Hello everyone. Well, it was not the weekend I had in mind. Let's start at the beginning:
Friday
My mom picked us up around 3pm and we hit the road. We stopped in Syracuse to pick up her best friend (and to use the bathroom) and we were quickly on the road again. We arrived in Albany sometime between 7 and 8pm. After checking into the hotel and dropping our stuff, we went to go eat dinner. We chose Applebee's where I had a bacon cheeseburger with fries. We also split an appetizer...the new twisted potato chip things with spicy queso. Once back at the hotel, I gave Madison a quick shower and we all fell asleep by 11pm.
Saturday
I woke up around 4:30am feeling like I was going to throw up. My mom woke up and asked if I was ok. I told her I was going to go get a Sierra Mist from the vending machine. Once back in the room, things got really bad. I ended up getting sick about 4 times between 5 and 7am. I was a wreck and didn't know what to do. We had to get on a train to NYC at 8am. My mom said I could have stayed in the hotel and we could have either one of my aunt's (who live in Syracuse) come pick me up or have my little sister's boyfriend (who lives in Albany) come check in on me throughout the day. I said no...I wanted to go with them.
Once we pulled into the parking garage at the train station, I got sick. Not fun. We got all settled on the train and we made sure we were only a few rows from the bathroom. I was going to need it. Over the course of the 2 1/2 hour train ride, I got sick twice more. Thank goodness those train bathrooms are MUCH bigger than airplane bathrooms...I've been sick on a plane before and it's just awful. We got into NYC a little after 10:30am and we had to wait at Penn Station for my little sister to come get us. We had no idea how to get to our hotel in Jersey City.
She arrived around 11am (the trains were running slow) and we made our way to the PATH train station....a long NYC block away from Penn Station. The trains run a little differently on the weekends so it took a bit longer to get to our stop. Thankfully, our hotel was right next to the PATH train station. My mom bought me a Sierra Mist at the front desk and we made our way to our room. It was close to noon by this time and I still wasn't well. I knew I had to stay in the room and miss out on seeing the city. All I wanted at that point was for Madison to enjoy herself and for me to feel better. As soon as they left, I broke into tears. I was so sad! Anyways....I ended up getting sick one last time around 2pm and then fell asleep for 2 hours.
Once I woke up after 4pm, I felt so much better. I got up and called both Tony and my mom to let them know I was better. I ended up just walking back and forth across the room because I was so sick of laying in bed. I just lounged around for awhile and watched tv. Everyone came back to the room sometime between 6:30 and 7pm. They brought me a little sleeve of saltine crackers because I was pretty hungry. We convinced my little sis to stay overnight with us instead of heading back to her apartment (we had 2 queen beds and a pullout couch). My mom and her friend went downstairs to grab a few drinks...Pepsi for my mom and wine for her friend and my little sis. We sat around and talked about the day and ate our little snacks. They told me that the wind had been bitter cold and their feet were so tired. They said even if I felt good, I wouldn't have made it around the city that day. Every subway they took was super crowded and they had to stand...not good for someone who is 6 months pregnant.
While we chatted Madison watched "Bedtime Stories" on tv. Once it was over (around 10pm), we all went to bed. It had been a very long and exhausting day for all of us. I knew that Madison had a great day....she went to American Girl Place, saw Rockefeller Center, went to the
Lego store and Toys R Us, saw Times Square, had NY style pizza and saw the Empire State building (from far away). I told Madison I'd buy her something from American Girl, but my mom had to pay for it for me. She picked out the bowling outfit and a pair of sunglasses for her doll. My mom also let her pick out something and she picked a really neat activity book and a cat for her doll named Praline.
