Tuesday, September 27, 2011

....back to school.....

....it feels like yesterday when we were gearing up for nursery school during this time last year.....Elsie was just two and a half and nursery school was an unknown for both of us.....we spent countless conversations talking about being a big girl and going to school for a little while until Momma comes to pick her back up......we discussed meeting new friends, playing with new toys and practiced our new teacher's names so we had it right on day one.....fast forward a year and it's Callie who I'm having these chats with....

....except this go around, Callie knew exactly what to expect....she has been gearing up for her turn at nursery school and she knew exactly what to expect since she helped me do Elsie's drop off last year.....last year when I had to drag her out of the classroom every afternoon we waved goodbye because she wanted to stay and play.....until finally at the end of the semester, Miss Lauren invited Callie to join in on circle time and tell the class what the weather was that day.....and if Callie wasn't already hooked on classroom fun before that, all it took was telling 12 children one year older than she was that it was a bery, bery sunny day.....

.....this year, Callie was ready for her turn.....





....and as brave as she was, once we got there she wanted to make sure I stayed jus fur a wittle bit....so I joined a group of parents who had cornered themselves at the far end of a classroom giving reassuring smiles, over exaggerated waves and quietly shuffled around their backpacks and oversized purses for their cameras.....

....I did not take my eyes off of Callie for a moment because I did not want to miss one of her glances to ensure I was there.....I wanted to confirm I was watching her interact in her new setting because she was so proud.....


....and Elsa was so good about letting Callie have her big day.....she quietly sat in the corner of her old classroom and read books......


.....until the class got a little closer to where she was reading and then she wanted to participate......and her old teacher kindly let her join the new students for story
time......


.....and as class dismissed, Elsie was the first one to point out to the 2s students where the door was, where their cubbies were so they could retrieve their backpacks, what buttons in the elevator to push and when to push them.....this missy knew her way around school.....she is big time this year because she is upstairs in the 3s class and loving it......


.....she's got old friends she is reunited with and loves going every morning......


.....me on the other hand.....let's just say that getting three kids out the door and looking presentable by 8:30am has been a challenge....I can't just throw my other two in the stroller with pjs on because we have to park the stroller and walk to the classroom, so it's a good thing we get a few months of practice before having to do this in 20 degree weather when I have three sets of winter gear to suit up......

....but just as it hit me last year when I realized my oldest was off to nursery school, I am having the same nostalgia with Callie, but differently.....it's not so much that she is off to school because she is a very independent 2 year old and practically made herself as part of Elsa's classroom last year.....but she is changing.....our conversations are more complex.....I am able to reason with her and she understands my explanations......she is becoming more empathetic, she can answer questions thoughtfully, her observations surprise me because she notices minute details, she engages more with her brother......and she genuinely loves the time she gets with him when Elsie is at school because it's her time to be the big sister.......she is blooming and her radiance is beautiful......


....however, after we get home from school, wash up and prepare for some quiet time; she nestles up next to me, sticks her thumb in her mouth and I am reassured that she is still my baby.....and always will be.....


Sunday, September 18, 2011

....seven year itch.....

.....upon waking up this morning, I kissed my husband, wished him a Happy Anniversary and then proceeded to scratch myself all over....I told him I had the 7 year itch and I laughed at my silliness......

                         September 18, 2004.....one of the happiest days of my life.....


......our life has evolved and changed so much since we were newly weds.....sometimes I can envision a slideshow of our life that has emerged from our wedding day and I well up with emotion.....I'm starting to understand something my Aunt Christy told me when we first married.....it doesn't really get really good until after 10 years.....you won't believe how much better it gets.....

.....as a bride starry eyed and enchanted on her wedding day, I remember looking at my groom and wondering how I could love him any more than I did at that moment?.....or how could it get any better than it was right then in the present moment of our wedding day?.....

.....and although we haven't hit a decade yet, I have a feeling my Aunt was right....it has gotten better, I do love him more and the history we've made has already scorched deep into my core....I am branded by this man and I wouldn't want it any other way....he was made for me and I was made for him....

.....and it was two and a half years after we said I DO that we we were pregnant.....and we have been making babies, having babies, and caring for babies ever since.....


 .......did I mention we have been baking with our babies too?.....Mommy and Daddy's celebration cake......

... to say that it hasn't been challenging to preserve time to focus on our marriage since our three blessings have joined our family is an understatement.....but we make the time to do it, no matter how tired we are.....we both value the need for alone time......we demand it from our children after their bedtime routine is over,  we show them we enjoy the moments that are just Mommy and Daddy and shortly after most of our date nights begin, we come back to the place we were when it was just the two of us.....

