Well, it's been a long, Been a long, been a long, Been a long day.

Maybe my post title should be "it's been a long week," but that's not how the song goes :) (Can anyone name the broadway show?)

Ok, so it's been a long time since I have been on here.  I guess with work, being pregnant, getting the baby room ready, and making other random updates to the house, I have neglected my blogging. I hope to make it up over the next couple of months, but no promises :)

But the big news is (if you haven't already heard) I had my baby!

Cohen Anderson Neu

I think last week was the longest week of my life. Luckily my mom came out for two weeks to help get the Cohen's room ready and help me get adjusted post delivery. I really wish she could have stayed longer. This mom business is hard work.

Neu Family Reunion 2013: Part II - Tea Party and Surprise Baby Shower

During the Family reunion we had a Tea Party in honor of Mom Neu. Well, at least that was what I was told prior to arriving. When I got there I was told it was also a baby shower for me. :) I was totally surprised! It was such a good time. My sister in-laws really went all out.

Then some of my nieces delighted us with a little fashion show and a musical number. It was awesome.

Then I opened some gifts. I got some really cute baby clothes, an amazing quilt and matching bag, books, and some adorable hand mad burp cloths.

We then spent the remainder of the time asking Mom Neu questions about her courtship with Dad Neu.

It was a lovely party!

Neu Family Reunion 2013: Part I - Hotel and Cafe Rio!

Last month Jeff and I traveld out to Utah for the Neu Family Reunion! This reunion was extra special because it was also Jeff's parents 50th wedding anniversary. We had a lovely party at the end of the reunion in Salt Lake City. I have pictures from the event and the little family photo-shoot before, which I will be sharing next week. I took so many pictures that I have to figure out which ones to put up. :)

It was a nice relaxing week in Utah. Jeff and I stayed at the Stein Erikson Lodge in Park City which was wonderful because it was so much cooler up there. For the first three days of the week we spent the mornings lounging by the pool. It was absolutely lovely. I spent hours in the pool. I was so sad when it was time to get out. We really enjoyed staying in Park City.

Cafe Rio! So, many of you know my obsession with Cafe Rio. Whenever I'm within a reasonable driving distance from one I simply insist on going. Jeff and I went three times while in Utah. The first time was at 9:55pm driving from the airport to the hotel. Yeah, I'm that committed. I feel that three times in five days is not quite enough, but I'm still grateful that I got to go as much as I did. Jeff is such a great sport for giving in to my Cafe Rio desires. Oh, Cafe Rio! How I love you!

Trek 2013

Every four years the youth in our stake go off on an adventure that we affectionately call Trek. Basically the youth dress up as pioneers and push/pull handcarts for several miles as a little reenactment of the Mormon pioneers that migrated across the United States to Utah.

I never hat the opportunity to do this as a youth so I was very intrigued by the trip. Jeff and I were thinking about being a Ma and Pa (leaders of one of the groups of youth), but we had to turn down the chance after we found out I was pregnant. I don't know why but walking for several miles in the heat of summer while being 24 weeks pregnant didn't sounds like a good time to me.

However, I was able to convince Jeff to go up and visit the kids last Friday. I was a little disappointed when we showed up and most of the youth were no longer in their pioneer clothes. I really don't blame them since it was like 100 degrees and humid and they had walked over 10 miles pushing the heavy handcarts. We spent the evening up there watching their evening entertainment. All the families took some time to sing a song about their travels. It ended up turning into a little open mic night with a few jokes, Shakespeare, and dancing. It was a really good time and I'm glad I went.

I'm just so impressed by these youth! It was such a hot and long trip, but when we saw them they were in good spirits and most glad that they made the trek. :)

I'm back...

Ok, I know I have been a total slacker when it comes to blogging. I'm so sorry. There's been a lot going  on and I wish I could blame my lack of blogging on that, but the truth is that I'm just being lazy. Sorry again. Here's a little bit of what I have been up too and part of the reason I have been so lazy :)

1. I'm Pregnant! - On March 6th Jeff and I found out that we are expecting a "little" (what Jeff likes to call babies). It was totally unexpected, but we are both really excited about the new addition to our family. We decided not to wait on finding out the gender and found out that we are having a little boy. Jeff is really excited about this because he wasn't so thrilled with the idea of a girl (just because of what they turn into when they are teenagers - Nice Jeff). I sent my parents Grandma and Grandpa shirts as a way of telling them about their new grandchild.
   


