First two weeks in our new home!

• We were supposed to receive internet/cable/phone on Thursday, but only ended up with cable. I wasn't complaining, though, because it allowed us to watch LOST and I had my iPhone to check email. Internet service followed shortly after.
  

• This week was lots of fun because I got to spend lots of quality time with GIRLFRIENDS :)

Thursday night I met up with Ashley and Rachel in the city for dinner/drinks. We had a fabulous time venting/talking/laughing. Seriously, it was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again!

Me, Rach, Ash:


Then Rachel completely took me by surprise when she pulled out a baby gift her mom got me. I was blown away by the kind gesture. It was also my first BABY GIFT, which made it a zillion times more exciting.





I was overwhelmed and very touched by this gesture.... I made sure to drop by Rachel's place on the way home to personally hug and thank her mom :)

The following day I met up with Alexis for brunch at this really cute cafe shop in Westwood. Alexis had her 7 month old daughter Sophia with her, who is the cutest thing alive, with drop dead gorgeous blue-gray eyes and adorable dimples. It seems like whenever Alexis and I meet up we have so much to talk about (and, for two people who were raised on opposites sides of this earth, we have quite a bit in common!) and its always fun to catch up with her.

The beautiful Momma & daughter:

• Still haven't had a full nights sleep. Between the back pains and our babbling radiator, I am up appr. every 30-45 minutes. Fun, right? Ummmm, no. ME NO THINK SO! It makes for one grumpy Noa, let me tell you that.

• We're about 95% unpacked (woot!) and most of the closets have been organized. Theres more to do, of course, but the bulk is done. Going through everything slowly has allowed me to purge a lot of stuff we don't need as well, which is always good. I hate clinging on to clutter.

• We love, love, love our new home. What we love most about it:
  • All of the extra SPACE and CLOSETS!
  • Huge dining room. Need to figure out what to put on the walls.
  • Huge master bedroom -- complete with 2 closets (believe it or not, we did not have even one closet in our bedroom until now. My closet was in the livingroom and emiro's was in the hallway). So, HALLELUJAH for not having to step outside our room to decide on clothes! Also, the room is so big I created a zen-like reading corner, complete with large armchair, ottoman, side table & reading lamp!
  • Our full size washer and dryer!!!!
  • Our dishwasher -- even though it doesn't work (we'll be getting a new one) - the fact that we can HAVE a dishwasher is mind boggling.
  • Our huge upstairs bathroom with large walk in shower. PURE HEAVEN. It even has 2 linen closets. SWOON!
  • Built in shelving units in the living room. Gives so much character and perfect to display all of the small knick knacks we've purchased during our trips around the world.
  • INSIDE GARBAGE CHUTE. Yes, you read that correctly. In the kitchen there is a small little door in the middle of the wall. Open the door, and you can throw small garbage bags which go straight into a garbage container in the basement. GENIUS! You know I will be throwing ALL of the dirty diapers in there :D
  • Complex Courtyard - there is the cutest courtyard with plenty of space to run around in and a little fountain in the middle. Love it.
  • Things we DON'T love about it are:
  • our crazy, loud, banging radiators. Super ordered new valves, I'm hoping it fixes the problem b/c we CANNOT continue sleeping like this.
  • upstairs toilet has no suction power what.so.ever. That, combined with my lovely BM issues, has left me cursing and pumping with that damn superplunger. Gross. Too much information?
    
  • Upstairs bathroom is all done up with gold fixtures. PUKE.
  • Downstairs bathroom has a restroom toilet! I kid you not! It has no bowl (or whatever you call it), and the flusher is that long silver handle I always flush with my feet in restrooms. WEIRD. You have to lower the seat to get to it, too.
    
  • there is a squeaky floor section upstairs, right between the master bedroom and the bathroom. I'm worried its something that would wake up a sleeping baby, plus, its annoying as hell. I googled this problem and I don't think its something Emiro and I can fix -- might have to have a professional look at it.

After our (disappointing) "big" ultrasound 2 months ago, Emiro was a sweetheart and insisted on researching places around us that offer 3D/4D ultrasounds. He found a reputable place and negotiated a special package with a huge discount that offered us 2 ultrasounds -- one for now, and one for when my parents arrive. AWWWWWW!

So this weekend we had the pleasure of "seeing" our little cupcake (that's how Emiro has been calling her lately) and it was definitely an amazing experience. Although I have seen 3D/4D images before, I didn't really know what to expect. Would I feel attached to her? Would I think she's alien-like and ugly? Would I get freaked out?

Well, I knew I was in love with her before, but after seeing her sweet angelic face I am head over heels.... How will it be once she's actually here?

The session was about 20 minutes and the little munchkin was asleep the entire time.

First peek at her face (look at that little pout!):



She was in a yoga position the entire time -- BOTH of her feet were resting on her forehead / jabbing her in the eye. We saw her moving her toes and scratch her forehead. In this picture the technician got a shot of her face from BETWEEN her two legs :-D



The entire ultrasound Emiro and I kepy commenting on how cute she looks already! See, we're biased parents even before she's born





Here's another shot of how she looked the entire time -- foot in face, sleeping

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good:

- We finally found a new apartment, after seeing countless overpriced dumps. Within 2 weeks we had signed the lease and started packing.

- We're moved in. Finally.

- The apartment is beautiful, spacious, so so so much better than our previous place.... You can't even compare. HUGE UPGRADE.

