my big adventure! (guest post by jack)

This weekend I took a ride on an airplane!

Mommy and Daddy took me to New York City!
I got to meet my Grandpa Spuches
And I got to see my Grandma Spuches again. I remember her because she was at the hospital when I was born.
My Daddy took me to some of the places where he used to play when he was a little boy
I even got to ride in a taxi!
I had to take a couple of naps. Luckily Mommy is very comfortable to nap on.
Then I took a bath in the big boy tub!
The next day, Mommy and Daddy took me to the place where they had their very first date. (They got all mushy over it.)
And also their first apartment together.
I also got to meet my Uncle Tim
And my other Uncle Tim (I let him wear my hat but I think it looks better on me)
And my Aunts and Cousins

And my Uncle Jack (he has a greeeeaaaat name)
Finally, it was time to go home. Daddy drove us to the airport.
So I took another nap
Then we took another airplane home. I got hungry on the way so I tried to eat Daddy's face.

That trip was really fun but it was nice to be home and put my jammies on and play with my toys again.

Today is one of those days I prefer to not talk too much about. Chris and I were living within walking distance of the WTC on this day in 2001 and everything about it is etched in my memory yet I prefer to keep it buried somewhere in the back where it no longer burns with the sounds and smells and feelings that dominated that long, long, never-ending day.

This morning I did my best to stay away from the whole TV drama but they got me when I was in the car, driving on the highway and the radio station where I usually go to for a laugh started to play a montage of news clips from that day. That is what really gets me; the voices of the people, the eyewitnesses, and their reactions, their horror, their fear, their confusion about what they were witnessing. Grown men in tears. The shrieks of the crowds of people on the street as they watched people jump out of windows and then finally, the giant buildings pancake to the ground in a gut-wrenching thud thud thud thud thud. (and worse, the silence that enveloped the city afterwards.) Maybe this is what gets to me the most because I was one of those eyewitnesses but as it was happening, I didn't shriek or cry. I was numb. I could not grasp the enormity of what was going on and I remember not really feeling it for hours afterwards, when I finally had a meltdown and cried for it all. It was way too much to take in at once and now, 7 years later, it is way too much to relive.

This morning I cried while driving down the highway and I rubbed my belly and wished I could promise to protect Kumar from all the bad things of the world but if this day taught us anything, it was that nobody can protect anyone from bad things happening. Some of the best people in the world had to go through the most unimaginable last minutes of their lives that day and nobody could protect them from it.

So instead, I promised Kumar that I would teach him about the bad but also teach him to be kind and generous and sweet and that if he surrounds himself with all those things, he can push the bad things to the back of his mind where they are safer, and still live a happy life. And his mama and daddy will always do their best to protect him from the bad things. And hopefully we can.

i'll take sharks and jellyfish any day

In my sickness, I stumbled across this video. I would like some input as to what the heck this thing is.

Anyone? Anyone?

i heart ny

Since I moved to Miami 4 years ago, I have gone back to NY at least twice a year, either for work or to see my family and friends, or preferably, both.
While Miami now feels like home, I still miss NY at times, and it's always nice to go back for a visit. After a couple of days though, I always want to be home. While Miami has craziness in its own way, in NY you are thrown into peoples lives in a much more personal way. Riding the subway, walking on the street, people are right next to you and usually not afraid to share their craziness.
This trip was no different.

*The strangeness began early, when on the plane, a well dressed man passed by my seat and I noticed he was walking around barefoot. And then he went into the bathroom. Of the plane. Barefoot.

*On the subway, a nicely dressed woman with her kid and and her well-manicured nails have stickers on her middle fingers that says "Queen".

*The human karaoke. A guy walking down 9th Ave. Sunday, brunch time with a box on his back that plays music and a microphone into which he is sing/screaming.

*A guy in a fancy-schmancy men's clothing store having an honest-to-goodness debate over the merits of laundering vs. dry cleaning dress shirts. The most memorable part was: " OK, let me get this straight, you are sanctioning using the machine and hanging to dry?" Like the shop owner was sharing a state secret.

