Always Something Free....But money sure does help!

Sometimes when you walk down Park or any other "uppity" NY street or pay $14 for a simple sandwich, you forget that there is anyone else in your financial bracket! Luckily since we live in married student housing most of our friends are in the same boat! So living here there is always something free to do...if you look. For example we go to the park almost daily in between naps. There are about 5 parks in a 15 minute walking radius. There is a NY Public Library with story time and a great children's section 6-7 blocks away, and today we made the trek to Lincoln Center where there is a Barnes and Noble. Eric Carle (writer of The Very Hungry Caterpillar) was there reading his new book, Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What do You See? Which is slightly different than Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? and Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you see? or Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear?

Oh I'm so serious-those are all Eric Carle books-and if you're like me-at this moment you were thinking, "Why didn't I try that?" Well ladies and gentlemen it's already been done. But here are some pictures of Colleen, Mary, Steven and I at the reading. Just one more example of a free thing offered by the city in which I live!

Our Weekend Fun!

Steven Edward Update:


So as you can see here Steven is still really enjoying his food! He has now enjoyed sweet potato, banana, avocado, and rice cereal! I think his favorite is sweet potato-This brings up a whole different issue! Poo! Even thought the food isn't solid.....well you get the picture. It's a whole new ball game.


Naps & bedtime were going so well-but as they say...as soon as you figure it out, THEY CHANGE! As you can see Steven has gotten into the habit of rolling over and looking over the bumper for us! This adds a different complication and now we're back at square one for crying to fall asleep! GRRRRRRRRR-good thing he's so dagum cute or I may get frustrated!



I put this video on because Steven has started doing the funniest thing! He makes raspberries all the time! He started doing it while I was feeding him-which makes for a very clean meal. And now he just does it randomly. My personal favorite was when we were walking through the Met, looking at paintings. Picture people standing silently-pondering the painting in front of them-then picture us walking through the middle with little Steven in the stroller making raspberries. Loud enough that lots of people turn and look, and then do that embarrassed laugh!

Night on the Town
We spent Saturday night "out on the town" with some friends. We caught the bus to the east side of central park (Upper East Side) and ate dinner before heading to the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art). Here we are waiting/on the bus!

Owen, Emma, Steven and I waiting for/riding the bus!

Before heading to the museum, we walked over to Madison and found a place to eat. As you can see Steven decided to get a snooze before becoming an art buff! It takes a lot of energy!

The museum had a Greek and Roman exhibit-which obviously Steven Sr. was excited about. We spent most of our time in that exhibit and then saw a couple of paintings before we left.

Here we are in front of the Met before we leave. The Dube's on the left and obviously us on the right. I know you love our matching stroller!

A Big Monday! (Protests on Campus-A Movie Shoot-A Yankees Game!)
So as the rest of the world knows, the President of Iran spoke on our campus this morning. There were protests-fliers of awful things he has done and said, etc. I personally stayed away from campus today. Instead I walked two blocks over where they are currently shooting a 10 second portion of a film that Brad Pitt is in titled Burn After Reading. I spent the morning on the set hoping to get a look at somebody famous-to no avail. My friend Colleen saw him yesterday so I met her up there today and we both took our cameras-hoping to get a glimpse. The movie is supposed to be set in DC, so there were lots of cars with DC-VA-MD tags that kept driving up the street slowly while Brad's yellow Mercedes darted in and out of traffic. I actually think it was a double doing that part though.

These are pictures of the set-while they aren't shooting!

Here's cops....hanging out in case Brad is ambushed? No need to be at the riots around the corner.

We don't know who this man is-but all the paparatzee were taking pictures so I did too :) (Later I looked up the movie online and figured out it is John Malkovich!
This is the trailer that Brad was in the entire time we were there:(


And then off we go to Yankee stadium for a game against the Blue Jays!


Being a fan is so much fun! We had the true experience. 50 year old overweight men with wayyyyyyyyy northern accents yelling behind us! Like my new Yankees hat! It's green (thanks mom!)

Colleen, Hart, and Mary went with us-we actually only had to take one subway 3 stops to get there! Major League baseball 25 minutes away!

And like always when we take an excursion-Little Steven learns to nap on the road :)

China Town-Little Italy-Tickle Me Steven!

