The Adventures of Jake and Alex

Hockey

2012-01-27T22:47:00.001-05:00

Jake, watching college kids play hockey, way past his bedtime

Jake's first time on the ice!

2012-01-27T21:39:00.000-05:00

It took bribery and coercion, but I got Jake out on the ice!!

Our little artist, 23 months old

2012-01-24T14:36:00.000-05:00

I just handed Ali a box of Lego pieces and when I looked back down a minute later, she had put this together.

Taking a rest during lunch at Chipotle

2012-01-18T13:41:00.000-05:00

Eating rice and beans can be a tough job sometimes!

It's time to put away the Nativity scene

2012-01-11T11:20:00.000-05:00

But in the meantime, Alex has decided that the sheep were superior caretakers to Mary and Joseph and their entourage. They are taking a well-needed nap behind the manger. "Baby Geedah" (as Ali is currently referring to our Lord and Savior) is in good hands, er, hooves. She gave him a good snuggle before placing him in his wooly daycare facility.

The Nativity, as re-imagined by Alex

2012-01-08T22:38:00.000-05:00

Just chillin in my crib

2012-01-08T11:41:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T09:36:00.000-05:00

Another tooth gone!

2011-12-17T16:36:00.001-05:00

Jake loses his first tooth!

2011-12-14T13:25:00.009-05:00

I clearly remember the morning we saw Jake's first tooth growing in. It was a weekend in October 2006, and we were taking him to the pumpkin patch that day to get him his first pumpkin.

And today, I nearly cried when I saw that same tooth sitting in Ralph's cupped palm at the winter concert at Jake's school. I'm not usually an emotional mom when it comes to these types of things, but it seems like Jake is getting bigger, taller, older and more mature each and every day and that the baby I once held is becoming less and less of a baby and more and more of a big boy. It hits me sometimes that my baby boy is no longer a baby. Times like today, when he lost his first tooth:

The left bottom tooth fell out, and now the right bottom tooth is creeping into the open space:

And he seemed all grown up last night, when he read a book to me, 62 pages all by himself with only a few words he needed help identifying.

Where did my tiny chubby-cheeked baby go?

*(I just realized in looking up the blog that the first tooth to fall out was the second one to grow in, but the first one is loose too.)

After school snack

2011-12-09T16:01:00.000-05:00

And watching a show on my iPad, cuddled up together on the couch :)

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T12:58:00.012-04:00

Jake and Alex dressed as a fireman and his Dalmatian, respectively. They were super-cute and had a fun time trick-or-treating in our neighborhood (for the most part). For Jake, trick-or-treating is serious business, involving hitting as many houses as possible, quickly and efficiently, for maximum candy collection. For Alex, who was not feeling so hot this Halloween, it was a cruel game of visiting people's houses, but not being allowed to enter to pet their dogs and play with their things.

Alex was confused and upset by the entire process. She dropped her Halloween candy bucket whenever she decided she was sick of carrying it, candy be damned. Then she didn't want to be carried or hold hands, so she bolted off on her own for half a block, only to trip and scrape her hands and elbow. The next block and a half home was a screaming, slobbery, nose-running hissy fit. I tried to hold her tightly to help calm her down, but she was cold and had enough of this Halloween baloney.

A few days before Halloween, we were treated to a bizarre and unusual treat: SNOW! I've never seen colorful orange fall leaves covered in white flakes. It was a beautiful but dangerous combination, as tree limbs snapped from the weight of leaves and wet snow.

Back home at the end of the night. Alex wanted NO PART of having this picture taken:

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

After seven years of marriage...

2011-10-23T20:03:00.000-04:00

...this is what our life looks like :) Happy Anniversary Ralphie Bear!

All About Ali

2011-09-26T19:59:00.010-04:00

I think it's about time I devoted a post to my beautiful baby girl. Alex just turned 19 months old, and gave me exactly two minutes to take an impromptu photo shoot this morning. She looked so adorable in this outfit that I had to take her out back and take a few pictures. She's wearing my headband (we swap hair accessories all the time!), but wore it for precisely 120 seconds before tossing it to the ground.

If you look below, you'll see that Ali is wearing her big brother's old shoes in this pic! I think little kids in Converse All-Stars are one of the most adorable things ever! I've been scouring the old blog posts trying to find a few pics of Jake at about the same age wearing the same shoes. No luck. I know it's there somewhere, I just can't find it.

I think Alex resembles Ralph more than Jake does, but I still see a lot of me in her. Ali really resembles Ralph's little sister Laura as a baby. But in this picture below, the one on the left, I think she looks identical to me. Well, in the face at least. The last time my legs were that thin was probably 1989!

Jake's First Days of Kindergarten

2011-09-19T23:23:00.007-04:00

My little baby boy is all grown up! Jake is having a great time in kindergarten, he enjoys riding the bus with our next door neighbor Gabby, and having lunch and recess every day at school. We are still adjusting to getting up early every morning, but so far it is working out well for everyone.

Binky Mania!

2011-08-04T20:54:00.001-04:00

Jake has long since given up on the pacifier, but his sister has picked up the habit. And every once in a while, when there are spare binkies laying around, Jake will pretend to be a baby and pop one in his mouth. Tonight however, he was up to his old tricks again and sported multiple binkies. Alex is mostly allowed to have her binkies ("bee-bee") at naptime and bedtime, but she uses her skinny little arms to reach between the slats of her crib to procure additional binkies as needed. She refers to bedtime as "ah, ah, baybee" and calls her blankets "ahbees".

She is talking quite a bit lately. Today she was wishing Ralphie a "Happy!" (birthday). She says all of our names: Mommy, Daddy, Jake ("DAY!!"), Geedah, Peepa, Danny, Mema, Papa, "Cuh" (Uncle Chris), "Guh" (Uncle Greg), "La" (Aunt Laura), and of course Ru.

She also says hi and bye, love you, thank you, yes and no, dog, up, out, gotta go ("Gaaah GO!"), please, hat, shoes, belly, and many others. She will repeat many words for you if you ask.

Alex is incredibly smart (in my humble non-biased opinion) and has amazing fine motor skills. She is strong and capable and extremely independent and strong-willed. She's a fearless dare devil and an absolute handful. She drives me completely bonkers and I love her like crazy. She is sweet and cuddly and absolutely Mommy's little girl.

Seventeen months have gone by in a flash, and they have been such a joy and a blessing. I love watching my two beautiful babies grow up together.

I wanna be just like my big brother!

2011-07-06T23:36:00.000-04:00

Alex does everything she can to be just like her big brother Jake, including wearing his batting gloves.

Ralph in the News!

2011-07-05T17:42:00.003-04:00

Ralph was recently interviewed by a reporter who had covered him back when he was playing high school baseball. Sort of a 'Where Are They Now' piece. Jake had a small cameo in the article, I recently photographed Ralph's headshot in our backyard. You can read the article here.

Having Starbucks with my little Movie Star

2011-06-17T10:57:00.000-04:00

I've got some big shoes to fill!

2011-06-07T15:56:00.000-04:00

Family Photos!

2011-05-31T01:43:00.010-04:00

We haven't had pictures taken of our little family since before Alex was born, so when I met this very talented photographer named Zoe Berkovic recently, I thought it was a great opportunity to have some new pictures done. I am always on the other side of the camera and have hardly any pictures of myself with the kids, or all four of us together. We had our pictures taken on Sunday and already Zoe posted some of the sneak peek images on her blog. I can't wait to see the rest! :)

Ruth hated this:

Alex LOVES balloons, and since we share a birthday, I liked the symbolism of them too

Jake and I performing our signature gymnastics trick, "the Tuck and Roll"

I love that we now have pictures of Ralph and Jake playing baseball together. Jake is OBSESSED with baseball, the Yankees, and his new tee ball team. He tries to wear his tee ball uniform every single day.

I think this one of Alex is magical! The funny thing is, she threw all of the dolls and stuffed animals out of the wagon and then tried to steal the one doll's pacifier. And I'm pretty sure her constant string of drool was Photoshopped out.

My handsome little rockstar and his most prized possession, his 3/4 scale Fender Strat from Uncle Danny! Je was pretty much done being photographed at this point, so the bad-ass look is kinda genuine.

And finally, my happy Beezer girl! (Did I tell you I call her Beezers? I'm not sure why or when it happened, but Jake (aka "The Boop") and I call her that at least 50% of the time).

Kids like to play in the darndest places...

2011-05-20T20:19:00.000-04:00

Alex crawled under the stool in our kitchen. Just the right size for her :)

Rockstar with a Mohawk

2011-05-10T16:46:00.001-04:00

Just another ordinary day at home...

Sandbox fun

2011-05-10T16:44:00.000-04:00

It's a beautiful day to enjoy our new sandbox!

Easter 2011

2011-04-27T22:25:00.007-04:00

Ralph got a new phone and it takes much much better pictures than my cell phone. But you know, as a photographer, I should have a real camera on me at all times. Mommy fail. His new phone takes pictures nearly as well as any digital point and shoot. And then it goes a step further and emails the pics. Win-win. Anyway... here are a few pictures from this year's Easter celebration with the kids.

