Catching Up!

On Friday, June 1st, Eric and I had our 30 week doctor's appointment. During the appointment, I was weighed (still at the 12 pound weight gain mark), had my blood pressure taken (perfect!), had my belly measured (30.5 cm. at 30 weeks - perfect!) and heard the heartbeat of our sweet boy (a perfect 145)! Because of a fender-bender I was in the night before (NOT my fault!) we also had an ultrasound and a non-stress test. The ultrasound was awesome because it had been 10 weeks since we last had one! Our little man was much more defined and we verified that YES, it's STILL a boy! :) The ultrasound tech told us that we have a very hairy little boy (something not typically noticed so well at that stage!) During the ultrasound he was showing off for all of us! He was very proud of his flexibility - he was resting his face on a hand and a foot on his forehead! The non-stress test was also a success! It showed that I was not contracting and also a very healthy heart rate! Even though the car accident was very scary, it was very minor and there were no injuries! We were so thankful that we happened to be going to the doctor the next day anyway.

On Monday, June 4th, Eric and I left for vacation with my family. The six of us flew to New York City for the week! We had a blast! Even though it was a bit tiring, we had some great experiences and will have many memories of our little guy's first vacation to NYC!

The first night we were there, we went to Grand Central Station and walked around for a while and then we ate dinner at Serendipity (yes, it's the restaurant from the movie!) The food was great and we had the frozen hot chocolate - FABULOUS! Kate Beckinsale and Molly Shannon shared some in the movie and Oprah also raved over it during one of her "Favorite Things" episodes! We also learned that the movie "One Fine Day" had a scene filmed at the restaurant.

We really tried to see all of the major New York City sites (as many as we physically could in 4 1/2 days). We walked past Ground Zero, which wasn't much to look at but it was an emotional time. We walked through Trinity Church, which was really pretty. We walked past the New York Stock Exchange and the bull, and we walked Wall Street.

We spent some time in Times Square, during the day and at night. We walked 5th Ave. and spent time looking in all the windows of the expensive stores! We saw the NY Public Library, Rockefeller Center, NBC Studios, Radio City Music Hall, David Letterman's studios, and Hello Deli, which is often featured on David Letterman. We ate at Carnegie Deli. We saw "The Color Purple" on Broadway, which was awesome! Fantasia from American Idol was the star of the show and she was fantastic! We all loved the show and I think we all (including the guys) got teary eyed! It was an awesome show and I would suggest anyone go see it. Just make sure you don't take young children! :) We spent some time in Chinatown (wheeling and dealing!) as well as Little Italy! We ate in Little Italy twice and it made me want to go back to the REAL Italy!

One night we went up to the top of the Empire State Building (which was WAY out of my mother's comfort zone, but really awesome for the rest of us!) It was a clear, beautiful night but VERY windy and chilly! I don't know if you can tell in this picture but we were cold and windblown! The view from the top is amazing and it was neat to walk all the way around and see the city below. I did have a scary moment while at the top. After I had seen all I wanted to see outside, I was waiting inside with my mom and trying to keep warm. We were standing there looking at a map and all of a sudden I felt water dripping on my foot. I looked down to see what it was and there was a puddle DIRECTLY under me. My mom and I both froze and didn't say a word for what seemed like minutes. We both felt our hearts stop! I finally looked up and saw there was a drip from the ceiling but for several moments, my mom and I both thought my water broke at the top of the Empire State Building! Wouldn't that have been a story to tell our little guy! I am SO glad there was a leak in the ceiling! WHEW!

We walked through several parks and there were always tons of people in the parks. That was something that really stood out to all of us because it seems like the parks around here aren't really utilized as much as they are in NYC. On hot days, we even saw people lying out in their bathing suits! There were people running through the parks. There were children playing in the parks. There were usually dog parks within the larger parks. We went through Central Park, Madison Square Park, Bryant Park, Battery Park, Washington Square Park, and Union Square Park.

One of the highlights of the week was being on Good Morning America. We had to be there at 6:15 in the morning and wait outside in line. We were chosen to go inside and be in the studios during the taping of the show. The co-hosts that morning were Robin Roberts, Chris Cuomo, and Debra Roberts. Diane Sawyer was out on assignment. While in the studios, there was an audience coordinator named Samantha who was "running the show" for the audience members. She referred to me the whole morning as "Pregnant Lady". Let me tell ya, it paid to be pregnant! We were given privileges that would not have happened had I not been pregnant. The end of the show was taped outside so about 8:40, Samantha had some people from the show get "pregnant lady" and her family and we got to be the first audience members outside to choose our spot. We luckily chose a spot DIRECTLY behind the hosts! And afterwards, I got to get my picture taken with Chris Cuomo! It was really cool! If anyone knows me at all, they know I can get pretty star struck so it was neat for me to get my picture with a TV news anchor! Other celebrities we saw in New York were Matt Lauer (from the Today show), Rupert from Hello Deli, Eric Stromer (the Carpenter from the TV show "Clean Sweep"), and we think Montel Williams!

Another highlight of the week was a cruise around the southern tip of Manhattan. It was a sunset cruise so it was a bit chilly, but very beautiful! We got to see lots of different landmarks in Manhattan as well as several different famous sites in New Jersey. Some of the major ones include Ellis Island, Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, Statue of Liberty, and the World Trade Center site.

Everything about the trip was incredible! We saw and did so many great things and it seemed as though we were going to have a "perfect" trip. Well, we were to fly out at 6:30 on Friday night. When we got to the airport, we learned our flight had been delayed an hour due to some computer glitches that actually affected the whole east coast. So, we sat down and had some dinner and checked on things after that. We then learned that our flight had been cancelled so after much debate and trying to figure out what would be best for the six and a half of us, we decided we should just rent a car and drive home. We were not guaranteed to get out of NYC on Saturday and we were all ready to get home! So instead of arriving at the Indy airport at 9:25 on Friday night, we arrived at 12 noon on Saturday afternoon! It was a long car ride and Eric got to drive through downtown Manhattan on Friday night so it was (needless to say) eventful! We were all so glad to get back to Indiana and take a shower! It was a long journey home but it was the end of a fabulous week! Now you are all caught up! Eric and I have another appointment this Friday so we will keep you updated! Love to you all...