A few weeks back most of the family traveled down to Nonnie’s for Easter weekend. Peter and Maria stayed back of course to be with their newborns and Chrissy had to work. We had a nice visit and did a few chores to help get Nonnie prepped for spring. As the youngest in attendance, Alice (pictured above with Nonnie) worked her away around and was in a lot of arms over the weekend. She seems to be a very happy and go with the flow baby. We also played games and colored with Justin and chased Brian, who is remarkably fast on is feet. Click on the photo above to see the album of photos from the weekend.

It’s been a busy week – most significantly we are the proud aunt and uncle to two new nieces! I’m very excited to share that Peter and Maria’s twin girls, Lia Theresa and Ella Sue, arrived a little early. They were born around 3:00 and 3:30 AM on Tuesday April 19th. Maria and the girls are all exhausted, but doing well and resting up in the hospital where Amy and I visited them on Wednesday. Above is a photo of their cousin Alice, who along with a little help from Chrissy, wanted to welcome the twins to the family. I’ll post some photos of the twins soon. Congratulations to Peter and Maria!

For anyone who hasn’t heard the fabulous news, Peter and Maria are expecting twin girls this coming spring! A few weekends back Maria’s mom threw her a baby shower at the Hotel Marlow. We had a great brunch, and got to visit and catch up with family and see all the fun gifts people brought for the twins. Peter dropped by towards the end of the shower in time to help with some gift opening. In the photo above he is modeling a quilt that Chrissy made. We are all very excited for Peter and Maria and can’t wait to meet the newest members of the family. Click on the photo above to see the pics from the shower.

For Aaron’s birthday, I surprised him with a weekend trip to New York City. As an additional surprise I asked his mom to join us and meet us there. Unfortunately due to weather on Friday night, her flight was canceled, but she was able to get on an early flight Saturday morning and arrived to surprise Aaron before we went out to brunch. We did lots of good eating while in New York. On Friday night, Aaron and I returned to Artisanal, a bistro we’ve been to before that has fantastic cheeses. Then on Saturday we had brunch at Sarge’s, a Jewish deli and dinner at Mario Batali’s Babbo (Babbo was Aaron’s final surprise. Getting a reservation at this place was quite a challenge). Finally, on Sunday we had a yummy pancake brunch at a Sarabeth’s. While in New York, we did do things other than eat: we walked around the city, visited the Empire State Building and Central Park. Check out the album of photos from our weekend. It was a very successful weekend (if I do say so myself), and a seamless birthday surprise. Hmmm, what will I do for next year?

Aaron and I rang in 2011 with a dinner at Amy and Joe’s. Joe scored some lobsters (which Aaron was quite excited about) from a client and Amy made a delicious tortellini soup. We played cars and games with Justin and Brian, had a good meal and passed from 2010 to 2011 with a giant pot of chocolate fondue. Not a bad way to end a year :)

Happy New Year Everybody! Hope you had a nice holiday season. Aaron and I had a great break. We took the week between Christmas and New Year’s off to do some entertaining, spend time with family and friends and to relax. We spent Christmas day at Amy and Joe’s house celebrating with their family and my parents. We opened gifts, enjoyed a few meals and played with the kids. It was great fun to share Christmas with Justin and Brian – hearing about what Santa brought them, reading new books together, playing with their new toys… It was a happy day. Click on the photo above to see the album of photos from our Christmas together.

Aaron and I spent another great Thanksgiving holiday with his family in Washington DC. We had a great stay full of our usual traditions – making pizza dough centerpieces, seeing lots of movies (Harry Potter, The Kids are Alright and Social Network), and playing games. There was plenty of food and family. And we had a great time catching up and simply spending time together.

Long time family friend (and Joe’s brother), Jami married his girlfriend Jen in Topsfield this past October. The whole family attended and we had a great time celebrating their day. The wedding and reception were both at the Willowdale Estate in Topsfield, a beautiful field-stone mansion built back in 1901 and grounds with gardens and trees in every direction. Joe, who was the best man, made a very sweet toast that brought a tear to many an eye. Jami and Peter and James grew up together and have been friends since elementary school – so it was surreal to be at his wedding. We were all excited for the couple and honored to be there. We wish them a long and happy life together.

Update: Mom has just returned from a visit to CT to meet Alice and has shared some new photos of the happy family. I have added some of her pictures to the end of this album. Thanks Mom!

I am thrilled to share that James and Chrissy are now the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl, Alice Grace. She was born about a week late, on November 15th around 1 PM. She weighs 8 pounds, 7 ounces and is 23 inches long. Peter went down to Connecticut yesterday, for the day, to meet her and provided me with all the photos in this album (thanks Peter). Aaron and I plan to visit in a few weeks and look forward to meeting our new niece in person. Alice, Chrissy and James are all doing well and should be heading home from the hospital today. Congratulations to James and Chrissy!

Today is Chrissy’s due date – so I thought I would post the photos from her baby shower. Only time will tell if Chrissy and James’ little one will actually decide to make an appearance today. For her shower, members of both families all met up at Chrissy’s mother’s house in Connecticut. We spent the afternoon visiting, snacking and admiring Chrissy’s growing belly. It’s clear that everyone is excited for James and Chrissy and anxious to meet the newest member of the family.