June 19, 2009

We're in

Moved in to our wonderful new apartment on June 8th. It was a whirlwind move as we didn't have the confirmation from the landlord to move in until 9am that morning! We had figured over the previous weekend that it was not a go so we didn't pack up the remaining 25% of our things. But once we got the call, we made a quick decision to go ahead and do it. So we called the movers and they said they could be there in a half hour! Chaos ensued as we packed up stuff like crazy-throwing dishes in boxes, pulling curtains off the wall, and throwing shoes in boxes. The one thing that worked out perfectly was Sophie decided to sleep in that morning until 10am! Normally she is up around 7 and needs to nap around 11 or 12, so this was perfect as she could most likely skip her nap that day, which was fine with us as the crib would be moved and she'd have nowhere to sleep!

The movers were from Oz, who were recommended by a friend, and who I will highly recommend as well. They were super fast, and the foreman was really knowledgeable and really helped us out with our last minute packing. What was estimated to be a 6 1/2 hour move turned into 8 1/2 hours, but it was well worth it to be in the new place so quickly.

We are SO happy here. It's almost double the space. With amenities galore. What seem like luxuries to us are probably pretty standard to most, but New Yorkers go without a lot here. We now have a real separate kitchen, a dishwasher, an elevator in the building and a laundry in the basement! These are all things I've never had (except when growing up in Miami of course) so it's really made my life SO much easier. And the new neighborhood, which is only 3 blocks from the last, is so quiet and peaceful. No more trucks going by, no more crackheads hanging out downstairs on our block making a ruckus. Now the only noises we hear are the occasional practicing by an opera singer somewhere across the way and a trumpet player in the evenings, both who are really good and pleasing to listen to, and not overly loud. Other than that we hear no one else in the building. It's so odd because there are tons of families with children, but the halls are always so quiet.

Sophie is slowly adjusting. She occasionally wakes up at night asking for "more blanket" which is her way of wanting us to come in, put a blanket on her to make her feel more secure. She also wakes up in the morning and after her nap crying as I still think she is surprised to wake up in her new room. And her room is HUGE. Almost too big. Her crib looks lost in there but hopefully soon we'll find the time to decorate it nice and make it feel more homey. Eventually we'd like both children to share this room and use the 3rd small bedroom for something else, maybe an office or something. But for now it's all hers. We still have some unpacking to do, mainly clothes as we need a closet system built in the master closet as the old tenant took their closet shelves/bars with them and it's pretty much an empty room.

I've only tackled painting the living room, which was a nightmare. I've wasted time and money on a few paint choices that didn't work out, but finally decided on a light green that will do, for now. David loves it but I'm still not sold. But I'm happy it's done and can live with it for some time, if not permanently.

June 06, 2009

Big move, big belly


We're finally moving! This apartment is pretty much EVERYTHING that was on my wish list. It's on the Upper West Side, only 3 blocks from where we currently live. 3 bedroom, 1 bath pre-war place in an ELEVATOR building with a DISHWASHER and a LAUNDRY in the building! These are all things we've never had the luxury of enjoying while living in NYC. It truly is a dream come true. It will be a bit of a stretch to afford it, but with some cutbacks (cut out 2nd cell phone, reduced Netflix, reduced cable, etc) we can make it work. It's amazing what we go without that so many people take for granted. Mainly, space. But this new place is somewhere between 900-1,000 sq feet. A far cry from the 550 sq feet we have now. And I was lucky enough to find it very quickly as it was only the 2nd place we viewed. I had nightmares of spending hours and hours on Craigslist searching for the right place, viewing hundreds of apartments only to be dissapointed time after time. Luckily we didn't have to go through any of that.

Our lease starts June 15 but the super gave us the OK to move in earlier. Already I've met another Mom in the building who has a set of 2 1/2 year old twins and an older daughter. She was so welcoming as was another tenant I met a few minutes later. This place really seems perfect for us as I've always wanted Sophie to have friends in the building. She is now at the age where she is trying to play with other kids at the park. It makes me sad that she really hasn't had any playdates or friends yet. I can't wait to watch her interact with other kids her age.

Luckily I started packing SUPER early. Something that is pretty uncharacteristic of me. We are about 75% done so this weekend we will complete the remaining boxes. I'm nervous about Sophie settling in but I'm sure she'll be fine. We've already taken her over to the new place several times and told her it's our new house. But she keeps insisting her room is the baby's room! Her room is so enormous compared to her current one (currently 9x10 compared to 11x17!) so I really want to make it feel homey for her and not too empty or lonely.

Unfortunately with all our energies placed on this move and Sophie, my pregnancy has taken a back seat! But I am 19.5 weeks now and am really getting bigger by the day. Pants that fit me last week (with the help of a Bellla Band) are now getting too snug and uncomfortable to wear. But man, that Bella Band is the BEST as far as extending your current wardrobe by a couple of months. I decided to get an amniocentisis this time around, only because of my age. While my numbers from the nuchal scan and sequential screen were great, we still wanted the reassurance that everything was ok. While it was a horrible experience for me to get it, only because I was petrified of complications, we got the results back a week and a half later and everything is fine. This week will be the 20 week anatomy scan which is always exciting as you get to see the baby in great detail and usually leave with quite a nice photo of the little one : )

It still hasn't really hit me that we'll have another little on come end of October. Just so much going on. Can't wait to get settled in and get Sophie comfortable. Then I can concentrate more on the next change coming our way.