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May 26, 2011

the year of the boy....

There is, apparently, a very hip trend in the world of babies.  It's called "a boy".  In a whirlwind of a week, we've been privileged enough to celebrate the birth of THREE of them.

Last Tuesday (May 17), I woke up to the red light of my phone blinking off and on with a text message.  Received at 1:00 am, it was from my friend Vanessa (that I teach with) announcing the arrival of her second little man, Holden Gray weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs. 9 oz. (God bless that woman).  Pics of her little monkey will be forthcoming soon.

Upon arriving at school that very morning, I logged into my email to see a note from our guidance secretary that another one of my friends, Erica, had gone into active labor around midnight, as well.  Not more than a few hours later, I received some of these precious images of Aiden Bryce, 6 lbs. 7 oz.
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Reeling from the high that comes from celebrating such momentous blessings with friends, we went on about our week and dealt with the everyday happenings here in Longoland......another round of strep with Anna.....playing outside.....watching my friend Robin get her doctorate in education and wear a weird-looking hat.  I girded up my loins for the nightmare that will ensue for the next 3 weeks as state-wide standardized testing goes on at school and we all go on lock-down for 2-3 hour intervals and try not to tear the paint off the walls.

And then, Sunday, a message in our in-boxes that set us both soaring. Meet Walker Bradley Gibbons, 8 lbs. 6 oz., born May 22.
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All mommies and all babies are happy and healthy.  Snuggle-invasions will commence next week.  Stay tuned.

May 13, 2011

mother's day

It may sound cliche and cheesy, but this was, by far, the BEST Mother's Day......E.V.E.R.  Now, I know I've only had 3 so far (yes, I count having Anna attached to my person as my first Mother's Day), but I could not have asked for a better day.

I woke up to the sound of my baby girl singing, "Moooooommmy!  Mooooooommmmy!!!".  This was what she and Daddy had for me:
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They slid out the front door while I was still asleep (hey, on the weekends, I'm lazy, and I'm not too proud to admit that) and snipped that gorgeous rose off our rosebush in the front.  I love that we have rose bushes.  Now, someone needs to teach me how to "groom" them, because I have a special talent for killing living green things.

Anna was a very courteous little waitress and explained every item on my tray.  We even shared the fruit and some of the yogurt (okay, she took one bite of a few pieces, then put them back on the plate).
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AK spent most of the rest of the day with Daddy while I went out with my Momma.  We went to brunch (which was awesome -- found this amazing new place down the street from our neighborhood that's quickly going to become our new "go-to" place on nights when we want a meal out).  Afterward, we went shopping and treated ourselves to a handful of pamper-products at Bath and Body Works.  I returned home to a happy little girl and a husband desperate to weed whack.  So, Anna and I watched "Cupcake Wars".  She sat on my lap and cuddled, and it was the sweetest 45 minutes of my life (seriously....she sat still for FORTY FIVE MINUTES).  It was the PERFECT day.
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This past Wednesday was Spring Picture Day at school.  The theme was "fishing"/"farm".  Eric and I scoured the closet for something appropriate, and found this little menagerie of a dress.  It was one of our "Anna Jo" specials (my friend Laura has a little girl named Anna, and they are EXACTLY one year apart.  between gifts from family, Natalie, and Anna, we haven't bought clothes in MONTHS).  Eric got her all dolled up and texted me a few pics.  I was SO excited to see the finished product!
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what waffles?  this girl's rockin' some cinnamon bread these days.  she asks for it at dinner.
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Sadly, I picked her up that afternoon to learn that she completely flipped out when they set her up to take her picture.  They tried SEVERAL times, even getting some of her teachers in there with her to see if that would calm her down, but, alas, we now have no Spring Picture of her.  No worries....Portrait Innovations is just down the road.  $9.99 special, baby.  Here we come.

A happy belated Mother's Day to all our Moms.  We hope your day was as wonderful as ours.

