It's Been A Week Already?

I can't believe it, but we've been here a week already, almost to the hour. The first couple days consisted of getting the things we needed, groceries, toys, etc., plus it was rainy so we really couldn't do much. We did find a library and pretty much had to sign our name in blood to get a library card. Two libraries and a half hour of listening to workers argue about where we needed to go, or even if we could get a card, just because we didn't live here officially. Thankfully we were able to get a temporary card, but no more! Seriously people, it's just a library card! I just want my child to be able to have some books. I thought that was a good thing? Anyway, we got one...Ben's parents arrived over the weekend with my car and all that I could cram into it. My dad will be driving Ben's truck up this weekend so he no longer has to squeeze down into a little Mazda.

We've had some fun days so far. Ben is enjoying the new team. He's just been very busy continuing to learn the offense. I've had the Jets Women Organization Luncheon, wives Bible study and been trying to find babysitters and a school for Whitney. Thankfully I found a school today, so she'll be starting next week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Lindsey is going to go a couple days as well, just so I can get some running around and gym time in. We've been taking advantage of the hotels playground and pool, and went into the city, as in NYC, a couple days ago. We took the train in, got off at Penn Station, walked north to Times Square, then up to Central Park to let Whitney play at a playground, then headed back down to Penn Station to get back on the train to go back home. It was a lot of fun, the girls loved looking all around, even Lindsey. I told Ben we need to go into the city at least once a week. Need to take advantage of it while we can!

Fun at the Hotel

Swingin'

That Lindsey Kate sure is a smiler! Climbing down
Worn out...maybe...
She loves her daddy!
Whitney and Mommy

So taking in water

So independentSo sweet
So much fun!

So many smiles!

New York City

Smiling again! Love it!

Central Park playground Big slide
Yes, we are tourists...
On the train heading back home

Our New Home

I say "home" because, to me, a house is just a house, it's the people that make it home. So even though its a little tight, this is home for now because we are all together! And we are grateful for that! We are staying in a Marriott Residence Inn in Parsippany, NJ. It has two bedrooms, each with a bathroom, and a full kitchen, yes, even an oven. I was excited about that! They serve breakfast every morning and dinner four nights a week (if we want, I choose to cook in my gourmet kitchen). For Whitney, they have a playground, and an indoor pool, and for mommy...housekeeping! Who can beat that! Oh, and if I wanted, I could give them a grocery list and they would go get my groceries! Haven't tried that yet though. The grocery is a good get-out-of-the-room adventure for now. As you can see, Lindsey is sleeping in the living room, Whitney has a "new" big girl bed in her bedroom and we have the other. So far it's been working well. Lindsey may wake up a little when Ben leaves in the morning, but we are working through that.

The living room/foyer/dining room/kitchen/bedroom. The kitchen is to

the left, one bedroom diagonally left, and the other bedroom to the right

The kitchen, complete with garbage disposal
The playground area, large open area, and
picnic tables (since its so warm!)

The Last Hoo-Ra, For Now...

Before Ben got released we had planned on having a group of friends over on the weekend. Well, once he got released, it became a "good-bye temporarily" party. We love our friends, even the ones that didn't stay with the kids past midnight! By the way, Whitney was still wanting to color and play with stickers after everyone left at 12:15am. Where does she get that energy?

Bowdie and Andrea, Us

Matt and Alisa, Us

Us, Mandy and Chad

Britton and Kim The Ladies The Men

Making Lists...

I like to make lists. This is no secret, but apparently Ben wanted to have it documented. What can I say, we had alot of things to sort through and get done in just a few short days...He loves my lists, no matter what he says. :)

A Neighborly Homecoming

These are pictures from the night Ben got home from his quick trip up to get acquainted with the Jets. He was greeted at the top of our cul-de-sac with a group of screaming kids, who followed him down to the bottom cheering him on, signs and balloons. We have 23 kids that live on our street and all, including the parents, got in on decorating the street. It was a memorable homecoming for him. Good neighbors and lots of fun!

Just a sampling of the signs,

there was at least one in every yard!

Most of the clan

NICE!

Cheering for Ben's arrival

Whitney was so happy to have her daddy home!

Roller Coaster Rides

I've never been a fan of roller coasters, they always make me sick. Tuesday we were forced to ride the emotional roller coaster, which I'm pretty sure gives me a worse sickness than the "fun" ones. After I picked Whitney up from her first day at school, I recieved a phone call from a girl on the team. Imagine my surprise when she said, "Amy, I'm so sorry". I said, "For what?" She said, "About Ben getting cut." Enter breifly into the "freak out" mode, only for a second, then calmly told her thanks for calling and that I was going to try to call Ben. She, or course, felt terrible, which it absolutely was not her fault. At any rate, I couldn't get ahold of Ben at first, but then he called on his way home around 1:00. We sat still for a few hours, made a bunch of phone calls, waited for his agent to call, and Ben may or may not have taken a spin on his dirt bike. :) (Nothing like wind in your hair to cure a broken spirit!) Around 5:00 his agent called telling us that the Jets were interested, then another call, "New Orleans is interested", then another call, "the Jets coach is going to call you", then calls from the Jets TE coach and offensive coordinator, then the head coach, then the GM. Ok, maybe they really are interested! Then another call, San Fransisco is interested. Wow! Then more calls, but only a couple, it didn't take long, and by 9pm the new deal with the Jets was done and Ben had a flight scheduled for the next morning. Is this really happening? Are we really going to be moving again? Ben and I just laughed. What a strange business we are in. But what a great blessing! God certainly does have a plan for us, His hand certainly is in this, the pieces just came together too easily. At the same time, we are so sad to be leaving our dear friends here. What a great support system we have in them! Most of them have completely abandoned their "love" of the Falcons and are now fans of the Jets, even though they are in a Yankee state! But we will only be gone temporarily, for now we are still calling Dacula, GA home. And so, Ben will be coming home on Friday for the weekend, then needs to be back on Monday. We don't have any firm plans yet, but the girls and I will probably leave sometime next week. We will be moving as little as possible and hopefully finding a furnished apartment/condo/house to rent. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us and riding this "roller coaster" with us the last couple of days. We love you! Go Jets!!!