Alex had a full selection of Easter dresses to choose from, while poor Jake had a pieced together "Uh, these pants are clean...and, umm, this shirt still kinda fits" Easter outfit. I have to get better with that. But Alex is still at the age where most of her clothes are gifts from family (she got lots of pretty dresses for her birthday), and Jake, being a boy much less concerned with fashion just gets new clothes when too much of his socks are showing under his ever-shrinking pant legs. But he is still as handsome as ever to me :)

And a few from last year, as a comparison. What a difference a year makes!

And a bonus photo of Ru "playing" Twister. Front Paws on Green!

Ice Cream (I Scream?)

2011-04-21T18:58:00.004-04:00

This picture is a hilarious snapshot of our lives currently. Alex, spoon clutched in one hand, screaming defiantly, empty ice cream cone dripping on the ground, pants growing short in the legs, bib a constant necessity due to teething drool. Jake, posing politely for the camera, ice cream cone protectively gripped in opposite hand, a look of exhaustion on his face due to his sister's antics. I'm just along for the ride, having fun capturing it all :)

SO PROUD!

2011-04-14T18:35:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was a VERY big day in our house!

After six long months of cruising around with one hand on walls and furniture to steady herself, Alex decided last night was the night she was going to start to walk. And, just like that, she walked lap after lap around our house. Clear across our kitchen in 29 steps. The entire length of our living room. And up and down the hallway. Previously, at least a month ago, she took two steps toward me. Since then she has made it maybe one or two steps before giving up and landing on her butt and simply crawling. When people would ask if she was walking, my answer was always, "She is perfectly CAPABLE of walking, she just hasn't decided to pursue it yet." Do I know my daughter or what?

I have a video that Ralph took of her walking last night, but the house is such a disaster area in the video that I can't bring myself to post it.*

ALSO, yesterday, my big five year old boy was writing out thank you notes to his friends that came to his birthday party. Jake wrote the names of each of his classmates all by himself! Jake's classmates have names such as Lizzie, Sophia, Yelena, McKinley, Ava, Gianluca, Adelia, Cody, Isabella, and Jack, so I realized we had probably written most of the letters of the alphabet already! We looked for the letters that we had missed (F, P, Q, R, T, W, and X) and Jake wrote them too!

I was smiling ear to ear with pride last night. I am so, so proud of my favorite son and my favorite daughter!! :)

*You know what your house looks like after your kids and your dog have torn it apart all day and you are too busy chasing them to pick up all the crap that they insist upon throwing on the floor? And then your husband works late and you are ready to tear your hair out since it's been 13 hours since you have spoken to another adult? And it's time for dinner but you haven't made anything yet? And now it's getting close to bedtime and you have to figure out how to feed them/clean them/change them before you can even think about getting around to cleaning up the living room? And you have a bunch of emails to return and work to do because the new babysitter you hired stole money from you and then had the nerve to quit? No? Oh well, that's what it looked like in our house when Ralph took the video. At least when I tried to take video (13 secs then the batteries died), I was innovative enough to position baby so that she would walk in an area where the background was clean. (Photography is all an illusion anyway.) Ralph on the other hand took a walking tour down tornado alley. Or, should that be "Tornado Ali"? I crack myself up.

Alex eating oatmeal

2011-04-11T00:06:00.006-04:00

Alex has been very eager to feed herself lately. She is a fantastic eater and will gobble anything you put in front of her. Both Alex and Jake are pretty good about eating healthy breakfast foods, and we've been on an oatmeal kick lately. I made too much for myself this morning, and Alex was eager to finish my bowl for me. It was a lazy sunday, so after a bunch of clean spoonfuls from me, I decided to let her have the bowl and spoon all to herself, not caring too much if she made a mess because we didn't really have any place to go today anyway. I think she liked it:

We went directly into the bathtub once she had her fill. Ruthie volunteered to clean up most of the mess left on the tray of the highchair.

Five Years Ago!

2011-03-30T18:55:00.002-04:00

Five years ago today, my baby boy was born!

And our lives have never been the same since! Happy Birthday to my beautiful sweet boy! I love you so much Jake!!

Some recent cell phone snaps

2011-03-28T16:14:00.007-04:00

I owe my blog readers lots of things, including full coverage of Alex's first birthday and her complete destruction of a Lulu's cupcake. Jake's birthday is in two days, and we are in full party-planning mode. Next up, Peepa has a significant birthday coming up as well. Lots going on this time of year, we're just trying to keep up.

For now, here are a few fun cell phone snaps from the last couple of weeks.

Alex has been getting into EVERYTHING, here she is raiding our pantry for pots and pans to bang on:

And here are my two little Leprechauns celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Once Ali saw Jake in the hat, she wanted to try it on too:

And on the way to meet Geedah and Peepa for a weekend away. They look so much alike to me here: little sleeping mirror images with long dark eyelashes, pale skin, messy strawberry blond hair, pouty lips, squishy cheeks and tiny button noses.

Thanks for reading the blog, even if the posts are sporadic. Someday, we will look back and be very happy I kept this record of this time in our lives.

JUMP! Three years apart.

2011-03-24T21:04:00.005-04:00

Same song, different kids:

April 23, 2008 (Jake at 25 months):

March 23, 2011 (Alex at 13 months):

Jake Scores A Puck!

2011-02-26T20:34:00.007-05:00

We were lucky enough to get front row tickets (thanks Peepa!) to the Islanders/Capitals hockey game at the Nassau Coliseum! Jake was pretty much terrified to sit right on the ice because he was afraid the players would hit the wall, make a loud noise and the glass might break. He was partially correct in his assumptions - the players did hit the wall and make a loud noise (we jumped more than a few times), but the glass stayed intact and Jake got over his fears (mostly) and really enjoyed the game, sitting on the laps to see over the wall. The highlight was in the 2nd period when a puck went into the penalty box right next to us. An Islanders player was nice enough to throw it to Jake. Needless to say he was on Cloud 9! If we ever go to another NHL game again, it will have a real hard time measuring up to this awesome experience!

Peepa, Uncle Danny and his girlfriend Shannon, Ralph and I, and Jake all went to the game, and you can even see us on the highlight reel! Pause the video at 0:51 and you can see us all from above, we are just to the right of the security guard in the bright yellow shirt. You can see us again a little better at 1:09. You can see most of our group at 3:13, (I'm absent, waiting in line for one of the SIX ladies stalls in the entire stadium), and then you can see us cheering at the glass at 4:16. It was a fantastic time! Thanks to Geedah who sacrificed a sports night out to instead stay home and cuddle with Ali-girl.

Happy 1st Birthday to Alexandria Mary!

2011-02-23T23:59:00.003-05:00

I can't believe my beautiful baby girl is one year old. I really can't believe one whole year has passed since she came into our lives. I love Alex so very much and it was a beautiful moment when I went into her room at 12:04 am, kissed her on the forehead and told her "Happy Birthday!" exactly one year after she first came into our lives. We celebrated with dinner and cupcakes, and a few new toys. It was a wonderful day, and I love that we share this special bond every February 23rd! (Did I mention I turned 34 too?)

Alex went to town on her cupcake from Lulu's!

Rub A Dub Dub, Two Kids in a Tub!

2011-02-12T00:11:00.005-05:00

Typical bathtime routine in our house these days. Reminds me of some of my favorite pics of Jake in the same bathtub almost three years ago...

Cruisin' Around with Ali

2011-02-03T01:35:00.014-05:00

I'm so proud of all of Alex's accomplishments lately! Her accomplishments seem to come two or three at a time, rather than spacing things out. Two teeth will pop thru on the same day, or she'll make a few new words or signs in one day, etc. I don't know why she can't spread the excitement over a few days, but whatever.

My nearly one-year-old girl can clap, wave hi and bye, say a few words (dad, mom, dog, hi, no), stand without any help, cruise around furniture holding on with one hand, crawl at blazing speeds, climb up stairs (she just showed me that last night!), eat any kind of food you put in front of her, and do a few baby sign language signs ("more", "all done"). I am beyond proud and head over heels in love with my sweet girl. She is such a blessing! :)

She looks like she is standing independently here, but her little butt is leaning on the chair. Regardless, she is proud of herself!

Ali almost always has two objects she carries around - one in each hand. Whatever she can find or pick up off the floor or our tables. She is sneaky and quick!

Alex LOVES my cell phone! She picks it up and presses all the buttons. Thankfully, I can lock the keyboard. Jake used to be able to unlock my phone all the time, Ali has yet to call clients and yell "Da!" over and over, but give it time...

"Just texting my boyfriend Mom, I'll be there in a minute..."

I feel like I spend half my day grabbing stuff out of her mouth or when she is out of my line of sight, asking Jake, "Does she have anything in her mouth?" He answers no without looking up, and I come back to find something like this:

She loves all of her little walkers!

"Speaking of walking, Mom says I will be doing it on my own any day now!"

Transferring really well from couch to ottoman!

"SWEET! I found TWO shoes to chew on! No, no germs on here, totally clean, I assure you."

Jake-isms, Volume 4

2011-01-10T19:48:00.031-05:00

I'm shocked to see how long it's been since I've posted a "Jake-ism". August of 2009 to be exact. But reading over the Jake-isms Volume 4 notes in my Blackberry, I can see that some of the topics seem to be a very long time ago (many involve the struggles of potty training, preparing Jake for the birth of his baby sister, and the days of breastfeeding Alex). And most of them involve a bodily function. I never claimed not to have a dirty sense of humor, and I see that my four-and-three-quarters-year-old son (as we are required to state these days) is similarly amused by scatological humor. Wikipedia seems to be quite the source on toilet humor, should one decide to research such things. Weirdo.