*Guy walking down 42nd St wearing a shirt that says "Mo Money- Mo Bi*$^#es". It's nice to see he has priorities.

*Dude in a skirt. Walking his dog and carrying a purse. In SoHo on Sunday, Oh yes.

The best part of the whole trip was getting to see my friends and I will really miss the girls at Missoni so much. At least the clothes were memorable:



**Joy and the amazing green-bean jumpsuit.


**Corie and the most incredible jumpsuit ever conceived. It even inspired a song - written by Corie herself. Maybe she will email me the words. It was genius.

precisely the size of a small scallop

Luckily, the airline came through for me yesterday and I arrived home right on time. It was so nice to see Chris and Chewy again and to crawl into my bed after the long week and longer night before.

See, for some reason Wednesday night, I decided it would be a good idea to have some scallops for dinner. I've been eating scallops for years, with no problems at all, but the last time I ate them I got very sick, throwing up, the whole deal, but that was a year ago and Wednesday night they were on the menu and I thought, YUM!

Well, not so yum. About 4 hours after eating them, I was woken up with a not-so-good-feeling in my stomach and I won't go into details but I'll just say it was an ugly hour or so.

Somehow I was able to sleep for a few hours and get up and pack my things and get to the job on time, crackers in tow, feeling a bit worse than I have most mornings, but it was my last day at the job and I knew a car would be picking me up for the airport at 2:00 and I think that's what kept me going.

There really is no place like home.

This morning, Chris and I went together to the Dr. and he assured me that The Scallop Incident should have no ill-effects on Kumar and then we did the ultrasound.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Kumar and his happy, proud, excited and(slightly) overwhelmed parents:

(you can click on the photos to make them bigger.)
His head is the big thing to the right and you can make out an arm, as well as his little flipper feet to the left.

Isn't he the most beautiful little baby you've ever seen??

where the hea(r)t is

According to AOL, it is 86 degrees in Miami right now.
It is 8:48 at night.

I will be home tomorrow night (as long as the airline does not have a nervous breakdown as it did this weekend when Chris flew home) and it will be a huge change considering it is 65 and raining in NY right now.

No matter, it will be so very nice to be home. This has been a long week.


**Full trip round-up this weekend including pictures I could not upload from my camera because stupid head forgot her cord.

not looking forward to the weigh-in at the dr. friday

If this week in NY has accomplished anything, it was to help take my mind off of early pregnancy and constantly Google-ing about every little twinge and feeling, but on the subway yesterday, there was a woman standing in front of me that was about 6-7 months along and it was all I could do to stop staring at her belly and thinking,

"I am really going to look like that in a couple of months."
(or-the way I've been eating this week-days)

Huh.
Weird.

blubber

Hi there. Yes, I am still alive and still in NY. Things have just been very very busy and I have been very very tired but happy nonetheless.

Today I was able to sleep in because it's my one day off during this trip, however Kumar has been having other ideas. I have woken up every morning I've been here between 5-6AM starving and unable to go back to sleep until I eat something and it's making me wonder; is it too early to give my child a time-out? To ground him? How about just a stern talking to? Because I'm as tired as I can be, yet the hunger overcomes all other needs at all times, and it makes no difference to him that the sun is barely up and I have to wake up at 7 can't-you-just-wait-2-more-hours-please?!?!?!?!?

So, I woke up at 5:15 this morning and then went back to sleep until 7 when my alarm went off (forgot to turn it off) and then around 8:30, I finally gave up and got up for good.

Today I had to address the problem that some of the clothes I brought with me on this trip are just not fitting properly, especially pants but even some shirts, so I had to go do some clothes shopping this afternoon. The problem is, anything that looks decent now is going to be way too small in a couple of months but anything I buy with room to grow looks kind of silly now.
So, I had a hard time and ended up getting a cute dress that will be too small in a couple months (but I love it and will wear it later) and a pair of comfy linen cargo-type pants that are a size 8(!!) that fit well if I let them fall on the hips and I guarantee I will be living in in a few months.

