Reciving posted object node.js

I've got an object:

var val = {username:'gilbertbw',password:'password',password2:'password',email:'email@email.com',firstname:'gilbert',lastname:'BW',test:true};

I run some validation against it and then post it to my node.js server:

console.log(
            $.ajax({
                type: 'POST',
                url: '/signup',
                data: val,
                success: function(){console.log('data posted')},
                dataType: "json"
            })
        );

On the server i have tryed just calling the object val:

console.log(val.username);

and pulling it from the post like I normally would:

val = req.param(val,null);
console.log(val.username);

But both times firebug spits out the 500 ISE:

    "{"error":{"message":"val is not defined","stack":"ReferenceError: val is not defined at exports.signup (C:\\Users\\Gilbert\\WebstormProjects\\NodeOfGames\\routes\\user.js:37:21)

If i just console.log(val); it prints null The line in question is when I try to log val.username to console. How do you recive a posted object in node.js?