Introducing Jackson Scott ~July 8th, 8lbs 4oz

At Roosevelt Hospital July 9th early am

This post is coming embarrassingly late (poor third kid), but such is life with 3 kiddos and a big move to the burbs.

Well he arrived alright! 5 days late, but on his own and once labor finally (finally!) got going, it was a speedy 2.5 labor and straightforward delivery. 8 lbs, 4 oz and 20 inches long with dark hair like his sisters and looking kind of like them as well. We spent a quiet first night in the hospital, with a little girl as our roommate taking turns being hungry, so moms didn't rest much at all.

After a hospital visit from big sisters Maya and Laila who came with Tata and Abuela, we came home to an apartment full of boxes (why do we keep doing this to ourselves?!) and a whole 5 days later moved to Westchester...... right.

Luckily the kids and I escaped to the Hamptons the day before the official move leaving Brian and his parents to it. A brilliant move really, because the whole situation would have been otherwise impossible. We were able to rest in comfortable accommodations with grandparents to help - Maya in pony camp during the day which she loves, Laila, Jack and I hitting up several of the kids programs at the library (and Jack good baby sleeping through everything in the ergo).

Happy 2nd Birthday Laila!

Laila turned 2 which we celebrated at home with cake and balloons, and then we came home to Larchmont to a house that inevitably needed work but was functional - Brian did a lot in the week that he was here alone (thank goodness! Would not have been able to handle it in my postpartum state). We're starting to get our bearings and the unpacking is still coming along. How many trips to the home depot/pier 1/ikea/ bed,bath and beyond/hardware store are humanly possible??

The girls have been great with their little brother, even little Laila seems content with his existence. Maya as expected has taken all the change in stride and is excited about her new surroundings and especially her bunk bed.

We headed back to East Hampton for an end of summer stint and also celebrated Maya's 5th birthday with family, and a last minute visit from Gabriel which is a treat because we don't get to see my uncle very often at all - last time we were in Uruguay was 5 years ago almost when Maya was all of 3 months old.

Happy 5th Birthday Maya!!

Checking out my new stroller mate

Smiling in Montauk

And then there were 5...

Maya's Prek Graduation... and moving on.

Yesterday was Maya's Prek Graduation from Little Ones which perhaps was the first thing in a while (as we've been running and running with projects) to give me some pause and reflect on what a good place that has been for her these last 3 years, and really for all of us- a neighborhood school where she and I have made so many friends that we will dearly miss when we leave.

They did a great job - the kids participated in skits in small groups that reflected the work they had done over the course of the year - their frog study, the rainforest, construction ..., they sang "One Love" (above) and they walked across a bridge to receive their diploma and we watched a video montage of what the kids wanted to be when they grow up (Maya said a ballerina). It was so sweet, yes there were several tears shed - tomorrow is the official last day of school so at least it wasn't a whole lot of goodbye's all at once, but Maya although excited for her new school in Larchmont has already expressed how much she will miss her teachers. I can't believe it's been 3 years that I have been walking her to that school - time indeed flies. I will miss them too. Can't believe how much she has grown while there.

It's been a doozy of a couple of months. We closed on the house in May and got straight to work - refinishing floors, painting, carpeting, tree pruning, furniture shopping etc.. etc... it's coming along and we're in a good place with the house for our move 2nd week of July. 39 weeks pregnant and baby still seems plenty content, unlikely to make an appearance early as I fully expected. Better perhaps as it gave us the time we needed to get organized and plan and pack. We've even started to work on our remodel for next year - playing with floor plans and options. Hoping that construction won't be overly stressful.

But for now our plan is to head to the Hamptons soon after the baby is born and get out of the way of the big move leaving Brian to it. And when we come home it will be to Larchmont, and not LIC, which will really feel weird at first. More on that to come...

Westchester here we come!

