Weekend in VT

We had a really nice long weekend in VT. We drove up on Thursday evening after work and stayed through Sunday afternoon. We spent Thursday night in Rutland and drove to Lake Bomoseen on Friday morning for the remainder of the weekend.
On Friday Mommy, Daddy and Aaron went for a nice long boat ride... Aaron passed out a few minutes into it and took a relaxing nap under the canopy while Mommy and Daddy baked in the sun. We had our first dinner of the summer out on the deck - it was so nice to be back at Bommo!

Here's a photo of the Louras Lake house from the water... this was taken in the fall of 2008 - the branch that held the rope swing broke last summer :( (It wasn't very fun to swing into the boat lift anyway!)


The water on Saturday was cold and choppy - we didn't venture out in the boat or go swimming. Aaron learned how to use a squirt gun and had lots of fun with Ace. He was re-introduced to Bubba Casella from next door and had fun chasing him around with the water guns. Aaron calls Bubba "Gumble Bum" - I hope it sticks!

Sunday was Father's day and Aaron surprised Daddy with a sterling silver guitar pick with lyrics from one of their favorite songs, Banana Pancakes (Jack Johnson)... "When the whole world fits inside of your arms". The other side has his initials and it sits in a case on his keychain.

Ace, Aaron and Daddy went for a morning kayak ride on the lake and as they were pulling into the dock they noticed something was missing... the raft! It must have broke loose during the storm and floated away. The boys got in the boat to hunt down the missing raft. Aaron called it "mission: helping our neighbors" and came up with a plan... Step 1: get in the boat. Step 2: find the raft. Step 3: tie the raft to the boat and drag it back. He was so excited when his "mission" was completed!

We went to brunch at the Lake House Pub and Grille - a great little restaurant right on the water where you can drive your boat up and park. They had a band playing and we sat right on the water and fed the ducks (aptly named Donald, Daisy and Professor by Aaron).

This is a water color from a famous VT artist - Peter Huntoon. We have this print framed in our house as a reminder of great times on Lake Bomoseen.


Later that day, Aaron caught his first fish! A small mouth bass! He called it his "green fish" and caught it without bait. Ace helped Aaron set him free to "go back to his family".  Ten minutes later he caught him again! I guess fish have a very short memory!

 

Too bad GG had to fly to Kansas City for work - she missed a really nice lazy Sunday on the lake! Sorry GG! We'll be back soon!

A (quick) recap of the time leading up to our family of 3

Aaron John Libertore

12/15/2007

11:01pm

8 pounds 10 ounces

21 inches

Whew... it seems like forever ago that we were seeing his sweet little face for the first time. Here are some photos we took along the way to meeting our little man.

12 Week Ultrasound

20 Week Ultrasound

32 Week Ultrasound

Mommy at 6 months

Mommy at 8 months although you can't see the bump very well under that coat

In Labor...

After 16 hours of labor and no progression... we were prepped for surgery. Lookin' good Daddy!

A quick 30 minutes later and Daddy held Aaron for the first time...

Our first family photo...

Saturday, December 15, 2007
It was such a beautiful day! There was a big snow storm that made it difficult for Ace and GG to drive down to Boston but they made it! Driving to the hospital that morning was surreal... it was bright and sunny and the snow was fresh and not gunked up by Boston drivers yet.
After the delivery we were moved up to a great room with 2 full walls of windows and a beautiful view of Boston. It couldn't have been better if we planned it! We spent 5 days in the hospital healing and getting to know Aaron.

Waiting to be discharged from the hospital

Then the real journey began...

That reminds me...

I just got an email from a friend asking how "Juice" was doing. I COMPLETELY forgot that when we first told Aaron about his new brother or sister he was convinced it was a girl (or as he said it - goil) and that her name should be "Juice". It wasn't until after we found out it was a boy that we started calling him "Turtle". Aaron was still pretty sure it was going to be a girl despite the overwhelming evidence on the 18 week ultrasound. We will see, pal - they've been wrong before. He's pretty settled on the baby being a boy lately... I particularly like how he says "Bruddah". Like a true Bostonian (oh no!).

This morning he sang his ABC's to the baby twice and gave him lots of pepper poops (this is what our family lovingly calls zerberts). He is excited about being a big bruddah! Last weekend he had an opportunity to play with our friends little girl, Mary Francis. He played nicely on the floor with her, held her, kissed her head, picked out her jammies and even helped give her a bath. He was so sweet with her - I can't wait to see him with our baby!
Here are some cute shots that Lindsay took of Aaron holding Mary Francis...

5 Wonderful Years!

Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary. I can't believe how much life has changed in 5 years... a new city, new jobs, new friends, one happy and healthy 2 year old and another baby on the way! I couldn't be happier!




Hoping the next 5 years are as wonderful as the last 5 have been.

Strawberry picking, a 5k and AJLs first movie in a theatre

We had a great weekend!
Saturday morning we got in the car and drove up to Russel Farm in Ipswich, MA where we took a hayride and picked our own strawberries. Later that afternoon we picked up Ace and GG from the airport and went to dinner in the North End (followed by gelato at Modern Bakery, of course!).


I love this photos but cannot take credit for it... Aaron took it all by himself!



Today we said goodbye to Ace and GG and then got ready for Daddy's first 5K in 14 years!! It was the Corrib 5K in West Roxbury, MA. We went to cheer him on...

"good luck Daddy... we'll see you at the finish line"


Waiting for the starting horn.


YAY DADDY! You're almost there! (Aaron was very proud and said "that's my Daddy" to all the people around us - he had a big cheering section thanks to AJL)


Nice job! Finished in roughly 26 minutes. We are so proud! Can't wait for the next one!

After the race we hung around for some face painting, play time in the bouncy house, burgers and beer. By this point the storm had started to roll in so we decided to go to the movies. It was Aaron's first time at the movie theatre... we saw the new Shrek Forever After. It was pretty good and Aaron was an excellent date.

Back for real... no, really!

I am so bad at this and know I will regret not having done this down the road so here goes my attempt at a clean slate.

Update: We are expecting Baby Libertore #2 in early September. It's a BOY! We are thrilled and Aaron is too! We have a name (a GREAT one!) but are withholding it for the time being. We did not experience the influx of opinions when we were naming Aaron (probably because those that know us know that the name Aaron held a very special meaning) and were caught off guard with the comments people would make about the names in our "top ten" list. "I once knew a guy named xxx... he was a real jerk" or "Everyone will think you named him after the singer xxx" or "people will nickname him xxx if you chose that name". So because one (or 11) bad apple has ruined the bunch - we are waiting until our little angel is born before revealing his name to the masses. For now we will call him "Turtle".

This pregnancy has been very different from Aaron's. The beginning was a little rocky - a lot of nausea and exhaustion. I definitely had bouts of nausea with Aaron but not like this. Ever since I hit the 12 week mark it has been smooth sailing. Some minor heartburn is my biggest complaint. Today i am 27 weeks and going strong. Turtle has become much more active in the recent weeks. I feel his little kicks and punches throughout the day and they come as welcome little reminders that he's in there. I had a checkup on Tuesday, 6/1 and Turtle's heart rate was 140. My weight gain is on target and my blood pressure is better than it was when I was a teenager! I'm optimistic that I will continue to have an uneventful pregnancy. Now if only we could convince my OB to let me deliver before September 1... public school cut-off date. :)

Here is our little Turtle's ultrasound at 12 weeks. We have one from 18/19 weeks as well but I don't seem to have it with me right now.



Stay tuned... I have every intention of returning with more updates!