I meant to get these pics up last weekend, but life happened. And we had such a wonderful weekend this weekend, but I don't want to write about it until I catch up on LAST weekend! So here it is in a nutshell:
We went to Neltner's Farm on Saturday morning. To be perfectly honest, the whole Fasciotto family was in a bit of an "off" mood. I felt like we rushed to get there, The Girls were cranky, The Parents were tired, and my mom kept hassling all of us to stand still so she could get a good picture. I just wanted to buy a pumpkin and leave - check it off the list and move on! But then I got home and saw our pictures! It LOOKS like we had a really good time! I guess it's true what they say - you can't take a bad picture on such a beautiful day.
Sylvia climbed up behind the drivers seat long before they started the wagon rides. Finally, one of the guys saw her standing there and said, "Are you ready to go get your pumpkin?" We were the first, and only, people out there.
Even though Margot napped in the moby the whole time, she still looked pretty darn cute!
Before we left, I told Sylvia to "find a warm hat." She grabbed her princess baseball hat. I wasn't about to fight that battle.
Mom's pretty proud of this picture!
Staring at the creek.
Feeding the goats.
Playing in the haunted house
On Sunday morning, Margot and I met Laura, Pete, Ellie, Audrey and Andrew at the Books by the Banks Festival to see our favorite DIY bloggers: The Petersiks, from Young House Love!!! I wasn't sure what to expect, but the event was more than exciting! We waited in line for about 45 minutes until we got to the table, and everyone in line was pleasant and happy and abuzz with YHL fever. When we finally got there, Laura and I did our best NOT to look like or sound like a bunch of weirdos. I think they liked us!
Sherry discusses the wonders of Greater's chocolate chunks.
This one is priceless. Sherry is making such a fuss over MY BABY! Can you blame her?
OMG, we look like best friends, don't we? Like, "These are our friends, The Petersiks, in from out of town for the holidays. Won't you join us for tea and party games?" Not to mention - Margot wants to yank those big ol' blue earrings right out of Sherry's ear!
As if meeting them in person wasn't enough of a thrill, John and Sherry (our new BFF's) put pictures of us on the YHL BLOG this week! They get like, 5 jillion page views a month, so there's a lot of people I don't know looking at my picture right now. Eeek! So fun. They even linked to Laura's blog, which had 29 page views the day before, and OVER SIX HUNDRED page views on the day they posted! Is that crazy or what??! We're totally famous. Somebody find Margot an agent. OH! Aaaand if you troll their comments pages, I believe you'll find a comment from Joyce on page six, to which Sherry responded. Because she's my best friend, so naturally, she'd love my mom, right?
Maybe tomorrow night I'll get up the nerve to post about the amazing weekend we just finished. Preview: Girls Only, Pumpkins, Princesses. And a crocodile.
We are totally paying the price for having such a busy weekend! Sylvia has been fussy and tired and whiney and Margot - holy cow, that girl just STOPPED sleeping. Completely stopped. She gets quiet long enough for me to catch an hour or two here and there, but she does not sleep. Until this very moment, of course, and I'm praying she lasts until at least 1:00 am. I should be in bed, but I wanted to post this video so I can remember the fun we had that caused all of this madness.
We went to the Brew Ha Ha down at Saywer Point on Saturday, after spending all day at Coney Island. If I had to do it over again, we would have skipped Coney - too hot, too crowded, too much for our little ones. The Brew Ha Ha was not the most appropriate event for kids, but luckily, these girls were clueless to the comedians' scandalous stories. We won't be taking Sylvia next year, but this year, she had a BALL! She and Cecilia accidentally wore matching shirts and they made a new friend, Elias. Here they are running around - just a slice of the fun they had in that giant grassy field. I was trying to catch the head-butt between Sylvia and Elias; apparently that's how kids say, "I think you're cool."
I could write a book about how it feels to watch my little girl run around with my best friend's little girl. My heart nearly exploded as I saw them do things that I know she and I both do. Sylvia had her eye on Cecilia the entire evening and constantly shouted, "C'mon, Cici!" urging her to play soccer or run behind the bushes. And Cecilia? She actually CLEANED UP after Sylvia. I'm not even kidding. If you know Ann at all, this won't surprise you, but WOW. It was clear that they are miniature versions of their mamas, and I am so excited for Sylvia to know Cecilia. If those girls get each other into (and out of) as much trouble as their mothers did, they will be lucky, indeed!
