And now our baby is 1...

Our tiny little baby grew up! At 14 months  she's a climber, dancer, singer, reader, lover of animals and terrible sleeper, but she brings so much joy to her family and we can't imagine life without her. Words she says these days are: up, thank you, doggy, cracker, gecko, hi, bye, mama, daddy, Eye, nose, close, tree, cheese, chicken, ball, ow. She loves making animal sounds (and is especially drawn to birds), jumping, playing peekaboo and cars, and making crazy faces. Most of all, she loves her mama to a fault some would say. For now, mom is soaking it up in all her sleep deprived glory. 

Bastian turned 3, Daddy became a lawyer, and we had a baby

The title pretty much says it all!  I wanted to write to my sweet Bastian boy on his third birthday but things were more than a little hectic.  Rome graduated from law school May 13th, and our baby girl came right on schedule (1 week early just as predicted), on May 15th.  We gave her the name Tauriel Yorke Rapier.  She has been the sweetest blessing and is the "easiest," happiest baby we have had yet.  By now we have made it through the Bar exam and are hopeful that we can call Rome a real lawyer soon!

We surprised Bastian with a Star Wars cake for his birthday

I love after-birth photos, but no amount of editing could crop all the body parts I wanted out (thanks Dad); so here we are a couple hours after the birth, just as candid I think

Tauriel a few days old and so smiley!  Okay, it was really at 5 weeks when her first real smile came, but she often smiled like this as a newborn and has been my smiliest baby yet

You were born with lots of dark brown hair (but not in the front)!

A certain little girl could not have been happier she got her wish for a little sister!

A tired but proud Dad studying for the Bar

The woman I couldn't have done any of this without...  Nana came for graduation and stayed a whole month!  

Trying for a family shot...didn't work out so well :)

My sweet older children; you have become quite the wild ones since the baby arrived, but also helpful.  We have tried to continue our outings for all of our sanity, such as to some of our favorite farms

But mostly we are at the beach in the summers!

Tauriel has done a lot of hanging out in the shade of the beach

Oh yeah, somewhere in there Mom had a birthday.  Of course Daddy fixed an amazing meal with gluten-free cupcakes for dessert!

More summer adventures with brand new Tauriel :)

...and more beaching

And of course, lots of snuggling

What a miraculous past few months.  Can't wait for more adventures as a mom of 3!

Love, Mama

Catch Up, Part II

We did make it to AZ for Christmas and New Years this year which was really nice.  Mom was not feeling up to running around very much while there so we are sorry to have missed some of our usual playdates with old friends, but happy to have spent so much quality time with family.  It was also nice to be back in January, get back into our usual routines, and be welcomed with snow!  You two kept asking why there wasn't snow on Christmas!  I have to also admit that the blaring sun and wide roads took us all by surprise this time around....I guess we are becoming true New Englanders!  Here are a few random shots from these last few months to get us all caught up.  Truth be told, we have not been taking as many pictures lately.  I guess that shows just how busy Dad has been since he is usually our photographer.  Did I mention he has 4 jobs right now?!  Yes, 2 research assistantships, 1 position at the law library as an aide (where he does his homework in the evenings so we don't distract him), as well as his "real" job working at a private firm in the area.  The best part is that the last job I mentioned is for keeps!  We are so excited be settling down soon, right where we are (okay, not right where we are, but somewhere near here)!  Okay, on to the pictures....

One highlight of the trip at the Phoenix Zoo!

Making our way to the top of Mt. Lemmon to find the "White Witch"

Family Walk in one of the many parks we visited

Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Luthien, you have not taken off your new backpack/lunchbox yet!  We also got winter coats for Christmas so we can finally be outside here!

Eating icicles and undressing after our first venture in the snow upon coming home

A nightly happening around midnight: hearing Bastian's footsteps coming down the hall to find us in the kitchen, on our computers, or in bed; pajamas stripped off however, seemed to be a week-long experiment, luckily you are out of that phase and we just need to work on the sleeping bit! 

Going outside during the first major blizzard...

And later making snow forts and going sledding for the first time!  Our snowmen didn't work out too well unfortunately :(

Poor baby, you have already been getting neglected: 25 week belly shot, much larger earlier on than your brother and sister were

Luthien, you are enjoying writing so much these days; you worked so hard on these Valentines for your classmates as well as Valentines for family members (you must have been worn out because you usually enjoy making homemade playdough but Mom had to do most of the work this time around)!