You can follow all of the previous Jake-isms here.

If you need a refresher on what exactly a Jake-ism is, well, it's something funny that Jake says in the course of the day that I quickly record (once I have stopped laughing or removed my palm from my forehead) in the notes section of my BlackBerry, so I will have it as a reference tool for making my blog readers (anyone left out there or have you all gone to Facebook?) laugh hysterically at their desks, and for me to look back on one day.

So here is the latest installment of the Jake-isms, complete with out-takes from a session I took of the two of them over the summer. I would give you an Alex-ism, but they mainly consist of "da-da-da" the Bronx cheer. Although I did have to tell her the other day: "Icky! We do NOT eat our brother's toenails!", which is a sentence one never expects they will have to speak.

Without further ado, I present Jake-isms Volume 4:

Jake, in his sleep, 5:33 am: "I don't like it! NO I DON'T LIKE BLUEBERRIES!!"

* * * *

Jake, yelling at 6:30 am (two hours before normal wake-up time): "Mommy! Mom!"
Me: "Yes honey?"
Jake: "Mom, I want to ride a horse!"
Me: "Okay...?"
Jake: "Mom, I want to go to sleep."
Me: "Okay."
Jake: Zzzzzzz

Our own little Benjamin Button enjoys telling us about his previous grown-up adventures:
Jake: "Mom, when I was 14, I went to Europe and bought you a Sari."
Me: "That was very sweet of you honey! I think Saris are usually found in India though."
Jake: "I went there too."

Jake, yelling at me from the bathroom while he tries to argue his way out of pooping on the potty: "I wanna go to bed! Pee-pee says I have to go to bed! He says the rules! He's the boss!"

* * * *

Jake, in response to Yo Gabba Gabba (kid's TV show) asking what a kid's favorite thing is:
"My favorite thing is putting my hands in my pants!"

While trying to trim his toenails, he always fights me:
Jake: "You can't look at my toes!"
Me: "I can look at your toes, I made them."
Jake: "No, God made me."
Me: "Okay true, but I grew you. Now gimmie those toes."

* * * *

What to say when someone coughs, according to Jake: "Good cough you!" (As opposed to 'God Bless You' when you sneeze, I guess?)

Jake is rolling out Play-Doh logs, when he says, "Mommy, what color is poop?" (So I guess those aren't gray worms he's making?)

Jake at breakfast: "Mom, I love your butt and your belly. I love private parts." (Which is preferable to the day recently when he informed me that my butt is big. Thanks kid.)

* * * *

Jake, who does a lot of role-playing and we sometimes get confused as to which character he is at the moment: "I'm not Spiderman. I'm just Jake that poops in his pants."

Jake is quite the brainiac. In fact, when we were in for parent teacher conference recently, the teachers let us know that Jake informed them he was smarter than his Daddy.

* * * *

We're looking at a dinosaur book in bookstore. I identify the ones I can, but get to one that stumps me. Jake lets me know it's a "Chomp-o-saurus".

Ralph, giving Jake a bath: "Okay Jake, wash your pee-pee parts."
Jake: "They're called testicles, Daddy."

* * * *

Jake: "Mommy, tell me the story of when I was born."
Me: "Okay, once upon a time there was a tiny baby boy growing inside mommy's belly, and--"
Jake: "You mean in your uterus?"

Jake: "What kind of bear are you, Mommy?"
Me: "Um, I guess I'm a polar bear. What kind of bear are you?"
Jake: "I'm a kidney stone bear."
Me: "Uhhh...okay."

Jake: "I want to be a girl so I can make milk too."

* * * *

Jake: "Mommy, I'm having pain in my breast. I need breast medicine."

I decide to make a CD on my computer of all Jake's favorite songs. I tell him the CD is burning and will be ready soon. A few minutes later, he asks, "Is the CD done baking?"

* * * *

Me: "Jake, do you know what the word 'Appreciate' means?"
Jake: "Yup, it means 'Hi!' in Italian."

Jake asks: "Where does cheese come from?"
I explain to him how cheese is made from milk, which comes from cows.
"No it doesn't," he says, "cheese comes from cheese trees!"

Jake and I are in the laundromat, washing & drying a bedspread that's too large to wash at home. Jake is having a great time exploring the place and says: "Oh my Lord! What IS this?!"

* * * *

Jake: "Mommy, let's go camping together! Daddy should stay home."

Before Alex was born:
Ralph to Jake: "So if you have a little sister, what does that make you?"
Jake: "Sad."
(The answer we were looking for was "big brother", but this was a heck of a lot funnier)

Jake, as we were getting dressed: "Look at my butt!"
Me: "Yes, it's very cute."
Jake: "And it makes funny noises!"

* * * *

Jake, loudly in Panera: "Mommy, you drink the water, and it goes in your belly and then it makes PEEEE!"

Hope you all enjoyed this most recent version of Jake-isms, hopefully my Blackberry will be full of notes again before long. I always enjoy sharing these. :)

More Christmas Pictures

2011-01-03T20:52:00.006-05:00

From our official Christmas card photo shoot. It was FREEZING! These poor kids are sitting on a slab of frozen slate, surrounded by snow, at sundown. It was the fastest session I ever did!

Jake, four and a half years old

Alex, 10 months old

And the final shot of the two of them for the card:

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-28T16:24:00.008-05:00

I've been a little late this year. Late to send out my Christmas cards, late to post on the blog, late to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. There were grand plans of blog posts with all of the Christmas pictures that didn't make it on the official card, grand plans of printing the kid's Christmas pictures and putting them in frames for the grandparents. Instead, there was a lot of last-minute running around, shopping on Christmas Eve for those last few gifts, and rushing to get client orders shipped overnight to arrive before Christmas morning. In addition, every day since the last blog post, at least one member of our family (and some days all of us) has been sick. It was a crazy hectic season, and not what I was planning for my daughter's very first Christmas.

The kids, during one of their many visits with Santa:

But after all the shopping and the driving and the planning and the wrapping and the packing and the music and the decorating and the late nights, it was magical and beautiful and spent with family, just the way Christmas should be.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas 2010, and I'm happy to be EARLY to wish you a Happy New Year!

Jake with the funniest guy on earth

2010-12-01T20:20:00.007-05:00

We returned from our Thanksgiving vacation with Ralph's side of the family (more to come when I get time to upload photos), but not before having a celebrity run-in. Tracy Morgan, known to my brother Danny and I as the funniest freaking guy on earth, was a few people ahead of us in the security line at the airport in Punta Cana. When we got thru security, I saw him by himself leaning against a wall and went up and told him how much I liked his work and asked if he wouldn't mind taking a picture with my son. He was very cool and mellow (not in character at all) and allowed us to take the photo. I thanked him and went on my way, because I'm sure he didn't want a ton of people coming up and bothering him. I was on cloud 9, which was much better than the stomach bug that kept me in bed for 36 hours, including the entirety of Thanksgiving Day (boo)!

If you don't know Tracy Morgan (shame on you!), here's a family-friendly clip of him as "Brian Fellows", and another as Dr. Maya Angelou.

Just found this clip of Tracy Morgan on Jay Leno wearing the same necklace! He is soooo funny!

The many faces of Ali

2010-11-15T14:20:00.010-05:00

These were taken close to a month ago, when Alex was almost 8 months. Now she is almost 9 months and has come so far, grown so much, and learned so many new things! We are so proud of all of her accomplishments - clapping hands, standing up, crawling like a champ.

Here are a few funny pictures from a session I did with her one day while Jake was at school. I put her in a cute pink tu-tu and went up in our playroom (which I still have yet to post complete before & after pictures of). Ali wanted no part of having her picture taken, and instead made funny faces, drooled a lot, crawled around and put everything in her mouth. Pretty much a standard day around here...

Tu-tu toes

Making funny faces (she's much less serious than I thought she was going to be!)

Fake crying (she has the same theatrical personality as her big brother)

Sucking on one of her lips

Putting something in her mouth.

About to crawl away from the camera...

Putting something in her mouth (again!)

Pre-school Halloween Party

2010-10-28T09:17:00.000-04:00

Last weekend was pretty much a blur. After driving up to Boston (5 hour drive), shooting a wedding (9 hour workday), and then driving back home (4 hour drive) all in a span of about 24 hours, I came home to not one, but TWO parties for Jake on Sunday. The first party was for our neighbor Gabriella's 5th birthday, the next was Jake's Halloween party at his new preschool. Which, by the way, I LOVE. It's a really great place, filled with kind and caring teachers, nice students, and friendly parents. It was a surprise last-minute change (his old pre-school closed in May, after 30 years in business, and gave us almost no notice to find another school!), but it has been a wonderful place for Jake so far.

Here are some pictures of all four of us enjoying the festivities, along with a few new friends:

Bob the Builder

I finally see a resemblance! ;)

Ali the happy bee

DJ Lance (if you watch Nick Jr, you already know this guy from Yo Gabba Gabba), I cracked up at how fun and festive this dad was!

