Conservatory Gardens

NYC is still so intriguing to me. I've lived here (all together) for about 3 1/2 years and I still see things that rock my world. On this particular Saturday, world-rocking came in the form of the Central Park Conservatory Gardens which are more lovely than I ever imagined. They are tucked in the Northeast corner of Central Park and showcase beautiful statues, flowers and fountains. I'll tell you the truth that we went for the free ice cream served from a solar-powered truck/art installation, but the Conservatory Gardens were gorgeous enough to warrant a visit--ice cream or no ice cream.

This was the first thing we saw when we walked into the Gardens and I knew right then that our long walk up there was going to be worth it. Gorgeous!

If the surroundings were less pristine I would have let my boys dive into that fountain just like they do any other NYC water hole. But you're welcome wedding guests, Everett was not successful in jumping feet first to fish for pennies!

Ice cream tastes better when it comes from solar-powered ice cream trucks, especially ones that don't name their flavors by taste but more by color. 

Since we were on Museum Mile we decided to pop into the Museum of the City of New York. They took one long look at us and informed me that it wasn't super child friendly so we could just get the heck out of there ASAP. Just kidding, they didn't kick us out, but I did take their gentle cue and left with all we really wanted anyway--a picture of a shark and a dinosaur standing next to someone who is clearly very important to NYC.

We finally got home with only a second or two to spare before we were off to a Ninjago party for one of T's friends. When I picked him up a couple of hours later he was wearing a new shirt and had that funny ninja scarf tied around his head and I thought he was the most adorable little kindergarten nerd I ever have seen!

His heart

I still get nauseous and anxious for a couple of weeks leading up to his appointments, let's get that out in the open right up front. For the most part Ever is doing great, but you never know what's going on inside that broken heart of his so whenever he's symptomatic I worry that it's heart-related (as opposed to being 3-year-old related). You never know with an Ever Knight, you just never know. So I worry when his lips turn blue--is he cold or are his oxygen sats dropping? And I worry when he's overly exhausted--did he run too much at the playground or is his mitral valve stenosis severe enough that it's causing his body to fail? And of course I worry when he cries and tells me he doesn't want to die--is this just heart-kid anxiety or is this some sort of horrible sign? Worry, that's my name.

I tend to make his heart appointments a big deal--a Mommy Ever date day extraordinaire. I get a babysitter for the other kids so I'm not distracted and can put all of my attention and energy and love into just him. We get donuts, we get Happy Meals, shoot, he can pretty much have whatever he wants because it's on this day every year that I am reminded again that he deserves it. He's been through a lot for a three-year-old, and a street cart donut is the least I can do! This appointment came the day after Quinn was diagnosed with pneumonia (and James was still out of town) so the timing was not even close to great. Luckily, my friend could watch my sicky Quinny and another took T to school and sure, we may have all been in tears when we left the house that morning but the day ended with a Happy Meal, so all's well that ends well, am I right? 

Ever was a stud through all of his tests and exams. He's getting to the age where he wants to know what the echo tech is seeing and he asks all sorts of questions to every nurse, technician and doctor he sees. I love and encourage his questions, sometimes being the middle man but oftentimes telling Ev, "That's a great question, let's hear what the doctors answer is." and then waiting for a response. I feel very passionate about him having control over his medical journey so that when he transitions into adult care (and I'm not accompanying him to every appointment--but I always will if you want me Ev!) he will feel empowered and can advocate for himself.

The short story about this appointment is that everything looks just about the same as it did last year, which is just about the best thing we can hope for. His wonky heart is still rather wonky, but it's doing an amazing job and it grew with him this last year--hooray for Ever's heart! Another surgery is looming in our future, but if that wonky heart keeps growing year to year our surgery could be aways away. Now wouldn't that just be the greatest thing? Yes, yes it would.

