1 year ago

Her 1 year birthday dinner at Ottomanelli's tonight! Happy Birthday our little love muffin!

Kajsia opens her eyes to NYC!

Look at those lil things...

Awwwww... in the nursery. There were 22 babies born that night and she was the only one who slept. I actually had her brought into my room to stay the night so she didn't have to hear all the noise.

Just the beginning.

Vic with Kajsia. Best of friends...

Lynne with Kajsia... best of friends (even if she is a bosox fan!). Introduced me to Tage, Kajsia is named after her!

This was one of the most amazing moments of my life! Holding her for the first time.

Tage kissing Kajsia... I love this!

What... she's ours?

Already looks like her dad!

Kajsia's grand entrance! Check out that hair... dark brown. Now she's blonde!

The dreaded Pit!

Tage pretending to be asleep... he has no idea how long the process is going to take and I had just been hooked up to PIT!

Gosh don't the guys have it easy?

Here comes the contractions!

We are officially checked in and have IV! That was actually one of the more painful things of the event.

Yes, it was exactly one year ago, Sept 21st. My dad and brother flew to town for the final Yankee game and the closing of the house that Ruth built. Sunday we went for hot wings and waffle fries at Atomic Wings on 2nd and 59th. We dropped them off at the subway station only to see them red eyed from the tears and tired at about 2am.

Monday Sept 22nd:

5am - got up to get them ready for their airplane flight
5:30am - got Troy to the first cab, in the elevator he announced they were having a baby!

5:45 am- got Dad in his cab

7am - got ready for the shoot with my mother in law.
8am - headed into the subway for the meatpacking district to the salon we were shooting at.

9am - announced to my sweet assistant, Hillary and my photo director Elaine that I'd probably have to leave mid-mango b/c Kajsia was coming!
10am - did the fitting with the five ladies, including my mother in law.

11:45am - made Tage take me for my last meal at Pinkberry, original with raspberries and coconut flakes.
NOON - we checked into NYU

2pm - sono to make sure my so called "small" baby was ok

3pm - hooked up to pitosin

5pm - moved to the labor/delivery room

6pm - contractions killing, begging for epidural

7pm - epidural... ahhh the blessed relief. What we hoped would be naptime, since Dr. Maldonado said it probaby wouldn't happen till midnight.

8:15pm - dilated to a 10. That was the shortest nap of my life!

9:16pm - Kajsia arrived! Tage cried...

9:22pm - my mom arrived from LGA!

11pm - left alone with my baby in a room with a roomate who spoke hardly any english, watched TV on decibal 10 and her baby screamed all night. What in the world am I supposed to do now?

2am - wishing it was visiting hours already, learning the ropes of breastfeeding. I liken it to having a mousetrap snapped onto your tata's. Nobody prepares you for that!

4am - Kajsia was an angel, full of hair and beautiful. Can't believe she is mine.

6am - Still in awe, that this is my kid. HOLY CRAP... we came with a suitcase to the hospital and now we're going to leave with a kid in a car seat. Talk about rocking your world.

8am - the Nastiest breakfast served to woman arrived. I couldn't eat! Are you kidding this is what you get after you give birth? It's like prison food. Still awaiting new dad and nana to come and visit.

9am - Kajsia is 12 hours old and dad and nana finally arrive to celebrate.

11am - Lynne came to visit... Kajsia Lynne Wright

3pm - Vic came to visit

What a great day and what a miracle. The entire year has flown by. I marveled at her when she just stared at me and cooed. Now she can say mama and dada. Hi and Bye! Nana and Papa! Gma and Gampa. What a horse, dog, cow and goose can say. She has amazed us with her angelic smile and has touched the hearts of many a stoop sitter here in Harlem. She has such a tender heart and loves to give hugs and kisses freely. She can show you where her bow goes and how to put her shoes on. She mastered climbing the couch this week and last week she opened our front door. Our little baby has turned into a toddler and we can't believe she's one. Kajsia has been the greatest creation we've ever witnessed and what a blessing in our lives. Nobody can truly explain to you the devotion you have for your own child, the unconditional love until you have your own. I'm grateful for an amazing husband who has worked tirelessly for us so that I could stay home and be with her every single day. Nothing, no amount of money, nor shoes and shopping or anything else could replace the time that I've been able to spend with her. In the beginning I was so so selfish because I thought I was going to have to go back to work. I hardly left the house or let anyone watch her. I just wanted to be there for everything... I'm so grateful I didn't have to go back! I did get to watch in awe, every moment. From rolling over to learning to sit up on her own, from crawling and cruising. We can't believe she is ours and we are so grateful to be her parents. Kajsia we love you! Happy Birthday to our love muffin!

San Gennarro Festival

After a long morning of people watching, playing at the park and eating pizza... she pooped out at Lombardi's.

Kajsia watching Elliot and Chase slide down and crawl back up! She decided she could too...

This slide was just her size.

Kajsia wanting to take the short-cut to the top of the slide

She has this new thing for taking her shoes off. It's a miracle I haven't lost a pair yet. Doesn't matter if it's velcro, slip ons, lace-less or lace-ups... I guess it's just a phase!

