Outies and Hiccups

I figured it was about time to give my future self a little update on what's going on currently. 

First things first. 

Honey, we need a new computer! I know we can't afford one right now, but it's slow and the text cursor continues to freeze which is especially annoying when you're trying to quickly write out a blog post, because, ain't nobody got time for that! {gets me. every. time.} 

While we're on the honey-please-do-list, I'm thinking the tree branches next to the kitchen window need to be trimmed because when the wind blows it scrapes the shiz out of the screen and makes an awful sound. Not to mention the noise always freaks me out, plus it can't be good for said screen. Am I right? Wow, really rambling here, sorry.

Moving on. Let's start with the title. I'm pretty sure I have/am going to have an outie belly button for the duration of this pregnancy. And no, I don't have any pictures to show you. Gross. Now that we've got that useless piece of information out of the way, onto the latter and more exciting part of the title. Hiccups! Baby girl had a bad case of the hiccups today. One of the weirdest feelings ever! I can best describe it as a gentle  rhythmic pulse...not fast enough for a heart beat, almost like a muscle spasm. It was pretty flipping cool. Made my day. Like is this really happening?! Sometimes, scratch that, often times, I think my heart will burst with love and bewilderment at what's going on inside of my body. I will admit I felt pretty sorry for the little one...hiccups aren't exactly fun times. Thankfully they only lasted about five minutes.

He has no idea what's about to happen to his perfect little world in just a few short months. Maniacal Laugh.

So I staged his paw on my belly to take a cute picture...so what? #mammothpaw

About a month ago my mom and I fought hard to win these AMAZING homemade bread and butter pickles at the Relay for Life Auction at my work. Apparently it's common knowledge among most people that you don't come between a pregnant girl and pickles.

And wow...my belly has grown A LOT since then. I'll blame it on those pickles. ;)

Jake's summer cut. Take note, he thinks hes' a lap dog.

Lilacs lilacs lilacs. If only they could bloom all summer long. I imagine this is what heaven smells like.

I'll end this post with a look at 26 week old Sydney in utero. The horizontal stripes just really compliment the bump, wouldn't you say?

And don't be alarmed. There is much more going on in my life than what was mentioned today. Like reading baby books, setting up the nursery, landscaping, impromptu road trips to Michigan, picking ticks off your dog etc. You know, just your normal run of the mill every day stuff.

Well, I'm about to throw this computer out the window. Ah ha! solution to the problem. Broken laptop means new laptop...hmm.

Until next time.

Holly xoxo

Ding Dang Dong

NYC day two. I didn't sleep well. I'm a light sleeper and I didn't have my fan. But, due to a little thing called technology I used a noise app on my phone to mimic the sound of a fan. But, my body wasn't fooled and knew it was a fake, hence the bad nights rest. Also, my feet were already hurting and we didn't even check out of the hotel yet. I'm complaining, aren't I? I'm sorry. All in all it was another successful day in The City!

^^^Because I forgot to add this picture to day 1's post. The line was wrapped around the building. But, we waited. It was worth it, just in case you were wondering.

^^^We started off day two walking to Central Park.

^^^Ain't much better in here, kid.

^^^Is this the bridge where Harry and Marv get arrested at the end of Home Alone 2? We humored ourselves and pretended it was.

^^^"KEVIN! You spent $967 on room service!"

^^^Have I mentioned before that we like to entertain ourselves?

^^^New York's most exciting hotel experience!

^^^That's me waiting for a limo to pick me up to see Duncans Toy Chest: "five floors of cash"

^^^For you readers who haven't seen Home Alone 2{shame on you!} this is the Plaza Hotel.

^^^Where Kevin reunites with his mom. AKA Rockefeller Center.

^^^Lunch at Eataly. Next time you visit NYC...GO THERE! So good.

^^^After lunch we started heading towards the High Line and stumbled through this neighborhood...

^^^...and I wanted to live here. So charming. Also, probably very expensive. One can dream, right?

^^^The High Line is an elevated park built on a 1.5 mile section of the former New York Central Railroad, which runs along the lower west side of Manhattan.

To be quite honest the High Line really wasn't all that exciting. Although, it was nice to avoid traffic lights. I'm thinking in the summer it would be more enjoyable. Also, at this point we were getting tired, sore and cranky. So, it's possible we just weren't in the right frame of mind{and body} to fully appreciate it.

Next we stopped at a Starbucks{they're EVERYWHERE!} to grab a coffee and then we were off to Penn Station. Let me just say, Penn Station the Sunday after Thanksgiving is madness. I don't know whose bright idea it was to not inform the passengers of the track their train would be arriving on until TEN MINUTES before boarding...but that's how it works. Needless to say it was an every man fends for himself kind of situation. The important thing is that we made it on the train. Phew.