So we bought! Finally! In Larchmont. After a frenzied spring market due to low inventory, lots of potential bidders all looking for essentially the same thing - we decided upon a fixer upper in a good location within walking distance to school and the village. The house needs a lot of different things but we'll live in it for a year before we start the renovation and expansion project and in the meantime finalize architectural plans, bidding, building permits etc.... Hard not to start planning the details of kitchens and baths already - the fun stuff - even without the final floor plans established. It will be a learning process for sure, but we're looking forward to it and excited to learn and be fully invested in the project. We hope to close on the house next month, spend June doing some repairs and cleaning to get it ready for a move in early July - right after baby #3 is born.... right, because that has to happen too. Sometime I forget with all the summer plans and schedules in full swing.

We'll likely split our time between Larchmont and East Hampton with Maya attending some camp in both locations. We've been planning this move for quite some time it's nice to be finally making some headway and have something concrete in the works. Maya is enrolled in kindergarten and Laila will be starting a 2's program a couple mornings a week at a nearby preschool.  Between researching contractors and different service companies, schools and after school activities - and at some point a babysitter - we certainly have a lot in the works.

In the meantime we are enjoying some well deserved milder temperatures after an eternal winter and the outdoor activities that it allows.  We'll miss our neighborhood and the great friends we have made here but we're excited about the next chapter as well.

Think Blue! It's a BOY!

We had great news today  -  baby #3, due in early July, is going to be a little BOY! Shocker! We were a little surprised in the ultrasound room, somehow expecting that we were destined to be the parents of girls.

But no - pecker clearly spotted! Wow!!
(see arrow indicating pecker below - hee hee. Of course I asked for a printout!!).

Olivia and Ian & Fam

We're both very excited. Nice to have the variety and a different experience this time around, and it saves us from having to bribe Maya into accepting another baby sister. She was adamant!!  "No mommy, I do NOT want another baby sister, I WANT a baby brother!" Sheesh. Not sure why she thinks a baby brother is going to be less annoying (he'll definitely still mess with your stuff Maya) but apparently it will be an easier sell.

She also picked out a name - Ian, after Olivia's younger brother Ian. Not sure she'll get her wish there, but hopefully the news will be good enough. Laila is too little to know any better, she's 18 months, total busy body in her toddlerhood. But she'll be a few weeks shy of 2 when this one arrives and "baby" is already part of her vocabulary - so hopefully she'll take kindly to him.

Other than the baby news we're busy hunting for houses in Westchester, visiting frequently and sizing up potentials. Definitely looking forward to the move at this point and being in a house with a yard. We'll keep y'all posted!

Happy Valentine's Day!
Much love -
Verena, Brian, Maya, Laila and little boy

2012 Our Year in Review

Another year flown by and it was a great year for us overall on several fronts.


After working from home grading assignments for teachers getting their MA's at Hunter College, I stopped working entirely after the spring and became a full-time stay at home mom. It was a lot to manage to get work done around Laila's nap schedule so it was a welcome change that gave me some freedom to pursue some other projects - like relaunching of my Etsy store Urban Baby Knits - and planning some local selling events with other local vendors and mom sellers that turned out to be a great success. We are planning two more for the spring and participating in local pop-up shops as well. Always knitting something theses days - bags of yarn have taken over the house. It's fun!




We took a great trip to Paris in April with Brian's sister and family - Maya's cousins, Anna, Noah and Nathan. We had gorgeous warm spring weather and even took a day trip to Disney.


We became the proud owners of Toyota Sienna minivan in May (don't knock it!! we love our swagger wagon) and did some early summer trips to Wellesley for strawberry picking at Drumlin Farm, and a great weekend trip to Rocking Horse Ranch outside of Poughkeepsie. Riding, pools, marshmallows and more riding. Highly recommend. We'll definitely be back.

Pony rides at Rocking Horse

We spent the bulk of the summer in East Hampton and Maya started taking riding lessons. I did too - which was won-der-ful after about a 10 year hiatus from the sport. It was a great thing to be able to do with Maya and she took to the sport like a fish to water - loving everything from the horse care and grooming, to giving treats to the actual riding.




And she's pretty cute in her riding boots and hat if I do say so myself. We will certainly make this a permanent part of our schedule now that we are planning to move to Westchester and there are lots of barns and riding programs for kids (and moms too!!). It will be fun for Laila to be old enough in a few years to participate in our equestrian adventures, for now she enjoys petting and pointing at the horses.

