Let The Swimming Begin -

Yes it is that time of year when it is time to hit the pool again. For those of you raised like us - the pool is everything and so is swimming so we have begun lessons for little Alessandro. The good news is that when you are three (he turned three this week) you can take class without Mommy in the water. Of course we miss this together time but with little Nino it would be quite hard to juggle.

Alessandro was a champ and not scared for a moment. He just jumped right in when his teacher asked him to. I was a little concerned about this because he had asked if his beloved teacher Mrs. M was also going to teach him swim and could think about this going very badly by the fact that she would not be there. Alessandro was with three little boys at the pool in their "division" which is funny because his division currently is can't swim. All three were very cute and tried really hard to do their best while wet. The class is about 35 minutes which allows for some one on one with the teacher, some group swims and some fun on one of the giant rafts that everyone seems to love (see video).

Two more quick notes from swimming - the little snoopy was ours when we were little and taught Deb and me how to float on his back. Of course Nonna still had it and passed it along to the little guy who of course loves it. Also don't you love the swim suit - it was a present from ADL's beloved Godparents Dave and Amy and still fits this year - great shopping Bs. We miss you. Tune in again soon for raising Michael Phelps II - or just having fun and getting ready for a week in PopPop's pool - either way it was fun for the entire family. XOXO

All That Is News!

WOW what a week it was - we were still riding high in Birthday Euphoria on Sunday with a party with just the four of us. ADL opened gifts from us, Nino, Nonna and Pop Pop and Grammie and it was another round of great loot. I just do not know what we are going to do with all of it. Also if you have children or husbands near by who like Hot Wheels this is not officially the place to be - we have like 1001 of them including the new additions and the old collection of David's. Also "the Thomas cake" is the one that Mama Duck tried to make with Chrissy's kind and patient help. It was a disaster and think this one was way to advanced for even my patient crafty hand. Let's just say it ended up our family cake and the cupcakes got to go to the real party - thanks for all the encouragement and to Christine of course who lent the pan and should of likely decorated it as well (she is truly gifted).

The rest of the week has been filled with quiet excitement as we prepare for visits from David's Aunt Joan and of course Nonna on Tuesday. The boys are very excited and have been working on some special art items. Today is Auntie Ev's birthday and we are always very excited because she was once Alessandro's Birthday Buddy. We have also been working on birthday cards for Auntie Meg and Peaches in Alabama, Colette as well as C. Alessandro's friend from school. Whew a lot of birthdays!

Nino has had a little cold but has luckily broken his fever without any "episodes" we were nervous as this was our first fever since but he seems to have come through like a champ (fingers crossed). Now we look forward to a nice weekend of warm park worthy weather, family visits, cooking out and trying on summer clothes - guess they really do need shorts after all.

Lastly for those of you following ADL's school - he has been accepted into the Reading program for next fall which we are very excited about. This means one day a week he will bring lunch and stay after for Reading with this literature hungry group. Also Daddy has agreed to pony up for "Extra Time" which is summer camp at St. P's for the first two weeks of summer. Very exciting and surely many fun stories to tell coming in June. Enjoy - Happy Friday! XOXOXO

Mamas Gone Wild -

Lots of you have asked how the famous weekend with the ladies went??? Well it was amazing. We were in Charleston - home of Jennifer to enjoy some sun and fun. These ladies are my friends from Carolina and have stayed very close to me which is one of my greatest blessings. We also try to get together at least twice a year opting for each other's homes and some really fun destinations - last summers week at Wild Dunes being a classics of course. This time we did not bring the kids as Jennifer is preparing for her second baby and we thought everyone needed a break. In her neighborhood The Ion there was a large pro bike race which was added fun to see all the cute bikers racing around in front of her house as we sat on the front porch.

Tressa and I also drove together from Atlanta which gave us the best chance to catch up on the drive. She also was very kind and did stop to get me a chick-fil-a which is a treat for this Jersey Girl (sniff sniff). As an added treat I did get to see Tressa's beautiful home and her gorgeous kids on the way back which was amazing.

Also joining us on all the escapades were Jennifer's sisters Rebecca and Joelle - there were some computer follies that I will never completely reveal in this forum for sure.

