Baby Stuff and a cute picture of Haylie

Getting ready to have a baby is the best! There's just so many fun things you get to buy. For instance we HAD to buy a double stroller. I love stroller shopping! There's just so many things you have to consider. For instance, do we want a side by side stroller, or tandem (like the Phil and Teds), what kind of tires do we need, and of course we have to consider the weight...the list goes on and on. I can't even tell you the hours I have spent weighing our options. We looked at the Phil and Teds E3 sport. It seemed like a good choice, at first. After seeing it and strolling it around we had to admit it wasn't going to work for us. Tom is just too tall. He kept kicking the infant seat in the head as he walked. Lame. My heart was set on the Duo Skywalker, it's a stroller company out of New Zealand, and it looked amazing on the internet. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any stores in the metro area that had it on display. I refuse to buy something as costly as a stroller without seeing it in person. Because I know you are dying to know which stroller we did decide upon, I won't keep you in suspense any longer....The Bumbleride Indie Twin is our choice of stroller. Side by side, it fits through standard doors, pushes like a dream (one handed even), folds up compactly enough to fit in our limited storage space, and looks ever so stylish (totally important).

I do admit that I let Tom be the deciding vote on the stroller situation because I had my heart set on a Natural Mat crib mattress. I'll be the first to say this mattress brand is a bit "steep", but in my heart I couldn't bring myself to buy anything else. You see, I'm really into organic, enviromentally friendly things these days (ever since Haylie's horrible experience with mold). I don't even vaccinate! Natural Matt mattresses are 100 percent organic, totally breathable, dust mite resistant, and naturally anti flammable( thank you organic wool ticking) . You may think I'm crazy, I don't really care, but all that off gasing from the chemicals they put in crib mattresses makes me nervous. Do I really want my infant to inhale all of those fumes? I don't think so...enter Natural Mat. I am SO excited to have it delivered! It could be here any moment.

After purchasing the crib mattress of my dreams we had to invest in quality baby bedding. So we bought the cutest Tahti blue bamboo sheets (bamboo is the best, anti-microbial, eco friendly, and oh so soft!). To make sure the air stays clean I made Tom, literally forced him, buy an air fliter. Not just any air fliter, but one that gets rid of dust, pollen, viruses and any VOCs or other chemicals in the air. The air filter is mainly for Haylie's room/hallway. I didn't know what I know now when we purchased her baby items, so I'm positive her room is filled with off gases and chemicals that will surley bring down her IQ and immune system.

By the end of this week we will have all that we need for baby boy Wilson. On a side note, the middle name is totally up to me! Exciting, I know. Tom and I had to make a deal, we make lots of deals, we are VERY good at comprimising, probably because we have the pefect marriage (maybe later this week I will do an "Ode to My Husband" blog). Anyhow, the deal was brought about because, suprise, I was anti circumsicion (still am). Since there was a good chance I was going to lose the battle against circumsizing our precious little boy, I jumped at Tom's offer to let me have full reign of the babies middle name in exchange for circumsizing. I haven't totally decided what I'M going to name him...it could be Tikkeanine (Grandmas maiden name) just to make Tom sorry for what he's doing to our child. Sounds harsh, not really, I'm not going to do that to my child, sorry Grandma. But the middle name will be one of these three: Victor, Charles, or George (after Georges St. Pierre UFC fighter, oh, and my Grandfather). Before any of you scoff at my middle name choices know that they are all family names and that's super important to me. For my child to have a link to his ancestors. I'm all about turning the hearts of the children to their fathers. If you are wondering about the first name, don't. We have no idea what it will be. Wierdly all of the names we like begin with the letter H, and we are concerned about labeling our family as the family that names all their kids H names. We don't want to be THAT family, if you know what I mean (unless that IS your family, please don't take offense).

Seriously, babies are the best! It gives one the ultimate excuse for shopping. And since I am currently banned from making any purchases for myself (I had to sign a contract with Tom, which is legally binding as we that watch Judge Judy know) shopping for the baby is just as good! Thank you baby!

If you all are super lucky I may get super motivated and post something else before the baby comes (around the 24th of September). After all, now that my baby shopping is done (tears) and the Olympics are officially over (If I hear anything about lame-o Micheal Phelps I might throw up), what else is there to do?

Update

We are back! After a four day drive from AZ to the NYC metro area I have come to realize a few things.

