Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Quick Update

Since I have an enormous amount of stuff to do today, I am procrastinating just a little longer to write a blog while I finish my coffee. The movers have come and gone with all of the stuff that is going to my moms. We have been trying to get this place cleaned out and spruced up, but you know how it goes...there is always more to do than you first thought. Plus, our plan to get rid of a ton of stuff is easier said than done when you live in a walk up, one of you is pregnant, and one of you always has to be with your two-year-old. But, what can you do? Today seems almost impossible, but I will do my best. Lots of cleaning ahead! So much food to throw away, so many errands to run, etc...I think I can handle the cleaning, but it seems like there won't be enough hours between the time Matt gets home and the time stores/storage closes that something is going to go wrong. I guess we will just have to do our best.

Some girls looked at our apartment last week and loved our paint, so cha-ching! That saves us a ton of money, since we don't have to pay to have it all returned to white. The only problem is, they were so eager to get in that we have to be out tomorrow at noon. We are staying in a hotel tomorrow out by JFK, but I am trying to plan it out so that I can run some of the errands tomorrow and kill enough time in Manhattan to wait for Matt to finish work (at an unpredictable time). The nice thing is that we have a car right now, the not nice thing is that driving in Manhattan is dicey and parking is ridiculously expensive. Plus, I can't really carry anything since I have to carry Lizzie...I really should have arranged for some help this week! Oh, well. It is just a reminder of one of the reasons that we want to go back...family and friends! You know, those people you guilt into helping you in situations like this. Of course, in Manhattan you just hire help for those things--well, for anything. So, I just arranged day care for Wahoo (also expensive), so I at least won't have to worry about him. Now I just have to figure out how to load up the car with last minute stuff, return our cable boxes to the bronx, replace the zipcard we can't find (and have to have on Sunday), and mail a massive box of photos, the silverware we forgot to point out to the movers, and my maternity pillow that is too big to fit in a suitcase. Plus, we are mailing our Tivo to ourselves because I don't want to miss any of the Olympics.

Well, that is enough cathartic rambling...I had better get to work. :(

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Belly pics

Okay, so I haven't been as good at posting pictures of my belly as I was last time, but I have been taking them. Now you are all caught up! I feel huge, but I looked at pics of last time and I think I look about the same.


12 weeks


13 weeks


14 weeks


17 weeks


19 weeks


22 weeks


Okay, this obviously doesn't show my belly, but I think my face looks funny. It is getting so hard to pick her up!



23 weeks



24 weeks

Monday, July 14, 2008

The beginning of the end

So, it is Monday, and even though I am not as crabby as I usually am on Mondays, I am still reluctant to get to work. So, blog I shall. Lizzie and Wahoo are entertained by fighting over one of the light-up lollipops leftover from Lizzie's birthday, so I have the time.

Yesterday we gave away our washer/dryer, which is a big deal to us. Like most things we have dealt with in NYC, we have a love/hate relationship with that washer/dryer, but knowing it is gone is kind of crazy as it is the first significant thing to actually leave the house. Yes, we have piles of stuff to donate and stacks of things packed in boxes, but none of that has left the house yet. It was probably the heaviest thing, too, and we are glad to be rid of it in that repect. It is weird, though, knowing that now ALL of our stuff has to be sent to the good old fluff n fold, not just most of it. And since they wash our stuff in what must be the harshest detergent known to man, that means more clothes worn out before their time. No wonder New Yorkers are always in fashion--their clothes wear out too fast for them to be out of style.

We also have a local charity coming to pick up tons of stuff on Thursday. After that, our place will be really empty. At least, I hope it will! They say that furniture has to be in good shape and since our living room also serves as our dining room, our couches have seen a few too many spills (even for the turbofabric they supposedly had). Otherwise, I hope there are some seriously desperate craigslisters out there. I guess it helps the odds that we live in a city of 9 million people...I hope SOMEONE will take them! If not, we will have to have rubbish people come haul it away, which is not free. Just put it on my tab...

