Great Hill Dental Partners

As of today, December 1, 2011, Michael is a business owner and CEO of Great Hill Dental Partners, LLC! His previous employer sold the five dental offices to 14 doctors who then created the new company, Great Hill Dental. This transition has been in the works for TWO YEARS and has finally gone through. Michael has been working 7 days a week clinically and/or administratively to get the business off and running without a glitch. I couldn't be more proud of the time, effort and dedication that he has been channeling into this exciting opportunity. We know it is going to be successful and A LOT of that success has to do with him.

We also could not have come this far without the support of our family and friends who over the years have helped us get to this point. We are eternally grateful for your assistance and couldn't have done this alone.

Check out the website: www.greathilldental.com

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was spent in New Jersey this year with the Ecker family. We made the trip on Wednesday in the rain and made it in typical time. Mikey loved having a backseat companion on the trip---cousin Emily :)

Thursday started bright dark and early for us as Mikey was up and ready to start the day at 3:45 am. (Apparently he's not ready for the freedom of the "big boy" blow up mattress just yet!) We tried everything we could to get him to go back to sleep. Michael finally gave in and brought him downstairs at 4:45 and let me sleep :)

Thirty members of the Ecker family gathered at my parent's house for the holiday. This year we had four kids 3 and under. Mikey had a great time with them---especially when we played football and hide-and-seek outside. At 5:00 when we were getting ready to sit down for dinner, Mikey grabbed a roll and started chewing away......in his sleep! 13 hours later after waking up early and no nap, Mikey gave in.



I brought him upstairs, tucked him in bed and crossed my fingers that this would work out for the best. Two hours later Mikey woke up in time for dessert (who needs turkey when you are a self-proclaimed vegetarian?). Overall, it was great to spend time with my Grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins that we don't get to see often. We really have A LOT to be thankful for this year.

The day after Thanksgiving was our 5th wedding anniversary. We both can't believe how fast the time has gone! We were able to enjoy our anniversary dinner at the Manor that night while Mikey stayed home with Grandma, Bob, Auntie and Uncle Scott. As usual we ate way too much food (especially after the feast from the day before) but it is always special to go back to the place where we first celebrated our marriage together.

Saturday morning we headed to Lauren and Eric Tolska's house for the annual Thanksgiving weekend brunch with my best high school girlfriends and their families. Eric and Lauren prepared a HUGE brunch with tons of food. The kids had a great time playing outside for a majority of our time together (60 degrees in November--woo hoo!). Mikey's favorite moment was when Eric took the riding mower ("tractor") out and let everyone have a ride! It is so great to catch up with everyone and enjoy each other's company. It seems we are always celebrating the newest addition and looking forward to the next one! This year we cuddled with Emmalyn and are anxiously awaiting baby Casey who will be arriving in June!

Although we were sleep deprived most of the weekend, it was great to get away and enjoy family time over the holiday weekend. We bonded as a family on our 6 1/2 hour ride home on Sunday and were most thankful for the DVD player and the movie Cars which kept our little man happy the WHOLE drive!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Weekend Visits

November is just flying by! Over the past two weekends we have had visitors from our siblings. Mikey has gotten extremely spoiled and has had a lot of fun bonding with his Uncles, Aunt, Cousin Emily and Meredith.

Uncle Mark and Meredith were the first of our visitors. Mikey and I met everyone for dinner on Thursday night before the BC/Florida State game as they were coming in from the airport. Daddy took Meredith and Mark to the game while Mikey and I went home. On Friday Mikey was able to demonstrate his swimming skills at his lesson with Uncle Mark and Meredith cheering him on. At one point when he was swimming with his teacher, he turned to them and gave his "Miss America" wave. He was constantly looking over to make sure they were watching him at all times! Show-off! On Friday night Mikey spent some time with cousin "Em-a-lee" while the four of us went out to dinner. On Saturday we walked around the apartment complex while Uncle Mark gave Mikey a fun and FAST ride on his bicycle. That afternoon Mikey went with Daddy, Uncle Mark and Meredith to the airport and was in heaven! He was quite disappointed to see them leave and jealous that he couldn't go on the plane with them!

Auntie and Uncle Scott came to visit for Veteran's Weekend. On Friday we spent time together with Emily here at the apartment. Saturday was a lounging kind of day---especially since we have all been battling colds. Mikey wound up taking a four hour nap that afternoon! Auntie and Mommy were able to sneak away for much needed pedicures and Mikey never even knew we were gone! On Saturday night we headed into town (AKA: Boston) to grab dinner and meet up with a friend of Michael's from dental school. After dinner we walked around and stumbled upon Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. We all got a little something (Auntie finally got to wrap her mouth around those "Schweddy Balls") but someone enjoyed his ice cream a little more than the rest of us......

Thanks everyone for the visit! Michael & I really enjoyed having you come and Mikey enjoyed his special time with all of you, too.

