Happy Thanksgiving!!

We just finished watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade... and for all of you who are just now starting to watch it, it was just as magical as ever. Enjoy it! I have always enjoyed watching this parade, but somehow being in NYC makes it even more special to me.

Maybe it's because we went last night to the Inflation Celebration to see all the balloons getting blown up. Us and all the rest of the city, that is. The crowds were crazy, but there was something about just having the opportunity to be a part of the madness that was so special to me. We live here in this amazing city, where amazing events happen on a daily basis, and we get to be a part of it. Last night, it was like we had backstage passes to one of the most famous productions of the year. This morning as we were watching the parade begin, I could just imagine all the floats and marching bands lined up along central park west, with the balloons on either side of the Museum of Natural History, awaiting their turn to join with the rest of the parade.

Maybe it's that I love seeing the places that I've been so many times, all dressed up and on tv, looking so special and inviting. Just seeing the entrance to Macy's on 34th, adorned with trees and "Believe" that we saw them putting up just a week or two ago... it made me happy. I love that we will be going there next week to visit Santa before we head out for our holiday travels.

Whatever the reason is, I love it. Especially when Santa makes his entrance, which for me signifies the beginning of the Christmas season. I have kept myself from putting up our Christmas decorations until today, and now that Santa has come, I feel like I am totally justified in putting them up. Can't wait!

As for the whole purpose of this post... Thanksgiving, I have much to be thankful for. First of all, I am thankful for all of my friends who have blogged on a daily basis about the things they are gratful for. It has helped me to reflect on all the little (and big) things that I am grateful for.

Such as the fact that I don't even notice anymore how old our little apartment is. I have actually learned to love our home and our neighborhood and have become quite proud of it.

For all of the wonderful friends that I have made in the city. That many of those friends are not members of the church, two of which are my closest friends here in the city. Before we came out here, I prayed for wonderful friends. I guess I always just assumed that my best friends that I would talk to and do things with on a daily basis would be in my ward, so it kind of surprised me that it didn't turn out exactly that way, but I would never change it. It's one of those things that I don't think I would have known to choose, but it just shows that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and knows what, and who we need in our lives. I have learned so much about other religions and faiths and have learned to be so much more open minded, and not just tolerant, but accepting and loving. Just to be clear, I also have wonderful friends in my ward too!!

My darling boys. They both keep me laughing all day and help me to learn things that I know I couldn't learn any other way.

My wonderful husband who is so patient with me and the kids, and makes sure that he comes home to play with them. He is such a hard worker with school and really does go above and beyond. I know that he will provide for us and make sure that we are always taken care of. Even when things have been so uncertain, I have never felt an ounce of fear about our future, or questioned Nate's ability to get a good job and provide for us... however that might happen. I am so grateful that he is a strong, worthy priesthood holder and that he loves the gospel. I am also thankful that he makes me laugh. I may roll my eyes at him a lot, but I can't deny that I think he is very fun.

Most of all I am so thankful for the gospel and for my savior Jesus Christ. I don't know where I would be without it in my life. I know that the gospel brings true happiness, and I just hope and pray that Nate and I will be able to help our kids feel the same way about it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope it was a fabulous day full of delicious food and wonderful friends and family.

PS Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I am too lazy to upload them right now. I will get pics of the balloons and dinner later.

New York photo shoot

We got our family pictures done a few weeks ago by our friend Sara. She did an AMAZING job!! I was so excited to have pictures taken in New York... our home. We chose riverside park over central park because I feel like it is more "our" park... we are there almost every day. It feels so new york-y to me, and it's so beautiful. I am SO happy with the pictures. We started the shoot at about 7:30am, so she caught the sun coming up so beautifully! Here are a few of my faves:

...and those are just a few. Thanks again Sara! Click here to see the rest. Password "riverside".

Thanks!

Thanks everyone for all the lovely well-wishes and congratulations. We are very excited, as well as a little nervous. I definitely understand why people don't have a lot of kids in the city, because, well, it's really hard just to have 2 kids out here, and thinking about having 3 does make me a little tired. But it will be fun and we can't wait to meet our new baby. He/she will be here on or around May 10th, so that makes me a little over 13 weeks. I have been feeling pretty good, mostly just really tired, up until these last couple weeks, when sickness has taken over our family. I think being pregnant makes it all hit me a little harder than it normally does, but thanks to A LOT (and I mean A LOT) of help from my wonderful husband, I am surviving. I think the end is near though, so thank goodness for that.

We don't really care if it's a boy or a girl. Well, I should rephrase that, I don't care which it is. Nate really wants a girl and is convinced it is one. Asher is already calling it his baby sister. Nate doesn't want to find out and wants it to be a surprise, but I don't know if I can be patient enough. We'll see.

