A week of perfect

Here's a shot of the belly

Every once in a while life comes together in such way that things seem, well, perfect. This past week was one of those times. Last Friday began this week of perfection with some much appreciated pampering for Gina and me. After a breakfast of pancakes and girl talk, we were off to a spa to indulge our pregnant selves in facials and pedicures. Once we finished with all that relaxing and beautifying, I headed to base to welcome Andy home from his deployment (right on time – a rare occurrence for the AF!). The baby immediately began showing off for Daddy by doing all sorts of acrobatics that Andy finally got to feel.
Saturday my parents arrived in Philly to spend the week with us. This is the first time in 4 years that the CO schools’ spring break matched mine, and my mom and I were determined to make the most of it.
Our week was jam packed with fun and quality time spent together. Having 3 of the people I love most in the world in the same state is a luxury I rarely experience.
We spent Easter afternoon at a small local airport where we had a yummy brunch and watched the planes take off and land.

Easter at the Airport

Monday Andy and my mom accompanied me to the Dr. where we all got to hear the baby’s strong heart beat. Everything else looked great as well. After picking up my dad we were off to Atlantic City for some lunch and sight seeing.

Atlantic City View

Tuesday we spent the day touring the historic sights in Philadelphia. And of course, for the omnivores in the group we hit Geno’s for some famous Philly cheese steaks.

Independence Hall- This is where the Declaration of Independence was signed

Wednesday we were off to NYC.

A view of the Empire State building from the top of Rockefeller Center

We checked into our hotel, hailed a taxi, and ended up at Tavern on the Green where we enjoyed lunch and the décor.

Lunch at Tavern on the Green

Lunch was followed by the Broadway show Jersey Boys, which we all thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend. Later that night we had dinner in Times Square.

Mesmerized by the lights in Times Square

Thursday we got an early start at the Today show.

Matt Lauer was happy to see us

After some shopping on 5th Avenue, we took a subway to lower Manhattan and ate lunch on the pier overlooking the East River. Next we visited Ground Zero. Then we were off to SoHo for some shopping. Finally we ended up back in Times Square for ice cream and more shopping.
Friday was low key. We recovered from all our city walking and had a great dinner at a local downtown restaurant.
Saturday I had to say goodbye to my parents for now. It’s always sad to say goodbye to them, but I know I’ll see them again soon.

On the train to NYC

Andy and I still had a little adventure of our own in store for Saturday. We bought our first new car. We knew we needed a safer car, so we’ve been saving and researching for a while. On Saturday we decided on a Nissan Altima.
All in all, it was an amazing week. I loved sharing my pregnancy with my parents, and having Andy home to experience the rest of it with me is exciting beyond words. I’m sad that our time off is over and we’re both heading back to work on Monday, but I’m so relieved to have him home. Besides, I have a feeling that we have many more moments of perfection in store for us in the future.

Here's to Kris

Although at first we were hesitant about the location that was to become our new home, Andy and I quickly learned what a blessing in disguise our small slice of suburbia known as the Stone Gate neighborhood truly was. It’s not the neighborhood that makes this place special, but the people who occupy it. Since these people are such an important part of our lives right now and because they will no doubt be a huge part of our baby’s early years, I thought it would be nice to introduce everyone to Baby C’s honorary Aunties and Uncles of Stone Gate and to say thank you to them for all that they do.
I’ll begin with the founders of our little community. First there’s Gina, our resident psychologist (PhD and all!) who regularly uses words in conversation that I haven’t heard since I was studying for the ACT’s. In addition to her smarts, Gina is the embodiment of hospitality. She, along with her husband Derek (who can be found out on snowy February days with shovel in hand ready to clear the driveways and sidewalks of temporarily husbandless gals) let Andy squat at their place for over two months last spring while he worked on ours, and they even made it seem like they were sad to see him move out... now that’s class.
Next we have Tammy with her dual personalities. There’s Wonder Woman Momma Tammy, who manages to care for her 2 kiddos, maintains the cleanest house I’ve ever seen, cooks for bums like me all the time, and looks amazing through it all. Then there’s the Crazy Party Girl Tammy who loves to have fun and makes sure everyone around her is having fun, too. Her happy Tammy stories leave us all in stitches and her husband blushing. Brian (the husband) is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet and has some mean cooking skills of his own.
Finally, we have The Neighborhood Newbies, Allison and Kris. Allison is a kick ass kinda girl who made everyone (including our physically fit AF hubbies) eat her dust as she plowed past us all in a 5 mile St. Patty’s Day Race. She is also the kind soul who let me crash with her when I was homeless and husbandless for my last two months in St. Louis. Those two months were filled with some of the most fun I’ve had. It was sort of like college again… if I had gone to college in the downtown of a big city and had enough money to eat amazing food and drink great wine. And then there’s her husband, Kris, who is the man of the hour (or at least the man of this blog). What has Kris done to stand out from this stellar crowd enough to be the title character in this blog? Well, it’s not the 5 hours of his Saturday he spent installing our new dishwasher; although I’m very grateful to him each time I start it and don’t hear the roar of dishes being scoured that always accompanied the running of our old dishwasher. No, instead what earned him this starring role is the fact that, for the last 7 weeks, he has voluntarily come to our house every week to change Sushi’s kitty litter. Andy took over this less than favorable task because a girl in my condition isn’t supposed to mess with it, but since Andy left Kris has, without the slightest hint of disgust, seen to it that Sushi has a fresh place to do his business each week. It’s a truly thankless and dirty job especially since Sushi lacks any gratitude and instead has perfected a dog like growl that he employs each time Kris walks past him. Kris simply ignores Sushi’s insults and gets the job done.
When I look back at the last nine months we’ve spent in NJ, I don’t really remember how sad I was to leave my job in IL or how stressful it was looking for a new one here. All the hours spent painting and fixing up our house don’t really stand out in my mind, and in fact even Andy’s current deployment seems pretty darn bearable. Because of these outstanding people, when I think about our time here so far I think about laughter and roasting marshmallows around the fire pit, love in all the dinners we’ve shared, and the endless support a cup of the world’s most perfect hot cocoa holds. Andy and I are profoundly grateful for all our Stone Gate cronies…but Kris, this blog’s for you!