New York - Day 1: The Opera!!!

After we all got dressed we met down in the lobby of the hotel before heading out.  The gal at the front desk gave me a map and told me exactly how to take the subway to get to the MET.

So we went across the street from the hotel and paid for metro passes to take the subway.  We got on the correct subway and it took us exactly where she said it would.  So then she said we could walk through Central Park about 15 minutes, or take a taxi to the MET.  We decided we'd all just take a taxi since it was so cold.  We even took a selfie in the back of the taxi...we are so awesome.
Turns out the lady sent us to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, not the opera.  So we walked in and the guards told us we were in the wrong place.  I felt super dumb because I was the one who talked to the front desk.  So we had to get back into a taxi and go to the Lincoln Center where they perform the opera.
We were really worried about being late and so we rushed as quick as we could to get there.  Once there we found out that my mom thought it started at 7:00 pm but really didn't start until 7:30 pm.  So we had some time to try and find something to eat.

We walked around outside the building for street vendors, but didn't find any.  Then we found out they sold sandwiches and stuff in the opera house.  They wanted $15 for a sandwich and $6 for a glass of soda, not even a whole can.  So Wendy and Julie got opera food and Kevin and I said we'd wait until after the show for some food.  Way too rich for our blood.

We found our seats on the very front row of the top balcony.  It was high up, but it was nice being in the front row.  We took some pictures while waiting for the show to start.  We were all pretty excited to see Rachel sing such a big roll at such a big opera house.  How many people can say that they saw their cousin sing a title roll at the MET?  Not many.
The opera was the Marriage of Figaro...or something like that.  It was all in Italian and the words were translated in the seats/railing in front of us.  It is a pretty funny opera with lots of silly love triangles.  For the most part I really enjoyed it.  We were all super tired from our lack of sleep and I am pretty sure all of us fell asleep at one point or another, but for the most part we were awake and had a good time.

Rachel did such a good job.  She totally stood out from the others in her singing (we could be a little partial to her).  But even the people around us said that they thought she was magnificent.  We found her picture on the wall of MET opera singers.  She will now always be on their wall, pretty cool stuff.

After the show we got to go back to Rachel's dressing room and see her.  We had our names on a list to get back there.  We had to tell two different sets of people our names to get it.  We felt super special to "have our names on the list."  Rachel was a delight as always.  Super funny with her stories about her crazy opera life with a husband and 3 small children.  It was nice to chat with her and then she directed us to the subway to get home.  Turns out that their is a subway stop right at the opera house...I still felt bad.  Live and learn.  We sure enjoyed having the experience of the opera in New York City!

New York - Day 1: Selfies, Shopping, & Site Seeing

After we got out of the hotel to walk to the place where we were to meet the on/off tour bus we realize very quickly that it was cold.  A very bitter wind was blowing and we were freezing.  We passed a stand where they sell candy, drinks. magazines, etc...and they also sold hats, ear muffs, and gloves.  My dad so kindly got us all the things that we needed to be warm and then we were on our way.

We of course had to stop multiple times for selfies because we were just so excited to actually by in New York city with all (except Sherri) of our siblings.  We were all so silly with each other and were just having so much fun being our crazy selves in the big apple.

We only got off the on/off bus for one stop and that was at ground zero where the two towers were located before the planes took them down.  It was a really beautiful site where something so terrible happened.

They had two large pools of water that went down into a hole and all around the surroundings were printed the names of all the people who died in the attack.  There was a little church right in front of where I was standing for the picture that wasn't affected at all from the towers falling.  Such amazing stories to come out of  9/11.

They also had this really neat white structure that kind of looked like a big bird by that little church.  I am not sure what it was/is for, but was kind of neat looking.  We didn't waist time getting a ground shot in front of it. 

After looking around we decided we were hungry.  We asked some workers and they directed us to the food court across the street from where we were.  So we walked across the street and found what looked like a mall and found us some yummy Mexican food to eat.  It looked like this is where a lot of the people who work in the area come to eat.  Lots of business professionals. 

After eating we needed to get to pier 11 to catch the ferry that goes around the Statue of Liberty.  We were told to go to that pier by a certain time to catch the ferry.  My dad started heading that way but his foot was really hurting him and he just couldn't walk anymore.  So he took a cab to the pier while the rest of us walked.

What seemed like a short walk ended up being more like a couple miles walk to this specific pier.  We passed the place where you go to get the ferry that goes to Liberty Island (Julie and I took a picture by the sign) and then kept walking to get to our pier.  Once we all rushed to get there we found out that we got wrong information and the ferry didn't leave for another 40 minutes and that would mean that we didn't have enough time to do the ferry ride before we'd have to get ready for the opera.
We were all pretty bummed, but decided to pick up the on/off bus and go back to the hotel to get ready.  While waiting for the right bus (which seemed like it took a good 45 minutes) Julie and I bought us a cute knock off purse.  They wanted $45 but I talked them down to $30 each.  My mom got her and Teagan bags too, so it wasn't a total waist of time waiting for the bus.
Once the bus came we quickly found our cold seats on the top back of the bus and enjoyed our guided tour back to the hotel.  It took a lot longer then we thought it would (and the tour guide was super rude to a family with a noisy kid - we were not happy about that) so because of that we were then pressed for time to get ready for the opera.  But we did get to see some things on the tour that we wouldn't have otherwise, like Central Park.
We finally got to our stop and then walked back to the hotel to officially check into our rooms and get all dressed up for the opera.

