Spring Break in New York City!

Because BYU doesn't have a Spring Break, Blaine and I haven't gotten to enjoy a break like this since high school. So there's one reason to take advantage of it. Secondly, it could be used as a babymoon - one last hurrah before we have a baby to change things. And if we needed a thirdly, it could also be seen as a five-year anniversary celebration, since 5 years is a benchmark and we will have a one month old at the time. So, I came up with the idea of going to New York. I had been once when I was younger and once when I was in high school, and Blaine had never been. Plus, my cousin lives there with his wife and cute little baby girl, so I thought we could stay with them and get help from locals. I feel bad because they really are like constantly hosting guests, which is SO nice of them, but I'm still glad we went. We came close to not going, though, since we had just moved into our house and things were pretty hectic. 

Friday we didn't have school, so we moved the last of our stuff from our apartment into our house--which was our furniture. So we rented a U-haul for 24 hours and a couple of Blaine's friends from school came to help. Then Saturday we spent the day cleaning our old apartment, and then used Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday getting the rest of the house unpacked and under control... which we were able to do for the most part. 

The last thing that stressed me out so so much was Jakey. We'd never left him before. We took him to Montana for Thanksgiving and Utah for Christmas. He's never been away from us for more than a day at school/work and we've never been away from him. So I was so worried about being separated from him and especially since I hadn't found anyone to watch him until the very day before. I call Jakey my blonde son because I have raised him and treat him like my child (as Mom rolls her eyes reading this) and we're all he's ever known. I cried when we left him on Tuesday afternoon. Here is our last picture together before our trip and a couple of pictures of him asleep in my spot the night before.

That's going to be the hardest thing about traveling now. In all our time together, Blaine and I have been able to travel a lot and pick up go on lots of road trips. But now having to think about Jakey complicates things. It'll be a lot easier to strap our baby boy on or in the stroller and travel with him, but traveling with a dog is harder, so I  don't know what we'll do about that... But its good to be back together right now. 

Anyways, on to our Spring Break trip:

We drove to Dallas on Tuesday night and stayed in a hotel because our flight was at 7:00 the next morning. Because OKC is a small and unpopular airport, its extra expensive to fly in and out of there, so we saved about $200 per ticket flying out of Dallas, just 3 hours south. We arrived in LaGuardia and bought our unlimited weeklong subway pass--we came to be pros at the subway system, by the way. We made our way to my cousins' apartment and didn't waste anytime. We first got some lunch at a quick place by where they lived--I got a slice of white pizza and was in LOVE. We were there for 4 days... I had 4 slices...

Anyways, we then headed over to Times Square and bought some half-price broadway tickets to Rocky and walked around some stores like M&M World and the Hershey's Factory. That night we went to Rocky the musical and LOVED it. I've seen Wicked (3 times), The Lion King, Phantom of the Opera, Spam-a-lot, and Les Mis (because I LOVE musicals, obviously) so I wanted to try some new things. Before the show we got some burgers and concretes at Shake Shack. We BOTH really really enjoyed Rocky and it helped me discover a new hot thing about Blaine: his Rocky impersonation when he says "Yo Adrian, its me, Rocky..." :) It incorporated some impressive theatrical things that I hadn't seen before and the music was pretty good as well.

The next day began with bagels and then we moved onto the Rockefeller Center. We went to the top floor (Top of the Rock) and got a nice view of all the skyscrapers and Central Park and everything. I forgot to take a panoramic picture though! So sad. Another so sad thing: I may not be a professional yet, but I definitely have a common sense eye for taking a picture. It was so frustrating to ask some other random person to take a picture of us as we are perfectly positioned by the Empire State Building or something like that, and then I look at the picture they took and its like a close up on our faces, or someone's arm is cut out. I'm like, "Really?! Come on!"

