Alexander came into this world with a unique story. Many, many, many (many) people have asked me through the last 6 years if we planned on having Alexander so close in age to William. They are exactly 12 months and 3 days apart. Truth is, out of all of my children, Alexander was the most planned of all!

On November 19th, 2004, my husband lost one of his best friend’s Dimitri, who we called Dimi. My husband had met Dimi in college and they just hit off it, like brothers. Dimi was one of the best men in our wedding party (Matt had 2). Dimi was the reason we moved to NYC after Brown (he was there). After 9/11, Dimi felt a higher calling to join the Marines. He wanted to give something back to our country. It was something that just felt right and the thing to do. He left his job as a Real Estate Finance Specialist and joined the Marines at 29 years old! It was unbelievably heroic. Sadly, Dimi was killed in action less than a year into his tour. My husband was extremely distraught. And at that time in our lives we felt we needed something extra special… and my husband said to me, “What would you think about trying for another baby?” I thought it was the perfect way to honor Dimi. We went to Dimi’s grave on Dec 30th in Arlington, asked him to send us a piece of him.. 30 days later I found out I was pregnant. From the second I saw 2 lines on that stick, I knew Alexander was going to be a boy. That was our Alexander Dimitri.

I cannot believe Alex is 6 years old. From the second Alex was born he’s always had a smile from ear-to-ear… I have always cherished that about him. He has brought so much joy and laughter and happiness and love into our family. I’ll just never forget the second he was placed in my arms… it was love love love at first sight!

He’s my rockstar…

Happy Birthday Alex… my 6 year old BIG MAN!

I love you so much!