Goodbye Yankee Stadium

As a tribute to our beloved Yankees and the historic last game at Yankee stadium, I had to post a couple of pictures. I was born in NY and lived there until I was twelve and was lucky enough to go to Yankee Stadium. The highlight of one game was when I was given a signed ball by a player on the opposing team. Geordie could not believe that I got the ball and is still bitter to this day I think. Geordie is a die hard fan and went to the games on Friday and Saturday this weekend. On our recent trip to NYC, we got Maddie a Yankee hat. Chris even lets her wear it, but I know she'll have a Cubs hat soon too!

Here I am at Yankee Stadium

And here's Maddie!

God Bless Our Troops!

There is so much talk lately about politics and it's actually the first year that I'm really paying attention. It must be that over 30 thing. Regardless of everyone's political beliefs, one thing that unites us as a nation is the gratitude we all feel for our military. As many of you know, my best friend Jess served 4 years in the Army and spent time in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne. Well now it's her husband Chris's turn to serve our country overseas. So Chris, as you prepare for deployment, we all salute you! My dad taught Maddie to salute the flag, so this one's for you Chris and all the brave men and women who you work with. You are in our prayers.

Baby Jackson

This post is long overdue. As was Jackson! Jackson entered the world only 2 days late, despite the doctor's predictions for a week overdue (good boy). Jennie is doing great and Jackson looks like a little version of Kevin with the McDreamy hair and everything. People joke and call Kevin "McDreamy" from Grey's Anatomy because he's a doctor and has the dark, wavy hair. I saw them in the hospital and at their house his first weekend home. Here are some pictures when he was a newborn.

I caught Kev mid-yawn. Love this one.

Today we went over to visit Jackson again and this time Maddie came. She wasn't too interested in Jackson, she liked getting kisses from Bodhi though. We went on a long walk (Maddie ran) around their neighborhood and we had a nice visit. He is such a sweet boy and so precious!

Singin' in the Rain

Yesterday we got dumped on by Tropical Storm Hanna. We have really had such beautiful weather all summer so we had to get creative and find ways for Maddie to let out her bountiful physical energy. We set up the air mattress in our bedroom and that was fun for a while. Then we let her play in the rain on the deck. She got to wear her new raincoat from Aunt Samie for the first time. She has watched a little bit of Singing in the Rain at Nana's house so she loves to play with the umbrella. We just need to get her one that won't poke anyone's eye out!

NY Trip

To celebrate our 7th anniversary we took a long weekend trip to NY. We spent two nights in Long Island and went to my friend Jeanine's wedding. Jeanine is a sorority sister from college and I got to see girls that I haven't seen in about 8 years. It was wonderful to see everyone and Jeanine was a beautiful bride and the whole weekend was a blast. While we were in (or do you say on?) Long Island, we went into Southampton to see the quaint town and had a quick visit with some dear friends of my family, the Raynors. They have had this house since the 70's and we used to go there as kids when we lived in NY. They are like family and it was so good to see them. We call them Aunt Sharon and Uncle Dave and I will say without a doubt that Aunt Sharon is the funniest person I know. Michael, their second son is my age and he has a son who is 4 months older than Maddie. We wish Maddie could have been there to meet Andres (Andy). Micheal and his wife live in Venezuela, where the Raynors spent many years as Catholic missionaries. They are truly a wonderful family and it was a blessing to have a brief visit with them.

Then we moved on into the city for a night and saw Avenue Q on broadway, in which a friend from high school is performing. We caught up with him after the show and it was so neat to see him. Then we had the most amazing dinner at a quaint little Italian restaurant. It was a great weekend away and we are so thankful to my parents for watching Maddie!

Brooke and Maddie

They are 3 weeks apart in age, and although we're not next door to them anymore, we're neighbors at heart! We recently got together with Lisa and Brooke and took the girls to a water park. It's funny to look back and then see them now. I had to include some old pictures.

