Retraction

I am retracting my statement of how NYC is not a baby friendly city. Today as Rachael and I were going downtown to have lunch with Nate we had to go up and down quite a few flights of stairs and on and off the Subway with our new stroller (which I LOVE! I'm a real New York mom with my lightweight MacLaren stroller). The stroller is light enough that I can just pick it up and carry it up and down without too much trouble but I had at least seven people offer to help me. I very kindly refused them all because it really is not a huge issue, but I was truly touched and very much appreciated it! And then, as we were about to get on our last train Rachael decided she didn't want be confined so I took her out and folded up the stroller. My arms were full and my baby was squirming and a very nice man kindly let me have his seat (which is quite a treat when you're on the express train). Normally I would refuse because we only have two stops but I was SO thankful! The more I'm in New York and get used to how things work the more I love it.

Here is a picture of my magnificent stroller. $40 on craigslist! I really like these colors but mine is orange and grey so its still cute. And it retails at $120 so I guess I'll be ok..

Valentine's Day Frivolity

So I haven't posted anyhing about V-Day! I usually hate this day. I think its because I always expect too much. I've been like this since I was little. But now having a child, alI wanted this year was to go out on a date with my husband. Luckily Lindsey and Celina opted to stay in on friday night so they watched Rachael. Nate and I went on an excursion to New Jersey to go to a "jousting" tournament called "Medieval Times." I met Nate at his PwC building and he was standing there with a beautiful bouquet of daisies (my faaavorite). He is so sweet!
The meal (served on these pewter plates) was delicious. It consisted of tomato soup (good even though I don't usually like that kind of soup) delicious garlic bread, half of a roasted chicken, ONE beef rib (which was sooo good and I was sad there was only one), and for dessert an apple pastry. All eaten without cutlery. It was a pretty fun experience.

There were eight different knights and we were cheering for the black and white knight who ended up WINNNG! Our knight was the champion. Althought there was only technically about 20 seconds of actual jousting, there were a lot of horses and "knights" doing tricks and stuff. I will say the downfall of the night was when they announced everyone's birthdays/anniversaries/bachelor parties/Valentines dates (I didn't know we could do this). It seriously took like 20 minutes and I'm pretty sure Nate and I are the only ones who didn't have our names read. Oh well... It was still fun!

Oh today...

Well today was a very interesting day. The BIG news is that Rachael's two bottom teeth have finally poked through. She wouldn't keep her mouth still long enough for me to get a picture, but I was very excited about this!! I discovered them when she was gnawing on my fingers at the park.
This evening as Rachael was sitting in her borrowed Jumperoo watching Baby Einsteins (which happens nightly so I can eat dinner and do some dishes) she definately had a little issue... ok ok, it was a HUGE explosion. Ever since the introduction of solid foods we've definately noticed a difference in her diapers. It was so disgusting but I don't actually think of it as poop and was laughing hysterically as I was wiping her back off. She was standing (with assistance from me, obviously) and to top it off, she peed as she as standing there! That made me laugh even more. Needless to say the next thing we did was hop in the tub/sink and after a dinner of oatmeal/sweet potatoes and applesauce she is now sound asleep listening to primary songs.
I guess it wasn't really that eventful of a day, but the whole diaper explosion experience just seemed so mom-ish to me. I guess when you don't think of poop as poop, just as a mess to clean up, you really are a mom.

P.S. I can't change the layout of this post and it is driving me CRAZY!!

Six Months Pictures

Here are Rachael's six month photos and I love them! One of my favorite things about them is there aren't millions to choose from (cuz that could get very expensive). She is a pretty cute kid.

Sad Panda

So in my family my little brother Brenden started the saying "Sad Panda" to describe a person who is sad. (At least thats what I think he meant it to mean...) Right now both me and Rachael are sad pandas. I'm a sad panda because my sister Lindsey and her friend Celina left this morning. Lindsey began toying with my emotions by debating on whether or not to stay out here through the summer. She decided not to because there are like 348752 people looking for nannying jobs in NYC and only about 18 available (she is GREAT with kids if you're looking for a nanny, tons of experience!) and she would have to get her tuition back from Dixie State. In the end it is better that she is responsible and goes to school (although she would pick up where she left off in the Fall), but it still would have been super fun.

