Lucky to have neighbors!

We are so lucky to live on our little dead-end street. Between the kids and families in the condo and across the street, we truly have a village to help us all raise our kids. Often, I come home afterwork and the kids are out and begin to congregate in one of the yards, at the park  or in the driveway.

The day of the manhunt in Boston for the Marathon Bombers, everyone was stir crazy from being cooped up. Around 4:45p, I get a text "Want to come over. We'll order pizza, make margaritas and the kids can at least thump on each other instead of us." Done. Out the door and across the street we went for some sanity on an insane day.

If it's a Friday, and the weather is nice, then it's usually drinks & dinner across the street at our neighbor's great deck and yard. The kids run around and tire each other out while the parents get some catch up time. We bring our meat to throw on the grill and then everyone pitches in a little something else.

Some nights, to keep the kids rolling on somewhat of a schedule, things end up like this!

Glowsticks in the bathtub!

This past Sunday, after Dave & I completed the Tough Mudder, we were exhausted. 

Tough Mudders! 

We had pre-planned with our neighbors to do dinner at their place as we knew we wouldn't be very capable parents after 12 miles and 20 military style obstacles (oh - and a 90 minute drive home after!) We brought a bunch of food over and they had some ready to go too. We ate well, the kids played in the kiddie pool and we got ready to dive into another week!  

Thank god for our neighbors!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always one of my favorite days. Not because of the celebration of me (though that is fun) as a mom, but rather the great time we get to have together as a family & with friends. 

We started the tradition of running the local Mother's Day 5k in town each year. We try to get as many people we know doing it. Dave will push the double stroller with Sophia & her buddy Frances: 

 and I get to run on my own. This year, I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my two little munchkins and a card from Sophia she made in school.

But before the adults race, the kids run a 1k race. Here are some shots:

Zac, Sophia, Frances & Ronan - the neighborhood posse

Read to Race

Crossing the finish with Dad! 

 And then, after the race, snuggle time with my kiddos. Hooray for being a mom.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with a brunch back at our place (including homemade donuts!) and then a nice massage on my own at the spa. Ahh....what a day!

Celebrating the Big 2

As I've mentioned in previous posts, Sophia & her friend Frances were both born on November 7th, about 8 hours apart, both at Mt. Auburn. We like to say they were first friends (there were only 3 babies in the nursery during their stay!)

So what better way to celebrate 2 years than an ice cream date with your best friend. We chose Christina's in Inman Square - everything is homemade, it's in walking distance from the house and the flavors are amazing! (we went with pumpkin)

Apparently, 5pm is the perfect time to take your young child for ice cream - no one else is there (hmmm, maybe the good parents are feeding their children dinner at this hour? Oh well, birthday's are only once a year!)

Here's Frances thoroughly enjoying herself:

And Sophia delighting in her pumpkin ice cream (She gave up on the spoon and licked it straight out of the cup)

And finally, after returning home to open her presents from Mom & Dad and having all the neighbors come by to visit, a very happy Birthday Girl!

'Cause you gotta have friends...

'Tis the season to give thanks, so I'm going to be doing different posts about what I'm thankful for.

I am forever thankful for my friends. I am lucky to have such wonderful men and women in my life. Lately, though, I am especially thankful for my fellow baby mama friends. I am blessed with a group of women who I have become increasingly connected with since being pregnant and having Sophia. These women are all so very different from me and from each other, but they have been my "rocks" for the past 13 months. Some I've known since high school, some I met in the past year. Some live close by, others across the pond. What I know is that they have been there for me in so many ways.

Having children that are all the same age is very convenient for comparisons:

That 8am phonecall that starts with "Sophia's is being amazingly stubborn and not sleeping at all? Is it wrong to want to trade her in today? Oh, Frances is doing the same? Want to swap kids?"
or
"Sophia had a massive poop that destroyed multiple outfits. Will did too? That's so reassuring that our children are really talented!"

Seriously. These are real conversations. But above and beyond the discussions about our children's sleeping, bowel movements, mobility and teeth acquisitions, it's the conversations about ourselves as women, wives and mothers. The reassurance that no, we aren't crazy, yes it is entertaining to watch our husbands make a fuss about something that we do multiple times a day with nary an eyelash batted and maybe it's not the worst thing to snuggle on the couch in silence after the baby has gone to bed with a nice glass of wine and some bad TV.

So ladies, you know who you are. I just want to say thank you for being there and being amazing. I couldn't have made it through the past year with out you. Because you gotta have friends.

Cause you gotta have friends....

Last November was a busy time for a bunch of us. There are about 8 of us with little ones all born within a few weeks of each other. Some women I already knew, others I met through my pre-baby Yoga class at Karma Yoga Studio or through the Somerville Moms list.

We decided there was no better way to celebrate than have all the babies (and their parents) at our place last weekend for some fun, food and a little bit of bedlam. Unfortunately, not all the kids could be there (one is living in London and we would have Skyped her in, but alas, she decided on a late afternoon nap) and some were sick. But Dave created an awesome poster with all the kids pictures on it:Here are some of the shots of the other kids:
Gala & Lila (my little meatball buddy!)

Lee & Andrew:
Katina & Axelle (our next door neighbors and "younger" friend - Axelle's 9months, but we figured it would be fun for her to hang out with the "big" kids...

Matt, Allison & Charlie (our elder statesmen at 15 months) (Frances & Morgan are playing with the car):
And finally Sophia & Frances - officially first friends. There were born 10 hours apart at Mt. Auburn hospital. Frances was about a month early, so Morgan & I had no idea we were both in having the girls at the same time:

We knew the party was rocking because there were shoes being eaten:

And a sleepy dad when all was said and done:

A day in the park

We're totally taking advantage of the nice weather to get out and walk as much as we can. Friday was a gorgeous day, so Sophia and I met up with our good friends Frances and Morgan for a long walk around Cambridge.

Morgan and I met in our pre-baby yoga class this summer and were due about a month apart. But lo and behold, Miss Frances decided she was ready to come early and she was born the same day as Sophia, Nov 7, also at Mt. Auburn. So she is officially Sophia's oldest friend!!

Here are some shots of the girls at the park. It is really nice as they are (slowly) starting to become more aware of each other. We still have a way to go, but it is the beginning of what will hopefully be a life-long friendship!

Reaching out:




Gotcha:




Just makes me smile.