Which brings me to another point - we sold our apartment! Bittersweet to let it go, we loved our 2BR apartment that brought us to LIC in 2008 right after Maya was born and that Laila came home too as well.

Last night in our apartment.

We decided to stay local for one more year and moved into a rental apartment building a block away so Maya could finish her pre-k year at the preschool that she had been in since she was 2. But the time has come to make our move to the burbs especially with Brian working and doing well at his mutual fund company in Purchase, NY. So with Maya entering kindergarten in the fall it was a good natural break to make the move. We sold quickly which we were not totally prepared for but decided it was best to sell and give ourselves the time and flexibility to look for a house.

Laila turned 1 in July and we celebrated with friends during a freak hail storm at Malu a local 

ice cream shop. The next month Maya turned 4 and celebrated at Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn. 

Abuela's birthday in July.

Picnic tables outside Jane's Carousel

 The fall came and so did pre-k (big stuff) and lots of mommy time for Laila which I am really enjoying especially as she got her sea legs and started on some words it's been great to get together with our many friends in the area and their toddlers. Favorite words/phrases: all done (all daaa), hiiii, socks (sos), eye (while sticking her finger in her eye), diaper, mema (milk), agua, apple and 'cheese' on her own whenever someone points a camera in her direction. Kind of hilarious.

Yearly trips to Hank's Pumpkin town and the Renaissance Faire (Laila hated the darn camel) were of course in order too.  And then the storm hit. 

Renaissance Faire

First day of pre-k with friends Henry and Sophie. 

Hurricane Sandy (and not our broker this time) hit LIC hard but we weathered the storm alright, watching the whole thing unfold in front of our windows from the 12th floor and it was quite a show.

The street below us flooded and totaled all the cars parked on it, 48th avenue was completed flooded 2 blocks in and along with it Maya's preschool which took on 3 feet of water. Somehow the pre-k class frogs whose tank was on the floor survived and we took them home and kept them going for about a week while a team of volunteers and contractors furiously put the school back together - stripping, floors, cutting out drywall building new furniture and redoing electrical. The kids were back in 6 days after the storm and life started to get back to normal. Our playground was heavily damaged but re-opened last week after much chopping and hauling of tree limbs and trunks. We didn't lose power or our cars so really we were very lucky. It was nice to see the neighborhood come back together for the annual Halloween parade, only 2 days after the water receded.

Halloween: Jesse and Little Red Riding Hood

Decided to break with tradition this year and headed to Cancun with friends for Thanksgiving. We stayed at the Moon Palace where we vacationed last year when Laila was just 3 months old. It was a great break, with lots of fun shows, good dinner options, some golf and several trips to the spa for all the parents. And who can ever get tired of weather like that.

Brian became a portfolio manager at Alpine Woods capital this December where he has been for 4 years, and has been busy meeting with management to spearhead new strategies and procedural changes in the way they manage the funds. An exciting opportunity for him for sure and he will appreciate having a shorter commute to work in the next few months with these added responsibilities.

We headed to Wellesley for Christmas with Brian's parents and took advantage of colder weather there to take Maya skiing. Her second time on skis - not sure you can call what she does skiing, more like hanging on her dad and floating down the hill. Laila and I watched. Maya also participated in the kids pageant as an angel which she was really proud of herself for (so were we, she's not the type to volunteer for these things and be on stage). We woke up to a white Christmas and the kids had a lot of fun with their gifts. Big ticket items included a 3 story Barbie townhouse and a plush rocking horse that gallops and neighs. We celebrate Christmas #2 with my parents tonight.




And now for 2013.... drumroll please.... we are expecting baby #3 (no that's not a typo, yes we may have lost our minds) in early July. So between moving into a new town, buying a house, starting at a new elementary school, making new friends and adding a newborn to the fam we will be ohhhh a little busy. But all good and welcome changes that we have been looking forward to.



Wishing you all a wonderful 2013 filled with love, friends and family. Happy New Year!




