Fall in New England

Just a sample of what we've been up to, in pictures:

Becky's dad even came to visit for a great long weekend!

It's been an awesome Autumn! Here's hoping for a wonderful wintertime in New England...

A great last week...

...then Caroline broke a small part of her bedroom door yesterday pulling so hard on it while she was in her second of two time-outs. Ah, welcome back Terrible Two's!

(while our house is 101 years old, this isn't our door...nor does any part of our house look remotely like this).

Happy Birthday, Nana!

Today is my Mom's birthday. Our girls call her Nana. Here she is, above, with her older brother Jerry in South Boston ("Southie"), where she was born and raised.

In the years since this photo was taken, she finished school, got married, became a mom twice, stayed home to raise my sister and I, successfully battled cancer, returned to work, and now, in her golden years, is a grandma several times over!

Here are some of my favorite memories of my Mom, on this special day:

• When I was about 2 and acting up, my Mom spanked me. Once. She started crying and vowed to never spank me again. I think she kept that pledge!


• The night I left for a year of studying abroad in Germany, my Mom found a t-shirt I had been wearing earlier that day. She took it to bed with her that night, as it would be the closest thing she could hold of "me" for several months.


• She was very good at bringing our family to Catholic Mass growing up. We always looked nice on the holy days, and she volunteered a lot of her time and skills to our chapel. For its 25th anniversary in 1990, my Mom led a quilting project in which dozens of families and college students, etc. made an individual quilt, which was then stitched together to form a massive quilt. It hung in the chapel for many years, and you couldn't miss it as you left Mass.


• I can still hear my Mom softly singing "This Old Man" to me at bedtime when I was young.


• She always made Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas special. We loved watching the TV cartoons that aired on these holidays.
  
• My Mom was very devoted to her parents. We spent probably 90% of all of the Sundays of my life until I went to college at my grandparents' house a few towns away, for dinner and games and talks.
• I have always known and felt that she loves me. What more does a child need?
  
• It's a real joy to see her as a grandma now herself! She adores all of her grandkids.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you. We'll see you tomorrow to celebrate.

#570: trial

Last fall, the same week that Amelia was born, I began having sleep issues. Anxiety over a new baby. Anxiety over her health, a new baby in the family, how Caroline would react, how we'd make it financially. Sleep eluded for nights in a row, unless I took an OTC pill. I stopped that after doing fine for a time, but then the sleep disorder returned, more than before, as I let myself get sucked into the maelstrom of coverage over the recession and worries about my job and providing for our growing family.

I am not proud (and am embarrassed) to admit this, but I had to rely on my doctor for help with sleeping. Maybe it's part of being a man and feeling that I need to "fix" everything on my own, so asking for help was an ego killer. But I was tired, and miserable. Becky was a great support to me, but it was wearing on her, too. Selfishness took over, and oftentimes my thoughts were about was how I wasn't getting good rest. This is at the same time Becky was getting up every 2 or 3 hours to feed and tend to Amelia. Man, was I wrong and selfish to focus on me. I hope she can forgive me.

I got blessings, advice, etc. But it was hard to see how I could possibly benefit or learn from this trial of sleep deprivation, or how this would somehow be good for me. We're often told in church that trials are for our learning and growth, and to endure it well.

Now, a year later, after months of good sleep and more positiveness, the sleep disorder has returned. As this isn't the first time, I feel a little more prepared about confronting it. I feel better able to work on it, to get a handle on my mental and physical state so I don't become the selfish, sky-is-falling father and husband of last year at this same exact time.

Maybe this is my trial, after all. Maybe this is the way, right now, that God is trying to show me how to learn to get outside myself, to be more faithful, and to learn to endure adversity better. The kicker is, unlike last year, there is no anxiety that's waking me up. No serious worries. We are thankfully very blessed with health and the basics of life, and two beautiful girls. I have a wife who simply exudes a love of life and optimism. She is awesome!

I am not sure what I am supposed to be learning. I don't know how long it will last, or why it's happening to me (again). But I've got to get outside myself and endure it better. There is too much else that is good in our lives.

