NYC Trip

My lifelong friend Hillary and her husband Adam have been living in Manhattan for the past two years. We were finally able to work out getting up there to visit them. So that's just what we did for our Labor Day weekend. Jack vacationed with his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and we vacationed in the Big Apple.

Our trip started with a scarier than all get out taxi ride from the airport to Washington Heights where our friends live. Seriously was fearing for my life as we whipped in and out of traffic and slammed on breaks. But we survived luckily because the next three days would have been a shame to miss!!

Having barely slept Friday night because I was so excited, I'm up with the sun Saturday morning ready to get started. Adam is the Young Men's president in his ward and they had a 10 mile "urban" hike planned for the day. So we tagged along and it was AWESOME! Such a great way to see the city. We started in Central Park, made our way through Time Square, through the various jewelry and fabric districts of the city, stopped in Whole Foods for some gluten-free hamburger buns, got lunch at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park(hoooly cow it was good!), and ended OUR leg of the hike at Washington Park next to NYU. (And for any of you who might be impressed that a 6 month pregnant person hiked 6 miles on concrete.... don't be. I was dying and paid for it the rest of the trip. Oh but it was so worth it!) So we broke off from the group and made our way to reward ourselves with some Gelato. Of coarse! And as if that wasn't enough reward, we went to a place called Baby Cakes, a vegan bakery, which makes gluten free baked goods. Jon was in heaven!!! He got a big decedent chocolate cupcake, cookies and some other kind of cake and savored every bite over the next few days.

(Gross-o pigeon poo on Jon!)

That night after some much needed recovery time, we headed back to the city. First stop, Rissoteria - A gluten free Italian Restaurant in the Village. The bread sticks were divine and we each ate like 4. Jon got a panini and again, savored every bite. He was ready to move to NY just for the availability of GF foods after this day!

Now, I love some good jazz, and Adam is a musician and jazz connoisseur so he had the inside scoop of good shows in the city. Lucky for us the Kenny Werner Quintet was playing in a little club called the Blue Note for the weekend we were there. We just sat and chilled and enjoyed this amazing group. It was the perfect end for day one.

This is with sand! Cool huh!?

Don't know why he's frowning, probably because he had to stop eating his cupcake to take the picture.

Sunday, we walked to church (how cool is that?!) through a GORGEOUS park. Church was an event in itself as you can imagine. Being in New York, there was a wide array of talent in this ward spanning from opera singers, a violinist, playwrights, broadway performers and much more I'm sure. Sitting in sacrament meeting was a treat and I didn't sing a bit, just trying to listen to the bellowing tenor down the isle from me. Ahhhhh. Amazing. Anyway, the rest of the day we relaxed in our friend's fabulous apartment and went for a walk through the "ghetto" which turned into a hike to Yankee Stadium. Needless to say we took the bus home. Another reason I love my friend Hillary, is because she is an AMAZING cook!! For our Sunday night feast, she made us pulled pork tacos with fresh guacamole, and corn delishousness salad. She taught me how to properly chop an onion (Jessica you would be proud) and how to safely use a knife. I learned so much! Anyway, dinner was incredible and we were wondering WHY we didn't eat at her place the entire time?! Who needs to eat out when your traveling with a gourmet chef? However, this was a mini-vacation for her as well so I'm sure she enjoyed not having to cook for us all the time. :) After dinner Adam and Hillary took us on a tour of their neighborhood. Jon and I decided this might have been our favorite part of the whole trip. They live in a beautiful part of northern Manhattan called Washington Heights. It's right on the Hudson River next to the George Washington Bridge. Adam with his mad photography skills took way better pictures than me on this little walk, so I'll wait to get those from him and post them. Mine won't do it justice.