- My new favorite chore is laundry. Yesterday I did load after load after load of laundry. Giggling giddily the entire time (now say that fast 3 times!). No leaving the premises to wash anything anymore! WOOT!

- I think we have a good 1600-1800 square feet (versus about 800 before). The cats are tiring themselves out running around!

- On the moving day (which started at 5am) I helped Emiro and the movers move from 5am - 12 noon, worked from 12 noon - 7pm, and then sped off into NYC because Emiro was kind enough to insist I go to a friend's wine/cheese/chocolate party. He said I deserved off time after all the work I've put in - and I agreed :) The evening was FABULOUS and I had so much fun spending time with my girlfriends - I'm so happy we're making these meetings more of a regular thing!

The Bad:

- There's a problem with the radiators (management is working on it, should be fixed by the weekend). Basically, every couple of hours SHE BANGS, SHE BANGS, SHE BANGS as William Hung would say it (this should be familiar for those of you who watch American Idol). Holy shit. It sounds like a midget is in the room with us, hammering on the pipes. Not only does it wake you up with a start, but it also keeps you up. Banging goes on for about 3-5 minutes non stop, every hour or less.

- Moving day was, by far, one of the most stressful days I've experienced in a VERY long time. Lets leave it at that!

- The first night, the cats meowed the ENTIRE night. I got maybe 1 hour of sleep.

- My entire body is SORE from this move - squatting down and getting up without stop + up and down 2 flights of stairs 100 times a day + general moving activities have me aching. Although I refrained from any REALLY hard physical stuff (lifting very heavy items etc) I was very active in this move, because honestly, I had no choice. We had such limited time & limited financial resources. Yesterday even getting off the couch to get a drink of water caused my entire body to ache.

- Speaking of aches, the back pains that started a month ago or NOT letting up. I'm up all night long changing positions to relieve stress off my back. I did buy a huge body pillow (which is like another person in between Emiro and I!) but its only helping a tiny bit. HOWEVER, I do have a gift certificate from Emiro for a massage, which I will be using (this week, I think!) so hopefully that helps.

- We don't have phone, cable or internet, and won't have it until Thursday (I begged and pleaded to get the Thursday appointment -- can you imagine missing LOST *horrified voice*?

The Ugly:

- I'm not getting good vibes from my downstairs neighbor. Seems like she really enjoyed not having anyone live above her for a good 6 months. So far she complained about classical music being on too loud (yeah, classical music, you read that right). Granted, the apartment was empty at the time so the music was not muted by any furniture/rugs, but still, What the fuck??? Wait until we have a screaming infant. Apparently she went to the super and complained? I mean, I don't expect you to come to my door with homemade brownies and say welcome to the neighborhood, but a simple conversation with me would have resulted in reducing the volume levels. Now I'm scared to even have the TV on loud -- I hate pissing people off, but still, we have a life to live, you know?? I can't tiptoe because her prissy ass thinks this 1920's condo will have 100% noise barrier?!?! The following day (the day we actually moved) I saw her for the first time - she was leaving her condo carrying a huge Louis Vuitton suitcase and entering her 700 BMW series, had long blond hair and looked to be late 30's early 40's, and from what I understand she's single. Interesting character -- hope she doesn't turn out to be a nightmare of a neighbor.

- Me. Feeling blah - this gross weather certainly isn't helping. Feeling achy and tired and blah instead of glowing.

- First zit in 5 months popped by to visit :-/

Wow, its been a couple of weeks since my last update. I feel like time is FLYING by! We have less than 3 months until our due date (gulp) and it all still feels unreal.

Last week we registered for the baby- since I was surprised by having a baby shower planned for me (April the 13th), I went ahead with Emiro to BabiesRUs to start a registry. Let me say, it should be mandatory to give ALL new parents a strong painkiller before setting us off around the (huge) store to register for items. There is SO much out there, and so many brands and options..... I had a raging headache by the end. Luckily I was armed with several lists from friends who have already had babies, and they told me what is necessary / not necessary, which was really helpful.

I didn't have my camera with me, but we were able to capture our registering "fun" with the phone camera.

Emiro registering for a baby carrier:



Me registering for a stroller:



So, if I'm in a picture-posting mood, here are some additional photos from the month of FEBRUARY. The weekend after finding out we're having a GIRL, Emiro and I spent the weekend in West Point with our friends Rachel and Omer. On the way back home we stopped at the outlets and bought our first baby items...... I hadn't purchased anything until that moment, but I couldn't resist getting my hands on cute clothes once I found out its a little girl :)



With Rachel:



Our loot from the day's shopping spree:





Awwwwww!! Doesn't he look happy??



During February I also attended a Columbia University Alumni event, where a lot of my old classmates got to see me in my full pregnant glory. Quite a few of them didn't know I was expecting, so they were shocked to see the baby bump! The event was really nice -- open bar, not that I got to take advantage of that :-/

My darling friend from school - Matan (for those of you who are Israeli, his brother is the guy who won "The Shagrir" reality show in Israel - Eitan)



I also got to practice holding babies when I joined my friend Michal on a hospital visit -- her brother had a baby, and I got to meet him one day after the birth. It was pretty exciting and STRANGE to be holding a newborn and know soon I will have one of my own.... One I can't pass back to the parents when she starts screaming/pooping/fussing!!!