Boston Cream Pie

Moving van: $1289.69 (split with the Monsons)

Gas: $689 + tolls

2 hotels along the way: $65

Broken windshield: $100

One-day parking pass for the truck: $40

First and last months rent + security deposit: $4,800

Tow truck for parking on the even side of the street during a snow emergency: $128

1-month subway pass: $59

Car registration and title for Massachusetts: $121

New Massachusetts drivers licences: $200

Parking pass for Somerville: $25

Vehicle inspection: $29

Boston cream pie: $5

Finally feeling like legit and legal residents of Boston: priceless!

Workin Man

We also walked over to see Jason's work! He's on the 14th floor on 100 Summer Street downtown. He LOVES it! He's being trained for the first 3 weeks with eight other 'newbies', and gets along great with his specific trainer. His cubicle desperately needs some pictures and a plant :)

It gets a little lonely waiting for Jason to come home around 7pm each night, and by that point, Lincoln is tired, crabby, and ready for bed, so we're trying to push back his bedtime, or else he'll never see his father!

The Freedom Trail - Part 1

On MLK day, we went out to see some of our city! Jason showed us the ropes of the bus and subway system. We saw Boston Common (America's oldest public park), Massachusetts State House (the gold dome in our main blog picture above), Park Street Church, Granary Burial Ground (last resting place of the Patriots), King's Chapel, the Old Corner Book Store (where the Scarlet Letter and Hiawatha were published), and the Old South Meeting-House (where they gave the signal to dump the tea)!

Benjamin Franklin's graveJohn Hancock's grave. Here's a shout-out to my great-great-great Uncle!Lincoln loved the baby carrier! (Thanks Aunt Amy!) Despite the freezing temperature, he slept through a majority of the site seeing!

Another sleeping baby

Bathtime Baby

Finally, bath time is fun! Its nice to have him not scream through the whole process anymore. Thanks for the tub Diana!!

So We're City People

I Looked out the Window

to see all the snow they predicted, but where was our car?! Turns out when snow is predicted in our city, you have 4 hours to move your car from off the right side of the street or else you are fined and towed. I'll figure you out yet, Boston!8am

2pm

3 Months Old

He's growing up way too fast. We had a mini celebration for our boy last night. Of course, no interest in the cake or candles. Some day, you'll love this, kid.

(This is the typical "Lincoln Look": big eyes, eyebrows up, somewhat concerned, and so interested in everything going on!)

That Holiday in the Middle of all This

Oh and Christmas in Idaho was wonderful! It was so great to spend time with Marc & Diana, Brett & Sabrina, and mom! We sang songs, played games, passed around the baby, ate delicious food, and had a Merry Christmas!

Travelogue

We’re in Boston! Its been one crazy week and a half getting here. Let’s start where I left off:

Wednesday morning it took us freakin forever to finally get on the road, and in the beast, we could only go about 35-40mph with the snowy roads. We only drove for 5 hrs before we got to Rock Springs and found I-80 was closed, so we found a hotel room to share with the Monsons.

The next morning we waited around for I-80 to open, then sped out of there. The roads were a little better, but we got news that the freeway was closed again in Laramie. We were bummed and sat around in Wal-mart for a few hours, and just as we were about to go get a hotel, we noticed the trucks were heading out of the parking lot. 1-80 had just re-opened so we jumped on it, straight on till morning. We had a mini NYEve celebration in the truck and arrived at the Becks in Council Bluffs, Iowa around 4am. Jason slept through the morning and I had a grand time talking with my family and cousins! Especially my cousin Carrie, with her 2 boys--Davis just 6 weeks older than Lincoln, yet they look just about the same size, no? Cute babies.

(Notice Lincoln's grip on Davis' ear. Perhaps a forshadowing of what Nursery will be like. My mom says I used to bite the other kids :)

New Years Day we drove up to Chicago and arrived around 9:30pm, but the boys wanted to unload the Monsons’ stuff all that night. We stayed the night on air mattresses then drove that afternoon to Ohio! I always love coming home! Jason and I have lost our novelty when Lincoln's around. My mom exclaimed, “Where did all your hair go?!” when I took off his snowsuit hat! Its true, he lost practically all of it on this trip! I guess it kindof stressed him out.