Crossing a line

There seems to be an acceptable number of kids to have in Manhattan without people thinking that you are nuts. That number would be 2. Lots of people have 2 kids in the city. It's normal. However, not many people have 3, or 4 for that matter. Parents of 3 and 4 do exist, but from what I have seen, they either: are mormon (and there still aren't many of them), have a set of twins, are foreigners, or live in Harlem. Having 3 kids in UT or anywhere else in suburbia is totally normal and almost expected. Having 3 kids in the city is like crossing a line into crazy-ville.

Well crazy-ville... here we come!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

America Dances

Last night I went to America Dances at the New York City Center because Nate bought me a ticket, like the sweet and thoughtful husband he is. I wasn't really sure what it was supposed to be, but it turned out to be a kind of concert/awards ceremony. They recognized several people and honored Patrick Swayze by presenting his wife with a gift. They did all sorts of different genres of dance. Some were wonderful, and others, I personally didn't even think should be recognized as a type of dance. Oh well, I guess they were just trying to be diverse.

They started the show off with a "stars and stripes" pas de deux, which was fantastic. They had a tap ensemble perform a type of gum boots dance that I was not very impressed by. They had the Isadora Duncan dance company perform a piece that I personally thought was hideous. I am sure that it's meaningful and "beautiful" in it's own right, but the actual choreographed dance was so ugly. I couldn't tell if some of the dancers were trying to make it look ugly or if they really just had no technique. I imagine they were trying to, I mean, it is the Isadora Duncan dance company... you'd think they would be amazing! There were a couple of contemporary ballet pieces that were amazing, as well as a modern piece choreographed by Sonya Tayeh from SYTYCD. That was probably my favorite. Beautiful!

At the end, they did a sad rendition of excerpts from Bob Fosse's, Dancin'. Yeah, I didn't love it. I thought they could have chosen something much more fun, or at least better parts of the musical to highlight.

I was sitting on the edge of my row right by the door, so after the bows I made a fast escape. When I got to the main lobby, I saw Sonya Tayeh waiting down there. I touched her arm and told her that I loved her piece. I wanted to get a picture but didn't want to be annoying, so I just snapped a quick one on my way out.

Awesome outfit, huh?!

Geez...

Apparently, Asher and Sayer thought the laundry in the hamper by the tub couldn't wait a second longer to be washed...

**The difference between dads and moms... when Nate saw it, he laughed, when I saw it... I did NOT laugh. Luckily, Nate had bought me a ticket to a show so I had to leave right then and didn't have to clean it up! ;)

Just readin'

Do you like my white socks?

The other day we had Asher's little friend Addy over to play for a bit. Here they are reading Cinderella books on the couch together.

I told Addy that I liked her sparkly shoes, so Asher said that he liked her sparkly shoes too. Then he said: "do you like my white socks?" Funny kid.

She doesn't look too impressed!

Home from church: part 2

After I did my post about Sayer falling asleep in the stroller, I decided that maybe I should lay down for a little while since I had no other kids to take care of. I laid there for awhile at first wondering if this was ridiculous to be going back to bed. I found myself thinking, maybe I should just get up and do something productive. I imagined Nate mocking me and saying that "oh, it must be nice to just go to sleep in the middle of the day" or something like that. But then I thought, you know what? I am sick. I feel like crap, and when do I ever get to lay down in my bed for hours at a time during the day when I am sick?? Never! So for moms everywhere, who never get to take a break when they are sick and feeling like they want to die, I surrendered to my bed... for almost 3 hours! Little Sayer slept like a the worn out little boy he was, so when I woke up, he was still sleeping. I deciding to take my pampering one step further and take a bath. It was lovely. As I was finishing up, the little guy woke up. And true, my house is no cleaner than when Nate left for church, and I didn't do anything productive, but I feel pretty good about myself for taking care of myself. The end.

Home from church

We've all been pretty sick this week, with colds and flus and coughs. You know, the good stuff. Today I decided Asher could go to church with Nate, but Sayer and I were still feeling pretty blah so we stayed home. Sayer was so sad to be left behind, so he climbed into the phil & ted to await being taken outside. He cried when Asher and daddy left, so I brought him his bear and blanket and binky and he was quite happy in there. I left him and heard him talking and laughing at himself in the mirror and after awhile it got really quiet. I went in to check on him and found this.

Precious.

Leaves are falling

Fall is in full swing here in the city, and I am LOVING it. It is absolutely gorgeous everywhere you go, and the weather is crisp and cool. The other day was cold, rainy, and windy, and we were stuck inside most of the day. But we still had a good time sitting on the balcony, watching the leaves blow off the tree by our building, in full force. Asher learned what a "gust" of wind is, and they both loved to see the leaves fly up in the air and twirl and even get caught in little wind tunnels where they just twist and twist in place. I am loving teaching Asher about Fall and why the leaves change colors and come off the trees, and I love that he is understanding. I have to say that I am really loving the city right now.

