A VERY HAPPY EASTER

IMG_6465 IMG_6468 IMG_6470 A little late, I know, but I wanted to share these photos of our Easter Sunday. We spent the morning sipping on coffee in our pjs and watching Lucas delight over his Easter basket. He had been asking for a chocolate bunny for weeks and I think he was pretty pleased. After a slow and lovely morning we headed to Brooklyn for a family dinner. Shortly after we arrived we set up an egg hunt for Lucas (which he LOVED) and Lillie was thrilled to chew on his eggs after he collected all his loot. The holidays are just so special when you have kids and it just makes you take a step back and reflect. All the work and love my mother put into creating special memories that I will cherish forever and now it has come full circle. Here I am prepping and creating baskets, planning an egg hunt, making sure we have a specific chocolate bunny, all to see my child smile. I hope they both remember these days forever.

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I hope you all had a blessed holiday with your loved ones and from my family to yours we are wishing you so much love!

On Lillie:
Flora & Henri Lace Baby Dress | Flora & Henri Scalloped Bonnet | Pram Mary Janes

On Lucas:
Flora & Henri Tee (Similar Here) | Zara Trousers (Similar Here) | Thrifted Minnetonkas

AN EAST VILLAGE SUPER HERO PARTY

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One of the many, many perks of living in NYC – absolutely amazing parties in the best parks. Seriously. It does not get better than this. Last weekend we headed down to the East Village to celebrate sweet Lucien’s 3rd birthday party. It was super hero themed and Lucas was pretty stoked to be Kid Flash. There was pizza, cake, and in true NYC fashion – live guitar playing right in the middle of the playground. The weather was perfect and it was a sweet taste of the magical Spring weekends to come.

On a side note, that black book bag in the photos? It’s our new XLR8 Diaper Bag. I wanted to mention it here because I’m obsessed. Ready for this? Besides the standard diaper bag features (changing mat, tons of storage, insulated pockets) it has a CHARGING STATION. AND A SPEAKER. Say what?! So you can be our of the house all day and charge your phones on the go (when your battery dies after taking 1000 pics of the kids ;). The speaker has been amazing for our family picnics. Who doesn’t love music in the park?

DREAM A LITTLE DREAM

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It’s officially March and I’m dreaming of Spring. Who’s with me? I can close my eyes and smell the grass, the warm breeze, and hear Lucas’s squeals as he runs through the park. I miss the beautiful flowers blooming in Central Park and our family picnics. Lillie was born in August and we had a short but sweet taste of what life would be like as a family of four come the warmer days. No bulky jackets and layers upon layers, missing mittens, and kids who want to rip off hats even when it’s 10 degrees outside. I’m pretty over running home to avoid the cold after school pick up is done and anxiously awaiting Ivan to get home. I love being active with the kids and there are so many adventures awaiting us – museum dates, exploring Central Park (because even though I have lived in NYC my entire life there are always new pockets to be discovered), Lillie experiencing the feeling of grass between her bitty toes, and lots and lots of pop-pops (as Lucas calls them) from the ice cream truck. I am waiting for our little apartment to be flooded with delicious light and for the windows to be cracked open letting in that glorious Spring breeze. I want the sun to hit our cheeks. I want my freckles to come back. Spring, we are ready.

Images by Hazel and Pine in collaboration with our friends at Sakura Bloom. I am wearing the classic linen sling in wheat. 

A FAMILY SESSION | PT II

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A day at home with my tribe. My people. My family. My loves. These images were shot and edited by the wonderful Danila Mednikov (you can see part I of our “story” here). My daughter. My son. My fiancé. Sometimes I have to pinch myself. Life can be hard sometimes. The roller coaster of motherhood is real and raw. But damn, life can be so very good. I look at these images and I’m reminded of my beautiful blessings and what a lucky woman I am. Word of the day: thankful.

xx

HAPPY HAPPY! LUCAS LEÓN IS FOUR!