Bastian you have had a passion for throwing, hitting, and swinging for a long time; I finally allowed these foam swords (thanks Grandpa!) so you wouldn't chase your sister with hard objects.  At the same time you discovered the Star Wars books at the library and things haven't been quite the same around here since!  Here you two are as Anakin Skywalker and Princess Leia minus the buns :)

And Luthien, my girl always full of ideas; one day I heard you cutting something out and then you asked me to roll up two pieces of tape...I turned around only to find you had transformed into a Sabertooth Tiger!

We also have become fascinated with Legos around here much to Daddy's delight....he has been fulfilling all of his childhood dreams setting up The Hobbit and Star Wars Lego sets with you two.  Luthien, you in particular seem to really enjoy this, Bastian you may be more like your Mama and unfortunately not as patient and creative with this sort of activity, we shall see....

I think I am actually caught up!  More again soon!

Love,

Mom

5 Months of Catch Up, part I

Dear Luthien and Bastian,

No, I haven't given up on your blog! We are going to start where we left off, and as you can imagine there are many new developments!  After eating wonderful food in Vermont as I mentioned, the car ride home became the beginning of terrible morning sickness for me.  Yes, your baby brother/sister will be coming sometime around the middle-end of May and you guys are so excited!  Luthien, you were most excited in the beginning but now I would have to say Bastian is.  So Mom was happy to have had her "last supper" in Vermont be such a delicious one.  I will say the sickness only lasted until about the 16th week this time around so that is when I felt like I became a mom again, after weeks of not cooking, a terribly messy home, and lying in bed while having you two run around and cause all kinds of mischief (I actually still stuck to our "no t.v." rule pretty well in those days, I must say)!  In the weeks following of course we had lots of fun enjoying the fall festivities around here.  I will start with photos from Halloween and Thanksgiving and tell you more very soon!

At your good friend Dot/Lucy's neighborhood "fall festival" at which we were the only non-neighbors but were delighted to be invited!  You certainly enjoyed the donut on a string game :)

Tearing into the Halloween costumes Nana brought during her October visit!  This is actually your cousin Georges' costume but you were fascinated by it!

Bastian- in your tiger Halloween costume; Luthien was a spider, the costume made by Nana, and somehow I didn't get a picture :(

While Nana visited we made a trip to Providence and found a quaint playground boasting beautiful New England colors and charm!

Another highlight of the season: our friend Sebastian's pirate-themed birthday party!

Always a favorite pastime

Sebastian's neighborhood beach is one of our very favorites, and where we stayed over the summer for our Rapier family reunion....it was good to be back there with Nana and Grandad again in the fall!

Luthien, you began spelling your name accurately and independently during October; I walked in to find this on the couch!

And even attempting new words- "Bastian"

Finally, we spent Thanksgiving in Brooklyn with our Aunts/Uncles and cousins, what a treat!

You both have grown up so much since this time but I will have to refrain from sharing until another day (soon I promise)!

Love,

Mama

Burlington

Dad surprised me/us by planning a short road trip to Vermont so we could experience more of the fall colors, go apple picking, and see if Burlington is an area we would be interested in settling.  It definitely stole our hearts as expected!  The somewhat mountainous, more open landscape gave us enough of a West coast feel that, for us, is the perfect mixture with the town's East coast charm and gorgeous Lake Champlain setting.  Add in a little French culture from nearby Montreal and we were smitten.

there is a huge local/natural food culture that exists in Burlington so we were able to enjoy locally raised grass-fed burgers, pate, and of course Vermont cheese and maple syrup

arriving at the apple orchard, mom  a little chilly from the rain that day... didn't stop me from picking a bushel and a half mostly myself (that's about 50 lbs folks)

okay, maybe I had a little help :)

as it turned out the rain made for a picturesque setting filled with all sorts of natural wonders

free apple cider to the crazy improperly dressed lady of the day
(the parents in this household have yet to purchase rain gear for ourselves so there was nothing that could be done in this case; I just "pretended" that I forgot my rain boots for the day!)

once there were picking poles involved, you were totally up for the challenge!

the adorable stretch of shops in downtown Burlington

Overall, a great trip filled with lots of wonderful memories.  I see resumes being sent in the near future!  We couldn't help but notice what great little travelers you two have become.  I used to be afraid of taking road trips but no more!
Love,
Mama