Finding time to update the ol' blog has been quite a challenge lately! My list of priorities these days is all out of whack. In a word: pumping. I hate it so much, but I try to do it as often as I can. Plus, we're sort of a little bit trying to potty train Sylvia. So...I'm busy.
Anyway, I wanted to post some pictures of our awesome weekend. It started on Friday when I took The Girls (I love calling them "The Girls!" I have TWO girls! Eek!!) to see some of my old friends from long, long ago. Long story short, I grew up with the children of two families: The Glenns and The Gautrauds. Both families have umpteen children, and now we're all grown up and having children of our own, so when we get together, this happens:
26 children on a couch! 10 moms and 3 Grandmas watching it happen.
Words cannot describe how much fun we had. Sylvia ran around with these kids until she was soaking wet from sitting in a puddle and sticky as can be from the yellow popsicle Mrs. Pammie gave her. Bliss. I got to talk to my old friends about new topics - disciplining toddlers, nursing newborns, funny things kids say and do. Double bliss.
On Saturday, we spent a lovely day at home and then went to the Fairgrounds for the high school's staff picnic! We weren't sure what to expect, but the other two toddlers from day care were there with their families, so we ended up having a surprisingly good time!
Sunday was a big day - The Girls' first Red's game! Laura and Pete graciously asked us to join them for the Reds v. Cubs game (they are die-hard Cubs fans, and we, of course, are not - so that's always fun)! We've debated taking Sylvia all summer, but always decided against it because it would mean she'd be up way too late at night or she'd be missing a nap in the afternoon. We had no problem taking her, though, because we knew Ellie would be there to keep her occupied, and we knew we could leave early if we had to.
We parked in KY and walked across the bridge. I wish I had a picture of Sylvia looking at the Duck boat (which she rode a few weeks ago with Grammy and won't stop talking about) and the "piano boats," which is what she calls any paddle or steam boat, for some reason. We met Pete at the front gate and made our way to the Fan Accommodation booth where we parked our stroller and ordered our "First Red's Game" certificates for The Girls! The Great American Ballpark is SO family friendly! We found our seats and ate our packed lunch, played with Ellie, and glanced at the field every once in a while. Every time the Reds got a strike out, fire would shoot up from the steamboat towers in center field, and Sylvia thought that was the Greatest Thing To Ever Watch Ever! If you ask her what happens at a baseball game, she says, "Fire!" If you ask her who plays baseball, she shouts "Joey Votto!" If you ask her if she saw Joey Votto at the game, she'll say, "Joey Votto have boo-boo. Joey Votto fall down." So. Stinking. Cute.
We didn't take our good camera, but we did get a few shots with our phones. I wish I had thought to pull out my phone when Ellie was hugging Sylvia over...and over...and over...it was adorable!! All of the girls did a fabulous job and we stayed until the top of the eighth inning! Who needs naps?!*
Waiting at the front gate.
Me and The Girls! I love how they both fit on my lap.
Margot didn't pay one bit of attention to the game. Sheesh!
Go Reds!
*Skipping nap time always sounds like no big deal, and from 2-4 in the afternoon, when she's normally napping, Sylvia is delightful. It's not until about 6:00 at night that we pay the full consequences for skipping a nap. Holy COW that child turns into something else entirely. Girl went to bed at 7:00 Sunday night, and I felt like I had just won a rodeo.
Sylvia and I took a delightful springtime drive to Lexington today for a special birthday party - Scarlett is ONE year old! Remember all those babies I was hoarding last spring? They're all about to turn one and today they were all dolled up in their springy best!
Sylvia dove into a cupcake within ten minutes of arriving. She's her Mama's daughter!
Emily made these adorable little Mad Hatter Hats for the kiddos. Sylvia tried to wear hers to bed tonight.
Megan with Clover and Emily with Scarlett - these two babies are besties forever!
Audrey and Ellie, chilling together on the baby play mat.
Sylvia, Scarlett, and Clover, checking out the yard.