Anyways, we walked around that area and saw where the Today show is filmed and went into some shops like the NBC Experience where I saw these favorite shirts:

We also went into FAO Schwartz and saw the piano you step on from the movie "Big" and bought our baby 2 presents as souvenirs from our "babymoon." We got a stuffed Jake (a puppy stuffed animal) and a sea turtle stuffed animal. We know the Jake stuffed animal will be his favorite toy and he'll carry it around with him everywhere because it reminds him of his best friend--the REAL Jake. (If that turns out not to be the case, we will MAKE it be his favorite toy) :)  I was going to include the solider guy on this picture, but he looked a little creepy.

We walked through Central Park on our way home and saw lots of recognizable parts of it from movies and TV shows, but it would've been prettier in the summer or fall when theres actually leaves on the trees. We did get to see lots of random "performers" if you can call them that. Pretty much it was groups of black guys who would take off their shirts and dance or do flips and acrobatic stuff. What their real talent was was hyping up the crowd for some big stunt that never happened, and then guilting them into paying for the show. Compliments, of course, were used as well. They called Blaine "the sexy white man" and complimented him on his wife. We also liked their line, "Obama wants change, but we want twenties."

Anyways, my feet hurt so bad from all the walking. That was our biggest walking day and it took a toll on my pregnant feet - even with my Dr. Scholls inserts. When we got back to my cousins, I rested them while Blaine and my cousin went down the street to Levain Bakery to get me some jumbo cookies.

We had some friends that went to NYC on their spring break a couple weeks earlier and said that they did the lottery for 3 broadway shows and were able to get tickets for all 3. So I figured, hey, its still chilly and not really a heavy tourist season - if they were only here a couple weeks ago, maybe the lottery will work for us too. Even though Wicked is the most popular show, I thought we'd give it a try anyways since it worked for them. So we got there 2.5 hours before showtime, stood in line, put our name in the drawing, and hoped that our name would be called... but it wasn't. Shocker. I was actually a little relieved because I forgot that you had to pay up front in cash, which I didn't have. So if they would've called me and I wouldn't have been able to go, that would've just been even worse.

Oh well. We'll go another time. Instead, we went back to Times Square and bought the half-off Cinderella tickets. It was a good show and great seats, but I didn't love it. Fran Drescher was in it, and Carly Rae Jeppson played Cinderella and had a great voice, but I should've thought it through before picking it. This is what it came down to for me: I should've known it wouldn't top the movie version. You know, the one with Whitney Houston, Brandy, Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, and all of them? (AKA the multi-cultural one with a black Cinderella and asian Prince Charming, who had a black mom and a white dad) Not only did this Fairy Godmother want to sing opera, even if she hadn't, Whitney Houston crushing that role in the movie set an impossible standard and I was left disappointed. They also changed the storyline, which I disapproved of. But I'm sure the root of my problem was the lack of Whitney Houston.

Anyways, the next day we saw the 9/11 Memorial and shared where we were when it happened/we found out. Then we rode the Staten Island ferry for a free view of the Statue of Liberty. We looked out the windows on the way over, and napped on the 25 minute ride back to Manhattan. Then we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and got a good view of the skyline. After exploring more stores and working the subway system, we headed back to Bryant and Mary's and had some New York pizza with them.

On our last day we went to Serendipity first since that was a priority and there had always been a long wait that we didn't want to wait around for. I absolutely love the movie Serendipity with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. I don't think it ever got THAT famous or popular, but I've always liked it. So we got our frozen hot chocolate (where, again, some nice ladies let me cut the long bathroom line) and walked around shops in that area for a little bit, including Dylan's Candy Bar and a burger joint, appropriately named "BRGR" :)

If you've seen the movie, you can appreciate this shot

Later that evening we met up with one of my oldest friends from elementary school in Miami - Heather!! Pretty much- she's worked for CNBC in New York for 3 years and has applied to work on Jimmy Fallon's and Seth Meyer's shows, and has promised to get me Tonight Show tickets with Jimmy next time I come. (Better start planning the next trip!) Her story made it sound like its so easy to get a great job in broadcasting in New York City. We walked along the High Line Trail - which is where the subway used to run above ground and they've turned it into a little garden pathway that runs along the river and goes by Chelsea Market.

