Time Square! The Height of Commercialism

Well-my husband doesn't want our son to even see a TV until he's two. Unfortunately that is impossible if you step foot onto 42 and 7th Ave! My friend Beth had never been so we headed out on a dreary day to find some fun.

That's right Time Square-8 square blocks of advertisement, neon lights, numerous celebrations (mainly New Year's Eve) tons of people, chain stores/restaurants, and what we visited today.....a four story Toys R Us!

That's right! Four stories of toys, fun, and lots of ways to spend your money! They even have a ferris wheel inside-and for $4 a person you too can ride it! We didn't ride today, but I do plan to go back for another trip. There were sections for everything! As you can see above, Emma and Owen both found fun things to pose beside!

Even though we didn't spend lots of money there were still fun things to do! Lots of characters all around, and fun sections of toys to play with!


This is the Lego section! The Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building are both made out of legos! And so is the Yankees hat behind me (sorry about the playoffs guys! I bought a green ball cap and everything!)
This is the Thomas the Train sections-let me tell you it's a little boys dream come true. I think it is roughly the size of our living room. :)







And then before making the train ride home, we stopped (in true NY fashion) at McDonalds to eat some lunch. It happened to be the cheapest option in Times Square. Not to mention it was two stories too. As you can see-Addison and Steven are hanging out in their high chairs eating. This is a new thing for Steven-fun eh?

Chubby Knees & Canckles

We had a very laid back weekend. Little Steven got some new shoes from his Nanna and he looks like Robin Hood in them! They are perfect for our snowy winter here! Isn't he noble Carolina Warrior!



We made the trek to Brooklyn to have dinner with friends. It was so relaxing and little Steven was a trooper! Here is a picture of Gabe and little Steven-two Tarheel fans!

Steven was so giggly that night! Full of whole bellied laughs from the time we got there.

Then after church on Sunday we were able to go to a lady's house from our church who happened to meet Sally and Steve at their church in Chapel Hill on a visit there. On her return she phoned and invited us to lunch. It would have made Nanny Sunshine proud. Her apartment was beautifully decorated in an old fashioned Elizabethan style. We had a nice silver plate for each course and wonderful conversation. I felt like we had been transported somewhere other than Manhattan. It was lots of fun.

And then this morning my husband (in perfect Steven fashion) finished a paper 10 minutes before class. It rushed me back in time to when we were in Chapel Hill....times when he started 20 page papers the night before and still managed to get an A. I chuckled this morning as he forwent a shower in order to get to class on time, assignment in hand. I (according to one of Steven's classes) believe in fixed intelligence, which means I believe that he is naturally born with more intelligence than me (wait to yell Sally I have a point). So even though I work hard, knowing that through hard work I can also succeed, there is something about a Breedlove boy that gives him the ability to finish a paper 10 minutes before a deadline and still end up with a 4.0! That, I will never have. Let's hope little Steven got my husband's intelligence and my sense of tone and melody!

Six Months

Well yesterday my little son was 6 months old. Crazy! That means he has been here for 1/2 of a year! Before I know it he's going to be 1. He changes so much daily; smiles-playing-sitting-eating. So yesterday I took him to his 6 mo appointment. I finally decided after stressing to just look up doctors that took my insurance and pick one. So I picked one seemingly at random that was about 8 blocks from our place. I showed up and realized I had randomly picked the local clinic. I walked in the door and it was packed and I was terrified. I finally got a seat in the little kiddie chairs and waited-the only people who smiled at my child didn't speak English so I had little interaction with those around me. Steven met me there a little later and we were eventually called in. To my surprise the doctor was excellent. She was incredibly attentive-gave us great advice for little Steven's dry skin and eczema-and spent a long time with us answering questions and chatting. The shots weren't that bad and overall the experience was a great one. So now I have a NY clinic card for my son and a place to take him if he gets sick. I walked out pleasantly surprised and totally plan to go back again.

For those of you who like to comment on my son's rolls and chub-he is exactly 50% in height and weight! He weighed just over 17 pounds (which is a lot to carry on a walk-I'm working on my muscles) and was around 26 inches long. Man is he growing. God is so good to our family and his grace is so evident daily.

The Coveting Mother

WARNING***** If you are a boy-or are not interested in the stroller life of NYC-please disregard this post


So before we moved to New York, we were lucky enough to have parents (in-laws) who would bring us up here for a couple days to look around and get acquainted. When I was here I noticed that majority of the mothers here were pushing a stroller called the Maclaren. So after some really hard thinking (I mean....cause this was going to be a splurge), Steven and I did some swapping at Babys R Us and got ourselves a Maclaren. I mean....this was going to be my major form of transportation around the city-and this is a stroller that is light (made of aluminum) and could be popped down with one hand and thrown on your back with a strap. It is like an umbrella stroller on steroids. So I was happy with our choice. Little did I know that strollers here are more than just strollers-they are a status symbol. Whether it's the mother or the nanny....it says something about you. I mean...no one has cars here-so their money goes into the stroller. What I thought was a splurge is on the middle end of the lower class strollers in the city. Sit back and enjoy this stroller tutorial while you learn a bit about what makes the big apple such a crazy place.

