A visit to the Green's. Wolcott, Ct.

One of the highlights of our trip east this July was visiting my Gram and Gramp Green in their home--the home where my dad grew up and the home I visited for what feels like hundreds of times as a child. The home Gramp practically built with his own 2 hands.

I love that it's exactly as it was when I was young. It smells the same, the piano player and all the rolls we sang to are still there. My gram is still a killer cook. Her roasted red peppers will have your mouth watering for more. Brad can attest to that. I hadn't been to visit them in connecticut since before Ava was born and I know the times I make it back to the house are fewer since having little babes. It's one of the things that puts a lump in my throat and causes tears to well in my eyes, one of the torments of being so far away. Gram and Gramp hadn't met Nathan yet, so we piled into Dad's car, brad, dad, Nathan and I and drove down to spend the afternoon and have dinner. 

The air was humid and Nathan took a bit of time to warm up, so I walked us through the backyard and remembered how I used to play there, and how far away the depths of the yard felt from the home. I used to hop from stone to stone out there, admire the gardens and bird houses and spy on the neighbors. I did that again with Nathan in my arms (minus the neighbors- no one was outside anyway) :). We picked ripe raspberries, Gram's home grown that she makes her famous jam with. Grampy came out to stand with us. He's lost weight from his chemo, and his black hair finally gave in to grey, but his spirits were up and he loved talking to Nathan. He was just as engaging as always and when I saw him smile I felt strongly how much I love them and I've missed seeing them.

I felt so grateful to be having the experience of being there again.

 Gram and Gramp have been such wonderful grandparents and I was reminded of that while I watched them interact with Nathan. I felt Gram's love as she worried about Nathan's safety and brought out Dad's old tinker toys for him to play with.

Before we left I walked through the house by myself, opened doors to the bedrooms and peeked in. I have so many memories...of taking a bath in the blue bathtub, of glaming up as I sat at Gram's vanity and smiled at myself in the mirror, reading dad's childhood books, playing dress up in the attic, playing restaurant with Gram in the kitchen window that overlooks the dining room, and sitting on Gramp's lap in his recliner while I ran my fingers across the top of his buzz cut (I did a lot of that). 

It was wonderful to see you Gram and Gramp.

Thank you for having us.

I love you dearly and I'm so glad you got to meet Nathan.

...until next time. xo

I tried to capture a little of what it's like there in photographs.

 

Summer fun part 1 | Truro in Instagram

Instagram. 

If you don't know what it is, it's a social media app. you can take photographs with your iphone and put a filter on them to make them more....fill in the blank,

the whole Green clan is on Instagram and we share the fun moments of our lives together that way. It makes being so far from each other a tiny bit easier. So this is a little taste of our trip to Truro this summer, instagram style. There are many more non-instagram photographs that I will post later. I even shot another roll of film there, which I hope came out ok. I can't wait to see!

Some highlights: 

*this was my view out the bedroom window while I nursed. 

I loved feeling like I was amidst the tree tops. The birds were right there, practically chirping in our room. my favorite is the wallpaper, curtains, bedspread, bed frame....everything vintage!

*playing with auntie mina. digging to China. getting a closer look with binoculars, of course!

 *happiness is running carefree along the shores of the atlantic ocean at low tide.

*Ballston Beach

*cousin Sarah loves to read and shared her daddy's lap with Nathan.

*sunsets. Representing the west coast on the east coast. #twins.

*beach bonfires, roasting marshmallows, staying up past bedtime. 

*naps. 

*meeting Mina and Sasha's new rescue, Nelly Belle.

PLUS having Hailey come with us for 2 weeks!!! YES!!!

*shave ice from Sweet Escape. #sugarghigh

*looking for whales

*kayaking on the bay #firstkayakridefornate

*glow stick excitement!

*corn hill beach. 

*morning reading for our smart cookie. ;)

*trips to p-town for portuguese fried dough. #yum

*fresh seafood from Mac's EVERY night. #nothingmoredelicious

*visiting with Great Nana. She thinks she's 88. I think that's why she keeps on keepin' on. It's working for her :)

*mermaid/crab. pretty true for the whole trip. Couldn't get Ava out of the water and Nathan was sick, hence, a bit of a crab.

*listening to the tides in a seashell.

 *family photo. 

No place better than the crisp cool water on a hot, humid, summer day in MA.

*my old bedroom at nana's. Now Ava's room.

*a hike to ballston overlook

*Bathtime in the claw-foot tub

*the bay.

*Celebrating Mina.

There is so much more. We had a really nice trip to Connecticut to visit my Gram and Gramp Green, We got to see Montse, Carl and the kids from Spain, Brad celebrated 10 years clean and sober and in recovery & Mina and Sash got engaged!

