Jack-O-Lantern- Eliot Style!

Of course I remember doing jack-o-lanterns when I was younger with my Mom and Sister, but I'm quite sure I never actually carved my own. This year was the perfect year to do this 'craft' with my best bud, Eliot. The pumpkin we used was actually grown BY Eliot. My brother in law gave out pumpkin seeds and instructions at my nieces first birthday back in March as party favors. Eliot took pumpkin growing very seriously. We watered it daily and kept it in the most sunlit space we could find. Soon (VERY soon) Eliot was growing a NUMBER of pumpkins! We had to keep changing out pots. Soon, they were just too big-- some were dying off because of lack of space and others just kept growing so we decided it was time to take them to Uncle Colm's garden to be planted for the rest of the Summer.

We went back in September to see our, --err-- Eliot's pumpkin, and were just delighted! A beautiful, round, healthy pumpkin! We picked it (with some help from Auntie Carolyn) and took it home. It sat on our counter in our kitchen since.. until yesterday when it was time to make our--err-- ELIOT'S pumpkin into something more; a jack-o-lantern!

Eliot was quite excited when I told him what was in store for the afternoon. He quickly ran to get his diggers because, well, surely THEY would be better for carving a pumpkin than a knife and spoon. We worked together and came up with a beautiful jack-0-lantern that we are both very proud of.


And here is just a picture 'just because' of Eliot in his 'working gear'

And because this blog IS about Eliot I just have to document the cutest thing (and I've learned when you have a young child, there are about a billion 'cutest things,') but it's so funny-- whenever you tell him something he doesn't want to hear ("Eliot, you HAVE to use the potty before you go to Linda's" "Eliot, you have to pick up your trucks before we can play Thomas tracks", etc) he comes back (in an angry tone) "Don't you be kiddin' me!" Oh my gosh, it gets me every time! I think I'll use that the next time someone tells me to do something I don't want to do.

Day Out With Thomas 2011

Last year was Eliot's first experience at a Day Out With Thomas at Edaville Station in Carver. We went as part of his birthday gift. We spent the whole morning there, then came home to nap. As soon as he woke up from his nap, he asked to go back... and he's been asking to go back to "Thoma" ever since.

Edaville looked like it wasn't going to open at all this year, but finally, it was sold and they were quick to put up DOWT dates. We were keeping a close eye and ordered tickets just as soon as we could. we were so excited for Eliot.

We woke up Saturday and I whispered to Eliot that TODAY was the day we were going to see Thomas. His eyes LIT up as he said "TODAY?!" It was priceless.

This year, my Sister-in-law, Carolyn, planned to go at the same time so Eliot had even more fun with his two cousins-- both on Thomas, and on all the other rides and structures. Eliot kept going back to an antique (play) fire engine and we three (as a family) had some laughs and fun on a see-saw.

It looked like it was going to rain (and at time, it did drizzle), but all in all, we were very happy with the weather and the way the day turned out; Eliot especially.

"I'd Like To Meet Him"

Last Wednesday, Eliot came home from my in-law's house with two different copies of local newspapers. On the cover of one of them, was a photo of an antique bulldozer and a story about the man who owns it.

The title of the article was: “Backhoe Gene” afflicts Maguire.

The first two paragraphs of the article (written by Gordon Vincent in the Middlesex East newspaper) are below:

In construction parlance, it’s known as the “backhoe gene.” And those who have it are aware of it at a very early age.

For Woburn’s Kevin Maguire, evidence of the backhoe gene emerged when he was just 5 or 6 years old. Maguire, who now operates his own construction business, remembers Route 93 being built during his formative days and being enthralled by watching the trucks.

The article went on to tell about Mr. Maguire's childhood experiences and also explained how he is now in a group called the Northeast RockBusters, a group of of construction equipment aficionados. That group was going to be at the Burlington Truck Day the coming Sunday.

Eliot's response to the photo on the cover and my Mother-in-Law's explanation of the article?

"I'd like to meet him." (Very profound for a 3 year old!)

So, this past Sunday, we set out to see all the trucks at Burlington Truck day, but with a particular goal in mind; to meet Mr. Maguire.

We went nice and early with our newspaper article in hand. Alas, we found Mr. Maguire's station. We explained to Eliot that this was the man from the newspaper and Mr. Maguire even agreed to get his photo taken with Eliot. He even gave Eliot a magazine (catalog) of diggers. Eliot LOVES that magazine!

Mr. Maguire asked us "So you think he has the backhoe gene?"

I think, without question, Eliot has the backhoe gene. I think either his second or third word was "digger." It's funny the article said you know if you have the gene by age 5 or 6. I think we knew Eliot had it before he turned 2!

I can't wait to see how my Eliot's backhoe gene develops.

And some photos from the other trucks there on truck day:

Happy (Almost) 3rd Birthday, Eliot!