2. Getting the house ready for the baby: Jeff and I have been busy with baby prep over the past few months. It doesn't feel like we have made much progress, but we have spent several of the past few weekends on different house projects. We are currently painiting a room upstairs so that I can move my craft room up there and turn my craft room into the baby room. We've also been doing a little shopping. I think this was more for me than Jeff. I was just so excited about buying baby cloths that I had to buy something before I went crazy. Mom, Kari, and Dad have been doing a lot of shopping on their end and have already sent me a big box of adorable baby cloths.


3. An unexpected visit home - Many of you may already know but my dad was in a bike accident on May 15th. He was hit by a car while going for his usual ride after work. I was able to take some time off work and fly over to visit him for a week. It was nice being home and getting a chance to see him. I took a few pictures while at the hospital. It was hard seeing my dad in so much pain, but he's doing so much better now and has had a very fast recovery. I think he wishes it was faster.
   


4. A trip to Atlantic City - I went down to AC with Jeff for his annual conference. It was a nice relaxing trip for me, but not so much for him.


5. A Party for the Buhl's - Our good friends the Buhl's decided to head back to Arizona after spending two years here in NJ. We got to spend some quality time with them before they left. We saw Phantom of the Opera in the city, went to Restaurant Nicholas, and had a little party at our house. They will be missed.

I hope it won't be several month until my next post, but we shall see. Jeff and I were supposed to go away for the 4th of July but I'm thinking this isn't going to happen. We will be traveling to Utah for the last week of July for the New Family Reunion. Should be a good time :)

Mutual: March Birthday Party

This is long overdue. I've been very busy as of late.

In March the Young Women celebrated all their birthdays with a big birthday party! I wasn't able to go, but it sure looks like they had a good time.

Below are pictures from Alleen. I wish I could take credit for them, because they are sooooo cute, but I can't :( She's the one with the skills.

Food Photography: Week 14 - Cinnamon Roll

And now we're back to pulling my food subjects randomly! I really wanted to try to make cinnamon rolls from scratch, but couldn't find the time to do it :(

I decided that the Pillsbury Grands! would work fine :)

Food Photography: Week 13 - Apple Pie from Magnolia Bakery

Jeff and I went to see Jurassic Park at the Lincoln Center IMAX in the city last weekend and stopped at Magnolia Bakery for a treat. We went to get banana pudding (It's AMAZING!), but the apple pie caught Jeff's eye so we had to get one of those too.

It was good. Not the best apple pie I have ever had, but good :)

Food Photography: Week 12 - Key Lime Pie

A few weeks ago we had Brandy and Marne come over for dinner. Brandy and Marne are one of my favorite couples and I'm always happy to have them over for dinner.

We made homemade ravioli. I really wish I would have taken some pictures since it was quite the process! :( Maybe next time. Marne's mom sent a Key Lime Pie for dessert. It looked so pretty I went all paparazzi on it! It was absolutely delicious!

Thanks Sister Spalding!

Food Photography: Week 11 - Hummas

I'm behind...I'm behind....I'm so behind! Sorry! I have a few post to share over the next week or two to help catch up. The past three weeks have been tough. I've been sick (you name it and I probably had it) and life has been very busy.

I'm really grateful that this weekend is General Conference! It's just such a relaxing and uplifting weekend.

Some of you may know that my second date with Jeff was watching the second Saturday session of Conference at his house. We ended up talking through most of the session and tuned in just in time for a talk by Elder Holland. I think it was on chastity. hahahaha. Funny.

I remember walking into the living room and finding a platter with veggies, bread and hummas on the coffee table. I didn't believe Jeff when he told me that he made the hummas. It was very good and I was so surprised! :)

Jeff made me humas again today! I hope we make it a tradition, because it's really good hummas :)

Happy Conference weekend everyone!

Food Photography: Week 10 - Mexican Food

I think I will have to put "Mexican Food" back in the pile since I kind of cheated. I really like to make the food I take pictures of, but due to the busyness of the past few weekends, I decided to just go to Chipotle and pick up a burrito and chips and salsa. I really love Chipotle! I usually get the tacos, but burrito was calling to me.

Does anyone have a favorite Mexican food recipe you think Jeff and I should try?