My Arcadia

Thursday, June 24, 2010

dadad's day

I'm late, horribly so. But I have been writing and rewriting this entry now a thousand times a day in my head.

I don't know what words to use, how to express to you...

my extreme gratitude.

She is you. She smirks like you. She loves to make people laugh like you. She cracks herself up endlessly, just like you.

She has your adventurous streak, which may someday kill me.

She has your smarts, your smile.

Your eyes when she's tired.

She is so much you. And yet, so much this small new creature in my midst. Brave and daring. Loving and kind.

I think all the time how grateful I am for her.

I think all the time how grateful I am for you. For her. For me. For us. Our family.

Thank you for all the mornings you woke her up singing, got her dressed and walked her to school.

All the nights she couldn't' sleep you spent dancing with her 'round our living room carpet.

All the times you carried her when her little legs were tired.

All the pushes on the swings, all the cheers on the slides, all fortresses built with blocks.

Thank you for never tiring of reading "just one mo' book" or eating one "mo' berry."

Thank you for teaching her compassion and patience. For teaching her to try one more time. For encouraging her craziness, her silliness, her self.

Thank you for being the best dadad ever. And I mean it, THE BEST. History of time, all that. When I look at you and her together, when we talk about our hopes for her, when we plan our trips, our evenings, our days, our weekends....

When you promise that yes, some day if she wants she can go to art school, or culinary school or conservatory - if she wants. When you sit watching game after game in silence, despite the great drama on the screen so she doesn't get upset by your being upset. Every thing you do with her, every time you speak of her ... the love is so big, so real it feels palpable in the air.

I don't know how to tell you how big this is. How good you are at this. How wonderfully you just leapt forward from that very first moment she joined us.

All I know is that I love you now even more, and I never thought that was possible.

All I know is she loves you "heaps and heaps."

All I know is you deserve every day to be Fathers' Day. Because every day you are wonderfully, fantastically, amazingly a father. A daddy.

The best.

Love you, Dadad Sam

Saturday, May 08, 2010

To my baby mama

Dear baby mama,

Thank you for being the best mother ever. Thank you for the silliness you bring into her life, for the pure joy that radiates from her like a euphoric Chernobyl.

Could she BE happier?!?! Nope. She's got you.

Thank you for the nine months you put in, and for the 8 oz of castor oil you put in and dealing with all it brought back up.

Love at first sight.

Thanks for saying "It's ok if she lays down with me," on day 4 and for all the tossing and lack of sleep that's brought you since.

Sweet dreams.

Thanks for the great healthy food you feed her. I've never known a baby to eat better.

You can even make rice cereal good!

Thanks for teaching her every day, everything from her ABCs to the best way to spoof someone.

Yes, she doesn't get ALL her jackassery from me.

Thanks for the stylish clothes and amazing hair cuts and hair dos.

Yeah, this was a good one.

Thanks for giving her the genetics needed to be so beautiful.

My beautiful girls.

Thanks for making her tough in this cruel , cruel world. ha.

FEAR THE STIERS GIRLS!

Thanks for making her the happiest baby I've ever seen. She's lucky to have you and so am I.

If all mom's loved their kids this much the world would be a much better place.

Happy Mother's Day babe. We love you.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Best. Seats. Ever.

Thursday night our good friend John gave us tickets to go see our first Mets game of the year. So, we got all Mets'd up and headed off to the 7 train!

Yeah, my girls look good in blue and orange.

We got to the stadium and headed into the Jackie Robinson rotunda and as we were standing there preparing to go up the escalator a woman approached us and asked if we knew where we were sitting. I said yes and she asked where. "Upper deck, behind home plate." She asked if it was just the three of us and after I said yes, she said Maire was so cute in her Mets gear, clutching Mr. Met that she was going to upgrade us... and boy did she.

We followed her through a special door and right past the visitor's clubhouse, past a club where she told us we would have nice private bathrooms, free food and drinks till the 5th inning and nice seats and tables to watch the game on plasmas if it got too cold... um, ok, wonder where our seats are we thought. Then she took us to an usher to led us past the first row of seats people can buy (which go for $460/seat) and right to the wall behind home plate.

Can't get any closer than that.

Misty kept threatening to touch the Soriano's butt. She didn't, but she could have.

The Stiers fam and Mr. Met, enjoying the sweet seats.

Caution Soto... Maire just might take you out!

Mr. Met came out on the field (you can just make him out on the far left) and Maire went ballistic. She LOVES Mr. Met. When he left the field she spent the whole rest of the 1/2 inning whimpering for him to return.

Misty and Maire carrying the breastfeeding torch on SNY tv as we could be seen many times during the broadcast. By far the coolest place they've done this.

Man, that Johan Santana can really pitch! Yeah, on top of it all, we got to see Johan pitch. Last time Maire saw him pitch was her first game ever, at Shea Stadium in 2008, that's when our buddy Mangan got us in the luxury suite. Maybe we should only go to Johan games. Also, notice the bat boy over Maire's shoulder. Cub's batboy (30 maybe 40 some year old guy), super nice and he and Maire hit it off and that resulted in...

Her first foul ball!!!!!

K-Rod was in to save the game and he was pitching to Mike Fontenot. Foul ball dribbler came to our side and the ballboy ran out, got it and as everyone was screaming for him to toss it to them, he points to Maire, walks over to the edge of the foul netting and tosses it to her. It's her new favorite thing. She clutched it the whole rest of the game, the walk to the subway, held it as she passed out and on the walk home. I took it away from her to put on pjs when we got home, she woke up and cried "baaal. baaal." Gave it back to her and she slept with it all night.

Amazing night. Maire sat the whole game in our seat, save one trip to the free food/drink lounge between an inning, and was metsmorized. She loved the planes flying overhead, Mr. Met, watching the pitcher pitch, the batboy, her foul ball, my taco combo platter (best ballpark food EVER) and Misty's Shake Shack burger and shake. Needless to say, we have a Mets fan for life.

Mets win 5-2. Best night at a ballgame ever. Thanks Mets, a night we'll never forget.

Quick catch up, photo style.

Ok, so it's been a while since we posted a real post. So tonight I'm doing two. First one here is just a catch up of the last month or so. It includes our trip to Mets preseason workout, Yasmin and Derik's wedding, a trip to Mystic, CT and Mikki's sweet birthday. Enjoy!

Yeah, she's growing up way fast. Stylish little thing isn't she.

Off to the Mets preseason workout. Just the beginning of her Mets cuteness for the year.

Easter Egg time!

Yes, the pagan baby loves coloring eggs and she's quite good at it too!

Yasmin and Derik's wedding was great. Misty's face in this picture, priceless.

Maire spent 20 minutes or so hanging with the lobsters at the Mystic Aquarium. It's awesome, I mean Curious George and Elmo BOTH have books/videos about it.

The Mystic Seaport was great too, and Maire took us for a spin in the harbor.

Maire had a BLAST at Aunt Mik-me's birthday party. And continued her love of food as she devoured every ounce of Korean BBQ that came her way.

Monday, April 05, 2010

Go Mets!!! Xo, Samaire

She of course slept with both...

After an amazing afternoon at CitiField yesterday. THANKS, John!

Friday, April 02, 2010

Give me a smile to send to daddy!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

My sweet pea, finally sleeping.

In the midst of a torturist weekend she finally has collapsed. I plan a day of rest, peace & quiet - just the two of us - so she can finally feel better tomorrow.