Balloons and Tea and Scones

What a perfectly lovely Saturday we had. First, we went to a first birthday party for our dear sweet Amelia. The girl loves her balloons.

She also got a cute tutu from her Por-Por.

 And our doll and stroller was a hit.

Afterwards, I met up with Phyllis, Kyla and Danica for Afternoon Tea at the Windsor Arms Hotel. We had scones, little finger sandwiches, petits fours, and tea of course. This was followed up by watching an episdoe of Downton Abbey. A perfect way to spend a Saturday.

Belly Progression

I can't believe we only have 3 months to go! My belly definitely gets in my way these days. It's hard to go from sitting to standing sometimes (and especially hard to get out of bed - even more than normally, haha). Baby Loftus is a kicking machine, but mostly moves around at night. Unfortunately for me, he's pretty nocturnal. Here's a progression of my belly since the beginning (you can click on the photo for an enlarged view).

One of the best things about my workplace is that patients often drop by to show off their new babies, especially if they've been getting their pregnancy vitamins or anti-nausea medication for the past nine months (yes, some poor mums get severe nausea for their entire pregnancies). I see their pregnancies progress, and it's oh so lovely when they bring in their fresh-smelling, sleepy, smiley babies.

On the other end of the spectrum, I also see women who have difficulty getting or staying pregnant. I see their hope and anxiety when they fill a prescription for yet another cycle, and it's heartbreaking when their attempts don't work out. Some of those who have infertility issues do end up with babies, but it's often a long hard journey to get there.

When Jay and I decided to try for a baby, infertility was very much at the back of my mind. I had seen enough patients to know that infertility isn't rare, and not just in women over a certain age. I had a lot of nagging thoughts I'd whisper to Jay at night in the dark. After spending so long trying to avoid getting pregnant, wouldn't it be terribly ironic if we couldn't get pregnant? What if we never become parents?  Do you think you should stop keeping your cellphone in your pants pocket? Jay would stroke my hair and tell me firmly that we would have a wonderful life together no matter what, that there are lots of ways for people to become parents, and maybe I'm over-reacting just a teeny tiny bit because we just started trying a week ago. But because of my profession, I knew that there was a real chance that it could be difficult. In the end, we didn't have any trouble conceiving, and for that I'm so grateful. I just knew that we were so lucky.

Maternity Projects

I just realized that for the past 25 years or so, I've never had more than 3 months off from school or work. Now I know that maternity leave is hardly time "off", since taking care of a baby 24/7 will likely keep me busier than ever, but there must be time to do other things (right?!)

Here are a few goals I have:

• Make photobooks, so we actually have some physical photos to look at. Maybe something like a family yearbook, like this one
• Learn how to sew. This seems like such a basic skill that I'm lacking. I would love to learn how to hem pants and also tackle decor projects, even if it's fairly simple like making curtains or a crib skirt. I love fabrics and textiles, and would love to actually have an excuse to buy something from Tonic Living. My grandmother is a master seamstress, so I'm planning on taking lessons from her (although she doesn't know this yet). 
• Be more organized. I love when things are neat, organized and uncluttered and yet I'm such a procrastinator that I don't actually get around to doing it. I think at the very least I'll try to adopt a cleaning to-do list (like this one), instead of just doing a giant clean-up once in a blue moon when we look around at our condo and realize that it's a disaster zone.
• DIY abstract art, like this  
• Teach Baby Loftus to change his own diapers. Haha, just kidding. This is a list of goals, not a list of magical wishes.

Baby Steeze

Baby Loftus isn't due for another 3 months, and yet his dresser is already full of clothes. Thanks to our incredibly generous sisters, friends and cousins, his newborn collection includes:

• 28 onesies
• 19 sleepers
• 10 bibs
• 13 hats
• 4 pairs of shoes
• 5 pairs of pants
• 1 formal outfit with vest and matching bowtie

Seriously, this kid already has more clothes than I do his dad does.

Folia Grill

When Jay and I visited the Greek Islands a few years ago, we ate a lot of gyros at small fast food shops. It was so delicious - shaved meat, creamy tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, onions and a few french fries in a soft pita. It's been hard to find any gyros in Toronto that can compare, but today we went to Folia Grill, and it came pretty damn close. They even stuck some french fries in there, which very few places do.

