Friday, March 27, 2009

star wars toys!

It's only surprising in the fact it took this long.

We spent a good part of our day playing with her first Star Wars toys Papa & G'ma Bell sent. (And, yes, she's already seen the movie. THAT did not take very long...)

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Monday, March 23, 2009

my super girl is sick

So we're cuddling a lot today. We had some plans but are postponing them for now, in hopes a quiet restful day will help.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Mild-mannered?!

No ways! She's SUPER SAMAIRE. Who's spending the day with Mama: shopping, zoo-ing, and PAINTing! Saturdays are the best!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

life is good

As Leslie wrote elsewhere today, so am I full of hope. *Hope-filled.*

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Maire's First St. Paddy's Day

(the one where I forgot all three of our various cameras and had to use my phone, which is decidedly not Maire-proof as she's CONSTANTLY moving and was SO.EXCITED. ALL.NIGHT.)

This is my attempt to get Maire in her ADORABLE dress my parent's got her. She didn't' wear it to school because we were taking Daddy out to a fancy Irish beer-tasting dinner and she hadn't pooped in two days. This is how I plan my life.

It was impossible to get a good shot. She was dancing and laughing and having a GREAT time. She looked precious, I have to say. All the way there (we met Sam at work and walked to Rockefeller Center, where the dinner was) people actually stopped and pointed at her and exclaimed "how cute!". I was beaming and so was she.

She got to eat her dinner at the fancy restaurant too. It was her first time in a high chair that wasn't her own. She was awesome. We were there for over two hours and she fussed not once. However, try to capture this good behavior on film, or at least on Palm and you're done. No ways. But trust me. Awesome baby. I'm so glad she loves us like this. We drag this kid EVERYwhere. She's a pro.

These are just a gratuitous shots of her being happy and adorable.

'Cause, well, COME ON, PEOPLE. WE MAKE GREAT BABY!

And, doing her quarter-Irish heritage proud, she celebrated this great day 'til she collapsed. She fell asleep on the way home and didn't so much as stir even slightly awake as I undressed her for bed. She woke up this morning with a smile on her face and a look that beamed "let's do it again!"


P.S. Katy, this is the hoodie you got her. She wears it all the time now. We miss you!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Monday, March 16, 2009

afternoons

We took a nap together. She then stirred and woke - seeing me and grinning ear to ear. We lay there for a while, talking of the things only we can truly speak of, smiling, laughing ... & I thought to myself, "This. This is happiness."

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Quote

"... in satellite maps of the earth, he said, you could always tell where the people were, even from great distances.

Their faces, upturned slightly, gave off a shine that was like nothing else on earth ...

...Humans, no matter what they did, could not hide their incandescence."

The Ten Year Map - Meg Wolitzer

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Costa Rica

We owe you a real entry - and you'll get it, I promise. Filled with adorable photos of our dear girl enjoying her first tropical trip... but 'til then, here's a couple of my faves we got of her and me all dolled up.

matching shoes!

She wore that dress for maybe ten minutes. We had lost power and had no a/c, so I opted to change her into another little dress I had gotten for her. But! It was long enough to get a couple pictures. The shoes, of course, didn't even last 10 minutes. :)

My new job and it's relevance

is tentative at best (can I still call my job "new" after a year?) but needless to say my daily (or not so) grind involves oftentimes a lot of graphs. Or in my fancy-pants world: "information graphics."

So when I saw this it made me laugh out loud.


I have work to do so I'm straining against the urge to redo this so it's prettier.....

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Seven Months



Maire,

Wow. How did this happen? It's been over half a year now, officially. And yet, when your Daddy and I looked at each other at 5:15, remembering how you cuddled on my chest, how you stopped crying when you heard his voice... it was obvious we both felt like it's been since just yesterday.

I'm eternally amazed at what you can do and how you act. You took your first international trip this past weekend and were a trooper the whole way through. (Even when we go stuck on the tarmac on 90 degree-plus weather and you simply fussed for only ten minutes of the over two hours we sat there.)



You are eternally happy and good natured. It makes me proud. Your smiles are infectious no matter where we go, and it seems even on the most tired, long of days its impossible to be even the least bit grumpy around you. You radiate joy.

Your talking more now, and you sing to yourself when you're tired. And you're DYING to walk. Dear lord. You constantly want nothing of sitting down or being still. Not when there's exploring and walking and dancing to do. I don't blame you. Our nightly dance parties are my favorite time of day.



I could spend my days watching you sleep and be eternally happy. In fact, it wasn't long ago I did just that. But now, now you've brought a new kind of joy I can't explain. I wake up every day looking forward to the surprises you will bring. Every day is something new. A new sound, a new game. Every day being with you is just that much better than the last. It feels as if we're living a dream.



You got your first Mets hat this month. A new era begins. :)



Your Daddy could not have looked prouder in the store when he put it on you and you smiled so very big.



I think you were excited to have something just like his. You are SO a Daddy's girl. He makes you smile and can calm you like no one else (myself, I grudgingly admit, included). But we have our moments too. My favorite is when we take turns laughing. Oh, my heart. It may burst yet.

If it isn't from your incessant crazy giggling, it might be from the sheer joy you take from sweet potatoes, pears and apples...

(honestly, there really is joy in there somewhere...)

We love you fiercely, Bug. Love you. Love you. Love you. Just when your Daddy and I think we can't have more happiness and love in our life, a new day begins. A new day with you.

You are our joy.


But you are still, and always will be, my little lovely baby.
xo,
mama

Friday, March 06, 2009

Water Baby!

I'm sure Misty will put up a better post about this and we'll for sure toss up more pics, but here are a few quickies from our trip down to Costa Rica for Leslie and Mike's (Uncle Bear) wedding.

Our villa in Costa Rica. We had a great time.

Samaire loved.... LORVED!!! the ocean.

Bride and Matron of Honor

Thursday, March 05, 2009

breastfeeding


She's eating dinner now, of course - apples, pears, bananas - so I know I'm on borrowed time. She's easily distracted now, eager to get going - not so eager all the time to lay down, snuggle and eat. I'm going to miss our special time together when she's done with it. It's been one of my favorite things about this whole new mom thing. I truly love doing it. Feeding her. I love that it's something only I can give her, time only she and I have. A way for me to show her how very much I love her, want to care for her. I love holding her so close.

I love the look on her face when I lay her down in my arms to eat ... big eyes, open mouthed smile, excited breathing with her arms stretching toward me. I love how she sighs contentedly after a few swallows. How she looks up at me with wide, adoring eyes. How she sometimes talks a little long monologue without ever missing a swallow. How she pats my chest with her little free hand, or reaches up to touch my cheek. How when she is really hungry she makes little chirps and slurping sounds. How she takes a break to smile at me right before nuzzling back in.

I love the sound of her tiny contented sighs right at the moment she's done eating and lays her head back to sleep.

I love it all. There was (and still is) a lot I wanted to give her. This, however, was very near the top. I was determined to make it work, no matter how hard or inconvenient it might turn out to be. I wanted it for her so badly. What I didn't realize was how very much it would give me.

And now that I can see the slow tapering, I feel that special ache I'm getting so used to now. That sadness that she is not going to be my little, tiny baby much longer - and the sheer excitement of watching her grow into being my daring, darling girl.

Maire at her fave bodega

The men at Seven Brothers love her, and she them. They're just a handful of the adopted neighborhood family we've gathered here in Hell's Kitchen.