First Day of School

Whitney started her little preschool this week. It's the same place she went last year, Rolling Hills Baptist Church. She absolutely loves going to school and this year she is going three days a week. Every morning when I go get her she asks if she's going to school. I imagine a meltdown tomorrow morning when I have to tell her she's not going. She, once again, had no hesitation in leaving me when they came to get her from the car. It's such a blessing to have a child as happy go lucky as she is. We are very blessed.

Lindsey's first cereal

Lindsey had her first rice cereal last night and she did very well. Don't get me wrong, it was a mess, but not as messy as expected. I think we were expecting the worst since Whitney was such a bear to spoon feed. She's growing up...can't believe how fast it is going for the both of them...

Jump, jump, jumperoo!

The jumperoo is back in full force! Although, at the present time Lindsey isn't quite the maniac that Whitney was in it, but that's ok, that seems to be consistent on many different levels with the two of them. She seems to like it (enough to fall asleep in it) and is getting better at it as time goes on. Whitney, of course, wants to get in it as well...wonder if she remembers how much she loved it?

Misc Lindsey at 4 months

Just a smilin' machine!

Smiling at daddy

Who is this guy?

Huh?

Precious!

Whitney 2 years-Lindsey 4 months

My Other Girls...

So last Thursday we had a much needed girls night out! Dinner at Mimi's (with some awesome chocolate mousse I might add) then off to see Julie and Julia. Thanks to Mandy's husband, Chad for suggesting that we go see this movie while Ben was in camp. Could it be that he didn't really want to see this movie? Hmm...We all loved the movie, though I must say, even though my husband does enjoy a good chick flick every now and then, I don't think this would've been on his top ten (or 100 for that matter). I, on the other hand, could've seen just about any movie and ate anywhere for a night out! Thanks to all of my awesome friends for hanging out. When is the next one again?!

Me, Kim, Stacey, Christa, Andrea, Merideth, Mandy, Alisa

While Daddy's Away...

the girls will play! Kind of...really we're just trying to survive. Ben left about a week ago to start his 6th year of training camp. I really can't believe he's been at it that long, although I'm sure his body would say differently. :) The girls and I have been trying to stay as busy as possible and our friends have been so great to keep up busy. So far we've gone to practice a couple times, been to dinner at friends houses, played in the fountains, had a short, but sweet visit from Grammy and Grandpa Hartsock and got a haircut. All this in addition to just hanging out at home some which is always good. Ben's been able to be home a couple of nights and we only have a couple more weeks to go. Yahoo!

Visiting with daddy after practice

Can't take her eyes off the TV...the power it has!
Sisterly love!

She really does like this...

The Fountains in Suwanee

4 Months and Rollin'...Literally!

Lindsey Kate is just a few days short of 4 months. What a huge difference a month makes! She has just seemed to come to life in the last month and really in the last couple of days. It's funny how much they change just overnight. She has been rolling from belly to back for a couple weeks, but just yesterday she rolled from back to belly and she is loving it! But now it seems as though she has forgotten how to roll back onto her back. She'll just lay on her belly until she gets so tired and fussy that we have to go over and help her out. She has also found her feet and really enjoys getting them into her mouth! Fists in the mouth have become lots of fun too! I think she wants that thumb, but I am trying to prevent that. She seems to be pretty laid back the older she gets. I get the feeling that she isn't going to be as active as her big sister. She seems to really be a people person, she really likes it when people are around and not so much when people aren't around. She's very, very smiley and is trying to laugh. My favorite time of day is when I go into to get her in the morning or after nap because she is just so darn excited to see me. She just smiles and talks...it's truly the best!

Pigtails and a Mask

No, we haven't gone wacky and started putting masks on our children (a la the late Michael Jackson). This is just a fun mask Whitney made at Vacation Bible School this week. My friend Mandy and I worked in the snack world at VBS all week (we were totally snack Nazis), so Whitney and Lindsey got to go too and do lots of fun stuff. Maybe not Lindsey so much, but Whitney got to do crafts, music, jumpy castles...lots of fun for her! Anyway, Whitney's hair is just barely long enough now that we can get some pigtails or a ponytail on her head. Ben absolutely loves it so I try to do it for him. Whitney actually does pretty well with it considering I've never had to mess with her hair and she's never had anything in her hair. Such a silly girl!