Oh yes, the above picture...we went home with a little hardware to see how his EKG handled exercise. Between rain and three-year-old behavior I don't think that EKG machine could detect anything but a game of checkers and a massive fit on Central Park West when I asked him to scooter for a bit instead of being pushed around on the rideboard. I'm waiting for the doctor to call me and say, "We've actually detected that your kid never moved during the whole 24 hour test." and I'll have to say, "You mean my energetic Everett? Well I'm sure he walked to the table when I said his breakfast bacon was ready!" I'll let you know when she calls.

When it's National Donut Day and he's spent a good chunk of the morning in an exam room you owe it to him to get two donuts on the street. And of course, it's best to let him chew the sprinkles and lick the frosting off of both of them!

 

We rode home in an empty C train--crazy right? And while Ash and I took advantage of any empty train to act a-fool, Ever kept whining and saying, "Is too scawy wif no one on it. Don't stand so faw fwom me!" City kids = people people.

Obliteration Room

I'm antsy, antsy for school to finally be out for the summer so my adventure-loving buddy can play with us again. Talmage loves an adventure like Everett loves bacon; enough said, right? Last week he had a random Thursday off of school so we set out with some friends to the David Zwirner Gallery in Chelsea to see a new art exhibit by Yayoi Kusama called "The Obliteration Room." That boy loved it so much and Ever, Quinn and I loved having him along!

The lines at this gallery can sometimes wrap around the building so we arrived early and were the first people in line. Our kids were kinda crazy-town waiting to get in, but less so than if we would have had to wait in a two hour line!

What looks like a run-of-the-mill mobile home on the outside...

...looked a little something like this on the inside!  Stickers, stickers, everywhere and not even a Trader Joe's visit to blame! This house was filled with furniture, appliances, books and walls that were brilliantly white (at least they were) and we all got a sheet of colorful stickers to add to the madness, I mean, art. I don't think we brought enough kids, do you?

Quinner was a superstar adventurer, which is her MO. She sat in her stroller, posed for pictures, and I think she actually liked all the colors in that room.

When I picked her up her cute little bum was covered with stickers. A friend snapped a picture as another friend helped peel off the stickers and it takes a village, doesn't it?

T thought this was just about the best exhibit that ever existed. One time Talmage put his Trader Joe's stickers all over his bunk bed and I made him peel them all off and then scrub the wood with soapy water until all the sticky residue was gone. Someday when he's a famous artist creating sticker exhibits like Kusama I hope he doesn't hold it against me!

Outside of the house they had all of these pumpkins with bright cheerful polka dots! After a totally hands-on exhibit in the house this was totally hands-off and completely miserable for my little boys who wanted to use the statues as jungle gyms. In and out, that's how we rolled.

We ended up in Madison Square Park having Shake Shack for lunch and playing with friends. Those two brothers, sharing shakes for almost four years! {And PS--I love their hair colors! How fun to have a blondie and a brunette!}

Now let's talk business. James was out of town this week which meant that one of my children had to get really sick. This time, just like last time, Quinn took one for the team. I tried to blame her grumpiness and warmth on teething during our adventure, but after coming home things went from bad to worse and her fever went from warm to HOT. When it was coming close to 105 I called my doctor who asked me to bring her in right away. I expected that she might have an ear infection or something minor but no, she had pneumonia in both lungs. I was shocked and felt horrible and thus started a few miserable days of no sleep and a very, very sick baby. Luckily she's better now, but look at those sicky eyes and pink cheeks! Poor baby girl.

Dear James, You're never allowed to leave again. Love, Us.

Kinder Market

I was at school on time, but the line at the security desk was a mile long so by the time I got my badge and walked into the main hall it was 8:52, two minutes after the start of the 15 minute open house in T's class. I turned the corner to his hallway and could hear a familiar little voice from inside a familiar little classroom saying, "I know my Mom is coming. My Mom is going to be here soon. Don't worry, Mom is coming." When I finally entered his room (camera in hand, obviously) I saw a little boy--MY little boy--whose thrill to see me was evident in his ear to ear grin and clapping hands. My reasons I love being a stay-at-home mom are as long as that security line, and T's excitement and love that morning made my heart burn with gratitude that I have made the choice (and can make the choice) to be home with my babies. There was nowhere, absolutely NOWHERE, I would rather have been that morning than with my little cashier being led hand-in-hand around the Kinder Market.

