Babymooning in the Big Apple

I don't know who came up with the babymoon concept, but we have a lot of friends who are strong proponents of it. Everyone kept telling us to get away and enjoy ourselves "while you still can," so we decided we'd better do it! NYC is about a 3.5 hr drive, which is a little further than I'd planned on traveling at almost 36 weeks, but we really wanted to do it and I figured I'd be fine. They have hospitals anywhere you go, right?

I picked up Joe from work on a Friday afternoon and to our dismay it took us over 6 hours to get there! Maybe the fact that it was the weekend before Christmas had something to do with it. Whatever it was, sitting in traffic for hours on end had us wondering if this really was such a good idea after all. Joe even got in a 'fight' with a guy when we were trying to pay a toll to get into the city (fight = windows were rolled down, choice words were shared, fists were shaken). Apparently he is trying to get all of that out of his system before the little guy comes so he won't be a bad example with a child in the car. And he did feel pretty badly afterward.

Since we got in late, we didn't do much other than check out our surroundings and find a snack before heading back to the room. We stayed at a Marriott by the Brooklyn Bridge which was really nice!! My younger brother works at a Marriott and was able to get us a good deal, and we were close to several subway stops so we could easily get anywhere we wanted to be.

On day 2 we knew a storm was coming in so we shopped around Brooklyn for a while to find me some boots (I didn't think we'd do so well at Saks 5th Ave. in Manhattan). We found some just as the first snowflakes started to fall. Next stop was Times Square:
It was pretty cold out, but with boots, gloves, and scarves we kept out the chill (for the most part). Here I am pushing aside a few layers to show off the little guy that made this trip a babymoon!

Next we headed to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and other Christmas festivities. It really was fun to be in NYC just before Christmas! So many decorations, lots of energy, and plenty of people.

After walking a lot and ending up at FAO Schwarz, my legs were about ready to give out on me and I crashed in the reading corner.

When I finally regained my energy, we did some more window shopping - including admiring some beautiful Christmas windows at Bergdorf Goodman. This is just one picture to give you an idea, but there were at least 10 totally unique windows and they were all amazing!

Then we headed downtown to have dinner with one of Joe's high school friends and his girlfriend at a little hole-in-wall Italian place, which had delicious raspberry crumb cheesecake. :) And then ... we made our way back uptown to see Phantom of the Opera!! Having seen it several times before I was rightfully very excited ... and having never seen it but always wanting to Joe was excited, too. I loved every minute of it, and was happy to hear that Joe was 100% pleased as well (we have been to shows before where the cast didn't quite meet his expectations). By the time we got out, we had a full-blown blizzard going on! It was kind of exciting ... and I was super glad I had my boots!

The next morning was cold and clear. I stayed in bed while Joe went out to get bagels and muffins for breakfast in bed (just like he had the previous morning). Then we checked out of our hotel, put our bags in the car, and got on the subway headed for Central Park.

It was a absolutely perfect day to enjoy walking around Central Park. We've been there before but haven't ventured far or stayed long. This time we were in the middle of the Park and walked around finding all kinds of fun places. It was beautiful.

It was really fun to see all the New Yorkers out and about with their kids, dogs, and sleds! A few of the hills were packed, as you can see.

After lots more walking (I was such a trooper, but I can only take so much), we found ourselves lunch and hot chocolate. Yummm.

Then we took the subway back to Brooklyn, and it was time for us to say goodbye to our hotel (the tall building in the middle) and head back to snowy MD!

Fortunately, even after all the snow of the day before, the roads were clear and we made good time getting home. All in all (and despite the rocky start on the drive up), it was the absolute perfect babymoon! And you only get ONE of those a lifetime!!

Becoming an Esquire

I want to remember December 15, 2009 as the day I could finally call myself an attorney. Really! Me!! Finally! I can't really think of any other goal I have worked toward so hard and for so long. Here is a picture of me on an elementary school career day - my business cards read "Lindsey C. Lewis, Public Defender."
To earn the title (once I'd graduated and passed the bar), I had to drive to Annapolis on my appointed day and take an oath in front of the Judges of the Court of Appeals (the state's highest court). Sadly Joe couldn't take the day off of work so I was all alone (but I did have my big belly of boy for company!). I made sure I got someone to take a picture of me outside the Court of Appeals building so the day wouldn't be completely forgotten.

