Celebrating Karina and her upcoming marriage! August 2-3, 2014

This weekend was a little busy.. and unfortunately I only have like 3 pictures to show from the entire thing, but it definitely deserves a blog post.  I didn't take many pictures, because I actually tried to keep my phone in my purse and away from me so that I could focus on celebrating what we were all there for.  And, like the flake I am, I left my actual camera at home :(

Luques, Damian's brother, (well my brother also!!) is getting married on August 30, 2014.  he is marrying one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met-- Karina. 

On Friday August 1, 2014- Karina celebrated her 30th birthday. What a great age!!  Also, what a great month for both her and Luques.  They each celebrate birthdays this month and now will be celebrating their wedding anniversary as well.  So exciting.

I was invited to Karina's bridal shower on Saturday August 2nd.  It was a surprise for Karina and was being held at a nice restaurant called, Café Archetypus in Edgewater, New Jersey.  I had also been invited to attend a bachelorette party for her on Sunday August 3rd in New York City.  I had decided early on that I would drive to new Jersey on Saturday, come home that night and then attempt to take the train on my own into Grand Central on Sunday and then travel by the Subway to get to the actual venue for the bachelorette.

Weeks before either of these events, I could feel my anxiety rising.  I am a very loud and outgoing individual--- in certain occasions.  Honestly, though, I suffer from SEVERE social anxiety. I knew this was an extremely important event and I love both Karina and Luques dearly, so I was determined to overcome these nerves and make sure that I was there in support of their exciting new adventure in life.

Lisa and Madison decided to take the ride to New Jersey with me, so we headed out a little extra early on Saturday to ensure that I got to where I needed to go in time.  In addition to social anxiety, I also get VERY nervous about arriving somewhere late.  Especially today since I knew it was a surprise so I needed to be there before the guest of honor.  It was a nice 2 hour or so ride.  Lisa and I caught up, laughed, listened to music. Madison got a lot of reading done for her summer assignments for school.  The plan was for them to go to the movies while I was at the shower.

OH MY WORD!!  The area where the shower was being held was beautiful.  Karina's mother, Julie, and Justine did such an amazing job making sure everything was perfect and where it needed to be.  They had their personal touches on everything and it was gorgeous.  I loved the book that they had set out for each guest to write words of wisdom for the bride in and then they also had little hearts for the guests to write their favorite thing about Karina on.  (So easy for me to do-- I have always admired Karina's genuine "niceness" <---- not to sure if that is even a real word or not, haha. Luques and Karina have been together for about 7 years I  believe, and I will admit that I have not spent as much time with Karina as I would have liked,  No ones fault, but my own...but every time I see her, she is so full of grace and kindness, it amazes me.  And it is just so real.  I love that.. envy it actually!)  When Karina arrived at the shower, she was definitely surprised, and completely overcome with emotion.  So sweet.  This shower was so nice.  It was such a privilege being able to attend and see her mother again and be a part of something that was so special to her.  You could tell by the environment and people that were there that Karina is surrounded by love, compassion, and strength!  A very special lady indeed.   I actually ended up leaving a little early because I knew that I had to drive back home and had to get an early start the next day as well.  Madison and Lisa were in the front waiting for me and Karina had asked that I bring Madison in to say hi to her before we left, so I made sure to do that-- Madison was so excited and happy to be able to see Karina.  She was also excited to tell Karina that while they were waiting for me, she actually found the dress that she was going to wear to the wedding and had bought it with her own money. Oh how she melts my heart.

Myself & the guest of honor, Karina.  Isn't she just beautiful??

