4th of July

It turns out 11 months is about the amount of time it takes to start feeling very claustrophobic around here. We keep daydreaming about driving a car on open streets to somewhere, anywhere. The trip from Salt Lake to Vegas has even been sounding nice to us. And days like yesterday make it pretty hard to ignore the fact that we just don't live in Utah anymore. I missed all the buzz/festivity/patriotism/family/friends Utah has in July. And how close it is to Pinedale, where I've been on the 4th for the last 3 years. We don't have a yard, we don't have a pool, we can't light fireworks, we can't drive to a BBQ in an air-conditioned car. And the air is so thick and sticky and just won't leave you alone when you're outside. We spent the morning sleeping in and puttering around the house (I think we've finally figured out the optimal crib/etc. arrangement in our bedroom) and feeling a tiny bit sorry for ourselves. BUT luckily some grilling with friends (with cute babies) and watching the fireworks over the city from their rooftop was worth the sweaty walk and completely redeemed the day. Plus the fireflies have been going crazy here lately. I've gotta get a video of them. It's like walking through glitter!

Sisters Trip 2012

A few weeks ago, all 4 of my sisters came to New York for a week. It was awesome. I like to call it Sisters Trip 2012 because that implies that this will be a recurring event in our lives which makes me very happy to think about. Hope you're ready for a million pictures.

5th avenue street fair on our walk home from church. I guess this is how many people are in the neighborhood when we're not all stacked on top of each other.

 

Sunday lounging in Prospect Park where we accidentally overheard a Hall & Oates concert.

Rainy day trip to Liberty and Ellis Islands

 

Same rain, same islands

 

Our dorky audio tour equipment (that I loved) in the pretty Ellis Island Museum

 

Unfortunately I don't remember what we were so amazed and happy about

 

We spent a lot of time down here. Hopefully I wasn't always making that face.

 

Celebrity! Celebrity! We saw Vanna White at Shake Shack with some teenagers. No, we didn't see her actually eat anything. 

 

Yumm. Doughnut Plant for breakfast. I think we tried every flavor they had that day.

 

Walking the highline in the pouring rain. Still pretty but not ideal.

Empire State Building. We never made it to the top because the top was always covered in clouds!

When to shop was quite a dilemma for us. We had the most effective shopping energy in the mornings but then we had to haul our bags around all day. Tricky stuff.

I showed this picture to Regan and he said 'welcome to my life'. Whatever. I'm sure I was just getting to the good part of a story.

 

Central Park being so green

Brooklyn Bridge and a misty Manhattan. Guess I'm really pregnant, geez baby!

 

Weary travelers

 

Us three (ahh) at the Central Park Lake

 

On our lovely stoop

Believe it or not we did a lot more than what's pictured here. Mostly eating and standing in lines for bathrooms though. I think my favorite day may have been when we went to a leisurely breakfast, shopped a little, and then sat in Prospect Park for 5 hours until we were ready to walk Brooklyn Bridge and eat pizza. Hard to top a day like that. The whole thing was so drama-free. I mean 5 sisters in 600 square feet for a week and we never even fought about bathroom time in the mornings. I guess we're all grown up now. Can't wait till the next one.

Rainy Day Nesting

Just making sure our child has all the necessities for life, ya know?

p.s. It's pretty hard to say if I'm officially 'nesting' because I feel like I've been nesting on and off for the last 10 years.

p.p.s. 8 weeks!

Governor's Island

Saturday we headed to Governor's Island for our first time. We went because of this exhibit about Graphic Design that Regan wanted to see and we both loved it all. I think it's our new favorite place. Everything about it was just so pleasant. The free ferry, the cool views of the city, the vast open grass, the perfect temperature. I think next time we'd rent bikes to ride around it and bring some actual food and not come an hour after the live re-enactment of 19th century baseball ended! Live and learn I guess.

Here's Regan pouting because the vending machine broke his drumstick ice cream bar into a million pieces. But see the cool red sculpture? Remember that one episode of Project Runway that was here? That's all.

p.s. the bus ride home almost ruined the whole experience because there was a baby sitting in front of us with the stinkiest bum ever. And neither of his moms seemed to care. I don't know what I wanted them to do but they could have at least acted embarrassed.

30 Weeks

I've heard people talk about how when they woke up on their 30th birthday, they really felt different/older/etc. Well that's what happened to me and 30 weeks of pregnancy. I feel really pregnant. Which is kinda silly to say because there's really only one degree of pregnancy but it's how I feel. Baby's getting big and really wiggly, my legs get cramps when I sleep, my back hurts when I stand for too long, my belly button's about one otter pop away from being an outie, and my city pace of walking I've worked so hard to develop is pretty much gone. This sounds like a list of complaints but for some reason it's not. I guess maybe in 10 more weeks I'll be sick of this stuff but it's weirdly reassuring and kinda nice right now. I'm just so proud of my body for knowing exactly what to do. I think I'd be in trouble if it took multiple conscious decisions on my part to keep this baby growing healthily for 9 months. Of course I still talk to her and pat her bum when she sticks it out at me and try to keep my strawberry:brownie ratio kinda even (oh and I did yoga that one time). But it's nice that, for the most part, she's just taken care of in there. Way to go, body. I'm very lucky to have you.