Groundhog Day

Today we went out to the Bronx Zoo again. Grandma bought us a membership, so we can go anytime we want now! Today they were celebrating the *homecoming* of the Sea Lions to their new home in Astor Court, so we visited them there. Then we went over to the Children's Zoo where Lexi joined the prairie dogs popping out of the ground and pretended to be a turtle.

Tagged

This post will have nothing to do with the kiddies... instead, it's all about Kendra! Because, apparently I have been "tagged"- which I guess just means I am supposed to tell you some things about me that you may not be aware of... truth be told, I have a working list of 100 things about me inspired by several friends who have made lists of 100 (Jessica, Amy, Julia) but you'll have to stay tuned for that monster. Here goes my short list:

1. My high school job was at Universal Studios, Florida (which, incidentally, was across the street from my high school). I was a ride/show attendant at the E.T. Adventure. One day, the ride was suffering from technical difficulties and I was at the main control center, so I became the ominous voice that reverberates through the building "The ET Adventure is currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please remain seated. The ride will continue momentarily." The area lead supervisor was so impressed with my voice & inflection that she offered me a position at the JAWS ride or the KING KONG ride. I actually chose to stay at ET.

2. I played varsity volleyball for 3 years in high school. I was awarded the Bob Noyes Sportsmanship Award, and named to the All-County and All-Metro Conference teams in 1994.

3. I had bunion surgery for free because I participated in a pain reliever research study. To this day I don't know if I had the real drug or just a placebo, but I do remember that it was quite a painful recovery. However, if I had it to do over again I would!

4. I didn't meet my in-laws until I had already been married to Matt for 11 months. They were serving a mission in West Africa.

5. While at college at BYU, I was a member of the Spanish Choir. One of the highlights of that experience was singing a beautiful arrangement of "Lord, I Would Follow Thee" in Spanish at a Tuesday Devotional. My sister, Allie, sang the same arrangement at my missionary farewell. I am also a member of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Hispanic Society.

6. I had 18 companions on my mission (that includes the MTC). I was part of 5 different threesome companionships and am happy to report that I only had major personality clashes with one sister. (For those who may not know, 18 companions in 18 months is A LOT).

7. I love to travel. Our budget seriously limits our traveling opportunities now, but some of the places I've been are: Spain, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Italy, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico and 26 of the 50 United States. Still on my list to see: France, Germany, England and Spain again! What can I say- I love Europe. And even though I don't necessarily want the whole world to see me at my best/worst moments, I would absolutely love to be on The Amazing Race so I could do amazing things in amazing places.

Hope there was something interesting there for you. That's all for now, folks!

oh! And I'm supposed to tag someone else... so I tag Stew & Carolyn, and anybody else who reads this blog and is up to the challenge.

First Bath

Here is a clip of Ella's first bath. The camera batteries ran out, so it's short. She seemed to like it- no squawking until she got out!

Mad Hot Ballroom

Today we went down to the World Financial Center's Winter Garden to see some of Matt's students compete in the finals of the NYC school ballroom dancing competitions. If you've seen the movie Mad Hot Ballroom, you may be aware of this program. Matt's kids won a bronze medal (along with several other schools).

Thriving

Ella had a doctor's appointment today and we learned she has regained her birth weight and then some- she is up to 9 lbs 11 oz and is now 22 inches long. The doctor said she is doing really well, so let's hope things continue that way!

The Only Thing We Have To Fear....

We had a pretty loud thunderstorm the other day and it was the first time Lexi has really exhibited an intense fear. She has been nervous around dogs ever since she was knocked to the ground by a *mean dog* several months ago, but nothing like the fear she displayed at the thunder. She refused to remove her hands from her ears and wouldn't budge from Daddy's lap. It took lots and LOTS of convincing that the storm really had passed and there would be no more loud noise. Wonder where she got the idea to be scared of thunder- not too long ago we sat on our bed watching the lightening and rain and listening to the thunder with no qualms whatsoever. I guess she's just growing up.

