NYC The Last Day

It’s safe to say that by the last day in NYC we were exhausted!!! We didn’t make it to the train station until about 11, and I will take all the blame. I was moving slow, and it was suppose to rain on us! We were lucky enough that Nicole had generously volunteered to watch Nixon for us so that we could enjoy a day in the City by ourselves. We jumped at the offer, and I am still so so so grateful! Nixon was at an age where we couldn’t even  leave him in nursery without him crying. Luckily this really helped him get over that! He ate what he was given, didn’t cry, and didn’t talk! That last part isn’t the best, but hey, it wasn’t crying! At the end of the night, after all those babies were bathed, they snuggled in to watch a movie. Ridge isn’t much of a cuddler so Nicole was happy to have Nixon cuddle with her! She got up to get something and he got a little upset and so Jade jumped in and sure enough he cuddled with her! I wish I could have seen it! I’m so happy that I have such a great family that loves my baby as their own!
Anyway, it’s an hour train ride into the City from Parsippany so we didn’t get there until about noon. We knew we wouldn’t be able to eat until much later so we grabbed a quick lunch at Penn Station and then headed for the subway. Things were looking good, not rainy yet but by the time we got downtown it was raining. We stopped and grabbed an umbrella and it broke just a few minutes later. I would expect nothing less! We then headed for non other than the Statue of Liberty!

NYC Part II

As a disclaimer I’d like to say that it has taken me FOREVER to write these posts and add pictures. I pretty much refuse to proof read and edit them before I post them. As I go back and relive/reread them I’ll catch my many errors and fix them then. But for now, I sleep.
I was super excited for day two because we had some big big plans, but also just for the fact that we were going to be spending more time in The City! The girls, and Jim got up early to go see the Rockettes! Everyone was telling us that we needed to go see the shows and musicals while we were there and I honestly can’t think of a more miserable thing. I hate musicals, go ahead and judge me. But the Rockettes, THE ROCKETTES! That’s different! Amazing dancing with such precision, and a Christmas theme ta boot? Sign me up! Cody was planning on meeting up with us for lunch with the little boys but after some unexpected car trouble he ended up staying home all day with the boys. I’m sure there are thousands of other ways he would have rather spent the day, but he handled it and even got a few hours to himself while all the boys napped.
Funny side story. As we were getting ready to go I was throwing up in the bathroom and Ridge and Jade were down stairs and they were hearing everything. Nicole came down and as we were talking I mentioned that I didn’t feel well but I would be fine and it would go away. With the straightest most shocked face ever Nicole looked at me and said “Are you pregnant”? I will never forget her face! I said yes and there was lots of jumping and squeals and excited noises. I brought up the conversation the previous morning with the Tylenol and she couldn’t believe that she totally missed the signs! It was all pretty funny. Anyway…

New York Part I

Dreams do come true! Over thanksgiving my husband granted one of my biggest wishes and that was to take me to my homeland, NYC (Oh you didn’t know? I have an East Coast Soul, so it’s about time my west coast body reunited with the rest of me) I will start this journey from the very beginning.

July!

July was such a fun month! It’s one that I look forward too and this year did not disappoint! For starters, that husband of mine got a promotion! He started at Pro Vison last July and had worked his butt off to prove himself! Luckily they saw that and promoted him a year early and I am SO PROUD!! He’s now Tax Senior and working on his CPA. There’s always SOMETHING after you get your masters, don’t let them fool you!
Then we come to the 4th! I always look forward to spending time with family and friends, eating way too much delicious food, and sweat my way through some fireworks. This year we invited over to one of Jim’s boss’ house to swim and eat the most amazing smoked pulled pork ever! It was fun, and Nixon LOVED playing with all their trains! They love in a cul-de-sac and they do not disappoint on the fireworks! We sat outside with the entire neighborhood and enjoyed all those pyros put on a good show!

But the best part about the fourth? My best friend had the most adorable baby girl! Hadley Jo Coats! She’s adorable and I can’t wait to squish those cheeks!!! (Is it Christmas yet???)

On July 11 we hopped on a plane and flew to Utah to spend some time with that crazy family of mine! And knowing that family, we knew it would be anything but a vacation! Jim spent the entire weekend outside, being dragged from here to there by my dad and brothers. It was great! Jim was only able to stay for about 5 days but I got to enjoy a Utah summer for a full 3 weeks.

We kicked off the weekend with a great parade in Farmington, Nixon was on the fence about it. He doesn’t do very well with change and new things, but we survived thanks to the the Fat Boy semi that came through throwing Fat Boys instead of Candy and it was great! Don’t be fooled, we did get a ton of candy though! We then went and spent the rest of the afternoon at the bubble swimming!

We were able to spend a ton of time just playing outside with cousins! It was so nice to just sit in the shade and watch the kids run and play! Nixon loved it until I went inside or out of sight and he would have a melt down. Talk about mamas boy.

