Kitty Love Hurts

We've been trying to show Laina that petting the cat is something that can be fun, but we have to be GENTLE... so far the cat has been tolerant of Laina. The more and more that she discovers, the more and more we have to show her the ways of the world. This is just one little glimpse into that.

Laina's First Year

1 Year of Bears

As a gift from our close friends, Laina got 1 full year of bears! So each month, she will receive a new bear. The first two months have already proven to be very cute themed bears so I'm excited to see the future ones. Thanks Shawn & Jill for such a fun & memorable gift!

Laina and Mr. June:

Laina and Mr. July (with Mr. June hangin out)

As a side note, Dan was disappointed it wasn't 1 year of beer even though the inappropriate nature of that as a gift for a toddler was obvious.

Zootiful Life

We went to the zoo and it was H-O-T.... Laina still enjoyed seeing the sights and being outside, despite the amount of sweat that was coming out of our pores. I think she really enjoyed watching the animals sleep, especially when they were toe to toe with her.

Baby Girl On The Move!

Laina has been considering her options when traveling lately. "Do I take the mature, more accepted route of transportation by walking? Or do I go with the faster more efficient method of crawling... decisions, decisions." Usually she takes a couple steps and then get impatient and proceeds to crawl to her destination. However, more recently she has started to WALK there. That's right, my tiny little baby girl is walking. The doctor said she was officially considered a walker once she consistently took 5 steps or more on her own. Well that occurred officially on July 21st, 2010 when she went from point A to point B (A=Dan, B=Me) on her own two feet. We were so proud but it was a few more weeks before we actually got it on tape. You can see the video here:



We are so excited about this milestone. It has been such an exciting year and I can't wait for the coming months as her language expands to include more than mama & ball.

Laina's First Birthday Party

We had a great time celebrating Laina's first birthday party. It poured rain just before the party was about to start but then the clouds parted to a beautiful afternoon! Laina really enjoyed her cupcake (although she wasn't sure about the icing and really wasn't sure about everyone staring at her while she ate it...). She got lots of great presents including clothes, toys and some keepsakes like a silver engraved cup from "GG" aka Great Grandmother Elaine.
I tried to make everything I could from the cupcake picks to the happy birthday pennant banner to the shrimp & watermelon ceviche. The light was incredible that day which meant all the pictures came out wonky. Enjoy nonetheless.

Wedding Bliss

It only has taken me 3 weeks to finally get this post up about Kelly's Wedding.

Kelly & Kevin's wedding was picture perfect over Memorial Day weekend. We had such a good time celebrating their day! See pics below.

Happy Birthday Laina!

Laina is ONE today! I can't believe it was one year ago that I was at the hospital awaiting her arrival. Little did I know she would not make her appearance until late into the evening. All the cliches are true, your life changes when you have kids, they're the best thing that ever happened to you, life feels more complete once you have children... but I never could have anticipated how true they'd be. So to celebrate I thought I'd write a little letter to Laina to read when she gets older.

Letter to my daughter:


Laina, 
When I first thought of having kids, I imagined having a little girl I could spend my days with, helping her navigate the world. I imagined a little girl who would light up when she saw me with a spark that only I could see. I imagined being filled with a love that I could never have known existed. You made all those dreams become reality. You are so fun every single day and are the greatest reason in the world to jump out of bed every morning. Your smile makes me melt and every time you learn a new skill my heart swells with so much pride. Thank you dearest daughter for giving me more than I could have ever known to ask for in motherhood. I love you so much and always will. Happy First Birthday!
love, 
Mommy, Mama, Ma, Mother.... Me.

RIP Claire

Did you ever meet someone briefly but they left such an impression that you'll never forget them?

That was Claire for me.

I worked with Claire briefly at News America Marketing. One of the first company events I went to was her soon to be husband's promotion party. He was newly promoted to a job within the company in Australia. He'd met Claire while working at NAM and she was going with him. They were to be married and live happily ever after. He said during the party "Above all, I want to thank Claire" and they exchanged a loving look that I will never forget. It's like my mind took a polaroid.

Claire's fiancee moved to Australia preparing for her to move there. And then everything changed. Next thing I remember is an announcement that Claire was diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer. Stage 4. They married soon after.  That was in 2007.

Claire died on Monday. She was 34. I didn't know her. I really didn't. But I have tears in my eyes at this very moment for her.

Did you ever meet someone briefly and yet they changed you? That's what Claire did.

Things change in an instant. Don't waste it.

Trip to NOLA with Mike & Liz

We miss our friend Mike & Liz dearly. Our memories of NYC include many nights of sitting out in the "lobby" (the open area on the roof between our two apartments in Queens) and talking about life's greatest mysteries. Since Liz & Mike were blessed with the birth of Olivia last summer, we've all been very busy. This was the first time for us all to get away. We planned a destination getaway in New Orleans. I can't tell you how much fun we had despite all the rain. We just hung out and talked about our kids and the good times. I won't tell you what time we went to bed but lets just say it was a little earlier than our late nights in Queens. I think we've all been affected by the kiddos bedtimes.

Watch the video of Mike & Dan doing the washboards here.