Weekend Wrap-Up: Mother's Day

One more year, one more great Mother's Day. Can you believe I've been a Mom for almost 21 years? That's a lot of Mother's Days under my belt, and I look forward to many more to come.

After a week's worth of clouds and rain, the skies turned blue and the sun finally came out! The fields were so saturated, however, that our three soccer games on Saturday were cancelled. Due to Mother's Day there was no swim on Sunday. What I'm trying to say is that the weekend was totally chill for once.

And I got my annual Mother's Day picture. Yay!

We had our North Jersey contingency down for the whole weekend, which was very nice. My girls went to the Children's Theater with their little cousins, we had dinner together as a great big bunch on Saturday, then reconvened for Mother's Day Brunch on Sunday. It's great to spend that quality time with everyone.

You know, I've had Mother's Days when kids were sick and puking, Mother's Days where there was a stream of dirty diapers and night wakings. 

I've had Mother's Day in the vineyards with wine, breakfast in bed, and afternoons at the spa. I've spent Mother's Days completely alone with a non-verbal CB, and Mother's Days rubbing my belly waiting to meet the little one inside me. No matter what I do, where I go, what I get... it's all good. 

This year, CB got up at 6:45 am, but at least she slept through the night so I was happy.

And, unlike other random days, I got a few pretty things just for being a Mom...

Of course, I cried reading the cards the girls made me. I got through two before I broke down. Big improvement from years prior. Yes, I AM a total freakin' sap.

The above silver bracelets were given to me at dinner on Saturday night by my entire family. It was in  celebration of my one-year "Cancer Free" anniversary. What a huge surprise, and a very sweet one. Mother's Day will forever come on the heels of this anniversary and I can't think of a better way to remind myself of what I will forever fight for. 

The day came to the perfect end when Dr. Fabulous picked up sushi and some beer. After the kids went to bed, the paaaarty started. And by party, I mean watching the Antique Road Show snuggled on the couch with my man, drinking a few of these. 

That, my friends, is what I call another perfect Mother's Day!

Weekend Wrap-Up: Our Last First Holy Communion

Well, we had our last little girl celebrate her First Holy Communion. It was, like all the "last times," a little bittersweet. But to her? It was all sweet.

We had a super busy week, stuff after school until about 9:00 pm every night that week... which is basically par for the course in the Fall and Spring. Friday night, Dr. Fabulous and I had another black tie affair, our third hospital gala ('tis the season) which would be all fine and dandy if I didn't have to be out of the house at 8:45 am the following morning with a primped little princess and 30 people coming to my house for lunch afterwards.

Hectic? I guess. Or, you could say it makes your life feel full and rich and happy. 

So what if you're a little tired? Sleep is overrated. Just ask CB. She has been up all night for the past several weeks!

So, the morning was very special and the girls and boys looked so cute... not that it's about how you look... but nevertheless, it was an adorable bunch all spit-polished and fancy!

So, this "time stamp" on my photographs is killing me. I couldn't find my camera charger for my nice 35 mm Canon. Of course, it didn't help that I was looking for it the morning of ... when it was all crazy up in here. So, Pink's like "Mom, you can use my camera," which was a very nice gesture but #1 I don't really know how to use her camera (which is a nice one, by the way) so half the pictures were blurry and garbage and #2, I didn't realize she has this freakin' time stamp feature and it's on every single photo. I tried my best to edit it out of most, but still. So annoying. I shoulda just used my phone camera instead. Whatev.

It was cold and raining that Saturday morning... then it turned into SNOW.  Yes, snow in mid-April. What the heck? It ended up being 1 to 2 inches. It was crazy and nixed the outside pictures...but it looked really pretty.

Pink was dying to make Rella's cake. I was initially all stressed and grumpy about it as it would surely cause much more work and chaos than just ordering a cake and picking it up. Then, the wise Dr. Fabulous said "Enjoy these moments while we have them." He was right. She did an awesome job, she enjoyed herself, and it turned out absolutely beautiful. And, honestly, other than getting her the supplies? She did every single thing herself. The roses are sculpted out of fondant and the cross freehand cut out of fondant too. Inside was pink velvet and white cake. I was super proud of her.

And, I was super proud of my baby girl. My baby is 8 and celebrating yet another milestone. Life is going by so fast, but I'm enjoying getting to know my girls and watching them grow into amazing people.

And I really enjoyed the fact that the snow cancelled all the Fall travel soccer try-outs on Sunday so we had a complete sleep in, stay in pjs, veg-out day. It. Was. Awesome.

