Siesta...

The past couple of weeks Cole had been having trouble sleeping at night. It was right when we changed him to zip up footie pajamas. Different pajamas seemed to help (he likes to be able to touch his belly when he's tired) but he would still wake up atleast once. We were talking to Kim about how maybe he didn't need 2 naps anymore. This weekend he ended up still taking his 2 naps and FINALLY we had 2 full nights of sleep in a row! I forgot to tell Kim this morning when I dropped the kids off, so she decided to see if Cole was up to the one nap routine... well, the pictures tell the story. This is Cole at lunch after he had eaten half his sandwich! Thank you Kim for sending me these pictures to give me a laugh at work!!

Pumpkin Picking

Well.. our 2nd Annual Apple Picking Party got rained out on Saturday, so we moved it to Sunday. There weren't many who were going to be able to make it on Sunday with all of our busy schedules these days... but then it rained! on our rain date!! That's not supposed to happen! We did have two families able to make it, so we were still all able to enjoy lots of food and of course good company! We changed the approach to pumpkin picking though since the trees would all be very wet. In the mist we chose some fine looking pumpkins as you can see above! And the kids had fun running around the patch. Once we arrived back to the house the skies opened up and it poured! We got back just in time. Although once every one had left about five minutes the sun came out! I think we are jinxed! Here are a few pictures from the patch.. but I was busy keeping Cole out of the mud most of the time so we didn't get many.

Caden tells Cole to pick the biggest pumpkin he can find!

Caden with his buddy Maya

Smarty-pants

Today Caden became a smarty-pants. At lunch I was at the counter preparing the food while he was sitting at the table stirring the Ovaltine into his milk. I then heard "Mommy", I said "What?" and he said, "Don't look." Of course I did, but had to laugh to myself because Caden was scurrying down to grab a napkin because he had spilled a small amount of milk! It was funny because we are constantly having to speak to him about being careful not to spill.

Cole's smarty-pants moment occurred while Rob was reading the sports page at the computer, he knew Cole was behind him sitting on the rug, but suddenly realized he was being awfully quiet... he turned around to look and saw that he had brought the Eucerin pump lotion from the bathroom, somehow managed to unscrew the top and had lotion all around his mouth (apparently not so smart because he decided to sample some!) and smeared all over the rug. Needless to say Cole and our rug are now very soft and moisturized! We didn't take the time to snap a picture since he was lapping it up, but he was a sight for sore eyes! This is also the child who likes to dip the bubble wand into the bubble solution and suck on it... yuck! We wonder why he how he has become such a picky eater.

It's a.....

BABY!!

Haha!! No we did not cave to find out boy or girl.. whichever it is he/she was very sleepy! and slept the whole time! We did see a few kicks, and the baby was making lots of sucking motions with its mouth.

The baby weighs in at 11 ounces, and measures at 19 weeks 4 days. I am currently 19 weeks even which is good because Caden and Cole both measured over a week larger than they were! But everything looked very healthy.. and PERFECT! 10 fingers, 10 toes, 4 chambers of the heart and all the other important parts every baby should have! And no extras that she spoke of anyway!

The ultrasound lady said the baby was very photogenic, she was able to get great heart pictures and we could see everything very clearly. We were in and out in record time! The heartbeat was 139 which is boy range according to the wives tales.. but also sleeping, so I'm not sure if that is taken into account! I'm still guessing boy, but it's early.. one week 'til belly picture begin, that's when the real comparison begins!

The funny moment of the visit was when they show the blood flow of the baby, which shows up as rainbow blotches all over the screen and Caden asks.. "Ew! What's all the goo on the baby!?" (He learned about goo from the Backyardigans)

Enjoy Baby #3's first pictures, they are pretty much all the same, she didn't take a variety! I've also included Caden and Cole's ultrasound profile's for comparison! Hmmm.. this baby is facing the other way! Maybe it is a girl! They all have the same round head!

