Jack & Spencer's World

Over Thanksgiving, we had a family photo shoot. The photographer is Abigail Seymour based in Greensboro. She's taken pictures for us before and I love her work. Here are a couple from the shoot - I'll post more later! ;) Check our first photo shoot with Abigail here.

Justin and I frequently describe living in NYC as living in a bubble. Living here is different than living in many other parts of the country and world. Last week, we lived in even more of bubble. As everyone is well aware, Hurricane Sandy blasted through the tri-state area devastating many areas in her path. We were fortunate enough to be relatively unaffected. The picture below is probably the best visual (Photo: Iwan Baan/New York Magazine - read the amazing story here ). This image shows Manhattan during the storm. Lower Manhattan up to the very southern part of midtown is dark - power went out Monday evening. Midtown and north is lit. We thankfully live in the lit section and never lost power - our little bubble in the NYC bubble. Our neighborhood remained mostly undamaged - a few awnings and canopies blown off buildings, branches and trees down, but nothing like the Jersey shore and the Rockaways. Like many of our friends and family, we watched to news to see the damag...

It's a bit surreal right now knowing that this big storm is coming but having no idea what to expect. We did attempt to be responsible by buying water and a few non-perishables and I also charged the drill batteries for our one flashlight. And now we wait. Tomorrow and Tuesday should be interesting. In one way, I'm quite happy that we're in NYC because everything is close. If we absolutely need something, we'll figure out how to get it. In another way, it's a bit scary because if anything major happens, we're stuck on this little island with 8 million other people. Fortunately, there are several families in our building with families of similar age. We'll end up having rotating playdates to keep all of the little ones busy (and keep the parent sane)! Fingers crossed that we don't lose power as we'll also lose water (and that does freak me out). More to come..

This evening, while we were reading books, Jack told me something about when he grows up. I actually don’t remember what he said he was going to be because I was so struck by the phrase: "when I grow up, I'm going to...". It’s something we’ll hear many times in the future - but it was very neat to hear for the first time tonight.

We went apple picking with the Trenchers on Saturday. It was a beautiful fall day and we all had a great time. Many pictures below to enjoy!

It’s amazing how our little guys trust us so unconditionally. Being in our arms, especially when they aren’t feeling well, instantly relaxes them. They are comforted and feel safe. I hope they always feel that way with us.

We had lots of fun events this weekend. First, Jack went to Niamh's fifth birthday party on Saturday morning. The party was at Make, a store where you can create your own stuff - paint ceramics, mix candles, mix glass, and lots other stuff. Niamh had selected two projects for her party: a picture frame and a ceramic. It took a few minutes, but Jack got into in and had a great time. He was sitting at the boy end of the table and got to watch two of Niamh's friends play. I think it's good for him to see how slightly older boys play and cut loose. Today, we spent a part of the morning at the Children's Museum. The boys have been many times, but this is the first time I've gone. We arrived shortly after it opened, so it wasn't too crazy, but there were still a lot of people there. (I guess crazy is relative to your location, non-NYCers would probably have thought that it was packed!). Jack was beyond excited. He pointed it out on the street and then ran right in...