I wish it could've been warmer weather, but we're glad we went. And we're so grateful that we were able to stay with Bryant and Mary and sweet baby Cora. It was our first trip that was just for fun - not to visit our families, not to interview for dental school, not for a track meet, not just a weekend road trip. I think we'll make it a yearly thing!

Here are a couple more random pictures from the trip :)

Banana shake at Checkers :)

Cart escalator at Trader Joe's

Missed our Jakey boy

23 Week Update

In the last two weeks, I've got to enjoy a new and magical part of being pregnant!!! I am so grateful to be able to experience it and can't take anything for granted. I read that you usually start to feel kicks around week 20, but I didn't. That worried me a little bit, but not too much. Sometimes I would try to sit still and close my eyes and concentrate to see if I could pick out any movements, but I never knew if I felt something or not. But over last weekend, I started to feel some very distinct kicks. Unfortunately, I don't have a special "first kick" memory of when he kicked me and I knew it. I think there were a couple of softer ones that I might of written off, but by the end of the weekend, I was certain that he was alive and well and moving inside his mama. Then a couple days ago, Blaine and I were laying in bed watching an episode of our favorite show (24) and he kept kicking me in the same spot pretty frequently. So I told Blaine and he touched my stomach and was able to feel the baby kicking for the first time. He was so cute and excited, which made me even more excited. Then he just stared at my tummy to see if he could SEE the movement, which he could. Then the next morning, I woke up to get ready for work and he rolled over and told me how exciting it was for him to feel that--when he usually just stays asleep while I get ready. 

My tummy is DEFINITELY showing now and I am OVER THE HALF WAY POINT!!! I can't even believe it and that its real. One of the things about Blaine being able to feel him kick was that it made it more real for me. Because I waited so long and did so much trying to make this happen, I feel like I'm extra nervous that something will go wrong or that I will just be imagining this whole thing. Each time I go to the doctor's office and hear his heartbeat or see him on the ultrasound, I just sort of get a sense of relief. So having Blaine feel the kicks too was like, "Ok, you have another witness. It's real." I'm so excited to be on the downhill slope and closer to birth than conception (weird? yeah probably) because I can't wait to see him and hold him. I also feel, though, that I've been so stressed and busy with work and house hunting and other things that I haven't taken full advantage of being pregnant and enjoying this experience. I still have 17 more weeks to go though, and 7 of those will not involve working, so I still have time.

Some other recent developments that have come up lately are terribly sore feet and back pain. Now, my back hurts a good amount anyways, but the feet thing is a big deal. They hurt all the time, unless I'm laying down. I switch off between my furry Uggs, Blaine's soft slippers, and my reef flip flops. They're all bad though. I don't even want to walk. But luckily they're not swollen and puffy. Look at this prescription my doctor gave me, though :) He's the best. And he's in my ward. I love him.

Have I mentioned my leg cramps in the middle of the night? Because they're wild. Every couple of nights I'll be sound asleep and then out of nowhere, I'll shoot up in pain because my calf is as hard as a rock and cramping. It is so painful for about a minute or less and then I'm back to bed. Usually it's just one leg, but twice recently, it has been one leg and then the next leg like an hour later. I don't wake up Blaine because I figure by the time I got him up, it'd be over. A couple nights ago, though, he woke instantly on his own and started rubbing out my legs. He even commented something funny on how it felt like there was a tennis ball stuck in my calf or something. I don't remember, I was asleep. But I must've been withering in pain enough to wake him up immediately on his own.