Sisters

Lexi has been amazing adjusting to her new baby sister. She has been more hyper than usual (literally bouncing off the wall behind the couch at times), but overall just adores Ella. She has been a big helper and also loves to *hold* Ella and sing to her. I feel so grateful for her sweet kindness towards her sister. It is heartwarming to see your children love each other. My wish is for them to always feel this way about each other (wishful thinking?)

One Week Old

Ella at 1 week old

Just some photos from this past week of our new little darling (she does a lot of sleeping). We're loving her and feel quite blessed. She has a very calm manner- not much of a crier and easy to soothe with a tight swaddle and cuddle. Still kind of overwhelming to think we have 2 kids and I wonder how I'm going to handle both of them all by myself... thanks to amazing women in my life who have stepped in to help me ease into the transition- my mother, mother-in-law and sister.

Introducing Ella Ruth

Ella Ruth was born on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 10:40 PM- 11 days late. She weighed in at a hefty 9 pounds 2 ounces and is 21.5 inches long. The labor and delivery was pretty uneventful and went smoothly. I had a great doctor, labor nurse, husband and epidural to help me through it all.

Lexi met her little sister for the first time the next day. She was so excited to see Ella and wanted to sit down and hold her right away. She kept asking Ella, "Do you love me?" She also played "This Little Piggy" with Ella's toes and "Patty Cake" with her hands. Then she said, "I know another song I can sing to Ella." And then she started singing "I Am A Child Of God". It warmed my heart!

I was feeling pretty good, so I was anxious to leave the hospital. We came home last night about midnight and actually had a remarkably good night's sleep. Guess Ella is still groggy from her entrance into this world. I'm not expecting that to last too long.

You should be able to link to the photos/videos we took at the hospital by clicking on the above image(s).

Fun with Shampoo

CCNY Graduation

CCNY Graduation

Today was Matt's graduation ceremony from The City College of New York. He finished his classes back in December, but there is only one ceremony a year. I know some people are all about skipping the ceremony, but I think it's great! He looked so fabulous in his black robe with the master's hood! The graduation was held outside on the beautiful campus of The City College. The Processional was accompanied by bagpipes from the NYPD. Of course there were some obligatory boring speeches, but we did get to hear from Senator Chuck Schumer, which was actually nice.
Matt graduated *with honors*. School of Education graduation honors are awarded to candidates for master's degrees and advanced certificates who have a grade point average of 3.7 or higher with no grade below B, and who have exhibited high personal and professional qualities. I'm so proud!
(click on the photo above for all our shots of the day)

Following the ceremony, we headed to Tomo for lunch and Lexi did a remarkable job with her chopsticks!

No Room in This Inn

One week late as of today. That's pretty much all I have to say.

The City That Never Sleeps

Caught this story on the news tonight... turns out we live in one of the noisiest areas of Manhattan- was it that fire truck screaming by again that gave it away?! Or the Dominican fiesta that lasted until 3 o'clock this morning?! I don't actually know where our street would fit on the spectrum since we basically live on the border of Hamilton Heights (#1) and Washington Heights (#3). I DO know that I always kind of freak out whenever we visit family in the quiet suburbs because I'm afraid none of us will be able to sleep when we get back to the city again. Lexi is a pretty heavy sleeper, thank goodness. I hope #2 will be as well.

Memory Lane (aka 79th Ave)

My grandmother & mother were both born and raised in Queens (in the same house on 79th Ave). I was born in Queens, as well, and so today we took a little trip down memory lane and visited the old stomping grounds with my mother as tour guide. We saw the apartment building that was my first home and walked the streets that my mother and I walked when I was a little girl Lexi's age. We drove around my grandparents old neighborhood and loved hearing all my mother's little anecdotes. The neighborhoods have changed drastically- people of all types now. We stopped in the playground near our old apartment building (that my mother admits we hardly ever went to- too scary in those days!) to let Lexi run play in the sprinklers.

Family

After spending some time with friends (see previous post) we were lucky enough to get to see some family, too! Matt's brother has triplets that just graduated from high school last week (congrats!) and so the whole family came out east to *celebrate*. We were so happy to see them and spend some time with them! Paige is headed to Utah State, Sierra to Utah Valley State College and Cliff is off to the mission field in Tennessee speaking espanol. They're touring around Boston, upstate NY and Canada, and hopefully can meet our newest addition on their way back through NYC before heading home.