Sunday
My mom and I woke up a little before 6am. I had slept so much the day before that I just couldn't sleep any longer. We both got up and started getting ready. I munched on some crackers and had a little bit of Sierra Mist. We were all pretty much ready to go and packed up around 7am. We headed back to the PATH train station and we had to wait a little while for our train. At this point, I was starting to feel very light headed. My little sis was sitting next to me on a bench and called my mom over. I felt like I was going to pass out and I just wanted to lie down. Thankfully, a train pulled up (not ours) and she was able to sit on my other side. I didn't know what to do and I nearly blacked out. I knew I needed water and my mom's friend gave me hers (the 2nd day in a row I ended up taking her water). My mom then remembered I had a vitamin water in my bag.....I was dehydrated. I needed fluids and electrolytes. After a few sips of vitamin water, I felt a whole lot better. However, this whole episode greatly upset Madison. We had to tell her it was because I hadn't eaten hardly anything the day before.
After I was feeling better, a train came a few minutes later. We only had to go one stop because we were going to breakfast a few blocks from my sister's apartment. It was called the Brownstone Diner and Pancake Factory. Yum! It was quite a walk...especially because it was freezing outside! It felt so good to sit in the nice warm diner and the breakfast rush hadn't begun yet. I had a belgiun waffle with strawberry compote and it was really good. I couldn't finish it though because the compote was just a little too sweet. I then ordered a side of wheat toast because I was still hungry. Once we had finished eating (and relaxing for awhile) we bundled back up and went to see my sister's apartment. We only stayed for a little bit and then headed back to the PATH train. Before going down into the station, we stopped at a drug store for me to get another vitamin water.
The train ride back to Penn Station was uneventful, but it felt like it took forever (those weekend schedules). Once off the train, we walked the one block to Penn Station...it's underneath Madison Square Garden! There was a Rangers/Flyers game that day, so we saw lots of jerseys. I think we arrived at Penn Station around 11:20am for our 11:45am train. They don't post what track you're on until 15 minutes before departure time. Once it was displayed, we got in line at our track and said goodbye to my little sis. Once again, we sat a few rows from the bathroom, but that's because I had been doing nothing but drinking liquids all morning (I had a full glass of water and a small apple juice at the diner).
The ride back to Albany was quite nice, but the train was super hot. I watched out the window for awhile and the train goes right along the Hudson River. It was a very sunny day and the sights were just gorgeous. I also slept for a bit until Maddie woke me up to go to the bathroom. We arrived back in Albany around 2:15pm, used the restroom and found our car. We stopped briefly on the Thruway for a bathroom break and to get a snack. The only food place open though was Dunkin Donuts and no one wanted anything from there. We ended up getting chips from the vending machine. We dropped my mom's friend off in Syracuse around 5pm and then went over to my aunt and uncle's house. We had to drop off their birthday gifts and they had dinner for us! Pulled chicken (instead of pulled pork) and chocolate cake. Delicious.
We got back on the road a bit before 7pm and I think we stopped once on the Thruway to use the bathroom and my mom just wanted to rest for a few minutes. We hit a bit of snow right before our exit and then the highway on the way to my house was VERY snowy. We got home around 9:45pm or so. We unpacked and lounged for a bit. Maddie got to bed around 11pm and I watched The Amazing Race before falling asleep.
So there you have it. My very crazy weekend!!! It didn't end today. Tony and my mom (with some help from Madison) started painting the nursery. They got the ceiling painted and the walls got a coat of primer.
) And I'm so happy that even Disco Dale couldn't bring me down! 
That's right, I forgot that your bday was right before Nats! I will have to try to remember to text you from WDW on that day! Maybe from Epcot or the BC - 2 of your fave places, right? 
I just had a brag for a minute. It's hard in the winter (especially around the holidays) to keep up with the workout routines and I usually don't ever feel like anything is changing....but now I actually have proof!
We hit 50 for two days and then it's back in the 20s and WINDY!!!! Winter is far from over.
And that was after we let them stay up on NYE!!! )
I kinda thought that about Beaches and cream....might have to make an adjustment there! 
And we are off today when it is 32 and snowy. 
Poor thing! So..they called Friday with a cancellation for this monday, could we make it..I said, barring an admittance to the ER with this flu, we would be there. So..he got better over the weekend and we went in yesterday morning at 10:30....and he said he was ready to start his line-up for braces!
He goes back in 2 weeks for the Xrays and Impressions....then , they had a 1:30 cancellation so I could get Kipps teeth cleaned. So, we got both of them taken care of in one day!!!! 