It was a great weekend filled with good food, great vino, fun retail therapy and most important fabulous friends. Also the boys did survive well on their own - aided by Pop Pop for reinforcement. Mama does not get much vacation time but this was a great one!!! Thanks for all the good thoughts even for those who were jealous to not be there (mama Boal). Now we eagerly away to see what Jennifer is having - my money is on girl, but she is convinced otherwise (fingers crossed we need some more pink). XOXO

The BIG Party -

Okay you know when you do something and you start to do it small and then it ends up getting really really BIG? Well that is what happened to ADL's 3rd Birthday Party. We started out wanting something small and at home - then debated crazy things like a moon bounce in the back yard, having the party in the house or takings kids on a train ride.... What were we thinking? So we decided to have everyone to ADL's favorite place - My Gym to celebrate his big day. We had about 17 three year olds, which as you can imagine made me very glad to not have everyone in the house. They ran, climbed, played and ate cake and pizza. It was a whirlwind of excitement and fun including of course the pre-requisite sugar shock. Alessandro played games, enjoyed happy birthday and jumped on the trampoline until he was literally ready to pass out. Not to mention at the end he and all his little friends rode the zip line across the gym laughing and smiling all the way. Come on what is not to love??? Thanks to everyone who came and those of you who sent good vibes and warm birthday wishes. And for those of you who were ever so generous to send all those fabulous gifts - you should see our living room - it is like Christmas Part II down there. We so appreciate it and ADL is literally flying high with excitement for all the new loot, birthday cards, calls and love. MANY THANKS! XOXOXO

P.S. My sister and I have 1001 photos and videos from the day but we are very sensitive to photos of other children on my little page - if you would like to see them give me a buzz and I will shoot some right over to you - also look out for your thank you notes with a little extra goodie.

Birthday Party 1

Yes we are planning an entire weekend extravaganza for the BIG 3rd Birthday. Alessandro is very excited and looking forward to all the fun. We started the weekend off with a very fun trip to school for a party with our class. Dearest Chrissy came with us so Nino would not distract us from our PARTY attitude. We read special birthday books, ate yummy goodies (it seems the kids love munchkins but really who does not) and them had a great outing on the playground. The night before Chrissy joined Mama Duck for baking cookies and the infamous Thomas Cake - for those of you who are new readers Daddy believes in baking birthday cakes at home...... So the cake was a general success but the decorating required an advanced degree and ended up looking a little unkempt. Never fear although Chrissy was very positive and tried to save the project - Shop Rite's bakery was only a quick call away....

As you can see Nino is becoming quite a playground explorer - he still is not very steady on his feet in all the mulch but loves to slide, ride cars and especially swing. I am sure very shortly he will become the terror of the park so am still enjoying the relative quiet of him not wanting to get around. Come join us in the park where we literally always are. Note: Photos here are of playground at school which was also supervised by some very "knowing" teachers. HA!

Enjoy the photos of all the fun. XOXO

Easter Fun

We had a lovely Easter Weekend - beautiful weather, happy boys, generous bunny, children's service and a wardrobe malfunction were all part of the experience. Easter morning the boys got to come down and see the trail of eggs the Easter Bunny left and their Easter Buckets (because there was too much for the basket) that were filled with loot. They got to each take one thing out and wait to open the rest after church and "Jesus pancakes" which kind of evolved from preparing for the day. After church we went hog wild on all the loot playing with everything possible and making Daddy open everything at once.

After a much needed nap - we went over to our friend's home where we had sweets and another Easter Egg hunt for the boys after having two others the week before (see photos in heavy jackets from the weekend prior). We had a great time and Alessandro has surely grown into loving the search and destroy egg hunt - he actually found some cash in some eggs at Kate's and put it right into his piggy bank (that must come from David).

Finally a holiday in our home would not be complete without a discussion of wardrobe differences. It seems David was not a fan of the seersucker outfits that Nonna and Mom put together and especially not of little Nino's short pants and long socks. Think the socks are cutting off his circulation.... Think the socks look like orthopedics.... Why do they always have to dress like little VonTrapps???? It is clear that some people do not appreciate good classic style, let me know if you are hearing me out there.... Happy Easter! XOXO

