At the party after the baptism, we set up our own photo booth and a few props including letters that spelled out BABY VINCENT MIOTA. I love how these pictures turned out.
(photo booth photos from Matteo’s baptism party are here.)
Tag: family
the baptism
We had Vincent baptized on Saturday and it was lovely. It was a smaller group this time around (Wisconsin summer weekends are always full, especially close to Labor Day, so a lot of our friends were out of town) but we were still joined by more than 40 people to witness the ceremony and celebrate with us back at our home.
I love this new life of ours but it’s insane. Balancing a new baby and a wild three-year old is crazy! Matteo is going through a naked phase where he’s always taking his clothes off, and he pees on the ground outside whenever he feels the urge. Last night we came home from a walk and he stripped down, ran up and down the sidewalk nude, and then peed on the grass in front of our house. Matt and I just looked at each other and shrugged. It’s all about picking your battles. And hoping a mosquito bites his privates and teaches him a valuable lesson.
When you have only one child, life feels like this.
But when you go from one to two, life feels like this. In this photo, Matteo is refusing to have his picture taken with us so he’s rolling around on the sidewalk.
Here’s one with Matteo and Vincent and their cousins. He still looks insane, but at least he’s standing up.
During the ceremony, Matteo stuck his tongue in and out like a lizard at the people in the pews and Vincent pooped so loudly that people four rows behind us heard it (during a moment of perfect silence, of course). But somehow we made it through. The priest even said Vincent was the happiest baby he had ever baptized!
Life may be nuts right now, but I really do love it so much. Happy baptism, sweet boy!
green lake 2013
We’re at Green Lake this week and the boys are in heaven. Matteo is finally at an age where he can jump off the dock and catch fish and do all the awesome things that make Green Lake so awesome.
halloween!
I picked Matteo up from school early so he, Kevin and I could walk in the neighborhood Halloween parade. After that we went trick or treating for about an hour and then finished off the night with spooky pizzas for dinner (I sliced fresh mozzarella to look like ghosts.) I hope you all had a happy Halloween as well!
happy halloween!
Here are some photos from last Friday’s Halloween party downtown and a few of us carving pumpkins Monday night. This afternoon we’ll be walking in the neighborhood Halloween parade, going trick-or-treating and then enjoying special spooky pizzas for dinner!
downtown madison halloween party
pumpkin farm
the district
smithsonian
I went to D.C. for work trip a couple of weeks ago. I lived and worked in D.C. for a year on two separate occasions in my 20’s so I booked a hotel in Dupont Circle to re-visit some of my favorite places.
hotel view
dupont circle
kramerbooks & afterwords
metro
D.C. is such a great city, and it was an especially fantastic city to live in when I was young, foolish, and didn’t make a lot of money. There is so much history and culture to see and do for free, and as urban experiences go it’s relatively tame. I had one free afternoon so I met my brother for lunch in Chinatown and then went to the Museum of Natural History and the National Portrait Galley.
chinatown
kevin, monument
portrait of ll cool j
My last night in the city I walked past the building where I had my first real job, past the bars where I used meet friends for drinks after work, past the corners where I had seen Tom Brokaw, and George Stephanopolous. The city looked so much the same. It was a strange feeling and I felt a little like Ebenezer Scrooge when he visits his past, standing on the outside looking in at himself when he was younger, reflecting on choices he made. But I missed Matt, and I missed Matteo, and as fun as it was to take a trip through my early 20’s, I was happy to be headed home to my family.
Thanks for the memories, D.C.!
matteo’s second birthday party
Matteo’s birthday fell on a Saturday this year and since it’s already on Cinco de Mayo…well…I got a little carried away with the party. But it went off without a hitch, and everyone seemed to have a great time. A big thank you to our friends Carrie and Joe for all of their help. Carrie helped set up and took these amazing photos, and Joe played a live set for the guests that included several kid-friendly songs he taught himself just for the occasion.
Matteo was so excited to see his friends! This is Baby Anna from school.
roscoe
There is a huge, gaping, hole in my heart right now. My sweet Roscoe had to be put to sleep yesterday.
I know, over time, this hole will be filled back up by his memories. He was an amazingly sensitive and empathetic dog and was there to console me through countless heartaches, bad days and lonely times. Actually, I take that ‘lonely times’ part back because when Roscoe was around there were no lonely times. There was only comfort and love and that sweet, soft fur that I loved to bury my face in and hold onto.
I am bereft. Roscoe was with me for more than 10 years and while I knew he was sick, and I knew this was always a possibility, (the worst possibility, and one I couldn’t bear to imagine, but having been through this before with Dixie it always lurked in the back of my mind) I had no idea it would happen like this. That I would walk into the vet’s office with him, hoping to find answers, and walk out four hours later with a collar and a ziploc bag of a few tufts of that fur I loved so much.
He had a very aggressive form of cancer that is untreatable, and which is almost impossible to diagnose until something catastrophic happens – which it did. It was a cancer of the lining of the blood vessels and he had a tumor on his spleen that ruptured and he was bleeding internally. I could have had it treated with surgery, I could have had it treated it with chemo, but it had already spread to his lungs and even the best case scenario only gave him a few, short months. Five at absolute best, but more like two or three. And those months would have entailed a long hospital stay, recovering from a major surgery, weekly chemo, and the horrible fear of living with a precious being who could ultimately leave us at any time, despite all the care we would give him.
He had an amazing life. He was loved by so many people. The end came swiftly and I don’t think he suffered much. Saturday afternoon he went sledding with us and ran up and down the hill, chasing us as we went. I even was lucky enough to capture some of it on video. But that night he just wasn’t himself and couldn’t even eat his ice cream, which told me things were very serious. Was that when it ruptured? Was that the beginning of the end? I’ll never know but I can guess. As horrible as it is to think about that, in some ways, if we were going to lose him this fast, at least I was here. I’m traveling for work a lot this spring and in two weeks I’ll be in Peru. If this would have happened while I was gone, with no opportunity to stroke that fur one last time and say my goodbyes, I would never have been able to forgive myself.
Yesterday I went to tell a few of our neighbors who were especially close with Roscoe, and felt naked walking down the sidewalk without him. I am the woman who walks with, “what a handsome dog!” as so many people would stop us and say. I am Roscoe’s mom. He was my friend, my love, my heart. Life without him will never be the same.
Saturday
yesterday
Up until now Roscoe had been in perfect health. This past fall we would run together, and for a dog who was almost 10 years old he could still go three miles. Each vet visit the doctor would remark how spry he was, how, if they never knew his true age, they would have guessed him to be years younger. I always thought he would be with us for at least three more years. But if there is any consolation to be had, he lived his 10 years fully and happily. And I know I did they best I could to give him a good life and all the love and affection I could.
Roscoe was a sensitive, gentle, affectionate soul who was also so fun and playful and always up for any kind of adventure. He made my life so much richer for having been part of it. His spirit and his goodness will always be a part of me.
Oh my sweet boy, I miss you so much already. Our family feels so much smaller without you. But I will always love you and you will always be with us.
I had a dream, right before I woke up this morning, where Roscoe came through the door one last time and I was hugging him and scratching him and giving him big belly rubs. He was young and spry and reveling in the affection. I was thrilled to see him again and was reveling in the chance to stroke that silky fur one last time. He was happy. I was happy. It was a good dream.
It was a good life.
Loud and Bright 