The last leg of our trip was to Hyde Park, New York. There we toured Springwood, the house of our 32nd president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt. The house was really pretty and you can see the ramps that were built to accomodate his wheelchair. We also took a tour of the FDR Presidential Library and it was fascinating to learn more about him and his life, as well as the impact he and Eleanor had on our country.
"Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945) a four term president and the only U.S. President elected to more than two terms, was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war. Often referred to by his initials, FDR won his first of four presidential elections in 1932, while the United States was in the depths of the Great Depression. His combination of optimism and economic activism is often credited with keeping the country's economic crisis from developing into a political crisis. He led the United States through most of World War II, and died in office of a cerebral hemorrhage, shortly before the war ended."
His inauguration on March 4, 1933 occurred in the middle of a bank panic, hence the backdrop for his famous words: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." It was so interesting to draw the parallels of the state of the economy as it was then to what it is now. Very applicable to today!
"Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and assumed a role as an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an internationally prominent author, speaker, politician, and activist for the New Deal coalition. She grew into a woman with great sensitivity to the underprivileged of all creeds, races, and nations. Her constant work to improve their lot made her one of the most loved--and one of the most revered--women of her generation."
She has some really great quotes, here are some of my faves:
"It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself."
"Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself."
"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
"Do one thing every day that scares you."
"Well-behaved women seldom make history."
We also took a tour of the Vanderbilt House that was just down the street from FDR's house. It was one of his brothers that built the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina -- where Jorge and I got engaged!
"Modeled after the English country house, Frederick William Vanderbilt's 54-room country palace in Hyde Park, built in 1898, is one of the first steel-framed houses in the U.S., and at 55,000 square feet, was actually the smallest and least expensive of the famed Vanderbilt mansions. Decorated in grand French style, the mansion is located on a beautiful spot on the Hudson and is both a historic home to visit and a great picnic spot for those who live in the area."
Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.
Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.
Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb. 
At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. 