Your First River Boat Trip.

Dear Scarlett,

We had a very busy weekend. Seems to be the norm for us lately. Bachelorette party was lots of fun and even though I was running on very little sleep, I was excited for Sunday's adventures.

I never got to do anything with my Grandpa for Father's Day back in June so I made arrangements to do something fun with him this weekend.  I thought it would be interesting if we took a trip up the Connecticut River on a Riverboat. It was another first for you. You were pretty amazed with the whole scene. We saw 2 bald eagles, a pretty beautiful bridge and learned a lot of history. Your favorite part was the dinosaur imprint on a stone that was dug out of the area surrounding the river. Planning this trip, I had no idea how much history really was involved around this river and I also discovered on the boat, as Grandpa told his story to all, that he helped clear trees there in the 1970's. Imagine that, my own dad was part of the river's history. It was a really enjoyable time and after we finished, we stopped for lunch at a Farm House down the road. A place called the Farm Table, which I would recommend if you are ever in Bernardston Ma. Amazing antique photography hung on the walls and told stories of history.

We ended the day visiting at my younger sister's new place and then started on our way back to New York.

Waiting for the River Boat.

You were pretty excited that the boat arrived.

 Searching for eagles...

Uncle Peter and Auntie Kalin

 Grandpa telling his tale of the river in 1970.

The Farm Table

Happy Baby, Happy Daddy.

European Babe.

dear Scarlett,

Last month, Auntie Shauna went away to London and bought you a souvenir. You wore your London shirt today. How cute are you!?



Love, Mama

Florals.

I have a habit of dressing you like me without even planning it out. Often I dress you and then look in mirror to realize that we are twins. This day was one of those days. I guess I was feeling the florals. 

I Got You, Babe.

I Got You By: Sonny & Cher

Sometimes, there's no one else in this world that I need more than you.

Love, Mama

26 months.

Dear Scarlett,

This month, you are talking so much more than I ever thought you would at this age. You tell me everything and sometimes, yes sometimes you show your independence with "terrible two" actions. Of course you are such a laid back toddler that your terrible two's are nothing compared to some. I tend to think that this age is where you truly start to get into feeling independent and that's where the two get confused. If I let you choose your outfit, you will get dressed without a fight. If I let you help me with lunch, you eat much more. If I give you options and let you feel like you have some control, you are a much happier toddler. The other night this happened,

At t bedtime, you asked to sleep on the couch. I told you no. Then you asked to sleep in "Mama's bed". While I do let you sleep in our bed occasionally, I don't want it to become a habit. I want you to like your own bed, too. I told you no again. You stood next to your bed with pouty lips and teary eyes. "Please Mama?" you asked. "You have to sleep in your bed, Scarlett." The thunder roared and you looked up to me with scared eyes, "A storms comin' Mama." I nodded, "Yes, but you don't have to be scared." I assured. You hugged your blankie and with the sweetest little voice you said, "Mama, I scared of storm." I wrapped you up in my arms. I held you close and smelled your sweet little Scarlett scent of hair detangler and baby skin. "Don't be afraid Scarlett, the storm is just passing through. Should we say good-bye to the storm?" You nodded and yelled out, "Bye storm!" After that, you got back into your bed and was out like a light. My precious, little babe. How you melt me day after day.

Speaking of beds, your toddler bed is our next order of business. While most toddlers are in toddler beds at 1-2 years, you are content in your crib. You don't try to climb out like some of your friends. But I think we will introduce one to you and see if you like it. Since you love sleeping in our bed, even if we aren't in it, I think you will do just fine. You have always been a slow one to move onto beds. You slept in your mini crib until you were 13 months. Then I switched you to your own room. Finally! Maybe it's me that doesn't like to let go but what's the rush?

You will be starting preschool in September and while this is very bittersweet for me, I know it is what's best for you and you will love it!

Here are some very cute photos from this month!

Love, Mama

Time. A blog Post About You.

