Lawrence Farms

We headed up to Newburgh this past weekend for our annual apple picking adventure. It was Jon's first weekend off in over 3 weeks and it actually felt really weird for him to be around on a Saturday... almost like a little vacation! Anyway, it was so great to get out of the city and drive up the beautiful Palisades Parkway. The leaves were amazing! We stopped at gma and gpa S's house for some cinnamon rolls and then headed to the apple farm with them. It was a beautiful day -- significantly chillier than last year when it was like 75 degrees -- but who doesn't love a crisp, autumn day in the Northeast?!?

Noah loved seeing some of the animals they had, especially the goats for some reason, and we managed to pick a few apples even though there was some climbing involved by Uncle C. One of the reasons we love this orchard is because of the cute little children's village that it has. There is a little school house, a church, a post office, a jail, and even an ice cream parlor. It was a huge hit this year and I'll be honest, we spent most of our time there! Then we headed over to the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin and snap some family pics.

It was a great day... we even caught Miggy and fam leaving as we were pulling in... :)

this.is.happening...

Yep... that's right, folks... Noodle #2 is on it's way. I'm 14 1/2 weeks pregnant and expecting the new addition the second week of April -- one day after my 30th birthday to be exact! However, if this one has any of the same ideas as big brother, i.e. "get me outta here ASAP"... it may be more like March!

We're more than thrilled and can't wait to meet the new little one. We've yet to figure out a way of how to tell big brother, but I'm sure that will all come soon enough... or he'll just have to figure it out on his own! (I'm really toying with the idea of just bringing the baby home and telling him then -- probably not the best plan, however.)

some food for thought about #2 so far... (mmm.... food!):

1. I seriously forgot how much being pregnant and me do NOT get along. My husband did remember, however, and it's been his first real "I-told-you-so" moment of our marraige.

2. You have to be very creative when explaining to a 2-year-old what vomitting is. (Noah has found me hunched over the toilet on several occasions with quite a bewildered look on his face.)

3. This baby does NOT appreciate the smell of Chinese food coming through my bedroom window from my downstairs neighbors at 3am... neither does it appreciate most of the smells of NYC streets/subway system.

4. Trying to keep up with a toddler while pregnant is just a whole different ball game. (It makes breaking up middle school fights seem like a breeze!)

5. Figuring out the logistics of adding a second baby to our life in NYC might just be harder than getting through grad school.

I'm sure there will be more to come :)

soccer!

So, we signed Noah up for a little parent-and-me soccer class this fall in Inwood Hill Park. (originally intended to be a Saturday morning dad-and-Noah bonding effort... READ: a break for mom on Saturday mornings... however, Jon has yet to attend a class because of his ridiculous work schedule right now so, I've officially been forced into soccer mom-hood... at what I think is much too young of an age for me!)

This past week was our 2nd class and it's going really well. Noah's having a blast playing all of their really creative games (i.e. trying to get 2-year-olds to follow directions in an organized way). Games such as "make an ice cream cone", "toss the pizza", "feed cookie monster", "sit on the magic carpet", and "kick the bubbles" are some of our fav's. We also have "water breaks" about every 5 minutes and lots of "stretching" time. I'm impressed at how Noah's been able to follow directions (with LOTS of cheerleading from mom) and has only distracted his "teammates" a few times by getting them to chase him off the field!

here are a few pics:

on our way!

for some reason he was totally into posing for these shots -- hilarious!

(must be his new threads... thanks Nana!)

ready, set, go!

(learning how to wait for the whistle -- check out that stance!)

run, hop over the cone, and shoot!

GOAL!

water break.

disappearing through the magic tunnel...

run, sit on the ball, then score!

(they all LOVED this one... still not sure why)

feeding cookie monster!

***Jon always said that if our kids came out with my legs, they'd be soccer players for sure... guess he got his wish! Hopefully, Noah will get some height out of the deal, though!***