Blaine was up all night studying for a test last week, and Jake is usually his loyal companion and will play with his toys or sleep next to Blaine's desk to keep him company. But one night when Blaine was finally coming to bed and Jake woke from his sleep to follow him into the bedroom, Blaine put Jake on the bed with me while he brushed his teeth and stuff. I had been long asleep by then, and I vaguely remembered a flash going off, but then once Blaine sent me this picture the next day, I remembered. I remember Jake coming to lay by me and rest his head on top of my forehead, so I woke up and scooted him around and we ended up like this. You can tell my sleeping is not fake by the gorgeous natural look on my face. And yes, I've been sleeping in that same Heat shirt for the last 5 years.

When I try to get pictures of Jakey playing by Blaine's feet while he studies, Jake always gets distracted and comes to me or moves around, but at least heres a picture from a couple nights ago.

On that subject, poor Blainey had tests last Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday... Can you believe that?! And he has done well on all of them, even while working on the house and having Alexis and Craig in town... But it definitely comes at a price, like sleep. But I'm very impressed and proud of him and grateful for his hard work and dedication. In fact, we are at the Dental Lab right now (or we were when I wrote this) as he practices for one of his practical tests tomorrow. And its past my bedtime...

(Side note: I am definitely looking forward to SLEEPING IN!!! From our new house, my one way commute to work is now an hour rather than 40 minutes... I don't even remember the last time I had a good or long nights rest. And there have been a handful of times where I've shot out of bed, bit the covers, and clenched my shins from these sharp pains for about 30 seconds, and then go back to sleep...) And Jakey loves my U-shaped pregnancy pillow, so he usually sleeps in it next to our bed. I love relaxing in it or napping in it, but I get a headache if I try to sleep with it.

Once I'm gone in the mornings, Blaine will sometimes bring Jake onto the bed and they'll sleep together

 His signature sleeping position

First Time Home Owners

2013-2014 has definitely been a year of firsts for the Baker family:

--We made our first big move from Provo, Utah to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

--Blaine started his first year of Dental School

--Alayna got her first teaching job (first salary!!)

--We got our first puppy Jake

--I got pregnant and will have our first baby this summer

--We bought our first house

Thats right. We are officially homeowners now and are so excited. We'd thrown around the idea a little bit ever since we got Jake because a yard would make his life better and our life easier. But then we started to consider it more seriously and took more things into consideration and decided to go for it. My main concern was staying in our ward because it has a ton of other students in it and we've made some friends that we wanted to stay with. The bad part about that, though, was that all the newer construction homes that we could afford were out of ward boundaries. We first looked to rent a home, but in the area we wanted to be in, that would've meant paying a lot more for a lot crappier of a place.

So we looked online everyday and went to go look at a couple of houses. On my birthday, I found a house that looked good online and was fresh on the market, and so we went to go look at it later that night. Knowing that our options were limited and that this house would probably go fast since it is in a great neighborhood and well priced, we put in an offer the next day. We then came to find out that someone else had put in an offer that same day as well. 2 offers within 2 days of being on the market! (Very promising for selling in a couple years). So the owner's relator first told ours that they didn't want to bother having us make another offer since the people we were competing with could pay slightly more and in cash. But our relator was great and talked us up and we ended up getting the house because we offered a little bit over asking price... but then after the home was appraised we ended up buying it for a little under asking price, so that was a nice surprise!

Anyways, it took about a month to go through the process of inspections and paperwork and we finally closed on it a couple weeks ago. (Lets be real, though. Blaine took care of pretty much EVERYTHING as far as that goes. What a good guy, huh) It is a block away from our church and in "Old Edmond"-- a nice family neighborhood near a park. We've already took Jakey there a couple of times and we all love it.

The house, like all the other houses around the area, was built in the mid-1970s, and we are only the third owners. It could use some cosmetic upgrades, but its fine for now. Not our forever home. Alexis and Craig came out to visit and helped out a TON. It wasn't so much of a vacation, as it was a work-ation. They even worked when we had to go to school, but we paid them in food. One night we all ate Panera to-go while sitting on the floor and using the coffee table as a table, complete with Sun Chips for our appetizer and Easter candy for dessert.