Dear Scarlett, I wanted to share this blog post that I wrote on my blog because it shows you how sometimes even Mama makes mistakes. But I want you to know as much as possible so that when you are older, you can understand things even easier and maybe when you have children of your own, you will be able to use these lessons that I've learned. 

Scarlett's pretty over the moon with her new leggings from Lola Bean. 

She asks to wear them pretty much...every day. 

Leggings: Lola Bean / Shirt: H&M

Scarlett. 
She's been teaching me so much the last few months. Yes, my 2 year old is teaching me. I'm was actually sitting here in bed tonight thinking. My mind was spinning so much that I crept out of bed to jot down these thoughts. Everything about Scarlett is wonderful. Today, she called to me, "Mama, look!".  I turned to see her holding up a card that I received at my bridal shower. It was colorful, filled with florals and a few birds. 
"Look Mama, this beau-ti-ful!" She was right. Her little mind always reminds me of all the small things in this world. This simple card was filled with beauty. She sees things that I miss. 

She reminds me. 

She calls for me when I am at my busiest. Up to my neck with wedding details and important things. "One minute Scarlett." I call to her. 

But one minute is all it takes for her to grow up. For her to change into the little person that she is becoming. Growing out of the heartfelt things that she says and the small gestures that she makes. 
"Bless you Mama." When I sneeze. 
The way she says, "I swimming." or "I tired." in her little voice, her tiny sentences forming together. 
"A big hug?" she asks. 
Watching her swaddle her dollies and change their diapers.
Watching her sing her abc's in the bathtub, lining all the letters up.
The way she wraps those arms around me.


I don't want to miss those moments! We have been trying to make more of a schedule around here lately. With everything going on with wedding plans, events and traveling back to Mass pretty much every weekend, it's easy to get distracted or lose track of time. 

Every night, after she has a bath and brushes her teeth, we have been reading 2 books. The other night, I had a million things going on and I was deep in concentration. I heard Scarlett call for me but I just didn't want to lose my train of thought. "One minute Scarlett." 
Before I knew it, it was 9 pm and Scarlett came to my leg and laid her head on me, "I sleepy Ma-ma." I didn't realize it was past her bedtime. I rubbed my eyes with frustration. I wasn't frustrated with her, I was frustrated with myself for not giving her any of my time. How was it the end of the day already?! Never enough time. 
I told her to go get blankie and sleeping baby and I got her some milk. After prayers, kisses and big hugs, I closed her bedroom door and made my way back to the living room. I paused by our bedroom door. Out of the corner of my eye, something caught my attention. I walked to our bed and pulled the covers down. Two books lay there idle. One on Ty's pillow and one on my pillow. 

I felt pretty small at that moment. 
Instant teary eyes.

I was too busy to read her 2 simple books. Those two books are the highlight of her night. 
I want all of her moments. All of those precious minutes that go by in the blink of an eye. I'm missing some of them with each time I say, "One minute Scarlett." And so she teaches me. I realize that I won't be able to come to her every beck and call for the rest of her life, but I want these moments now. I want her little-ness. Just another lesson in motherhood.

Everyone is so worried about career and money and success. When you die, what will that leave you? A good reputation and some money for your kids, maybe. But if you haven't experienced life, enjoyed it, then what good is it? I swear that having children makes you wiser. Time is so short. Sometimes I lay awake at night paralyzed by the fear that one day, everything I have will be gone. Or that it can be taken away in the blink of an eye. But then I remember that this world wasn't intended for us and there is much more to come for us. The only thing that comforts me is knowing that God will someday bring us home forever. FOREVER. Not sure I even understand the meaning of that. But I could get used to spending forever with Scarlett and Ty... 

Time is a strange thing.
Sometimes it's against us and sometimes it helps us. But always passing. We need to remember to stop and take that time to love our little ones, love our significant others, and soak up all the wonderful things around us.

This moment...these moments.

Slow It Down.

Dear Scarlett, Another post from my blog. Wanted to share it with you and let you know how things were right before the wedding. I wrote this about 3 months ago.