Her mouth is her constant source of entertainment these days

Jake and his doppelganger, Jack ;)

Fearless climber (that's new!)
He lists one of his favorites foods as broccoli? Are you kidding me??

He has no self-restraint. Lol

After Jake got so many temporary tattoos, we figured it was Ali's turn

Going back for more. He ended up with like, 7 tattoos. Oye!

Sitting with his buddy Jack and his sister Ava, for storytime.

My famous husband :)

2010-10-26T12:58:00.016-04:00

photo by Andrew Sullivan for the New York Times

I usually post something on our anniversary about how lucky I am to have married Ralph (6 years ago!), and what a fantastic husband he is. Well, this year I spent our anniversary photographing a wedding in Boston (my last of the 2010 season) and wasn't able to post on our actual anniversary. (But if I had the time, I would have posted about how lucky I am to have married Ralph, and what a fantastic husband he is, FYI.)

And Ralph was pretty busy on our anniversary too. Here he is in the Saturday edition of a little newspaper you might have heard of... The New York Times! Ralph gives baseball lessons on weekends to some high school kids in the area, and one of his students happens to be the son of a The New York Times reporter. He and my brother-in-law Chris were not only interviewed for the paper, but also had a The New York Times photographer show up to one of their lessons to snap a few pictures. I am so proud that Ralph shares his time, talent, and knowledge to others. Baseball has always been one of his passions, and I love that he is able to share that passion. Here is the article and picture:

Double Stroller :)

2010-10-13T18:51:00.000-04:00

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Spiderman...

2010-10-10T21:14:00.002-04:00

...at the Columbus Day Carnival :)

Guie Cousins!

2010-10-03T18:41:00.015-04:00

We had a great time at cousin Jennifer's today, with almost all of the Guie 2nd cousins. The kids had a great time playing together. It was Alex's first time meeting many of the other cousins and she really enjoyed seeing everyone, especially Sara who is currently the only other cousin younger than her (by 3 months).

Here is everyone together, thank you to Tiffany for taking this great pic which put my original cell-phone picture to shame.

They've all grown a lot since this pic in 2008, this one in 2007 and this one in 2006.

(Jake is holding Alex in the bottom right)

There are twice as many cousins in the pic above than this one below from summer '08. We've been a busy family! ;) Wonder if the whole bunch would still fit in the wooden wagon at Aunt Bunny's?

Alex's Milestones!

2010-09-30T16:44:00.014-04:00

Our little seven-month-old sweetheart has been making so many new discoveries and has had several accomplishments in the last few weeks! I was very proud to see her get her belly up off the floor on her hands and knees recently. She is sort of scoot-crawling. Here's a quick video from yesterday (excuse my baby-talk and Dora in the background)

Once she was able to get her belly up off the floor, it wasn't long at all until she figured out how to go from a crawl to a sit. She is sitting up on her own like a champ. Then last night, she was sitting in her crib while I was trying desperately to get her to go to sleep (she's had a bit of a cold so she isn't sleeping as well lately) and she decided to try to scale the rails of her crib. It looked like she was trying to pull herself up, but I know Jake didn't do that til after his first Christmas, when he was around 9 months old. I assumed Alex was way too young to pull herself up to a standing position. Until she did it. She was very proud of herself! I was astounded.

Another thing I noticed yesterday is it seems like she is beginning to wave hello and goodbye! She did it to Jake when I was taking her up to bed, and then did it again when we dropped him off at pre-school (she waved to the teacher). I am beyond proud of my smart little baby but I wish she would space it out a bit so I can have my excitement spread over a number of weeks, not days!

I am terrified because she will be running and taking steps two at a time before I know it. Here's a video of Alex scooting a couple weeks ago (you can see how far she's come), as well as a link to Jake doing the same thing at 7.5 months. Alex is so advanced (to me at least!), but I think that's because she is so enamored with her older brother that she is trying to do everything he does :)

We are also very proud of Jake who, after a very rough spring and summer, has FINALLY completely mastered all aspects of potty training. He's been going #1 for at least a year, but #2 was a real stumbling block, especially for stubborn little boys who don't get enough fiber in their diet. Plus there was a fair amount of regression once child #2 entered the scene. With some behavioral and dietary changes (and also a bit of trying each and every tactic imaginable), we finally have lasting success. I couldn't be more proud! (Now if only we could eliminate the nighttime Pull-Ups. We tried, but he sleeps so soundly, and he is baffled when he wakes up wet in the morning.)

I am so proud of my two fantastic kids and I love them so very much. It really is so wonderful to be their mother. I never imagined how fulfilling this 'job' could be. (Although I have to admit the hours and the pay are the pits! ;)

Twisted Sister

2010-09-13T18:50:00.005-04:00

I bought these two cute shirts over the summer (because really, who can resist a size 6 months shirt featuring both pink rhinestones and mini skull and crossbones??) and have been waiting to dress my little rock stars in them ever since. It was a bit chilly this morning and I was about to dress them in another long-sleeve (more family-friendly) big bro/little sis combo when Jake campaigned for this set. Of course we were running late (per usual), but I had time to snap a few shots of them in their duds. The first two on the top are hilarious outtakes that I couldn't resist posting. These two crack me up!

First time in a high chair!

2010-09-02T21:18:00.001-04:00

Alex in a highchair for the first time at Cracker Barrel, in Clinton NJ. Dropping the kids off with Peepa & Geedah for a weekend of fun!

Portraits from today

2010-09-02T00:26:00.006-04:00

Our babysitter wasn't able to make it today, and it was sweltering hot outside, so I figured I might as well use the unexpected down time with the kids to finally take a few new portraits. Jake, Ali and Ruth all got in on the action. I know my readers only seem to comment when I post "professional" pictures, so all of the lurkers are now officially obligated to post a comment ;)

Also, this would probably be a good time to note that Alex is growing in her first two front teeth! They both popped through on Sunday (August 29, 2010). She grew in her teeth a month before Jake did (when he was 7 months old), and both of hers came in simultaneously. She's been a trooper and is still SUCH a good baby. We absolutely adore her!

I hope you all absolutely adore these new pics!

Twenty Thousand Views

2010-08-24T21:02:00.002-04:00

...and counting. 20,779 as of today to be exact.

Somehow this old video of jake is getting a ton of views on YouTube:

An oldie but goodie. Enjoy! :)

Happy Half Birthday!

2010-08-23T21:09:00.005-04:00

I can't believe Alex was born six months ago today! I can hardly wrap my head around the fact that she is half a year old. I love you so much my little Ali-girl, and our house is so full of love now that we are a family of four! You are such a wonderful baby, and we are so lucky to be your parents. Jake, you have been such a wonderful loving brother to Alex and she loves you so very much. My heart overflows with love!

Our newest family of four picture from Ocean City MD last week, with Ali-boops chewing on her bottom lip, making her chubby cheeks look even more bite-able:

Here is a cute new video of Alex trying to say "dada" - I think she's absolutely adorable, but I may be a bit biased ;)

Big muscle boy and his last day at the beach

2010-08-19T16:44:00.002-04:00

Jake enjoyed feeding and chasing the seagulls, and showing off his manly physique.

Last full day of vacation

2010-08-19T16:42:00.002-04:00

Updated:

Original post:

Ali in the baby bjorn, I'll have to add a link to a similar picture of Peepa with Jake in the same spot 4 years ago.

First day of vacay

2010-08-14T13:29:00.001-04:00

Alex is taking it easy :)

Scrubby scrub

2010-08-13T12:27:00.003-04:00

And now a video of Jake, from back in April. This one cracks me up. (Please be aware that this was our kitchen during mid-renovation, and now this obligates me to do a before/after update.)

Alex chats, eats toes, makes present.

2010-08-11T00:48:00.006-04:00

Alex was particularly chatty today. I captured her on video, discussing politics, the world of sports, and the latest celebrity gossip. She really can't understand why those Jersey Shore people are getting so much publicity. I think she has a special message for Snookie in there somewhere. Enjoy her video.

Melts my heart

2010-08-08T22:54:00.005-04:00

I changed the sheets on Jake's bed right before bedtime tonight. I saw his stuffed animals on the floor, and as an afterthought, tossed them onto his bed. I read him his story, kissed him goodnight and closed the door. When I went in to check on him an hour or so later, this is what I found. I ran downstairs to grab a camera and record my sweet little boy with the stuffed animals he had tucked sweetly, gently into bed. And my heart absolutely melted.

Then and Now - July '06 and July '10

2010-07-29T03:41:00.002-04:00

I love these "Then and Now" posts. Jake in July 2006 and Alex in 2010, looking quite similar. The funny thing I've noticed in looking back is that Jake had significantly more hair at this point than Alex has. The poor girl is destined to be bald until the age of two, just like her dear old mother was.

5 Months Old

2010-07-27T02:01:00.010-04:00

So I dropped my camera the other day. My good one. My really, really good one. On the way out the door. To a photo shoot. And after that, a wedding. And the next day? Another wedding. Dropped it hard. On a wood floor. I wish I had good news. I wish Jake didn't hear the word that came out of my mouth after it happened (it was some serious restraint too, let me tell you). Luckily, I have backup equipment, which got me through the two commitments I had that day. The upside to all of this? This slobbery little face, just days after turning five months old, which was captured with my old backup camera. Thank God for my backup. And for this little girl.