Caden

Cole

Cole's 15 Month Photo Shoot

On Saturday Cole and I went to get his 15 month pictures taken. We decided to go to JC Penny instead of Kiddie Kandids since it would be MUCH cheaper, especially since we'd be taking his pictures in another 3 months anyway, and since it would be holiday season we'd throw Caden in the pictures too and spend the money then.

We had gone to JC Penny a lot with Caden when he was little because there was no Kiddie Kandids around and we had had some bad experiences with Picture People, the pictures had always turned out great... So obviously we had a bad experience! Sorry, let me change that to a "learning experience" since we were able to find a couple of good shots!

What I learned was, that much like Caden, Cole prefers female photographers. Cole usually could care less who is nearby, but he did not like this young man! So lesson #1 ask for a female photographer when making the appointment! Next one of the first statements the photographer said to me was, I don't get in here much and I'm really uncomfortable being left alone in here to do this myself. So lesson #2 head for the door, do not pass Go do not collect $200!! or at least wait for the more experienced photographer! He was not even remotely good with kids, and only had one lame move to get Cole to smile... and it made him cry. That left me to get Cole to smile. I think I did a pretty good job, but he missed every one because he was too busy looking at the previous picture on the screen on the back of his camera. Ugh!!

Next he insisted the Cole would be more comfortable with me in the picture! WHAT! I was not prepared to be in a picture, nor did I want to buy any pictures with him and I in it! No one wants my picture in their wallet or on their mantle! Anyway I consided.. one came out okay, but I still didn't buy it because I am the only one who might want it.. and even then Caden wasn't in it!

So then our session is over. We go into the lobby where the other woman photographer is, and meanwhile the other one has come back from her lunch break, and what does Cole do? Mosies over to the ladies and starts smiling away, dancing for them, jumping for them, playing hide and seek with them.. you name it Mr. Happy Cole had arrived, just in time to reinforce lesson #1!!


So here is a sampling of the better shots he got.. I won't bother embarrassing the guy with the bad ones.. well maybe a few!

Mr. Grumpy-pants

Could have been cute.. but my beautiful hand is in it!

If you look REAL close there are bubbles in the picture, that was one of his attempts to get Cole to smile.

All wrong!

The kids were at Babci's

While Rob and I were at the wedding the kids stayed at Babci's and my cousin, Leah also came over to help keep them entertained! They had a fantastic time! They built boats and sailed them down the stream over at the cemetary, Cole sat on the cannon like I did when I was a kid, as well as my Mom WAY back in the day (snicker!).. Caden apparently kept his distance. All in all they had a great time... below you can see more examples of Caden's goofball faces! Babci and Leah did a great job tuckering the kids out because they both fell asleep on the way home, and were put to bed with hardly an eyelid fluttered. Thanks Gram and Leah!! You are the best!

Allison and PJ's Wedding

Today we went to Allison and PJ's wedding... a family event! The highlights of the ceremony were the amazing number of friends these two have! A total of 15 bridesmaids and groomsmen! The best part though was the temporary loss of the rings by the best man... they were there the whole time, but in a pocket within a pocket that he had trouble retrieving them from, but it was a good laugh for a minute or two. Finally.. the longest first kiss ever witnessed by Rob and I... these two are in love til the end!

The wedding and reception were held at Brooksby Farm in Peabody, Mass.. the reception was in the Smith Barn, a really cool place to hold a reception. I had actually been there once before in college for Drew and Caren Hunter's wedding. Here are some highlights from the reception...

Yum! Mashed Potato Martini Bar for the hor duerves! Basically build your own mashed potatos with options of blue cheese, bacon, sour cream, parmesan, grilled veggies, carmelized onions, etc. They were delicious!

Here is the wedding party in it's entirety, with the Chris and Bill (Allison's parents) leading the pack!

The lovely bride and groom waiting to be annonuced.. and below at the sweetheart table.

The cake cutting could be an entire posting in itself!! In short, Allison got PJ with a bit of frosting, nothing too horrible.. but after being warned by the DJ what happens to grooms who smear frosting on their beautiful bride... well, the pictures tell the rest!

Mostly cleaned up.. and still married!

