Blueberry Picking in CT

Went blueberry picking at a farm in CT last weekend. Peter was on call all day Saturday and he had to stay at the hospital the whole day, so I figured.... play date w/ girls! It was a 2 hour drive north. I was on "Laela duty" in the back seat; I got to entertain 11 month old Laela, the daughter of my friend Kamilah. I think you'll agree with me that she's beyond adorable.

We leisurely picked for 3 hours. Sarah got 20 pounds; Kamilah and I picked 10 pounds each. $2.50/lb. Not bad. We snacked a few as we went along... they were big, fat and fresh. Peter was in heaven when he opened the fridge and saw the box waiting for him.

I think its going to become an annual tradition!

Cause We Don't Play

Moving is one of the most stressful things a person can do. Peter and I have moved five times in our first six years of marriage!? Yeah... the only good thing about moving is that one must purge one's things and thoroughly clean one's environment. And sometimes things go smoother than others. This last time around was a doozy.
All the things that went wrong:
1. Our realtor was 2 hours and 11 minutes late for the appointment to get the keys on the Friday night before the move. Excuse me!?
2. Our movers were two hours late late b/c their truck broke down on moving day
3. B/c our movers were late, we surpassed the 5pm deadline for using the elevators in the new building
4. The Board President came by to introduce herself at 6:11 pm and threatened/ promised that we would be fined $1,000 for surpassing the elevator deadline of 5pm... b/c as she said, "cuz we don't play." Whatever that means. We'll be quoting her for months and laughing through our tears.
5. The moving company required a payment of cash only (how did we miss that?!) and we had to make a desperate, last minute trip to the ATM, only to be rejected by our daily maximum allowance. We had to talk them into taking a personal check
6. There was no fridge in the apartment, although we'd been asking about it for a few weeks
7. We iced our condiments in the cooler for three days until the fridge finally arrived, which is a little bit embarrassing. And then we threw them out anyway because, well, EEWWWWW...
8. We discovered that neither bathroom has a single electrical outlet, a fact that that seems impossible to have overlooked in retrospect...
9. The ceiling fan in our bedroom has no switch, no remote or no little pully thingy.... Mgmt says this is not their responsibility
10. The oven was dirty; we're required to have 80% of our awesome wood floors covered with "carpet" asap; and the man above us moans every 75 seconds as if he's being tortured or has fallen off the bed and can't get up (ear plugs are the best way to survive the nights). Its tragic, but we've heard someone conversing with him (a nurse?), so we know he's not alone.
Apart from the above mentioned items, this apartment is big and beautiful and we LOVE it. Our address is iconic NY: We live on Bronx River Road in Yonkers, NY. We have two bedrooms and will have a nice nursery for baby Sydnie come October. And about that $1,000. We are so not paying it. We will fight back. And we will win. Cuz, seriously lady, we don't play.
Pictures coming soon!!!

Baby Products - Necessary or Superfluous?

Hello to my handful of readers out there. If you're a mom, can you provide some baby product advice? Peter and I will begin acquiring baby stuff next month when we're in our new place. What was/is a must have for you? What is superfluous/ unnecessary? What do you swear by - best product ever? What did you never use and took up too much space? Recommendations, please!

Father's Day & Baby Kicks

Peter got to feel the baby kicking for the first time last night. On Father's Day. She was pretty active as I was ready to fall asleep, so he got to feel her fight! Very cool and very surreal.
Peter started his residency orientation TODAY for New York Medical College (comprising Westchester Community Hospital in Valhalla & Metropolitan Hospital on the upper E side of Manhattan). He'll split his time between these two hospitals for the next four years, which is why we're moving to YAWN-CUZ (Yonkers), smack dab in the middle. This past weekend was his very last working/ "on call" for St. Lukes - Roosevelt. YAY! Big day for us.
Probably even bigger than Father's Day because the residency is real and the baby still seems like a dream.
Reminiscing...I'm grateful for an exceptional father who always played with us and taught us the value of hard work. He worked hard, but he played hard too, so we had an excellent example to follow. My dad was always the "cool" dad at the community swimming pool, throwing us around and off his hands, etc. He also built us bikes and took us on adventures. He always took the time to play board games with us and to talk about our problems. I remember many fun daddy-daughter dates growing up. I am extremely blessed. Pictured here is my dad 'n me on his May 2011 visit to NYC. Can't wait to see Peter as a daddy!

BELLY!

Here's me at 22 weeks along (blue shirt with pink shoes); 23 weeks (Brown sweater/pants with pink shirt), and 24 weeks (Red stripes/ black). So far I've gained 16 pounds. Yikes! Not over the target weight but we havent even hit the last trimester and my appetite is growing. Today I ate an entire footlong from Subway with Doritos!!! YUMMY.

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

Saturday was our marathon apartment hunting expedition. We left the house at 7:30am, had our car serviced and washed, got new keys made, and spent hours exploring neighborhoods in the E Yonkers/ Mt Vernon areas. It was exhausting and we only viewed 5 apartments! Finally, at 7:00m, a realtor called us as we were almost home. He offered to show us an apartment at 8pm, and we reluctantly agreed, not wanting to drive back up north. Ugh. We were glad we did, though, because this was the best apartment yet. We actually started the application process and hope our searching is over.
Sunday we went to a ward in New Rochelle (N/E of the city) to meet with members and ask questions. Our prayers were answered, as the first lady we met was extremely helpful and let us quiz her for nearly 40 minutes. Turns out she was on Primary bathroom duty, so she was fine to be a hall monitor and talk with us. We observed the Sabbath and had a restful afternoon, finishing off the evening with Root Beer floats and a card game with our neighbors.
Monday we relaxed and had my definition of a perfect day off:
Slept in, mopped the floors, went biking along Riverside Drive with Peter on his roller blades, explored the Hi-Line Park (a new park created from an old railroad station - last used in 1980), dined in Chelsea Market, got sun-burned, enjoyed the outdoors, konked out for a nap while reading an excellent book, went maternity clothes shopping and spent too much money, ate Mahi mahi burgers and watched a movie with Peter. A perfect holiday!

I Heart Hondas

Paco bought us a car last weekend. Its a 2002 Honda Accord, 4-door, 61K miles, black with gray leather interior for the mere price of $8,000. We were told that parking is much easier after Columbia's graduation in mid-May when many of the students leave, so we waited until then. Although Peter did spend an hour the first night trying to find a parking space when he first brought it home, we are hoping that it won't always take so long. We have to move it twice a week for street cleaning (either M-Th or T-F) around noon, so luckily Peter works close by and can do this on his lunch break. We need the car to go apartment hunting in Westchester county. We'll be glad to get out of the city to bypass the tedious parking situation! I never even saw the car before he bought it, just heard the specs and saw the pics. I've owned two Hondas, so I knew that it was a quality investment. Paco took care of the insurance, registration and licensing. I heart Paco!