My attempt to catch up on 9 months

My family reunion was in Park City this year. I love my siblings! Meredith was doing the Nauvoo Pageant so she is not pictured :(

We did tons of fun activities at the Olympic sites, one of which was ice skating.

Andrew finished his BFA in Graphic Design with a final project on Fear. You can always check out his updated work at andrewcolinbeck.com

After 5 1/2 years he finally graduated in August 2013!

We packed up our things into many piles: things going to NYC, Shipping to Amsterdam, when we get back, when I have another baby, etc. It was so freeing to put so much junk in the DI pile. We sold our car, our furniture and took 3 1/2 suitcases, a guitar, and stroller with us everywhere we flew and drove. Somehow we have acquired more stuff, dang it! 

We said goodbye to Provo. The place that I had lived for the past 7 years of my life. I don't miss it at all but it does hold fond memories of college and young love. We arrived in New York again and lived in Harlem. We LOVE the people of the Harlem ward and just walking down those streets. It was always interesting hearing snippets of peoples conversations. In case you forgot what Harlem looks like:

We got to spend time with family, the Dickamores, and made and strengthened friendships with the Kellys, Hawkins, and Peñas, plus I set out to make friends with other moms in the ward. I miss having hip, young Mormon friends (there were so many people that I wish we could still see) but hopefully I can create lots of new friendships outside of church as well while in Amsterdam. Right now there is one mom with an 11 month old child. There is no need for a nursery so the next youngest kids are atleast 3. There are very few young married people in our Amsterdam ward but it comes in waves I guess. I have set out to make one new friend a week, which I have surpassed, and am really working on strengthening existing ones. 

While in the Harlem ward, we attended the French sunday school and I even got to translate for a missionary discussion.

Andrew and Colin in Central Park

We started the Paleo diet, for Andrew. I did it for a bit but decided I would eat raw dairy and oatmeal for a more balanced diet, okay, and chocolate, oh and the ocassional NY pizza. The diet means you eat meat, fruit, veggies, eggs, nuts and seeds. Things that a cave man would eat before agriculture came along. You don't eat grains, beans, dairy, processed foods, salt, or refined sugars. I learned to use seasonings which is actually really fun. It has helped Andrew and he is still trying to stick to it after 4 1/2 months. He is gluten intolerant so the diet goes well with that. Along with decidedly not eating processed foods and eating healthy alongside Andrew and this diet, nursing has also done wonders for me. I am 10 pounds lighter than I have ever been in my teenage/adult life. I never knew my body could do that. 

This is the view downtown from our living room window.

While in NYC my sisters got together in AZ and I made a surprise visit. It was so fun, especially the dance party the last night. It involved dressing up in very wierd costumes and moving to the beat. We are quite talented dancers, I might add. Watch the silly video here.



I also met up with my good friend Jennica who is pregnant with her 2nd baby.

My days in New York were filled with introducing solids to Colin and feeding him in the Bumbo. He got a bit too advanced for it in the end. Cleaning up after play--I mean food time, is a lot of work.

Sadly, I believe we have gone on 3 dates in the past 5 months and we should be spanked. This kid hasn't been sleeping well for a while now. But all of those dates were in NYC.

We started a new tradition where Andrew makes up a song on the guitar with a theme which I give him. Afterwards Colin gets to play with the guitar. Maybe we will switch it up with other instruments in the future.

My husband is hott. What? How did that get in there?

Living in the city with a baby means you have to plan your subway stops carefully or give yourself 20 minutes extra to get around with a stroller in the elevator. When Andrew was with me, he could help me with the stairs. Rush hour was extremely annoying because you take up so much room and a crying baby in a silent train was awkward as well. I tried to carry him in my sling as much as possible.

For Halloween we were Adventure Time characters, I was of course Marceline the Vampire Queen

At the end of our stay we started on a 9 day road trip down the East Coast. We went with the Dickamores to Boston to visit Erin for Thanksgiving.

We took the "T" sometimes and Jeff had fun carrying Colin

Andrew and his sister, Erin, did an ugly sweater run.

We visited our friends the Jepsons in Richmond and then Ben and Bree in Durham. Ben sells mid century modern furniture and his house is incredible. We are so excited to buy our future furniture from him someday.

Andrew and Ben, together again.

We also stopped in the gorgeous city of Charleston, SC where I fell in love. We visited a beloved design studio, Fuzzco, and saw a working plantation.

Our last stop down the east coast was in Florida where we stayed with my parents before leaving for years to live in Europe.

We attended the wedding of my childhood best friend, Katie. We have been by each others' side since we were 6. I was thrilled to able to attend because we had to leave the next day to get our life in Amsterdam started.