.....because when it's all said and done, we still both like each other a lot.....

                         .....iphone pic from date night at the US Open.....9/10/11......

.....Stefan, thank you for cherishing me and always making me feel appreciated.....

.....after 7 years, I am itching for more.....

....Happy Anniversary, babe.....

Thursday, September 15, 2011

....savoring summer- adventure #3 (the finale)....

.....the final outing that concluded our last two weeks of summer was an easy one.....especially if you have children that have a need for speed....




....both of our girls love fast and furious.....

....I see many summers in our future spent on coasters, slides, swings or anything that causes wind in the face and breeze in the hair.....







....and as these babes are getting older, it has been tougher to make time for our big outings.....the three adventures of the summer that we did have required a play date so the Mommas could sit down with calendars to plan....flipping through August to find blank days in a month full of busy.....but I am glad that we make the time......we rearrange the busy, if we have to because I want my children to learn at a young age that friendship takes effort....we need to create the time for the ones that we love, carve moments out of the hustle and bustle.....


....because it's relationships that fuel everything....they sustain us.....they encourage, energize, fulfill us and in some cases; they save us.....my life is so much richer because of my best friends.....


....and because our building is a six story dream of collective homes for so many little people, our girls have been able to experience living with their best friends.....our apartment resides on a low floor in our old prewar and echoey building, so the instant we hear a squeal, yell, giggle, shout, laugh or cry from the lobby; my girls can determine which friend it is within a millisecond......and then they immediately run to the front door, barge it open if I have forgotten to bolt the top lock, so they can hang from the iron staircase to holler at one of their besties.....I love it when that happens and it happens frequently.....

.....they endear and cherish their friendships already.....






.....and Brody is already learning that our neighbors are not only people who share our address, but they are also good friends who have already left their impressions that we'll carry with us as our futures take us in separate directions....


.....so we savored it all a little more slowly as every adventure arrived because as the days passed, summer was coming to her close......

.....this week marked the beginning of open houses for nursery school......and school ups the ante on busy.....

                                .....Elsie was ready to start back with her school friends from last year.....

      ....Callie was just as excited, but wanted to make sure Mommy went with her on the first day.....

.....and although special occasions, like meeting your new teachers for your first nursery school class brings good excuses to celebrate the importance of these events; it also marks the end of careless summers that allow for full afternoons at our charming amusement park just south of our neighborhood.....


     .....Ice cream treat for Callie who is has morphed into a big girl overnight.....our conversations have become some of my favorites lately.....


.....and I am adoring these times with my children who love not only being with their friends, but who also cherish family too.....Callie and I rode this ride together a dozen times this summer and every time she asked if we could hold hands.....it melted my heart every time and I may frame this picture when she is a teenager to remind me that we had days like this.....


....and that we made the most of being carefree and ensured we planned to wipe the schedule clean....




....farewell summer....you are officially gone....

....you were so good to us....

                              .....Callie's sign for thumbs up.....she uses her pointer finger instead of her thumb.....

.....our outings with friends will shortly turn into fall adventures....anticipating the crisp air and colorful days ahead....

.....Sara, thank you for the photography....

Friday, September 9, 2011

....inspired.....

....Stefan has asked me if I am pregnant several times over the last few weeks.....the answer is an emphatic no, but I must say that I have an itch for change......and it's usually only when I have a bun in the oven that I feel this motivated to clean, organize, or shake it up, if you will....

....granted, we have had our fair share of rain....there was Irene....and this past week it was the remnants of a wet, stubborn one named Lee; causing all of us to be a little more crafty than usual......


....but this week has been different......

....we have gone from this.....


....to this....

      ....Brody was overdo for some wall space.....
.....we have said goodbye to this...


.....and hello to this.....



.....and it's not uncommon to find this around our walls....


.....and if they gave out samples of wallpaper, that too would be plastered in our foyer because I am determined to spice up our entry way and give it a bit of a face lift.....

....and for those that know me well.....like my husband.....crafty, artistic, and creative are not words that would roll off the tongue in describing me.....so Stefan scratches his head and asks, what has gotten into you?.....

.....maybe it's the shift in the upcoming new season.....maybe it's the fact that the girls both had their open houses at school today and I thrive on new routines and change.....maybe it's been all of the indoor play and hurricane parties.....