P.S. - If anyone can let me know the color of Alex's eyes, I would be forever grateful. Because I don't have a clue. It's different every time I stare into them. And I'm still not sure what color it is.

Hard at work

2010-07-19T19:41:00.004-04:00

Despite being dressed in nothing but a diaper ("business casual") and being put in her activity center backwards (silly mommy!), Alex got right down to business on a recent morning.

4 Years Old, 4 Months Old

2010-07-15T00:58:00.017-04:00

The view around here pretty much goes like these these days: 4 year old Jake, rocking out in our playroom with his Lego microphone stand....

...and 4 month old Alex, shoving anything she can in her adorable slobbery mouth.

I've certainly got my hands full with a 4 year old, a 4 month old, and 4 more weddings left to photograph this season. I wish I had about 4 more hours in every day, and 4 more arms. Heck, I wish I had 4 clones of myself doing 4 loads of laundry, buying the 4 things I forgot to pick up at the grocery store, answering 4 emails, editing 4 photo sessions, vaccuming 4 rooms, interviewing 4 babysitters, watering 4 half-dead hydrangea plants, picking up 4 toys off the floor, changing 4 little diapers, putting together 4 wedding albums, and checking off 4 other things on my to-do lists. But I have a feeling that's not going to happen. So for now, our little family of 4 needs to enjoy this summer, which will be over b4 we know it.

4th of July 2010

2010-07-06T13:24:00.034-04:00

This is another one of my crazy-long posts, but I want to be able to re-live the memories of these wonderful 4th of July celebrations forever.

Every year since I have known Ralph, we have travelled to his grandparent's home in Mamaroneck New York to watch the fireworks from their backyard. The trip has gotten shorter over the years, from Alexandria VA (a five hour drive or a one-hour flight), then from Newark DE (2.5 hour drive), and now a 15 min drive through local roads.

For starters, the view from Ralph's grandparents backyard is absolutely unbelievable. The long backyard ends at the water, and just across the small inlet is Harbor Island Park, where they set off the fireworks. Ralph's grandparents have both passed away in the last few years, his grandfather in 2005 and his grandmother just this past Thanksgiving, but the tradition has lived on. I'm not sure how many more years we'll get to watch fireworks from this extraordinary vantage point, so I figured now was the time to bring along my camera to record the memories.

Alex may not remember what it was like to celebrate the 4th of July at Mema Peggy and Papa Paul's house, but hopefully Jake inherited his father's extraordinary memory and will be able to keep this with him as he grows up.

Aunt Barb with her favorite (and only) great-niece:

Patriotic cupcakes (yum!)

The view from the upstairs porch

I really love the long shadows and the warm tones in this one. I could photograph this time of day all day long. Except that's impossible. ;)

My two favorite boys :)

Keegan is the cutest thing on earth.

Ellie, Jen and Peter head toward the dock

A passing sailboat

View of the house from the dock

Patriotic from head to toe :)

The kids, many of them second and third cousins, all had so much fun playing together

Kai, Keegan's big brother by exactly a year to the day, is also the cutest thing on earth.

Alexis, in full-on model mode :)

Matthew was so cute too - copying the pose that Alexis was making :)

Sweaty faux hawk

With Geedah

Geedah and Peepa got her this incredibly cute, incredibly patriotic outfit :)

With Peepa

With Papa Ralph

Another 20 years and eight months, baby girl.

Mamaroneck at dusk, shot from the dock

Firecracker...

...firecracker...

...BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Jake watches the fireworks from Ralph's lap. He wasn't a big fan:

My dad took this great shot of our little family of four:

A sign of the times - not sure why, but I really like this image. I love shooting at night with no flash, the available light looks so cool.

Ralph and Aunt Joanne after the party has wound down.

I hope we'll always get to watch the fireworks from this backyard, but I know that may not always be the case. What I do know is that any other location never be able to compete with the great memories of 4th of July at Mema and Papa's house.

I hope he always...

2010-06-29T00:56:00.004-04:00

I hope Jake always loves his little sister, and is as sweet to her, as he is right now. He loves on her a little too much sometimes ("Jake, please, give her some space"), but I remember what it was like to love my little baby brother that much. I remember the first days of my kindergarten class, after Danny had been born that August, and missing him so much and hardly being able to stand not being at home to see him. Of course, once I did get home I would pinch his cheeks to see if he would cry, and then say, "What's a matter baby?" - as if I didn't know why the baby was suddenly crying. (Sorry mom). That was the first sign that I was a pretty rotten sister for quite a few years. Sorry baby bruzzer. I love you lots and I always will.

I hope Jake feels the protective feelings I had (still have) for my brother. I could make fun of my brother all day long, but God forbid someone else say even the slightest critical word toward him. The two fistfights I have ever had in my entire life were because another kid in the neighborhood said something mean about my brother. I didn't care if the perpetrator was older or bigger than me. You don't make fun of my baby brother, unless you want your butt kicked by me. I'm pretty sure after that, the neighborhood kids knew not to say anything bad about my baby brother. At least not when I was around. Now my baby brother is 6' 5" and can fight his own battles, but I still feel protective of him. The brother/sister relationship is not always a smooth one, but I know the love is always there.

Danny and I have a very unique way of showing our love to each other, but I think he knows I would still beat up any kid who said a bad word about him. Actually, knowing Danny and I, we would just make fun of the person who dared talk bad of us. And we would continue to make fun of them until it became a sport. Humor became our weapon of choice, and we have developed thick skin to each other's jabs and barbs. My brother is hilarious. Often inappropriately so. If you can't laugh in our family, you're going to be miserable.

I hope Jake and Alex grow up close, remain close, and I hope they are protective of each other as Danny and I were. I hope they create their own funny memories. I hope they don't get too angry at each other when they become obnoxious teenagers. I hope they treat each other with love and respect, always, even when they are frustrated with each other. I hope they spend time together when it's not "cool" to do so. I hope they realize how fortunate they are to have each other.

Happy Family

2010-06-27T01:30:00.002-04:00

We have yet to get that perfect family of four photograph. I think I may need to hire a professional (aka one of my awesome photographer friends) to get a decent pic of the four of us. For now, I'm liking this montage of us with the kids from when we went out to dinner a week or two ago:

4 Months Old!

2010-06-23T23:59:00.010-04:00

My baby girl is four months old already. I can't quite wrap my head around that. She's so much fun and so happy and such a great baby. I constantly compare her to Jake since that's all I know, and I find myself pleasantly surprised when I realize that she and he are completely different kids. They are both my sweet, loving, funny, happy babies, but they each have a personality all their own.

I never thought, after having a son who is the light of my life, that I could love having a daughter as much as I do! It's truly the best of both worlds, and I love saying "my favorite daughter" and "my favorite son." (Yes, we are done, two is perfect, I don't want to push my luck, lol.)

Here are some pictures from earlier today when she turned four months old :)

Super Happy! :)

My favorite:

Alex just discovered her feet, and she loves to chew on them. Heck, she loves to chew on ANYTHING. Not to be confused with her brother, who would gag the second anything went in his mouth. I'm planning a baby food post and video - coming soon :) If you have been reading this blog since Jake was a baby, you will soon realize just how opposite Jake and Alex are.

Eating her fist since her feet are inaccessible.

Now And Then - Baby Shrek

2010-06-23T00:33:00.002-04:00

** For Anyone Who's Counting: This is my 450th Blogger post! Woo-hoo! :) **

I like to do these "Now and Then" Posts - A picture I remember taking of Jake 4 years ago, and then a similar picture of Alex from today. Sometimes these are on purpose, sometimes they are accidental. Here is the post from Jake, called Baby Shrek, from August 2006.

Has anyone else blogged (or want to blog?) a now and then picture of their kids? Leave me a comment or a link and let me know if you have done the same thing!

Happy Kids

2010-06-21T23:55:00.009-04:00

In my mind, it's always this happy at our house :) But in reality, there are but a few precious minutes in each day where both kids are completely content and also willing to sit still for the camera. Here are two of those moments from a few days ago:

P.S. - These are from my point and shoot, not from my "fancy camera" - always like to point that out. You can get great shots with ANY camera you have available! It's about capturing the moment, not about expensive gear :)

Funniest Kid Ever.

2010-06-09T00:58:00.012-04:00

Ralph frequently gets cell phone snaps from me throughtout the day as I'm playing with the kids. Here are two from today:

And one from the other day, when Jake crawled into Alex's Moses Basket:

And Alex in her new big-girl crib! I put the crib together Saturday, but couldn't bear to have her not sleep next to me that night. I scooped her up at 3 am and brought her into our room, gave her one more night in the co-sleeper and I savored every last minute of it. She's been sleeping in her big girl crib since Sunday night.

Super, uh, girl?

2010-06-03T12:25:00.003-04:00

Jake was playing at his friend Gabby's house yesterday, when they emerged dressed in her old Halloween costumes. This was Jake's pick. Ha!

New haircut, old bed

2010-05-26T11:07:00.007-04:00

How cute is Jake's new summer haircut?? :)

And here is one of Jake (pre-haircut) and Alex in Jake's old toddler bed, soon to be Alex's new crib once I get a free minute (HA!) to convert it back into a crib.