New York - Day 1 - Airports & Bus Tours

It all started at about 9:00 pm on Wednesday night when Julie came to my house to pick me up for the airport.  Julie was hungry so we stopped at In & Out for a quick bite.
Then it was time to go to the airport.  We parked at the Park & Jet and then got a shuttle to the airport terminal.  My dad was already there and then my mom, Teagan, and Kevin quickly followed.  We checked in our bags and then went through security before finding our terminal.
Our flight was delayed by over a half an hour so Kevin, Julie, and I did a lot of walking around the airport.  It started out by us looking for Kevin something to eat and we ended up walking all over for something that was still open.  Not much was open and we ended up at McDonald's.  After getting a bite to eat we headed back to our terminal and got ready to board the plane.

Since we were on the red-eye Jet Blue provided eye masks and ear plugs.  It was very nice.  Kevin, Teagan, and I all sat by each other on the plane.  The seats were nice and roomy and we were even able to get a couple of hours of sleep (since it was the middle of the night).   
Once we got to JFK we got our luggage and called for our shuttle.  Julie and I did a little Electric Slide while waiting for the shuttle.  It was very impressive.  We had many excited lookers.

The shuttle driver was a crazy driver.  Apparently you have to be crazy to drive in New York.  Everyone drives super crazy and they honk at each other all the time.  If you don't push your way over you don't get over.  But he managed to get us to the hotel safely in the morning rush hour traffic.
Wendy beat us to the hotel because our flight was delayed and her airport was closer.  So she talked to the hotel about us eating breakfast there after we dropped off our luggage.  Breakfast was super yummy and gave us our second wind to start our bus tour!
My parents got us all a pass for a tour bus company that allows you to hop on and off the bus at any stop for 72 hours.  We decided to do the Downtown tour first on the way to the ferry.  We got to see lots of historic sites like the Empire State Building, the Stock Exchange, Macy's, Madison Square Garden, Little Italy, Korea Town, Ground Zero, Central Park, etc.

The weather was really cold this day.  The temperature wasn't the problem, it was the darn wind.  It was so windy cold it chilled us to the bone.  My dad bought us all hats and gloves to help keep us warm.  Unlucky for us we ended up on the top of the bus in the back where their was no covering at all.  So all that cold wind combined with the movement of the bus made us all so darn cold.  But we all still had so much fun going around on the bus listening to the tour guide with our little head phones. 

After our bus tour we headed back to the hotel (Residence Inn) to get ready for the Opera.  We were all so freezing and so happy to get into our rooms to warm up.
Teagan, Kevin, and I shared a room and the rooms were very nice.  We had lots of counter room and a little kitchen.  We had a nice view out of our room.  Our hotel was in the perfect spot.  Like a block away from Broadway and only a few blocks away from Time Square.  A few blocks the other way was the Empire State Building.  We were right by a cute little park called Bryant Park.
We also had a subway stop across the street for one line and two blocks over for another line.  It was just perfectly located.  All the employees were super nice and so was the hotel itself. 

Allie 18 Months

I can not believe my baby is now 18 months old.  One and a half years old...it's nuts man.  She was super chill at her well-child appointment and didn't even say a peep.  Luckily no shots this time, that made me very happy (I am sure Allie too).

Dr. Eyre said that everything is looking really good.  She should probably be saying some more words, so I am going to watch that.  I have noticed that she is babbling more since getting the tubes in so I am hoping more words will come soon.  I am not too worried about it.

Allie can say some different words like: mama (she calls Tony that a lot too), Dada, and grandma.  She says Koda REALLY well and says it often.  She has also said some other words that she hasn't since repeated, like Jesus, Pluto, and even tickle. 

Allie loves to be outside.  Many times a day I find her going out the dog door to play in the back yard.  Luckily it has been nice weather so it's been super nice.  She loves to play in the dirt, play in the clubhouse, and play with the rocks and toys.  

We love our sweet Allie and know that she will do great things!

Weight: 24 lbs 13 oz (77%)

Height: 32.5 inches (72%)

Head: 18.8 inches (87%)

BMI: 73%

Blue & Gold Banquet

We went to the Blue and Gold Banquet for Tyler tonight.  He received his Wolf and is all ready to advance to a Bear next month.  They had a nice spaghetti dinner provided and then each family brought a dessert.  We did have to wait a while to start everything because our ward was told it started at 6:00 and the other ward was told 6:30...so that was fun times keeping the kids good while we waited.

