Happy Birthday Brianna

 

This birthday is 

extra special for Brianna

as she is 22 weeks pregnant 

with a baby boy.

  We are so thrilled for Brianna and Christian and 

can’t wait to meet Baby Boy H in September.

Baby Boy H may only be 22 weeks old, 

but he 

knows A LOT already.

They say babies in the womb can hear 

sounds, music and 

their mommy and daddy's voices....

So he probably knows his mama is a major Taylor Swift fan…

                                                                                    Baby's First Taylor Swift Concert

a Swiftie from Day 1.

He knows his mama is doing everything she can for him already.

Eating right and Reading up on parenting tips.

He knows how much she loves Manomet. 

He can feel her relaxing 

as she watches the sunrise and

breathes in the sea air.

And 

he knows he is dearly loved

by his mama and daddy.

He can already feel the LOVE.

Anywhoooo

Happy Briday to sweet Brianna

our 3rd born...

                                                     who completely and perfectly

completed our family.

We love 

our Sweet Wish and her baby-to-be.

We definitely won the lottery with Brianna

and

it won't be long before her baby boy 

learns that he has

won the 

MOM lottery.

Prep Me

 Many full moons ago

when I was a college coed at the University of Vermont…

preppy was “in.” 

The only problem was: 

preppy wasn’t "in" 

my vocabulary.

Maybe there were a few preppy Vermonters 

back in the day, 

but my eyes

had never 

laid eyes on one. 

I didn’t know the slightest thing about dressing preppy. 

When I showed up 

at groovy UVM, 

my wardrobe was 

 short on:

pink and green,

alligator shirts, 

ribbon belts, 

khaki pants,

and Bermuda bags 

but

long on:

bell bottoms,

flannels,

and wide embossed leather belts.

 My freshman roommate

 was the most prepped out human I had ever met. 

She put the P's in preppy.

A triple P threat.

She was also a debutante from NYC 

who had a "coming-out party" 

to announce her debutante status to society.  

I had never heard of a “debutante,”  let alone 

rub leather patch elbows with one.

The closest I would ever come to debutante is…

writing it. 

(Thank you spellchecker.)

Ms. Prep was a formidable leader in the 

UVM Preppy Invasion 

and 

she made it her mission

to make me into her preppy clone...

one Lacoste at a time. 

I must have had a sign 

on my back that said, 

“Prep Me.”

In one effort to prepify me...

she bought me a 

pink Brooks Brothers 

buttoned-down long-sleeve shirt 

with my initials “KAT” monogrammed on the pocket. 

(I must admit...

I was a willing recipient.)

Anywhoooooo......

I was never quite sure what attracted 

Preppy flatlanders 

to go to school in Vermont. 

Was it  

the scenery?

the slopes? 

or

the sea

of bars? 

Or 

maybe it was a secret desire to 

change Vermonsters 

into 

Prepsters

and

one by one…

change the Vermont landscape 

into a field of pink and green...

crawling with 'dem gators.

Happy Colintine's Day

 As y’all know, 

today is Valentine’s Day

and if ya forgot…

for the love of Pete… 

quick

grab a card. candy. flowers. a reservation.

However, for our Fam 

today is

Colintine’s Day.

It was only perfect that Colin was born on Valentine’s Day.

He has always been a 

sweetheart of a son....

and the 5th Ninja Turtle.

Check out the little surprise he made for me back in the day...

with his toys and clothes.

So sweet.

Inside the bubble, it says "HI MOM."

I love his creativeness, sweetness, and him.

                                        

Colin...

an amazing and loving young boy

also grew into a sweetheart of a person…

a kind-hearted, 

fun, 

easy to be around, 

all around great guy

aka

“Duuuude”

as Ansley loves to call him.

lucky lil cowgirl at sound check

Colin the ultimate

 dude with a Big Heart….

 has followed his heart 

down the yellow brick road...

and this Kat is his Number ONE fan forever.

Today. Tomorrow. And Beyonce.

(I threw in a little Queen Bey

 to see if you were still reading.)

Ansley is a close #2 Fan...

Anywhoooo

When you have a bday on Valentines Day (or any holiday) 

you end up sharing the day with other Valentines out there 

starting with the ones you grew up with…

                                             let alone with the rest of the country.

So

with Colintine’s Day,

we break the rules…

 instead of candy, it’s ice cream pie...

instead of doves, its cardinals ...

(born in St. Louis)

and

instead of cherubs, it’s confetti...

but it is still 

a day 

about love.

💗

In a blink of an eyelash 

the years have blown by and I have loved every one of them… 

watching Colin 

then 

and now.

From the bottom of my heart

 

I wish Colin 

all the love and happiness…

that he has given us every day 

since our First Colintine’s Day...

then

and now.

OG Chelsea's Birthday

Happy Birthday to 

OG Chelsea... 

our 

first born...

1st of 3 gangstas.

Today we give 

 Chelsea the mad respect and admiration…

that an OG deserves.

 Chelsea may not be 

70’s OG - crips style… 

but she is 

OG-crib syle.

As a mother of 2, 

she knows her way around cribs.

 

 Chelsea is also our OG Manomet girl. 

She’s passing along her love for Manomet 

and Mano traditions 

to her kids…

which were passed down to her 

from her Dad 

and her OG Nana Lenore. 

Ansley and Presley are closely following

in their 

sandy footsteps

and are well on their beach walk

to becoming 

Manomet girls. 

 I can't help but remember an OGManomet Chelsea story.

Before we bought our home in Manomet… 

we rented the same house every year for 20 years…

so basically it was ours. 

At the end of 3 weeks…

Chelsea would write down 

a list of things we did, 

date it, 

and then tape it to the back of the owner’s framed pictures. 

 When we would arrive the next summer

she would check the back of every picture 

to make sure they were still taped there. 

 One year the owner told us 

that she noticed 

paper hanging down from behind 

one of her framed pictures.

 She turned it over to find Chlesea’s written notes. 

 She thought it was sweet, so she re-taped it 

and hung the picture back on the wall. 

 If she checked the rest of her pictures 

hanging in her house…

she would have also found 

“Chelsea was here." 

 That’s how OG’s operate. 

 Anywhoooo…… 

 When I remember Chelsea 

at the ages her girls are now…

I can clearly “sea” in my mind,

clear as a Manomet beach day… 

 Chelsea on the jetties jumping from rock to rock. 

 Chelsea swimming to Flat Rock. 

 Chelsea on a sea glass walk 

looking for a “Grand Slam”…for the win. 

Chelsea's last day ritual of flapping her arms 

and jumping at the sugar shack. 

Chelsea bringing home a bag of sand from the beach.

I will always treasure my early Manomet memories of 

no tv, no internet, no cell phones...

untethered by time.

Blissful days of

Chelsea 

playing on the beach

with her brother and sister with that 

devil-may-care,

wind in their hair,

forever unaware

youthful innocence.

Nothin' compares.

 How perfect was this year's Christmas gift 

from OG PaulA 

to his Manomet girls?

 A t-shirt that he designed... 

 cleverly made 

With Love.

 Today we celebrate Chelsea …

our first born 

 (who despite being the guinea pig 

1st test child) 

grew into an amazing woman 

 with immeasurable love

for her family 

and 

all things tradition.

 

 Chelsea, 

may you always let your inner

OG shine.