A Letter to Aaron on his 4th Birthday

Dear Aaron,

Today you are four.   As I sit here writing this letter to you the emotion that hits me the most is gratitude.   I am so grateful for you and for what you bring to our family… 

Thank you for making me a mom on this day four years ago. 

Thank you for being the best big brother – for loving and protecting Marcus and for applauding his accomplishments as a parent would.  For making him laugh so hard he gets the hiccups.

Thank you for your silly voices and your creative stories. 

Thank you for waking up every morning with a smile on your face. 

Thank you for being both strong and snuggly. 

Thank you for choosing a birthday trip for the family over a party. 

Thank you for saying, “surprise me” when I ask you what you’d like for breakfast.

Thank you for being a chatterbox… it is truly amazing to hear what goes on in that beautiful head of yours.

Thank you for the million ways you make us laugh.

Thank you for your ferocious hugs and your wet kisses.

Thank you for learning to wipe your own dupah.

Thank you for surprising me daily with how smart you are.

Thank you for always putting family first.

Thank you for saying the blessing at dinner.

Thank you for being a good friend… not only at school but also to your brother and his playgroup friends.

Thank you for keeping us in check with our language… you sponge!

Thank you for being a wonderful example of how to love.

Thank you for accepting everyone and seeing people for who they are and not how they look.

Thank you for giving me the confidence to let you figure things out on your own. 

Thank you for your constant curiosity.

Thank you for seeing us as your playmates and your parents.

Thank you for your "help" in the kitchen.

Thank you for remembering all the words to the songs I sing you.

Thank you for being polite without us having to nag you.

Thank you for still needing me to kiss your boo boos.

Thank you for finally being a great sleeper!!!

Thank you for reminding me to find the humor in toots and other gross boy things.

Thank you for being a good eater and for always trying new things.

Thank you for letting us test out our parenting technique on you and for forgiving us when we make mistakes.

Thank you for making me happier and more proud than I have any right to be.

Daddy and I love you to the ends of the Earth, little one.  We are so incredibly proud of the person you are becoming.  I am grateful for every day with you… even the challenging ones! 

Love you BIGGEST!

-Mommy

The Polar Express

Our church, St. Catherine's put together a Polar Express train ride for our town this year.  It was so great!  It was on Sunday, November 27 so we had to come back from our trip to VT for Thanksgiving early on Sunday to get ready.  All the children were encouraged to wear their pajamas which Aaron that was awesome.   

We boarded to commuter rail train, renamed "The Polar Express" for the day in Norwood and rode it to Westwood and back.

Waiting for the conductor to come by and punch our tickets.

Not the best family photo...

The conductor reading the story of The Polar Express (his voice sounded JUST like Frosty the Snowman!!!)

Santa's helpers brought around Cookies and Hot Chocoloate

We met LOTS of Christmas characters... The Gingerbread Man, Frosty, Rudolph, The Nutcracker and of course...

SANTA!!!!!

Marcus was so excited... adorable!

Aaron volunteered to sing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" to the whole train... he did AMAZING!

Merry Christmas!!!

Here Comes Santa Claus

Marcus' friend (girlfriend!!!), Violet invited us to her house to meet Santa.  It was so much fun!  Marcus wasn't a huge fan but Aaron had a blast!  He and Santa had lots of time to chat since most of the other children there were too young for conversation. 

Aaron asked Santa for an Iron Man Robot, a Spy Glove and Spy Glasses.  He also said that since his little brother, Marcus couldn't talk he wanted Aaron to tell Santa that he wanted some books.

Quick catch up

Wow - September 2nd was my last post?  I guess we have some catching up to do!  Let's see...
We went to Surf City, NC for a family beach vacation from September 9-17.  We drove through the night on Friday, 9/9 which was exhausting but DEFINITELY the way to do it with two little ones.  I drove the first leg of roughly 5 hours then Brad took over for a whopping hour and a half!  We had to literally do one hour clips from that point on.  We did not prepare well for that drive from a sleep standpoint.  I spent the entire day chasing both boys and packing and Brad worked.  On the drive home we did a MUCH better job!  :) Mimi and Papa Libertore came to the condo for several days which was great!  On Wednesday Kristi and Tom came for the night and spent all day Thursday with us (Kristi's birthday!).  Kris and Debra also came for the day on Thursday.  We miss our NC friends so much!  It was great to see them! 

Brad insisted on no gifts for his birthday this year.  Instead of a "real" gift I FINALLY took his name.  I know, I know... it only took 6 years!  It's not that I was opposed to changing my name, it just never happened.  So I am officially Erica Louras Libertore.  I agonized over whether to drop my maiden name or my middle name and ultimately decided it didn't really matter.  I still sign my name with a "P" (for Paige) and use the monogram EPL.  I'm so glad I did it and I feel foolish that it took so long.