Monday, after a delicious pork and feta cheese frittata (which Hillary helped me and kind of taught me to make, be impressed) we're off for our last day of sight-seeing and fun. We started with a trip on the Staten Island Ferry which gave us great views of the city, and of coarse the Statue of Liberty. From there we made our way through Battery Park and happened upon a Dutch festival with free cheese samples! Yum! We went down Wall Street where Adam was finally able to "ride the bull"! So perfect seeing as he works on Wall Street. Hiked across the Brooklyn Bridge waited in line for some fabulous ice cream, and chilled in a park by the river, complete with an old man in a pale yellow thong speedo. Nice. Took the subway back into town where we stopped to see the Manhattan Temple, and went on a much needed shopping trip to J Crew. Yay for having friends who work at my favorite stores!! Back to 42nd street, we got sushi and lettuce wraps for dinner, read our fortunes which aren't really fortunes at all, but little pieces of wisdom.... lame, and went down to Broadway to see In the Heights. Hillary recommended this show, which was nominated for 13 Tony Awards last year, and won for Best Musical. First time I've been to a show on Broadway and we lucked out because it was a light house and we got moved up to way better seats!! Show was awesome and my little baby was kicking away inside me. He was jammin' along with the rest of us. Side note, some of the actors from the show were on the same train with us on the way home. That makes us kind of famous right??

After our goodbyes, and a few hours of sleep, Jon and I caught our 6 AM flight back to Atlanta. Picked up our Jack who we missed so much, slept a good part of the day, then it was back to the airport to welcome home DANIEL!!!! He's back from California and looks better than ever! He'll be going to UGA, so we're excited to have him around.

This was the perfect trip to New York, especially because we got to spend time with our awesome friends. We already miss you so much and can't wait to start planning our next mini-tico trip!!

23 Weeks

So here, as promised is my first official belly picture. The baby bump is getting larger and larger and I'm having a hard time finding clothes that fit right. Maternity still isn't quite right and heaven knows I don't fit in my normal ones anymore. But I squeeze into my bigger jeans anyway just out of sheer desperation not to look like a total blimp. But anyway, I'm loving feeling my little man move around!! Over half way there!!

Cutest little fetus there is!

Here are some pictures of our adorable little fetus!! It's most definitely a boy, but I spared him his privacy and left those particular pictures out. He was sucking his thumb (see picture #1) which was pretty darn adorable. Everything is looking good and my due date is still Dec. 29. I'll try to post a belly picture soon. Because there is most certainly a belly to talk about these days.

Home again

Going to our place in Destin feels very much like I'm going home. My trips to the beach house normally consist of relaxing, walking on the beach collecting shells, exploring Seaside and the outlet malls, visiting my wonderful grandparents and eating at my favorite places. It is my heaven on earth and I absolutely love bringing people with us so they too can experience my heaven.

We were finally able to arrange to go down with Jon's family. His brothers Matt and Nathan flew in from Utah and we got to spend 4 fun filled days at the beach. This trip was fabulous because we were able to do things a little out of the ordinary. Our first day we rented a pontoon boat that left out of the Destin Harbor (my FAVORITE spot in all of Destin). We explored the bayou, found a deserted beach and went for a swim. Jack LOVED the water and luckily he was wearing a life vest because he would jump in as soon as he got the chance. I love being on the water and have decided that someone who loves me needs to buy a boat and let me borrow it whenever I get the urge........ Any takers??

He sure loved driving. This is a Rusch boy for sure. Likes to be in-charge and behind the wheel.

Other highlights were the awesome body surfing in the gulf after a big storm, although I SADLY lost my sunglasses in this adventure. :( We ate at my favorite restaurant McGuire's and went to the Eglin Air force Base museum of airplanes. We thought Jack would love this museum because he's very interested in airplanes at this point in his life. But he apparently only likes them when they're far away in the sky and was terrified of the big planes and wouldn't go anywhere NEAR them!! This is Jack running as fast as he can away from the planes.

More pictures from that blessed beach:

We had a great time just chillin', playing tennis, watching the X-Games and eating....lots. Well, I ate lots at least. Now we're just counting down the days until my little bro Daniel returns from his mission! So soon!!