This past weekend we celebrated Eliot's 3rd birthday. We had (surprise!) a construction truck theme-- orange, black & yellow colors. I felt particularly guilty because I didn't have the time this year to design my own mega-cake so we hired a co-worker of Ted's to do it for us. Everyone thought it was pretty awesome- especially Eliot. Still feeling guilty, but maybe a tad less so.

I even bought him a custom made shirt from Etsy to wear for the occasion:

We kept it simple at had pizza (delicious pizza, I might add). Eliot had so much fun running around and playing with his cousins. He definitely had a wonderful party-- and the weather couldn't have been any more perfect if we tried. I guess September isn't a bad month to have a birthday.



When Ted asked him the following day what his favorite present was he replied "All of them." He's such a sweet child (and so politically correct). I can't believe he's been in our life for 3 years-- what did we EVER do with our time without him?? I honestly can't remember (vaguely remembering 1AM trips to Walmart in Salem, but other than that.... drawing a blank).

I know I speak for both Ted and myself when I say that we truly feel blessed with the best little boy. He is so special in so many ways. Our lives our better with him in it and we are better people because of Eliot.


Oh, and I just wanted to make a cute little note that Eliot had requested that everyone say "surprise" upon his entrance. Ted made sure to get him to the party a tad late so everyone could "surprise" him.

An Eliot Post

I cannot believe that my little boy is almost 3! These last three years have flown by and at the same time, I cannot remember what we did before him (where did all of our spare time go?) He has changed my life in every way possible. When I was pregnant, I was (truly) scared that I wouldn't know how to love him-- how silly that seems now that I love him more than anything else.

Sad to say that my sweet 2 year old is rapidly turning into a 3 year old-- one that has tantrums and stuff. The terrible twos didn't hit until about 2 weeks ago or so. We knew it had to hit sometime!

He is still the cutest thing though. The things he says are priceless.

The other day we were over my friends house. She has a little boy who is 2 and a baby girl named Sophia. We spent the morning there and on the drive home he told me he "likes that baby."

I told him "That baby's name is Sophia."

He said "I call him digger."

I said "Well, it's a she, and her name is Sophia."

He said: "Well, I call him digger."

He won.


Of course when I finally get the quiet chance to sit down in front of the computer, all the cute and funny things he has said over the course of the last month flee me. Ted & I are always sharing cute stories of what Eliot said that day though.

A few weeks ago Eliot got in trouble for screaming. After a few minutes he said "Daddy, you stress me out and that's why I go like this <>." I thought that was hysterical.

He walks his trucks and pretends they are puppy dogs (they are all named Digger). He brings them over to me and asks me to babysit them while he goes to work. Then he goes to get his camera.

He has a great vocabulary and can hold actual back and forth conversations with you now. He's growing up so fast.

He's been potty trained since April (although we haven't even attempted the overnight yet).

He's been trying to dress himself lately too, which is great because before he didn't have any desire to try to do so. I snapped this picture yesterday of his handy-underwear-work:

(if you can't tell, his pee-hole is in the back)

The most important thing is that he is so well adjusted and sweet-natured. He's good with other kids. He's very adaptable. He's snuggly and loving. He's caring ("Mama, I take care you" when I have a headache). I am SO proud of him. So, he's a little spoiled and can't yet recite the alphabet. I'm not worried. He can name every type of truck there is and tell you what it's used for-- that's just as practical as knowing your alphabet, right?

Oh, and the most impressive thing that had Ted and I both floored is that he took us backroads to my in-laws house-- a way we had never been before. Ted & I didn't even know where we were at one point and he insisted that we were going the right way-- and we were. He definitely has a better since of direction than I do-- and I know he doesn't get it from my side of the family :)

Friendship & The Poconos

Sometimes I feel badly that Eliot doesn't get to do as many fun things or have as much social interaction as other children his age because of my anxiety, but looking back over my posts from this Summer makes me feel pretty good. I think we (Ted & I) have done a really good job at making sure he's always got something coming up; something to look forward to. I think this boy has had a really great Summer so far.

This post is really special to me.

I found out I was pregnant with Eliot on New Year's Eve 2007. In early January 2008, I had stumbled across a message board with hundreds of women who were also expecting in September of 2008. It was awesome. I visited that message board several times a day because someone was always asking/answering a question that *I* had too. At first, we were all going through the same pregnancy-related things (nausea, heart-burn, charlie horses--- I even remember one specific post asking if anyone else felt as though "tiny midgets were constantly stabbing their vagina." I responded that "Yes," unfortunately I knew exactly what she meant by that.

We all bonded so closely. After our babies were born, we asked questions about breastfeeding, babywearing, why is he/she crying?, why won't he/she sleep?

Then posts started to become about milestones... they rolled over, they sat up, they crawled, took their first step, had their first birthday, and so on...