#1 Besides TiVo, the GPS may be the best invention of the modern age.
#2 Texas and Oklahoma have the nicest rest areas in the country
#3 Missouri has one heck of alot of Adult Superstores

Let's discuss the GPS. Usually when Tom and I travel he drives and I navigat. The problem is I'm not very good at reading a map. All those squiggly lines don't make sense to me and we end up yelling at each other because we miss turn offs, or end up 40 miles down a road we weren't suppose to be on in the first place. The GPS eliminated essentially all arguments, it was by far one of the best investments we have ever made. If someone asked me which I would rather give up, my scriptures or my GPS, I may be tempted to say my scriptures. That's how much I love the GPS! Now that I am back in the city, it's just as helpful as it was on our journey. I found the Whole Foods with no problems, got to my Doctor appt in no time and am no longer afraid of ending up in another state because I take the wrong Turnpike. Besides, I can always down load the scriptures onto my computer, right?

About the rest areas. Usually rest areas are disgusting. The floors are sticky, the doors don't close, there's never any toilet paper because someone decided to put all of into the toilet and not flush it, and the local insects have made themselves at home. That was not the case in TX or OK. I urge you to drive through just to experience the rest stops. Clean bathrooms with granit counter tops that actually smell clean! The were well lit so you were pretty sure no one was going to jump you, and on top of all that they had a nice playground for the kids. I wish my bathroom in Jersey was as nice as the ones in TX. Granted mine is cleaner, but I sure liked the Granit.

Last but not least. What is up with Missouri! Never in my life have I seen so many Adult Superstores advertised on the highway. I may have dismissed the big billboards as advertising one giant superstore, but you could actually see the superstores from the highway so you knew they were for more than just one superstore. I'm sure all those late night travelers appreciated that they were open 24 hours, just in case they wanted to get a Missouri souvenir for friends and family. What also superised me was all the churches I saw in Missouri, I guess they wanted to Adult Superstores to have a little competition. The way I see it, unless those church doors are open 24/7 they probably aren't giving them much of a run for their money. Who knew there were so many perves in Missouri? I bet that state is glad they pushed out those puritan Mormons to make room for their Adult Superstores, I know I'd rather have one of those in my neighboor hood than one of those pushy Mormons! Obvisouly, I'm joking, Who wouldn't prefer a nice mormon to a sleazy Adult Superstore.

As a side note. Several people posted that they didn't know I was pregnant. I guess I never really announced it, it was more of a "by the way I'm having a baby" type of a thing but for all of those that are wondering...I am due in September and we are having a boy. We weren't going to find out the sex, but I couldn't resist, it was too much temptation. To be fair, I knew I was having a boy already, but I just wanted it confirmed so I could get my mind around it cause I kinda wanted another girl. I felt better after I went shopping for boys clothes, shopping tends to fix all of my problems. Let it be known, I am currently very excited for a boy even though it took some time.

Our New Addition

This is such exciting news, I can hardly stand it. In just a few short days I will be making the trip to Arizona to go pick up the newest addition to our family (drum roll please) a new-to-us car! It will be great to see family and friends. I managed to get my brother Tyler to fly home with me to help on the plane. He just came home from Afghanastan and is on leave for the month. He wanted to come visit us anyway and the timing worked perfectly. (As a side note, if anyone has any single sisters, friends etc. that are into blind dates, my brother is single, 25 years old, returned missionary and active church member who doesn't get the chance to be around a lot of girls since he is in the military).

As exciting as this new addition is, it's got me a bit worried. First of all, the roads in Jersey City, are really difficult to drive, crazy intersections, lights, and traffic. Second, it's been about two years since I have had to drive. True, I have rented a car twice in the last couple of months but those experiences didn't turn out too well.

The first time I rented the car was to go to my Ob appointment in Hackensack. Hackensack is about 16 miles away, and I had never driven. Well, I hadn't ever driven anywhere in Jersey or NY for that matter. I left an hour plus early, giving me plenty of time to find my way if I became lost. It took me two hours! That's because I made a wrong turn onto a crazy turnpike and ended up going the wrong way. Luckily, the doctors office allowed me to come in over an hour late.