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My dearest Lucas León,

The past four years have been the best of my life. You have brought our family infinite joy and happiness. You are a bright star that I know will go so very far in life. With your wit, compassion, joy, and smarts, well, the world isn’t going to know what hit it when you spread your wings. God knew just what he was doing when he picked you just for us. I can’t even properly articulate just how deep my love runs for you. I hope you always know just how loved you are and that your mommy and daddy will do anything and everything for you. Always. May God bless you with all the numbers, health, and so much happiness my sweet boy. I am honored to be your mother and to be able to witness your growth and success.

Te amo. Te amo. Te amo.

Mommy

A FAMILY SESSION | PART I

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A month ago we had a family shoot with the very talented Danila Mednikov. When Danila first reached out and I browsed his work I fell in love immediately. Whimsical and magical were the first thoughts that came to my mind. I couldn’t wait to have him come to our home and capture us in our day to day routine.

After spending a few hours at home, we headed out to our favorite park and strolled around the city. The weather was perfect, the kids were angels, it couldn’t have gone better. I love how these images capture my tribe. The people I love most in the world in our very favorite place in the world. This is such a surreal, magical, sleep-deprived, wildly wonderful time in our lives and I always want to remember this time in our lives.

Dress from Love Shack Fancy | Bugaboo Bee Stroller 

NEWBORN LIFE | A FAMILY SESSION

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After a full week at home we had my dear friend Belle come over to shoot us in all our newborn glory. When Belle first sent me the final images, the first thing I noticed (after my darling children of course 😉 was that in most of the photos it looked like I hadn’t combed my hair. I’m pretty sure I had put a brush through my mop. Did I actually forget or was my vision so blurry from sleep deprivation that I thought I had thoroughly smoothed down my bed head? Then I laughed. I laughed at my silliness and then all I saw was beauty. Beauty and real life. We were only a week in with our Lillie Sol and still adjusting to life at home as a family of four (no sleep..schedules were all off..taking care of Lucas’s needs..finding time to shower and brush our teeth..) and yea, my hair looks a little, um, fluffy. It’s now four weeks later and it’s not any better plus the bags under my eyes are 10 times darker (and I think I found a few gray hairs!) BUT my heart is full, my family is happy and healthy, and really what more could I ask for. These beautiful images will forever be a reminder of a short, sweet, sleep deprived, glorious moment in time with my little family.

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LUCAS AND LILLIE

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I pictured this moment while I was pregnant. These tender, loving, wonderful, heart exploding moments that my children would share. And let me tell you, the real thing is 100x better than anything I could have imagined. Lucas has exceeded all expectations of how he would react to his new baby sister. He absolutely adores Lillie and it’s an adorable sight to see. Every morning he looks for her and greets her with kisses and hugs. He loves to tell me just how cute and pretty she is. My mama heart is bursting with so much love for these two. My favorite is when he shouts “Lillie SOLLLLLL”. You have to just imagine his little pip-squeak voice and I guarantee it will make you grin. Sigh. My heart is right up there captured in a few impromptu photos.

CENTRAL PARK DATES X LILY JADE

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Lillie Sol is 2 weeks young and she is already a true New Yorker. We have been to Central Park a handful of times already and I can attest to how much the fresh air and family time has done us all some good. Lillie and I sit in the shade and nurse/cuddle/nurse while Ivan and Lucas rough house. These family afternoons in the park have been such a gift and I’m not so secretly a bit sad about next week when Ivan goes back to work. In the mean time I’ll be soaking in these moments, my people, and of course our big ol’ backyard – hey Central Park! Looking good girl!

Lily Jade is an amazing diaper bag company and they were kind enough to send me their Elizabeth Bag which I am officially obsessed with. I love that it converts into a back pack and allows me to be hands free while wearing Lillie. There are also a ton of pockets perfect for organizing all those tiny baby bits and bobs and honestly it’s just plain beautiful.

A FIRST WEEK AT HOME

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Our first week at home with Lillie Sol. Lucas is terrified of her belly button (which is finally almost healed..woohoo!), she loves mamas milk and is well on her way to being back to her birth weight, snoozes on our chests are frequent, she gave us her first smile at 6 days old, and we are all delirious in love. Life is pretty darn sweet.

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