1 Our Daughter's 1st Savings Account

As of today our daughter has a savings account. She doesn't even officially have a name yet. This account is designated for her college fund. Once she gets older she can open a checkings/savings account of her own. I decided to go with an online bank as they offer a higher APY than a traditional financial institution like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America or Wells Fargo. You do know what an APY is right? The account is through SmartyPig and besides the high yielding interest rate they also offer the opportunity to allow our friends and family members to help our daughter save by sharing our goal, all while keeping our personal information safe and secure.

Should anyone feel extra generous over the next 18 years, now you have the opportunity to contribute to one of the most important things anyone can possess; a college education. There is a link in this post and in the sidebar that will connect you to her account. You will have to register with the site to contribute, but shouldn't we all be saving money anyways?

Donate Now!

4 The Big 3-0

That’s right! We’re well into the third tri-mester with about 10 weeks till go time. For you sports fans, I guess you would consider this the 7th inning stretch or the 4th quarter. Lina has been officially pregnant for seven months and the home stretch is in sight. Lina looks unmistakably pregnant. Her belly is about the size of a big juicy watermelon. Tying her shoes has been a challenge and she has adopted the pregnant "waddle." I have officially surrendered the recliner over to her, as she seems most comfortable in that chair. Her cravings have been very realistic even up till this point. Lina whispered into my ear in the middle of the night that she wants crunchy chicken tacos and cheesecake for dinner. I wonder what she is dreaming about. So we’ll have to see what Chef Boyar’David can conjure up.

The baby's length is about 16 inches—about as long as a laptop computer—and she measures almost 11 inches from crown to rump. She weighs approximately 2 1/2 to 3 pounds. We now can see movement from outside Lina’s belly. It seems as if she is moving around furniture in her little living space. I will post videos of the movement in a few weeks.

I’ve been busy with side projects that have prevented me from progressing on the nursery, but now we’re back on track. Eviction Notice (Chapter 2) coming real soon! 

0 When You Wish Upon A Star...

We spotted this knitted hat/sweater combo while on one of our many strolls through FAO Schwarz. Love it! Like most parents we know, we heart all things Disney. From the movies to the theme parks; and yes folks, even the Disney-owned ESPN. We only purchase animated movies and a majority of them are produced by Disney. We just can't wait to take the baby to Disneyworld when she is old enough to feel the magic. It's paramount that we get a flick of our little Mouseketeer at Disneyworld while wearing the prerequisite Minnie Mouse ears with the classic polka dot bow. It's right up there with taking a flick with Santa Clause.

Lina and I celebrated our 3-year wedding anniversary at Disneyworld back in 2009. Upon check-in to the hotel resort, we each were issued a red pin which read "Happy Anniversary!". I assume it's Disney policy for all employees to verbally wish you a Happy Anniversary if you are spotted wearing that pin. It's genius! It kept us focused on the fact that we were celebrating our wedding anniversary throughout the whole trip. It never got old.

God I miss the Disney Dining Plan!

1 The Legend of Secret

Anonymous: "Do you guys have a name for the baby?"
Lina: "yes"
Anonymous: "well, what is it?"
Lina: "we're not saying until the baby is born"
Anonymous: "ARRRGGHHH!!!!"

The above conversation (in one form or another) happens about once a week. It's understandable. I would ask the same thing if the role was reversed. Lina and I have chosen to keep the baby's name under wraps until she is born. What's the big deal in keeping the baby's name secret you ask? Is it a special and unique name? Not really, but for us it is.

Thanks to our god daughter Amaya Garcia (daughter of Wendy Garcia) we have officially given the baby the temporary code name: Secret. Wendy had explained to her daughters that the baby's name would remain a secret till birth. So one day while out shopping with her girls, her youngest daughter, Amaya asked if they can purchase an item for Secret. To Wendy's awe, Amaya had referred to the baby as Secret like if that was her actual name. Wendy informed us of what happened and from that point on the name sort of stuck.

If you ask me, Secret sounds like a name you would give a cherished Stallion. I could of sworn there was some horse movie out by that name. You got Hidalgo, Flicka, Seabiscuit, Spirit and so on.

So feel free to call our daughter Secret for the time being because we're not telling.

2 Sunday Morning in Manhattan

We had an opportunity to get a tour of the hospital where it's all gonna go down. It's a public tour where expecting parents can see the facilities and ask the tour guide general questions about their services. We arrived a half hour early and waited in the main lobby for the tour to start. While we were waiting a crackhead run down lady walked into the lobby and went to use the bathroom. 20 minutes had passed and she still was in there. The cleaning lady informed the security guard and he was forced to enter the bathroom to ask her to leave. That's where things got interesting.  The women started yelling that she wasn't going to leave and that he should call the cops. She kept yelling "Call the cops B****" over and over again. She even said something more, but this is a family blog. At this point there were about 20 freaked out couples in the lobby witnessing the calamity. It really set the tone for the impending tour. I overheard a women tell her husband "and you wanted to live in New York". After the tour we felt good about the hospital, but we do not want to have anything to do with the bathrooms in the main lobby.

Later on we walked around the city and window shopped while soaking up the sun. We walked over 2 miles, unsuspectedly. The city is misleading like that (but in a good way). There is a lot to take in that keeps your mind busy. We grabbed lunch at Five Guys and ended our Manhattan trek with frozen custard from Shake Shack before hopping the train back to the Bronx.

6 The 1-Hour Glucose Challenge

Earlier this week Lina had to take the 1 hour glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. You drink an orange flavored sugar solution and then an hour later the doctor will draw a blood sample from your arm to check your blood sugar level. The idea is to see how efficiently your body processes sugar. Lina had heard that the drink tasted awful and that she should consume it cold to soften the blow. She was very fearful that she wouldn't be able to down the sugar solution. She kept it in the back of the refrigerator to insure it would be the coldest it could be before consumption. Fast forward, she absolutely ENJOYED the drink. She told me that she tapped the bottle to get the last drops. I think she is hoping to fail the test so that she has another shot at the orange sizzurp!

There is more drama to this story, but I'll leave that for you girls to chat it up with L.