The kids in T's class have been working on this Kinder Market for weeks. They started by touring Trader Joe's and learning about how to run a supermarket, and then they submitted job applications for the position they wanted to have in their very own store. The week of the market they spent painting signs and organizing food and planning every detail in their market. These kids are so wonderful and their teacher is top-notch and so of course their Kinder Market was a success (especially the sample table--thank you TJ's for the inspiration!)

 

We may not win in the selfie category, but boy we have a whole lotta love between us and have lots of fun visiting big brother in class.

Quinnstagram

I wasn't on instagram until Quinn was born, at which point I realized that all the Netflix marathons in the world were not going to fill the midnight hours spent nursing and bouncing so I wised up and joined. I was still trying to understand what this IG thing was all about when I posted my first few pictures of Quinny-girl with the hashtag quinnstagram. Now if that wasn't the most original (and brilliant) hashtag that ever existed my name is not Heather Feather Wigginton. Uh... So... Right. It's a miracle that anyone can ever come up with something truly original because it turns out there were TONS of pictures already stashed in the quinnstagram folder, including our personal favorite of a ripped black bodybuilder named, you guess it, Quinn. Not that I didn't want my pictures of Quinny seen next to Macho Quinn, but, well, James didn't! So, now I file her pics under boring old #quinnisabel but whenever I think about how creative my quinnstagram hashtag was I smile real big.

Speaking of smiling real big, Quinn:

I may have already mentioned that we sometimes call her Quinner Quinner Chicken Dinner, but I have assuredly not already mentioned that more often than not these days she is sporting the scrunched-nose smile that all my littles have worn and it melts me every time. Plus, T won the big brother award for pushing her in the swing and making her century.

This baby is bu-sy, my busiest by far. Her brothers were more or less blobs when they were her age and here she goes crawling and standing and walking along furniture. And don't leave a darn little thing on the ground EVER. She sees the tiniest things from across the room and then crawls like the wind and tries to put them in her mouth before I get to it (stickers, papers, balloons, sticks, lego, you name it). I never had to baby proof all that much with my boys, but this girl is trouble!

Quinn likes to play with the big kids at the park instead of hanging in the stroller the whole time, obviously. And holy hannah is she looking big (and cute) doing it.

There's nothing sweeter than a sleeping Quinny, especially since nighttime is nearly the only time she ever gets it. Forget #quinnstagram, I need to start filing her under #worldsworstnapper.

I don't know why it has been so surprising that she's so independent already (she clearly doesn't get that from me) but it has been shocking! Just this last week she was fussing on the bus until I gave her her own seat, and then it was nothing but smiles. And then she saw her brother kneeling on the chair and looking out the window and she reached out to him relentlessly until she was right by his side watching the city race by. I love her fire, and yet I sometimes fear her fire!

Oh hi. I mean, bye!

Miss Vera

We spent last Sunday with our dear neighbor and friend Miss Vera, learning about her childhood in Germany and just generally enjoying her company. She loves our Quinny dearly, and I was so pleased when she asked to hold her so that I could snap some pictures. My children are always surrounded with good people in this city, but few with as much history and experience as Vera so it's an extra big treat for us all to hear stories from her long and remarkable life.   

It was thunder storming outside and before we knew it Everett had curled up in a little ball on Vera's couch and fell asleep to the pitter patter of rain on the metal A/C window unit. It warmed my heart to think that he was so comfortable in her house and reminded me of falling asleep on my Nana's couch so many years ago. 

Sax in the Subway

Saying that this guy made my day infinitely better at the end of a long (albeit awesome) day may just be the understatement of the darn century. He was blues-ing out with his sax, serenading our platform with "Always and Forever" and just generally rocking the yellow suit, the gray hair and the smooth dance moves around the trash can. This picture does not do his act justice, nor does the video I took of him for that matter, but believe me when I say that the money we added to his jar was the best dough we've spent for a street performer in a good long time.