NYC pics...

There are from about a month ago when my parents and grandma were here. My dad mailed me a DVD of all the pics they took while they were here. I am just now getting around to posting them. There were sooooo many that I just had to narrow them down. Here are 25 pics from their trip. Thanks again mom and dad for driving all this way and helping us find a place and move in. We love and miss you! 

Pretty neat to see these Mormon ads all over NYC taxis!

This was just outside some grocery store and my dad thought it was funny... and it was.

This is on Roosevelt Island. This is our view of Manhattan.

This was a horse outside Central Park trying to eat...

John and I swinging like we were 5 years old. It was so fun!

I can't remember the name of this church. Mom help me out?

There were a ton of these benches made with pieces of glass. It was cool. I can't believe someone went to all this effort. They looked cool though.

The famous restaurant from Seinfeld.

This is just to show how packed my parent's van was. This was not even all of it!

This is outside our building.

Another view outside our apartment of Manhattan.

Having a  little picnic outside our apartment.

This is the guest suite at The Octagon we stayed in until our apartment was all cleaned and ready a few days later.

The day we moved into our apartment! All of our luggage and my parent's luggage! Wow...

A TV shot during Hurricane Irene. We stayed at home for 2 days because the weather got pretty bad outside!

Making due with a seat from the van because we couldn't go get furniture yet because the stores were all closed due to the Hurricane!

Some damage and flooding from the Hurricane.

The lighthouse area all flooded over.

This was a day or two later. All gone!

These are the spiral stairs inside the Octagon.

Mom wanted a pregnancy shot before she left. No makeup and all...

There is a tram here that takes you over to Manhattan. 

Beautiful skyline picture.

Scenes From a Birthday...

My birthday was really nice. Most of the day was spent relaxing and watching TV. John made a really yummy dinner with Muenster Chicken, Rice Pilaf and a Caesar Salad. I got a gift card to H&M to get some post maternity clothes from John's parents and some nice cards! For dessert, we went to River Walk Bar & Grill here on the Island. We got this delicious, decadent flour less Chocolate cake with ice cream on top. It was heavenly! It just melted in your mouth! I think I will be dreaming of this dessert a lot! I had a great day and felt special! Big thanks to John for making me dinner and being so sweet to me. I am very lucky! Here are a few photos according to my iPhone...

My pillows arrived!

John's mom shipped us some of our pillows from our old apartment. She also put in there a quilt we had and those two colorful bird artwork pictures. I'm so happy they arrived right in time for my b- day today! Yay! John put together the nightstands and now there is some more color in the bedroom. I put a yellow pillow on the chair in the living room to tie in the yellow from the taxi picture above our couch.

For my birthday, John made me breakfast this morning and he is making me dinner right now! Thanks babe! I think we will go get dessert at the River Walk Grill. I can't believe I'm 28! I feel so old! Well actually I sound old and feel like I'm 21 still. I guess that is good! ; ) Hope you all have a great weekend. We will be watching the BYU Vs. Utah game tonight. Go Cougars!

Baby Questions:

Okay moms I need your help! I really have no idea what I'm doing and what to get. Yes the baby is due in 6 weeks and we don't have any of the big stuff yet. We like to take our time. Haha. We did order a portable swing and a Puj tub the other day. I need your help and advice with a few other big items! 

We obviously don't have a car here in NY, but we need one for when he comes home from the hospital and if we ever take a taxi. We also need a stroller. I was originally thinking of getting a travel system so that I could just use the car seat inside of the stroller and not feel like it was a waste to get a car seat. Then I realized that they are pretty heavy and cumbersome. I need one that is lightweight and easily foldable for traveling on the subway and buses. I also need one that will work in the city and possibly the snow and rain. I don't wanna spend a lot of money, but we'd like a decent, safe one. We are thinking now that we will just get a Graco car seat and then buy one of those Snap N' Go stroller bases that we can attach the car seat to. They are inexpensive, lightweight, and have a large basket and cup holders. What do you think about that option? It will only work while he fits in the infant car seat, but that is until he is like 30 pounds. We'd like to keep both under $300.00. Or would you just get a lighter weight City Mini Jogger that can adapt a car seat into it? 

The other question I have is: Would you get a Pack N' Play with a bassinet insert for him to sleep in, or a jr. crib that is on wheels and can easily move from room to room? It's 35% smaller than a normal crib. We don't have room for a full size crib here. I don't think we need a baby monitor because we'll hear him easily with our one bedroom apartment. We don't need a bouncer and a swing right? Also, we have Bumbo with a tray already so we really won't need a highchair for awhile right? Anyway, any advice or any other suggestions are highly appreciated. Are there any other must have items that I'm not aware of? Thanks so much in advance!

Last question: Did you use a breast pump? If so, which brand, and did you get an electric or a manual pump? I have read that manual ones are just as good, if not more convenient and much less expensive.

P.S. I already have a Bjorn carrier and a Boppy! ; )

Lower Manhattan Touring

John's friend Jeff was staying with us for a couple of days. He wanted to go check out Lower Manhattan. He was only here for a limited amount of time so we thought he could see a lot of stuff there. We met him at the World Trade Centers. The 10 year anniversary is this Sunday so there is a lot of hoopla and media there right now. They are almost all done building them. It was really cool to see them. The last time I was there was a few months after it happened and was Ground Zero. They are opening a Memorial on Monday that you can get free tickets to. When John's parents come to meet the baby we wanna go and see it. Just for fun we wanted to get pics with the firemen and policemen. They were very kind to comply. Then we walked around Wall Street and the Financial District. We went to the Ship yard and Earth Wind and Fire were playing an outdoor show. It was funny to see how into them everyone was. It was a fun day and didn't rain like it was suppose to. Thanks for coming to visit Jeff!

It got really hot, so up went the hair. 

The firemen.

NYPD.

"Carlyle Street." I really miss her!

Some strange Shroom statue.

Some delicious pastries I didn't buy.