I swear the only way I am able to keep track of this year is through my Instagram feed. If it weren't for photos I snapped of the more important events in life, between pregnancy brain and baby brain, two VERY REAL things, I'd be lost. A quick rundown of the second half of the year:
JULY: Each July kicks off with the Adobe shutdown for the 4th of July holiday. Jared and I spent this week in Maine, with an overnight in Portland and then four nights in Bar Harbor. While in Maine we did some hiking in Acadia National Park, relaxed by the little beaches in and around the Bar Harbor area, strolled through the different towns, enjoyed a big breakfast each morning (at the Atlantean Cottage, the lovely B&B we stayed at), ate some excellent seafood, celebrated the 4th of July and our fourth anniversary on 7/5. Adobe also hosted their family field trip in July (a boat cruise around some of NYCs landmarks) which I went to with Jared. It was fun to see the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and others from the water but it was HOT HOT HOT that day, so we spent a fair amount of time inside in the shade and AC. We went to see The Sandlot - which Jared had never seen - in Prospect Park one night which was fun and a SUPER close outdoor movie option, and mixed in a few Jones Beach and Robert Moses beach days too. I also spent one evening on Long Island helping celebrate Long Island Sled Hockey, which was being filmed to be on the show Returning the Favor to honor the team's coach. It's always fun to see Tommy and Aunt Sheila play and a bunch of family members were there (Patrice, my mom, Uncle Danny and Denise, Grandma and Aunt Rita) so it was evening all around.
AUGUST: August was WARM (read: HOT) but Jared and I continued to run and walk, respectively, in Prospect Park a few mornings a week. We also had a few more beach days at Robert Moses and Jones Beach. August highlights include the Solar Eclipse, which Jared watched with his coworkers from the roof of their work building in Manhattan, and I watched from the shade in Green-Wood Cemetery. It was pretty cool but would have been really neat to experience the full solar eclipse (when everything becomes dark.) In August I was surprised with a baby shower for Jared and I, to prepare for Baby Verdi. It was a really lovely morning/afternoon and Jared and I were overwhelmed by the generosity and well wishes of our family and friends. (Check out a full post on the shower here.) Following the shower we began to put the nursery together for Baby Verdi. We had the closet removed earlier in the month, which gave us a bit more space in the room. We bought, assembled and made a striking blue dresser which I think adds a nice pop of color to the room, which is eclectic and pretty gender neutral. To end the month Katie D. and I went to see John Mayer at Jones Beach, tailgating before the concert with a couple of her friends. It was a fun evening all around; a John Mayer concert never disappoints.
SEPTEMBER: Jared and I kicked off September with a day at the Hampton Classic, having a late lunch in Sag Harbor, and spent on evening at the U.S. Open. While heading to the Hampton Classic continues to be a Menghini tradition, heading to the U.S. Open has become one of our family traditions, and I'm glad we were able to make it again this year, despite being very pregnant and pretty uncomfortable outside in the heat. After eating pretty healthy for most of my pregnancy and not putting on a crazy amount of weight, I kind of let it all go in the last few weeks. We got L&B Spumoni Pizza one evening, and celebrated National Ice Cream day at Ample Hills Creamery in Gowanus. Early in the month we helped Ashlyn and Ben, and the extended Verdi and Bruno families, celebrate Lincoln's baptism at St. Sylvester's Church in Medford. Mid-month Jared headed up to Connecticut for the annual Behance retreat. We saw Battle of the Sexes one night at BAM, and I tool in a solo movie, Home Again, one afternoon to get out of the house and beat the heat. We attended Anthony Motta's second birthday party and I had a dinner date with Katie W. at the Brooklyn Heights Shake Shack. As we approached our due date, 9/28, we discovered black mold in our bedroom closet which brought on my one serious pregnancy meltdown. After weeks of cleaning and organizing our apartment, we had to pull our closet apart, have a insurance adjuster come through, have the mold tested, and ultimately the dry wall removed and replaced, the closet painted, and shelving reinstalled. And following one of my last doctor's appointments, I attempted to coax Baby Verdi out by walking around the American Museum of Natural History one morning...it didn't work. September came to a close with no baby in sight.
Emmett Cole Verdi
OCTOBER: Buuut, not too far into October we finally welcomed Baby Verdi! Emmett Cole arrived on Friday, October 6th in the early morning, a week and a day late. (His full birth story and a summary of the first three months of life to follow on another post.) Emmett's arrival was the biggest news of the month, but we also took a night off from parenthood (with Gram babysitting) to see Ricky Gervais at the Theater at Madison Square Garden to celebrate Jared's birthday. Jared had the entire month of October off and we three spent it taking slow walks around the neighborhood and Prospect park, getting coffee (the most coffee I've ever drank in my life occurred this past October) and in general getting used to parenthood. My mom and dad came in one Saturday to visit (and brought dinner!!) and Patrice came in a few afternoons to visit, including Halloween, and helped us hand out candy to the neighborhood trick-or-treaters.
