Mama's Boy...

Connor loves me.

And, I love him, too.

Baby, You're a Firework...

We always look forward to the 4th of July. It means a pool party, water balloon fight, cold beer, friends and family, and yummy cookout food! Jimmy, Andie, Sydney and Alex drive down from PA to come hang and celebrate with us. This year was especially fun because Connor could really interact and play with his older cousins. 

We swam...

 We drank ice cold beer...

 Of course, we made red, white, and blue cupcakes...(and maybe ate all the icing)...

 ...and had a water balloon fight...

At night, we went to the White Water Center, where the kids danced and played games. The fireworks began quickly afterwards:

 

 Connor and Alex goofing around:

 

Such fun summer memories...

Sitting in a Tree

Ok, so we hope they would have the decency to not showcase their romance in a tree at the park or common.  However, Connor and Alice are definitely a cute lil' pair. No matter where life takes us, they will always be each other's first friend. The same can be said for the twosome's awesome parents...Scott and April were our first friends down South too! 

Love you guys. We need a rematch in Jenga soon!

My favorite part of these photos is how they look so cuddly with each other...adorable!

 Uh Oh...

 Going in for the KISS!

 Alice is happy, though...

 Sharing memories of rice cereal, crawling, and first steps...

 Can they get any cuter?

{Fun in the Sun}

Connor's 2 (again)

I am finally dedicating myself to a night full of photos and blogs. I realize I haven't updated this blog in a while. I feel bad. This is supposed to be an online "baby" book for Connor's life, and I've been neglecting it. That sounds like such a mom thing to say, huh? The guilt of not doing something when you really want to just builds up and then you break and do it a thousand times over. Anyways, I can't believe I didn't post pictures from Connor's actual 2nd birthday. His party was fantastic, but his "day of" birthday, was awesome. Grannie came to visit, Mimi and Papa were here, and we all celebrated to the best of our ability (which wasn't hard to do). The presents were thoughtful and the cake, well, the cake was delicious! 

See for yourself:

Connor and Grannie

Connor, Mimi and Papa

 We love you Connor. As cliche as this sounds, it really is hard to believe 2 years has gone by already. We are so proud of you. You can count to 10. You know the colors of the rainbow (plus, brown, white, and black), and you sang the ABC's to the best of your capability the other day! 

You are always happy to give a hug, a kiss, a high five or a fist. You say "yes please," and "no thank you." We make you feel better when we kiss a boo-boo. 

You are the sunshine of our lives, and we love you to the moon and back!

Basketball!

Saturday was a great day. I got to do something I haven't done in years! Relieve stress? Check. Workout? Check. Shoot hoops? Check. Play pick-up? Check. Do this all on a squeaky clean and professional court? YES!! Our friends are season ticket holders to the Bobcats (Why? I dunno. To go to the only two important games of the year, I guess: The Celtics), and they invited Tom and I to an open court day at the Arena. It was AWESOME! 

The only thing missing was a freshly pressed uniform and warm up pants. The smell of the leather basketballs, the squeak of sneakers as they stop and go, my right hand follow through as the ball makes an oh-so-nostalgic "swish" in the net. Combine this with the bright lights, stadium seating, sweaty men (who our team beat, by the way), and my court swagger. It was euphoric. 

This is so hard to explain, but basketball was such a HUGE part of my life back in the day. Nowadays, I'm a wife and a mom. I wouldn't trade my life for anything. However, to just have a couple of hours to remember my carefree days of shooting hoops until the street lights came on, challenging the fellas at Coolidge field, playing and flirting  for hours in the practice court at Natick High, well...it really meant a lot to me, to my psyche, and to my husband, I'm sure. I am refreshed, reassured, and rejuvenated. I don't think my friends truly understand just how much they did for me two days ago. Thanks Kim and Trevor!

P.S. This is how excited Connor was to open his basketball hoop. 

He has a legit jump shot and palms the toddler sized ball. That a boy! (no pressure or anything). ;)

It's a "Shore" Thing!

GTL, baby. I'll tell Snookie you say "Hi..."