New Apartment

We have moved.... In anticipation of our new arrival in a couple of months we have moved to a bigger place. We are still on the Upper West Side, which we love. We are actually on the same street just two blocks east toward Central Park. We are literally steps from Central Park which Rocky loves. It's nice to get to see trees everyday. That's kind of a luxury in this city. Since we have moved Adam has run into Jeff Daniels. He lives right near us on the next block. Funny he has two Dalmatian dogs that Rocky likes to play with. That's funny because if you didn't know he was in the movie 101 Dalmatians.

Our new place is a one bedroom and for New York standards it's pretty large. We have a great view out our window. There is nothing but three story town houses for about 10 blocks so we get to see pretty far. Here are some photos:

Outside our building 'The Brewster'. We now live at 21 W. 86th Street #809 New York, NY 10024 (between Columbus Ave and Central Park West).

Our Living room.......

Our 'Study'.......

Our view out our windows. It's hard to get a good picture at night but it is really cool.

We now have enough room for visitors if anyone is planning a trip to New York!!

Pay it Forward...

There is this fun blog game going around that I joined in on Lori Ham's blog. It's a fun way to keep in touch while sharing your creative talents. So read the rules below and join in the fun!! :o)

Pay It Forward The Rules:

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?!

2. Winners must post this challenge on their blog, meaning that they will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on their post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your friends can be from any price range and you have 90 days to make/ship your item. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Counts!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate pictures and comments! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenter's on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!!So who will the lucky three be?? And hopefully you won't be disappointed in whatever I make for you or someone in your family!

Baby Update

I had yet another doctor appointment today so I thought I would post an update on how it's all going. I have to say pregnancy has been very surprisingly easy for me. Not a lot of sickness, not a lot of changes yet really(knock on wood you know now I am going to get it all!!). But the worst thing I have found with it is all the appointments it creates in your life! Man oh man do I have to go to the doctor, hospital, dentist and on and on and on. And it seems like anything that you might possibly have I am boarder line on so I have to do the full blown tests. Luckily they have all come out normal. But I know I am getting down to the finish line since my appointments have now changed from every month to every two weeks.


Anyway so here is the update....



Week 28.... So far I have gained a total of 3 lbs but I was just told today to expect some massive lbs in the next several weeks. I took the sugar test for Gestational Diabetes and it came out high so I had to take the extensive 4 hour test (I think it was made up by a man to see how long it would take a pregnant woman to throw up!). That has come back normal. So definitely good news there. Really my biggest issue is best illustrated by the cartoon below:

I find all this very fun. Like my own little science experiment! :o) I am definitely ready to see the final result!!!

One end to the Other and back...

Hello all!

I have had one exciting week so forgive the length of the post. I had a training for work in San Francisco last week. I left New York on Tuesday and arrived late that night on the other side of the country. My training was very interesting (well to me maybe not to the rest of you). I learned all the in's and out's of the British Government. Boy are they quirky! It was so interesting learning about all their traditions and ways of doing things. I can now say I am an expert on their government, just don't quiz me. I got to explore the city at night and I have to say San Fran is one of the coolest cities I have ever been to. It reminds me a lot of Istanbul in some ways. I loved all the little outdoor cafe's they have. Some are tucked away in little alleyways.

I have to say I think San Fran is way cooler then New York. It is much trendier and has the coolest buildings. Also their Chinatown is much better. It is a lot cleaner and a lot more organized and less chaotic.

So after two whole days (not nearly enough) I packed my bags up and headed for Utah. I thought I may as well visit if I am just going to fly over the top of it. I arrived Thursday night, just in time for my parents to visit for a couple of hours before their trip to Mexico. (Side note on that... they totally knew I was coming and planned their trip anyway! I now concede that Jason is the favorite child!) . Friday was a packed day of fun. I got to go to my old work (Mountainland Rehab) to my favorite bride to be's bridal shower. It was fun to see everyone and most fun to watch Lina open her presents. Then I ran across town to my favorite hang out in Utah- The Loosli Residence. I hung out with the coolest kids Caitlyn and Jonah. It just felt like old times. My friend Allison (Strong or Barnes whatever) stopped by for a visit with her new little baby. It was fun to visit and see friends. I miss friends a lot in New York!

