Sam's First Christmas

It was a bittersweet Christmas this year. Sam met a lot of new people, including his Great-Grandma Bittner. Dodo, as Nathan and I called her, had two strokes the weekend before Christmas. We were able to see her on Christmas Eve day. She died Monday, Dec. 28 while we were on the train heading home.

Sam and I are flying back to Wisconsin on Friday. The funeral is Saturday.

I am so glad Sam and grandma were able to meet and that we were able to get a four-generation photo.

Here are photos from our whirlwind trip: Sam's First Christmas

Farewell To My Honda

The Paulsens are now carless!

About a week and a half ago, we took my 1998 Honda Civic in for repair. It had been making this creaking noise for a good chunk of time. Dave thought the carriage needed a good lube. I didn't want to drive upstate unless the car got an OK from a mechanic. Well, as I'm sure you've guessed, it didn't go well.

The car's suspension was about to go and rust was consuming the under carriage. Repair: $1,500-$1,700. Ha! We figured that the car was worth $1,500. (It's a Honda, people.)

So, it was decision time. We hadn't been using the car much, maybe once a week. And the parking situation was getting to us. We had talked about getting rid of the car when we moved to Brooklyn, but I wasn't willing to part with it until I knew where everything was, i.e. a grocery store, Target, etc.

Well, it was time. We decided to donate it to charity through NPR's CarTalk vehicle donation program. The car will be fixed for cheap and sold. The profit will go to WNYC - the local NPR station here. The car was towed away today. :(

I hardly listened to any other station when driving that car. NPR helped me get through hours and hours and miles and miles of commuting - from Fishkill to Danbury and from New Haven to Hartford - so this donation program seemed like a good fit for us.

This was my first car that I owned. I had a Ford Escort during college and my first year in Wausau, but it was owned by my dad. That car was sent to the junk yard after the brakes went. I bought my Honda in 2004 in Wausau. Although it was a manual, I bought it anyway. Dave had recently bought the same make and model car and was teaching me how to drive it.

I put nearly 100,000 miles on the car. I do regret not making it to the 200,000-mile mark. I was close at about 198,000.

From Wisconsin to New York, to Connecticut and back to New York, that car was good to me. Reliable and great gas mileage -- usually around 40 mpg.

Some good memories, too. We brought Sam home from the hospital in that car.

So farewell my good car. You will be missed!

Photos: Farewell To My Honda

Trip to Grandma Barb's

Our first trip upstate to visit Dave's mom since moving to the city proved to be a rather eventful one....

On Sunday, we took the subway to lower Manhattan to pick up our rental car. (I plan to blog later this week about why we had to rent a car...) The trip started out fine until we reached New Jersey. (Never was a big fan of Jersey.) That's when it started raining and getting colder....

Needless to say, the roads were horrible and the interstate was closed in a few places because of accidents, forcing us to use back roads. (Called Nathan a few times to help us figure out where we were. Nathan is my personal GPS.) It was slow going. We eventually stopped for lunch. We ate at a pizza place in Hope, New Jersey, in hopes of that bringing us good luck....

We decided to keep going, but once we got back on the road, I started feeling sick. I wasn't sure if I was going to throw up or if I needed to sit on the toilet. The roads were still bad, but we eventually pulled over at the Pennsylvania Welcome Center. I ran to the bathroom....

As I came back to the car, Dave is coming toward me with Sam in his arms. He gives me Sam and off Dave runs to the bathroom....

Not sure if it was the pizza we ate or what, but it came on sudden...

After that, we decided to find a hotel. We had been on the road for nearly six hours and had traveled only about 80 miles. We still had at least a three-hour drive ahead of us, and it was getting dark.

So, we stopped in Stroudsburg, PA. Sam's first stay in a hotel! And it was right next to a Perkins. Love Perkins!

We made it up to Corning, NY, by noon the next day and had a good visit with Grandma Barb. It was a short visit, and we hope to get back soon.

Sam was wonderful the whole time, sleeping in his travel bed and going with the flow.

The ride home Tuesday morning was less eventful, thankfully. After droppping the rental car off in Manhattan, Dave went up to Midtown to work and Sam and I headed home on the subway.

I hope our trip to Wisconsin doesn't involve bad weather and food poisoning!!!

Pictures: Our Upstate Adventure

Some photos of Sam

Sam has taken to sucking on his feet. See photos of him doing that plus some more random pictures: Random Photos of Sam

Cookie Monster

The Shoes

On Monday, I went to Babies R Us by myself - sans Dave and Sam. When I go to that store without Dave, I can't control my spending. In particular, I'm drawn to baby shoes. But Dave believes that babies shouldn't have shoes until they can walk. Boo-hoo.

But on this day, I couldn't control myself and I bought Sam his first pair of shoes. Dave didn't seem to mind too much because they were so cute. Plus, I argued, it would help his socks stay on....

That brings us to Wednesday. I got Sam dressed for an outing with his new shoes -- his first time in public with them on. I put him in his stroller and off we went to the library.

After browsing for some books for myself, I went to get into the elevator to go upstairs to the children's section. And that's when I noticed: One of his shoes was missing.

I retraced my steps, through the library and all the way home - TWICE. I spoke to two librarians. No shoe. I walked home, head hanging.

Dave didn't seem too mad, but I'm not sure if he'll let me get a new pair. I'm mainly upset because this was his first pair...

Thankfully, we did get some photos of him wearing the shoes before we lost one.



UPDATE: I found the shoe!!!!!!!!!!! Yippee!!!!!!! I went back to the library today and found it in the lost-and-found box. I looked there twice yesterday, but someone must have found it after I left.

See some bathtime photos and a video (last image is a short video): Bathtime