first heard it. The people next to us were talking about there "computa" (computer). The lady that gave the Relief Society lesson at church had an accent and I tried really hard to pay attention but I kept repeating her words in my head. Another thing is there are no babies here. People ooh and ahh over Madi everywhere we go 1) because she is so dang cute and 2) because babies are rare here. The only thing I really have to complain about is the shopping. The grocery stores here don't have much of a variety. To get everything on my list I have to go to 2 or 3 stores. There are no Super Tagets or Super Walmarts. They just have the regular Wal-mart and Target and they close at 10 PM!! Unheard of! The Target is the coolest Target I have ever seen though. It has a parking garage on the first level and the store is on the second level. The whole front is glass windows. You can either take the elevator up to the store or the escalater. There is even an escalater for your cart when you are done shopping. There is a mall about 10 min from our apartments that is pretty big. I definitely can't complain. We haven't been to down town Boston yet but we are planning a trip to the aquarium next week. When I say we I mean Madi and me, and my friend Brandy and her 3 year old son Logan. John is a work-a-holic in the summers and far too busy. We do get our traveling in at the end of the summer though and we have a lot planned this year!
Here are some random pictures...
John and I feel it is very important that Madi knows how to hold a bat correctly :) As you can see we are still working on it.

Yes she is a crazy sleeper. She will sometimes turn completely upside down or sideways in her crib (aka pack n' play)


Also, before we came to Boston Madi had her 4 month check up. I didn't actually take her in until she was almost 5 months but here are her measurements:
She weighs 16 lbs. 3 oz. which puts her in the 82nd percentile. She was 25 inches long which put her in the 53rd percentile and her head measured at 15 inches putting her in the 20th percentile. She smiles and laughs a lot now. She is a happy girl! Her little personality is becoming stronger everyday. She is so determined! She grabs anything and everything in site and in reach which makes it hard to eat a meal or do anything when she is on my lap. She can roll from back to front but doesn't do it much because she doesn't know how to roll from front to back yet. She likes to sit and stand up (with our help of course) to see what is going on. EVERYTHING goes straight to her mouth. She eats vegetables now in addition to the rice cereal! She started out with carrots. I don't know why I chose the messiest one to start with but she loved them. She is now trying green beans and then we will try squash after that.

Don't worry, next time I fed her in her diaper. That bib is now stained. I know she is really messy and you are probably judging me right now but to my defense her arms are flailing everywhere, she bends down to eat either her bib or the tray because I am not feeding her as fast as she would like, and I only have 2 arms myself.

P.S. The reason why Madi has a blank stare on her face in every pic is because I only brought the camcorder and when it takes pictures, there is a light on the front and she just stares at it. It's also delayed so even if I do get a smile, the camera beeps, then takes 2 seconds, and then finally takes the picture. It's impossible.

And last but not least, I have to make my own fun out here. We have a friend we call Malko that is John's co-manager and mission buddy. Madi knows him as Uncle Riley. Well before I got out here John let him borrow our sheet for his twin mattress. I wanted it back and John kept forgetting to ask for it so being the nice person that I am, I replaced them. I was at the dollar store and came across some sheets that I thought he would like...

The mastermind behind it all

Apparently Malko is too manly for pink and purple butterflies because he refused to sleep in them. He went and bought his own and gave them to the new guy, Scott. As long as someone appreciates them, that's all I ask.