It's become sort of an Olsen family travel tradition. ;)

Next year we will make sure to go when the tree is lit.

"What city is that over there...?"

"It's New York, sir."

You'll have to bare with me. I sort of quote Home Alone, like, all the time. Even when it's not Christmas time.

So, Steve asked me what I wanted for my birthday/Christmas. I had the brilliant idea of combining both birthday and Christmas gifts{perk of having your birthday close to the holidays} so I could get a mega gift.

"I want to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway." said I. You see, it's been on my bucket list for a long time now. This meant going to New York City. Duh. Steve agreed it would be fun. {he's a good man that Steve} The best part is we were able to use Steve's hotel reward points and stay overnight near Times Square for only $70! Score! See Steve, all that traveling to Detroit {*chuckles} paid off after all!

I'll start off by saying we had SO much fun. Or as the elderly lady that was on the train with us would say: "What a hoot!" People watching/eavesdropping on other peoples conversations is a favorite past time of ours. It doesn't take much to entertain ourselves. As you can imagine, we tried to insert the phrase "what a hoot!" as often as we could just to giggle to ourselves. This is the stuff healthy marriages are made of, people. Okay, not really, but what I'm trying to say is getting away from reality to just be silly and have some clean old fashioned fun is good for the soul. And, it's good for your marriage, too. NYC was the perfect place to do just that.

Shall we get started then?

^^^As you can see I was very excited for our upcoming adventure. Adventure because we are were practically NYC virgins. I was so excited I felt it merited taking a selfie. "I could look worse..." I tell myself.

^^^We parked in Hamilton, NJ and took the train into Penn Station. It's the way to do it! After witnessing all the traffic jams we were high-fiving each other for choosing public transit.
Isn't he so debonair?

^^^We stayed on 40th Street. Within a ten minute walk we were in Times Square or the Broadway District. Perfect!

^^^"I'll have an extra large bed, a TV, and one of those little refrigerators you open with a key..."

^^^After we checked in at the hotel we had lunch before heading over to the show. We each had two slices of pizza and a coke. Our total came to $6.50. It was delicious. Who says you can't eat in NYC for cheap?!

^^^EEK!

^^^The Majestic Theatre was built in the 1920s. It was beautiful. I was just so happy.

^^^We ordered some cab sauv. Naturally it came in sippy cups...we can't be staining the carpet! Genius! And it doubles as a souvenir! Don't ask how much we paid for a "sippy" of red.

 ^^^Happy sigh/wine buzz is starting to take effect

^^^I just love this man. Like, so much. <3

 

^^^The chandelier moved up and down. I was impressed. Also, did you know the word chandelier originated from the French language? If you already knew that, then pretend you didn't because I was impressed with this little trivia tid bit. 

FYI: The Phantom of The Opera was written by a French man named Gaston Leroux in the early 1900s. It is the longest running show in Broadway history. Pretty cool, right? I highly recommend this show! I may or may not have teared up during the show. The story is lovely, the music is beautiful. I also may or may not have been a bit buzzed from that cab sauv. The origin of tears is still up for debate.

^^^There's not very many picture of us together. We felt shy about asking people to take our picture. Everyone seemed to be in such a rush! Now that I think about it, we didn't take anyone else's picture either.

^^^I wish we would've taken more pictures at Tolaoche, an upscale Mexican restaurant in Manhattan. The chef, Julian Medina, was the runner up winner of Iron Chef in 2011. The food was superb. It was the best guacamole I have ever tasted. And the flavors in the tacos made my mouth do a little jig.

¡Buen provecho!

^^^There were more than 100 tequilas in stock at Tolaoche. Enough said.

^^^After dinner we bundled up and walked walked walked.

^^^I told Steve I wanted to see the Rockettes next year for my birthday/Christmas gift. He just rolled his eyes. ;)

^^^I was SO disappointed the tree wasn't lit yet. :( We missed it by four days. All the more reason to return to NYC next year!

^^^Saks on Fifth. We were in here for about two hours no lie. It was quite the experience.

^^^There was an entire floor{10 floors total} dedicated to women's designer shoes. Dear Lord have mercy.

 ^^^This shoe? $1,700. 

^^^Times Square baby!

^^^I don't know why I made him pose in front of the Olive Garden sign in Times Square. We didn't eat there on anything like that...but since I don't have many pictures of Steve, here you go!

^^^The city that never sleeps

^^^My first hot dog from one of those little street stands. It was good.

And that wraps up day one of our adventures in NYC! It was so nice being able to stay out late and go back to a hotel to sleep rather than traveling back home. By the end of the day a hot shower and soft bed was calling my name. Will we have enough steam to continue on to day two? Stay tuned to find out.