But really, Link was a champ with all the driving. A real angel baby. It was incredible how he could sleep for long stretches, wake up to eat, then fall right back down to the lull of the big truck engine. My, how things could have been pretty miserable had he been fussy the whole 40 hours.

Early the next morning, we drove to Hershey PA, took the cute little Chocolate World tour, then another 15 mins to my Aunt Amy’s to sleep. Meanwhile, we were not expecting the $30 tolls around every corner. Stupid truck. Good thing we got cash for everything we sold in Provo!

The next day, BOSTON! I was getting nervous as we drove in! How fun to recognize the street names and places from looking them up on google maps for the last month. We made it to our little apartment and the boys started unloading (Natalie and Steve followed us to Boston to help unload and get in a little vacation in) while we got our windshield repaired (it was totally smashed up from rocks kicked up from the truck) and parking passes for our cars and truck ($40) to park on our street. Everything is so expensive in this city! More to come, but we're here and happy!

Boston Bound

Well, we're on our way! We get to share the journey with the Monsons who are moving to Chicago! We packed up the truck today (I can't believe our 2 families filled the entire 26 foot truck!) and are hopefully starting the journey in the morning. We were going to start up tonight and stay at Natalie's grandma's, but Provo got a little scary with the crazy snow storms going on, so we're staying at a $35 hotel around the corner that I've always wanted to stay at :) just because it looks so ghetto. Let the fun begin!

Merry Christmas from Idaho!

Downsizing

I've found a new hobby this week: selling our stuff on ksl.com. I don't think anything has been up for more than 6 hours before its sold. We've been downsizing, or mostly just getting rid of junk we've been lugging around for 2 years, so as to better fit in our moving van. For example:Recliner, Jason found on the side of the road: $18 Water aerobic weights, bought for $15, used all summer, sold for $17

2 end tables, given to us by friends, we used them as experiments for refinishing in a cherry wood color: $15Expired Mary Kay products abandoned by a former roommate, $41Now if anyone will please take our couches! (Sabrina found these in a forclosed house year ago, am I right?)

I've been paroozing Boston Craig's list "free" section, and you can find everything from leather couches to upright pianos, hundreds of posts a day, whereas Provo's "free" section has one or two items, like a free kitty or a broken washer! I'm pretty sure we'll be able to replace everything we need to once we get there, thank you wealthy college students of Boston.

In the meantime, I'm having too much fun with this. Who knows what will be gone the next time Jason comes home!

Another Contest

I came across another facebook contest yesterday for "Holiday Tummy Time pictures" and just happened to have the perfect entry!

Go vote for Lincoln (once every 24 hrs) at: http://apps.facebook.com/contestshq/contests/79944/voteable_entries

Or you can find it from my facebook page. Help us win $20 to Starbucks and a mug with his picture on it!

PS--Thanks for the votes with the last contest! After a month of researching sewing machines, with the prize money and a semester of sewing jobs, I'm bidding on a new unopened Singer Curvy 8770 of my dreams on eBay for half the cost!

Thanks Provo.

Its been a rockin 6 1/2 years. I've lived in 7 different apartments but all with a Provo zip code. I was thinking about how I was raised with big expectations for Provo. I needed to get here, go to school, choose a major, graduate, and find a husband in the time I'd be here. And I did everything on the list! (Including get a job, actually use my job, and have a baby!) So I guess its only fair to other planners and dreamers that I leave this cute little bubble and let another girl in to do her thing. Everyone's got to leave sometime!

Time to join the masses of people all over the world who shared a little Provo love when they were young. Thanks again Provo, you were good to me. Now let's see what Boston brings!

T + E

Glory be, my brother finally has a girlfriend he's willing to claim on facebook! Her name is Eliza and she's adorable and Travis' match in every sense of the word. And she's his girl #103. Time to end The Great Hunt, Travis :) We had fun getting to know her before we leave Provo. Good luck!

Ho Ho Ho

Everyone loves a ward Christmas party! Can you tell which Vegas casino (the one robbed of 1.5M today!) we patterned our gingerbread house after? Candy in one hand, Santa's beard in the other :) Good boy, make sure he knows who's in charge.

