Happy Birthday, Wellsy

Happy Birthday, my Sweet Wellsy Boy!

This past year has been a difficult one, there's no secret there. But it's my hope that you always know how important you were and are. You were the light that gave hope to the darkest of days. You brought peace and joy to everyone, even when there was nothing but uncertainty and angst. You have brought more love into our crowded apartment than I thought was possible. You remind me regularly that this World is still capable of goodness. You have given me purpose... and faith.

Watching you this past year, has been a joy. From your first smiles, to your first steps. You amaze me with your fearlessness and your endless giggles. And watching Jack become a big brother has been equally amazing. He is so proud and confident, loving and gentle. It's wonderful to see all that you are both becoming! I know first hand the joys of being a sibling. I hope that you and Jack continue to love each other, care for one another and challenge each other to be better. I am so proud of both of you!

I have so many wishes for you. But above all, I wish that anytime you doubt yourself you remember all of the love that lives inside of you. Your spirit is capable of anything. Be brave, my love, after all, life is an adventure.

Happy 1st Birthday, Wells Thomas.

A year ago

I was in the hospital, breathing through contractions, waiting to meet my sweet little babe.

This was taken as we were walking out the door to go to the hospital, where I was going to be induced. Despite my desires for an un-medicated birthing center delivery, my water was leaking and I needed to be induced 3 weeks early. Ready or not, my little one was on his way! 

I could have killed Nick for sneaking this pic during a contraction! 

Here I was, about 6 hours into my labor, sitting on a birthing ball & breathing deep. 

Wells Thomas came into the World about 3 hours later :)

I have to be honest, as I rocked Wellsy to sleep tonight, I cried. I cannot believe that he is already 1. 

I'm not ready.

I want to keep him teeny forever - well, not forever, but for a bit longer.

A year ago, my Mom sat in a chair beside my bed and cheered me on. She wasn't sure that she could stay awake into the night, but she did. And at 1:00am, when it was time to push, she got up out of her chair and held my hand as I delivered Wells. 

She held him before I did.

In that moment, she looked more alive than she had in months. She was elated. 

Life was the one thing that could make us all forget about Cancer.

Tonight I am so grateful for my healthy, happy baby boy.

I am grateful that we get to see his 1st birthday, even though I think it went too fast.

But above all, I am so grateful that my Mom held my hand and her sweet grand baby.

Three Quarter Birthday!

My little sweet is 9 months old today. I can't believe how time flies! It's so bittersweet. 9 months ago my heart was opened and my life changed... 7 months ago, my heart was broken.

Wells has given me so much strength and brought me so much joy.

It's been a journey to try and appreciate that wells gave us life and joy in the time that we needed it most. I hope that one day he knows that he saved me. He showed us all that life is still worth celebrating. Having the circle of life play out so clearly was challenging, but at least there was light and darkness.

Happy 9 months my sweet, lovely boy. Thank you for being my light. Mama loves you...

Baby Love.

Tonight as I was rocking my sweet little one to sleep, he snuck his little hand out of his swaddle and reached out for my hand. It instantly warmed my heart!

It made me think of my Mom.

Shortly after Wells was born, I told her that I was so glad that I had kids while she was alive, because it gave me comfort to look at them and think that she loved me that much once too. She replied, "I still do".

That makes my heart warm too.

I wish there was a way to bottle up babies to keep a piece of them tiny and innocent forever. Since I can't, I'll savor my cuddles while they last!

Family

These pictures just make my heart happy. I love to see my boys getting loved on by our family.

 

Wells in the sling with me and my Mother-In-Law

 Wells with my Dad and his Mom

 Jack & my Dad

 Jack walking through Central Park with my Aunt & Grandma

 Baby giggles are the best!

But toddler laughs are pretty awesome too ;)

 

Brothers <3

Happy Birthday my Sweet

My heart is completely swollen with love and gratitude. We had a beautiful birthday party today, where my boys were surrounded by love and friends! I was glad that I spent the day reflecting on this day 2 years ago, instead of last year... 

After a long but wonderful day, my Sweet (not-so-little) baby fell asleep in my arms, which is incredibly rare! It was his little gift to me. I couldn't help but think about the first night he fell asleep in my arms. It felt just as good tonight as it did then. 

I never thought that the title of "Mommy" would become my most treasured, but there ya have it. 

Jack, thank you for making me a Mommy and for filling my days with joy, giggles and love. You are my sunshine and I love you beyond words. 

Happy Birthday my Sweet xo

DUMBO

We had a fabulous day today with friends in DUMBO, Brooklyn! 

More to come... But this is one of my new favorite pics. Such a great time! :)

Nice to Meet You

One of my students was playing with Jack the other afternoon and wanted to shake his hand. This was something that we hadn't ever thought to teach Jack, so he was clueless. It was adorable to watch this fabulous 17 year old teaching my little 2 year old how to shake hands. Though Jack was clearly loving the attention of this older boy, he was not picking up on how to shake hands. So when we got home, we decided that we'd tech him this necessary (and fun) new concept.

This morning, I wanted to see if he remembered. I asked him, "Jack, can we shake hands?" and he ran over, took my hand, shook it and said "Nice to meet you!" He then giggled and said "show Dennis?" My heart nearly melted. Dennis is the name of my student! I couldn't get over how sweet it was that Jack both remembered this interaction with my student and wanted to complete it! I was so excited to run into work and tell this boy, Dennis, all about it. The best part? Dennis said that I made his day by telling him the story.