Nino Scare -

Usually Mama Duck does not like to blog about the negative but this scare was really a lesson to us with the little guy. On Good Friday little Nino (one year one week) has a febral seizure at the house. Luckily David was home because there was pure panic and hysterics (on Mama's part) as the little guy even turned blue during the episode. We did call 911 and of course New Jersey's finest were here within minutes - we really brag on these guys. They quickly got us loaded up, in the ambulance, assured all would be well and to the hospital. He had a fever of over 105 when we got there - we knew he had a fever and were watching it but guess some little guys have a tendency to shoot up there and the seizure is the body's way of regulating (and terrifying the poor parents). All is well and our little "Good Friday" miracle was home that night and feeling much better and cooler of course. The lesson learned is to trust the gut and go to the hospital even when you feel like a worrying Mom and literally be prepared for everything because we thought we were pretty prepared and were at a total loss. Thank for all the prayers and good thoughts - we have needed them and are glad to say almost back to normal sans a few additional gray hairs and worry lines. XOXOXO

Aidan's Birthday -

We had the BEST time at little Aidan's 4th Birthday party. Mostly because he s one of our favorite people and we were thrilled to celebrate and secondly because it was at "My Gym" which just happens to be ADL's favorite place in the entire world. While there he jumped, climbed, danced, pulled, went crazy, rode the zip line and in general just had a ball. The fun as not just resigned to Alessandro as Nino also rolled a ball, climbed on the mats and equipment and in general just crawled around everywhere including chatting up the cute little baby ladies.

Many thanks to Aidan for having us there at your party and giving us a good warm up for our own little soiree in two weeks for Alessandro's own 3rd Birthday Party!!!! So exciting!!!! XOXOXO

Easter Prep -

Yes we have quite the costumes for Easter - the only problem is when we went to go see the Easter Bunny it was snowing outside and the boys needed turtlenecks and heavy coats and hats (not pictured thankfully). We went to a local mall to see the bunny and ADL was in love - he went right up to the bunny who he noted was also wearing a sweater vest and told him all the loot he wants in his Easter Basket. New Crayons (okay that is kind of sad), cars, a yellow horse, stickers and dinosaurs round out the list from what Mom could hear. It is all fine but the stickers as they always seem to find a way to get eaten by Nino which is a bad thing..... ADL was not scared and just smiled at the bunny as if he was his long lost friend - afterwards he also offered to show the bunny how to hop properly which gave the kind people at the camera some more time to try and sell me some more things.... when did it get so expensive to get your photo made at Easter? At least they did give the boys two pair of paper bunny ears (the modern equivalent of the BK Crown) which were destroyed off course before poor Daddy even got home from work. At least we have the photos to show how they loved them.

Now the poor wee little one was not as sure of the bunny - which who can blame him his head was the size of Brazil. He did dutifully pose for a very "concerned" photo and left the beaming ear to ear ones to his older brother. Still think it will do for their cards - yippee the end of Lent is near. Happy Almost Easter!

XOXO

Chrissy and Marcus Visit -

We were very lucky to have two visitors from the "old hood" in NYC. Chrissy and Marcus came out to spend the weekend in the country and we had a ball. First we took them to our favorite park to enjoy the weather (and wear the boys out) otherwise known as the "Awesome Park." Then we enjoyed a beautiful lunch outside grilled by David and an elegant dinner of Osso Bucco prepared by the very gourmet Marcus. He says I can make it by myself but honestly did miss some of the prep due to a day school fundraiser so all bets are off.

Note: in the photos you will see that ADL has moved to a "big swing" and now prefers to not use a "baby one" which is a bummer when they are trying to swing together at the park. However I can feel his pain as he is too tall and his long legs were almost touching the ground anyhow. Guess our little man is growing up - he also loves his sunglasses which makes me laugh because he comes by that honestly....
XOXO

Party for the Boys -

Daddy and Antonio has a surprise birthday extravaganza in DC for turning forty and one respectively. We had about forty people including those who really touched us by how far they would travel for good cake. Special thanks to Amy, Alex and Meg who were the local mavens helping to coordinate ground support and Aunt Deborah who came with Sean from CT to serve as Donna's personal assistant and party coordinator. I do not think Deb will ever want to hear the words "where is my camera?" again.... Mama Boal came from DC, Pops and Elizabeth from Florida and Dave's cousin Mike (also Antonio's Godfather" traveled with his beautiful family from Alabama for the occasion. We were truly touched by all the love and support for Dave, even though he is getting "older."

Also many thanks to Amy and Dave who were the champs of our crazy arrival and in charge of getting the men of the hour there on time. Even though Amy was like 9 1/2 months pregnant with Jacobs new sister or brother she still helped me to pick up the cake and keep some of my sanity in all of the excitement. Dave also did a great job getting the boys there, which was made a little easier by an early exit from the tournament by Maryland (sorry boys).

Enjoy some of the photos of all the fun -

XOXO