I was at my new favorite hang recently "Everything Goes Book Cafe" and they have this question posted on the wall in huge letters and I found myself starring at it. The fear of failure has been my nemesis my whole life. So I've been spending the last few days walking around Staten Island and Manhattan trying to answer this very question and what I've found is that the answer is so confusing I don't know where to start. I thought I'd toss the question out there to see what thoughts it provoked in others and what your answers would be....

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM LITTLE D TO YOU.....HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE....I HOPE YOU HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY AND YOUR WHOLE LIFE THROUGH....HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM LITTLE D TO YOU!

Happy 32nd Birthday daddy, you deserve the best life has to offer and I hope D and I can always give that to you because you give it to us everyday! We love you so much and hope you have the best year EVER!

We spent a wonderful Saturday in Manhattan. We should have stayed home and unpacked the mountain of boxes we still have but what fun is that? So we packed up and headed to Manhattan for a walk through the farmers market in Union Square where we picked up some yummy snacks to eat once we got to Central Park. When we got to Central Park we landed in a great little area called Cedar Hill where we soaked up the sun, played with D a.k.a. "mr. right" and people watched (one of the most fun things to do in NYC)....So 9 hours later we were back on S.I. where we headed to one of my new favorite places Every Thing Goes Cafe for this cool Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer player but we headed out early because we were both so exhausted....Here's some picks from our day in the city!

When we first got to the park, D was half asleep and was seriously confused about where we were!

But once he figured out there were people he couldn't stop looking around, he didn't want to miss anything!

And then he was ready to pose and be funny. It's been so fun to watch his personality slowly come out, I feel there's more to come but every little bit is just that much more amazing!

Mr. Right is Mr. Cool! Watch out ladies he's going to be a hottie!

Oh and D's new favorite thing, blowing bubbles. Okay not new because he did it in utero but it's so funny to see him discover, he thinks it's so funny!

I couldn't help it Matt kept taking my pictures and you all know how much I love that so I started making faces to make it slightly more tolerable! Until next time.....big hugs and love.

NYdoctors....

We had our first dr. visit in NY today D did great considering he was pocked, stretched and stuck with needles :oO. The doctor said he was doing great he's in the 25th percentile on all his stats which she said was good considering were he started. We'll be working hard the next couple of weeks to get him on a more regular schedule which if it works as well as it looks on paper means slightly more restful nights for mom and dad!!!! So here's the update as of August 16, 2007

10lb 15 oz : 22 1/2 inches

He's healthy and growing and for the most part happy if we can get him a little more regular we think we'll get to see a few more smiles from time to time, however I must say it's seems our D is a pretty mellow and serious person, he always looks like he's thinking about something, my guess: " who are these crazy people they've left me with, what wierdos!?" Or maybe he's just wondering when he gets to eat again! Either way we're just happy he's healthy!

2MONTHSandgrowing...

I turned 2 months old this weekend and I must say it's been quite an eventful life so far, and in case any of you guys didn't already know, my parents are crazy! They moved me to New York when I was a month old and I've ridden the subway, eaten in little italy, rode in a limo, met everyone at daddy's work, looked at art in union square, walked a million miles with mommy (mostly when I decide I want to cry and cry) and today I got to touch sand for the first time. However I believe my greatest accomplishment is that I've driven both Mom & Dad to the brink of insanity! I put my evil plan in to place only moments after birth while everyone was ooooing and aweing over my big eyes and out of control tongue....

We are all getting settled in NY and can't wait for more visitors, we had a blast with Matt's mom, sister, aunt & cousin! Here's a bunch of pics daddy took to celebrate my b-day!

Hugs as mommy would say....and a sprinkle of m&m's!

And now for the comparison...from one month :2: two months!

I almost fit in my bumbo and there is hope someday I might grow into my feet..hee! Watch for pics from the beach this week, we're just getting ready to hang with mommy and daddy's friends JD & Celeste and my new friend Colin (their son), they live in California!

INTERNETaddict

that's what I am! We have been without internet since Wednesday and today I could take it no more, so D and I packed up and headed to Starbucks for some body warming tea and INTERNET! We might have it back by Sunday but not really sure yet. So I responded to a few emails people sent and now I have to run, so if I didn't get to yours I'll try to tomorrow, I have access hear until 4:00 pm....if you need something now, call my cell phone! Pray internet returns soon...PLEASE!

On Saturday afternoon Matt got home, his mom and sister arrived shortly after and his aunt and cousin arrived in the city late that night. Sunday around noon we all met in the city @ Union Square where we shopped and walked before heading to Little Italy for what quickly became a series of events that would make for the best day we've had in NYC so far!

