Update on Natalie K

I keep thinking, I need to write a little bit about our little Natalie girl. Amid all of our comings and goings, she's been such a lovely little baby girl! She's just been growing so fast, I'm afraid if I blink, I'm going to miss it!

I just want to put up a few of my favorite pictures of her, and some that show how she's growing. First, this one of Grandma Eva and my two girls is just precious...

Next, look at this big girl, eating her first rice cereal!!

My mom and dad came right before our move, and we decided we'd give her some cereal and see how she liked it. She loved it! It's been fun to have a little "dinner" for her every day now.

Even Samantha got to "help" feed her a few bites. Yum!!

With all our travelling, this sweet pea has spent a LOT of time her car seat. Despite her funny little look (she just woke up in this one), she's actually been pretty content to just sit and play with her toys, thank goodness!!

We did finally get Natalie in the pool one night here, when Brian was able to join us for a few minutes. She loved it! And, I love this picture of her and Daddy.

The whole crew, just before Natalie got mauled by her siblings...

She has the cutest little tootsies I've ever kissed! And, we get to see them alllll the time, because she is the BEST at getting off any socks and shoes we put on her...

Samantha has been soooo helpful with her, especially here in NY. She's always getting me a diaper, or putting in Natalie's pacifier, even when I don't ask. I love having my 5-year-old helper friend!!

Hee hee. Didn't know Brian took this picture of Natalie getting her bath. She has such a cute little chubby tummy! Wish it was summer so we could leave her in just a diaper a bit more often, and show of the chubs...

Forgot to include her little room in my post about our "posh" place. She sleeps in the master closet. Thank goodness it's a walk-in! It really has made our stay sooo much more enjoyable, to have a separate space for her...

And truth be told, I don't think she minds it much. Notice how she's sideways in her crib? One of her new tricks...

And, another new trick. She rolled over for the first time today! Yay!! We've been waiting and waiting for her to roll, and finally... she did it when no one was watching. Sad, huh? But she did it again for us, just to prove that she CAN!

Happy girl, right after she rolled...

We sure do love having this sweet babe around here!

Oh, one last one, because Spencer begged me to take a picture of his slippers today...

Gotta love Thomas the Train, eh?

And Nattie K, as we often call her. :)

Posh Place

Isn't "posh" a fun word? I've always liked it.

When I was working in London, my colleagues and I took a quiz from one of their UK "People" magazines, to see how "posh" we all were. I failed it, naturally -- being an American and all; it's just the way things are, of course. But my boss (who is anything but snobby or ritzy) aced the test. She was definitely considered "posh" --- did her shopping at Waitrose and such.

Well, that has nothing to do with anything, except that I always think of her and that silly quiz when I use the word posh. Anyway, I've had requests for more pictures of our posh temp housing place. So. Here they are...

Our little dining nook, complete with red roses that we bought today for Brian (but we're keeping them here, to remind us of him... Sammie's idea. ha!)

Kitchen, with granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, the cutest little dw I've ever seen, and a peek-through window to the living room (a feature that I've always wanted, something I'm definitely putting in a dream home wish list, for someday)...

Looking from the dining area into the living room. I love the wood color. Very warm...

Our little reading corner and flat screen in the bedroom...

Another angle on the dining room. Leather cushions on the chairs. I never would have thought of it, for a dining room. But it's perfect for the kids -- so easy to clean!

Master bathroom -- don't look too close, I didn't clean it. (Hall bath looks the same... use your imagination)...

Office area and flatscreen in the living room. That lovely little TV has shown more than its fair share of Cars and Dora this week!!

Another angle on our reading area, with the lovely king size bed in the mirror, unmade and ready to dive into, of course. :)

And one last one, of me, and the little "reason" I'm up at 1 a.m. taking pictures and posting bits about our posh place...

Posh or not, Natalie decided she wasn't happy tonight, poor little chica! So, looks like Brian's the not the only one missing some precious hours of sleep tonight. Sigh.

Anyway, it's a fun place to stay, if you ask me!! I'd add some curtains, cushy slippers to help me get used to the hardwood, a fan in the bathroom, and bigger sample sizes of their super spendy, lovely Molten Brown shampoos and soaps. Ha! :)

Post Script

Hi.

Just a note before bed tonight. Just in case anyone reads that last post I read and gets a little starry-eyed for us, with so many "ups" to report in one sitting... Well, I thought I'd quickly report that life goes on as usual this evening, charmed as it may seem at times...

-- Brian called around 5p.m. and said he'd be working till at least midnight, no surprise "goodnight" visit for the kids tonight, bummer.

-- Spencer refused to eat half his dinner, then accidentally choked on an extra big bite and threw up the other half all over himself, his blanket, and the chair.