Madison and Karina - so nice of Karina to ask if Madison could run in to say hello

Nadia wearing her toilet paper wedding dress--  Nope-- our group definitely didn't go for traditional

Saturday night, my anxiety kicked into EXTRA OVERDRIVE! I couldn't sleep and had a really rough night.  But as planned I woke up early headed to New Haven to catch the train and wound up at Grand Central Station about an hour and a half early.  That was perfect.  My original goal was then to take the subway from Grand Central to a little closer to Fairway Studios, but I started panicking so I decided to walk the 15 minutes that it took to get there.  because I was early I hung out at a Starbucks that was around the corner.  Won't go into specific details about the bachelorette party, but once again, Karina was especially surprised and her, 12 of her closest friends and family, myself were there to celebrate.  There was a lot of laughter and it seemed like a good time was had by all.  I would have loved to stay a little longer, but Damian was in Boston for a gig and I didn't want to intrude on Karina and her family/friends, so at the end of the party, I headed back to the station..and started my journey home.  Got home safe and sound-- Damian actually beat me to picking up the kids by like 5 minutes, so I arrived at the house before him surprisingly.

I talked to Damian a little about my anxiety and he his so darn respectful of it.  I am really trying hard to overcome these little quirks about myself and I think if I keep pushing myself to do things that are out of my comfort zone, it will just get easier and easier.  I know I can tackle this and WIN!

All in all-- this past weekend, celebrating Karina and her upcoming marriage, was a GREAT time!!  I was honored to be a part of this weekend and look forward to spending more time with Karina AND Luques in the future!! I am so excited for the both of them and cannot wait until the end of the month to share in the moment when they exchange their vows to one another!!

First time Aunt-- June 17, 2014

I took some time off from this blog because some things at home and in my personal relationships were pre-occupying some of my time.

Now I am back in business... but I am so behind that I just posted Amanda's baby shower blog and right after I am posting this one because she's has JUST given birth to her beautiful baby girl.

OH MY WORD!!  My little Amanda is a mommy!!

On June 17, 2014 at 3:22am, Amanda gave birth to Miss Jaida Sarai Nascimento.  She weighed 6lbs 1 oz and was 19 inches long-- COMPLETE PERFECTION!!

I get that she is my niece, so I may be a little partial, but she is absolutely BEAUTIFUL.  I love her round head, her small eyes, her incredibly squeezable cheeks!  I have lots of friends with kids, many of which I have known since they were newborns-- and boy do I love them dearly-- just as if they were my own!  BUT--  there was something different in my heart when I walked into that hospital room as saw my little sister holding her very own baby girl. 

I melted... I got teary eyed and fought to keep the tears back.  First of all, how is it even possible that my younger sister I sold enough to have a baby? Don't worry, I know how it happened, but I am still in minor shock, lol!  It made me remember the day that Amanda was born.  And then as she was growing up, we were pretty close.. I spent a lot of time with her, babysitting her, playing with her, carting her around with me as I did things with my friends.  When she was 9, I gave birth to Madison, and when I moved out, she used to always want to come over to my apartment and play with Madison.  She babysat as she got older and sometimes would even take Madison out with her on little day trips to the mall and things like that.  Her and I would spend days together, going shopping, eating out, just hanging together-----------And the she went through the phase where family just wasn't as important to her and she didn't really want to spend as much time with us.  It bothered me at times, but I understand.  I am sure I went through phases like that also.  She just continued to grow up-- got a job, a boyfriend, her own life-- and now here she is with her own "little family",  A little one to call her own.

How amazing it was to see my sister, who has always just been my little sister, with a new title-- a woman and a mommy.  She is now in charge of someone else's well being as well as her own. 
I have the utmost confidence in her that she will be a wonderful mother.  She has always been so good to my children and they aren't even hers. 

I hope Amanda understands how happy I am for both her and Will and their new bundle of PERFECT joy!  I hope they know that I am here for them every step of the way as much as I can be and I hope to be the kind of Aunt that both her and Lisa have been to my kids.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!! WELCOME TO THE FAMILY MISS JAIDA NASCIMENTO-- you are in for quite the ride!

Isn't she the cutest thing ever?

Please Mayci, don't tip over the new baby!!

Madison admiring her new cousin--  don't be alarmed by the mask-- Madison was suffering from Strep Throat , and while cleared by Dr. Rifkin, we still wanted to be safe and keep the germs at a minimum.

Baby Jaida and PRO-Aunt Lisa