Sunday, March 22, 2009

It's a Boy!

(this was a favorite poem of mine that I found when I was pregnant with Jake...I was reduced to tears everytime I read it...)
"The Ninth Month"
Being a duplex
I have been happy, my dear,
To loan you half the house,
Rent Free and furnished
As best I could.

You have been a good
Tenant, all in all,
Quiet, yet comfortably there,
Tapping friendly on the wall.

But I hear
You have outgrown the place
And are packing up to move.
Well, I will miss
The sweet proximity,
But we will keep in touch.
There are bonds, my dear,
That reach beyond a block,
Or a mile, or a hemisphere,
Born of much love and labor.

I approve the move,
And gladly turn from landlady
To neighbors.

Carol Lynn Pearson


Nine years ago today, I became a mother when Jake Parry Monson was born!


It was a thrilling day! After my water broke in the middle of the night (just a trickle so I thought it was just the usual "incontinence"), we hopped in a cab about 6:15am (thank goodness it wasn't rush hour), and headed over to the west side (Manhattan) to St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital. Labor pains ensued as well as a few moments where I roughed Brian up a bit and for whatever reason kept yelling "SHAKAKON"--(what the?!--no idea where that came from!) He was born at 1:03pm...



I couldn't believe how much joy one little person could bring!


Nothing says "welcome home" like bars on the window and a collection of pigeon dung! (that picture makes our old brownstone look like a ghetto!)


I heart NYC!!!


  • Jake is very artistic and loves to play soccer and baseball...
  • His favorite food is shrimp! (why couldn't it be something cheap like mac and cheese?)
  • He loves to read (especially Harry Potter and anything written by Roald Dahl)
  • He knows everything there is to know about animals!--
  • When he grows up he wants to be an animal rescuer--(a boy after my own heart!)



There's something about the experience of having your first child...it's hard to recreate that again...I guess because with your first, you don't have other things distracting you and no other children are demanding of your time...Your focus can solely be on that child...




We celebrated Jake's 9th birthday with his favorite dinner (shrimp)--I actually made the same thing that I make for Christmas Eve (shrimp, rice, & Junior League salad)--Always a big hit!




Boston Creme Torte (I bought this--I know! it's lame, but I had a busy weekend and knew I wouldn't have time to make a cake)--It turned out better than anything I could have come up with, though...


He got to invite his best buddy (and neighbor) Brady over to celebrate with us...



Bakugans are Jake's biggest obsession right now...(similar to Pokemon as far as money and time waster) but that was what he's been asking for, so he's got quite a collection, now. (Look how wound up he is!--good grief!)



It was a low key birthday this year, but nice...(we're still recovering from last year's birthday extravaganza where we had a traveling zoo come to our house!--) Holy festivities! I don't have the energy (or budget) for that again! We splurged last year because it was his 8th birthday, and that was a big one...

**Isn't that a sweet poem?

**What toy do your kids like that you would consider a money waster?

15 comments:

  1. HappY BirthDay JAKE!!

    Great post- I do love that poem, so sweet :)
    transformers are our big money/time waister right now....

    How crazy, bringing home baby in a taxi?!!
    I used to dream of living in manhattan- you are so cool-

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  2. birthdays are special- and unfortunately, i had to miss this one- yikes!! we'll celebrate again when i come to visit- more presents-- yay!! i remember when jake was born- i gave you guys some time together before i came to help- good times were had by all .. :o) maybe a birthday mural is in store.

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  3. Darling photos of Jake and you!

    Motherhood is really something, isn't it? That first birth is both scary and exciting (moreso in my day!) That sounds like I'm pretty old,I guess I am!

    Happy Birthday, Jake!

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  4. It's so funny to think of you having to get in a cab to go to the hospital, and when bringing the baby home! That is so far out of the realm of my experience.

    Wow, his favorite food is shrimp, that's something.

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  5. Happy Birthday, Jake! I'm glad I could share Idaho pole dancing with him on his b'day. The poem is very sweet, I can see especially with all the pregnant mommy hormones in the 9th month how that could certainly bring me to tears. Thanks for sharing his special day.

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  6. Holy bad aunt award ------ to me that is. I have been so caught up in the house stuff right now that I completely spaced on Jakes birthday!

    It looks like it was a good one! I have never heard of those things before... looks like fun.

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  7. your window doesn't look like the ghetto, you have just forgotten how lovely NY can be. time flies, that is when we became friends...i remember that poem. crazy

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  8. His birthday dinner looks delicious! I wish my nine-year-old would even try shrimp. Or salad.

    There is definitely something special about your first child, the one that makes you a mother for the first time. Unforgettable. It is kind of strange to think of taking a cab to and from the hospital!

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  9. My 4 year-old saw the picture of the cake and said, "What an awesome cake. I wish I could have that cake for my birthday!" So, he liked it!

    The poem is precious. I love the pregnancy pic.

    It's amazing how fast 9 year goes by.

    I think almost all my kids' toys are money wasters. In fact, we've been getting rid of the toys. Slowly, but surely. They have only a few categories of toys left.

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  10. Love the poem, I have never heard that one before. I bit Eric in the shoulder, leaving teeth marks when I was in labor with my first child! I suppose he needed to feel some pain too!

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  11. oh- by the way- i LOVE the pic of you and jake- that one should be framed!!!

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  12. Happy Birthday to your cute Jake:)
    I loved your picture at the top, and also the poem...very sweet.
    Our biggest toy waster is the Webkinz...how many stuffed animals can one child need? And, times it by 4? They have a serious racket going on there!

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  13. Okay, poem made me cry. Why is it that time moves at warp-speed once children arrive? I don't heart that.

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  14. what a sweet post! and such a great poem!!! i agree- frame that picture of you and jake! what a cute little boy.

    i love that picture of your apartment window- it reminded me of my place in yonkers (it was brief- like 8 weeks). :) and riding home in a taxi!!! or even in labor in a taxi! what an adventure!

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  15. HA...all the toys I buy my kids are money wasters because they end up losing it or breaking it!!!

    K--you are so pretty...and you son, handsome young man!

    I think the chill birthdays are absolutely the BEST...especially if you found GOOD store bought cake!!! or should I say pastry?

    Anyway...love the poem, if only I was the creative!

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