So stay tuned for more posting with more photos.

xo

Last Day of Pre School. Thank you Mariposa Montessori.

wow. when I look at Ava in this picture I see a big girl. It's confusing sometimes because when she is home running around naked (literally half the time) I look at her body and reflect on how she's still so little. She's both. It's bittersweet to watch my 1st born grow up. With Ava and her intense emotional energy I've spent a lot of her life wishing for her to grow up and out of the hysteric fits she has, but after 5 years, yes, it took me that long, I now realize this is just part of who she is. It's true there is an emotional regulator that gets turned on sometime between now and eight years old, and I see that happening for her. Would she ever throw a tantrum at school? Not on your life. She is an angel outside of this home. An angel. Just yesterday we had a play date with her friend Lola and I was in awe of her great attitude, her sharing and communicating. She's no doormat, she says what she needs, but she's generous and kind and giving. Why, you might ask, do I seem a little surprised? It's because she's maybe 20% like that with us at home. I don't always see that side of her. I know, and her teacher pointed out at every parent teacher conference when we would warily ask, "does she get along with others? Does she melt down when she make the slightest of mistakes?  They would reassure us that Ava is a wonderful friend and is very mature. huh? Then her teachers would say "everyone needs a place to let it all go. Home is that place. She knows she's safe there." And that was just what I needed to hear and be reminded of. 

Ava came down with the stomach flu on the eve of her Memory Walk to commence her time at Mariposa, so we missed it. We were all disappointed, more that I can express. "But Mommy, I want to go so you and Daddy can hold the candles and blow it out." Break my heart. They had spent weeks preparing for the ceremony. Her spirits were up a day later and I took her over to the school. The teachers were packing up the classrooms, but we did our best to create our own "memory walk". It ended up being a very nice way to say goodbye. It was personal and I did everything in my physical power not to cry. Ava wasn't crying. I didn't want to her think this is sad, but it was so hard. 

Her teachers literally burst with joy when she walked in the room, told her how much they missed her the day before, gave her her certificate of completion and a chalkboard to practice her writing over the summer. They told her how much they loved having her in their class and then looked at me and said "if only all our students could be like Ava. She is so well-behaved, follows the rules and is very focused. A great student." Once again, I was struck biting the inside of my lip hoping the tears welling up in my eyes weren't getting obvious. It was really special that Ava got to hear that, first hand.

Boat loads of gratitude to these wonderful teachers!

Ms. Felina & Ms. Grishma.

Ava walked me through the school garden and showed me what she planted.

I thought this was the most clever teacher appreciation gift I have seen so far! 

  A beautiful school full of love and culture and maturity, exactly what I want instilled in my daughter.

She showed me how this year she learned how to do the monkey bars.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of that cute little tush!

My how you've grown, Miss Ava

1st day of preschool 2011

Last day of preschool 2013.

We are so proud of who you are, Ava. 

You are a shining star and everything about you is meant to be that way.

We love you.

A sneak peek into out trip to HAWAII (through shutterfly)

We made a BOOK to thank M & D Koch for such an amazing trip to the island of Oahu.
We are still beaming from the sun and time with family! Thank you isn't enough to express our gratitude and express the fun we had! we love you! You'll receive this book at your door in a few days!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Build your own high-quality photo books at Shutterfly.com.

You're invited...for milk and cookies. Num, num, num!

It wasn't hard to decided what kind of party to have for this boy.

What does he love the most? milk. And what goes best with milk? cookies.

Also, he thinks cookie monster is hilarious, so this one was a no brainer.

To celebrate our boy we threw a teeny tiny cookie monster party.

How did a year pass? It baffles me.

It has been a beautiful year. 

This boy has brought so much joy and calm into my life.

I spent the 9 months he was in my belly meditating, doing yoga, and working on myself in hopes that some of that energy would transfer into his little heart. 

All that work helped me, I know, and maybe it was easier for me to practice because he was sending me his calm present energy. Whatever the case may be, he embodies all I was working for.

He is patient and calm. He is joyful. Truly so happy! He loves to dance to Renee and Jeremy and Jack Johnson songs. His favorite person is Miss Ava and he loves to be chased and smiled at.

He's still nursing 3 times a day. He says Mama, Dada, and even "aba" (Ava). He signs for "all done" by throwing his hands in the air and opening and closing his fingers. He understands SO much and his pure innocence touches my heart daily.

To say I am grateful would be an understatement. 

I never expected to have such an experience of a child from infancy. Maybe it was being a 2nd time mom in combination with his personality, but it's been so different from the 1st time. It's been much smoother and dare I say, easier. And that's no offense to our girl. Every one comes to this earth with different needs. Sometimes I feel crazy for thinking this, but I really do feel like maybe Nathan has already had a go 'round here and he's back to share the love.

He's such a sweet boy and though I am sad to say goodbye to the "baby" phase and hello to "toddlerhood", for I'll never experience it again as a mother, I'm also excited to watch him grow more. This next phase is all about learning to talk and communicate.

I can't wait to hear what he has to say. :)

Thank you to all who joined in celebrating with us.

Nana, Poppi, Grandma & Grandpa Koch, Auntie Nikki (who pushed me to ask Brad if we could start trying for a 2nd- without that talk we may have had a different little person here today) and the Gilbert family, Auntie Hsiaolei, Kekoa and Malia, and Shirley. We missed Aunite Jill who helped me birth this boy, and of course we missed terribly aunties and uncles in Mass, DC, Portland and Rio.

Here are a few photos of the party.

Ava decorated with her own version of cookie monster drawings & Nana baked the gluten-free, diary free cookies.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY Nathany-buddy! WE LOVE YOU!