The best 3 years of my life

July 31, 2008 marks 3 years with my new last name. On July 31, 2005, I not only gained a new name, turned into Mrs., sported a GREAT white dress, ate awesome food, had most of the people I loved the most all in one room, danced until I couldn't dance any longer, and enjoyed time in one of my favorite places Newport, RI ...I married my best friend.
Pete and I are a sappy love story. One that began with our first date years and years before we ever dated. I was a NYC girl completely jaded, and thought nice guys equaled to weak. Pete tried to help me cross a street, and hailed a cab for me on our first date, and I decided he would then be stuck in the friend corner for THREE years. Poor sweet--kind--man. I don't know how he stuck through it, but he did. He continued to be my friend, and trying to become more. I continued to ignore the butterflies fluttering in my stomach every time I saw him, and the constant need to call him when important things happened in my life.
Then one day we innocently went to a Dave Mathew's concert together, and the night turned into finding the very one thing I need in life--HIM. Our dating life was a quick one. We dated, got engaged, and married all under a year. People told me when you know you know--and I KNEW. Thankfully we did it as quickly as we did, because we ended the long distance relationship, made a home in Bethel, and did the one thing that will tie us together for life....had a baby.
I could not have picked a better husband, friend, or father for my child. He is the best.
This morning when I woke up to make Rylan's breakfast I found sticky notes of "I love you's" and thought how did I land such a nice guy. Thankfully the jaded city girl didn't stick long, because I would not have ever landed where I am at now.
Last year I put together our story in a photoshow--below is the link but I "updated" it a little for this years viewing.

http://www.photoshow.com/watch/uw3yp5QV

 (sorry you have to copy and paste it will not insert itself for me--bummer)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!

A Heavy Plate

In my attempt to grow and change, and over all be a better me, I have been digging deep. I have had a lot on my mind lately, and have been trying to attempt to display changes in my life. When I walked into therapy last night I came in with a massive, heaping amount of stuff on my plate. I explained every compartment, and each one dug into deeper waters. I began talking to her about things I have never in my life talked about with anyone before. Things I felt were better to ignore then to admit. It was freeing, and the amount of relief of just saying it felt great. Therapy to me is a cleansing of sorts. I can not understand how people don't believe in it or the benefits it could bring them. I honestly think everyone should go to one, as they would any other time of health professional. Mind and body are so connected, and when one makes sense, most times the other one does too. I love my therapist, but nothing she is doing is different then any other. It isn't HER per say, that makes me divulge, work, and gain balance. It is my willingness to use our sessions in a way that will ultimately benefit the most from them.
It is funny how no matter what age you are, you can look back and make sense of times in your life that in the end affected you in a big way, and make sense of them. It is funny how at any age you can rediscover yourself, and change.
Everyone has a heavy plate...to share it makes it less hard to struggle carrying with you where ever you go.

How do I love the...let me count the ways...

WARNING: If you are a family member or a prude and wish not to hear about any risky business or details--feel FREE to skip this post! However if you know me...you know I share ALL. So let it rip.....literally
How do I love the? Let me count the ways?
1. Brazilian Bikini wax
2. Brazilian Bikini wax......
1201435. Brazilian Bikini wax
After scratching my head for hours wondering what an appropriate gift to my husband was for our anniversary, I made an appointment with a waxer. (and not just any waxer) Since I became a Mom I have really "let things go". I pay less attention to myself, and less attention to "spicing" things up in my marriage in order to keep it exciting and new. So I thought I should give it a whirl.
A friend of mine (who will remain nameless) told me of a women in town that does waxing out of her house and specializes in Brazilian bikini waxes. A friend of hers has used her often, but she had yet to venture to such adventures because lets face it...she is a Mom too! Prior to dating Pete I used to get these waxes for fun, just as I would a hair cut. I stopped shortly before dating him when I had one done in NYC and promised I would NEVER do it again thanks to the immense pain I was in.
And then there was yesterday....
I arrived at this women's door at 2:30. She is a short 5 minutes from my home in a large Victorian house that I always envisioned a family of matching Christmas sweaters wearing (after all I DO live in CT). Her teenage son answered the door and said "Mom is in her bedroom waiting for you". For a moment I thought about this, and how it sounded. I decided that if I walked in there and she was playing Indigo Girls and wearing something sexy I was SOOOOO out of there. I found her in her wheel chair (she recently had ankle surgery) offering my kid a freeze pop. (Yes I brought Rylan--desperate times bring desperate measures). She told me she has to sit and wax while her injury heals so that she might need client participation. Client participation? What would that be? As visions danced in my head, and my child asked to go "bye bye", I dropped my draws and said a few hail mary's and prayed for the best. It was true what has been said about her, it didn't hurt...(well much). She waxed on, as we gossiped about people we knew in town, while her 5 year old and my 2 years watched Sesame Street in ear shot. She talked about how active she is in our local Catholic church, is a realtor by trade, makes meals for the needy and used to own a Salon, while asking me to lift my left leg this way, and move that way. And somehow I couldn't help but feel I was cheating on my husband! When she announced she was done, I didn't even look at the end product. I hoisted off the wax table, put on the underwear, gave her the money, and grabbed hold of my child. She wished me "luck" on my anniversary, and I scrammed.
I felt like a prude a bit. There was a different person years ago who would not care about small talk, while waxing in someones home. This time I felt like I was doing something out of the ordinary, and not "mommish". I will go back to her since it didn't hurt...(well much). Next time however, I am hoping to minus the teenage son escorting me the bedroom, minus the kids in the room watching Sesame Street, and minus the small talk about who we each know in the area and about church. That should lighten the mood a bit when it is time to --as Fergie says it--let me "London Bridge Fall down". Next time it won't be the first time I met her while dropping draws on her bedroom floor!
The aftermath is I love it. I am happy I did it. I feel like a new women, and hope I can encourage other Mom's to do it to. Just because we are married with kids, does not mean we should forget about ourselves and bringing our own sexy back!
Just take it from me...get a babysitter.