These days, I no longer want to be a public defender (yikes!). I want to be a tax attorney doing work for corporations, partnerships, LLCs, etc. Although I accepted an offer at a large firm to do just that, being "deferred" by the firm has made it so that I'm filling my time working with low income individual taxpayers. But since it means I get to sign my letters "Lindsey C. Dastrup, Esquire" it's good enough for now!

An Apple Shower for Us!

I am so behind on this blog! First things first - I need to share pictures from my adorable baby shower here in Maryland! My amazing sister-in-law Lori threw me a fabulous shower that had an apple theme to it (for Lindsey and the "apple of her eye"). It was so cute because it fit me so well. Green is definitely my color of choice when it comes to the little boy, and I am obsessed with apples and have eaten them like crazy during this pregnancy (usually 2 or 3 a day!). So it was perfect! Here I am with two of my most wonderful friends ... Lori and Tristina, who recently moved to North Carolina and flew up for the day just to be there!

The decorations were darling. Green apples everywhere, including ones that had been made into little candle holders, and a bright green tree with silver apple ornaments for the guests to take home.

And the food was delicious! Green salad with apples and other goodies, sliced apples with a fancy dip, a giant "It's a boy" chocolate chip cookie, sugar cookies decorated like green apples, apple cheesecake bars ...

... mini apple pie bites, mini chocolate cupcakes with green frosting, some apple crumb bars ...

... and some adorable mini caramel apple bites. It was quite the spread and it was all sooooo good. Just enough apple to balance out all the sweetness ;) Thanks to Lori, Tristina, Sheryl, Amy, Cathi, and Liesel for making it all!!

It was pretty crazy because along with my shower, Dec. 5 also brought the first snow storm of the season! It was pretty nasty out, but many wonderful friends still made it out to celebrate little boy Dastrup.

Of course I loved opening the many wonderful gifts we received! This little guy is going to be spitting up on the cutest stuff.

I also received lots of great baby books which I am so excited to read to my little boy (and I already have been!).

I can't believe how many wonderful friends I have out here who gave wonderful gifts and advice and are more than willing to help out when this baby comes. Thank you so much! It was also pretty cool that some of my closest friends who moved away after graduation last spring sent gifts for me to open at my shower. What a surprise!!

Finally, one last picture of 3 of the pregos at the shower (there was at least one more who hadn't announced just yet!). These two are having baby girls. Guess our little guy will have lots of lady friends! :)

By now we are getting close to being ready ... but we still aren't quite there yet. We've got 4 weeks to go, and are hoping he doesn't come more than a week early. And PLEASE don't come late ... the two of us can barely fit inside my skin anymore!

Thanksgiving in Utah

As soon as we found out we'd be having a baby in January and would be home again for Christmas, we decided that Thanksgiving would be the perfect occasion to take our last cross-country trip just the two of us and spend time with family while I was prego. It was also our first time leaving Maryland for Thanksgiving! We both took the week off of work (a much bigger deal for Joe than for me) and looked forward to a fun, relaxing 9 days in Utah Valley.

We managed to squeeze a lot of fun things into our trip while still having time to just chill. Of course we had to hit up some of our favorite eating establishments - Cafe Rio (I've been craving it for months), Jamba Juice (I kept craving it while I was there), Brick Oven (yet another "craving"), and for Joe .... getting to try a polish from JDawg's for the first time, and satisfying his four-year craving for the California Burrito at Rancherito's (formerly Beto's). It did not disappoint.
Just look at that goodness (looks nasty to me).

Strangely enough, the first day of our trip was when I started to experience a few of the not-so-fun parts of being pregnant that I had previously avoided. After being on my feet packing, doing laundry, and running errands all day and then sitting on the plane all evening, my feet and legs were swollen and killing me by the time we went to bed. Consequently, the rest of the trip I had to make sure to spend a little time each day with my feet up, and Joe was a great sport and started giving me leg and feet massages at night.