It all started with a fun subway ride down to Little Italy where we almost lost Matt's cousin Tabitha because she suddenly jumped back on the subway car thinking she left her phone, luckily we had a small overnight bag for Matt's mom and sister that they were able to shove in the door and Tab leaped for freedom over the bag as laughter ensued. We walked into Little Italy towards a restaurant called La Mela. The afternoon was perfect a crisp breeze made the sun seem less intrusive than it had been in previous days. We sat on the sidewalk, enjoyed a huge bottle of the best house wine I've ever had, talked and enjoyed the amazing food. We chose to do family style where you don't pick the meal, they just start bringing you course after course. First caprizi salad, gorgeous tomatoes, thick slices of the freshest mozzarella and fragrant fresh basil all drizzled with yummy EVOO! The second course, grilled mozzarella wrapped in something buttery and delish, mushroom caps filled with sun dried tomatoes and cheese and roasted asparagus and red peppers, God could it get better? Why yes it can, as the waiter softly placed a massive tray of pastas on our table Gnocchi in marinara and cheese bubbling on top. Fresh tri-color cheese tortellini in a crazy yummy cream & marinara sauce. The third pasta was rigatoni in fresh tomato sauce with fresh basil ever so perfectly scattered on top.

Tabitha with a very sleepy D in Little Italy...

Now that's a milk drunk baby!

We couldn't resist his face was just to perfect for this shot!

So as you can imagine by this point we were all getting a little tipsy and very full, but there were still two courses to go ?! We went ahead and "forced" ourselves to eat the meat course with buttery lemon chicken, shrimp in marinara sauce and roasted garlic chicken. We decided to stop before the desert course because we wanted to go someplace else after our show. We finished our wine (seriously yummy) and started walking back towards the subway, when the next memorable moment happened...we saw a limo, he noticed the size of our group and Jeri (Matt's Aunt) and Matt went over to negotiate, not sure what they decided on but the next thing we all knew we were in the back of a white stretch limo traveling the streets of Manhattan. Singing horribly loud and laughing. It was D's first limo ride!

We got to Jeri's hotel unloaded and headed upstairs to get freshened up for our next adventure...BROADWAY! We went to see "Mama Mia" which I highly recommend it was fabulous and hilarious! I don't know many ABBA songs but it didn't matter the "older" couple sitting next to me knew every word! We left the show and headed to a favorite desert place of mine and Matt's called Juniors off 45th & Broadway they have amazing 7 layer cakes & awesome cheesecake (that's what they're known for) so we sat and talked and ate and laughed before heading back to the hotel where I picked up Matt and Deals and the three of us headed towards home. We got to the ferry just in time for 12:30 am departure and thank goodness we did, because after that the next one wasn't until 1:30....aahhh! It was an amazing day in the city for sure the first of many memorable moments.

Not sure why we were so surprised about our love of Little Italy after all Matt has professed for years that his love of Italian food means he must be Italian...well while I'm pretty sure there isn't an ounce of Italian in my fair skinned freckled faced husband, I am sure that our love of all things Italian runs deep and we can't wait for many more lovely dinners on the streets of Little Italy followed with more amazing Broadway musicals! We are definitely learning about great places to take all our friends when they come visit so book your trips now, we can't wait to share our NY with all of you!

And here's a few pics of our sweet boy!

I have a music crush on this group :Crooked Still: My sister-n-law Thea turned me on to them last summer when we were in Canada. They have a new album (Shaken by a Low Sound) out and I encourage everyone to check them out, they describe themselves as Acoustic/Folk Rock I describe them as freakn' awesome!

They are going to be in NY in Nov and we're going to see them, you should ALL come join us!

Check out their website www.crookedstill.com you can listen to a few of the songs off the new album there as well as purchase it or you can listen to and buy it and their other album "Hop High" on iTunes!

Hi friends, I wanted to introduce you guys to a very special family the Gross's. They are officially our first S.I. friends! I meet Christine at Starbucks on Monday and then Wednesday we went on the longest walk ever not really but the North Shore is all hills and I think we both felt like we walked them all! Steven & Christine have the most precious little girl Eva (isn't she cute)!

You guys would have been so proud to see me talk to a stranger granted I had my black jacket on and you know with the binkie in place I can trick my mind into thinking I'm a stronger person than I am. Thank God for Starbucks and courage! For the first time since we got here my hope was renewed that this was the best decision we've ever made! I can't wait for you guys to come to NY and meet the Gross's!