[my baby friend]

.....that's what annie fondly refers to winston as. her baby friend. because she first met winston when they were both infants. every wednesday morning us "new" moms would meet, spread out blankets and let our little ones do what little ones do. and we'd talk and talk about motherhood - our lack of sleep,marriage, friendship, when will we fit in those jeans again? (i'm still waiting for that one), how to do this, how to do that. such a special group of ladies and my fondest memories of being a new mom.

one such special lady from this group moved away from newburyport with her husband, corey and darling little boy winston. on their way to camping in maine last week they stopped by for a visit. we had a great time catching up, went out to lunch and brought annie and win to the playground for a quick romp. aren't they the cutest?!! renee and corey - we miss you here and we look forward to the day you return. soon please.

{schoolyard}

see you, me and julio down by the schoolyard.......for whatever reason that paul simon song came to my mind while looking at these photos. this is annie's favorite place to be. after dinner we hurry around the corner to the schoolyard to play on the swings, slide down the slides (best slides around i think) and try really hard to make those monkey bars work for us - {bil and i laugh at my lack of strength - heck i used to be able to work those bars - + there will be no photos of that attempt}
bil teaches in boston two nights a week so on those nights us girls hang out - and the obvious choice is the schoolyard. until the sun goes to sleep.

oh p.s. - i just love when annie dresses herself.








{my favorite shot - tough school girl meets toddler girl}




{yes mom likes to swing. see annie on the slide}


{yes annie you are taller than that fire hydrant!}




{the lonely swings}

{never a dull moment}

so last week my poor annie had a fall at school - oh that dreaded phone call - she hit her face on the edge of a table as she clunked to the ground. {the combo of running and wearing crocs that got "stuck" on the floor and forced her foreward as she tripped} = nice cut - i ran around the corner of her pre-school there she was being cuddled and sung to by one of the administrators - her little body in spasm intervals from her crying so hard was gently rocked. i guess i wasn't prepared to see what i saw. her dress saturated in blood. her eye so swollen, that deep cut and oh the tears streaming down that beautiful face. my heart started pounding so fast in my chest but i didn't react. i couldn't. there was work to be done to make my little girl feel better. so off we went to the emergency room of our local hospital. we were the only ones there thank goodness and were seen right away. i asked for a plastic surgeon. no fooling around - this is my girls precious face - i didn't want just anyone stitching her up. when i tell you this child was brave that would be an understatement, both the doctor and his assistant who was holding her head still couldn't believe that there was no screaming or cries, she didn't move or flinch, just tears flowing as he had to inject that novacain directly into the wound site. i was on the other end holding her feet - actually just massaging her feet/legs so she would know her mommy was still there. the doctor sutured her right up - i had never witnessed that before, it was amazing. and soon she was done. all the ER nurses took a shine to my little one - she came home with a stack of new stickers and a cuddly white bear and a spongebob band-aid on her wound (which she made the assistant work for because the three band-aid attempts prior to that weren't big enough or festive enough! he didn't mind - he had already been under the spell that is annie!).
she will get her stitches removed tomorrow. her eye turned black and blue and now yellow and fading purple - she was able to compare her war wounds with that of her poppy who has lots of stitches to repair his heart. and by the way he is home and doing wonderfully - thank you all for your kind thoughts and emails. it worked!

here are some pictures of annie before her accident - the day before we were playing at her new favorite playground - and of course - some photos of her boo-boo.

ahhhh, the life of a three year old. never a dull moment.


{untouched face - b/4 boo boo}








{6 stitches + spongebob band-aid - i will work hard everyday to avoid scarring - lots of sunscreen - zinc oxide - and scar cream} look how close to her eye. oh so lucky!! ouch!!