The wedding topper has a history.. it was Allison's Grandparents... 51 years ago!

The lovely Mom and Tony!

In tradition, I photographed Rob with his edible flower (I don't remember the name sorry!).. Way back at Joe and Gillian's wedding (approximately 2002?) there is a picture almost identical to this.. I'll dig it out for later to share! I don't think he's changed a bit.. perhaps just the tie!

The father and daughter dance

You are probably wondering why I am holding an apple core... Let's talk about the centerpiece game. It all came down to passing an apple around the table (wedding theme was apples since at an orchard during apple season! Good choice!) Being the wild and crazy table we were... or atleast liked to think we were! Brian started us off by taking a bite of the apple.. and the rest of us followed suit (minus germ-a-phobe Chris). When the music stopped the person holding the apple won the centerpiece. I was holding it at that time.. right after Rob had so kindly placed it into our wedding souveneir bucket!)

The Family Photo

Brian's masterful sculpture

A beautiful sunset to end... a beautiful evening (cliche I know)

New fun

The boys new favorite thing to do is get a spin ride in the computer chair. After Caden saw Cole having his ride this morning he wanted to join in the fun so they decided to spin together. This could probably go on for hours if we allowed it! Luckily the chair has some pretty good spin, so I was able to look through a few Sunday adds while I spun them! When Cole spins by himself we whip him around and he loves every minute of it! But when Caden enters the chair anything above one rotation per minute is too fast!

At Soccer class on Saturday, they played "freeze", but when you froze you had to make a funny face... now Caden is obsessed with making funny faces. I have heard several times already since yesterday... "Mom, wanna see a funny face?" He also wants me to take a picture of him so that he can see it... this morning was the first time we amused him!

Wow! We're Blogging!

Welcome to our new family Blog... while Kodak Gallery was great, we weren't able to share with you the true character of the boys. With blogging we'll be able to share various stories, as well as post pictures to go along with them throughout the month.. not just at the end!! I have been following my friend (and neighbor) Kelly's blog for almost a year now, and she has convinced me that it is the way to go!! She sets high standards though! Let's see if I can keep up!

I'll try to send out a reminder at the end of the month (with the link so it'll be like a monthly pictures reminder!) to check for updates, and for anyone who is busy you can always check in and read the archives if it's been a real long time! For big events I'll most likely send out a link so you can check it out right away.. First reminder will be next week's ultrasound!!

So hopefully you enjoy our new format! Be sure to leave feedback good or bad!

Sam's Party - bouncy house included!

This past Saturday my friend Sam from work had a Super BBQ, he even rented a bouncy house for the kids! Cole took to the bouncy house right away being the nut he is. The whole party we barely had to watch him.. he just meandered around the yard going from one toy to another.. much like he does at home, but in a much larger space! I must also mention that Sam's yard was every child's dream with every toy imaginable. Cole's favorites were the red see saw as well as the wet sandbox. You can see in the picture below all the sand that remained stuck to Cole's wet butt when he got out!!

Caden on the other hand was not such a fan of the bouncy house.. at first!! For the first three-quarters of the party he would only bounce on the outside of the house ONLY if there was no one else inside and Daddy was holding his hands. Eventually he got brave enough to go into the house, as long as he was the only one in.. aside from his brother. But by the end of the party you can see in the picture he is actually in the bouncy house with Cole AND another kid!! And he was loving it! Cole was a magnet for the bouncy house, but it was hard to have him in there when there were big kids in it because he would get trampled.. he did not understand that, and he would get ANGRY when we took him out... I haven't mentioned his tantrums yet, I'm sure there will be a post on it eventually! We didn't have to worry though because the house was high enough so that he couldn't get in.... or so we thought!! Right before we left we looked over and there is Cole ON the bouncy house headed into the main room! WHAT! how he managed to get up we still do not know.. he is our very own Spider-Cole!

Sam also had a hammock which was a great attraction for the kids (and there were A LOT of kids there!!) The bigger kids enjoyed swinging each other and trying to get each other to flip.. as you can only imagine, Caden did not partake in this activity!