Here we are dressed up for church ... me at almost 32 weeks.

Things were a little bit different than usual due to the fact that my dad was only 4 weeks out from his knee replacement surgery. He was able to get out and about a little bit, but not for very long. Hence we had to enjoy all the BYU sporting events without him - not the same!! On a trip to Target he realized he was never going to be able to make it all the way around the store on his crutches - hence the motorized cart. We got a kick out of it.

On Thanksgiving day Joe played in a turkey bowl with Katie & David and I stayed in bed. Then I sat around with my feet up and watched everyone else cook! Actually, I was in charge of the rolls and salad. But I definitely did a little more watching than I would have otherwise ... my family was great to make sure the little guy & I were taken care of :) Joe took charge of brining the turkey the night before and roasting it the next day, as well as making the stuffing (or dressing ... since it didn't actually get stuffed). He was a champ and we enjoyed one of the best turkeys EVER!

After dinner, it was time for our annual Thanksgiving tradition of decorating our gingerbread house! Since I haven't been around lately to participate I was pretty excited about it. I helped my mom plan out the design, shop for the candy, and bake the house the day before. In the morning she glued everything together and added candy windows. And while she made all the frosting, I got to work.

Gingerbread-house decorating (Lewis style) is a very long and involved process. Basically, it means that the men get neglected for the rest of the day while they watch football, and we exhaust ourselves adding detail after detail. But it is fun!

Here's our finished product! We didn't quite finish it in one day, but we got it done eventually.

With lights!

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to attend 4 BYU sporting events - 2 football games and 2 basketball games. For the 9 years I lived in Utah I rarely missed a football game, and after 5 years it was great to be back!! The Utah game was especially exciting.

I predicted we'd come out on top ...

And I was right! Joe was so excited he insisted on rushing the field while the rest of us headed to the car. He pulled up some grass to bring home to my Dad so he could feel like he'd been there as well ;) And when we got home and were watching a replay of the final seconds, we noticed that Joe was caught on camera! The first fan to be shown (although very briefly) after the big win. Sweet.

The best part of the week was just getting to sit around and enjoy being around my family and spending more time than usual with Joe. I feel very grateful to have had those 9 days with them at this exciting time in our lives. My mom & sister loved feeling the belly and watching it grow. The next time I see them, the belly will be (mostly) gone and they'll get to see our baby boy!!

"Feathering the Nest"

While we were in Utah for Thanksgiving, the little boy and I were lucky enough to enjoy a fantastic shower hosted by my mom and attended by many wonderful friends. The shower had kind of a "nesting" theme and the decorations were really cute!

My mom made an adorable diaper cake complete with a little bird's nest on top. It was the first thing I saw when I walked in the door late Friday night (the night before the shower). So exciting!!! The hat and boots on top are darling and the bottom layer is filled with homemade burp cloths and adorable little outfits.

For brunch, we had fresh belgian waffles, lots of fresh berries, blueberry scones, and mini pumpkin muffins. Sooo delicious.

Lucky us - we were spoiled with so many great gifts, from blankets and clothes, to books and CDs. Here I'm admiring a super soft blanket made by my Grandma :)

And another one made by my mom. There were several more she made that I am just in love with!

All the little clothes were so much fun - honestly I was a bit surprised by how absolutely adorable they all were (I really haven't shopped much for the little guy yet!). This was a cozy little outfit from two of Joe's younger sisters, Michelle and Angelica.

And the shoes! I know he won't be wearing these until he's a bit older, but it is incredibly fun to imagine him running around in them! And of course my life will all of a sudden be consumed by chasing after him. I can hardly believe it :)

A sock monkey! SO cute.

The guests were sent home with cute "egg" magnets.

Sadly because everything was so crazy I didn't end up getting pictures with my guests. Here's one taken the next day with Joe's sisters and a possible future sister-in-law.

It was wonderful to be supported by so many family members and friends! Thanks to everyone's generosity, our little boy now has more clothes than Joe does! Haha.