Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Celebrating 5 Years in New York!

Warning: Long blog post with lots of pics!

Trent and I just got home from a wonderful trip to New York.  We booked this trip back in December, before I was pregnant...so it turned into an anniversary/babymoon trip all in one!  We crammed as much as possible into our 4 days in the city, and I'm pretty sure I walked more than I ever have in my life!  We either walked or took the subway everywhere, which I loved!

We flew in Thursday about lunch time and enjoyed a nice meal on the patio at Sarabeth's across the street from Central Park.  It was a great start to the trip!

So excited to be in New York!

We then rode the subway to downtown and walked around Wall Street, saw the New York Stock Exchange Building, and went through the 9/11 Memorial.  I definitely teared up walking through there as we saw name after name on the water wall.  The one that really got me was the name of a lady right above Todd Beamer's name that included "and her unborn child."  That really hit home.  It was very surreal being at the site of the Twin Towers when I remember so clearly that day 10 1/2 years ago as a senior in high school.





 The new building going up at the World Trade Center Site.

 Firemen's wall



From there we headed to Greenwich Village, which was such a cute neighborhood right by NYU!  We ate dinner at a yummy Italian food place called Otto.  It was the first of many times I had pizza on the trip! :)  But I didn't feel bad about it at all because of all the walking that we did!


Friday morning we started off with breakfast at Brooklyn Diner right down the street from our hotel.  


We then enjoyed walking through Central Park and enjoying the beautiful weather!  Our hotel was in the perfect location...we were a block from the Park and two blocks from 5th Avenue.  Lunch was at the Boathouse that afternoon, and then we continued on to the Met.  I could not get over how unbelievably HUGE it was!  There was so much to look at, and you could get lost in all of the different rooms!



Trent loved the armory and weapons rooms! 


We then walked leisurely back through the park and enjoyed ice cream by the sailboat pond.  

 Cute hubby enjoying his ice cream! :)


An awesome view of the Plaza Hotel!  All I could think about every time I saw it was Home Alone 2!

That evening we rode the subway to the Bronx to watch the Yankees v. Mets.  It was awesome!  Lots of good people watching, and there was a ton of trash talking going on between the fans.  The Yankees won easily, and we had a great time enjoying the nice weather and being at Yankee Stadium!




Saturday morning we got up bright and early, grabbed some Starbucks for breakfast, and rode the subway to Battery Park.  From there we got on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  We had a great view of the Manhattan skyline as we rode away from the dock.  

 Lady Liberty!  It was so cool getting closer and closer on the ferry!


 Manhattan skyline


Ellis Island

After the ferry took us back to Battery Park, we rode the subway to Times Square.  We really didn't spend much time here...it was pretty much exactly what you see on TV all the time...just a lot of people everywhere!  So we walked over to 6th Avenue and saw Rockefeller Square and the NBC studios and Radio City Music Hall.  I liked this street a lot better because it was a lot quieter and A LOT less crowded! After we ate pizza for lunch, we enjoyed a yummy cupcake from Magnolia Bakery!

 Typical Times Square picture!




 

Delish!  I'm pretty sure I devoured my chocolate cupcake in .2 seconds!

We then walked all the way back up 5th Avenue and did a little shopping.  Baby A and I both got souvenirs!  Mine came in a little turquoise box as a 5th anniversary/baby present! :)

A souvenir for Baby A!

That afternoon we were able to rest at the hotel for a little bit, which evidently I needed a 2 hour nap!  We had a busy and late night ahead of us so it was nice to rest up!  We started with appetizers at the Plaza Hotel!  Then we headed to Gershwin Theater to see Wicked!  I was so excited about this, but I didn't know if Trent would enjoy it at all...BUT he did and even said he would want to see another shower the next time we go back to NY!  After the show we had a late dinner at Milo's...it was delicious seafood, and they even brought out a dessert with a candle to wish us Happy Anniversary!  It was a great ending to the night!

 At the Plaza Hotel


 It was so good!!!

Anniversary dinner!  
This was at the end of dinner...it looks like no one else is there because it was about 12:30am at this point!

On Sunday morning we did a very touristy thing that I was dying to do...a carriage ride through Central Park!  We had some good narration about where different movies were filmed in the park, and it was a very nice ride with good weather once again!



We then headed to brunch on Union Square before it was time to head to the airport.

 My 27 week picture in the park!

 Yummy brunch at Blue Water Grill!

One last subway ride!

