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.

3 Burger Queen

It's funny how people are quick to spread their fear tactics about how the "Cravings" will make my life miserable. "Wait till the cravings start" they say. I've heard several horror stories ranging from how tired men had to hopelessly search for thai food in the middle of the night to how the smell of certain foods made the expecting mother so nauseous that the food had to be banned from the house. Well not all things in Cravingsville are bad.

I'm a huge connoisseur of the hamburger. Lina, not so much. Actually, not at all. She would always find any alternative to the hamburger whenever we go out to eat. Her thing is pizza, white pizza at that. That's not even pizza! It's a glorified cheesy bread, but I digress. Well my friends, thanks to pregnancy, the Cheese-Burglar has nothing on my wife. Suddenly she wants to pick my brain on all the NYC burger hot spots. I can't tell you how ecstatic I am. Finally I can feed my epicureanistic burger fascination without the guilt of forcing it on Lina. TAKE THAT FEAR INFLICTERS!

If anyone has a favorite burger spot, please let us know in the comments. Lina's cravings are counting on you.

Epicurean |ˌepikyəˈrēən; ˌepiˈkyoŏrēən| - a person devoted to sensual enjoyment, esp. that derived from fine food and drink.

BTW, "Epicureanistic" is not a word, but it should be. All 7 syllables of it!

2 Thank You...

I want to thank my wonderful loving husband for creating this AWESOME blog for our baby girl.

4 Lina's Lovely Lady Lump

Say that 5x fast. Well here it is. You asked and we provided. Lina’s belly at 24 weeks. This mini photo shoot was taken on the 4^th of July. We enjoyed a low key BBQ at her Titi Mary & Tio Louie’s house located in Pelham Manor. It was our first family event in a month so reactions to Lina’s new shape commanded attention as soon as we pulled up. I ate my first Bubba Burger. If we’re ever forced to grill frozen hamburgers in the future, that will be the brand we get. While Lina is pregnant her food must be fully cooked. You run the risk of a dry and tuff burger. Not with Bubba’s. We were all amazed at how tender and juicy the hamburgers were. Later on that evening the baby was kicking up a storm. For whatever reason I decided to lay my head on her tummy and it felt as if the baby dropped kicked me in the face.