Card designed for my mom by my beautiful and talented sister!

To all of my wonderful mommy readers, thank you for making being a mom so much more fun and so much less lonely.. I seriously feel like I couldn’t do it without all of you! So thank you for all of the advice, encouragement, companionship and virtual shoulders to cry on.

My mother’s day weekend was busy.. Saturday morning Jeff & I I took Jasper to get his first haircut! I took so many pictures it warrants it’s own future post (later this week).  That afternoon I drove Jasper to Brooklyn by myself for the first time to celebrate Lola’s second birthday.

Lola blows out her candle with a little help from Mom.

Jasper bonding with his new best friend Yannis.

We had a fabulous brunch, a little too much prosecco and then Lola’s mom Sara, my friend Amy and I took Lola & Jasper to prospect park for some pictures.

It was 4pm or so, NOT the ideal time for pictures. The sun was too high in the sky still, and what little shade there was either was dotted with people or dappled but it didn’t keep me from trying! Last time we tried to get these two to hug or give each other a kiss Jasper was playing hard to get.. but not this time.  Maybe Jasper knew that this was his last chance to get a kiss from Lola before she moves to San Francisco?  Either way, I got this series of images of the two of them together that kind of shocked me because they look so OLD together.. I mean they look like kids, but there’s something in their interaction that makes them look like high school sweethearts or something! (I also think that with his new haircut Jasper looks a bit like a toddler version of Stefan Salvatore from Vampire Diaries. Yes, I am aware that with that statement I am admitting that I watch Vampire Diaries!)

That last picture alone was worth the trip to Brooklyn! Which incidentally, went pretty well.  At least the trip THERE went well. Jasper napped and woke up just before we arrived.   The way back was a little trickier because a) Jasper was awake and b) my GPS refused to acquire signal at prospect park leaving me clueless how to get home. Thank god for the iPhone because I was able to use my yahoo maps ap to guide me to the Brooklyn Bridge.  Jasper whined most of the way to the bridge culminating in him dropping Bear on the FDR (for those of you who haven’t driven on the FDR there is no shoulder, no where to pull over and retrieve a bear!)  Finally, thankfully,  he fell asleep about twenty minutes from home.  Figures that as soon as I feel confident enough to tote Jasper back and forth to Brooklyn for playdates with our best friends half of them have already moved or are moving to the West Coast!

Sunday (mother’s day) was really nice, I got a gorgeous boquet of flowers and both of my grandmother’s, my aunt Ellen and my cousin Ryan came to visit.   I hadn’t seen Ryan in forever and it was his first time meeting Jasper.. Jasper was quite enthralled with his new playmate. Unfortunately the crazy high winds (gusting at about 50mph all day!) did our power and cable in, so it was an “unplugged” day, which was a little crazy but also kind of a nice change of pace.. I read myself to sleep last night for the first time in I don’t know how long.

So my off the grid mother’s day is why I may not have answered your text, email or facebook mother’s day message, but I assure you I was thinking about all of you yesterday and hoping you all had the wonderful and relaxing day you deserve!

Brian, Ami & Peyton came over for a few hours and Sara, Mando and little Lola made the trek from Brooklyn via train. It was a gorgeous day so we set up the baby jail with some blankets out on the deck for the little ones to play in:

Brian helped Jeff put up the canopy we bought at Ikea over the Pergola, but he and Ami had to leave before we could enjoy it:

Lola did manage to enjoy herself under the Pergola though:

But not so much on the grass – she’s a city girl through and through!

There was some Monkeying around on monkey bars:

Some belly laughs in the swing:

And some snuggling on the deck:

and some enjoying the beautiful light at sunset:

And most importantly, the sharing of happy memories with  family & friends:

View the whole set of images here.

Not only are Sara & Mando blessed with a beautiful (and very photogenic!) baby girl, but she may also be the easiest going baby I have EVER met.

At one point in the afternoon when she got tired she put her head on her Daddy’s chest and took a nap. Right there in the living room. With a party going on around her!!!!??

Clearly Jasper could learn a thing or two from her.. we need to get together more often and hopefully a little of that will rub off on him. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Perfect little Lola does have one tiny flaw though, she’s terribly afraid of grass of all things!  So much so that it almost motivated her to take her first step ever just to get out of it – and I even have the video to prove it:

I love the wasy she tries to point that little foot and leg up in the air so it doesn’t touch the ground. Isn’t that the cutest thing ever?

OK, back to the grindstone!