Side note: I do not enjoy candy. Like, at all. I enjoy homemade, fresh baked goods. But there are 1-2 specific Easter candies that can hit my spot.

Between those two and Blaine, 2 bedrooms were painted, 2 rooms of wallpaper were stripped, the kitchen was painted and a new chandelier installed, as well as numerous light fixtures that Blaine and Craig had a fun time putting in. Alexis and I also painted a mirror for the master bathroom that the boys installed. Us gals also bought a couple of cute decorations for our sweet baby boy's room. Blaine and I bought a fun Noah's Ark canvas in Salt Lake over Christmas, and then after going to Target with Alexis, I guess his room has turned into a water/animal theme. We found these cute pictures of a whale and a fish, as well as THE most adorable little paddle for his wall. I cannot wait till his room is put together. It's already my favorite room in the house. We'll move in completely this weekend, which will be nice. But all we have left to do is maybe change another light fixture and install new carpet so our cute little boy doesn't lay on the floor or learn how to crawl with old, germy carpet in his face.

Oh, and also to upgrade the showers a bit... specifically the master shower... but I'm going to see if I can convince Blaine's dad to make that his birthday present to his firstborn grandson ;)

Here are a couple of BEFORE and AFTER pictures.

KITCHEN - AFTER

LIVING ROOM

Our big yard

GUEST BEDROOM - BEFORE

BABY'S ROOM - BEFORE

BABY'S ROOM  - AFTER
(i didn't get a picture of the whole room, but its light blue and here are the decorations I mentioned)

MASTER BEDROOM WITH HOTEL-LIKE ON SUITE BATHROOM

MASTER MIRROR ALEXIS AND I PAINTED,
after the boys got in on sale at Home Depot and talked the manager down... pretty impressive on everyone's part, I'd say

2ND BATHROOM - BEFORE

AND OF COURSE, I NOW REALIZE I NEVER TOOK AN AFTER SHOT OF THE 2ND BATH, BUT I WILL LATER. IT IS LIGHT BLUE TO MATCH THE BABY'S ROOM WITH DIFFERENT LIGHT FIXTURES... AND NO BUNNY

Anyways, we were very grateful for their hard work and company. I'm fairly certain Craig thought there were hidden HGTV cameras for his audition tape and Alexis fancied herself to be quite the dog whisperer. Jake definitely enjoyed the extra love and attention though. During the trip we were inspired to make a "Many Moods of Jake" montage like in Stuart Little, with "Chef Ben" and "Gladiator Ben." But seeing as very few of you will relate and find that funny, I'll just move on and put up a couple of the pictures later.

With all the work (done by Blaine, Craig, and Alexis, since I can neither lift nor paint), we did manage to fit in just a couple of non-work things, like Bedlam BBQ and Kevin Durant's new restaurant downtown.

 southern baked macaroni and cheese... which she wanted to eat with the serving spoon ;)

lots of meat, for the manly men

KD's menus lit up when opened... but they were NOT iPads, so don't embarrass yourself by trying to enlarge anything or ask Siri about a particular dish... not like anyone we know did that

KD's shoes... size 18 I think

Didn't love the Southern Cuisine, KD. Lots of fried chicken dishes, gumbo, fried catfish, etc. But I did very much enjoy my big steak with baked macaroni and fried okra. Craig even got a waffle

 not the best picture, by any means, but the only picture of the 4 of us... well, 5 to be exact :)

their trip ended with a trip to Braum's... I still prefer BYU's Creamery Ice Cream, but oh well

The Texas boy got his Blue Bell fix for a while

So Blaine and I bought our first house in the heart of America's Bible Belt, with a golden retriever and a baby on the way. It would appear that we are not only grown-ups, but the All-American family... CRAZINESS!!!!