We made so many fun memories on this trip, and it is something I will never forget.  Thoughts on being married for 5 years...in some ways it seems like yesterday, but in others it feels like we've been together forever!  Trent and I are both so thankful that we've had these past 5 years just the 2 of us...we've been able to do a lot of fun things like travelling and just enjoying growing our marriage and building the foundation that our family can grow on.  I'm so thankful for the way Trent knows me so well and loves me so much.  He is the most patient person! :)  We are excited to enter this new stage of life together and look forward to our next big trip after baby...grandparents, get ready to baby-sit! :)

Monday, June 11, 2012

27 Weeks

27 weeks

How Far Along: 27 weeks
Size of baby: Baby A is the size of a cauliflower!
Maternity Clothes:  Yes, I love them!  So thankful for family and friends who have let me borrow several tops and dresses!  My sis-in-law lent me a HUGE tub of clothes that I've put to good use!
Gender: Surprise!
Movement: All of the time!  Baby is most active in the afternoons and evenings.  I will never grow tired of feeling he/she moving all around!  Baby A is starting to move more at night when I'm trying to sleep!
Sleep: I have been sleeping much better lately, thankfully!  I have to get up at least once a night, but I've been able to go right back to sleep.  Loving the body pillow too!
What I miss: sleeping on my back, not getting winded, having the energy to do everyday normal things like I used to
Cravings: orange juice, sweets...anything really!  I'm still hungry all of the time! :)
Symptoms: nothing major...can just feel lots of stretching and growing in my belly!  My heartburn has been better this week, thankfully!  A new thing that has popped up recently is leg cramps...I'm getting them about every other night now.
Best moment of the week: Trent and I spent 4 days in New York celebrating our 5th anniversary!  We had a blast and loved the time together exploring the city.  I will do a separate post all about our trip!
Looking forward to: going to the Dr. this Thursday for my 28 week check-up, and then I will start going every 2 weeks...CRAZY!!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

26 Weeks

26 weeks

How Far Along: 26 weeks
Size of baby: Baby A is the size of a head of lettuce!
Maternity Clothes: Yes!  And I just went shopping at the outlets in San Marcos with my mom and am excited to wear my new maternity clothes!
Gender: Surprise!
Movement: All of the time!  Baby is most active in the afternoons and evenings.  I will never grow tired of feeling he/she moving all around!
Sleep: I have actually been sleeping better lately!  And I'm pretty sure I've taken a nap almost every day for the past 10 days...that helps a lot!  I'm still loving my pregnancy body pillow too!
What I miss: sleeping on my back, not getting winded, having the energy to do everyday normal things like I used to
Cravings: orange juice, sweets...anything really!  I'm still hungry all of the time! :)
Symptoms: nothing major...can just feel lots of stretching and growing in my belly!  My heartburn has been better this week, thankfully!
Best moment of the week: Last Thursday, my first day of summer, I enjoyed a wonederful prenatal massage...it was amazing!  And I also got my hair cut and colored the same day...I loved the day of pampering! :)  I also loved the shopping trip my mom and I just took to San Marcos!  We hit up the outlet malls, ate at the Gristmill in Gruene, and just had a good time relaxing!
Looking forward to: going to NYC on Thursday with Trent for our 5 year anniversary/babymoon celebration!!

Saturday, June 2, 2012

A Big Birthday Celebration!

The Cox family all headed to Waco for Memorial Day weekend to celebrate Justin's 30th birthday!  There were lots of surprises in store for Justin throughout the weekend, and we loved celebrating him/making him feel old! :)

The boys started off Saturday morning by playing golf, and Caden got to play the first 9 holes with them.  He loves this time with the boys and ran the ENTIRE time!  He was one tired little boy by the time we picked him up at the turn!  Saturday evening Caden gave away the secret that we were going on a "race!"  We had a scavenger hunt where pictures had to be taken all around town, and we were split into boys v. girls.  We can all be very competitive, and of course the boys were talking trash and sending harassing text messages the whole time!  George's was the last stop on the race, and, yes, the girls lost, but ONLY by about 3 minutes...not kidding!  Katie, Mom, and I were very proud of ourselves!  And you could tell the boys were pretty impressed too!  Although they had trained Caden to say, "We smoked you!" Ha!  Lots of good memories and fun times! 

The boys gloating!



The sweetest niece ever!

Notice the black balloons and Over the Hill decor! 
We enjoyed cake, ice cream, and presents after dinner!


On Sunday morning, the boys played golf again, so the girls and Caden enjoyed some pool time!  I hope it is the beginning of lots of pool time for me this summer!  I had a wonderful little float, and the water felt so good!

That evening Gran and Poppa came over for dinner, and we had all planned on wearing black to surprise Justin!  It was so funny when he realized what we had done, and of course he was wearing pink!  The big kids played games in the backyard that evening, and somehow it ended up boys v. girls AGAIN...you would think we would learn our lesson!  Bocce ball was the favorite of the night!

Just a little crazy!


Before we all headed our seaparate ways on Monday, Nana requested a few family pics.  They turned out great!

All the "kids!"

Nana and Bop can't wait to add one more grand to this pic come September! :)

What a great family weekend in Waco! So thankful for all of the fun memories and good laughs! 

For the family...River of Love says hello! :)