Art and I knew of each other in high school, but we weren't formally introduced until a few years after school at an HFStival (this was a concert held at RFK Stadium). Eminem was performing that day and we were all pretty excited. Art and I hit it off right away and we continued to date for about a month. Being that we were at different places in our lives, we chose to end things. Three years later, we were reconnected during a group trip to Mexico! Multiple people in the group wondered how long it would take before we started flirting again. Art still thinks I was flirting with him before we boarded the plane. Maybe I was. Four and a half years later we were married!
Our wedding was an event I will never forget. There wasn't one detail left untouched. My mom and I had a blast planning everything from the flowers, the linens, the favors, the menu, etc. Art was very involved too. I believe his famous last words were "just let me know what time to be there"... yea right! LOL! We still laugh about that. I guess that's one of the reasons why I love him so much. He is very much involved in everything. I complain at times, but I wouldn't want it any other way. Back to the wedding! We were married at St. Katherine's Greek Orthodox Church in Falls Church, VA during a record breaking snow storm. If our wedding were one weekend prior, we would have had to cancel it. God must have been on our side though. Everyone was able to make it and the day was flawless! My bridesmaids were dressed in a beautiful shade of eggplant and the wedding sparkled in silvers and purples. It was beautiful. Our reception was on the top floor of the Key Bridge Marriott. Floor to ceiling windows surrounded the entire floor with breathtaking views of the memorials and Georgetown. Again, it was a night I will never forget. The next morning we took the first flight to Puerto Rico where we boarded a 2 week Caribbean cruise. Amazing!
During that 2 week Caribbean cruise, our first child was conceived! He arrived 9 months later on November 4th, 2010. We named him Michael after Art's dad, Mike. He has been nothing short of a perfect child and to even attempt to describe our love for him would be pointless. Just looking at him warms my soul and makes my heart ache. Its true... you never know what love is until you have your first baby. He is now 2 years old and thriving. He is an extremely picky eater, but that is our only challenge with him. He has only been sick a handful of times and is as sweet as they come. My mom retired the moment she found out we were pregnant (almost 40 years working for the Army!) and has been taking care of him every since. We know how lucky we are. We truly do.
On or around January 20, 2012, we conceived our next bundle of joy. Just what I had always dreamed of... 2 babies, 2 years apart. And that's just what was supposed to happen. Michael was born Nov 2010, this baby was due October 2012! I'm going to be honest, I really wanted a girl. Like, really really wanted a girl. I took two at-home gender prediction tests and one said boy and the other said girl... obviously. Then I scheduled an early gender sonogram. She looked and looked and then finally confirmed it was a boy. I was excited to see my baby, but my heart broke a little bit. I just really thought we were going to have one of each. So, in true Tara fashion, I didn't believe her. I went home and watched the video for TWO WEEKS. I drove my husband nuts! I just didn't see boy parts! I knew what I was looking for as I had done a lot of research before our appointment. So at our next appointment I took pictures to my doctor. He was kind enough to talk to the technician and she agreed to squeeze us in for a 'quick look'. I was about to throw up... this was it. All my family and friends were at home waiting... Is she crazy? Is she going to be ok when they confirm it's a boy? I laid on the table and the technician smiled at me "here we go"... within 60 seconds she said "ok... I know what it is... you are having baby girl." My husband's mouth dropped and he grabbed my arm. The rest was a blur. I sobbed. I knew it! I knew I would have my baby girl! Everything was perfect. Life was amazing................ and then it happened. Life stopped. Life changed. At 28 weeks exactly, I went into labor. I still don't believe it. How could this happen to ME? I eat healthy, I drink tons of water, I worked out every day, I didn't have a SIP of alcohol, I did everything I was supposed to do! But alas, she came. All 2 pounds, 10 ounces of her. To make a long story short, we spent the next 55 days in the NICU. She had absolutely no issues and came home a thriving little girl. We learned so much in the NICU... maybe I'll blog about that in the future...
So now here we are. A family of 4. Everything I've ever wanted... a loyal husband who is a rock star of a father, a beautiful home, a spunky, loving little boy and a precious baby girl. Thank you for reading my blog and I look forward to documenting fun times from here on out!
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