I wanted to get more and maybe I will this week but shopping has never been so hard before. This is just such a weird time because I don't really look pregnant, just like I've been having way too many burgers.

There are worse problems I could have.

tired and hungry

The last few days have not been too horrible. Except today when I was starving in the afternoon and went to eat the second half of the sandwich I was saving and then dropped it on the floor. The floor that about 40,000 people had been walking on.

Then the last client showed up an hour and a half late and we had to stay an extra 40 minutes so by the time I got out, I was beyond starving and rushed to Hale & Hearty and had an awesome coconut chicken soup with bread and I sat there and ate it alone in the place like it was my first meal in weeks. And that's what it felt like.

So now I am sitting in my room, waiting for my burrito and then I am off to sleep again. This is going to be a tiring week but at least I am feeling quite well after the initial every-morning-forced-feeding until I feel not nauseous.

And tomorrow I am bringing extra food just in case something hits the floor. Because right now, having a full belly is priority #1.

It's the little things I tell you.

city living

So - here I am in NY. The Big Apple. The City that Never Sleeps. (OK I'll stop now)

The weather is quite pleasant - if a little on the cool side. I took a nice long walk from my agency (27 St between 6&7 Aves) to the Whole Foods Market (7 Ave & 24 St) all the way back to where I'm staying, at 43rd & 10th, with stops along the way to pick up various food items and to get me through the next week. It's strange because the things I just though of as "life" when I was living here just seem like such a huge pain in the behind and I especially can't imagine doing this with a kid or 2. Just going shopping with a stroller and diaper bag and grocery bags and a screaming kid is so much more difficult in the city and more power to those moms that do it every day but I don't want to be her.
One cool thing I saw today is that Whole Foods has a free service where they will take you and your groceries home by pedi-cab. If you live in Chelsea, that's a pretty good deal because I remember dreading carrying groceries home from the store and having to always be careful of how much you buy at once so it wouldn't be too heavy to carry.
Good times...

Anyway, I am feeling pretty good today, if a little tired, and I think this week might be OK after all. I plan on bringing a TON of food with me tomorrow to supplement the (usually) amazing lunch this client provides and as long as I get enough sleep every night, I think I'll be OK.
We will see.

if i can maaaake it there....

So I am headed off to the big city tomorrow and while I am really excited to see old friends again and make some money, I am a wee bit scared of the general digestive troubles I have been having for oh-about 100 years now. (OK- it's been 2-3 weeks but I wish I could remember a morning that I woke up without feeling like I spent the night drinking tequila (nausea) and licking cats' butts (pregnancy causes your nose to stuff up quite often so I am forced to mouth-breathe in my sleep, also I am always thirsty because I now consume about 99% of the World's stores of salt every day.)

Every morning, I wake up and
Step 1-reach over and grab one of the two glasses of water I keep next to the bed, then the bag of crackers next to that, and shove some of those crackers down my throat, trying not to gag too much and wait. Next, once the crackers have soaked in a little, I go to
Step 2-eat some cereal. Then more crackers.

Then, and only then, can I get dressed and walk the dog.
Walking the dog actually makes me feel a little better most days, which is a good thing, but not when I-really-don't-FEEEEEL-like-walking-the-dog-why-can't-Chris-just-do-it-ok-i'll-go-and-shut-up-now.

Therefore, I am going to have to get up at least 30 minutes earlier than usual just to be able to fell well enough to get up and take a shower. Hopefully, the days will be semi-easy, with a couple of breaks throughout in order to take power naps, and really the biggest concern I have is for my stomach. It is not small.



**Yes- I am aware that at 8 weeks, this is in no way baby-bumpage, but it is what it is and yes, I *am* sucking it in, thankyouverymuch...
Fingers crossed, there won't be a lot of swimsuits this time around.