Aunt Nancy's Wedding

2010-05-20T01:52:00.033-04:00

WARNING: This is a ridiculously loooooong post, full of pictures. You've been warned! ;)

A few weeks ago, the whole family travelled to PA for my Aunt Nancy's wedding to Brian. I was the photographer and also a guest, which is a tough balancing act, but I managed to work hard and have fun as well. It was cute seeing Alex all dressed up, and Jake was the life of the party on the dance floor. There are a million pictures from the wedding, some of which were edited, some of which weren't. In the interest of getting these pictures posted some time this century, I'm setting aside my normally perfectionist tendencies and just posting edited and unedited images here. Enjoy!

Married!

Alex all dressed up :)

Jake signing the guest book

Jake watching the first dance

Aunt Nancy gives my cousin Bec a big kiss after her really sweet toast

Jake and his girlfriend for the night, Beccah

Bec and Ali

Jake, dancing... I think...

Jake's other girlfriend, cousin Caley (notice how sweaty he is already!)

Uncle Danny made Alex cry :(

...and made Jake fake cry. Lol.

Alex, not crying this time

....because she figured out Uncle Danny is a funny guy

Daddy with his kids

Mommy (sweaty after running around shooting the wedding), Daddy, and Alex

Dancing fool

Alex with grandma, who took great care of her while mommy was working

Cousin Jess and Bill

Daddy, slow dancing with his little girl

Jake can't seem to limit his affection to only ~~one~~ two women.

The handsome hubbies (Bill, Rollin and Ralph)

Caley holding Alex

Love these next three

I think Brad is smitten :)

The WHOLE Valentine side of the family

LOVE. This. One.

I edited out a million shots of Jake. I didn't want the wedding pictures to look like I showed up and only photographed my kids. That's what this post is for, ha ha.

Peepa with his favorite (and only) granddaughter

And Geedah with her favorite (and only) granddaughter

Peepa manages to get Alex to join the dancing

Jake, Mommy & Daddy - every time we tried to get a family photo with all four of us, one of our children were otherwise occupied - lol.

I did manage to dance a few songs with my husband before the night was over! :) Too bad I was rocking the "work hair" - lol.

Congratulations Aunt Nancy and Brian! :)

Assorted Newish Pictures

2010-05-17T18:04:00.016-04:00

Thank goodness for my camera phone, otherwise nothing would get recorded around here. :) Here are some recent ones I've sent from my phone but never got around to blogging...

Ralph and Jake went to the Yankees game a few weeks ago. And just last night, we saw Jake's favorite Yankees pitcher, Andy Pettitte at Longford's ice cream in Rye!

Alex at 8 and a half weeks, about to outgrow one of my favorite newborn outfits.

Same day, Jake and Alex in my bed. (Super soft pink blanket from Stos above Alex's head ;)

A few days ago, Jake wanted Alex with him in his toddler bed (soon to be converted back into the crib for Alex). He's closing his eyes because I opened the black-out curtains to get more light in the room for the picture. This was the best shot (out of 5 or so) that I could get.

Last night was the first night he slept in a real big boy bed - woo-hoo! So proud of my big boy, who seems to get bigger by the minute. Funny enough, he's sleeping in a bed that belonged to my grandparents, in the bedroom that belonged to Ralph's grandparents. Old stuff rocks :)

Alex talking and singing

2010-05-15T13:52:00.008-04:00

NOTE: I re-uploaded these videos on Monday at 5:30pm since they didn't seem to be working

Just this week, Alex started conversing with me. It's the cutest thing, I love hearing her little coos and gurgles :)

My little 11 week old baby bear

2010-05-13T23:58:00.003-04:00

I had a few minutes in between editing Aunt Nancy's wedding (almost done! pics coming soon!) and Alex's diaper changes to take a few quick pictures. She hates wearing hats, so this was a 6 minute photoshoot, literally. But I was happy with the results :) I love this little girl! Also got a great video of her "talking" today, which will be up here soon.

Home Improvements

2010-05-13T20:21:00.007-04:00

Today our new countertop was delivered, replacing the metal-edged 1950's gold-fleck formica countertop. We also had a new undermount sink installed. Alex seems to like hanging out in the new kitchen.

Funny Jake Anecdote

2010-05-06T17:32:00.007-04:00

I'm in the car with Jake and Alex, and I finally got to listen to MY station for once - Oprah Radio XM156 (instead of Hair Nation XM41, the 80's hard-rock hair band station Jake prefers...I wish I was kidding). So we're listening to Oprah, and they say a promo for tomorrow's show:

Oprah: "Tomorrow, all NEW. Four brothers found living in hell, nearly starved to death by their parents...."

I quickly reach to change the channel.

Jake, excitedly: "Are they talking about the Jonas Brothers?!"

Me: "Uh, I don't think so kiddo."

Alex's Accomplishments

2010-05-05T00:15:00.010-04:00

Edited 5/5 at 10:44 pm - Alex was 12+ lbs at her 2 month doctor's appointment. She is 24 inches long (longer and lighter than Jake at 2 months). I would know the exact weight if I hadn't been stupid enough to bring two kids to the doctor for a check-up at the same time. Alex had a shot in each thigh, Jake had a shot in each bicep. It was NOT a fun day. :(

I figure it's about time that Alex gets a post all to herself. Allow me to brag on my favorite daughter for just a minute :)

Alex is such a good girl! For fear of jinxing it, I'm a bit nervous to let you know that Alex has been sleeping through the night - every night - since about 3 weeks old. She's amazing. I owe a lot of that to the good people at The Miracle Blanket. On the rare occasions she wakes up early, it's because, for whatever reason, she wasn't swaddled in her Miracle Blanket. This thing is just amazing. Have a newborn? Buy one. Know someone who is pregnant? Buy one. These things are awesome. I wish I was getting paid to tell you how awesome they are. Miracle Blanket People, feel free to pay me in product samples ;)

So our little girl is still usually the serious, mellow girl, but she is also smiling much more often, and not just when conditions are perfect. She is happy and smiley and sweet and content most of the time. We are so blessed. Just last week, she began laughing at things, which was really cute. Also, I didn't see her do it, but my mother-in-law was changing Alex when I was at a photoshoot and Alex rolled from her back to her tummy. Today, at 10 weeks old, Alex rolled from her stomach, onto her side, then onto her back. I remember Jake doing that much later...will have to check on that. We definitely have to keep a very close eye on this little roller!

So I leave you with this funny picture from our not-so-perfect photo session a week ago. For all of the things Alex is doing so well, behaving for her mama's camera is not one of them. But all said and done, I'd rather have a good night sleep than perfect happy pictures that came out just as I planned.

(P.S. - We go to the doctor in the morning for her 2 month checkup - I'll be posting her stats after the appointment.)

Snuggling Siblings

2010-04-26T19:49:00.009-04:00

Jake loves to hold Alex. Until he doesn't want to any more. Which is usually anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute. So we are quick to photograph them when they are sitting together :)

Even this early, I can tell Jake and Alex have very different personalities. Alex is very serious much of the time, and only smiles when conditions are perfect such as right after being fed and having her diaper changed. You have to work at her to get a smile. But it's TOTALLY worth it, her smile is so big and adorable :) She has yet to smile for my nice big camera. Once I put that thing between my eyes and hers, she stops smiling. I did capture her smiling on my point-and-shoot camera, because I can maintain eye contact while using it. So much for fancy equipment! (And so much for a clean playroom)

Also unlike her brother, she won't be getting blue eyes. Looking back on Jake's baby pictures, his eyes were much lighter and bluer at this point. I don't think she will have brown eyes either though. From what I've observed, most truly brown-eyed babies have turned brown by now. I think she'll have green eyes (like mine) or maybe hazel (like Ralph's). They are a steel-grey-blue color now. Even at birth, her eyes seemed darker than I remember Jake's ever being. Even his are getting this slight green color at the edges. I'm very curious to see how Alex's eyes go.

Jake is dealing fairly well with not being the center of the universe any longer. But as you can see, he still manages to sneak his way into Alex's spotlight.

And finally, I leave you with a week-old video of Alex swatting at objects in her bouncy seat. She isn't very happy in the video, but it's neat to see how much she has grown up already (Nooooo!!) and you can also see a bit more of our immaculately kept playroom (heh).

Yawning, 8 weeks old

2010-04-22T04:54:00.001-04:00

Marriage

2010-04-19T16:19:00.007-04:00

Jake looks right into my eyes as I am getting him dressed this morning and says, "Mommy, I want to marry you."

"Awh, thanks sweetie, but you can't marry your Mommy. Besides, I'm already married to Daddy. Who would Daddy be married to if Mommy was married to you?" (I'm very curious to hear what would come out of his mouth next.)

Jake thinks for a few seconds before coming up with a solution. "Daddy can marry Geedah!"

"I don't know," I say laughing, "because Geedah is married to Peepa. Who would Peepa marry?"

He thinks hard for a minute. "Peepa could marry Mema!"

"Hmm...well, Mema is already married to Papa. Who would Papa marry?"

He has run out of grandparents to mis-match at this point, and thinks for a long while and then tells me, "Okay, you can stay married to Daddy."

Oh good :)

Boppy - it's not just for feeding anymore!

