More Progress

The murphy bed is here! The murphy bed is here! Well, almost here. It's made it to the city and should be delivered to our place on Monday. Now we just need to schedule the installation. Stuff is actually happening! I'm very excited.

NYC Blizzard 2010

Well, I was certainly hoping that my office would close today. (They have in previous years for much less snow - Boo!) Alas, that was not the case. No Long Island Railroad or Metro North, and limited NJ Transit service kept the suburbanites away, but a handful of subway lines running made for an adventurous commute for us city dwellers. After over an hour and several transfers later, I did make it to midtown. The schlep to the subway, however, was definitely not without its charm. I look forward to the the day when I relay this tale to my kids with the requisite "uphill both ways in two feet of snow" - surprisingly not far from the truth.

10th Street 7:00am 12/27/2010

No wonder our block is not plowed.

Disabled Snow Plow #1 - Also why our block is not plowed.

The bus driver gave up and left.

Disabled Bus and Snow Plow #2

Down 9th Avenue

Stuck Snow Plow #3

Are you kidding me? Disabled Snow Plows #4 & 5.

Christmas Montage

We had such a wonderful day celebrating Christmas with the family in New Jersey. And Ellie certainly didn't hurt for lack of attention. Here she is reading a new Christmas book in the fancy party dress Mrs. Rao sent for her. So cute!

Think we had enough dessert?

Cynthie and John. And just what exactly is going on in the background? The wave?

Sarah and Mary blowing kisses.

Cracking up with Sarah.

Ellie says: "There are presents everywhere and you want me to play with citrus fruit?"

Carrie made the Negre Blanc. So rich....So good. And E liked it!

Janis FINALLY sitting down for a minute.

My two favorite people.

I hope all of your holidays were as full of joy (and bonus snow days!) as ours.

Moving Right Along...

 

Foot Loose and Fancy Free

Merry Christmas

More photos and an update tomorrow when we're snowed in (really?!? a blizzard?!?) but for now...

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Apartment Progress

You wouldn't think it to look at our place, but we really are working feverishly behind the scenes to prepare for Baby Boy's upcoming arrival. All the big pieces (murphy bed, couch, rug) that will take a long time to get here have been ordered. All the smaller pieces that can be bought locally have been chosen. So, now we're in a holding pattern. Can't do much else until the bed arrives and Brian and I officially move into the living room. That should hopefully be by mid-January. With any luck at all, we may be done with resettling and organizing with a week or two to spare before the baby comes! I'm crossing my fingers.

Christmas Came Early

Christmas came early to Southern Vermont. Since my dad and Kathy aren't going to be able to join us Christmas Day in Jersey, we celebrated this weekend. The tree was decorated, we made (and ate) far too many sugar cookies, and Ellie was spoiled rotten.

Here she is hugging her Christmas Bear:

And figuring out the bow has adhesive and is now stuck to her hand. (Note: this is almost as much fun as putting peanut butter on a dog's nose, or tying a t-shirt around a cat's belly. Good times.)

We got to meet our newest friend, little Dylan Bouchard, but we also got to spend some time with my oldest friend, Kim. Kim and I have known each other since we were three - which is a crazy long time. She came over for coffee Saturday afternoon and to supervise the cookie baking (and eating). The girl has a good sense of timing. She also brought over some absolutely hysterical pictures of me from the decidedly awkward middle school years. Truly terrifying. We have to hold on to them so when Ellie decides she wants bangs we can take out the photos and explain exactly why bangs are a terrible idea for curly-headed girls.

Sweet Sweet Dylan

Ugh, I went to Vermont in search of winter, and caught myself a cold instead. But I had to buck up and stop feeling sorry for myself long enough to post these pictures of the GORGEOUS Dylan Bouchard. Seriously, this kid is far too cute. I can't take it.

Off to Find Winter

We're off to VT this weekend to find some snow, eat some sugar cookies, and meet Little Dylan Bouchard, who joined the world right before Thanksgiving. Dylan's dad Jeremy is one of my oldest friends, and I can't wait to meet his little bundle of sleepless nights. It's going to be a quick trip, since Bri can't take Friday off work, but still, it will be good to make cookies and sit by the fire. And Ellie should get to wear her snowsuit for the first time!

Tradition

So, we have this enormous, antique cash register in our apartment. It's a fantastic conversation piece, but let's be honest - a bit of an albatross in a small apartment where every piece of furniture has to serve a dual purpose to justify itself. Including the cash register in the apartment redesign has been a real challenge. Here's why we insist on doing it.

c. 1954

This is Brian's mom, Lois, sitting at the cash register when it resided on the counter in her father Joe's Army Navy Store. Unfortunately, Lois passed away in 2005, and Ellie, Baby Boy, Leila (Ellie's cousin) and any other future babies won't get to know their remarkable grandmother. Links to the past can be tenuous, and Brian and I treasure having the cash register, and especially this picture, in our home.

To keep the tradition going, we staged a little photo shoot yesterday morning. I love the idea of someday Ellie's baby posing with the cash register, a picture of her mom and her great-grandmother on the shelf.

Ellie Grapples with the Classics

We've got quite the weekend ahead of us. My mom is in town, plus Brian's friends Neil and David, PLUS Brian's friend Missy from college. Holiday madness is officially upon us.

A Glimpse Into My Psychosis

Ahem. Because I am just this crazy and this much of a control freak, I counted the number of
"free days" I have between today and March 8th (the day I'm scheduled to have my c-section.). 18 days. As Lauren from work pointed out, I could almost say "I'm having this baby in 18 days."

Hah!

Bring Out Your Knives!

Saturday afternoon Brian and I bought reams of pine garland and (already dying) poinsettias to decorate the apartment and bring on the holiday spirit. When the halls were decked, and we were quietly sipping tea and admiring our handiwork, we heard bells ringing in the street. Rudolph? Santa? No, the knife sharpener! We actually live someplace where a guy with a truck drives slowly up the street, ringing his bells, and inviting the neighborhood to bring out their knives, scissors, chainsaws, and whatever else you might choose to bludgeon yourself with. Brian was like a kid on Christmas morning! He brought out our knives, then ran back inside to grab anything else with a blade. 15 minutes later, our knives were shockingly sharp, and we're even more enamored of our neighborhood than we were before.

Slacking

Whoops! It's been a week without posting...I guess it was harder than I realized to ease back into real life and work after a week of play in Florida. But back we are. And now it's Chanukah! Ellie is enjoying the candles. I'm enjoying the chocolate gelt. And tomorrow we're decorating the apartment. No tree this year, since the living room is the one area of the apartment that Ellie has total free reign. It feels cruel to put up a tree, cover it in shiny baubles, and then tell her not to touch it. But don't worry, we're gonna get all holiday in other ways. I promise some pictures tomorrow afternoon.

In the meantime, enjoy this awesome chanukah song.