The second time I rented the car was much, much worse. I got the car the day before and decided to do some grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. Once again, I had never driven there but I knew the way since I'd been along on Trader Joe outings with a friend. We had rented a brand new Ford Focus. They handed over the keys and told me to enjoy and let them know what I thought since it still had that new car smell, and just 19 miles on it. As I was driving to Trader Joes I passed the entrance and started to panic (I'd never been pass the Trader Joe's, who knew what was on the other side!). After driving for about a mile I didn't see anywhere to turn around, then I saw an opening in traffic and decided to execute a U turn (are they illegal in New Jersey?). My last car the Toyota Echo, could turn on a dime and u turns were simple as the turning radius of the car was amazing, but that's what you get with a Toyota, and this was a Ford. There was a bus about a hundred yards away, I figured I had plenty of room. Well, I ended up misjudging the turning radius of the Ford. There was no way to make the U turn without either backing up or going up in the curb. Since I saw the bus behind me I decided to gun the engine and go up on the curb (I'd done this lots before with no problems...unless you think missing hubcaps is a problem). I hit the curb hard but made the turn. About a minute later I realized something was horribly wrong. Luckily there was a gas station just ahead so I pulled in. I got out of the car and saw that I had managed to blow the tire completely! I was horrified, and of course have no idea how to change a tire (that's what boyfriends and husbands are for, right?). Some nice men at the gas station put on the spare for me...and then charged me 20 bucks for their kindness! I was all shaken up after that but still went to Trader Joe's, where I lost the keys to the car while Haylie was locked inside. I found the keys, the key ring broke while I was putting away the cart, on the ground and all was well, but it was a super scary day. I'm worried things like that are going to happen all the time now!

I am glad to be getting a car. If I just had the one child I could get by for the next year or so walking everywhere, but with another one on the way, it just wasn't as doable as I would like, especially with doctor appointments. It will be nice to know I can go to the hospital with out waking up Naomi or Dawnell when the time comes.

American Idol

The good thing about Tuesday's performances by the top 5 was that it actually made me feel not so bad about our Neil Diamond talent show medley. What I think the top 5 didn't understand about Neil Diamond week is that you don't just SING Neil, you PERFORM Neil Diamond. Neil himself isn't even really a singer, he's the man that write the songs. No one ever listens to Neil and thinks, "Damn, he sings like an Angel". Heck no, they think "great song. Who's the creepy voice singing it?" Anyone who has seen a Neil Diamond live sing "Desiree" or "Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon" has got to admit that his creepy voice it what holds us to his music. And he performes the heck out of his songs, that's where the magic is. I personally have not seen Neil Diamond live, but I've seen Tom impersonate him enough and I think I've got a pretty good idea. As if that wasn't enough I've also seen "Saving Silverman" a few times. How could I not, it's a wonderful tribute to a wonderful artist.

Let's do a quick run down of what I remember...

Jason sang "Forever in Blue Jeans". Did he smoke out prior to this performance? He was way to chill, don't be chill when singing Neil Diamond. Frankly, he lacked passion and he made me forget that I love this song. His second song was forgettable, however, I do remember that it made me feel like I was at an open air restraunt on Maui with a soft breeze blowing. Not exactly a song that had an WoW factor, which he needed after his first song.

Brooke sang "I'm a Believer". I love Brooke, I think her sound is so fun and cool, but it didn't work with this song. Not only do we all remember it from the Shrek soundtrack but she was way too cute and happy while singing. Neil is never too cute or happy while singing. She needed to be uglier to pull this off, or wear hot pink sequins. Her second song, I thought was amazing. She made me believe in this song. I felt she did a great job of connecting with the lyrics. Maybe it was when she changed the lyrics to "I'm Arizona born and raised" that I really started to believe that she believed in this song. Like a drifter she is caught between two shores. Arizona raised girl to girl, I know just how she feels.

David Cook sang I'm Alive. He did well. He is creepy enough to pull off any Neil Diamond song, but seemed to be afraid to really take it on. His second song was good. It didn't blow my socks off, but it was the best showing of the night. He deserves to make it to the end, even though he is smug, he did rock Billie Jean a few weeks ago.

Syesha. I can't stand Syesha. She did a great job on "Hello", but totally blackified "I Thank The Lord for the Night Time". Why must African American singers always do this? Take a wonderful song and turn it into Aretha Franklin? I had enough of that last season, I can't stand another second. She would do well on Broadway, I give her props for that.

And now let's talk about David Archuletta. Am I the only one who can't stand this kid? Yes, he can sing, but it's what he sings that I have a problem with. Give him his own Disney Channel show for crying out loud, he's just begging for it. It could come on right after Hannah Montana. I don't remember what he sang first, but he probably butchered it like he did "Remember Me Fondly" on Andrew Loyd Weber night, and made it sound like it was a "Little Mermaid" soundtrack song. His second song, Coming to America, which he obviously picked because he liked the message and because his Mom was lucky enough to score a Missionary serving in her country and brought her to America, was so boring. I'd much rather hear Tom's rendition, which was much more colorful and creepy, just the way Neil Diamond should be.