- Verena, Brian, Maya, Laila, baby #3, Bailey & Burger (sheeeeesh! someone find us a house quick!)

6 yrs, Pre-K and knitting!

September! Indisputably the best month of the year - although this year we've had more of a humid hot month than usual - STILL! The weather is cooler, the farms are busting with the best produce  of the year in my opinion (can you say pumpkins!?!) and it marks the milestone of my wedding anniversary - 6 years now to be exact. We celebrated by going to see Once on broadway - based on the movie which I highly recommend (both movie and show) - excellent! Also happy birthday Grandma Lynn!!

Maya started Pre-k - her third and final year at her preschool in LIC, we are anxiously awaiting the completion of their new space which has faced some construction delays that will hopefully be sorted out in the next few weeks - not that the kids have noticed, they are having a blast in the same space they have known for the last two years - doing more with letters and numbers and the classroom science project of the moment - tadpoles! Actually totally amazing. They have also done classroom interviews of their peers - here's Maya's:


Lia: What’s your favorite thing to do?

Maya: I like to make a tea party. I invited Sophie and Henry. I like to cook my cookies.

Nicole: Do you like Barbies?

Maya: I like to play with Barbies and brush their hair

Henry: What’s your favorite ice cream?

Maya: Chocolate chip cookies

Evan: What do you like at school?

Maya: I like to bring my pony book and show it.

Emanuel: What’s your favorite Barbie?

Maya: She has a horse to ride. Just a girl who likes to ride horses

Eva: What’s your favorite kind of music?

Maya: Sleeping Beauty

Eva: What’s your favorite book?

Maya: My Mermaid book and my Sleeping Beauty Book

Avelene: What do you like to write?

Maya: I like to write and draw bunnies

Nicole Czajkowski: What’s your favorite fish?

Maya: Sweet fish when they taste like carrots and look like lobsters

Jessica: Where do you ride real horses?

Maya: In a stable. I have to take a car.

Cat: Who’s in your family?

Maya: My big daddy and my little sister Laila

..... and Mommy gets thrown under the bus and totally forgotten - AGAIN! And I can only assume that 'sweet fish' was swedish fish not sure about the lobster reference except that she thinks it's funny.

We also made it to the NY Renaissance Faire this month - always an interesting experience  - where we rode a camel, saw some shows, jousting (yes, really, horses and all, one guy actually fell off - oops). It's quite an event.



And finally - my fall project has been to re-launch my little knitting shop on Etsy - Urban Baby Knits. I am really enjoying it and it keeps me busy. You might recognize some of my models.

This weekend we are headed to Hershey Park in PA with Roshni and family who have relocated to Delaware and are therefore much closer. Maya is looking forward to seeing her friend Liam... we'll see how they both do with the rides, but we seem to have lucked out with the weather :)

Happy Birthday Maya!

4 years old! Maya and her classmates celebrated with her at Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge park with an Olivia themed event, lots of Uruguayan specialties and a piñata and lots of mini cupcakes.

She is very excited to be four, and asked me all summer when her birthday was, and if she was four yet and if she could now go to pre-k. Going to pre-k is a big deal apparently because it means she will be in her separate classroom and be the oldest group in her preschool.


On that note, pre-k thankfully starts tomorrow for a half day of school. I am ecstatic at getting back into a routine. Although our summer was lovely - most of it spent in East Hampton with time divided between YMCA camp, beach, pool, yoga and horse back riding! Maya started taking lessons and we went together to the barn once a week and both rode - it was nice to get back into it having not ridden regularly since college. And Maya loved the whole experience from getting the horses ready, to her lesson, to the sponge bath she treated her horse to afterwards. Merrylegs is the name of her white pony by the way and she talks about her frequently.

  We've spent the last several weeks taking advantage of all those fun city family amusements that we hadn't gotten to all summer - Natural History museum, Bronx zoo and I think there is a Renaissance faire trip in the future - any excuse to be outside in a medieval princess dress and eat a turkey leg. Some pics from her birthday party. Happy September everyone!