So yesterday we spent the afternoon wandering the streets of China Town. I am glad we went-but will probably not head that direction again unless I am in dire need of an imitation hand bag or some knock off perfume! I never knew that when 5 different people were yelling at me simultaneously that it stressed me out....well now I know.


We even went to an authentic Chinese restaurant and ordered the wrong thing! I ended up slipping into McDonalds after lunch to fill up because I couldn't stomach my meal...so needless to say-I think I'm done with that area of NYC. My goal in going was to find a Yankees T-Shirt for the game we're going to on Monday and I was sadly unsuccessful. I did end up with a I heart NY t-shirt though-I suppose it was a must before we left the city, right?

We did get to see arch at the beginning of the Manhattan Bridge-which is pictured in lots of movies (When Harry Met Sally etc.)

And we were in little Italy during the Feast of San Gennaro-which is a huge week long festival that celebrates the saint. It basically just felt like a state fair to me. Lots of food vendors-games where you win a stuffed animal...and man do they attack you when they see you have a stroller! "Win one for the baby," they say.


And then on our 90 minute walking tour that our guide book recommended we hit two places I thought worth mentioning. One is only here for my mom... (there's your shout out ma!) and the other is a pickle shop. Evidentially in the early 1900s Jewish pickle shops filled the area and they had pickles in huge barrels filled with different spices and brine etc. I didn't try any-but man was it crazy!



Now we've officially found a Bonnie's in both places we've lived since we've been married. It's like mom's way of always being present! There's no place like home!

Here's a clip of Steven and little Steven playing-lots of fun!

Little Maggie

We just had to write because we have a new niece! Margaret Byrne Breedlove (Maggie) who was born 8 lb 5 oz yesterday! Steven's oldest brother Kent and his wife Melissa are the proud new parents! No pictures yet-but we will put one up as soon as we get one.


Also a quick note-Steven Edward is sitting up by himself now! I mean-I'm still sitting close by in case he tumps-I can go in for the save....but for the most part he's totally on his own! How fun is that. I have put two pictures of the little guy to prove I'm not lying. Here he is playing with his Tonka Truck! What a boy!



We also walked to a playground in Central Park today and Steven got to swing for his second time! It's kind of tricky to get a good one of those on camera seeing as it's constant motion! I'll work on that.


Here are some pictures of all our friends there today!


Mary, Steven and David in strollers..................Mary playing hide and seek.


Mary, Avery, and David swinging.....Colleen and Mary braving the "big girl" bridge!

A quick video of the kids swinging-this was right before Steven ate so not lots of smiles. I'll get you another!

The Beginning of Cold Weather!

So it has only been two weeks and we're already closing the windows! Starting this past Friday (Sept. 14) the temperature really dropped and we even had to get out all of little Steven's winter clothes-socks, undershirts, long sleeves and jackets (Thanks Grandparents!).



Also had to report a HUGE victory-Steven is starting to sleep well and on his own! Last night it only took 5 minutes of whimpering as opposed to last week's 1 1/2 of crying. Praise the Lord! My nerves may make it through this year-now I just have to figure out how to go and get anything done in between his morning and afternoon nap-with a gap of about 45 minutes :)

On Friday we visited the Cloisters. This is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that is located way North on the island-and features all Medieval Art.


The building itself is as beautiful as the paintings and statues, but the gardens were my personal favorite! Most of the building was taken from monasteries and churches in Europe and then reconstructed to look like what they would have originally looked like.



Luckily with our student IDs we didn't have to pay anything-not even the "suggested donation." So we were able to spend a couple of hours wandering through a beautiful place and not feel obligated to spend half the day because of the fee.



This was actually the first day where I realized I needed to get out the winter clothes because after our visit my sons legs were freezing and I felt like the worst mom in the world!

Steven Jr. also took a bottle for the first time today! His daddy got to feed him-we're getting him (and my emotions) ready to be able to leave him. We have already purchased Yankees Tickets and Le Miserable tickets and we plan to do lots of other things (Other shows-museums-NBA game-NHL game etc.). We also are trying to set up a baby sitting swap with a couple other families here in the dorm so that we can get out into the city by ourselves or with another couple at least every other week!