I was sad that Brooke got the boot on Tuesday, but it was a long time coming. Now if we can only band together and get ride of Syesha and then David Archuletta. The kids young, he wants to go back to Utah and attend Prom with his little girlfriend. Being the American Idol is only going to mess him up and make him into another Donny Osmond. Do we really need another Donny Osmond in the world?

Neil Dimond

Haylie is smiling in this picture because she just found out that this week is Neil Diamond week on American Idol.
Tom LOVES Neil Diamond. He owns all of his albums, and even goes to his concerts. A few years ago he went to see Neil with his family, in the process he acquired a Neil Diamond T-shirt. It's the ugliest gray T-shirt on the planet, and yet he gets really upset if I wear it and get food on it.

A few years ago when Tom and I had just begun dating and I thought his adoration of Neil was appealing, he talked me into doing a Neil Diamond medley for our singles ward talent show. It was Tom, myself, and his sister, Shanna who was also a Neil Diamond fan. We got together one afternoon to decide on the songs. There were so many they felt necessary to include that all together the compilation was about 15 minutes. The plan was for Shanna and I to be the back up singers while Tom did the actual Neil Diamond singing. Just to be sure that no one lacked on stage time Tom and I sang a Barbara Striestand/Neil Diamond Duet "You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore", and Shanna had a solo to "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". Tom and Shanna went to the thrift store for our costumes. They came back with a pink, sequined, black shimmering shirt for Tom, a gold 80's dress and matching gold pumps for me, and a sexy black, beaded frock for Shanna. We looked awesome, as you can imagine. Now the great thing about this performance is that we didn't do any lip syncing...no, not at all. We did all the singing ourselves. Tom was worried that the singles wouldn't realize that he was the one doing the actual singing so he made Shanna announce that what they were about to hear was indeed our actual voices. This is where it gets rally embarrassing...the stereo system wasn't loud enough to get the music into the cultural hall, so instead of having back up music it ended up being an acapella
Neil Diamond performance...for 15 whole minutes. It was so embarrassing. We have it all on tape. Every time we watch it we literally cringe as it is awful. I can't imagine what the audience was actually thinking as we draped the American Flag over Tom's shoulders during the finale song "Coming to America". Although the applause at the end was huge I'm not sure if it was for us and our immense talent or because it was finally over.

It goes without saying the we are elated at this upcoming American Idol. I wonder what they'll sing. I think Brooke would do well to sing "Forever in Blue Jeans" and Cook could sing "Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon", and annoying David Archuletta could sing "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", because it has such an amazing message.

Happy Birthday Haylie

We celebrated Haylie's 1st Birthday last Saturday. It was just the three of us, Tom, Haylie and me, but we still had a great time. She really liked her gifts.

Two Years

Last Friday Tom and I celebrated our two year anniversary. Of course, we celebrated by going to a Knicks game. For our honeymoon we went to the Baseball World Classic. For our first year anniversary we went to the Baseball Hall Of Fame, in Cooperstown NY. Does anyone see a trend?
To be fair, for our Honeymoon we did go to a spa. I got a facial, and Tom had a massage. After my facial I went and got dressed and went out to wait for Tom. He wasn't there. Minutes passes, he still didn't come. I wondered where he was. The front desk finally paged him and after awhile he came out. I asked where he had been. He explained that he had been enjoying the amenities. The natural mineral spa outside. A hummingbird had even landed on his shoulder while he relaxed in the outdoor spa of paradise. He explained all of the other wonderful things the did, and I couldn't believe it! No one had told me about any of those things! I missed out on everything good because no one had clued me in. So while Tom was enjoying the beautiful palms trees outside, and the spa, and of course the hummingbird I was waiting inside on a bench wondering what was taking him so long! When ever I think about this story it makes me upset. After I found out what I had missed we didn't have time to go back because we had to get to the baseball game.
Back to our Anniversary...it's been two years, but we were dated on and off for three and a half years before we actually tied the knot. I've been very blessed to be married to Tom. He does everything for me! There is nothing he would not do for me, I know this because I ask a lot. When I decided to stop working at three months pregnant with Haylie he supported me in my decision, which I have always been grateful for. Every Saturday he loads up the laundry, rain or shine, and walks to the laundry mat to wash and fold all of our clothes. He does the grocery shopping, pays the bills, goes to school full time, and often cooks dinner for me when I don't feel well. He takes care of Haylie when he can. He is the handiest guy I know. He has brought our computer back from the dead more times than we can count. I got the better deal when I married him. He does everything I ask, usually without so much as a complaint. He has always put me first in our marriage, there are not enough good things I can say about him as a person. If only we could agree on politics and vaccinations, it would be a marriage of true minds.