Also that morning my dad packed their things and went on vacation. Included in those things was my luggage. He packed it away with their things. Luckily they noticed and left the bag at my brother Todd's house in BEAVER!! That's right BEAVER!!! That would be three hours each way to pick up my bag. So I had a good breakfast with my niece's on Saturday morning then headed off to retrieve my bag. It was nice to visit Todd's family but that is the most boring drive in the world.

But I did get to see something I would never get to see in the city. I got to see Venus and the Moon lite up at night. I don't even get to see stars let alone Venus. Just ask Kyla I was SO EXCITED!!!

So with Saturday pretty much gone I spent Sunday morning relaxing and catching up on my Top Gear (I maybe becoming more and more British but seriously that show is HILARIOUS. If you have not seen it check it out on BBC America. It's the coolest cars with the funniest old guys, not including my dad). Jason and JoDee were nice enough to invite me over for dinner and games on Sunday night. It was great spending time with them. And I remembered how horrible I am at Mad Gab. But happy to report Jason and I won Trivial Pursuit.

After a long trip that was pretty packed with everything I was ready to trek home yesterday. I woke up to a call from Adam saying they had about 9 inches of snow on the ground in New York. My plane took off on time but we got to Pennsylvania and we flew in circles for about an hour and a half waiting to get in line to land on the only runway functioning at JFK. If anyone has been to JFK they have about 9 terminals and several runways. Only having one working is RIDICULOUS!! My flight was due to land at 4:30 and we finally arrived at 6:45. Then my car picking me up was a half hour late. So I reach home at about 8:00. LONG DAY!!!

It was a long trip but it was fun to see everyone and hang out with the people I miss! Thanks to everyone!

Oh are we in for it!

So I don't know if this will be interesting to any of you but I wanted to be able to say to my daughter one day when she is a bratty teenager 'See even in the womb you were difficult and stubborn!' :o)

We have now had four incidents where cooperation with this new child is necessary and all four have gone bust! I am already blaming her dad for her stubbornness! Back in the early stages of pregnancy we did the test they do for Down Syndrome. It is just a standard test they do here in New York so we thought why not. It requires a blood test and a ultrasound to measure the size of the baby's head (this is at 12 weeks pregnant if anyone cares). So I show up to the hospital with their high tech ultrasound machine and the baby is hiding it's face so the measurement couldn't be taken. After about an hour of prodding and poking to get it to move nothing. It would just push against the pokes and resume chewing on it's hand. UGH!!!

So last week we got to go have an Anatomic Scan. This is so we could find out what 'it' was (so thankful we can stop calling it that). She was in perfect position to determine it was a girl. So that was good news. But they also get photos of all the major organs and body parts to confirm she is developing correctly. Oh guess what Missy miss I am too good to be helpful turns herself to face my back and we could not get a scan of her heart, cord, or face. So I had to take yet another day off work to go back yesterday to get those vital parts of her body checked. I showed up yesterday confident that she will behave with a firm lecture ready for her if she tried anything funny! Ok it was 'pretty pretty please just move!'.... Well as you can guess she was not helpful at all. She was curled up in a ball with her knees tight to her chest fast asleep. Again after lots of prodding, poking, coughing we all just gave up. I can thankfully report that she is perfect and healthy but that a photo could not be produced. But I am left thinking.... OH my what are we in for!! :o)

It's a..........

It's a GIRL!!!!
Due June 26th. WAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

The Year of the Ox

It's been awhile since I have posted anything. Time flies by huh! We have just been busy working and living life. It has been the coldest January I think I have ever seen. Only once has it reached a temperature above 30 degrees. New York is New York. Busy and crazy as usual. Oh and there was this plane crash not sure if anyone heard about that..... haha..


Saturday night the Stake did a celebration for Chinese New Year. We have a large Chinese branch on Canal Street. They had Chinese food and a Chinese program with the dancing lion. I am not sure if what it does is called dancing but it was interesting to see.



They also had these two little kids asking questions about The Chinese New Year. I wish I could have got a video of this little Chinese boy that should have his own game show. He would ask the question and then point at someone and yell 'COOOORRRRECT!' He had to be about five or six. Hilarious.....