Needless to say... mine was already made! :)

Best Friends

Being a Mom to two boys under two is hectic. We laugh a lot, but we're also often exhausted. But this morning, when I went to get Jack out of his crib, he asked to hold Wells. I put Wells on his lap in the crib and immediately discovered the reason why all of the tired is worth it... My boys are becoming best friends right in front my my eyes! It was awesome and so fun! 

Thankfully, I deleted some pictures from my iPhone, so I had space available ;)

We love Central Park!

Last week I posted about a fun day in the Park. It really was a great day! Well, I finally uploaded some pics from my camera and wanted to share. 

It was a beautiful, sunny day. The kind of day that makes you really love NYC.

 

It was the baby's first time on the swings. 

He's still a bit teeny for it, but it was so fun to have the boys swinging next to each other.

We even played long enough that Jack left without a meltdown!

SUCCESS!!

Boston Aquarium!

A few weeks ago, we visited the New England Aquarium in Boston and had such a wonderful time! Jack was fascinated by all of the fish and I could not stop taking pictures. I was so excited by all of the fish, I felt like a kid again. I highly recommend a visit. So far, this was our favorite aquarium!

When you enter, the penguins are right in front of you. There is a huge open display that houses three different types of penguins. Then in the center of the building there is a giant shark tank that is about 5 stories high with a walkway that wraps around the whole thing. So as you walk up around the spiral, you can look down and see the penguins. Right in front of you is the giant shark tank with rays, sharks, eels, turtles and tons of fish! Then on each level there are exhibits around the outside, too.

 

These are some of the smaller tanks.

 

 

Jack loved it all! He was mesmerized by the fish, it was awesome!

 

You can see that Nanny Sue had a good time, too! :)

  

This is the awesome shark tank. At the very top, you can actually see in from above the water, which is so neat. We happened to get up there just in time for feeding. Two guys actually dove into the tank to feed the fish. It was really cool to watch. Each type of fish was fed something different. Some ate fish, while others ate veggies. It was really such an awesome thing to see!

 And then there was a turtle. My dear friend, the turtle. I couldn't get enough of this guy.
Seriously, there was about 40 pictures on my camera just of him (her?).
It was really awesome to see him swimming through the tank.

All in all, we all had a really wonderful time! 

It truly was a day to be grateful for :)

Craig's List

Today I am so grateful for Craig's List. 

Seriously, it's one of the best things about being a Manhattan Mom! No one has storage space, so people are willing to sell gently used things just to make space! Additionally, my neighborhood seems to be full of seemingly rich people who are willing to sell things at a ridiculously reasonable price! It's awesome! 

I have purchased 3 strollers from Craig's List - yes, I said 3. We don't have cars, instead we have strollers. There's the big comfy one that we love for schlepping around the City, the lightweight single one, and, of course, the lightweight double (that we've yet to use). Hey, I got all 3 for the price of one brand new one! I also got a lovely wrap that my little one loves to snuggle in and a jumperoo that Jack went wild for and Wells can't wait to test out! 

The list goes on... But tonight I scored a video monitor for $50. I literally almost bought the same one for $180 on Saturday. $180! I'm so glad that I consulted my friend Craig first. 

Thank you to the lovely Australian Mum on the Upper West Side who sold me her gently used monitor for a steal since she's moving. We are using it well and appreciate your kindness and the great deal :)

And just for fun - here's a pic of the little one enjoying his wrap. He loves that thing!

Things you never thought you would do... Until you're a Mom.

Today, as I was sitting on the bathroom floor pushing my boys "peepee" down to avoid being shot... I realized that parenthood is choc full of moments when you wonder to yourself... "who am I?!" I never in my life thought I'd do this... but there I was!

At the same time, I could have burst with pride for my boy who is asking to sit on the potty!! Being a Mom is weird. But it's also so fun. I never fully understood how your children could become such a huge focus. I balked at people who let their children become the center of their worlds. I think I get it now. Though they are not the sole center, my children are the core of who I am. And that doesn't mean that I have lost myself. It means that I have changed... evolved.

I love the moments when I laugh at something because I can't believe that I am doing it. Like sitting on the bathroom floor, helping my toddler aim. I love it.


Mom, I wanted to call you to tell you all about it so bad... My baby is getting so big! What happened?! I am so proud of him. I just wanted to tell you...and now I did. I love you.

FaceTime.

Tonight we "chatted" with my Dad via FaceTime on the iPhone. By we, I mean Jack. He's not so interested in sharing these days... but that's another topic for another day.

Jack hijacked my phone and decided he wanted to call Papa. To be clear, he doesn't actually know how to place calls, yet! I did have to password protect my phone though, because he learned how to open it! It's amazing how savvy he is with technology already, just from watching us! 

Anyway, instead of just calling my Dad, we decided to FaceTime. It was perfect! I love getting to see my Dad's reaction to J's crazy, silly antics. And I love to see Jack's reaction to my Dad and his dogs. He simply had to see the "doggies" :) It was absolutely the highlight of my day.

Technology is really amazing and I am so grateful that we have access to it! 

Milestones & Mishaps

My little one rolled over for the first time tonight! 

It was so sweet. 

The look on his face when he realized that he had turned was priceless! 

I grabbed my iPhone and quickly opened the camera to snap a shot. 

... and there it was. 

An error message. 

My storage is full. 

Ugh! 

I missed my moment!

Instead of feeling frustrated, I will be grateful for all of those 3,687 pictures (yes, I said 3,687!). Those are 3,687 silly, fun, priceless moments that I captured. And never deleted.

I am also extremely grateful that I got to witness a wonderful milestone in my babe's life. 

We are so blessed.


 Update: Here is a pic that I managed to snap about a minute later on my "real" camera. It wasn't a total waste ;)