welcome back! (with a bang!)

or make that 10 bangs! I mean gunshots. "pop, pop, pop..."

ginny, b and I survived our second move within 1 month. we are far from settled and unpacked but the nasty, stinky apartment is history. good riddance. on the morning of the move I said to b "just you wait. the building will send up 1 old man to move us." (we were promised 3.) sure enough, the doorbell rang and there he was. 1 old man.

moving 2 floors down seems easy enough but when you have 1 old man it literally takes ALL DAY! plus the move was expensive - $300+. new boxes, tissue paper, packing tape, nanny, $ tip for the old man. b told him to use it for his medical bills. to be honest, I haven't seen our geriatric mover since he delivered our mattress. uh oh.

the only things we unpacked for our first night in the new digs were ginny's pjs and 2 wine glasses. it was while we were resting our sad invalid selves we heard the "pop, pop, pop..."
"what was that?!" (I knew it was a gun. I've heard that sound before.)

then complete and total chaos! "a cop shot!" hundreds of police below our window. men with bulletproof shields. ambulances! lots of them. helicopters! yes, plural. their spotlights beaming in our windows. familiar newscasters, photographers. the scene was straight out of a movie. really scary stuff. our little ginny slept through the entire ordeal. she's proving to be a true city girl.

come to find out there was an armed domestic dispute in the projects next door. 5 officers were at the scene when a pit bull was released and attacked the men. multiple shots were fired and the dog was killed. because the guns were at such a close range the bullet fragments injured 3 cops. an injured cop = lots and lots of drama.

NYC, we've missed you!

life (so far) in the big city

we're slowwwwwly getting settled and finding a routine. our apartment is still a disaster simply because we move again on tuesday. how sucky is THAT?! it's a real shame because I love our current space. the neighbors on our floor are awesome (except for selfish nasty smoker guy) and to have to move downstairs and clean yet another unit from top to bottom really doesn't make mama happy. but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. the smoke is really hideous and obviously very unhealthy. so what are we doing this glorious holiday weekend? not eating grilled veggie burgers and tofu pups or lighting sparklers and watching fireworks. PACKING! again. dammit.

go figure! why couldn't we have lived here when I was going through my IVF cycles? I can literally walk to cornell from our new digs. WALK! just a stone's throw away from my hero "new RE dr d." remember him? I wish we could attempt IVF #5 but it's not going to happen. talk about a missed opportunity.

speaking of IVF, here are a couple photos taken yesterday on the east river. fellow IVF baby "m" and ginny had a splendid play date in the park. it was very cool! m's mom will be cycling in feb with "new RE dr d" and I'm terribly jealous. I'm happy for her but I cannot deny those familiar pangs. we have all sorts of cornell "grads" scattered throughout the city. it's pretty funny because we each have a girl... or two ("m" is an nyu "grad.") as soon as the boxes are unpacked and the pictures are hung, I'm busting out the wine glasses and hosting a cornell "reunion" for all my peeps. there are currently 6 of us (8 little girls - includes 2 sets of twins) and we're always looking for new members!

yep! were finally here!

however, "here" is just temporary.

sorry for the long delay in posting. things are crazed.

we moved. and as expected, it sucked. it rained, the movers stunk and I had the expected freak-out. every single move in my adult life has sent me into emotion turmoil. the stress, the cost, the anticipation, the worry, "please be very careful with that!" it all guarantees dry heaves on moving day.

but were here! back in fab nyc! on some bizarre level it almost feels like we never left. yes, the upper east side is NOT my hood but it's ok. I think it will work. no, we don't sport the UES required bugaboo stroller but who cares. ginny is adapting beautifully and lulu is happy to be back on the streets (so many smells to smell.)

I'm alone. b is still 2 hours away in new haven wrapping up his fellowship. he sleeps in the call room and occasionally sneaks in late at night to shower and grab some clean clothes. we haven't seen him in days.

I've been working with 2 clients (TWO!) while simultaneously trying to find child care (which is a full time job.) I missed an important graduation party for b because I had to interview potential nannies.

"why do you want to be in child care?"

"because I don't want to work in a store."

next!

"NO! you cannot bring your friend to the interview!

candidates #11 and #12 were by far "the best." #1 - #10 sucked. it figures I'd find the the decent ones sunday night at 6:30 pm. interviewing is hard work and exhausting. trying to find someone to care for our precious miracle is incredibly dificult! who do you really trust?

so we're unpacked about 90% and ... get this... we have to move... again! our crap ass shitty neighbor smokes incessantly. the second hand smoke is literally seeping through the walls. this is no good for ginny. we gotta go! pedi's orders. so we battled it out with our building and we will be moving 2 floors down on 7 july. the whole thing is just plain sucky. (that's an entirely separate post.)

but in the meantime, here's the view from ginny's bedroom. all pretty and sparkly at night. cool as hell!

lil update

very little.

b and I are up to our eyeballs in bubble wrap, newsprint, cardboard boxes and tissue paper. the nyc move is this thursday (11 june) 8 am. we still have a ways to go with all this packing bullsh*t. I hate it!

I won't be posting for a few days and will be unable to catch up with all your updates. next post will be from manhattan, usa (complete with photos!) I can't wait! wooohooooo!

and we already have plans for friday night! ny, we've missed you!

:)

favorite things - tuesday edition

wine! hey, if you can't BF then the occasional glass and/or bottle is good (for a stressed out individual and her dear husband.) we dig this label (I'm a packaging designer) however the actual wine is mediocre. and the typography is pretty crappy. oh well. but we love the idea. these days we are thoroughly enjoying the yellow tail sparkling. it's cheap and brilliant with grilled shrimp.




































now that it's warm and sunny we love this! the sun shade is breathable and blocks out 98% of UV rays. we don't need ginny's beautiful pale skin to get burned! it's simple to attach and it folds up teeny tiny when the sun sets. good stuff!

where did the baby go?

it now appears that we have a little girl. a tiny person that loves the swing and yellow wildflowers. the changes at 8 - 9 months are pretty dramatic. every single day we notice something new (like another tooth) and unexpected (we have a belly sleeper!) simply amazing. note to self: the first thing we do in nyc is babyproof. yes, it's that time.

this weekend we added "grown-up" foods. ginny's menu included whole wheat macaroni, chick peas, cheese and cous cous. she sits in her high chair and eats banana chunks and puffs like a champ (while simultaneously treating lulu.) I think the frenchie appreciates ginny now.

b had sunday off. we took a well deserved 2 hour break from packing and went to the park. what a glorious day. sunny, warm, slight breeze -- perfection. the little girl loved it!

9 months! NINE!

how is this possible? what a shame that the first few months are a big blur.

yesterday's pedi appointment stats:
20 lbs 13 oz (83 %ile)
27.4" tall (43 %ile)

for some reason I thought she was pushing 24+ lbs and was much taller. her buddy isabel (12 months old) is a tiny peanut next to ginny. so why are we buying (and fitting into) 18 month clothes?

our birthday girl loves to wave, eat finger foods, giggle, play patty cakes, say mama and uh oh. but with all these new and exciting milestones comes some separation/stranger anxiety. not so fun. the best is when b comes home from work and ginny absolutely lights up when she sees him. it's amazing to watch. love it!

here she is on our favorite play mat. it's got a mirror, plush toys and squeaky things built right into it. very cute and so entertaining. the panda (also from ikea) is her new best friend (sorry lulu.)

click on the photo and you can really see her chubster legs. wow!