Jake Meets Santa!

This is a great pic that my parents got while Jake was visiting last weekend. Jake was happy to come out of the frigid temperatures to sit by the fire with this great Santa Claus! Our happy little boy can't wait for Christmas, and keeps asking where the snow is. Apparently to him, it's not Christmas unless it's a White Christmas!



EDIT 1/15/10- New Santa picture from when Mema Mary and Uncle Greg took Jake to see Santa in Connecticut:

Mema Peggy

I'm so sad to report that Ralph's grandmother, Margaret (Mema Peggy) passed away the day after Thanksgiving. The past few days have been very hard, but we have been surrounded by family, just as Mema Peggy was in her final hours on earth, which has made it a little easier. I am so glad that Jake got to know Mema Peggy and has fond memories of her, which I hope and pray will stay with him. I know she adored her great-grandson. Here is a very old post of the two of them together, when Jake was just four months old. It breaks my heart to know that our baby girl will never have had the chance to meet any of my grandparents, or any of Ralph's grandparents. I know they are all watching over us.


We miss you and love you Mema Peggy.

Some updates...

I feel like I haven't posted in ages. Which is probably true. The pictures are from a session we had with my good friend and fellow photographer Rosemary the day after Halloween. She photographed my family, I photographed hers. These are out-takes, the final one will be on our Christmas card once I get around to designing it.

Jake just told me he was trying to "HIP-TUH-TIZE" our dog Ruthie. He was swinging a water bottle near her face. "You're getting SLEEEEPY!" He cracks me up on a daily basis.

So what's new in our world? The wedding season is finally over but I'm still hard at work trying to finish up all of the editing of the sessions and working on wedding albums and trying to submit weddings to The Knot to be (hopefully) published in their magazine. I'm glad the major photography sessions are over for the year because this pregnancy has been very difficult on my body. I have had lots of pain from the baby sitting on my sciatic nerve; at the worst times, I am hardly able to walk. Recently, she has dropped a lot lower in my pelvis, which is an odd sensation. I am six months in and the pregnancy is flying by. I can't believe in 3 months, our daughter will be here.


Jake continues to enjoy pre-school. He attends three days a week, and seems to enjoy Ms. Peggy and her class. He makes friends easily, and loves the girls in his class the best. He tells me about the "bad" kids in his class, and I try to give him suggestions for how to deal with the one kid who pushes him, and the other kid who takes off his shoes. I wish these were the biggest problems my kid ever has to deal with in school. As the saying goes: "Little kids, little problems. Big kids, big problems."

He is currently inexplicably paranoid about two-year-olds, and any time something goes wrong, he blames it on one. "My toothbrush is missing! I think a two year old took it!"

This week's obsession is dough. He got a hunk of raw dough from a pizza place a few weeks ago, and now any time we go out to eat, he expects a new hunk of uncooked dough. Surprisingly, a few places actually oblige. Jake wants to be a "dougher" - one who makes and works with pizza dough for a living. Lol. I'm constantly mixing up flour and water to entertain him, only to have it disappear a few hours later when he becomes bored and leaves it within reach of the dog.


Jake's funniest talent, to me at least, seems to be his imitation skills. He's quite a good mimic! He imitates the facial expressions and the voice inflection of our neighbor (his good friend Gabby) and some of the kids in his class. He's surprisingly accurate in his imitations!

Jake still continues to role-play. It's hard to keep up with who I am talking to in a given day, hour, or even minute to minute. Jake's cast of characters includes every original member of Van Halen (Eddie, Alex, David Lee Roth and sometimes Michael Anthony, but he usually doles out the role of Sammy Hagar to others) as well as other rock stars. He will pretend to be all of the different characters from his various TV shows; members of the New York Yankees starting line-up (Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui, Mark Teixeira, A-Rod, etc), and will imitate the entire batting order, complete with who hits lefty and who hits righty, and even the switch hitters; he will pretend to be friends from class ("I'm Sofia! You're Sofia's mommy!"), and even pretend to be random people he sees out in public or on TV ("I'm that boy with the rocket ship. You can be the other boy."). He is an absolute riot and his imagination is just extraordinary.


Lately, I'm just enjoying this time that I know is fleeting. Work is good and steady, family life is stable and relatively calm, we are getting plenty of sleep (mine being less restful than the boys since I am being attacked from the inside by the fetus who auditions for Soul Train on a nightly basis), and we have settled into a nice routine. All that is about to change, but for now I just want to record it before it all morphs into the wonderful chaos of having a new baby in the house.

First cup of hot chocolate

We're at the diner, my young date and I, playing Tic Tac Toe and sipping warm cups of hot chocolate. I'm amazed at how big of a boy Jake has grown into in three and a half years. His little sister dances in my belly, and I can't help but wonder how much life is about to change. 15 more weeks to go...

Happy 5th Anniversary!

It feels like just yesterday I was pulling back the curtains at the Desmond to reveal the most beautiful cloudless sky I had ever seen. It was the morning of our wedding, and the most wonderful day of my life! So much has changed in these past five years, but one thing remains the same - I love you and I would marry you all over again! Thank you for the beautiful family and wonderful home we have created together. I can't wait for all of the wonderful things that we have in front of us. I love you, I love you, I love you!

Embarassment of The Day

Jake and I were in fancy-schmancy Greenwich, CT after my chiropractor's appointment yesterday, and we stopped at Starbucks for a snack. He picked out a nice table for us, opened up his milk and put in the straw all by himself, and was helping himself to our petite vanilla bean scones. He was being quite well-behaved and getting the attention of a few of the local patrons, which he immediately picks up on. I was the proud mama of an adorable independent three-year old.

Then he decided to act silly and drop the word "poop" into our conversation. I swiftly and sternly warned him that was not a word to use in public, and certainly not in an eating establishment. He used it again. I gave him the final warning - say it again, and we're leaving. Of course he tested me and said poop again. "That's it, we're leaving," and I quickly began to pick up our things and put on my jacket.

Jake freaks out and begins yelling, pleading loudly: "I'M NOT SAYING POOP! I'M NOT SAYING POOP ANYMORE MOMMY! PLEASE SIT DOWN! I'M NOT SAYING POOOOOOP!!!!" The customers around us, of course, erupt into laughter, as I try to quiet him down while following through on my threat, and not crack up myself.

I followed through on my threat, and we left, but not without causing a huge scene. Needless to say, we'll be avoiding the Greenwich Ave Starbucks for a little while, thanks to Jake.

Impromptu Fall Portrait Session

I've been so busy photographing weddings lately, that I have hardly had any time to photograph my own family. We pulled out the fall/winter wardrobe the other day, and I was so happy that my favorite sweater of Jake's from last year still fit him (even though I was stupid and bought it in a 2T, not 3T last fall. It barely fits). So I outfitted him in the sweater and matching hat, and out in the backyard we went for a quick fun impromptu portrait session.




His famous "angry face"


And his "surprised face"




Love love love this one...





Ralph got in on the action too...




I hadn't noticed how much Jake is starting to look like Ralph until I was editing these photos. They have the exact same smiles!