Audrey and her Daddy, Michael - LOVE.
Double LOVE!
Emily also made this amazing pull string pinata for the li'l uns to open. It was full of snack bags of goldfish! Score!!
Scarlett tears into her birthday cupcake - yummers!!
Sylvia and Clover watch the slide show from the couch...
...then enjoy some tickle time.
Scarlett, Clover, and Sylvia.
Pictures like that last one really get me choked up. Scarlett's mama, Emily, and Clover's mama, Megan, were my best girlfriends and roommates in college. Sometimes it seems like yesterday that we were painting our kitchen red and dancing on the coffee table. Then I look at these three girls and I'm all...holy cupcake! We have KIDS! And we're allowed to KEEP THEM! I wish I could go back in time and show this picture to those crazy college girls. They wouldn't believe how well things turned out.
I wish I had more pictures of Ellie and Audrey, but alas, 'tis the nature of parties and cameras. Those mamas are awfully special to me, too, and I know they know it! It was so nice to visit with old friends today and celebrate the awesomeness of Scarlett! Happy Birthday, sweet girl!
I will never, ever forget, for as long as I live, the early morning call from Meredith to tell me her sweet Annabelle had arrived...four weeks early! Meredith and I began our teaching careers together and became very close in our classrooms across the hall from each other. She was the first close friend of mine to have a baby, so naturally, I watched her like a hawk during her pregnancy and asked her four hundred gazillion questions, because at that point in my life, I was NOT planning to get pregnant for quite some time, if at all. Pregnancy was such a mystery to me, but Meredith seemed to glide through it like she'd done it a thousand times. I was in awe of her (and still am). The night before Annabelle was born, I sat at my computer for hours making my first baby song CD for Meredith, Justin and Annabelle. So it was quite a surprise to find out she was born that night! I was convinced it was because I spent so much time thinking about her. So, you're welcome, Annabelle. Glad I could help.
Here's Meredith's story of Annabelle's birth:
At 36 weeks, I was tired, tired, tired. I'd had one of my two baby showers and was going to have the other in a week, but for some reason, I woke up on that Saturday morning with a burning urgency to get everything ready for the baby NOW. I went shopping for a breast pump and got the car seat installed by a "professional". My husband thought I was nuts, but I came home around lunchtime feeling accomplished and ready for a nap. That night after a dinner of leftover Italian sausage rigatoni with tomato white wine cream sauce (yup - I remember the meal), we watched the UK - Florida game and man, oh man, it was one of those games. That was the year that UK struggled and Florida was #1 in the country and we lost at the very last minute. Around 10, I went to bed while my husband studied for a huge pathology exam that was coming up that Monday. As I drifted off to sleep, I started to dream that I had wet the bed. Suddenly, I woke up to discover that I HAD wet the bed - actually, my water had broken! My husband was coming to bed and I said, "Honey - either my water just broke or I wet the bed!" I was actually scared to death because I was only 36 weeks - everyone says that you're supposed to go late with your first baby and I knew that I was exactly 36 weeks - no miscalculations.
I hadn't really gotten around to talking to my doctor about what to do when I was in labor, how to know I was in labor, etc, etc. I called the on call number and the dr told me to come in right away if my water had indeed broken. I wasn't in any pain, so I took one last long shower, ate an apple, double checked my bag...then off we went, to the hospital! I will never forget that feeling on the drive to the hospital, knowing that it was the last time we would be just the two of us!
So we got to the hospital and checked in only to find out that I was only dilated one tiny centimeter. Boo! Although I remember every single detail, I am going to fast forward quite a bit...after getting pitocin through an IV, I dilated to 10 cm, but after over an hour of pushing, it became clear that the baby was stuck. She wouldn't budge and I couldn't move (I had an epidural - after 5 hours of pitocin contractions, I was begging for it), and then to top it off, my blood pressure started to sky rocket and the baby's heart rate was slowing. The doctor told me that I was going to have to have a Cesarean. At first I cried and begged and pleaded, "NO!" After all, I hadn't read any of the books' chapters on C-sections! It wasn't even an option to me. After some more pushing, though, it wasn't up to me - we had to get the baby out. I was prepped for c-section (definitely leaving out all of those details!) and I will always remember the moment in recovery when I was "with it" and got to hold my little baby for the first time (right before she got carted off to the NICU for a few hours). It was such a fun feeling to finally meet the little sweetie who had been kicking me and become my best little buddy...she still is! Sometimes, it still blows my mind that not only did I make and grow a baby, but I am responsible for teaching her so much. It's a pretty awesome responsibility, being a mommy!