-- We had to wait to wash the blanket, since both washers and dryers were in use.

-- Natalie refused to take her bottle before we went to the pool (was too distracted, I guess), so then she cried the entire time we swam -- which wasn't very long, because she was crying. Then Spencer cried because we had to leave the pool.

-- Showers after the pool = Natalie screamed on my bed while Sammie, Spence and I got showered; Spencer pooped in the shower (a big nasty mess) and screamed about it for several minutes; Sammie refused a hairwash and I was too exhausted to fight her on that one.

-- Samantha perpetuated the mess around here with her "towel forts" (since there's a surplus of towels and a shortage of blankets), her bendaroos on every surface -- most especially the front door, and her many artworks scattered across the desk, table, and dressers.

-- We watched "Cars" (for the 25th time since we got here last week!) while we waited for BaBa (the blanket) to dry out, so Spence would go to sleep happily. At 9:30 p.m.

-- Out of dishwasher detergent, so I just did all the dishes from the last two days by hand.

-- And it's still raining/snowing. Cold.

Yep. Life goes on, as usual. And I'm glad this rainy day is pretty much over now!

NYC -- We made it!

Hard to believe, we've been in New York for a whole week already! It has seriously flown by, and I'm not even sure what to blog about it. But before I get further behind, I better add a little something here, eh? So, I thought I'd just answer some of the questions people keep asking me...

How did the move go??

It went really smoothly. I was sad to see all our stuff boxed up, but hey, at least we didn't have to move it all, (some stayed behind), and at least movers helped!

We left a lot of our furniture, since we only plan to be gone a year or two. That made it feel not quite so empty when we got everything boxed up. For those who don't know, our Aunt Cindy (who also happens to be our very good friend), is staying in our house while we're away. We're so glad she's willing to stay there and hope all goes well for her! One more pic of the house, getting packed up...

How was the flight?

It was great, considering how crazy it might have been, flying solo with three kids. Brian's parents took us to the airport, which was really helpful -- we never would have made it through check-in without their extra arms to hold all our stuff! :) When we first got in the check-in line, we were told that our flight to SLC was delayed by two hours, which meant we'd totally miss our connection to NYC. I got a sinking feeling, wondering what kind of day it would be!? But the customer service people worked with us really nicely, and rerouted us through St. Paul, and we only arrived one hour later than our original schedule, not bad! They even put us on the front row for one leg of the flight, which gave me tons of room to help the kids. whew! The kids were great, really. No fits, no crying, nothing. At one point, about 2 hrs into the flight, Spencer said, "I want to get off now, and go to the airport." I had him look out the window, and he realized it'd be a long way down to "get off now." So, he waited patiently the rest of the time. :)

Here we are at the airport, the only picture I took of our "flight" right before we checked in...

Confession: I've developed a phobia in the past few years. I really, really hate flying when there is the slightest bit of turbulence. It didn't bother me when I was younger and single. But something about being up there with my babies, I just get so anxious when there's even a little bit of a bumpy patch. I had a few sleepless nights before we left, wondering how the flight would be. But I also had some good prayers, and thankfully, we had a very smooth flight, all the way to NYC! Whew!!

Brian met us at the airport, and I forgot to take pictures. But it was wonderful to see him and be with him again. Almost six weeks apart, tooooo long!!

How's the temporary housing?
Before we left, Samantha and Spencer were staying with a friend while I took Natalie to a doctor's appointment. Sammie told our friend, "We'll be staying in an assisted living place when we first get there." Ha! Our friend asked her if she meant, temporary housing? "Oh yeah," Sam said. "I guess I get them mixed up sometimes." :)

Brian's work is putting us up for these first two weeks, so we can look for a house and get ourselves settled here. It's a really nice place, with cherry-wood hardwood floors, and flatscreen tvs in the living room and both bedrooms. We're loving it!! I took a couple of pictures after we'd been here about five minutes....

That's right... Spencer made himself right at home, blanket and all...

he kids' bedroom has a king size bed. I've found Samantha watching cartoons, with a box of cereal under the covers with her, two different mornings. Livin' the good life, eh? :)

Did we make it to the St Patrick's Day Parade?

Yes we did! And it was a great "welcome to New York" event! Brian couldn't join us, so it was just me and the kids, that first morning after we had arrived. We piled into the sit-n-stand stroller (our new best friend!!), and I wheeled all three kids down to the parade. Not the best pictures, but here we are....

Each of the kids got a "head ride" for a little while, so they could see over the crowds. Samantha took this one of me and Spence, having his head ride...

And here's Natalie. She didn't have much of a view, but well... She looked cute in her little green St. Pattys Day shirt, I must say!