Lexi adores her older cousins!

Friends

One of the great things about New York is that it's a destination city. I mean that lots of people come here for lots of different events, and we get the chance to see friends that we haven't seen in a while when they come for other things. Today we were able to spend a few hours with some of our friends from our Utah days- and get to meet their 2 cute kids... (Jaina seemed to avoid the photos somehow). Lexi and Jensen had a nice time together at the Central Park Zoo, and then dancing on the big piano at FAO Schwarz while the moms and dads caught up on each others lives... thanks for making some time to see us, friends!

Fleet Week (Semper Fi!)

This week in New York is Fleet Week- a celebration of our nation's sea services. To start it all off, this morning was the Parade of Ships and Aircraft Flyovers. The ships were supposed to travel from the Verrazano Bridge up the Hudson to the George Washington Bridge. Lexi and I walked down to the river's edge to watch the mighty ships sail by. However, in a disappointing turn of events, the ships did not actually make it all the way to the GWB. Instead, they ended up turning around in front of Riverbank State Park- located at about 145th Street. Lexi and I were on the banks of the Hudson at 158th Street, so unfortunately did not get to see any boats actually pass in front of us. We did get a pretty good look, though, and could see the servicemen and women in their crisp white uniforms all standing along the decks.

We did see 2 flyovers- one set of 4 jets, and one set of 2 jets. Very cool.

Lexi ended up climbing on the rocks and throwing things in the water:

Another visit to the Bronx Zoo

Zoo 5/22/07

Did I say this in a previous post? Because we bank with Bank of America, we get free admission to several museums/parks throughout the month of May. So Lexi & I took another trip to the Bronx Zoo with Aunt Allie and friends Jessica & Noah. There are a few attractions that you have to pay extra to see, so Lexi chooses one of those to do- last time we rode on the Bug Carousel, and this time we rode the Sky Ride high above the zoo. We saw some animals that we haven't seen in awhile (the red panda & the snow leopards) and almost all of the animals were very cooperative today- moving around and doing something other than just napping. We also visited our old friends the tigers & giraffes.

More Lexi-isms

Lexi found this photo of Matt's nephew when he was 3...
"What happened to Superman? Did he turn into a baby?"

"I'm starving. I need to watch something."

"I was a baby Lexi. I wasn't a baby Ella. But now we're gonna have a baby Ella."

While visiting my mother in her single-family home, Lexi was in another room and we suddenly heard a strange noise:
Me: "Hey, Lex! What's that noise?"
Lexi: "It's just the neighbors upstairs."

"That onion just stung me!"- after eating some guacamole.

During a Mets/Yankees game a commercial for Mitchum Man deodorant came on- it featured 3 rather buxom women running down the beach in some skimpy bikinis.
"Ewwwwww. That's YUCK!"
(That's my girl! Hope you still think that when you're 14!)

While riding a carousel with Aunt Allie:
Allie: "This goes fast! The wind feels so good!"
Lexi: "Is it from the horse or from the world?"

Modeling in NYC

Pregnant Kendra

So, I can now say that both Lexi & I have done modeling work in New York City. My friend Angie has a roommate who is studying photography at the School of Visual Arts. One of her assignments was to photograph memories from her childhood, so Angie suggested she take pictures of Lexi... Christina and her assistant, Jia (who, incidentally, worked for one of the leading fashion photographers in Korea) spent a Saturday morning spinning, singing and playing with Lexi.

In a later assignment, Christina had to photograph "eggs". Yes, folks, "eggs". She was really hesitant to take pictures of a plain old egg, even broken & splattered. Then she had what I consider to be a creative stroke of genius. She decided to photograph a pregnant woman... get the egg connection? And guess who the lucky lady was? Me! It was actually quite fun to go downtown to a little studio at the school and be the object of attention for a couple of hours. Although I was 5 months along at the time, my belly was still not exactly huge, so we had to be a bit creative. But I was recently given several prints and I am so impressed by her talent. And I was so flattered to be her subject. (You can click on the above photo to see all the prints I received).