...and Meredith is the best. Here's sweet Annabelle, 5 years old and every bit as beautiful as her mother, but looking just like her daddy.
Stay tuned for another birth story from Meredith - sweet little Clara was born in May of 2010 and she is a DOLL!
Two weeks ago, I was dreading the thought of putting together a baby room. Then something crazy must have happened to my brain this week, and I suddenly got "the itch!" Good thing, too, because by this time in my last pregnancy we were almost done with Sylvia's AMAZING room. I think that's why I didn't want to start this one, because there's no way it could be as cute as Sylvia's was. Oh, but WAIT...it can. And here's why:
Blue Dusk!
I finally settled on a paint color after picking up tons of paint swatches last weekend. I decided on Blue Dusk earlier this week, then I spoke to Emily and it turns out this is the exact same color she used in her bedroom - which I already knew I loved - so that sealed the deal. I think it's pretty crazy that, out of all the "blues" out there, we picked the exact same great color. I've been pinning lots of blue and coral colored inspiration pics like these...
...and I didn't want to overdo it on the pink, so I decided to go with blue walls, a white chair rail (you know I love my chair rails), and then coral/pink accents in the rest of the room. I'm working on a little coral project tomorrow (that paint is called Safflower) that I'm really hoping turns out to be as amazing as I think it'll be in my head, so stay tuned! Also, I loved doing the stripes in Sylvia's old room, so I'm considering taking it a step further with this one and trying my hand at chevron stripes or perhaps a stencil of some sort? Who knows. Time will tell!
We woke up early this morning and made a big ol' family trip to Lowe's for our low VOC paint and supplies. We came home and I got straight to work! It took me all day, even though it's a small room. I took lots of breaks to play with Sylvia, switch out the laundry, watch the UK game...that kind of stuff. And right around 5:30 I finished it up! I'd post pictures, but it's dark and I want to wait until tomorrow, but just know that as of right now, I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!! I love it so much that I don't even care how badly my hands and arms hurt! It's really a beautiful color.
I finished just in time, too, because we had some special guests for dinner tonight. Ann, Andy, and Cecilia came over to pick up some furniture and knick knacks we had set aside for them, so naturally dinner turned into play time which turned into...
PAJAMA MATTRESS JUMPING SLUMBER PARTY WRESTLING MATCH!
A flying leap.
It was nearly impossible to get a still shot of both of them at the same time, so I gave up.
Sweet Cecilia in her cow jammies!
When the pigtails come out, so does the Wild Woman hairdo!
"Hey Cecilia, lets see who can scream louder, kay?"
Since we had Andy here, I made the burly menfolk move Sylvia's new couch into her room (no, I have not moved out her rocking chair yet, but I will soon, yikes!) and the girls wasted no time climbing on it and squealing and screaming and clapping and jumping and having a dandy old time. It was great to visit with the Reynolds' and I'm fairly certain that both of these girls will sleep very well tonight!
Tomorrow's little project invloves my Dad's power sander, so....I'm pretty darn excited about it. Get ready for another post about how awesome (or how terrible) my little project turns out!
...I saw NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK in concert! Let me tell you something folks, last night was the greatest night of my life.
Someday, I'm sure the memory of this concert will settle into a deserving 3rd place, behind the appropriate 30-Year-Old Mom memories - wedding and childbirth. But today, and last night, it sits way, way, waaaaaay up there at a soaring #1. It was amazing. It took my breath away. I cried. And I'll try to tell you all the wonderful details, but they will never do this night justice. So here we go:
Me, Analese, Charity, Eric and Karen
We started the night in the cheap seats, where we saw the opening act, Matthew Morrison - Mr. Schuester from Glee! (I often have to remind myself that I do NOT live in a perpetual episode of Glee and that it is NOT appropriate to burst out into song at any given moment.) We didn't know if there would be an opening act, so when he took the stage, I was beyond excited! He sang and danced and generally made me warm and happy all over. We knew immediately that we HAD to get closer. Analese had a friend down on the first level (not the floor, but one up from there) who said there were lots of seats open, so off we went, and you know what? W e waltzed our way right next to the darn stage! We were so, SO close, you guys. Closer to the love of my life than I ever thought I'd ever be.
