Happy Mother's Day 2010

A picture is worth 1,000 words. Here's one that's worth at least that many...

Holiday Walk 2009 and a wee tree

This is the first year that Rafa (and now, Luca, under R's tutelage) has an awareness of Santa, reindeer, and all holiday trappings...he also knows to look through the jillions of toy catalogs that arrive by the day to find the trucks and tractors he and Luca most want. So far we've convinced them both that Santa brings ONE toy per child. And when we met Santa during the Holiday Walk last weekend, what did Rafa say he wanted? A blue tractor. Luca chimed in he wanted the same. Rafi since has amended this to be a fire engine. So it will be.

Snow is here in the Berkshires...a few shots of snowy fun during the Holiday Walk and of the wee Christmas tree (we are heading to Puerto Rico for actual Christmas, to further confound the Santa storyline) we put up, also last weekend.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Holidays to ALL!

Happy First Birthday, Luca

Happy first birthday to Luca!  We celebrated his big day with a small party on Saturday, his actual b-day.  Much fun was had by all, especially the special little guy.  Rafi loved it too, and spent much of the day practicing saying "happy birthday, Nuca!" then moved on to include us all, by saying throughout the day "happy birthday, mommy!", mama, rafi, even kiki (stella, the dog) got wished a happy day.  

Here are a few shots of the two of them just before the fete.  They are simply incredible. 

The big day!

We are official!  Luca's finalization in the Northampton court was on Thursday, February 26, 2009.  A memorable (if short) ceremony with the same judge who presided over Rafi's finalization.  We were 20 minutes late due to a snow storm that made our driving slow and a bit treacherous, but thankfully, the judge was later than we were!

We went to breakfast at the Hotel Northampton afterward, and Rafi and Luca took over the dining room.  It was a blissful and wonderful day to formally say welcome to Luca...

A couple of pics from our happy day here.   Have no idea what I am doing in the second photo but clearly a bit giddy with celebration.

Christmas morning 2008

Spent our first Christmas morning in Mass. together as a family!  Rafi and Luca woke early (nothing new) and we celebrated with pancakes and presents.  Rafi in particular loved his phone from Grandma and Grandpa Texas and his wooden trucks from us (still a fave).  Luca liked his choo-choo (still a fave in the bath) but we think he liked the wrapping paper best of all...and of course they both loved the Christmas tree lights! 

Let it Snow

We had our first real snowfall yesterday and we bundled up and all went out in it for Rafi and Luca's first tandem sled ride (thanks Tirza and family for the wonderful gift!).  

The clip below captures their enjoyment (well, Rafi's...Luca was a bit stunned):

Belated post: Fall Pumpkin Picking

Fall in the Berkshires is pretty spectacular, with blazing leaves providing the backdrop for those iconic events that Norman Rockwell painted...pumpkin picking, hay rides, jumping in leaves.  

Rafi and Luca engaged in a fair share of these fun autumnal activities, along w/ their happy moms.  A few shots from this fall, including our visit to Ioka Farms below, where we picked our pumpkins.

Brothers

A recent series of shots of Rafi and Luca.  Found in their favorite spot: lounging on the big bed together.

Dreamy.  And yes, exhausting!  

The cousins come to town!

My sister Tirza, her husband Brent, and their beautiful daughters Anna and Georgia are in town to visit for a few days.  They just got here last night and we are having a blast.  

Here's a pic of us in the hammock.   Finally nice summer weather after the monsoon season we've had.

Luca's turned four months old!

Our darling Luca turned FOUR months old on August 11!  

He's such a good baby, a champ eater, and starting to be a great sleeper.  Rafi still loves him so -- calls him "mama" (good default in our household) and is continually kissing him.

Here's a recent, wonderful picture of Luca in his sweet glory.  

I finally succumbed...

Yes, it's true.  Rafi's beautiful, flowing locks were starting to impede his vision.  Even I would admit it.  