Things I Love About Mikey Right NOW

Mikey,

Daddy and I keep saying that we want to keep you this age forever. We say this every week. Here are the things we are loving about you right this very second:

1) When you hand me something you always say "thank you, Mommy" as I should be saying "thank YOU, Mikey";

2) Whatever we are doing, you want to do it "too". When Daddy shaved his head you said "I want to shave my head, too!". When I was trying on my corduroy pants you said, "I want pink pants, too!";

3) Your favorite song to sing is the "Fire truck" song. You sing "Hurry hurry fire truck ding ding ding". If I try to sing along you say, "No, Mommy. Mikey's turn";

4) I love when you get out of the bathtub and your footprints are left behind on the mat. I need a picture to remind me how cute this is. It reminds me that even though you seem so BIG to me now, you are still my small little boy;

5) You are getting manipulative and laying on the charm to get what you want. For the most part what you want is to watch TV ("Manny" or "Chuggington" or "Trucks! Boats! Planes!"). You tend to cuddle up to me and make the cutest face EVER. If at that moment I don't give in, you then turn and ask Daddy;

6) You request "big potty" now and somehow taught yourself to pee standing up. You also need an audience and always say "Mommy sit";

7) You are quite obsessed with making sure all the doors are closed;

8) Your favorite food of the fall season is "punkin bread" and you request it daily;

9) You LOVE throwing balls, playing "hoccer", and "hockeeeey". You complete all throwing and hitting activities with the left hand even though you do everything else with your right;

10) Your favorite book of the moment is "Thank You God for Everything"--a Hallmark book recorded with Great Grandma Rinder's voice reading you the story. You are very patient in waiting for her to finish before turning the page. We never "read" this book once---each time you select this book we read it AT LEAST twice. One day we read it TEN TIMES IN A ROW! Whew!

Halloween 2011

Mikey had a busy Halloween weekend!

We started the celebration off by spending time with Mommy's work friends--Shannon, Stephie, Leah (& daughter Ruby) and Brie (and her kids Molly and Colby). We had a great time playing and catching up at Brie's house. The kids attempted to dress up---two of the three were successful. Mikey was not very cooperative with his "Cowboy" costume so I wasn't able to get a good shot. Nonetheless, we had a great visit!

Mikey, Molly and Ruby

Saturday our plans changed significantly. Instead of being out-and-about most of the day, we stayed warm and cozy at home. At night we carved our first pumpkin ("punkin") together as a family. At Eva's house this past week they really covered the Halloween topic. When we started to talk about Halloween at home Mikey would light up and enthusiastically cheer "HALLOWEEN!". When it came to the pumpkin carving, Mikey was very excited. We asked his opinion for what shape he wanted the eyes and nose and then followed up asking "happy pumpkin?" or "sad pumpkin?". Daddy drew the design and carved away!

While we were having fun inside, this is what it was doing OUTSIDE:





We woke up with 5" of fresh snow on the ground!!

Sunday we attended the Perniola Halloween party where EVERYONE dressed up. Mommy was a Cowgirl, Mikey went as Lightning McQueen (from the movie "Cars"), and Daddy was JUSTIN BEIBER. Mikey LOVED his costume. He wore it all night on Saturday, all day Sunday and to My Gym on Monday (actual Halloween).

Justin Beiber with Guy Fiore (AKA: Bob Perniola) photo---coming soon.

On the actual day of Halloween we spent the day doing regular Monday "stuff" with the exception of wearing his costume to My Gym. No trick-or-treating for us this year. Hopefully we will be in a house next year and Mikey can go all around the neighborhood!

Happy Halloween!

Head of the Charles

One of the best things about living in Boston is that there is always something to do EVERY weekend. This weekend we watched the 47th Head of the Charles Regatta from the Cambridge/Harvard area. Many people compete in these races, not just the nearby colleges and universities. Although it was cloudy, it was still a great day to be outside. In prior years we have always driven by (and caught in traffic) while the Regatta has been taking place but never actually attended the events....until this year!! It was a "first" for the three of us!

We told Mikey this morning that we were going to see the boats. He said: "row row?". So we then just started saying that we were going to see the "row rows" (my speech-language pathologist and Early Intervention friends would NOT approve!). We also added in an extra bonus for Mikey---we took the T. It would have been crazy to find a parking spot near the event so we just parked and took the train instead. It was fast, easy and perfect for Mikey!

We walked around Harvard University along the river and watched the rowing events from different points. There were multiple tents set up with food and other items for sale. A lot of people were out just enjoying the day with their kids and dogs.

Michael got some great pictures from his camera today. Enjoy!

Dressed and ready to go!

Hockey Game

For Michael's birthday, Mikey and I got him tickets to a BC hockey game. We went to dinner at this old fashioned diner in Newton called Cabot's before heading to the game. As we were walking from the parking garage to the arena, Mikey kept shouting "HOCKEY GAME! HOCKEY GAME!". When he saw the lights from the football stadium on he got confused and said "FOOTBALL?". This kid knows where he is!!

Inside, the Eagles had scored a goal as we were approaching our seats, taking the lead at a score of 2-1. Mikey was memorized. There was so much to look at and take in.




Three of his favorite things were in plain sight:

1) The hockey players/rink;

2) The band;

3) Baldwin the Eagle:




Mikey clapped and enjoyed every minute. He even got Daddy to make some purchases from the bookstore.




All in all, it was a great night out as a family!

PS: BC beat UMass Lowell 4-2 (just in case you were wondering!)