I read online before we came, that the NYC St. Pattys parade is the longest, oldest St P parade in the world. (Of course, this was on the official NY St.P parade website, so they may have been "stretching" some facts, perhaps?) But it was fun to be part of it. Mostly, I wanted to get there because it marked an anniversary of sorts for me...

Ten years ago on St. Patrick's Day, my best friend, Alicia, and I were in NYC together, shortly after we had moved to Boston. Alicia was getting laser surgery on her eyes in NY, and I was the driver. We stayed with Alicia's old roommate, on a tiny futon in her tiny apartment in the Bronx. We went site seeing on St. Patricks Day, and just happened into the parade that day. Someone gave us green bandanas, which we wore the rest of the day, as we walked around the city. It was such a fun trip... we walked between the World Trade Centers and got a donut in the Krispy Creme shop at the bottom (March 2001, before 9/11), we got tix from a scalper to see Annie Get Your Gun, or something like that, with Reba McEntire. We had someone take our picture together on top of the Empire State Building. (I wish I had thought to scan that picture... I ran into it when I was packing for this move.) It was my first trip to New York, and I was astonished, amazed, and intimidated by the big city! I remember thinking, "New York is NOT the place for me!" As much as I loved being the tourist and seeing the sites, I felt a bit like a fish-out-of-water.

And now... ten years to the day... I found myself at the St. Patrick's Day parade once again, this time with three kids in tow... moving to New York. Wow. Who knew?! Another confession: I still feel like a fish-out-of-water. But I've discovered in the past ten years that I'm much more adaptable than I thought I was. :)

A couple picts of the actual parade...

Look how tall this guy is (below)... he shoulda been a ball player instead of a piper! ha!!

Next question...

How's the house hunt?

Great! We found a place and signed a lease yesterday!! Yay! It's in Harrison (Westchester County), which will be about a 45-50 minute commute for Brian on the train. It's up the coast, just about 10-15 mins drive to the beach. We're very excited to have found a place so quickly -- and one that "ticks all our boxes" too!! I went looking at several options the first Thursday afternoon when we just arrived. We put an offer in on something the next day, but it fell through. Then on Saturday I looked again with no luck. Sunday morning our agent called to tell us about a property we had somehow "missed," even though it's right the area we've been looking. So, we went and saw it, put an offer in on Monday morning, and... here it is....

I can't figure out how to post the pictures of the inside, but it looks great, inside and out! It's a duplex, and I think an older couple lives next door. That garage and driveway are ours, and the whole left side of the house. It's a split entry, with three bedrooms and lots of storage upstairs, and a kitchen, living room, and laundry downstairs. There's a big deck on the back, and a fenced back yard to share with the neighbors. All this for a VERY reasonable price -- $700-800 per month less than we were hoping/expecting. We're celebrating!!

What else have we been up to?

Swimming in the pool at our fancy-pants place...

Every day except Sunday, so far!

Natalie has spent most of her pool time "observing." I got her in her suit the first day, but then I realized, if I'm holding Spencer (his floaties don't work worth beans), and I'm watching Samantha (her floaties work, but still...) Well, sorry, Nat.

She repaid me by blowing out in her not-so-protective swim diaper. All. over. her. carseat. uggg.

We've had fun watching the street performers....

Elmo was right on the corner near Central Park. Poor Spence went running up to him, and tripped on his own feet and wiped out royally! He didn't end up hugging Elmo, but instead bawled in my arms while Sammie got her picture with Elmo...

And yes, I took a picture of him in his embarrassing moment. Mean Mom. And gave Elmo 50 cents for causing a commotion in front of him for a few mins -- bad for the business, ya know?

We've been gawking at all the schwanky stores that we'll probably never go into...

And all the super-tall skyscrapers... Some of them are truly works of art!!

We also spent a lovely afternoon in Central Park last Friday. It got up to 72 degrees! (It's back to 30-something-and snowing today, oh well.)

Here's the way we travel. Gotta love the sit-n-stand, though it's quite the HEAVY load when they're all three riding!!

The kids LOVED the sandbox at the kids' playground in Central Park. I was relieved when they both decided to dig -- right beside me -- so I didn't have to try to keep an eye on them in the THRONGS of people that came to the park for that first sunny day of the season.

Samantha posed for this picture. It was her last request -- to climb on the rocks in Central Park -- before we had to go back to our apartment.

Other than that, we've also spent lots of time just lounging in our place, watching cartoon network, coloring, and playing with bendaroos. :)

I better sign off for now, or I'll make this soooo long no one will ever read the whole thing, and then I'll not get a single comment. ;) Bye for now!