Fright Night in Revere!

Tonight our city sponsored a Halloween Bash. The community here is amazing. There is always something fun going on for kids. And the best part is that these activities are FREE! Last weekend was a Pumpkin Festival at the beach which we missed so I wanted to make sure we were able to make it to this one.

We dressed up the boys in their Halloween costumes. David is Super Why! and Shaun is Alpha Pig. Super Why! is a really great kids show on PBS that David loves to watch (Alpha Pig is one of the sidekicks). We sing the theme song and ABC's, spell, rhyme, and try to solve the super big problem with the super story answer! It is because of this show that David is able to recognize all the letters in the Alphabet on flash cards!


There were bouncy houses, pony rides, a clown making balloon animals, face painting, hayrides and pumpkin decorating! They even had free pizza and drinks (and the pizza was pretty good too!). It was really crowded so we had to wait in line for the bounce house but David had a blast inside!

David walking over to the Stadium:


Shaun & Mommy waiting in line:


David having fun in the bounce house:


We also went on the hayride (which was really a flat bed tow truck with hay seats on it - but still fun) and decorated a pumpkin!

David & Daddy on the hayride:


Next Friday I am taking the boys to NH for some trick-or-treating with Brady & Cam and then on Saturday he has a Halloween party with his playgroup at the Rec Center! I am glad he likes his costume because he is sure going to get some use out of it!

In case you don't remember, here is David last Halloween - it's amazing the difference a year makes!

Shaun: Birth to 4 Months!

Here is a slide show of Shaun from birth to four months. Since I did one for David back in the day I needed to be fair and do one for Shaun too! I forgot how tiny he was when we first took him home. He was only 7lbs 4oz when we were discharged. Now he is 17 lbs!

Baby Thomas!

If you notice to the right of the blog I have set up a baby pool for the upcoming arrival of Baby Thomas (or TAD as we call him)! The winner will get a bright shiny new nickel and bragging rights so make a guess on the birthdate, time, weight and length! Now that Princess B is full term - Baby TAD is fully cooked and could arrive any day so make your guess soon!

Barack the Vote!

4 Month Check:

Today was Shaun's 4 month appointment. He was a trooper during his three shots and even giggled throughout his entire check up. He was weighed and measured and the results are as follows:

Height: 26 inches
Weight: 17 pounds

That puts him in the 75 percentile for both his height and his weight. David, on the other hand, fell into the 50 percentile for both his height and weight. At least Shaun isn't short and stout and his height is keeping up with his weight!

Our Handsome Boys!

Topsfield Fair

Due to some serious tropical weather, we had to cancel our plans to go to the Big-E, so I was happy we had a nice day today to go to the Topsfield Fair. I love fairs - I love to walk around and see the displays, the smells of the different foods, and of course FRIED DOUGH!!

We met up with the Stack's right when the fair opened, and it's a good thing we went early because we missed the really big crowds! We made the loop, checking out the prize winning veggies, a magic show, and all the animals. I enjoyed seeing all the Home Good displays. They had some really neat stall showers that had all kinds of bells and whistles - I can only imagine how much it would cost to have one. I told Brian he should get one of the really sweet Hot Tubs we saw for his backyard!

With the addition of their niece Mackenzie, the children outnumbered the adults 5 to 4 but somehow we managed not to lose a single child, including at the very end of the day when David thought he could make a run for the exit by himself! We kept the kids in check between the Stack's single stroller, Snugli and wagon and our double stroller and BabyBjörn.

Check out the baby wearing Dads:


The wagon was by far the favorite mode of transportation and thankfully the three older children were very good about taking turns!



David checking out the BIG tractor tire!


Shaun always happy in the BabyBjörn!

Bigger by the Day!

Shaun is going to be 4 months tomorrow. Next wednesday is his 4 month check up and I am looking forward to seeing how much he weighs because anyone who has seen him recently knows that he's a BIG boy!

I weighed myself on Monday and then re-weighed myself while holding Shaun and the difference was 17lbs! Yup he is a beefcake - but he is one handsome beefcake!

Wii Fit

We are now the proud owners of a Wii! I had decided that I wanted one after trying out my sister's Wii Fit last week. On Saturday after taking the boys apple picking we were on a mission to find one. We didn't think we'd find it as they are still on a high demand. We stopped at two Targets and two Best Buys before finding one at a Game Stop nearby. If only we just went there first!