Five years ago

Five years ago tonight, the Boston Red Sox finally won a World Series! It was their first after 86 years of frustration and close calls. What an awesome time it was. The memories of those long nights watching the games with Becky (my soon-to-be fiance at the time) and our friends are still fresh in my mind.

Unless you were born and raised, or lived in Boston or New England for any length of time--but especially when the Sox were blowing crucial games or collapsing toward the end of yet another season--you will have no idea and little appreciation of how much this meant to New England and Sox fans nationwide.

On the night the Sox finally won it all, I was sick as a dog. Becky and I watched the game on the TV at my apartment in Somerville, while her roommates and our friends watched it in comfier settings at their house in Medford. I missed the camaraderie that had taken our group through the ups-and-downs of the previous weeks' worth of games, but it was wonderful to have Becky there alongside me to witness this historic event. A raging sore throat had rendered me mute for much of the game, but as the final out played out on live TV, I screamed, "That's it! They did it!"

In the whirlwind of media coverage and elation after the Sox swept the Cardinals this night 5 years ago, I wrote to some friends that the Sox winning was "joy beyond joy." I am not embarrassed to admit that I cried with joy going to bed that night (a 180 from crying myself to sleep after the Sox came within 5 outs of the World Series one year earlier--when friends quickly and quietly left my Arlington apartment after the Sox blew an 8th-inning lead against the Yankees).

Like so many events in life, you look back and are stunned at the quick passage of time. 5 years?
I recall who my close friends were then, where I was living, my interests, the excitement of planning my future with Becky. In fact, the day after the Sox won the World Series, I hopped a train to Salem and bought her engagement ring, reading newspapers' accounts of this amazing win.

So much has changed.

From the 2004 team, Wakefield, Ortiz, Youkilis, and Varitek are the only players who are still with the Red Sox, 5 long years after that historic season. They won another World Series ring in 2007.

I no longer have the time, interest, or luxury of watching the games most times. Our two girls will never know a time when the Sox had such a long drought. Becky may never get my passion for the Sox. More importantly, she will likely never understand how much it meant to me to have her beside me, on the couch, glued to the TV that night. I love thinking about who she and I were, and where we were in life together, as a couple, 5 years ago.

Happy 5th anniversary, Red Sox! Wonderful times, wonderful memories.

Us lately

As we bid adieu to leaves, the Red Sox (until March), and a cheap electric bill (Mr. Furnace has taken up his annual 5+-month-long residence again), it's time to jot down some things our little ones are up to. Becky had an episode of "She's growing up so fast!" earlier this week, so this is our attempt to record these special times:

Caroline:

• is a climber! She will climb on almost anything at the playground. At home, she arranges kid chairs and adult chairs in a circle, then will do a trapeeze-like walk along the seats. She even put a big-kid stool on top of her kitchen table--so she could reach a bottle of bubbles on top of our fridge! She has no fear in this regard.
• was disappointed this morning that she couldn't wear her Trunk-or-Treat costume all day today.
• enjoys a series of make-believe stories that Becky and I cooked up. One has a plane that drops pizza from the sky. Another has two boys riding bikes to Nana and Bumpa's (an easy 30+ mile trip!) and Nana gives them water. Also, "Lucy Rides a Hot Air Balloon," "Bobby and the Happy Fish," "Jane Goes on a Walk to the North Pole to See Santa," and another in which a girl travels across the U.S. to see her Utah grandparents! Depending on Caro's tiredness, we tell them in abbreviated form or excruciating detail. She loves these stories.
• lives in a world where it is always 12 o'clock. You name the time of day, and she'll tell you it is 12 o'clock.
• still manhandles Little Mouse most of the time.
• loves watching her "shows": Bert and Ernie, Elmo, Bob the Builder, Rolie Polie Olie, and the most nauseating group I've ever seen (actually, a tie): the Teletubbies and the Wiggles. Why did England and Australia, respectively, curse the world with these two?
• spends a good 10-15 minutes each night running around our front hall, with us chasing her.
• gets put in time-out less right now. Is it a phase?
• insists on letting go of the staircase railing when she reaches the bottom 3 steps.
• taking a dance class (Tiny Dancers) and a music class (Music Makers) with friends.
• stammering on some words, like ones that begin with "s." For example, "So-so-so-so-so-so, I want milk!" Is this a phase?
• so excited whenever I come home from work.
• easily able to get excited over anything. She practically shouted for joy when Becky said, "I have a surprise treat for you," and then handed her an orange, which she loved.
• reads her own, quite accurate version of "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" to us.

