NYC Girls' Trip

I have made some great friends here in New York, and last weekend we all decided to get away to the city for the weekend.

We said goodbye to our husbands (they were so good to watch the kids for the weekend!)...

...and we said Hello to New York City!

First thing we did was to eat some of the amazing food that you can only find in New York City.

Then we checked out Times Square (the place we stayed was only a few blocks away).

We even got in a little trouble from the security guard while posing for some crazy pictures... oops!

I don't think any of us had been out this late in a LONG time!

The next day was gorgeous, and we had lots of things planned.

First, we headed to Central Park for a run and tandem bike ride. What fun!

Later in the day, we stopped by Doughnut Plant for some DELICIOUS doughnuts! (yes, there was a line! I think we waited about 20 minutes to get some doughnuts, but they were worth it!)

They were huge! This is the fresh blueberry doughnut.

Then we shopped 'til we dropped (literally)!

We all bought purses. Mine is the green one, I love it!

We saw some things that you only see in New York City, like a gigantic purse covering a store front during remodeling.

On the way to church the next morning we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was hot and I ended up with blisters, but I'm glad we did it.

We got to attend church in Brooklyn where one of my friends served her mission.

We took a taxi to rest our tired feet.

Then on to Greenwich Village and more good food... pizza baked in a coal-burning oven. It was the freshest-tasting pizza that I have ever had.

And who could pass up a bakery window that looked like this!

After a weekend full of shopping and eating (every girls' dream, right?) we wondered how in the world we were going to fit in the car to go home... somehow we did!

Happy First Day of School, Mark!

Yesterday was Mark's first day of his last year of law school! Hooray!

I wasn't even mad...

I wasn't even mad when Cala unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper because I was too excited that she's now potty trained!!! Woohoo! I have been trying to potty train her off and on for months. This time, I "threw away" her diapers, so then she threw a big fit. But I guess she realized there wasn't any other option. It took about a week and she had a couple accidents, but now it's done. I do think I'm going to be nervous to go anywhere for quite a while, though, and I'm thinking I'm a little crazy for doing this with a 7 week old baby, but... Wish me luck!

Two Weeks Old

Ok, so he's more like 6 weeks old, but I just had to post these pictures that we had taken when Ethan was 2 weeks old. My friend Angie took them and she did such a great job! Mark says that one day Ethan is not going to be too happy about having naked pictures in a basket, but I don't care I think they are so cute!

Welcome baby Ethan!

Ethan Thomas Hipple was born at 7:30am July 5 and what an entrance he made! I had woken up around 2:30am July 4th with regular contractions that were getting closer together. "This is it!" I thought. I got out of bed, cleaned the house (I didn't want my mother-in-law to come find a dirty house while I was in the hospital!), packed a few final items in the hospital bag, ate a little breakfast, and was about to take a shower when the contractions started getting further apart and less painful. By that time it was 6:30am and I was exhausted. Quite disappointed I laid down and fell asleep.

Then around 2:30am on July 5th I again woke up with regular contractions that were getting closer together, except this time the contractions were even more painful. I wanted to believe I was actually in labor, but what if I wasn't... Anyway, I got up, cleaned the house again, packed a few more things in the hospital bag, and ate some breakfast. By this time it was 4:30am, the contractions were practically making me double over in pain, so I realized it was probably time to wake Mark up. We finally got out of the house at 5:30am, dropped Cala off with a friend, and sped off (literally) to the hospital.

We got to the hospital at 6:00am. When the nurse checked me around 6:30am I was dialated to 3cm. I couldn't believe that was it! Then the contractions got even more painful and close together as the nurse calmly sat by my bed asking me about allergies, how I learn best, and what my demeanor typically is. I told her I was usually calm and thought to myself that I was going to kill her if she didn't get me an epidural SOON! When I asked about the epidural she told me that there was someone else ahead of me and she really couldn't predict how long it would take for me to get one.

Around 7:15am, I thought I was going to die I was in so much pain from the contractions (obviously no epidural yet). I was sitting on the side of the bed during the next contraction and all of the sudden my body started pushing. There was no nurse in sight as Mark frantically pounded the nurse call button. A few minutes later a nurse walked in and asked what we needed. I told her that I felt like I needed to push during the contractions. She checked me and I was fully dialated. Surprised she called for back up and two more nurses hurried in. They got me back on the bed and told me to slow down while they got their gloves on! I pushed about 3 more times screaming my head off the whole time (I have never heard sounds like that come out of my mouth before), and Ethan was born at 7:30am (with no epidural!) still in the amniotic sac. A nurse later told me that other cultures consider that a sign of greatness and good luck. Then about 15 minutes later, the midwife hurried in...

He's a tiny guy, even smaller than Cala was, weighing in at 6lbs. 8oz. and 20 1/2 in. long.

Cala was VERY happy to come to the hospital to see us...

...and admire her new baby brother.

I can't believe we have 2 kids! (and don't you just love that sexy hospital gown with the poofy sleeves?!)

Proud Grandma!

Tired Daddy.

The view from my hospital room.

Going home.

Ethan is such a calm little guy. He just loves to nurse (maybe a little too much since he wants to practically every hour!). We love him so much and are so happy to have him as a part of our family.

Due Date

Today is my due date... ugh! Still no real signs of labor. Today at my OB appointment I asked the midwife about how to induce labor, she gave me a few suggestions and then went on to explain about her "karmic/spiritual belief" that babies come into the world when they are ready and that I just need to be patient... bah! However, looking on the bright side... I'll most likely get to go see Eclipse with all my friends on Friday night!

Below is a picture of my baby belly today (Ethan's due date), and below that is a picture of my baby belly on Cala's due date.