May 9, 2011

Race for a Cure

This past Saturday, we participated in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation's Race for a Cure.  This event has been a staple in our calendar for several years (even before Eric and I knew each other), and it's truly an amazing experience.  It gives me chills seeing all the women in pink tee shirts (pink tee shirts mean they've survived breast cancer).  It's even more uplifting to see how MANY people turn out for it.
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walkers doing YMCA as they round the corner to the start line.  hilarious...especially when you put pom poms with it.
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The finish line was a pretty exciting place to be.  There were a million people standing on the "sidelines" cheering the runners on, and when Eric rounded the corner, Anna went NUTS.
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yup, that's him behind the guy in the kilt with the red mohawk.

As we did last year, we ran in memory of Barbara Commins, our friend Mellanie's mom and the lady that left Anna that adorable rocking chair that she ADORES.
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sorry, but if Barbara's name was going to end up on my derriere, the snapshot deserved a modicum of sass.

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I'm sorry, but seriously.....how do you run in a kilt?  I would think the possibility of a wardrobe malfunction would be enough of a deterrent.
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I had a ring-side seat at the finish line -- Eric ran in with our fave weather man, Andrew Freiden.  I snapped this picture to "Send to 12" (you can send in photos of your kids dressed for the day's forecast or of snow mountains in your front yard or tornadoes in your backyard....some of the them are pretty cool).  However, I didn't realize what I'd captured until after I got home and uploaded the images.
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Andrew was interviewing this group of students.  These kid go to Manchester High School -- the school from which Mom retired.  This past week, they lost one of their students to a car accident.  As you see on the pink tag, they were running in memory of Avery.  She had signed up to run the race, and had been really excited about it.  Over 100 students came out and ran in her memory.  It was a really touching moment.
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To close, some priceless pics of the princess.  This is what happens when you combine cupcakes with sunglasses.
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And, yes, the rumor is true....when you give a kid sugar, eventually they're going to crash from the high....and crash HARD.
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15 Years Ago....

Fifteen years ago, two ladies ventured to New York City, each for the first time.  They were mesmerized by all the things they saw -- the guy with the green mohawk on the subway who was probably the nicest stranger they'd ever met, identifying the two as tourists and offering to take their picture (and didn't steal their camera); the Irish pub where they had lunch with the rest of the high school group they were traveling with where the waiter brought everyone free dessert (green ice cream...okay, it was vanilla with green food coloring, but still a festive treat on St. Patrick's Day); the magnificence of St. Patrick's Cathedral and St. John the Divine (the LARGEST cathedral in the world.....I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E.); and their first Broadway show -- Beauty and the Beast.
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Fifteen years later, I was tickled to return to the theatre with my Mom to see it again.  What sweetened the deal was being able to introduce my niece to the wonderful world of Broadway (okay, not the real thing, but still spectacular).  Carrie, Natalie, and Danny made the trek down here on Friday and we headed to the Landmark on Saturday afternoon.  It was a GORGEOUS day.
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Since it *was* such a beautiful day, we decided to make the most of it.  Before heading out for a trip to the neighborhood playground, we had some nice pajama/breakfast/story time.
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that kid cracks me up.

After getting dressed, we loaded up strollers and headed down to the playground.
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how cute are the two of them staring at each other?  it rather became a fun little game.....see below.
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Anna and Danny had fun playing on the seesaw.  Okay, they didn't quite use it properly, but come on....admit it.....this is pretty P.S. Precious, wouldn't you say?
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Now....Natalie, on the other hand, was an old pro at the seesaw.
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And, speaking of old pros, Daredevil Danny was a master slider on the massive jungle gym.  Anna, however, chose to spectate. She's a little leery of playground apparatus.
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We headed home for lunch and prettying-up.  (as always, click on bold, underlined words here and above for videos)

Silly girl.....
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We had a GREAT time at the show, and it melted my heart to see Natalie so excited to see it.  Between Carrie and I, there were a lot of happy tears!

And, Eric?  He got to try his hand at having twins.  The kids got along G.R.E.A.T.
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Finally, some more shots from Easter Sunday when Grandma (Yaya?  Grandma?  It still remains to be seen.  She calls her both) and Grumpy brought over the Easter basket that the Easter Bunny brought by their house.  Hmmmm.....I don't recall her being THAT good this year.
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this happens to be a very special couple of pictures for me.  I have practically an identical shot of me around this age with my Grumpy (Dad's dad).  Once I figure out the scanner, I'll post it up.
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