2010-04-17T18:08:00.002-04:00

I woke up this morning to discover that Ruthie has found a new use for our Boppy feeding pillow.

Easter 2010

2010-04-16T10:43:00.006-04:00

We alternate holidays between my family and Ralph's family, and this year the Easter Bunny knew to deliver our baskets to New York. Geedah & Peepa brought an Easter basket for each of the kids when they visited the week before, so that was a nice treat. We dressed Alex in an adorable pink sweater from Geedah and Peepa and a really cute dress (I got a kick out of the fact that the dress Alex wore for her first Easter was given to her by Ralph's boss...who happens to be Jewish ;) and enjoyed an Easter egg hunt and headed to church. Then it was off to Mema Mary and Papa Ralph's for a nice Easter dinner. Jake had another Easter egg hunt and the kids got even more baskets! It was a fun day all around.

Finally, a family picture with all four of us!

I love forsythia - it's such a pretty splash of color at the beginning of Spring!

Ali-girl in her pretty Easter dress!

The closest thing I have gotten so far to a picture of her smiling

With Uncle Chris, blowing bubbles

Back to work...

2010-04-15T19:13:00.007-04:00

So it's been seven weeks since Alex was born. I have been savoring the moments of sniffing her unique baby scent, the sweet moments of rubbing my face against her fluffy bunny hair after she has a bath, cuddling her in the early morning hours when we are the only two awake in the house. These moments are fleeting, and few and far between. There are many more moments of chaotic diaper changes, of yelling at Jake while I trip over his damn Matchbox cars, moments of cursing under my breath because the baby is crying and the bottle is leaking, moments where the phone is ringing and I wonder why I still try to keep my business afloat when I barely have time to shower, let alone photograph other people's children.

But today was a good day: Jake is at Mema's, Alex is napping soundly in the living room, and I'm back to work, remembering why I love my job. I took phone calls, changed my voicemail so it no longer says I am on maternity leave, gave quotes to potential clients, put the finishing touches on a great client's wedding album, and really truly remembered that I love photography. I am so blessed to be able to work from home. It was so hard to go back to work when Jake was a baby. It was so hard to leave him with strangers when we were just establishing some sort of routine. So hard to commute back and forth to work on so little sleep. I hoped and prayed for a change in our situation that would allow me to be able to work from home and take care of our kids. When the opportunity came for Ralph to take his current job and for us to move to New York, we jumped in with both feet and haven't looked back.

The days here aren't perfect, my stress levels still rise, and I still manage to complain when I forget that my prayers of four years ago have been answered. I take being a work-from-home mom for granted too often, but there are many days when we are still in our pajamas in the afternoon (cue the neighbor ringing the doorbell for complete embarrassment on my part), I'm doing laundry, Alex is asleep in the swing and Jake is playing with his trains, and our schedule is completely up to me. I do know how lucky we are, and I know these days won't last forever. The busy wedding season is coming up and maternity leave is coming to an end. But today was a good day.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T01:40:00.003-04:00

Alexandria Mary, first Easter, 5 weeks old

Since you waited so patiently :)

2010-03-26T18:20:00.009-04:00

These are not new pics, in fact the most recent one is probably two weeks old, but these are the most recent that I have. There is a reason I tell my clients to get their newborn photographed in the first 10 days. Alex has just started to smile, which is wonderful, but the poor girl is losing the hair on the top of her head (just as Jake did), has a bad case of baby acne, and her skin and scalp are flaking and peeling. :( Plus, she has watery eyes most of the time since her tear ducts seem to be blocked, which leads to lovely yellow eye discharge most mornings (we're going to see the doc for her 1 month checkup on Monday). Alex is still stunningly beautiful to me, but it will take a fair amount of Photoshop work for her to be a cover model at present ;)

So, without further ado, brought to you by the kindness of the miraculously amazing sleeping baby who allowed me to get this all done this afternoon, I present to you pictures of my favorite daughter Alexandria:

My absolute all-time favorite (until I take the next one) photograph of Alex of all time - I used this one on her birth announcements and thank you cards:

And lastly, for comic relief, I leave you with the following image:

4 Weeks Old, 4 Years Old

2010-03-24T21:48:00.007-04:00

I can't quite wrap my head around the fact that Alex is 4 weeks old already. I feel like we've only been home from the hospital for a few days - not weeks. And add to that the fact that in six days, Jake will turn 4 years old, and I'm ready to lose my mind. All of that is a lot for me to handle. But I've had a lot to handle these days - that might be why the time is flying by.

Our days start out with me waking to one of my kids fussing for my undivided attention. As soon as one of them fusses for my attention, the other one knows that means they need to immediately fuss for my attention also. I think they have some kind of really messed up agreement. Jake has become needy lately... or maybe he was always needy and I just didn't notice until now? But I find it very hard having two people who are completely dependent on me for their survival. Plus the damn dog, who used to be known as my beloved fur baby. Now she is mostly just a pain in my rear end. I feel so bad saying that. I still love Ruthie very much and I am so glad to have her, she's a great dog, but she has fallen very far down the priority list. Poor damn dog.

Our days also end with both of my kids fussing for my undivided attention. But I have to say, we are so so so very blessed to have two great sleepers. Jake goes to bed easily, gets his story(ies) read to him and then takes a pile of books to read in bed and then eventually falls asleep. He will sleep 10 to 11 hours, and most school days I have to wake him. Alex started with a great predictable routine, waking every 4 hours or so, and then the routine changed a bit to include longer stretches of sleeping at night. It takes her a little while to settle down at night, sometimes she will take bottle after bottle, then nurse, then have another bottle, then nurse some more. We are amazed at the quantity of milk she will have at night and keep thinking, "Well I don't know why she's fussy, she can't possibly still be hungry," but we offer more to her and she takes it, and then she finally gives in and crashes around 1 am, and will sleep until amazing hours - today she slept until 8:30 am. 8:30 AM!!! That's when I had to WAKE HER to nurse, so I could stop being in pain. I don't even know how long she would have slept had I not made her wake up. SEVEN & A HALF HOURS of sleep from a 4 week old! Can I get an AMEN?!

I wish I had tons of pictures to share with you. I planned on having daily photo sessions with her, shooting all of the cool newborn portraits I always dream of taking with clients. The sad fact is that on the few days I have been able to photograph her, it doesn't go so well. Either she is fussy or uncooperative, or I can't get her to stay in position, or we run out of time. God forbid I try to photograph her when Jake is home. That is a complete disaster. Jake tries to get my attention over and over and over and over and - mommy mommy mommy mommy - are you watching - are you looking - can you get me some chocolate milk - mommy are you watching - mommy look at me - mommy can we go to the park - mommy mommy mommy!

Sadly, photo sessions don't get done while Jake is at school (thank sweet baby Jesus for pre-school three days a week). When he's at school, it seems like I am running around trying to do all of the little things that would never happen otherwise - making sure the dog gets fed at least once a day (poor damn dog), changing the baby's diaper, picking up my bra off the floor (how do they keep ending up there?), making sure there are no bottles left laying around to turn (how do they go gross so fast??), sterilizing bottles and breast pumps, holding the baby, picking up the damn trains off the floor so I don't break my neck tripping over them, letting the dog out to go potty, etc.

Everyone tells you how much harder it is to go from one child to two. And they are right. It's insane. But it's also great. I love looking at Alex at one month old and remembering what Jake was like at a month old. How Alex is losing her hair just like Jake did. How Jake likes to help me give Alex a bath, and how gentle and sweet he is with her. How sweet it is to have a little boy and a tiny girl. How nice it is to snuggle with a newborn and also see how my little boy is growing up and accomplishing so many amazing things. I'm amazed at my capacity to love, even if I am also amazed at my complete inability to get anything done. Although, I guess raising two beautiful amazing kids is getting something done.

Funny Alex Pic

2010-03-12T00:17:00.005-05:00

This one just cracks me up, and I'm not even sure why. I feel like she is trying to hypnotize me, or commanding me to do something in this picture. Love my little nekkid baby :)

Finally! Pictures of Alex!

2010-03-09T00:00:00.011-05:00

So it's taken me close to two weeks to take photos of Alex, put them on my computer, edit them, and put them up on the blog. Sorry. I've had my hands full - wow, two kids is a lot of work! While I was trying to shoot these, Jake managed to knock over a cup full of tea, as well as my breast pump, and spill the liquid gold all over the floor. Fantastic. The fun - and the work - never ends.

Jake is enjoying being a big brother, and loves to kiss his new little sister. I can't stop kissing Alex's sweet little velvet head either :) Jake is proud and protective and has really been a great helper. We've had a few issues with him testing his limits and acting out here and there, but really, he'd a great kid and I love him so much. Man, does he seem all grown up all of a sudden!

Okay, enough chit-chat. I know you are only here for the cute baby pictures anyway ;)

Pics from the Hospital

2010-03-03T11:21:00.007-05:00

Jake, meeting his baby sister for the very first time!

Alex's head was so tiny in Jake's hands - which used to seem tiny too!

Me and my new baby girl on our shared birthday.

Me and my two kids! (That still sounds strange to me!)

Jake relaxing on my hospital bed, and Alex in a similar pose :)

Daddy and his two kids!

My handsome boys :)

On the second night, Jake fell asleep while visiting. We snuggled Alex up next to him for a quick photo.

