Happy Anniversary - June 27, 2010

Today is hazy, hot and humid - just like our wedding day seven years ago. While, for the past 13 1/2 years, Matt and I maintained that that we were meant to be together, we did date for 2 years before moving in together, we lived together for 5 years before getting married, and now, seven years into it, we are waiting for the birth of our second child... and we still love each other deeply and believe that we were meant to be together. In this day and age, this is no small feat, and I consider myself blessed.

As time approaches...

BIG BROTHER:

Only time will tell how great Owen will actually be as a big brother, but his love for his baby sister is so evident right now that it's touching.

Once we had the crib assembled, he climbed up into and "organized" it for her; he spread a pretty blanket, put in a pillow and two of his favorite stuffed animals, and then added the collection of Mr. Silly stories - so that Dad could read her this book every night.

The other evening Owen gave me a hug with his arms up over my stomach, and then he said, wait mom, now I need to give you a hug, which was with his arms around my waist. Note to self: all those hugs in the past 2 months were for her, and not for me; ) He then told me that he couldn't wait for his baby to come.

NESTING:

We can't wait for her to come either -- well, okay, I can wait at least another week because I'm just not ready yet. The nesting instinct kicked in hard core this week and I'm better now because of it, but the mental list of things I need to do is still superimposed in my mind. Two nights ago I woke up at 2:30 a.m. and since I didn't go back to sleep, got up at 4 a.m. and made a few lists, went through 2 bins of baby clothes, got ready for work, and made some breakfast. Matt got up at 5:30 and I thought he might keep me company (LOL) but he was smart and went back to sleep for an hour! Between work (ugh) and home I can't rest yet, but soon - very soon!

THE LAST SUPPER?!?

Matt and I went out to dinner with Bryan and Jennifer Trainor last night at 85 main - we'll call it Birthday Dinner because I'm hoping to make it out for dinner one more time before the baby is born - our Anniversary is the 27th so it's possible, although going out afterward might be nice as well. Maybe because the baby has shifted and gotten into a better position, whatever it was (I was really hungry because I purposely ate lightly all day?!?) I was able to eat the most delightful, beautifully presented, aromatic dinner in months. When relishing how good it was in the wee hours this morning, I decided it was one of my top 5 meals out. I started with a baby bib wedge salad with heirloom tomatoes, red onion, scrolled carrots, and a little bit of ceasar dressing instead of the blue cheese dressing, topped with some crumbled double-smoked bacon. For my entree I had seared sea scallops with corn sauce, micro greens, and, instead of the wild mushroom risotto, the kitchen made me a different risotto, a red pepper, green onion, and basil risotto, as Carly Martin said it was no problem and the kitchen fulfilled the request. Carly also made me a fun-fruity drink served in a martini glass and it was fabulous -- a take on the French Martini that I had ben craving earlier in the evening...yummy.

The conversation flowed - we hadn't been to dinner with the Trainors in months - and we had much to discuss concerning the leaking of Crossfire, TK, TV, and Neon Trees, the baby, music, and the like.... Brian and Barry Jessurun came over and said hello, and that was nice since I hadn't seen them in a while.

COFFEE TALK:

While Terry Paquette used to do Swamp Talk in Eastford, Sarah and I partake in Coffee Talk - we managed to meet two weeks ago for a chat to catch up. Desptite their personal hardship in conceiving, they are supportive and fabulous friends that we wish the best for.

UPDATE BLOG:

One more item on my list can be checked off - a hodgepodge entry, for better or worse, it's been done!

Summer Celebration

Today was Owen's Summer Celebration at Saint James School - aside from the Christmas Pageant, which was put on by the entire school, today was the first school event that Matt and I attended that was solely for the benefit of Owen and his PreK-4 classmates.
Of course, all those little magpies were SUPER cute, marching into the gymnasium and ascending the stairs to the stage, taking their assigned places, singing their songs (or shouting as the case might be).
Unexpectedly, each child spoke into the microphone and asked their respective parents to come up on the stage to receive a photo book. A couple of times I teared up (regardless of pregnancy hormones, I would have done the same thing on a normal day) and I was able to keep it together, until Mrs. Carpenter reminded me of the first day of class when I teared up dropping Owen off for class. She and I are sentimental-types and I sensed a kindred spirit in her from the beginning. The fact that she remembered our shared moment from back in September was sweet. In addition, she shared with us that she absolutely loved Owen's comments - Apparently, at one point during the year Owen told her, "you never know what each day will bring."

Turns out both her mother and she posted Calvin and Hobbes comic strips on their refrigerators and Mrs. Carpenter was pleasantly surprised to hear that Owen has a special fondness for Calvin.

The icing on the Summer Celebration cake was tonight, when Matt was tucking Owen into bed and telling him how proud he was of Owen's performance and his accomplishments in PreK, when Owen asked if now he was going to Kindegarten. When Matt replied yes, Owen started to cry because he was concerned that in Kindegarten there wouldn't be much play time...

Poor little boy: ) he doesn't know that Kindegarten at KCS will actually be 15 minutes shorter!