3 months old

7 months old

So I have to write this story down so I don't forget it. I got an email from Lisa one day and in it she wrote that Brooke's 2 year check-up was coming up. She had heard that the height kids are at 2 doubled is a good predictor of their adult height. So she measured Brooke and she was 35 1/2 inches, which doubled would make her 5'11" and that is exactly what Lisa is. At Maddie's check-up they told me she was in the 99th percentile for height after measuring her lying down, squirming like crazy. People have commented that she is tall so I thought okay, she's tall. Well I decided to go back and look at the actual measurement that the nurse got and it was 37 3/4"!! Which doubled, would make her 6'3"!! Chris and I tried to remeasure her standing up and got roughly 34" which makes more sense. So I was anxious to see the girls together and see their height side by side. Lisa got a good picture of them standing on a tree stump. It was hard to tell who is taller, but I think Brooke has her by a little.

2 years old

THEN.....as we were leaving, I told Maddie to give Brooke a hug and she did. Then Brooke decided she wanted to give Maddie a kiss. We had to have them reenact it in order to get a picture and they did. How sweet is this? And as Lisa points out, they both had their eyes closed!! Thanks Lisa for these pictures.

A Fun Reunion

Through Facebook, my friend Flannery from high school and I got in touch with each other. She was visiting her family here in Virginia and we got together. It has been about 12 years since we've seen each other, but it was like no time had passed. She has two little girls. Eleanor is almost 3 and Mary Larkin turned 1 in July. We just hung out and let the girls swim and have fun while we caught up! It was so great to see her and meet her sweet girls.

Beach Pictures

Well as promised, here are some of the pictures that the photographer took at the beach. The wind and sun made it challenging, but there are some nice shots. Geordie and Mary look perfect in every picture!! Here are my favorites. This first one captures the mood that Maddie was in. She pretty much just wanted to run away the whole time. But we managed to keep her still for some! Mia, next time, can you just come on our family vacation and take pictures?

"I Be 2 Years Old!"

That's what Madeline says now when you ask her how old she is. Our little girl turned 2 today and I'm sitting here reflecting after a fun weekend of celebrating. I have often thought to myself lately, "I can't believe she's 2!" or "she's growing up so fast!" You know, the usual parental wonderment that our baby is no longer a baby. But it really sank in when I checked my email tonight. For 2 years and 8 months I have been receiving weekly email updates from BabyCenter.com. It is a great website that has updated me every week starting with pregnancy. It began with "You are 8 weeks pregnant", telling me "this week your baby is the size of a grain of rice, then a lentil, then a fig, etc." Then once Maddie was born, the emails swithed to "Your Baby This Week: 1 Week, 7 weeks, 20 weeks, etc." and provided helpful baby tips and developmental information. Then once she turned one, they became, "Your Toddler This Week: My 15 month-old, Week 1"...you get the point. Well tonight the email subject said, "My Preschooler This Week: Your 2 Year Old". WHAT?!! Preschooler?! Aren't they toddlers for a little longer? And we've gone from counting weeks, to years I guess. And here is what they had to say about a 2 year-old: "Two-year-olds give the biggest hugs, flash the biggest smiles, and yes, throw the loudest, most spectacular tantrums." Well aint that the truth. As reluctant as I am to acknowledge that Maddie is no longer a baby, or apparently even a toddler, and is now a preschooler, I am excited for her to grow. I am so in love with this little person who is developing her own personality, her own will, her own voice and mind. Her talking is becoming more conversational and it is so fun. I got home from work one night and she was playing and I bent down to her like I always do and before I could say anything she looked up and said, "Hi Mommy, how your day?" It melted my heart. So I'm ready for the tantrums, we've experienced some already. And as long as my 2 year-old "preschooler" continues to give us those big hugs and flash her big smile, I guess I'm okay with her no longer being a baby.

Hess Family Beach Trip

We spent an amazing week in the Outer Banks with my parents and Geordie and Mary. We decided it was the best way to celebrate my mom's upcoming 60th birthday. Sorry for giving away your age Mom, but if I look like you when I'm 60 I'll be thrilled! We had a great house on the beach and pretty much spent the whole week relaxing on the beach. We went to the aquarium one day when it rained briefly. Otherwise, we had our toes and Maddie had much more than her toes in the sand! She loved the waves and the water, but we had to hold onto her for dear life because the current was so strong from a storm off the coast. So she mostly just played for hours in the sand. Her favorite thing of all was to run down to the water and then run all the way back up to our umbrella at full speed. Here are some of my favorite pictures that we took and a video. We had a photographer come and do family pictures as a present for my mom and I'll share some of those when we get them back.

The beautiful view from our house. I've never seen the Atlantic so green!