They finally started the program and then we all ate.  Their was lots of food and everyone had plenty to eat.  After dinner they gave out the awards from the past month.  Tyler got a belt loop and his Wolf.  He got to pin a pin on me, so that was super fun.  Tyler loves scouts so much and is so excited to go each week.  I am so proud of him for taking it seriously and doing everything he can to be an ideal scout.  We sure love this kid!

Snuggles

These kids love to snuggle.  Allie loves to climb up next to her siblings and snuggle right it.  Half the time they hate it, but the other half they love it.  It makes my heart so happy when they are all snuggling together so happily.  What could be better?

Allie Got Tubes in Her Ears!!!

Allie at the doctors office.

On Tuesday the medical assistant that we had been working with at the ENT office called me and said that another doctor in the office had a cancellation for this Thursday for surgery if we wanted it.  I said YES PLEASE.

Allie waiting to get changed into her gown.

She went on to say that I would have to bring her in that day to be seen by the other doctor and have things ready for Thursday.  So I took the only time they had available, 4:00, and got her seen.  I really didn't want to take all the kids to the appointment so my awesome neighbor, Uncle Max, came and sat with the kids while I went.  It was a huge help and made it a much easier appointment.
The doctor said she was good to go for tubes and he'd see us Thursday.  So Thursday morning at 6:15 am, Tony was at the IMC surgical center getting Allie all checked in for surgery.

Allie waiting for the sleepy drink.

They said at 7:00 am they would give her some sleepy medicine that she would drink and then the surgery was scheduled for 7:30.
They didn't come until 7:20 to give her the medicine so she was still very much awake when the nurse came to take her back for surgery.  Allie was not happy to leave Tony and cried a lot.  So much so that she threw up in the surgery room.  They did clean her up and then gave her the gas to make her go to sleep and completed the surgery.

Allie all sleepy after surgery.

The doctor said that she had a lot of puss and fluid in both ears and that it was very good that we did not wait another month.  He got the tubes in and finished the surgery in about 5 minutes.  Because she threw up they were concerned that she might have gotten some of the sleepy medicine in her lungs and wanted to keep her there longer to watch her.  They said if she was having respiratory problems she would have to be taken to Primary's and stay over night.
Luckily her oxygen levels quickly went up and she did really good.  Tony and her just hung out in their room until a little after noon.  Tony said she took a little nap and played a little.  She didn't like the oxygen monitor on her foot, but besides that was in good spirits.
She did really good yesterday.  Took a good nap and then slept good last night.  I am so glad that we were able to get her in sooner then expected and now she's on the road to recovery.  She will finish her current antibiotics and needs ear drops for a few days and then hopefully no more medicine for a very long time!

Allie and Her Ears

Poor Allie has had an ear infection off and on since the end of November.  The antibiotics take away the infection but then the fluid in her ears don't go away so that bring the infection back...fun huh.  In December we took her to see an ENT doctor and he wanted to watch her for a month before doing any sort of surgery.  So we waited a month with giving her yet another antibiotic, to keep the infection from coming back, and then saw the doctor again. Unfortunately the fluid is still there and she needs tubs in both ears.
We thought that they would have gotten us in last week for the procedure or at least it would have been scheduled, but we are having a hard time getting it all worked out.  I guess there is only one surgical center that he goes to that takes our insurance and he rarely goes there so we have to wait for them to have an opening there and I just found out he's going to be out of town for two weeks.  So frustrating.  Tony is going to call them on Monday and see if their is another doctor in the practice that could do the surgery sooner.  We don't want to have to wait another month or more because she already has another ear infection and has been super fussy with this one.  She also has a hard time hearing with all the fluid in her ears so she isn't speaking very well.  She has just started to really talk a lot more so we want to make sure she is getting a good foundation so that she wont need speech therapy when she's older.  I have always wondered if we had gotten Josh's tubs in earlier, if he wouldn't have so many speech problems.  Doesn't really matter now, all I can do is try my best to avoid problems for Allie.  And I'd like her to have a month that she doesn't have to take any medicine...ah the dreams of a mother.

Another Allie Ouchie

Allie was playing last night and fell and hit her lip.  She was bleeding pretty good.  We thought the blood was coming from her mouth, but then when it all stopped gushing we found the only wound was on her lip.  Then it started swelling...and swelling.  The poor thing.  She calmed down with a bath and then snuggled right in with Tony.

Megan didn't want to miss out on the snuggling action so she climb up and joined the fun.  We did give Allie some pain medicine right before bed and she slept pretty good last night.  She looks pretty good this morning.  It's so sad when the little ones get hurt, but luckily they bounce back quickly!

Snuggling With The Kids

Many nights we let the kids watch a show before bed.  We all watch it together and then have family prayers and then Tony and I put the kids to bed.  It is such a nice time of the day to be together as a family, snuggling with our babies!