When the lights went off, I knew it was going to be good. I, along with thousands and thousands of other old ladies, started feeling that tingle of nostalgia. The lights came up, and there they were - New Kids on the Block and The Back Street Boys, standing with legs apart, heads down, on a stage that was spewing fog and ascending into the air! I started screaming. Now, I've been to shows and concerts before, and I like to scream and cheer and get crazy, so I know what my normal "hey, I like this band" scream sounds like. But this scream?
This scream came from a part of my body that hasn't been this excited since she was ten years old. This was a pure, involuntary, smitten, joyful, manic adolescent scream. I don't think I'll ever hear it again.
They sang the first song together, and toward the end, they separated so that the New Kids danced their way down the catwalk to the smaller circle in the middle of the floor. Then this happened, and I cried (you can also hear my aforementioned girl scream at the end):
I mean, I wasn't bawling or anything, but my eyes were filled with tears, and my heart was racing, and I just couldn't believe what I was feeling! I expected the show to be great, but I did not expect it to whisk me away to my Mom's basement circa 1989, where the neighbor girls and I spent an entire summer perfecting our NKOTB dance moves. All I could think about was that tiny boom box, my cassette tapes, and my finger pressing the play button a hundred times a day. I was overwhelmed to say the least.
For the rest of the show, I kept my eyes on Joey. I did my best to put down the camera every once in a while, but I couldn't resist the urge to catch this experience and hang on to it forever! Here are some more videos and pictures, but they will never, never, NEVER be able to show you how much fun we had.
Here's my boyfriend singing "Summertime" and showing off his hot bod! Some of these moves were borderline inappropriate, but then again, I'm old. I certainly didn't mind watching it!
And here's a video that Eric took from two rows behind me. Can you believe how close we were?? Clearly, Joe couldn't find me in the crowd, otherwise he would have certainly proposed at this point. I guess he was too busy flirting with the hussies a few rows up from us. Psh!
At one point, Danny Wood was standing in that spot. I waved to him, and he looked me right in the eye and WAVED BACK! Whaaaa!!!!! I don't even like him! But I was so happy!!!
Just a-singin' and a-dancin'!
This is one of the Back Street Boys, don't know which one, but he was just adorable!
I stood next to Charity for the whole show, and she's a Back Street fan (a youngin'), and we agreed that the set up of the show was fantastic. They would alternate songs so that we heard a few NKOTB and a few BSB and then sometimes they'd sing together. More bands should do this! It gave me time to recover from my Joey high while watching her swoon for a while. Also, Charity wins the luckiest fan award, because when the show was over, we could see them walking behind the stage on the floor below us, and wouldn't you know it - Donnie Whalberg threw his sweaty towel into the crowd and Charity CAUGHT IT! Oh my word, how awesome is that?!
It was really such an amazing night! One I will not soon forget. And just for anyone out there wondering: I haven't been to an arena concert since 2005. Who did I see? Nine Inch Nails. And I loved it! But not as much as I loved this. This should hold me over for at least another 20 years.
My loving and wonderful husband, along with my loving and wonderful parents, planned a great weekend getaway for us in Lexington. Mom and Jay met us Saturday afternoon and took Sylvia up to their house for the night. Let me say that again: they TOOK MY CHILD AWAY FROM ME. Do I sound mad, or sad, or upset? Because I wasn't. I was so, incredibly happy! I love my daughter more than anything, but taking her for the night, and letting us have some fun, was the world's greatest gift. I was thrilled!
Before I tell you how much fun I had this weekend, let me give you a little sneak peek at how much fun Sylvia had:
(I took this video when we went to pick her up today - she did NOT miss me!)