411 on ears and lack of speech

We went to the ENT today to talk tubes. First of all my child knows Dr's offices like no other. He see's a layout of a room and he knows what he is in for. In order to soothe the monster I plugged him with his paci and blanket. I am sure the Dr. wasn't amused when he came in and saw this, nor when I told him my son was going to a chiropractor since he was 6 months old. This might be the reason he was a little additudeish with me. He made snide comments like "8 ear infections in a year...looks like there was an attempt to push this off until Spring". I wanted to tell him, "Why yes dumbass..I was trying to avoid surgery and do things as natural as possible". He was great with Rylan, and stuck up with me. It is interesting since a friend of mine used him and loved him. Anyway here is the deal: Ironically my sons ears are clear. CLEAR-no fluid. I can not remember a time they were like this. He said they are still not "healthy" but they are clear. He said this is probably the reason I have been hearing so many words lately. He told me that although he has passed hearing tests before (he passed one today but he said it wasn't the "greatest")--there is STILL a hearing loss whenever there is fluid which is 99.9% of the time. He wants to wait until the fall to do the tubes. He thinks Rylan will be fine the rest of the summer and then things will start to stir in the Fall. He prefers to do the operation when the ears are in rough waters and said they are more effective that way. In the meantime he told me whenever he gets a ear infection, sinus issues, or basically any issue from throat and above, that I must take him into there office and not to the pedi. (I was thinking "oh great...now I get to go to Mr Sunshine over here"). He told me he has seen this story 10,000000 times and that most of the time a speech delayed child has nothing to do with being "behind" but has everything to do with ear issues. I wish he could write it on a memo to family and friends that keep saying things like "he's not talking yet?". Because--HELLO clearly his mother doesn't worry enough about this.
The fact is-Rylan is fine. Better then fine. And he will probably have tubes in his future, but for today he is fluid FREE and TALKING!

A few pics of RY

Rylan was blessed with a wonderful God mother (holla to the C3 family) who spoiled him with a GREAT tag sale purchase! I practically brand new train table! He loves it--although he also like to throw everything off of it too! Thank you C3 family for getting him such a great purchase!


We works HARD for the money! Suddenly my child is making messes and attempting to clean them up while making more messes!

FINALLY...

I got my certification IN HAND! THANK YOU CT teaching Gods! (and to think--it ONLY took TWO years!)

Health Confession

There was a special this week on Soy Milk --3 for $5 ...AND I BOUGHT 3 of them! (yes Sporty Spice--re-read this--it is true my dear friend). I even bought one chocolate one just for kicks!

2 things I forgot to mention about vacation

1. Pete and I got to have a date night to Newport, RI. It has been awhile since returning there, and three years almost to the day since we got hitched there! A perfect place on a perfect day for such commitments! We did a drive by of the church we made vows at, and admired our reception place from the Newport bridge since it is placed so pretty by the ocean adjacent to the bridge (best place in town for a summer wedding). It seems like just yesterday we took a million and one trips there to organize every detail to the perfect day. It also seems like many moons ago that our life just consisted of just two of us. So much has changed besides expanding our family---we moved, we made new friends, and so on and so forth. I some times wish I would have known my mom friends then so that they could have enjoyed the free spirited Aimee throwing an excellent party and not worrying about a hang over the next day and how to be a good parent. How I long for dancing to Gwen Stafani's "Holla Back" on the dance floor, and all the bridesmaids doing shots to loosen the mood. Any way more on that this week when it will mark three years of the best years of my husbands life! :-) Seriously though, we had a great time on our date--we went to Salvation Cafe (which we went to 2 days before our wedding), and then walked downtown and ate gelato (and not just any gelato but one that was rated by Giada on the food network as one of the best!). It was fun just being the two of us, enjoying a summer evening minus whining toddler, and thinking about how lucky we were to have wedded there.

