Baby Robert 2015!

Sarah and Donald just had their second gorgeous boy! I am so excited to meet him soon!

Robert Joseph- total perfection.

Visiting Ash- February 2015

I made an overdue visit to go see Ash and have some laid back fun times. I made my first successful chicken pot pie for dinner (with biscuits instead of pie- yum!) and we marathoned watched The Affair on Showtime. We recommend the recipe, but not so much the television show. I also got to eat all the delicious Indian food her mom left behind and Ash's secret recipe guacamole. Oh and I got to sleep in on Saturday morning. A big treat! The best part is I get to see Ash again in two weeks! Hurray!

Ash and me- on the couch where it's nice and warm.

Chopping the veggies for dinner

So proud of my finished dinner!

Just FYI, no one paid me to link that recipe. It's just good. I mean look at those biscuits.

Miranda is 10 Months 2015

 

Skills: She says Mama sometimes to me, and sometimes says Dada to Kevin. She says "J" sometimes in the general direction of James. She points to stuff she wants. She claps with delight or to music.

She understands "no" but just laughs and shakes her head when you try to tell her she can't do something. We're in so much trouble.

The face she makes when you say "no!"

She can stand and balance, cruise from furniture to furniture, and occasionally dances on the spot, and has attempted a step forward, but she hasn't successfully walked yet. But we're sure it's going to happen soon!

Standing and bopping.

Sleep: She's still sleeping through the night but waking up a bit earlier.  She's been sleeping from 7:40 pm to 7 - 8 am. I am definitely worried about what will happen during daylight savings time.

We still hold her for naps, but to be fair we haven't even tried to put her down in ages. Because she defeated us.

 

Shaking her finger "no" while sleeping!

Food: She eats everything. If you try to give her something you wouldn't personality eat, she calls you out on it by spitting it out and pointing at what you're eating. But if it's delicious enough for you, it's delicious enough for her. Her favorites are probably bread, mac n' cheese, and beef.

I eat cheerios and judgment for breakfast.

Growth: She basically has 4 teeth now. I can see all 4, though the most recent one is about halfway out. She's in 12 month clothing.

 

Dada brushing her 4 teeth.

Personality: Oh she's the best. Feisty and determined. She has her own little rebel sense of humor, and giggles all the time. She gets her way... or else.

 

Just microwaving some veggies and ...

... grilling up some chicken.

Kevin is obsessively in love. Me too.

Bedtime snuggles

Naptime selfie.

James is her best friend. It's them against the world. Even when she tortures him, which is several times a day every day, he's very patient with her.

Oh I just took your seat. Deal with it.

Playing in their room.

Hugs.

You're in my way!

Making sandwiches.

When James tries to go to the potty alone.

Little late-night cooking.

It's a ghost!

No it's James!

Oh, okay... here then.

This happened.

He loves her!

And she loves him!

If you're still here, I lost all the Miranda pregnancy weight, though I'm still rocking about 6 pounds of James pregnancy weight still.

Kevin's 35th Birthday 2015

Kevin had a low-key birthday at home this year. I made him his favorite for dinner, ropa vieja with rice and black beans. The kids also enjoyed it, though Miranda enjoyed it more. James was mostly interested in making it his birthday instead of Kevin's.

Feeding Miranda rice and black beans

Covered in food and worshipping her Dada

Cuban food joy

Kevin's not a huge fan of cake (I'm not either) but we got a little piece mainly for James's sake. Happy birthday, Kevin! We love you completely and we're so lucky to have you.

Blowing out his birthday candle!

Tasting some cake.

Gobble gobble.

Miranda checking out Kevin's gift from Andrew

• Kevin's 34th birthday at home
• Kevin's 33rd birthday in Manhattan
• Kevin's 32nd birthday in Brooklyn

Valentine's Day 2015

This year was the best Valentine's Day yet because we have another little Valentine that we didn't have last year: Miranda. Kevin, James, and I are really in love with her.

Valentine's Family Picture!

Playing with Dada

 

Naptime with Mama

Sitting in Dada's lap at dinner because she's spoiled!

Kevin got me flowers and wrote me the nicest card ever. James made me this awesome Valentine (pictured above in family picture). Kevin picked up sushi for dinner (I was actually craving it today- not just because we often end up getting it for Valentine's).

Flowers

But the best part was going out-- for a second weekend in a row! We were giddy with freedom. We met up with Lukas and Sarah who, luckily for Kevin and me, had to delay their Valentine's ballet plans. We went to Sekend Sun in Astoria, a new cocktail bar and restaurant. We had tots, pretzels, and chocolatey beignets, and I tried more cocktails than I should have. Valentines Double Dates might be my new favorite thing now!

