Loves climbing the slide!

Prayer for a Daughter

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her
When crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels.
What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back.

“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.
Amen.

~Tina Fey, Bossypants (which I'm reading right now!)

Weekend with the Eichs

As I mentioned in my last post, Andrew's parents came from Michigan to join us for Leyla's birthday party. We had such a nice visit with them!

Friday night Andrew and I went to a cocktail party hosted by the Newcomers Group and Connecticut Cottages and Gardens magazine. It was fancy schmantzy, and really fun! We hung out with people we knew, and met a lot of new people too. And the Eichs were here to watch the kids, double score! (Although in hindsight- planning a big night out the night before you're to host a birthday party at noon the following day- NOT the smartest of ideas). The result was me getting up in the middle of the night to finish wrapping favors and do room set up and chop veggies, etc. (it's much easier to do things when the kids are sleeping!) But here we were before heading out:

Connor and Nana

On Sunday I brought my camera out and snapped a bunch of awesome pictures of the kids with their Nana and Granddad! Seriously I just love all of these.

 

Thanks for such a wonderful visit!

Leyla's 1st Birthday Party

On Saturday we had Leyla's birthday party! We ended up with about 30 people, and it was a really fun crowd. We are so lucky to have such fantastic friends and family that came to help us celebrate our little girl! Thank you to everyone that could be here, and a special (HUGE) thank you to Andrew's parents (especially Mom!) who were so helpful leading up to and during the party. It would not have been such a great success without them!! And we got to mingle and enjoy ourselves at the party that much more ;)

I did not do a great job of taking pictures during the party, just captured a few things here and there. The favors- Curious George birthday books and a CD I made of Connor and Leyla's current favorite music (CD cover designed by my Dad- thanks Dad!!) Birthday crown for Leyla made by Connor.

 Kids food table, I made mini pizza too. The adult food was brought in from Brother Jimmy's in NYC, Annie and JB picked it up for us on their way ;) So yum!!

Leyla and Maeve.

 So sweet!

 The adorable Sadie.

 Connor and Brendan.

 Cupcake time!

Yum!

 

Girlfriends and babies!

The party scene.

Connor totally passed out on the couch after most people left. Birthday parties are exhausting!

 Another tired camper.

Once again, Happy 1st Birthday to my little miss!
More pictures from our weekend with the Eichs to come!

Gone Running

I saw the above recently and I got a kick out of it. Connor started back at school this past Tuesday. While I miss him (like crazy!) while he's at school, I'm already seeing that it's going to be nice to have some extra time. Having just one child at home (especially one like Leyla) feels so easy! I hope that as we adjust to our new routine, I'll be able to get myself back into a regular workout routine again too. I've done the best I could this summer, but I wouldn't exactly call it "regular," ha.  Maybe there will even be more time for blogging too ;) But for now... I've gone running!

Touch a Truck

Wilton (the town next to us) had their "Touch a Truck" event yesterday. Wowsers is it a little boy's heaven! There was every kind of truck/vehicle imaginable, train and pony rides, a small animal farm/petting zoo, face painting, etc. Perfect pit stop on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

Connor in the firetruck!

Gotta try on the helmet too.

The Public Works vehicles.

 

Music Together had a booth which Leyla enjoyed.

Leyla in the driver's seat!

Driving Miss Daisy. There's a chance she could grow up to be a trucker. She had way too much fun in there.

Connor and I on the train ride.

Could his grin be any bigger?

Pony ride!

Little animal farm. The goat kept trying to munch on Leyla's bum.

Connor showing Leyla how to "gently" pet the chicken.

Leyla loved the little bunny.

Silverman's Farm

While my Dad and Grandpa were here we took a field trip to Silverman's Farm in Easton, CT (about 30 mins away). My little family loves animals and any opportunity to feed them (especially baby goats)- this dates back to when I when I was a kid! The kids (and I) had a ball!

Goats!

 A little baby girl talking to a little baby llama.

 Connor feeding a reindeer. We told him to be sure to come to our house on Christmas Eve.

 My goodness does my boy love feeding animals.

There's a chance Leyla could be open mouth kissing a sheep here but that's ok.

Such a fun outing with some of my favorite people!