Even Better!

So plans have changed a little! We're still moving to Boston, but instead of going for an internship, we're going for a real job!! Jason got the call yesterday that Cambridge Associates would like to hire him starting January! (He was able to give the internship to another colleague) We're legitimately employed! With benefits, a salary, and 3-weeks vacation (4 next year), like a real grown-up job :) We're so excited that we'll be able to stay in Boston longer than a semester. We'll get to be real Bostonians. Come visit and we'll have tea parties!

Jason's Blurb: Here's the "About Us" section from their website: "Cambridge Associates is a privately held independent consulting firm that provides consulting and investment oversight services to more than 800 clients worldwide. We strive to help global institutional investors and private clients meet or exceed their investment objectives by offering proactive, unbiased advice grounded in intensive and independent research.

At Cambridge Associates, we don’t believe in a “one-size-fits-all” approach to investing. Our philosophy focuses on identifying the individual objectives of each client and applying time-tested investment best practices to achieve successful results.

Widely recognized as a leading investment consulting firm to sophisticated investors, we place a special emphasis on avoiding conflicts of interest and maintaining complete independence from money management firms. " So Cambridge focuses mostly on non-profit organizations, endowment funds, pension funds, museums, private investors, etc. I believe their large focus is the endowments, pension funds, and non-profit organizations however. Anywhoo, Thought we should let all know our news. Thanks for the prayers everyone! It really does work out in the end.

The Accessory

I am so attached to this little boy! I call him 'my favorite accessory' because he is with me wherever I go. I love him more and more every day! (Just like I do with Jason :) Its everything I could wish for, being able to stay home with him and just be Lincoln's Mom.

Some adorable things:

• He seems to really enjoy diaper changes. As soon as I start freeing him from clothes, he cheers up and gives me immediate smiles! I really want to buy this onsie at Target that says, "I'm happier naked".
• If you put a shirt over his head to dress him, he totally freaks out like he's being suffocated.
• He is quite cuddly. He'll let me spend all the time I need checking email, writing in my journal, blogging, etc. as long as he can lay on my shoulder. I'm getting really fast at typing with one hand--I feel for you Evan.
• His new trick lately is wiping his nose all over my shirt. He loves it.
• He used to take about 10 minutes to really wake up, but nowadays, he will pop his eyes open out of no where and be completely awake with no warning. It kindof startles me sometimes!
• He loves loves music. I recently won a giveaway for this "Cradle Rock" CD of Michael Jackson lullabies! (Thanks Crissa!) I can't wait to get it so Lincoln doesn't have to listen to me sing nothing but showtunes all day.

• He has chosen a bedtime of 8pm and wakeup at 6:30am sharp. He still needs to eat 2-3 times in there, but he'll go right back to bed, which is absolutely wonderful.
• During the day, he's a total cat-napper. 5-10 minute naps are his thing. It makes for speedy showers.
• My favorite cry of all is when he puts his head back and whines "mmmBahhhh" up in the air like a baby bird begging for worms :)

My Hungarian Brother

Lincoln and I got to see Travis perform in matinee of Christmas Around the World! (Well, actually Link slept through the whole thing). It was a great show, and Travis is quite a talented dancer! Who knew!? He has some crazy stick-swinging skills. Throw him a broom and watch him go to work.

Round 2

Jason got a scholarship to pay for him to take the 2nd level of the CFA! He'll take it in June. Let the studying begin! Here are his 8 inches of study material. I can't wait to cover them with sharpie grafitti.

Christmas Photoshoot: Fail

How Did This Happen?

Lincoln's 2 month stats are as follows:

• head circumference: 50th percentile
• height: 75th percentile at 23.5 inches
• weight: 90th percentile at 13.4 pounds

Suspicions confirmed. Some mothers feed their baby milk, and I feed mine Haagen-Dazs.

Defined

I got to hear Noteworthy's 3rd CD last night at the release party, and it sounds amazing! I was the oldest alumni there, it was so weird! Time to leave Provo, right? If you don't want to wait for an ordered copy, you can get it on iTunes starting today! Go listen!