We went up to VT for our usual fall apple picking but the weather was lousy so we didn't get a chance to go... :(  We did find a few minutes without rain to pick a few pumpkins...

We looked and looked for some fun and safe things to do with the kids for Halloween this year and didn't find much so we made our own fun... we threw a Halloween party on Saturday, October 29.  It was Spooktacular!  :)  I'm not sure how long this evite will stay up but here's the link... Libertore Halloween Party.  Of course I had a blast planning it and I think it turned out to be a pretty fun party.
Here is a photo video of our Halloween weekend including trick or treating at daddy's office, our party, some fun in the snow (yes - snow in October!!!) and the kiddos first actual trick-or-treat outing... at real houses!  Exciting stuff. 

So that catches us up to November.  I'll be posting shortly about our visit with Santa, Thanksgiving and our ride on the Polar Express. 

A Letter to Marcus on his 1st Birthday

Dear Marcus,

Today you are one year old.  I cannot believe those words just left my fingertips!  It feels like 3 seconds ago I was listening to your cry and anxiously waiting to see your sweet face for the first time.  The nine months I carried you flew by... I was so busy chasing your big brother Aaron around that I barely had time to think of what it might feel like to have my heart double in size at the mere sight of you.  I felt weightless and breathless and overjoyed.  I didn't even realize until that moment that there had been something missing in my life... you. 

The downside to the way in which you were born is that I was unable to hold you right away.  In fact, I wasn't able to hold you for the first hour of your life because my core temperature dropped too low.  It was the longest and hardest hour ever!  Your Daddy held you to me for kisses and I marveled at your perfect little bow mouth and your full head of blond hair and ached to hold you.  When I finally got to snuggle you I didn't want to let go.  The first thing I did was smell your breath... I did the same thing with your big brother.  It sounds strange, I know.  It is simply the best smell ever... pure life.

I couldn't wait for Aaron to meet you.  Once we got to our room Daddy went to get him.  Ace, GG and Mimi were there to keep us company... and love on you, of course.  When Aaron and Daddy arrived he ran to you, pulled off your hat and said "Oooohhh, he's beautiful.  Can we take him home now?"  Watching Aaron become a big brother was amazing and it was because of you.

Before you were born I worked full time and loved my job.  It was challenging, rewarding and fulfilling.  I thought I would return after 3 months home with you.  It didn't take long for me to realize that I just couldn't do it.  Staying home and caring for you and Aaron was exactly what I was meant to do.  I resigned from my career and have never looked back.  Being a mom and wife was always my dream... but being YOUR mom has exceeded every expectation. 

This past year has been amazing.  Watching you learn and grow... absolutely priceless.  I'm teary-eyed writing this.  I'm so glad I was here to witness you learn to roll over, sit, laugh, clap, blow kisses, and wave.  I'm even glad to have seen every failed attempt at standing, every head bump on the coffee table and every temper tantrum when Aaron takes something away from you that you were playing with.

It is difficult to describe the wonderful, complicated, independent and amazing little person you've become over the past 12 months.  Here is my attempt at painting a picture of you as you are today...