Our Gluten-Free Life to Be

You may recall me mentioning a while ago that Jon has been sick. Last summer he started running a high fever and it continued for weeks. Doctor's said it was the flu. I don't think so. He has lost 30 pounds since last May, has digestive issues, no energy and vomits if he pushes himself too hard at the gym. NOT NORMAL. So with my urging, he finally made another doctors appoitment to get this figured out. After 3 doctors visits, countless viles of blood and "other type" samples, and an Endoscopy, he has been diagnosed with Celiac Disease! For those of you who are not well-informed of this auto-immune disease, I'll let the Mayo Clinic explain:

"Celiac disease is a digestive condition triggered by consumption of the protein gluten, which is found in bread, pasta, cookies, pizza crust and many other foods containing wheat, barley or rye. If you have celiac disease and eat foods containing gluten, an immune reaction occurs in your small intestine, causing damage to the surface of your small intestine and an inability to absorb certain nutrients.
Eventually, the decreased absorption of nutrients (malabsorption) that occurs with celiac disease can cause vitamin deficiencies that deprive your brain, peripheral nervous system, bones, liver and other organs of vital nourishment. This can lead to other illnesses and stunted growth in children.
No treatment can cure celiac disease. However, you can effectively manage celiac disease through changing your diet. " --- http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/celiac-disease/DS00319

So Jon had to say goodbye to all of the goodness that contains wheat, barley and rye.


But do not be alarmed, ICE CREAM is gluten free. Life is still good.

We are very excited that they have finally been able to figure out what is wrong with him, and SO glad it's something as simple as Celiac Disease. No medications, no surgery, just a drastic diet change he will live with for the rest of his life. I am so happy it was nothing more serious and am very excited for his new life and way of eating. But be warned, we might be taking out loans to pay our weekly grocery bills. GOOD heavens. This healthy, gluten-free stuff is dang expensive.

I'm up for any tips, advice, store locations or anything you might know about how to make this new lifestyle a little bit easier. We've got a lot to learn!

Randomness

I'm completely in love with So You Think You Can Dance. I love it because everyone is SO GOOD!!! The entire show is incredibly entertaining and I'm not sitting there critiquing everyone, and I rarely cringe through an entire song. If you know me, you know I'm FAR from being a coordinated dancer, but dang I love to try. So watching this makes me feel inspired to dance! Yes, you should be scared. I've started taking ZUMBA at my gym and I pretend I'm in full costume and make-up as I'm hopping and twirling my way across the floor to "Boom Boom POW". Great class. Anyway, so here's a link to one of my all time favorite performances on the show. Prepare to be amazed. I just love Kayla. Everything about her is beautiful and she is such a joy to watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrXrfCnChCc

In other news, my belly is starting to pop out, and I'm definitely looking large. I want to get a shirt that says: because this point in pregnancy is just not attractive. I'm sure everyone thinks I've just let myself go. PLUS my skin is all broken out, and my hair is falling out, not to mention I'm miserably cranky!!! My poor husband. Oh well. Everything seems to be going good with our little fetus from what we can tell so far. I'm 14? weeks. Actually going in next Tuesday for a growth u/s to see how far along I really am.

Sorry I don't have any exciting new pictures. But it doesn't mean life hasn't been exciting! LET ME JUST TELL YOU the excitement that happened in my house yesterday. So my DARLING child Jack right, was happily entertaining himself in the dryer while I was working. I'd go back and check on him every little while, but he was just so happy and singing to himself, so I just let him keep playing. Then he starts to cry so I go to rescue him. And OOOOOOOOH MMMMMMMMY GOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!! That child had gotten all the slimy POOP out of his diaper and had painted the ENTIRE DRYER along with himself. So I got poop all over ME trying to pull him out of there!!! What is the sanitary method of cleansing a child that's covered in poo??? I wanted to just take him outside and spray him off with the hose. But seeing as that would've required exposing ourselves to the neighbors, I opted for the bathtub and a lot of wipes. Luckily, I've had quite a history with poop, so this wasn't the most disgusting experience of my life. But it very well could've been. Anyway, disgusting. I guess I'm a real mom now huh??

Other than the poop incident, Jack is doing great. He's very into climbing things and has injured himself quite a bit lately. He turns up with these bruises all over his legs. He's a wild man! His vocabulary is growing and his favorite things right now are: birthdays, strawberries, book, planes, cup, Elmo and Thomas. That's what he requests the most. His other method of requesting things is just screaming. Must be so frustrating to know what you want and not be able to communicate it to the person with the means of getting it for you.