    ....Hurricane Irene brought building friends together.....
     ....and it also brought every toy we own out of their resting places....
      ....too tired to pick up.....
                               ...oh, hello Barbie's shoe that has been missing for months.....we have finally found you......

....but all of this drive for change has been brewing for a while....weeks ago, I decided to take a trip to Michaels to buy my necessities for changing our hallway.....our route was looking something like this and I was dead set on making it a fun adventure since Stefan was away that weekend on business.....


....a few blocks over, a few blocks up and then across the park....not a huge ordeal to get there, but certainly a big errand.....2.25 miles each way, which really isn't that much considering our main mode of transportation is walking......I guesstimated a 45 min walk there and home, and 30 min to buy a simple, easy supply list......if suburbia Moms could take their three kids to Michaels for a few items, so could I.....

....we weren't gone for two hours, we were gone for seven...

.....I'm not sure if I should begin retelling this trip starting off with the explosive diaper that occurred on our block two minutes after leaving, the pitstop three times in Central Park because Brody was basically hungry all day, or the decision that neither one of the girls was going to properly ride the kick board of the stroller anymore, so they sat as we cruised our route.....stopping every 50 feet, of course, to change positions because a kick board is not made for sitting.....


....or maybe I should rehash the part about how I bribed the girls with coloring books and ice cream for good behavior in the store since NYC does not have shopping carts in places like Michaels....the aisles can barely fit my stroller, let alone a shopping cart....those kind of inconveniences leave Mommas with unconstrained kids in art stores.....




...Callie's newest saying upon realizing I have discovered she has ditched her shoes......"shoes just aren't cumftible, Mom".....

....however, they scored their coloring books and ice cream before I realized we accidentally shop lifted two glue sticks.....that made for another conversation that would take an entire blog post.....

....I ran out of snacks, lunch time came when we were in a neighborhood I knew nothing about, we made two potty stops in random places throughout our journey, it was 90 degrees out and strollers have no AC, the blue spray paint for my picture frames never ended up in my shopping bag, which I realized after we got home from our 7 hour errand; and there were many times I asked myself out loud, why do I care this much for changing up my hallway?.....

....but there is beauty to be found in every adventure....even the ones you didn't ask for....




....oh yes.....and Brody wore just a diaper for most of the day because I did not have a change of clothes for him after the second blow out.....


....however, after being welcomed into our cool adobe after such a trek, we washed up and the girls did their thing so I could get started on mine....


.....breaking ever so often as Elsie and I taught Callie how to use scissors.....


                             ...so determined....

                               ....she did it!.....
.....all of us content in our projects and being home after such a day.....until we heard the rain spontaneously pouring down.....sending me in a complete frenzy since my newly painted frames were outside drying from their fresh coat of the exact color blue I had in my head when I imagined what these frames would look like paint job......

....I secured Brody in the stroller, threw shoes on the girls, hopped in the elevator, waiting impatiently as it slowly descended, ordered the girls to stay in the dry part of our basement, ran through the courtyard in the storm, arrived around back only to find my frames were gone....

.....my neighbors are some good peeps....

....being ordered to wait in the dry area when Mommy gets to run in the rain isn't very fun.....so we were all soaked....along with our frames....but everything was salvageable.....


.....leading Stefan back to the same question, especially after hearing about the Michaels escapade....what has gotten into you?.....

....and sometimes, we're hit with the motivation bug....sometimes, like a runners high or the yogi's yen, we are calmed into a place of initiating change that will continue to add fuel to the fire that burns within.....when the creativity brews, the shifting of one state to the next takes place.....or quite simply, sometimes it's just because we need a project so we can stand on our perch and holler out, yeah, baby, I did it.....we all need that sometimes and maybe I needed a seal of validation since the last few months have been relishing in the adjustment of a baby....

....regardless, I am in a place of constant fire right now......I am restless, constantly looking for ways to improve my dwelling harbor.....my home....and it feels good to channel this twitchy phase into some fresh, new looks.....my outlet right now is a creative place that only visits me on rare occasions.....so I will take it, embrace it and see what continues to transcend in our beloved 1050 square feet.....

....but for the record.....like Momma, like daughter.....Elsie found some discarded pictures that I decided not to use for Brody's baby book and she has decorated some of our bare walls too......



....and the decor continues even as we jaunt outside for errands....our man has his fair share of friends to keep him company thanks to his sisters.....

                                 
 .....inspiration in its finest form.....


 ....enjoy the weekend....

....hope your inspiration finds you.....