twins

would you believe that this beauty was pregnant with twins?!


well, its true....at least it was...


we got the call at 5:00 a.m. on sunday, april 1 - erika's water had broken and it was no joke!


i passed through that door to find two of the sweetest little babes i have ever laid eyes on.


and it all came flooding back to me... how that hospital room came to feel like home. how i felt like the world should stop because my baby was born. how miraculous it all seemed. i suppose newborn babies and hospital rooms will never be the same now that i have been through it. so i marveled just a bit more...


what a proud papa. watching serf hold both the babies was so tender. he equally alternated his gaze between each baby so as to make sure they knew they were equally loved.



and this mama. i love the way she mothers. she is what you call "a natural". and i am so in awe and am so proud of her... it's hard to believe that we used to be eighth graders who stuffed pillows in our shirts, pretending we were pregnant. we poured over baby name books and talked about babies and motherhood incessantly. it drove poor trevor mad. and now its real. wow.


friends, please meet willow jane...




and her brother, solomon paul...






sigh...it was so heavenly to meet these two little ones so fresh and new. i can remember meeting their big brother, ever, for the first time and melting at the sight of his little furrowed brow and his skinny little legs, and i know i will never forget this day and willow and solomon's tiny little everythings. i already love them so.

happy, happy newbornhood erika and serf and ever! we share every little, baby bit of your joy...

seaside sunday

this past sunday funday, we stuffed our backpacks, stopped for sandwiches and headed west. to the water's edge. at dillon's beach. ahhhh.....

thanks be to my trusty co-pilot, trevor, a.k.a. the man maid, for the beautiful scenery shots.

queen anne's lace will forever remind me of my own mum.

at long last. we made it!


immediately, shoes came off.



and baby berry was happy. i know because i am baby berry's mother. and any baby of mine must either be born to love, or grow to love the beach.


many sandcastles were built and then in typical little boy fashion, smashed to smithereens.


sandy hands,


sandy toes,


and sandy bums.

this next image will forever make me laugh. even if i am alone.

beachy beautiful.

handsome and funny...what a package.

happy girl.

and before we packed up our bottlecaps and empty sandwich wrappers and glumly put our shoes back on, a group picture with the camera haphazardly placed on rock, as a little toddler runs away.

i love it just the way it is.

slumber party

you know your saturday night will pretty much be a blast from the past when these two faces greet you on the porch, promising you a slumber party like the old days.



after some play time in the sun, it was agreed that supper time it was.

behold, the magic of oxbow...

first stop: gott's.



hello heaven.

and the face of a boy who is told cupcakes are for dessert:


kara's cupcakes to be exact.



there is something so lovely about a long, pink box, erika and i concurred.


especially a pink box hiding such treats.


ever agreed to give just the frosting a whirl...


just a tiny bite...


and then he jumped, feet first, into a cupcake cloud...


for the grown ups, a ritual latte could not be resisted...





it truly is the best latte i have ever sampled...the foam is like butter. and is quite pretty too.


a full moon accompanied our drive home.


and our night ended with the following fun:

bathtime (always a good time)

book time (strega nona is one of my faves)

magazine time (searching for a hair cut - found it - thanks katie holmes)

bravo time (oh bethenny and real housewives of nyc - i have missed you)

reading time (erika's doula and childbirth literature was very informative)

thanks for the fun, e. you really know how to keep the old fashioned slumber party in style. promise we will still do this when we are white-haired old birds?

three is glee

this little boy turned three and his mom and dad arranged a celebration with his friends at a bouce house wonderland!

he certainly knew that it was his birthday and that everyone was there to party because it was his day. so cute.

the cupcakes were made by his mama...and they were good. real good.

one of my favorite parts was watching ever play with all his little friends and hearing their little voices call out each other's names.

erika's brand new, adorable niece was there for us all to gaze at. i even got to hold her. i couldn't believe how tiny and sweet she was.

and these two silly billies doing their, "let's pretend we are a family" picture.

i just can't believe ever is three! it seems like just last tuesday that he looked like this. i remember waiting and waiting for him to come and then getting the text message that he had arrived. it took my breath away. and now he is here, speaking in sentences, understanding that there is a baby in my tummy, and using the big boy potty. he is one of the most fun people i know. and i hope this year is especially magical for him...

happy birthday, sweet boy.