Weekend Wrap Up: Par-Tay!

Well, it was another full and exciting weekend of partying it up! The weekend before Christmas is chock full of out-of-town family parties and our clan was representing in full holiday spirit!

Notice Tink's Santa hat. It has not left her head since December 3rd. I'm not kidding. 

I was super excited to get two very rare full family photos this year — one at each party. Of course, I didn't have said photos in enough time to use on a Holiday card. So my card is some crazy a** photo of my four girls making goofy faces and rabbit ears over each other's heads from the Autism Walk two years ago. Yeah, it was that kind of frustrating card year.

Our card was a horror show, but we coordinated pretty nicely for THIS party!

The girls are getting so big, but the Christmas magic is mostly still alive over here. Pink is playing it a little "chill" this holiday. Her big wish items ain't happening (an iphone) but I think she will be fine with it.

Tink is always happy. Always. So, Christmas is no exception. She wants for nothing but these Itty Bitty stuffed animals at the Hallmark store, Shopkins, and World Peace. Those were the three items on her list. The only three.

Rella, on the other hand, had a list the size of the Empire State Building. She might have asked for the Empire State Building for all I know. She asked for a dog (AGAIN, ain't happening) and a drum set (Hellz No!) and circled literally every thing in the Toys R Us catalog. Every. Thing.

CB wants for little. She's a low maintenance type girl. My wish list for her, on the other hand, could build a bridge to the moon.

Santa took time out of his busy schedule to visit at the one party. The three little ones asked him politely  for a few things and received a small gift.

Notice CB sitting in the very back... red sweater. Loved it. 

At 20, CB doesn't go up and sit with Santa anymore, but she did when she was younger and Santa certainly remembers her. He was always very patient and kind. Santa is like that, ya know.

I enjoyed watching her sit on the fringes of the action, stimming away in her own world but present in the mix. 

This December is a particularly memorable time for me as it marks one year since my diagnosis of Breast Cancer. Last December 14th, I received the phone call from my doctor telling me the "not so awesome news." It was 11 days before Christmas, and a complete shock. This year, I not only have my treatment behind me, but another fantastic year in front of me. I'll let you know more about what's in store for me in 2016 a little later.

Anyway, I'm not sure I'm going to post much this week, so I'll just go ahead and say it now:
Happy Holidays from our family to yours!! Enjoy your loved ones, enjoy the season!

Birthday In The Big Easy

I've never been to New Orleans. So, when Dr. Fabulous had a conference there, I had to go with him to check out the food, music, and nightlife. I mean, you just HAVE to, right? Bonus, it was going to be the week of my birthday so it was a perfect way to celebrate.

Dr. Fabulous had to attend the conference all day for most days. But, we did get the opportunity to walk around. We'd grab lunch together and tried all the signature New Orleans food like Muffalettas and Beignets. I ate lots of seafood, which I really never have the opportunity to do in Jersey, other than sushi. When he was being all professional during the day, I'd go for a run then walk around exploring. By day, I felt very safe. At night? Not so sure I'd be out alone, but I'm a chicken like that.

We went to Bourbon Street one night with some friends. It. Was. Wild.

And one day, I enjoyed outdoor music and some beers in the middle of the afternoon, enjoying my own company. When do I ever get to do that? Seriously, never. I think that was one of my favorite days.

We didn't take the kids and my in-laws were wonderful enough to watch them and get them to school and all their activities. They're the best. On our last night there, it was actually the day BEFORE my birthday, Dr. Fab and I went out to an amazing dinner at The Commander's Palace. I highly recommend if you find yourself in New Orleans.

So, it's my birthday dinner night and we're out at this incredible, five star restaurant and we get a phone call from my mother-in-law that Pink has injured her arm at soccer practice. The entire dinner we are taking turns on the phone, talking to her, then talking to Pink, then calling our friend who is an orthopedist who graciously sees her at 9:00 pm that night and puts her in a splint. Then talking to her some more. What a relaxing, celebratory, enjoyable dinner!

And the next morning, my actual birthday, we were flying home. Our plane was super delayed so we were in the airport for hours. My mother-in-law took Pink to the doctor for an X-ray. Turns out, she had a buckle fracture on her growth plate so she was casted for 4 weeks.  

Last year Pink was vomiting in the back seat of the minivan on my birthday when she got sick (the three little ones were all sick, actually). My birthday is apparently bad luck for my children. 

But, despite the long, emotionally exhausting day, it was a good birthday... because I came home to great big love.