After Mom and Jay took our kid, I found out that we would not be staying at a friend's house! Instead, Mom and Jay got us a hotel room (as a birthday present) and I almost cried when I realized that I'd be sleeping in a giant, comfy, QUIET bed, without a baby waking me up in the morning. Here's what we found when we got into the room...
What I thought was an enormous box of chocolates turned out to be these babies! Woah, Mama!
When I had a glass of champagne in one hand, a strawberry in the other, and a cozy couch underneath me, I told Sylvain I wasn't leaving the room. Ever. I told him to cancel all of our plans, because the champagne and strawberries were more than enough to fill me up for the night. But then he reminded me why we came - we had reservations at the world's greatest restaurant - Malone's! I sighed when I realized that I'm very, very lucky.
I suppose there are lots of people in Lexington that can eat at Malone's whenever they want, because some of the patrons were not as dressed up as I think everyone should be. To us, Malone's is a big deal - for very special occasions - and we haven't been there since December 29th, 2009. Laura talked me into buying a new blue dress just for this dinner, and darn it, we looked goooooood! I've been dreaming about this meal for months. We had the Lexingtonian Salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, I had the filet medallions crusted with bleu cheese and a side of fresh asparagus. People, there is little in this world that makes me as happy as this food. It is worth every penny and I savored every bite! YUM!!!
Sylvain was very cryptic about our after-dinner plans, so I assumed something was up. I figured we'd be meeting up with some friends to have drinks, but I though there would only be a few, since almost all of our friends have babies. Well, there were more than a few folks waiting for us next door at Harry's Bar! It was pretty much everyone I love in Lexington, PLUS a couple of babies! Yippee!!
Michael, Sylvain, Pete, Emily, Ben, and Emily.
John, Megan, Clover, Laura (Ellie in her carrier!), Krista, Emily
My awesome (and delicious) 80's themed cupcakes!
Sylvain never smiles with teeth! I love this picture!!!
Laura and Ellie, right after she woke up and caught a glimpse of the lights and ceiling fan.
John and Clover
Thanks for talking me into this dress, Laura!
We sat outside, had some drinks, and chit-chatted about the good old days for hours and hours. Then, around 11:30, Michael and I were ready to sing karaoke, or go dancing, or party until the "breaka breaka dawn," in his words. But then I remembered that I'm old, and I thought about that amazing hotel bed and the fluffy cloud pillows, and I really, really, REALLY wanted to get a good night's sleep. When everyone else left, so did we, and it was the right move. I was tucked in and fast asleep by midnight. We're not as young as we used to be, and I don't mind one bit!
We checked out this morning and I said a tearful goodbye to our hotel room. I was excited to get up to Mom's house and see my Nugget, though! Clearly, she didn't even know I was gone. She generally behaved like a wild woman, and I'm sure Mom was exhausted after trying to keep up with her.
Since I'm a sucker for getting stuck with my baby in awkward public situations, I thought it would be a great idea to invite Ann and Cecilia out to a movie. Ann loves Winnie the Pooh and always has, so as soon as I saw the previews a few months ago, I knew we would have to do this. It was Sylvia's and Cecilia's first movie, so there was no telling how this would work out.
Wouldn't you know, those girls sat on our laps and watched the WHOLE DANG MOVIE!!! I could not believe it. Sylvia never once fussed, or squirmed or tried to run around the theater. Ann brought a few Winnie the Pooh toys, and we both smuggled in plenty of baby snacks, so these girls had the time of their lives! It was a ton of fun.
Cecilia was decked out in the finest Pooh Bear jumper. What a cutie pie!
After the movie, Sylvia was worn out, so we popped over to Dad's house to drop of a birthday present for Sally (Happy Birthday!!!) and then we headed on home. Now for a nice relaxing week or two before our entire world gets turned upside down. I'll post soon about the house selling details, I'm forcing myself not to think about it for a while.
I'm Rachael. My occupations include, in this order: daughter, sister, friend, teacher, wife, and mother. I may seem like a grown up, but don't be fooled - I have no idea what I'm doing. I do know that sometimes I have big thoughts and nowhere else to put them, so here they are. I also try to keep up with daily life around here, but I do most of my daily updates on Facebook and Instagram. Enjoy the chaos you find here!