More San Gennaro decor down Mulberry street.

Lombardi's famous margarita pizza!

We are the amazing mom's of Harlem. Who in their right mind would take this many kids under the age of 3 out to lunch at Lombardi's? Of course, it's not even a thought. They all did great and the thin crust pizza was delish!

desserts galore, stuffed canolli's, chocolate covered canolli's, panna cotta, berry tarts...

nougat by the pound....

everything under the sea...

who wants a sausage?

pizza, fish, peppers...

pasta, stuffed artichoke, calzones, fried oreos, zeppolis...

I've wanted to go to this all week, so I set up a playdate. Brittany and son Ezra, Minde and son Chase, daughter Riley and Ashley and son Elliot and daughter Eleanor. So 4 adults and 6.5 kids trekked down to Mulberry street for entertainment, fun and food. Did I mention, we are the amazing mom's of Harlem!

This is the 82nd Annual San Gennarro Festival in Little Italy. It's an 11-day Feast dedicated to saluting the Patron Saint of Naples featuring religious processions and colorful parades, an opera night, all kinds of Italian food and vendors. If you ever want to try out, there is a cannoli eating contest, sanctioned by The International Federation of Competitive Eaters (who knew?).

We stopped at a playground to let the kids play!

the last of Boston and labor day weekend

Old Mother Goose is laid to rest in the same cemetary as the 3 signers of the declaration of independence. She had 20 kids within 2 marriages, so she had to figure out something to keep them all busy. This was in the days before ipods, backyardigans, elmo and all kinds of toys. Bless her!

Kajsia riding on the back of dad at the cemetary in Boston.

Dad and daughter enjoying the sun in the cemetary.

Labor Day Wkd

Three generations in Central Park

The motorized sailboats..

nana and kajsia at the canoe's. check out that curled hair nana did.

the three of us at the fountain

room 303, after I'd already screamed!

the charles dickens mirror on the 10th floor of the Parker hotel.

Here are a few more pictures...

Boston over Labor Day weekend

All in the name of fashion... what have you done? I'll admit I even made my own daughter wear shoes to small... check out the toes that curl over the top! Dang it she's so darling, I couldn't help myself! The shoes were bought specifically for this outfit. (How many times have I said that?) The same outfit that she was photographed in by a number of Asian tourists who thought she looked like a doll! I'm proud to note... they have officially been retired to the storage bin.

Walking off the 20 minute wait for breakfast at Charlie's... unbelievable Raspberry pancakes!

Nana finally found a perfect perch for Kajsia! Just her size and she's loving it.

Glad to be done with the Freedom Trail tour, this was the last stop... Fanueil Hall. Look at the relief, no more stroller, no more ergo, no more shhh'ing.

This is one of my most prized photos... nana and Kajsia are in the moment and loving it!

One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence... he was pretty great! In fact the lady said he was also a dentist. After 9 months of British Occupation, they went to Bunker Hill to retrieve the bodies left to give them a proper "Christian" burial. One of his best friends (I can't remember his name) was on that hill. He identified him by opening his jaw and recognizing the dentistry work he had done. He kept immaculate files of all the dentistry work he did and with his files they were able to identify most of the bodies on the hill. WHO KNEW?

The "Shaw" memorial to the first man to command the all African American Army... so impressive and moving! The used over 150 African American models to sculpt each face individually. It truly is breathtaking!

Mom was so excited to get on this tour and walk, she left us in the dust. We had to call her name 50 times before she finally turned around. What good is a picture if there isn't someone you know in it! This is the old State Capitol building.

Kajsia on her way to the Parker House

My parents flew into Boston for a couple of days and we were able to do the Freedom Trail tour, play in Faneuil Hall, eat at Charlie's for breakfast and the Atlantic Fish Co for dinner. Had Boston Cream Pie and the famous Parker House Rolls at the Parker house (not so great since they were warmed in the microwave!). Went to room 303, that they bricked over because it was so haunted. When we got off, we rounded the corner to the room. On the tour they told us many people who had stayed in that room never got a full nights sleep. A long time ago a murder/suicide happened and it's been haunted since. They turned it into a janitor's closet only to have one of them locked in and later found dead. So I go full steam ahead to this room 303 that they've now bricked... around the corner and to my terror I jumped and screamed inside. Out of my vision a poor hispanic cleaning lady about 4 feet tall bumped right into me. My parents and Tage got the biggest kick as I tried to act non-chalant when I jumped 5 feet and pee'd myself! We'll be laughing for years about that! Then to the 10th floor to the mirror where Charles Dickens stood recited his poetry and stories to himself.

Later in NYC, we ate at Norma's with Cousin Stacy. Walked thru Central Park, tried out the new pinkberry blends of passionfruit and coconut, then went to the Yankees game. Of course they won... 9-1! A real good whippin' for my pops to see! What else could we fit in 3 days, not much... other than the fact that we never seemed to stop eating!

We had a great time and as you can see, so did Kajsia! The morning they left she woke up and said, "Nana, Papa" and looked all over the house for them. We miss you already!

Thanks mom and dad for such a great time and for flying out to be with us.