At Sekend Sun (though Kevin is a first son)

Sarah and Lukas (a legitimate second son)

• Last year I was pregnant with and we took James for sushi at Kaji in Long Island
• In 2013,  we had sushi at Ki, chocolate cake, and hot chocolate in Brooklyn
• And here are our first 6 Valentine's Days 2007-2012

Our 5.5 Wedding Anniversary 2015

Our five-year wedding anniversary was in June of last year, but Miranda was only six weeks old and I was nursing so we really weren't going anywhere to celebrate. At first, we were at peace with this, but 5 years is kind of fun, and when Miranda started sleeping through the night (!) we started looking at some options. Of course, none of this would have been possible without Grandma- thank you, thank you, Grandma.

"Before" picture by Grandma

Kevin found a new Argentinian restaurant he wanted to try in the city, and had the smart idea to book us at a fancy hotel for the night so we wouldn't have to come back to Long Island for the night and listen to the children scream. We set out for our "Anniversitine" or our anniversary celebrated closer to Valentine's than to our actual anniversary.

Since our dinner reservation was in the Lower East Side, we found a random bar to get pre-dinner drinks. We wandered into El Sombrero and it was pretty awesome. The music was straight out of my grandparent's living room, and the drink I got was great: tequila, cointreau, lime juice, passion & guava puree.

Tequila drink at The Sobrero

For dinner we went to Balvanera, an Argentinian (steak) restaurant and wine bar. We had the most amazing appetizer- Empanadas Caseras filled with hand cut roast beef. YUM! Kevin got the strip rare, and I got the skirt steak (entraña) medium. I know my choice sounds kind of gross to American ears, but trust me, it wasn't. Hispanic people pound flank steak into sweet submission. They were a little heavy on the steak but delicious. Both steaks came with thin fries. We washed it down with A Lisa Malbec from Patagonia.

After dinner picture

After dinner we weighed going back to the hotel, getting a drink near the hotel, or getting a drink near where we were on the Lower East Side. Kevin suggested The Magician, so we popped in for "one drink." Right away we spotted Briggs at the bar, who promptly told us that Nick and Emily were also coincidently there with another group of people. All of Kevin's friends like that bar, so it wasn't the craziest thing that's ever happened but it was kind of weird. Especially the part where Kevin and I were out together. We had a lot of fun running into everyone. We also ran into Kevin's college ballroom dance partner (there with Nick and Emily). I didn't even know he'd taken a dance class ever!

Nick, Kevin, me, Emily, Briggs at The Magician on Saturday night

We headed back to the hotel, but we were remiss to give up the good times so quickly so we stopped at bar near the hotel we'd never been to before, Session House, rumored to have a really good Guinness pour, which Kevin confirmed. They had a musician who just happened to play Miranda's early favorite song, You're So Vain (though now it's Itsy Bitsy Spider).

In the lobby of the Waldorf on Sunday morning

To top it all off, we stayed at the Waldorf Astoria over night so we didn't have to drive or take the train back at night, or take care of kids in the morning. The hotel itself is gorgeous, and I want to come back for the super luxurious Sunday brunch sometime. Our room was a bit more sedate, but it was in a corner away from any potential source of noise, and our window framed a view of the Chrysler building which Kevin loved. He loved sleeping even more, and though he assured me he didn't even know how to sleep past 8 am anymore, I'm pretty sure he would have slept through the check out time if I hadn't woken him up a bit before. I did wake up a bit earlier so I luxuriated in bed and finished my super long book. We grabbed some New York bagels for everyone and headed home. Great anniversary. Anniversitine. Whatever.

• The actual day of our 5th wedding anniversary at home in Long Island 2014
• Our 4th wedding anniversary on Cape Cod (Summer Shanty) 2013
• Our 3rd wedding anniversary in Martha's Vineyard 2012
• Our 2nd wedding anniversary at home in Long Island 2011 (because again, new baby)
• Our 1st wedding anniversary in Niagara Falls  (but also in Brooklyn) 2010

Grandma Visits- February 2015

Grandma visited from Thursday night until Monday afternoon. The kids loved every minute of it and asked her not to leave. Well, James did. Miranda can't talk yet otherwise she would. Grandma brought two different delicious homemade soups with her, and made the kids mac n' cheese from scratch. As if all that weren't more than enough, she let me and Kevin go out to celebrate our much delayed anniversary (more on that later). Thanks, Grandma!

Grandma playing patty-cake with Miranda

Reading the classics with Grandma

Miranda cruises over to Grandma

James gives Grandma a check-up