• You are a funny, kind, sweet, happy, loving and energetic little boy.   
• You ADORE your big brother and laugh at just about anything he says or does.  
• You are walking now but still prefer to crawl.  
• Your eyes are blue... a beautiful blue!
• Your hair is blond, silky and curly.  
• You have 4 teeth... 2 on top and 2 on bottom (two more top teeth are nearly through).  
• You are roughly 25 pounds and 29 inches tall (although we'll find out for sure next week).  
• You wear 12-18 month clothing and size 4-5 shoes.  
• You say "mama", "dada", "baba", "no" and "dog" with regular frequency.  You make lots of other noises that almost sound like words but so far that is all we can decipher.  
• You know exactly how to convey what you want and need by grunting, dragging us and pointing.  Your non-verbal communication is top notch.  
• You are an excellent dancer!  We say "wiggle wiggle" to you and you give us a little shimmy shake that knocks our socks off!  You take it to the floor and then back up again.  It's too cute for words!  
• You smile and laugh all the time.  We joke that if you're not smiling, you're sleeping.  
• You love books. right now... your favorites are "Bright Baby Animals" and "Little Blue Truck" (Thank you Gainers!!).  You like them because we make funny animal sounds when we read them.  
• When we ask you what a dog says you say "dog, dog, dog".  When we ask you what a bear says you growl with ferocity!  It's my favorite and something you've done for a looong time!  
• You tattle on yourself by saying "no, no, no" as you're doing something you shouldn't... like messing with the electrical outlets or smacking the television. 
• You don't like wearing shoes and kick and pump your legs until they come off.  You are so proud when you succeed in shaking them off.  
• I sing to you when I put you down for naps and bedtime.  If I am slow to start singing when we sit in your rocker you reach up and pat my lips while whimpering.  When I start singing, you settle in for a snuggle and a bottle.  The songs on our current playlist are SongBird by Fleetwood Mac and Godspeed by the Dixie Chicks.  Other songs from the past year are Make you Feel my Love, Return to Pooh Corner, True Colors... there are others I'm forgetting.  
• When Daddy asks you to say "dada" you look at him, grin, and very deliberately say "mama"... this is just one of about a billion ways you crack us up.  
• Your current method for getting our attention is to gag yourself.  We despise it and hope this phase passes quickly.  
• You don't like velcro... in fact, it makes you anxious and you run to me for snuggles.  I would be lying if I said I didn't torment you with it every now and then.  Hey, I'm not perfect... sometimes I just want to feel needed!  :)
• One of your greatest loves is eating (hmmm... I wonder where you got that?).  You are most certainly NOT picky.  Some of your all-time favorites include avocado, carrots, cantaloupe, green beans, turkey meatballs, rotisserie chicken, black beans, pirate booty, McDonald french fries and ANYTHING in a sippy cup.  

My sweet Marcus... I've just read over what I wrote to you and it still feels inadequate.  I cannot seem to find the words that capture just how wholly I love you.  It is difficult to describe the joy you bring to our family or the silliness you've added.  Just know that I couldn't be happier to be your mom and that you will always be my baby, my angel boy, my love dove, my marky-do.  I will always be your biggest supporter, your paparazzi, your OCD party planner, your serenader and your mommy.

I love you biggest!

-Mommy  

Aaron would also like to add what he wrote in Marcus' Birthday card.  It is completely unedited by us and so... honest.  (Have I mentioned his card-writing skills before? If not... Awesome!  He just... gets it and is quite good at dictating what he wants to say.)

Dear Marcus J. Jeffrey Libertore,

You like to play with me.  You love me and trust me and I love you too.  Sometimes you hit me and it makes me cry.  I like your new crocs and you like my new hat.  I want to play with you forever.  That is enough for now.  Happy Bird-day!

Love,

Aaron

Come on Irene...

Hurricane Irene hit New England on Sunday, August 28.   There was very little media coverage of my beautiful home state, Vermont, while they were getting pummeled with heavy winds and rain.  We lost contact with my parents at 5pm and had no idea how they were doing or what was going on.  Thankfully, through Facebook and Twitter, we were able to determine that their street was high enough to be unaffected by Patch's Dam, which did not hold and flooded nearby neighborhoods.  A mere 2 blocks away, Pearl Street was evacuated and just a few hundred feet away, Route 7 was washed away.  My parents sustained very minimal damage (Thank God!)  A little flooding of the basement and a broken tree limb.  The house on Bomoseen fared well, too...  (although the boat was freed from the lift and was missing for a while.  It was recovered and in excellent condition.)  
The damage to Rutland and many other small towns in Southern VT is astounding and still there is little media coverage.  Killington is inaccessible and hundreds are stranded without food, power, or water.  Some volunteers were able to drop supplies to them by helicopter.  Governor Shulmin made a statement Monday that "no communities were stranded"... really?  I sure hope FEMA wasn't watching!  I'd like to chopper him to the top of Killington and tell him his family is waiting for him in Rutland.  And by the way, Route 4 is gone!  Good luck. 
Ranting aside, we will be traveling up to Vermont (taking a very round-a-bout route to get there!) with a car full of supplies.  There are some wonderful folks that started a volunteer and restoration effort via facebook called Restoring Rutland.  We plan on volunteering our time and brawn (ha!) on Saturday.  Word is there are many farms without power that need volunteers to hand milk their cows.  It should be interesting! 
Here are some photos and videos of my beloved home town...

This is Route 4 by Sugar and Spice in Mendon... the road we take in to Rutland from Boston

Rt 4, Rutland

Killington, VT

Historic Covered Bridge in Queechie, VT

Main St, Brandon - a few miles north of Rutland

Rutland

Heartbreaking!  Another historic covered bridge, gone!

Rt 7, Rutland

I am so proud to call this state my home... stay strong, VT. 

Marcus' First Birthday Party Photos

Happy 1st Birthday Marcus Jeffrey!!!