2. Rylan's island bus collection continues. First bus he got was from Bermuda. Second from Aruba, and now his third bus is from Block Island. Why is it I can not find these buses on the mainland I will never know! So apparently every island we travel too we will have to search for a bus!

Becoming One with him being TWO

The thing about returning from vacation is that is it exhausting. I thought this usually happens when you actually have to fly somewhere and blamed it on the dreaded lines and baggage. Apparently no matter where you go--if you have a massive amount of luggage going with you --prepare to be exhausted in the end. It took us two days to unpack and organize. When I packed it all prior to vacation I had sweet hopes of also cleaning the house from top to bottom so that we could return to the smell of a clean home. Well that didn't happen, so we also cleaned the house from top to bottom. At least we will have a clean, organized home....for a day.

Ok don't throw stones over here....but I finally retired Rylan's highchair. I know I know...I should have done it sooner. He is a big boy now-all TWO and all. So many friends and family members had told me I needed to do this. Luckily on vacation there wasn't a highchair in sight and I was forced to realize he can deal without it AND use a fork. So when we returned I broke out the booster seat and the Thomas the train placemat. He is doing well considering he can still SEE his highchair. I of course have yet to put it away in worry that I might need it. I battled with myself last night when I was giving him pasta thinking about sticking him in the high chair so that he could be "contained" (him and his mess). Wouldn't you know not only did the child sit in his seat, he used a REAL fork with every bite, and didn't throw a thing!

I have realized that with his lack of speech I have been babying him. He knows so much more then I think he does...and well..HE IS TWO. Now that the speech has been roaring in lately (his two new words yesterday was "digger" and "caterpillar" (which he says "pillar"), I have finally understood how much my little man gets. Just a moment ago his dvd was ending and he brought me BOTH remotes while I am sitting here talking and said "on". He then brought me to the kitchen by hand and pointed up and announced "cracker". I literally want to crawl in a ball and cry when he does such things...as I spent so much time worrying I would never get to this moment. I want to run the streets and scream "my child SPEAKS". Now I am 100% sure he is FINE and that nothing is wrong with him. I can not WAIT to tell his speech therapist this week that he opened the speech jar and it is spilling out. Tomorrow we go to the Ear Nose and Throat Dr. to discuss tubes. I think it is something that we have to go forward with still, but we shall see. I am still so unsure about this, but I am hoping that the Dr. can clearify some concerns. My next big boy battle will be getting him into a big boy bed. However we are waiting until we know more about this house we are supposed to buying---as it is STILL up in the air (don't even get me started on that).

As for the potty....Rylan went again yesterday and continues to pull off his diapers for an attempt. However he is far from trained. We are taking it SLOOOOWWWW, and just watching him to cue us. The heat is on though...as I went to a few preschools recently to check them out (since the word is you have to register a year head of time), and he has to be fully trained by age three.

VK reflections

Ahhhh...I am back to 2008. I didn't even know it beforehand...but I even lived an ENTIRE week without a CELL PHONE. With no computer, no tivo, and no celly, I indulged in a lot of reading by the ocean breeze, and a lot of mental note taking of the million and one things I wanted to blog about. I missed the "plugged in" world..but I got to tell you I also found great solace in hiding out and regrouping away from it.

My vacation started off with getting up at 6:15 am and going for a walk/run. I was amazed on the amount of people out doing the same thing. I quickly realized how passionate this "club" was, and what it felt to be a part of it. I could not keep up with the amount of good mornings being said while listening to some of my favorite tunes on the ipod. While watching the sun settle in the sky and the waves crash in, I wished I could do this every summer all summer. It was a great way to start the day. I did this a few times alone, and other times with my husband and child. Then there was a few days...I just couldn't get out of bed...and I felt it ALL day long. Apparently my body is well adjusted to exercise now, and I have to listen.

The biggest thing to happen on vacation was Rylan's speech. Just writing about it is making me choke up, as I have been waiting to hear his little voice speak up. In a weeks time my son has said the following words: birdie, boat, cracker, flower, beach, grampy, aunt, UP (his favorite one), truck, "baaa" (for a sheep), duck, quack, rock, and cat. I can not BELIEVE he suddenly started saying ALL OF THIS is one week! It is crazy! It is literally the sweetest sound I have ever heard since I was so worried about this for so long. I am sure soon enough I will not be able to get him to be quiet!

