Baby Shower Fun

Last weekend Emma, Wembley and I packed up the car and headed to Massachusetts for what was supposed to be a long weekend to celebrate Jean and the future baby boy Rothman.  As we hadn't seen my parents in a while we headed up Thursday so we could spend the day Friday with my parents in Newburyport.  Emma is starting to get a little stranger anxiety but after an initial cry when seeing her grandpa again for the first time she quickly adjusted and loved hanging out with him.  Friday my mom and I spent some time together and took Emma to get bagels in the morning.  She had some quality grandma time in the afternoon while I took the opportunity to run a few errands alone which I never get to do.  Friday night Mona, Andrew and Roya joined us at my parent's house.  Saturday morning we got the girls ready, got a few naps in and hit the road for Somerville.  Lauri was nice enough to host the shower and this was the first time that all 6 of "the girls" from college were together in I think about 3 years.  Katherine (our old roommate) was also there bringing her 10 month old Charlie so all together we had 7 adults and 3.5 kids.  Charlie and Roya enjoyed playing together while they both crawled over Emma who isn't quite as mobile as them yet.  She enjoyed watching them though.  Overall it was a great afternoon with some very cute baby boy clothes and onesie decorating.  That evening we had a low key night at my parent's house eating pizza and Ryan even came to visit.  Sunday Mona and family headed out but I decided to stay a few more days due to the fact that Hurricane Sandy was making her way straight towards NY.

Pumpkin Patch

So the bad news on my computer is that the hard drive is failing.  The good news is that 2 1/2 years ago when we got the computer we got the apple care plan for 3 years so the new hard drive is covered.  I managed to get Emma's pictures off but nothing else.  I am hoping I can rescue all my pictures once I get my computer back.  They told me 5-10 days so until then I am still without a computer and can't update with pictures from my camera.  For now I will have a few sneak peak pictures here and there from my phone.

This weekend in an effort to enjoy fall Gary, Sarah and I ventured out to the Queens Farm Museum to check out the pumpkin patch and corn maze (otherwise known as the Maize Maze).  It was a beautiful day with temps in the high 70's.  The farm museum is a free working farm just a few miles from our house which is great.  During the fall they create a large corn maze every year and have a "pick your own pumpkin" patch.  There are also hay rides and animal feedings.  You can also milk a cow which we ended up not doing although Sarah definitely wanted to.  I think if I didn't have Emma in the carrier I would have been all for it too.  I had opted to leave the stroller in the car which I think was the right decision with the crowd of people.

We bought tickets for the corn maze and stood in line waiting to go in while drinking our apple cider that Sarah got us.  While waiting we made fun of the adults who came out looking so proud of themselves for having just completed the maze (just wait).  The guy in charge gave us some very complicated directions that we didn't understand at all and then sent us on our way.  He said the average time to complete is 35-45 minutes.  We though that seemed long.  As we entered we were given a big flag so they can locate us from above if we get lost and into the maze we went.  Once inside we realized what we had to do.  Basically there are 9 mailboxes with puzzle pieces throughout the maze which when put together show you the map and how to get out.  There are also trivia questions along the way.  I am happy to tell you that we found all 9 puzzle pieces and made our way out of the maze in just about 40 minutes.  I will say that we walked out of that maze very proud of what we had done. :)

After the corn maze we went to the pumpkin patch.  Unfortunately it was actually a bunch of pumpkins in a field that weren't really on the vine anymore so you aren't really picking them.  The line to buy the pumpkins was about an hour long so we decided to just take some pictures with the pumpkins and pass on getting one there that day.  All in all it was a good day and I can't wait to go again when Emma is a little older and she can enjoy more of it.

I will have to add more pictures once my computer is back up and running because I took some good ones.

UPDATE!!!!  Here are the pictures from my real camera.

Waiting in line for the corn maze

After completing the maze

We are so cool

Looking out over the maze

Looking down a path.  The watched the flags so they could find you.

Family shot in the pumpkin patch

My pumpkin with the pumpkins

Emma and Daddy

Gymboree

In an effort to keep my sanity this winter we decided to sign up for Gymboree.  They have many different levels of classes one being 0-6 months and the next 6-10 months.  I didn't really think there would be a point in going until she was around 6 months so she would be more mobile and get more out of it.  Low and behold she will be 6 months next week so we went to check it out.  We went to Play and Learn 2 with Mona and Roya who have been going for a little while.  Emma had a great time.  She is still young for many of the activities but they are designed to encourage her to learn to crawl and I really think she will get there.  By the end of the class she seemed to be learning to move her hands forward.  Besides can you really go wrong when there is a class with music and bubbles?  With 5 classes we can go to a week plus a bunch of open gym times too it will give us lots of opportunities to get out of the house this winter.  Here are a few pictures from our first 2 classes that I managed to get from the phone (computer is still not working).

Playing with Roya

Looking through the tunnel

Climbing (being pushed up) the steps

Proud of herself at the top of the steps

Under the Parachute

A Little Person

Ok so of course I start the blog and then my computer decides to start running incredibly slow making it impossible to update anything.  While we are waiting to get it running better there may be a delay in posts and a lack of pictures.  I will say sorry for that in advance.  I have temporarily hijacked Gary's computer for a quick update.

Last week I realized how much of a little person Emma is becoming.  Wembley came up to her and when she reached for him he rolled over so she could pet his belly.  Even he seems to think of her as a person these days.  When we were at the park with our weekly play group several of the bigger kids (as in 8-9 months) were playing with a toy in front of her.  She was watching them so intently and then reached out to hold one of the boys hands.  I think it is only a matter of time before she will be right in there with them fighting for the toys.

During the weekend we had a really nice day so Gary and I decided to take a short tour with Emma around the city.  We got some pictures of her in front of some NY landmarks.  We also found a nice beer garden on the water which made for a great afternoon stop.  Pictures will have to come at a later date.  Overall it was a pretty slow week with some not so nice weather so we spent a lot of time at home.

On that side note if anyone has some good information on speeding up a VERY slow mac I would appreciate your advice.  Until then I think we are heading to the Genius Bar this weekend.