When questions seemed to slow down about our new children (as we seemed to finally be getting the hang of it), they started to gear more towards us, mothers. We chatted and shared stories about our old lives, hurtful things, crazy things, stories of love, stories of inspiration, weight loss triumphs and goals. We supported and encouraged each other when things got tough for one of our own. We've had several moms who have miscarried (myself included), some even had late term losses. Some had lost their mothers. One Mama fought the battle of her LIFE for her unborn (and then born) baby when she found out her baby had CDH (congenital diaphragmatic hernia) and was facing very scary statistics about her babies survival (Anyone remember the story of Quinn?). We've gone through divorces, talked about sex and other TMI subjects. We've bitched and moaned about our husbands. We even rally together when one of our Mamas needs it. We've collected money for Mamas who have been through just the worst kind of pain and done something awesome with it (prepared meals, spa days, passes to theme parks, cleaning ladies).

How many people go through ALL the things mentioned above without a support system and somehow *I* was blessed enough to have found this group of women. I have tears in my eyes writing this.

I had the chance to meet some of these Mamas through the years. Some came to me for photo sessions and some actually live in New England.

I met my best friend (aside from my husband) in this group. (I love you, Nikki).

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to the Poconos in Pennsylvania to meet 17 of these women (well, 14 because I had already met 3 of them prior). These women came from Canada, Texas, Montana, California, New Mexico, and several other states to rent a house for 3 days and get to know each other in real life. There were also 6 babies there! (Not any of our September babies, but younger children). I Even got to meet Quinn-- and witness the miracle that she truly is.

Although, I didn't stay in the house (I didn't feel up to making a 4.5 hour drive alone and didn't think I wanted to leave Ted & Eliot anyway), I did have the opportunity to meet these wonderful, amazing, inspirational women.

Nikki's family owns a cabin about an hour from the meet-up house. Ted, Eliot & I stayed in a hotel a few minutes from there. We spent most of our time with Nikki and her family, but Nikki and I did drive (an hour away) to the meet up house and spent the whole day there on Saturday.

The meet up house was near Nikki's Dad and she only gets to see him a handful of times a year so she asked if I wouldn't mind tagging along while she said hello to him. The whole ride there, Nikki had me in TEARS. SOBBING. I had heard the story of her Mom (how close they were, how she was diagnosed with lung cancer, and how it ultimately took her life in 2005) over the internet, but hearing it in person was a totally different experience. The details of her story touched my heart so deeply (as I start to sob AGAIN right now writing this). As if that wasn't bad enough, we got out of the car and went in to meet her Dad. Her Dad was so happy to see Nikki and was very happy to show me all the photos of his beloved wife. Nikki says he still lives as if she passed yesterday and that is very much the impression I got as well. I tried to stay strong as he showed me photos and told me stories of his wife, but as soon as I saw a tear roll down his cheek, I lost it 100%. I feel blessed to have met him, if only briefly. There is something inspiring about meeting someone who loved his wife so much and so obviously.

Well, thanks to all of that, I arrived to the meet-up house with my make up smudged and my eyes puffy (after I had spent so much time trying to make myself look decent to meet these women!).

Nikki and I walked in and it was so... ODD! I have seen all of their photos a number of times on Facebook, etc. but to see them all in person was surreal. Once we settled in though, we had a great time.

We played games, chatted, LAUGHED A LOT, shared stories, ATE A LOT, and just got to know one another in real life. It was amazing. Again, I don't know how I got so blessed, but I am thankful I did.

A full day didn't seem long enough. Hopefully, I'll be able to make it to another meet-up in the future. It was an awesome experience.

Here's the group of us (can you tell who was photoshopped in?)


And some other photos from our stay in the Poconos:

Fun at Nikki's cabin:


Eliot giving the dogs treats (it was like his favorite thing ever):
Eliot at our hotel:


I told him to spit the skin in his dump truck (he doesn't like the skin)
We went to a zoo called "Claws & Paws"
And these were friends we saw on our way to the meet-up house:

Don't You Just Love It When Things Work Out?

I am photographing a couple's wedding next September who live out in central MA. For their engagement photos, they wanted to go to a park in Paxton, MA which is quite a drive for me (about a little less than an hour and a half). I was speaking to Ted's cousin's wife, Katie, and she told me Paxton was the next town over from them-- who knew?! They even offered to host Ted & Eliot for a few hours that evening while I went on my shoot so I didn't have to drive that far by myself (have I mentioned that I HATE driving?!). It was PERFECT. Katie & Kevin were such good hosts for my boys. They fed them and entertained them while I went along and did my job (20 minutes from their home--- MUCH, much better than 90 minutes!).

I got to spend about a half hour with them and their adorable son, Russell both before and after my session and even got to snap a few quick pics before I was out the door. So I want to again give a HUGE shout out and THANK YOU to Kevin, Katie, & Russell, for babysitting my husband and son while I worked in the town next to them! Thank you!




And a couple favorites from my session (and I ended up LOVING the location they chose too so everything really did work out well)!