Rachael is a sad panda because she is cutting teeth. No fun. Sleeping is bad news and wakes us multiple times in the night and the only way to console her is by nursing her. No fun. So I've decided to start giving her one, maybe two bottles of formula a day. My plan is to gradually wean her totally from nursing when we get home but we'll see how it works out.






This is Rachael with her Auntie Lindsey.

Missions Accomplished

This is currently my favorite picture of Rachael. It is my desktop background and my wallpaper on my phone. She was just chillin' on the couch (she loves being in just her diaper) and I said her name and she put her hands in her lap and gave me this goofy grin. I wish wish wish I had a real camera but glad I got this anyway.

One of our missions accomplished was the portraits. We decided to go to JCP because we found a coupon for no sitting fee, a free 8X10, and all the sheets I wanted for 4 bucks. Sweet! We ended up getting 10 sheets and the one 8X10 so we only spent like $50. Nice! She was a little fussy so we didn't have many to choose from but I almost like it that way. We can pick them up on the 17th which is a little inconvenient because its clear in New Jersey, but that brings me to another mission accomplished. I was in dire need of some new pants. Since I had the baby I have lost a ridiculous amount of weight and my pants were literally falling off my body. So we went to Kohls (the mall we went to was AMAZING!) and I found a pair of kahkis, black dress pants, and jeans for ten bucks each, and then I splurged on a pair of jeans for 30. :S I never do that so I almost fainted. But Since we spent more that fifty bucks at Kohls I now have a 10 dollars off coupon to be used from the 11th to the 17th, which is when we can pick them up. We were just going to have our friend Nate pick them up because he is currently working in NJ, but I might just go and spend a little more money. We'll see...

Another mission fulfilled is we now have a jumperoo. In my wonderful ward every week the mothers get together for a playgroup. Rachael has been having some napping issues so we can only stay for a little while, but its still fun. I sent around an e mail asking if anyone had anything we could borrow and I now have a playpen and a jumperoo. Now all we need is a stroller and we're good to go!!

P.S. my sister Lindsey and her frind Celina are coming this week. YAAY!! And they said they would watch the baby on friday night, so now Nate and I can go on a Valentine's Day date like I didn't think we'd be able to. Bless them!

Portrait Dilemma

This is one of my new favorite pictures of Rachael. This dress is so cute and it was only five bucks!! And since she just turned six months old I need to get her portraits done, and this is going to be one of the outfits we're going to use. We are having a dilemma in this department however... I would love to go to Kiddie Kandids, but it would be quite expensive. So I'm debating between Sears, JCP, and Target. My bet is with Target but in NYC our only mode of transportation is the subway/cab so it either takes 39874 years to get there or costs an arm and a leg. We'll see... Nate also suggested buying a new camera (FINALLY) and just having me take the pictures... I don't know about that, I would really love to go to a studio and order professional prints but it is more on the expensive side. Oh I'm sure it will all work out in the end!!

We had a busy day today!! This first picture is of Rachael and her friend Sadie (the little girl my friend Rachael nannys for). She is a few months younger than Rachael and she is TINY and so adorable!! Rachael (big Rachael) let us take her nice New Yorker stroller out today and we were wandering the streets for THREE HOURS!! It was so fun and I definately need one of those strollers. It made me appreciate this city more getting to see more of it and enjoy the beautiful weather we had today!! So fun!!

These are the new boots we found for $7 at Payless. Apparently she likes them! She needed boots and brown shoes so we killed two birds with one stone!

BATHTIME!! As we've been working on schedules a nice tub will keep her occupied long enough and she seems to enjoy them now! She really needs to sit up so she doesn't have to be propped up but its still pretty adorable! She discovered near the end that its fun to splash around and kick her feet. It was so adorable!
She loves her squeeky rubber duckies!!