I heart NY in the fall!

Yesterday at Morningside Park. Gorgeous weather, gorgeous trees, adorable kids.

A "mommy" chicken and a baby chicky

(Don't mind Asher's already chocolately face and totally shaggy hair)

In case you were wondering, Sayer is the "mommy" and Asher is the baby. When I asked Asher what he wanted to be for Halloween, he told me he wanted to be a baby chicky. Ever since he saw Peter and the Wolf he has been obsessed with pretending to be the wolf and baby chicky. I was surprised that he stayed consistent with this request to be a baby chicky for halloween, so I decided to go ahead and make him a costume. Thankfully they opened a new Michael's a short 20 blocks away from my house on October 25, so I was actually able to get the things I needed.

Asher was actually excited to go trick or treating this year, and totally understood what was going on. He was a little shy at first, but he caught on quickly and got into the groove. He was very insistent that he wasn't a duck or a chicken or big bird, he was a baby chicky. Maybe next year, he won't want to open every single piece of candy as he gets it. He also took his sweet time deciding which piece of candy he would pick from people's bowls. I loved it when people would just give him a handful and be done with it. I've never seen such a picky 3 year old. One house only had candy corns, and he said, "no, I don't want any candy corns" with a look of disgust on his face. Awesome.

The orange tights were my favorite!

This is Asher making his "baby chicky" noises and hand motions.

Poor Sayer was sick and miserable today. He looks thrilled, doesn't he?

Daddy and Sayer at the building Halloween party

My neighbor Debbie and Asher. Asher loves Debbie anyway, but he kept trying to find her at the party and asking her to hold him. Then he would hug her and say she was such a cute kitty cat and make all these cute little noises. He is so funny.

Asher, Debbie and Peter

Asher's post-party outfit. Showing me my marathon medal that was supposed to be part of my costume, but he never actually let me wear it.

I made delicious and cute sugar cookies and adorable mummies in a blanket for the party, but of course, I didn't take any pictures of them. Oh well. It all turned out really well I think.

Oh that Asher

So many times during the day, I wonder "what the heck is he thinking?!?" Last night, 2 minutes after I closed their door for bedtime, I hear pages ripping, ripping, and more ripping, accompanied by laughing. I go in there, and sure enough, Asher has completely torn apart one of his favorite books, The Polar Express. I was livid. Doesn't he understand that he will never get to read that book again? That he has completely ruined it beyond repair? That that is not how we treat things we care about? Argghhhh!!! What is he thinking???

Today, I put Asher down for his nap, like I do everyday. He likes the door open, so I give him one chance... if he gets out of his bed, I close the door. Well, he lost his chance, like usual, so I closed the door. I was very tired since we got up really early to take family pictures this morning, so I took a little nap myself. I thought he would be tired too. But when I went in there 2 hours later, after not hearing any noise, I find not a sleeping child, but his room completely torn apart. Clothes out of his drawers, sheets and blankets off his bed, blocks dumped out, train tracks dumped out and put together, his stroller basket completely emptied, including the first aid and sewing kit I keep in there. Bandaids opened and thrown everywhere. The lamp was turned on and broken, and he got up on the radiator yet again and broke the a/c vent and opened the curtains. Oh, and he had taken off his pants and underwear and peed on his bed. I. Was. TICKED!!! And, I'm pretty sure he got that message. To his credit, he did do everything I asked him to do after that... he put all his clothes in his drawers (of course I will have to go back later and fold and organize them), put all the blocks away, and put all his blankets back on his bed. The room was still a mess, but he did what he could to clean up. But I just don't get it... what on earth is he thinking when he is doing these things??? He has done these things before, and the results are never pleasant. Don't they learn? Please tell me they learn.

Of course these are only 2 examples of the kinds of things he does ALL THE TIME. The kid drives me insane. I know all 3 year olds do these kinds of things... right?? Help me to feel a tad bit better and share your kids' "what were you thinking?!" moments.

Ramen makes angry kids happy

That's right, I fed my kids ramen noodles for lunch today. It really is a shame that they are so bad for you, because I love 'em. What can I say? I grew up on ramen, so it's just one of those things I love that I shouldn't. I don't give them to my kids very often at all, but they were being little monsters, and I knew that ramen would quiet them up... they love eating the long noodles. It was amazing. One second they were screaming like wild children, the next minute, was this:

The ironic thing is that they were going crazy because I was neglecting them, so I could finish making these muffins that I was going out of my way to make more healthy, by adding squash, applesauce, and oats. Oh well. It's dark and cold outside today. A perfect day for hot noodles and muffins!