So while visiting Tia Hoan and Tio Neil, at Tia's urging, I cut Rafi's hair. Just a little -- just the bangs -- so he can see what he's walking into.  

So the Jonas Brothers will have to look for another bandmate.  Rafi's out.

Here are before and after shots.  He's still a cutie pie and now he can see without a hair clip.

Yes, a double stroller

Thanks to the generosity of our friends Gage and Wendy (whose twins are now five) we are the proud users of a double stroller.  Wow.  

Here are our near twin babies on a recent stroll.  

Introducing Luca Richard!

We are thrilled to announce that Rafi's brother, Luca, joined our family on July 2, 2008!  We waited a long time for this wonderful moment, and we couldn't be happier.  

A  few photos of three-month old Luca (who was born on April 11) and his doting big brother. 

 

We are exhausted but elated at our expanded, beautiful family.

Sweet Relief for Rafi

An insane heatwave struck last weekend -- temps were in the mid-90s and it was Mississippi/Houston HUMID.  For a home w/o air conditioning this was a problem.  

We cooled Rafi off by having a pool party in the backyard, which he loved.  Stella was slightly confused because she typically is the sole user of the baby pool.  But she learned to share.

Here's a pic from the swim-fest.  

PS Nic broke down and we bought two window unit A/Cs-- one for his room and one for ours....ahhh.

Happy First Birthday

We celebrated Rafi turning one with a little gathering at the house the day after his actual birthday -- on Saturday, May 17.  Fun was had by all, especially the man of the hour.  

Rafi got a swing for the backyard which he enjoyed (it was a beautiful afternoon).  And he had his first sugar ever that day, in the form of his birthday cupcakes (whole wheat carrot cake with cream cheese frosting -- quite yummy).  He was in heaven.  

Thanks to all who helped commemorate this wonderful, joyful milestone with us.  

Rafi's first home movie

For Mother's Day, Grandma Di and Grandma Gail gave us a very cool and very easy to use video camera and we tried it out for the first time during Rafi's dinner tonight (lentils, yogurt, avocado.) 

"Everybody Dance" by Chic (c. 1978) was playing on the iPod (yes, I admit, very old school, but Rafi likes the beat) and when he heard the line, "everybody dance...clap your hands, clap your hands", Rafi dutifully started clapping to the beat.  So I took out the new video cam and while I didn't catch Rafi clapping, I did shoot a few seconds of him grooving.  Rafi loves to dance while eating.  

Big birthday this week -- Rafi turns ONE YEAR OLD on Friday.  Unbelievable.

11 months old today!

This photo was taken on R's 11 month bday.   Words are useless to describe this incredible boy. 

Happy birthday, monkey.

C'mon Get Happy

I love this photo of Rafi.  I know it shows my age, but with his wide side part and striped bell bottom pants, Rafi looks like is one of the lost Partridge Family kids. 

Note photo below and imagine Rafito superimposed in this family portrait with one of the main characters on the show, the bus. Pretty perfect fit. 

Move over Chris, Stacy, Laurie, Danny and Keith. Make room for Rafi.

Rafi Crawls!

In pursuit of his favorite object in life, sunglasses (well any glasses really), Rafi crawled this morning!  His first real foray into the sport and he looked like a pro.  It was a sight for his proud moms.  Who knew what a motivator these glasses would be.

His primary move is commando style.  To add a challenge, Rafi was wearing fleece pajamas and attempting his capture of the glasses on his rug, so his face showed his determination to overcome the velcro-like friction he was encountering.  Pretty entertaining.

No I don't have a photo of the boy in action (happened at 6.45 am) but here's another cute shot of Rafi from this morning at breakfast with the object of his affection -- his gafas...or in Rafi speak, his "ahh-gaahs".

Prince of the Tub

Rafi loves his bath... Here he is in the tub recently hamming it up and having a grand old time. Favorite pasttime: banging his plastic cups together and kicking his feet to splash mommy.

I like this shot because of the sheer joy on his face, and the fact that you can see his 1.5 bottom teeth!