Between sending out our wedding invitations, traveling back to Massachusetts to sell my house, Walking the March of Dimes and trying to bring some spring into our home, it's been a busy weekend. That seems to be the new norm for us. But no matter how busy it is, there is always time for ice cream. Which is exactly what we did on Sunday to slow down. 

Sometimes it's hard to slow down from the pressures of life. 

But it's necessary. And when you do, you start to enjoy the little things. 

The little things like....Scarlett had her first ice cream cone. Well, it wasn't her first but it was the first cone that she could hold all by herself. That counts. I've been doing a little gardening. This is a whole new experience for me. (Pics to come) But I have a love for flowers so I figured why not? Besides a sudden bought of allergies, it's been fun going to the nurseries and picking out plants and flowers. I've never had allergies and don't know why they've all of a sudden decided to come on, but they are not fun! It makes me think about little things that people take for granted. To go outside and enjoy spring without having to take a Claritin is something I took for granted. It reminds me to be thankful for all the little things that I don't even think about. 

Selling my first home was a piece of cake. We decided that it needed to be done since we never used it. It showed 6 times and sold in one week. As I walked through for the final time, I had a rush of emotions come over me. I'm not good with letting go. Every little detail holds a place inside of me. Even if they aren't special memories, I still feel like I need them. I thought about how we brought Scarlett home from the hospital to that house. I thought about how we mulched the gardens and mowed the grass. How I painted every wall in that house and how I bought it all on my own. 

But as soon as I closed the door and walked down those steps, I thought about how I'm going home to create new memories in our New York house. I decided that it wasn't letting go, but merely moving on. Simple.

And I'm pretty sure that's why I came back to New York in a big hurry to garden and buy pretty things for our home. 

Scarlett's bow headband:c/o  Little Gems Creations

Artwork waiting to be hung.

 Paper cups keep her busy.

A little grocery shopping in our pajamas...why not?

Your First Kayaking Trip.

little friends

Dear Scarlett,

I have to say, that after the last few stressful months leading up to our wedding, I am thrilled to have a couple weeks of nothing to do. Of course by nothing, I mean fun things, like spending pool days with you and entire weekends with Daddy, bonding and having fun together. Those times were scarce before the wedding. But now....ahhhhhhh. it's all done and over with. I exhaled for the first time in awhile and we made no plans. Just played our days by ear. Doing whatever it was that the wind blew our way. This weekend, we had some fun times blow our way. We packed up with some friends and went out to explore. We found a cute little kayak shack. The place was pretty cute. Hammocks and paddle boards covered the grass while all sorts of different boats lined the shore. We made our way into the Tiki Hut to find some life jackets for the littles and then picked our boats. We brought a small cooler of goodies and drinks. Daddy and I weren't sure how you were going to do sitting for 2-3 hours in a kayak in the middle of the water. But, you was very into it. You even asked to help Daddy paddle numerous times. Of course it took a few minutes of arguing ...eh, training to get Daddy and I on the same page with the rowing. Ha ha. But after we figured out how to turn ourselves around and get moving, I have to say, it was a really relaxing, carefree day and we had so much fun.

We got back to the shore just as the rain showed it's ugly face as it has been doing often these last couple of weeks. Right next to the Kayak Shack was a convenient pizza place. Not your typical pizza joint. No, this one had probably the best pizza that I've had anywhere around with lots of organic options. The atmosphere was in their favor as well. With a brick oven located right smack dab in the middle of the restaurant for customers to watch their pizza being made, and a cozy seating area inside their bar/lounge, it was an all around great little pizza place.

The best thing about moving to a new place is going out and exploring. Finding new places to eat and fun things to do. We've been here in New York for over a year now and still we are finding new restaurants and activities. It's so much different than the small town that we were once accustomed to. We're pretty much okay with that. I'm very happy that you are an outdoorsy kinda babe ;)

Love Mama & Daddy