NOVEMBER: In early November Jared went back to work, leaving Emmett and I home together. The three of us went to vote on the 7th, though neither Jared or I voted for DeBlasio. We made two trips out to Long Island, the first to celebrate all the October birthdays (Margaret, Jared, Olivia, and Brendan) with birthday dinner at my mom and dad's house. Emmett got to briefly meet Jack (who had to be put down the following week due to old age) but also Annette and Terry who came for dinner and dessert, respectively. We also celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving in Medford later in the month, with Aunt Adelaide coming for dinner. She was so excited to meet and see Emmett and kept remarking how big he was and how strong a grip he had. Patrice and Brendan weren't with us for dinner, but came by for dessert, as did Olivia's boyfriend Michael. Mid-month Patrice and Brendan, and my mom, split babysitting duties one night for Jared and I to see Vice President Joe Biden be interviewed by Stephen Colbert about his new book, Promise Me Dad. It was a very moving conversation about Vice President Biden speak about the death of his son Beau and how important it is to talk about the grieving process. We closed out the month with a trip to Long Island one day to visit with Grandma Anderson (my grandma and his great-grandma.) She was thrilled to finally meet him, and he was pretty well behaved during the visit. He also got to see Auntie Patrice that afternoon and visit with Uncle Jim, who after some coaxing held him too.
DECEMBER: December was a surprisingly busy month! Emmett met Santa for the first time at Kos Kaffe right here in Park Slope, where he was ok one second, and crying the next, as soon as he realized neither Jared nor I were holding him. We also took Emmett on his first subway ride so we could attend Fordham's annual Lessons and Carol's at St. Paul's Church. We made it through the entire service and all of the songs, but had to step out a few times to feed and a quiet E as the evening wore on. He was a trooper on his first big evening out in the city. Aunt Olivia came to visit one afternoon and stayed overnight too. Early in the month my New York State Teaching Certification became official too, having been submitted in early October, right before the arrival of Emmett. We headed up to Boston on weekend to help Tara and Nick, and the Vuono and Verdi families celebrate Jonah's baptism. It also gave the Boston crew an opportunity to meet Emmett, and the #VerdiTrifecta got together for the first time. Later that week I traveled into Manhattan to visit my former co-workers at Homes for the Homeless, which was a really lovely morning, and everyone loved meeting E. That week Jared also had his Adobe holiday party, and Patrice came to visit and helped Emmett and I get our Christmas tree. One Saturday Jared headed out do some photography with Rich, and Emmett and I traveled into the city to meet up with Katie D. and Ally at the Union Square Christmas markets. It ended up being too busy for me to be comfortable carrying E through the crowds and he was getting pretty fussy, so after visiting with the girls for a bit, we headed home, and where Gram was coming in to babysit. I headed back in a bit later to have dinner and a quick drink with Katie, Ally, and Jackie. Gram gave an ok report; Emmett was great for the first part of the night, but got pretty fussy as the evening wore on. (We're gonna have to work on E and Mom separation in the new year.) Jared, Emmett and I headed down to Dyker Heights to stroll through the neighborhood Christmas lights display one balmy evening, and Emmett stayed up for the entire walk (despite it being 10:00 o'clock.) We headed out to Long Island on the 23rd to have dinner and visit with Rachel and Nick, Katie D., Katie W., and Lisa and Chris. Patrice came to dinner too, and we spent the night at my mom and dad's house. Early the next morning we picked up Ben and headed to Boston to spend Christmas eve and Christmas morning with the Vuonos, Brunos, and Mindi and Rich. After opening presents and having a big pancake breakfast we were back on the road (through some solid snow from Boston to mid-Connecticut) to the ferry, and to Long Island for Christmas Dinner at my mom and dad's house, and to open presents. After another yummy dinner we headed in to Aunt Winnie and Uncle Mickey's house for Christmas night with the Anderson-clan. Everyone was excited to meet Emmett, where he was spoiled by his aunts and uncles and cousins, and by Santa. On Boxing Day (long live the British heritage) Jared and I did our gift exchange and Emmett opened the gifts Santa left him at home in Brooklyn. We had a quiet few days at home, but also went to Newport, Rhode Island for a quick overnight. It was very, very cold so we couldn't enjoy the town too much, but had a lot of fun touring some of the famous mansions (Newport Mansions) which I had not seen since I was a kid. We rounded out 2017 at home with snacks, beer and wine, and Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper on tv...with our lovely little fella - the highlight of our year - snoozing away.