Jay ordered a bottle of Mythos beer for an extra Hellenic touch, and we added a side order of zucchini fries.

North Fork

A few days after we got home from New York, we drove through a snowstorm to Ottawa. There, we stayed with Mary, Ben and Isaac and had a really lovely visit with them. On Saturday, the adults journeyed together to North Fork in Quebec for an engagement party. Jay's cousin Ashley is getting married to Billy in Australia later this year, but they wanted to be able to celebrate in Canada as well. It was so much fun, and much thanks to Aunt Liz for her photos.

The happy couple

With Uncle Rod - Ashley's proud papa

Ben & Mary

Dave & Carmen

Horse-drawn sleigh rides!

Sisters/Cousins - Kaitlin, Hailey, Ashley & Sara

I Heart NYC

A few weeks ago, Jay and I went to New York City for a few days with some friends. What a great time we had! We flew in on a Friday night and stayed until Tuesday night.

We stayed at the New Yorker Hotel near Penn Station. It was small, but clean (we checked for bedbugs!) and the convenient location couldn't be beat. The adjacent Tik Tok Diner served great breakfasts as well.

The next day was sunny and mild, so we walked around Central Park. It felt like spring! It's awesome to have such a great park in the middle of the city. Also, there were tons of strolling mamas and I got to check out a bunch of strollers in action (I've turned into a stroller geek for sure).

We wandered around some exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History. Jay loves dinosaurs, so this was right up his alley.

Stopped for pizza at the famous Patsy's Pizzeria. Yum!

The sheer amount of people at Times Square was a bit overwhelming, and I'm a city girl.

There was a ferris wheel inside the Toys R Us at Times Square!

Eating at the famous Shake Shack. DEE-licious! I ordered the Shack Stack, which is a cheeseburger topped with a crispy-fried Portobello mushroom stuffed with melted Muenster and cheddar cheese. Amazing. I highly recommend.

Going to the top of Rockefeller Center to check out the view

 


Shopping at Uniqlo - please please please come to Toronto!

Eating at the famous Katz Deli. It was a complete zoo in there.

We saw a Broadway musical called "Memphis". It was great, and the cast was so talented. It was unexpectedly funny, as well.

We ate a restaurant in Greenwich Village called "The Meatball Shop", which specializes (obviously) in meatballs, based on a recommendation from an iPhone app. We were really surprised at how awesome this place was. I had beef meatballs with mushroom sauce with an "everything but the kitchen sink" salad. I could eat it every single day. Luckily, Phyllis and Jason bought the store's cookbook, and have since made awesome meatballs for us. Sorry for the terrible photo (of Peter's dish), but this was truly one of the most memorable meals we had on the trip.

A month ago before our trip, Kyla, Peter and Danica worked together (e.g. clicked furiously online for a reservation) so we could eat the famous fried chicken at Momofuku. This dish can only be ordered if you get one of  the three daily dinner reservations. You can book a reservation exactly one month in advance, starting at 10:00am. All reservations are usually fully booked by 10:01am. It was totally worth it. Here's Momofuku's description: "It feeds 4-8 people. The meal includes two whole fried chickens, one southern style and one korean style, and it comes with mu shu pancakes, long spicy peppers, baby carrots, red ball radishes, shiso leaves, bibb lettuce, four sauces and an herb basket. Guests are encouraged to eat as they please, from making wraps with the pancakes to eating the chicken straight-up". We also managed to eat an order of their famous pork buns. Everything was so good, but everyone's tummy hurt. so. much. afterwards.

Jay and I also checked out the Central Park Zoo and I have a new favourite animal - Red pandas!

We also gave in to the temptation of hot honey-roasted nuts from one of the ubiquitous "Nuts 4 Nuts!" carts in Central Park.

We couldn't leave New York without visiting Laduree and bringing some macarons back home. This is their only location in North America. Oh how I've missed you, Laduree macarons! We also had lunch at the always wonderful Pret a Manger. Visits to both these places gave us fond memories of our honeymoon in Europe.

So this might be our last trip before the baby comes. It was so great to spend time together, and also with our awesome friends - Danica, Kyla, Peter, Phyllis and Jason.