One Week Old

2010-03-02T22:06:00.003-05:00

I promise that the photos you've all been waiting for are on their way. Jake has his long day at preschool tomorrow and I'm hoping to use that time to upload some of the pictures I took of Alex yesterday. She wasn't extremely cooperative during our first photo shoot, but I think we will have plenty of opportunities along the way.

I've been having a much harder recovery with Alex than I ever had with Jake. A few complications have popped up and I'm doing my best to take them in stride and still be a good mom to my two kids, but the pain is tough to take.

I'm enjoying every single second of snuggling our new little girl. I feel like I am cherishing this newborn time more since I now know how soon it passes, and this is my last chance ever to snuggle my own one week old child. I can see how people get addicted to having babies, there is nothing like the swelling in your heart that you feel when you stare at the sweet newborn in your arms. It's like falling in love all over again.

Alexandria Mary

2010-02-24T10:55:00.001-05:00

Hi Everyone,

This is Kelly's husband Ralph. I wanted to post a picture of Alexandria for all to see. Kelly will certainly post plenty more but here is at least one shot of our new little girl. Kelly is doing well -- just very sore and tired right now -- and will be heading home from the hospital with baby Alex tomorrow. Her big brother Jake is real excited as well. When he held her for the first time yesterday, we asked him "What do you think of your new baby sister?" His response..."She's Beautiful!!".

And just a note on the delivery...as much as Kelly said she didn't want the baby born on her birthday, that all changed with a few hours to go on Monday night. She decided she DID want to have the baby on her birthday. So it became a very funny scene when she started pushing at 11:56pm with a huge digital clock sitting on the wall directly across the room. Kelly was doing her best to do the equivalent of "Braxton Hicks Pushes" -- you know, pushes that appear like something, but in fact aren't the real thing -- until midnight when the real pushes began. Four minutes later our new daughter entered the world and her mom couldn't have been happier, along with the rest of us!

Alexandria Mary has arrived!

2010-02-23T03:32:00.002-05:00

Alexandria Mary arrived at 12:04 am on 2/23. 8 lbs, 6 oz, 20.5 inches long.

Alex & Kelly are both enjoying their shared birthday :)

Labor!

2010-02-22T16:37:00.002-05:00

I'm emailing from my Blackberry (thank God for technology!) in my labor and delivery room. I find it ironic that just last night I posted that I didn't think I'd go into labor on my own, and I didn't think the baby would be born on my birthday, but here we are.

I'm progressing slowly but surely. Unless I get really bored, this will probably be the last update until baby is born. So the next time you hear from me, I hope to be sharing the happy news! :)

Light at the end of the tunnel

2010-02-21T23:19:00.006-05:00

At my doctor's appointment on Friday, we finally talked induction. If baby girl does not evacuate the premises by Thursday, she will be forced out :) Jake's labor was induced, and all went well, so (knock on wood) I am comfortable with the idea. Would I like to go into labor naturally? Sure, but at this rate, I could be waiting until March for her to get out. No thanks.

A lot of people keep telling me they think baby will show up on my birthday (Tuesday, 2/23) but I'm convinced she's stubborn and enjoying her current surroundings too much to leave of her own accord. Selfishly, I don't want baby showing up on my birthday. I don't want to have to share it. I don't want HER to have to share her birthday with her mother either. And I really don't want to spend my own birthday in labor.

So I am fine with being induced on Thursday. It's a light at the end of the tunnel - literally and figuratively! It's a solid date. I like definites, I like solid plans, I like knowing instead of guessing.

Dear Baby, Please Get Out.

2010-02-18T10:57:00.005-05:00

Of all of the various due dates I have been given along the way, today is the last one. It was as early as Feb 6th, and as late as Feb 18th. And she's still not here. I had a revelation the other day: babies don't know what the heck a due date is. They have no clue. A due date means absolutely nothing to a baby.

So here I wait. My favorite doc, the one I was hoping to deliver with, is out of the office this week. Jake is off school all week. My chiropractor was away as well. Ugh. I thought it would all fall into place and I would deliver this week, but it's nearly friday and nothing has happened. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. And that's fine. I'm getting a lot of stuff done around the house - laundry, putting the finishing touches on the playroom, shopping for a few needed last-minute things (damn you Babies R Us and your bazillion things I never knew I needed!). It's a very odd sensation I've been experiencing lately: boredom.

Physically, I'm feeling okay overall, I really can't complain. I've been having minor contractions for days, but nothing very strong or consistent. Yesterday I was having some cramps, thinking that might mean progress in dialating, I guess I will find out at my docs appointment tomorrow. Without a doubt though, I am READY for her to vacate. I hate waiting, and even more, I hate NOT knowing. Such is the life of a control freak, in a situation that cannot possibly be controlled. Ugh.

I'll keep you all posted as soon as I know anything....

Jake playing in the snow

2010-02-11T21:28:00.006-05:00

I don't always use my fancy camera. Sometimes there isn't enough time, or I just don't feel like lugging it around. So these were taken by me, in my fashionable green rubber rain boots and maternity coat (see pic in previous post), from our front porch, using only my little "point-and-shoot" camera. I will admit to using a tiny bit of Photoshop afterwards (to lighten a few pics that were under-exposed because all that white snow has a tendency to fool the camera's metering; I also sharpened the pics just a bit). Jake also ate more snow than he shoveled, and was ready to come back in after about 10 minutes of eating and playing in the snow.

Snowy Self-Portrait at 9 Months Pregnant

2010-02-10T19:44:00.006-05:00

Snow Boop

2010-02-10T15:57:00.002-05:00

Jake-a-boops, about to go out and play in the snow with his daddy. More pics to come soon.

Notice my newly painted grey office walls, and newly stained ebony wood floors? Woo-hoo - the home renovation projects are almost done!! :)

39 Weeks, and a Mental To-Do List

2010-02-08T11:27:00.006-05:00

Well, we are definitely in the home stretch. I am 39 weeks pregnant this week and baby is, at most, 2 weeks away (I hope). At the last ultrasound, a week and a half ago, baby weighed 7lbs, 7oz. For comparison, Jake was 8 lbs, 9oz when he was born - they induced me three days after his due date (this doctor has no plans to induce). The thought of 2 more weeks carrying this baby is a scary thought actually. I keep saying: "I'm done, I'm ready!", but then I remember when Jake was a newborn and it seemed so much easier when he was still tucked safely inside my belly.

But I am so tired of the constant exhaustion, not being able to breath, the heartburn, the intense sciatic nerve pain in my lower back, the laborious and painful hourly episodes of turning over in bed, and running to the ladies room 15 times a day. Now that baby is moving lower, that seems to be even more frequent. I had two or three contractions over the weekend, but not much progress. I'm not nearly as swollen as I was with Jake at this point. I have stopped wearing my wedding rings, but my feet are hardly swollen at all - they were massive and disgusting with Jake at this point. I weigh at least 10-15 pounds less now than I did when I was 39 weeks pregnant with Jake, but I think that may have been 10 extra pounds of fluid last time.

We are slowly but surely working our way through the extensive mental to-do list that comes with preparing for the baby. The co-sleeper (basinette) is put together and ready to go next to my side of the bed. The FLOR tiles are all installed in the new attic playroom and the toys are put in their storage bins. Tiny diapers and hundreds of baby wipes are in stock. We found the carseat and both bases in storage, and I cursed my former self for putting the carseat into storage without thoroughly washing it first. Dried milk and baby spit-up from three years ago is pretty nasty, but luckily it came out fresh and new after a trip through the laundry. I did two loads of laundry for her, so now all of her clothes are clean and ready to go. It made me laugh because before Jake was born, I had to do at least five loads of laundry for him. Poor neglected recession-born second child :(

I still need to install both car seat bases into our cars. I'm relatively skilled at that normally, but the bowling ball in my abdomen may make it a little more difficult than I remember. I also need to pack my hospital bag. This time I will be smart enough not to pack pre-pregnancy jeans as my coming home pants. Learned that lesson the hard way the first time around - ha! I have two possible coming-home outfits ready for her. We still need to wash out her (blue) bathtub and bring it down from the attic. I need to find the bottles and the sterilizer. I am prepared for Plan A (breast feeding) and Plan B (formula feeding), with supplies at the ready for both scenarios, or a mixture of the two. I need to find a pediatrician to check her out at the hospital before we leave, since Jake's pediatrician doesn't have hospital privileges where we are delivering (ugh). What else? So much to remember...and my memory is shot at this point. No blood flow going to my brain it seems.

I was sick late last week, but luckily no one else in the house caught it. It was not fun, but the worst of it was over in 24 hours. Jake did have his first ear infection and is just now finishing up his twice daily dose of the "pink medicine." We had to practically force him to drink it the first two days, but by day 8 or 9, he slurped it down and asked for more - ha!

I will keep you all posted on the latest news, and the laptop will accompany me to the hospital... once I get that bag packed of course.

Sneak Peek at the attic playroom!

2010-02-01T15:35:00.004-05:00

Ralph and I worked hard all weekend while Jake was away at Geedah & Peepah's house. We were able to get a really good start on the attic playroom! It isn't finished, but here is a before and after sneak peek at one corner of the playroom. :)

UPDATE: Our playroom was featured on FLOR.com's blog!