I love returning to Narragansett and making it a yearly family tradition for our kids (my sister and myself). We grew up on these beaches, as our grandparents have had a home down there for ever! Kelly and I spent weeks at a time living it up on Great Island, and swimming in the waters of Galilee. We grew up with a family that lived next door to my grandparents (before my grandparents relocated to another beach house), that became extended family to us. I hadn;t seen them in years, and had heard my dear friend and fellow wild child when we were little, was married and pregnant with her first child. I decided to stop by and see if the family was home, and sure enough they were. It was so odd to sit in the living room being two grown married women --being a mom and a mom to be. It brought a great amount of memories, and thinking about how fast that time in my life went. It also brought me to thinking about the fact that my niece and son will hold such great memories of this area as we did in their childhood. That is will someday be a place they too will remember it being filled with fun, and reflect on their own childhood that went by to fast.

Things I love about Rhode Island beaches that no other can compare: hydrangeas, buoys on fences, outdoor showers, gray shingled houses, cold ocean water, clean beaches, lots and lots of memories filled with family. Things I noticed I love so much about my little boy: his sun kissed hair, his mini tan, his love of the water, his little hand grasping a bucket and shovel, the nape of his neck in his surfer shirt, his scrunchy nose when smelling hydrangeas, and his love for cousin.

We can't wait until next year.

Pictures from our RI Vacation

Our Beach House

Family of shoes

Hydrangeas

Seagulls (Rylan spent alot of time pointing and calling out "Birdie")

Ry and his dad by the rocks

A family picture moments before the dreadful Block Island Ferry ride

Beach time was key! Whenever we had clear enough skies we were there. Rylan enjoyed swimming with mom and jumping the waves. He also enjoyed using his bucket to fill and pour in and out of the ocean. He mastered the shovel, and took walks with grampy (who he calls Bampie). His father enjoyed digging in the sand, and his mom enjoyed her awesome beach chair by the ocean!













Vacation was all about tossing rocks! A little mans DREAM! We were down the street from a very rocky beach, and he enjoyed the Salt Pond my grandparents live on that had a ton of shiny tons calling his name.



Rylan loves his cousin Ava. Here are some pics of the pair and a few of them down at their great grandparents beach house




On Sunday night it was LADIES NIGHT OUT! My sister, and I, and our very best childhood friend who is practically our other sister (and my two maid of honors) went out for a great meal at the best place to eat in the state (SPAIN), and drank a ton of sangria which caused loud gittness and gossip. We WALKED home--stumbling really--and ran into a very scary sighting on the street that looked like it would attack us. We picked up a construction cone as a way to defend us. We ran past it in HEELS and realized it was only a trash bag moving in the wind. We still ran. With the CONE. We thought we were pretty bad ass stealing the cone...(and drunk) and that is why we are pretending we are all Tupac in the picture below.



On Tuesday we ventured to Block Island to visit family. My aunt, uncle, and two cousins that I remember being BABIES but somehow grew up..live there year round. They own a bed and breakfast on the island. It is a surreal little spot that Rylan enjoyed throwing sticks in. This house is famous for ghost sighting's, and the many times I slept there as a kid gave me all night goose bumps. The stories of family members seeing things there are unreal! On the way over the ferry ride was rough! The waves were so large we were getting knocked off our seats. I took motion sickness meds beforehand and I WAS STILL feeling like I was about to be sick at any moment. Rylan screamed the entire time, and Pete was stuck with his head over the boat praying to the sea gods that land would be near. The way back was MUCH better, as the Dos Santos family (including toddler) was armed with sea bands, and a smoother ride. Our day out there was great. My aunt lent us her car while the rest of the family went to the beach, and us sea sickers went for a tour of the island. It included a fun little farm my aunt told us about that had exotic animals!
At Auntie Deb's House


Sitting on the turtle at the farm

Light House



Spooky tree at Auntie Deb's house

wearing baby seabands

On the boat ride home

A Spine of the whale that was found on a beach near my aunts house

The farm



On Wenesday Night the family headed over to my Dad's best friend's home in Narragansett. It is not only located on the most amazing spot...it is also part of the Rhode Island historical society and was built in the 1800's! They ran a bed and breakfast in it for years prior to having kids. Many people reported ghost sightings! I have slept there before..and sadly had no paranormal experiences!
Here is some pics from the shack:

Cousins

Family

The House

Looking Sharp

Playing drums

In love with flowers

Happy