Paisley told grandma that she wanted to go for a ride on a train, so ride a train we did! We took frontrunner into SLC and went to the Gateway to see How to Train Your Dragon 2. From the little portions of it I actually saw it was really good! But it was nap time and lets just say I am a schedule mom. We are home at nap time everyday and never a minute late. After walking around the theater Nixon eventually fell asleep for a little while but when he woke up he made sure to let everyone know he was PISSED!! I was sweating the whole way home on the stupid train and I was extremely anxious to let him out and run.

But Wednesday, that was a day I will never ever forget. We went to Lagoon as a family and I was nervous but excited. I think we can all agree that as a child it was the best place on earth. The last time we went I was pregnant and I couldn’t ride most of the rides, so I was determined to make it extra fun for my little family. It turned out to be the perfect day to go! It was hot, but those mega huge trees keep it manageable, and the middle of the week made the lines minimal if at all! That was a definite plus because Nixon is apparently the least patient person in the world. We rode all the rides no less than 10 times each and Jim and I were even able to sneak away and ride some pretty intense roller coasters! A+ Lagoon, A+. It was so fun to watch Nixon love the rides I loved when I was little, and watch as Jade and Paisley would get excited to sit next to Nixon on the rides. I’m so lucky to have the cutest nieces in the world! He rode Bulgy the Whale practically non stop with a smile on his face the entire time. Ridge and Nixon also rode the weird space like ride, who knows what its called, over and over! There was never a line, and that’s probably because all the parents were terrified their children would fall out of it. No? Just me? Well one time it just stopped mid air and one of the girls and Nixon I think were just hanging out up there until it reset and let them down. Talk about heart attack!
And that brings up to the last day Jim was able to spend with us in Utah. The three of us rushed home to get Jims bags and run to the airport just in time for him to be notified that his flight was delayed. He didn’t end up leaving until about 9! But we hurried about to Lagoon and rode all the rides we could for the rest of night! Nixon really could have gone all night long! And now I’m tired of writing this ever so lengthy post so I will leave the rest of July to another day. So here is a million low quality selfies of our day at Lagoon!

And because I found this gem of the guys day hiking and fishing in the Uinta's… but you probably got that.

 

Also, to prove he is my child, I dug this up and, well, it’s almost as amazing as the above picture.

Oh Lagoon… so much has changed, but its still exactly the same!!

9 Months Old!

I think we can all remember when I was so excited to hit that 9 month mark in pregnancy, but the same can’t be said now. STOP GROWING! Nine months has been really fun!

-Just a few days after Nixon turned 9 months we were lucky enough to have my parents come to town! We had so much fun while they were here! We did everything you can imagine! We went to Schnephf farms (again), got predicures, shopped like crazy, fixed many things around the house, went to the park,  and got some Christmas shopping taken care of. Nixon loved all the attention and we were both in a depression after the left.

-Nixon got to meet one of his cousins for the first time! Kali was in town for a few days so we got together for a delicious breakfast and caught up. It was so fun to get these babies together!

-It was a big month as far as food goes. We moved to stage 3 foods because he would easily eat 2 size 2! It was time to upgrade. We also started him on finger foods, and he LOVES them! Puffs are our lifesaver! I was shocked at how fast he was able to pick them up and get them to his mouth. Such a smarty pants!

-We had our first Halloween with a baby and it was so fun! Mid September I started putting Nixon’s skeleton jammies on him and pretty much never took them off. I mean have you seen anything cuter? Then when Halloween came we made sure he had a late nap, woke up around 6:15 and he was ready to party all night as the cutest baby elephant. Our neighborhood is apparently a HUGE hot spot for trick or treating. We thought we were prepared with our 8 bags of candy… we didn’t stand a chance! We were cleaned out of candy in 45 minutes! It was insane! But we were happy to pack up and head over to our friends house to party with them!

-Nixon was pretty ambitious in the teeth department this last month. On Oct. 27ish he got his top right tooth, and a week later, about the 3rd, the top left popped through! He now has 4 teeth! YIKES!

-Someone decided that a nice three week cold would be a great way to celebrate our new teeth! It’s been really fun *not* but we are on the up and up and I am still alive.

-Chief and Nixon have taken their relationship to the next level. Nixon loves watching and giggling at Chief, and loves when he licks and sniffs his belly/legs/feet. Chief loves Nixon, Nixon loves Chief, and we are a happy family.

-And if all of that weren’t enough, we have a crawler/scooter. It’s entertaining to watch because he hasn’t figured out how to use his limbs in unison. He kind of army crawls, but uses his frog legs when those toes are lucky enough to catch on the ground. Does this make sense? Just know that it’s cute. (and I write all this for me to remember, lets be honest)

-The least favorite trick that he’s picked up, grinding his teeth. I mean what the hell. 

And because you haven’t seen enough baby videos by now, here is Nixon’s personal favorite to watch