So-everyone here has a Maclaren. I even once saw a homeless guy pushing one! When I moved here I was convinced that they had a monopoly on the NY market. But little did I know...
This stroller is made in England-and has an overall Epinions rating of 4.5 to 5 stars. These strollers range in price from $100-$400 (the $400 dollar ones are usually double strollers and have spiffy features). This stroller says to the guy on the street, "I fit in but I'm not anything special." Overall, it's a best buy for your money if you want to fit in in New York. It goes anywhere and is incredibly practical.

Then there is the Stokke. This thing is crazy looking! I first saw one in FAO Swartz and I thought the woman was crazy. Check it out.

This stroller comes in two major price ranges: with the bassinet etc. it is $1000, and without, it is a steal at $799. It is supposed to be easy to maneuver, gives the kid the feeling of being up with the action, and has a shock absorber between the wheels! It is made in Scandinavia, and one person on epinons gave it a raving 5 stars. This stroller says, "I have money and I'm okay spending it (or I use a credit card)."

Then there is the Bugaboo (oh yea...just like Destiny's Child-get excited!)

The bugaboo has a range in price from $529-$899 (I saw one on epinions for $2000 but I don't think that's typical). It is characterized by its small wheels in the front and larger wheels in the back. The handle can switch directions so that you can push with small wheels forward for your everyday stroll and then move to large wheels forward for your off-roading days! It is an all terrain stroller that gets anywhere from 3 to 5 stars depending on it's model. This stroller says, "Just like a Land Rover, I want to look like I go off-road, and I am willing to pay a lot of money for that look, but everyone knows I live in the city and shop at Whole Foods."

And then the one that I personally want when I have another kid: the Phil and Ted. I actually found out that you can get it for one child, and then buy a kit to turn it into a two seater. Man, I missed out :(

The Phil and Teds is made in Germany and is a double decker kids stroller. It is more of a set price between $399 and $499. (There is no way that I'm ever getting that. It definitely does not fit in our new budget.) It receives anywhere from 3 to 5 stars on epinions and is a big hit here for people who have more than one kid. This stroller says, "I'm trying to jog, but I have way too many kids."
(But I often see the double Maclaren as well-and I hear you can snap 2 Maclarens together to make a double-so that is probably what we'll end up doing. Sorry Phil or Ted-we have a budget to work with!)

I just thought you might like to see what I pass daily on the sidewalk and in the park. It is absolutely crazy how much money people will put into their stroller. And I can assure you that we traded another stroller in for our Maclaren and didn't pay the maximum!

Toddler Fun!

So we started our weekend with a fun lunch with my friend Yeong-Ah who was one of Steven's students at Veritas! She now goes to NYU and we had a great time chatting together and trying a local noodle shop (similar to Doc Chey's...very yummy) and getting some take and bake cookies for dessert! It was so nice to catch up and see a familiar face.


Birthday Time
Then we had a big event to celebrate here at Columbia...and this video introduces the situation quite well-thank you Daniel!

It was Emma's 6th Birthday. So we rounded up all the kids (little Steven even got an invitation and thank you card for coming!). We started by going to a park we fondly call dinosaur park (which is tucked in riverside park around 96th street)-from this picture of the birthday girl, you can totally see why! Here are Mary and Avery climbing away!

Little Addison...okay his dad was holding him.

There was sidewalk chalk-and fence climbing!


Okay...so I had to help little Steven climb.


Then we headed to a pizza place down on 110th and Broadway for some yummy NY pizza! It was so good garlicy and full grease! I had 3 pieces!

Here we have the kids playing games with Clare! Come to find out she headed up Sunday School a lot.

Here is Clare and her cute little daughter Addy. I failed to introduce them on the photo introduction so here they are. Her husband is Nick and he was actually in class at the moment of the party. They are from Austin TX and Addy is almost 8 months (and it totally blows me away how advanced she is! I'm all....is Steven really gonna do all that in just 2 months!). Clare is a costume designer and just finished a dress for Sarah Jessica Parker. In fact the jackets she is wearing belonged to Buffy the Vampire Slayer...how cool is that! Her husband is getting his masters in Math through the teachers college

Here's Avery sticking her tongue out at me....completely unprovoked obviously! Like I'd ever stick my tongue out at anyone.

Then we headed back to the dorm for some good Texas sheet cake! What a fun event! Happy Birthday Emma NY style!

The NY Aquarium
Then today, some of us decided to head to the aquarium spur of the moment. Sarah had her car here and I jumped in with her and we took the 1 1/2 trip to Coney Island (which is all of 20 miles away)-which ended up being about how long it took Colleen and Mary to get there on the subway. This was the day we decided that public transportation was the best option!

We saw fish!


And an excellent Sea Lion exhibit!



Walruses......................................and Seals

But Little Steven's Favorite was the sharks :)


While the girls loved the seals-but were a little timid around the horseshoe crab.
All said and done-after missing a few naps and grabbing greasy food at the cafe-it turned out to be a really nice day.