Amelia:

• is picking up speed crawling, and can also now walk a few steps while just holding onto one of our hands.
• is learning how to put herself down for the night. About 2 weeks ago, she started fighting bedtime, a lot. Now we have a routine that seems to work, but it is hard most nights, and harder in that she sleeps in the same room as Caro and might be keeping her awake.
• saying "booosh" and "brrrrr" for most any word or item she's pointing to.
• points with her index finger of either hand.
• craves being held.
• loves a Spanish book, "En La Playa," with pop-out pictures of an umbrella, etc.
• laughs whenever I pull the cords on my hooded sweatshirt so it covers most of my face.

As for their parents...we're just trying to live in the present and remembering to take the good and the bad one day at a time. Definitely a lot of learning, trial-and-error, and fun times in our place!

1-year olds Party

A few weekends ago, we had a birthday party for Little Mouse and her 1-year old friend, Bridger. Wait...do 1-year-olds have friends? It was a fun idea and Becky pulled it off great with some cute games for our 1-year-olds and other 1-year-old guests who were born around the time that Amelia and Bridger were. Games included:

• Crawling race: Amelia didn't budge from my side, Jackson got off to a fast break but pulled up just a foot from his mother, and Bridger overtook him to win the kick-off event!
  
• "Just Eat It": a competition to see which kid could eat little cups of marshmallows, crackers, and olives the fastest.
  
• "Keep Your Hat On": another timed competition to see which 1-year-old would leave a hat on his/her head the longest. Amelia was out in about 5 seconds.


• "Giggle Giggle Giggle": parents tickling their kids to see who would giggle first.

Jonathan, Timo, and Andrew psyching their kids up for the race.

And finally, the obligatory 1-year-olds eating photo:

Tufts 10K!

Becky and her friend Cheryl ran the Tufts 10K for Women on Columbus Day this year, along with about 8,000 other women. It was an awesome Fall day for a nice, 6.2-mile run in some of the most scenic parts of Boston. This was Becky's second time running the Tufts 10K, which, aside from the Boston Marathon, may just be the most popular and well-attended race each year in Beantown.

Becky did a great job--she finished in about 1 hour, 5 minutes. She's run 3 5K's this year and had not run more than about 4.5 miles in one setting at all. So to go all 6.2 miles is so sweet. Good job, babe!

I brought our girls downtown (Caroline loved riding the T) to cheer Becky on. Then, at the finish line, some of our good friends surprised Becky by showing up to cheer her to the end! It was a great day! Maybe she has a half-marathon in her yet, folks! And would she consider running the Boston Marathon again someday?

Stay tuned to find out...

More babies...

Here's a video of Caroline's many babies--Baby Bear, Baby Bunny, Baby Doll, Baby Elmo, etc.--who join us all in a row each Monday night for Family Home Evening.

Most times, it takes us just as long to sing a song, have an opening and closing prayer, an FHE activity, and a treat as it does for Our Dear Goose to get each of her babies lined up and sitting down.

Our Little Mouse is 1!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for this adorable Cabbage Patch doll of my own! I love it!

Man, that year went by f-a-s-t! Our Little Mouse turned 1 last Thursday. She is so fun to be around, and she's learning so much. Amelia is babbling all day, sometimes in a minute's-long discourse that no doubt must mean something like, "I can't wait 'til I'm older so I can grab some of my big sister's toys from her!"

What's Amelia up to these days?

• Hating her high chair
• Loving to pull on the long hairs growing at the back of her head
• Asleep by 7:30, awake by 7 a.m.
• Unable or unwilling to find her own binky in the middle of the night
• Giggling more
• Wanting to be held much of the time
• Crawling, and pulling herself up on furniture--including so she can touch the piano keys in our living room
• Sporting 8 teeth--4 on top, 4 on the bottom
• Wishing that vanilla pudding was a staple of every meal

We love you, Little Mouse!