So Tess, was born October 10th. She's really been such a sweet little baby. The children are gaga for her. She will probably be our last baby so it was all very bittersweet. She was born with a "port wine stain" (those 2 lines on her forehead). They don't seem to be worried about it and say it should completely fade by the time she is 4 or 5. OY. The day after she was born, I checked myself out of the hospital and may or may not have had to tell a white lie in order for the nurses to let me drive myself home. I stopped and got gas and got some prescriptions for pain filled at the pharmacy and we were off (with one additional stop in CT to pick up a co-sleeper!) I prayed Tess would be ok on the 4+ hour drive home, and she was. She slept nearly the entire time. Another tender mercy. The children love her. It's great having children who are older and don't see her as a threat to their existence. Charlie didn't acknowledge her at all for weeks but now calls her "Baby Tess." Ok so maybe a small threat for that one :)Chris came home from Alaska a week after she was born and got to meet her for the first time. It was so nice to have him home. We hadn't really lived together as a family in over 4 months so it was all very welcome. Fall in NYC is just amazing. It's so beautiful with all the leaves turning. Central Park was just incredible. The best part of the city in my opinion for sure. It's so peaceful and good for the soul. Plus Fall is my favorite anyway- so it doesn't take much. Moments before walking out the door, Henry decided he no longer wanted to be a Steve from Minecraf and Kate no longer wanted to be a witch. So they quickly changed to Darth Vader & Batman. Charlie was Super Charlie and Tess... she went as a newborn baby. We trick-or-treated at the American Museum of Natural History and then in some super awesome decked out apartment lobbys. Banksy was on the UWS so we stopped by and had an obligitory Banksy/Halloween picture. We had our first family photo taken at the MET in November (I love that place). In November, Chris' Mom came out and was such huge help. So grateful for all the times both our Mom's put in on our behalf. Charlie turned 4 on November 25th and had a sweet little celebration at school. He's speaking more and I don't know- I feel like a light has gone on in that little head of his. He's more engaged, using more words, more eye contact, it's all such great progress. We took the very last piece of cake and sang, "Happy Birthday" when Pops came home.
We were too wimpy to brave the frigid temperatures for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, so we went the night before to see all the balloons blown up around the Natural History Museum. It was a very New York experience and totally cool. The lines were short and we zipped right through. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid balloon was hands down Henry's favorite. A few days later, we cashed in our early christmas presents and saw The Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. We hadn't seen the show in years and everyone seemed to love it. Christmas snuck right in and gosh, NYC is so magical during the holidays. We hit Macy's for SantaLand and The Plaza hotel on Christmas Eve to see what I thought was the sweetest Santa ever. The christmas season was pure magic. I'm so grateful we have the opportunity to live here. Well I'm going to stop for now. It literally took a week to eek out this post and I don't want it clogging up your feed! Will catch up on the rest soon.
My Mom came out to help out with my broken ankle but unfortunatly spent a lot of time in the ER and the hospital for 4 days (our luck, people!?!). We are both feeling better. She'll be staying to help out until next Tuesday which is great. I'm off pain meds and slowly slowly getting around a little bit more each day. Slowy getting back into the groove.
I can't believe Feb. is almost over. What a blur!
I'm anxious to start shooting with a real camera again. Sorry for all you instagram friends, these are all repeat iPhone photo's for you!
Be back soon!
xoxo