So, Lizzie is crazy, as usual. Lately she has insisted on eating everything with a fork, which is pretty cute, although not always practical. It is really funny when she gets frustrated--she kind of karate chops the air and holds her breath. Too cute. She recently had a pretty big growth spurt. She has grown about 2 inches in the last two months. Now I think she is back to growing out, if you know what I mean! It is getting really difficult for me, physically, to lift her and carry her around this city. It seems like every time we go out, I have an awful night of sleep from back pain. I am sure being a mom in driving cities is difficult in other ways, but right now I glorify living somewhere that doesn't require tons of heaving lifting just to run simple errands. Thankfully, the situation should be less difficult in SF and when we get a different apartment back here. And then, of course, when Addie comes out! That will be a whole new challenge, but I can't wait.

Addie is getting pretty big now. I can't believe i will be 6 months tomorrow! Lizzie calls her "Baby Dada". Of course, she calls everything a baby, so I am not sure how much she really understands. She may think that is just what I call my belly. Who knows...

It is pretty hard not to nest for Addie. I really wish I could start getting things ready and buy a few things for her, but it really doesn't make sense to do any of that until we get back to NYC in december. Plus, we have so much stuff from Lizzie, we really don't need much at all. I know I will be glad to have stuff to do when we get back, though, because I think those last couple of months are going to feel like an eternity. I know they did last time, and I was still working and busy then!

For those of you that don't know, I have no idea what happened to my phone. Well, I am still hoping we come across it as we pack, but we have really done a ton of cleaning and packing and it hasn't turned up. Matt got an iphone yesterday and is now on a new plan of his own, so I am just taking over his line on my mom's plan for now. So, if you call my old number, don't expect me to call back. But, if you call Matt, you will be pleasantly surprised to get to talk to me.

Well, I had better get some stuff done...and by that I mean eat lunch. Two weeks from Friday we will be in San Francisco! Woohoo!

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Sorry for the confusion

Okay, so I think I may be leading people on by talking about moving so much, because every time I talk to someone, they think that we are actually moving to San Francisco in 4 weeks. So, let me clear the air.

August: San Francisco
September-December: New York
January: Ontario + travel for interviews
February-March: New York
April-May or June: Ontario
May or June: Move to permanent location

We ARE moving out of this apartment (the movers come 7/27) and will be subletting for the remainder of our time in NYC. Why? Because it will save us money (6 months of subletting at a higher rate is still cheaper than signing a new lease and paying for the 2-6 months we don't need). Plus, we need to live in an apartment that has an elevator. I can still lug Lizzie up the stairs now, but as I get further along, I won't be able to leave the house at all since she refuses to climb up the stairs just because she is 2 and that is her job. Also, we MIGHT be staying somewhere in CA for February if Matt sets up another away rotation for that month. Confusing enough? The bottom line is that we should be back in CA permanently next April. We find out at the end of March where Matt will have matched (aka gotten a job), then we will have a little time at my mom's to figure out housing, etc.

That being said, we are really excited to get to SF in just a few weeks! I have to admit that I am also excited to get one last fall in NYC. It is my favorite time here, especially once all of the Christmas stuff is out. Of course, this will be my favorite fall here because we get a new little baby.

In other news, Matt started his 4th year today. It is finally his last first day of school. We are officially in the home stretch, at least as far as school goes. New challenges await us in residency, but for now we are looking forward to a relatively relaxed year as far as hours per week worked. Matt had a whole week off between 3rd and 4th years, so his parents, Aunt Judy and Uncle Dwayne came out to visit us/see the city. We went to a Yankees game, but had to leave because it absolutely poured. No biggie, though, because Lizzie was ready to go by that point, anyway. Matt and I got to go on a date to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill while Matt's parents babysat. It was so delicious. We all went rowing in Central Park, including Lizzie! It was so fun. We had not done that yet because we just assumed that Liz was too young, but she isn't and now that we know we might go again. We also got to eat at the Tavern on the Green, the last big item on my "To Do in NYC Before We Move Away" list. Then over the weekend, we got to catch up on lots of sleep and get lots of packing and cleaning done. We also notified our landlord that we would not be renewing our lease and we reserved movers, so we are really feeling like we are officially on our way out!

Well, I guess this post is getting pretty long, so I will leave it at that for now and post some pics.

Shake Shack



Matt rowing us around



Okay, I look really bad in this picture, but Lizzie has the cutest look on her face.



Tavern on the Green



Not only do they have insanely delicious food, they have awesome balloons.






Posing while taking a break from cleaning out Lizzie's closet (see the mess on the floor to the right?).