That night we tried it out and we're hooked. Even the Doc likes using it on nights he gets home too late to go for a run. It's a fun and interactive way to do yoga and strength training. They even have some fun balance games as well as an aerobics section that includes hula hooping to get your heart rate up.

Before starting you are asked to set up your Mii character. By using different hair styles and face shapes you can design it to look like yourself! Next is the fun part where they log your weight and BMI. My Mii is a little on the (pleasantly) plump side but hopefully not for long!

Here is what our Mii's look like:


Up Close


Hopefully by the new year my Mii will look a lot smaller! That is my goal anyway.

Tummy Time & the Exersaucer

I have not been really good about putting Shaun on his tummy. Usually I just put him down on his back to play on his activity mat. On Sunday he was playing on the mat and I looked up and saw him on his tummy. I am pretty sure it was an accident as he hasn't done again but I know he will soon!

I figured I should give him a lot more tummy time so he is used to it. I put him on his tummy this afternoon and David decided to join his brother. I jumped up to grab my camera so that I could get the cute shot! Don't mind the drool from Shaun...we think he might be teething!



We also have decided to retire the swing and bring up the exersaucer. He is a lot bigger than David was at this age. Since he does really well facing forward in the BabyBjörn, we decided to give it a try. He seems to do OK in there but is still too little to get how it works. It's nice though, because it takes up less space than the swing.



I get so many comments from people about how Shaun is such a happy mellow little guy! All you have to do is smile at him and he'll give you a big ear to ear grin right back! What can I say the kid is a ham!


And not to be shown up by his baby brother...David likes to show off his pearly whites too!

My New Specs:

After 6 long years it was time to retire my old frames. I was told they wouldn't be in for three weeks so imagine my surprise when I got a message saying they were ready on Saturday!

Here is me in my old frames:


And me in my new more fashionable frames:

I LOVE Fall!

I just love this time of year. I love all the colors, the smells, the crisp cool air. Yesterday David and I sliced all the leftover apples from apple picking and made some yummy apple crisp. The house smelled so good.

Here is a picture of David taste testing before we put it in the oven:



Here is Shaun & David bundled up for the cooler fall weather:

Mass Media Got Our Son

David has built a solid repertoire of words and songs over his first two years. If he had normal parents, he'd sing "Mary had a little lamb", or "Row, row, row your boat". But David doesn't have normal parents - he has us. And he picks up very quickly on the things we say.

This is a compilation Pam put together of different songs / phrases he has picked up.



For those of you without children, the Elmo song is:
La la la la, la la la la, elmo's world
Elmo loves his goldfish
His crayon too
That's Elmo's world

The other bit is a Chappelle show bit, where he plays Samuel Jackson selling Samuel Jackson Beer. Here's the clip. He heard us saying "It's my beer" and started copying it. We didn't really want him saying "It'll get you drunk", but since he was eating a fiber-one bar at the time (which causes nasty gastric cramping and other colonic fun-ness), we changed it to "It'll make you poop". He picked that up pretty quick.

Matt Damon is from TeamAmerica (the south park guys). They have a retarded Matt Damon that basically interacts by saying his name over and over again. And "chicken pot pie" is from Just Shoot Me. We'll teach him the line "My pants are tight" next.

Apple Picking with the Boys

Last Saturday David, Shaun and I met up with Pattie to go do some apple picking at Apple Acres in Windham, NH. Before we moved to Philly Pattie and I would go every fall and now that we're back it was time to restart our tradition.

We had so much fun even though it didn't really feel much like fall out. The temperature rose to about 80 degrees and we baked in the sun. David was able to ride on the tractor and before leaving we each got a donut!

Check out David trying to grab the apple from the tree:



David and Pattie sitting in the apple tree


David sharing his apple


Walking up and down the rows of trees


Showing me his yummy apple!


Some of those pumpkins are bigger than he is!

David, Moose & Alaska

This past weekend David, Shaun and I hung out with Pattie. We went apple picking in the morning, out for lunch and then back to hang with her two Siberian Huskies, Moose & Alaska.

David had a blast with them, too bad his parents are cat lovers! Here is a video of David running playing catch with Alaska!

Fun on the Activity Mat

Shaun is a very different baby than David was. David loved to be in his swing and Shaun, while he likes it, would much rather sit in our laps. Shaun, unlike David, loves to watch the Wally Mobile in the crib. Shaun could spend all day in the BabyBjörn watching the world pass him by and he is very content on the activity mat. David, not so much.

This is a video of Shaun playing. He even grabs at the toys now!

3 Months Already?!

It is hard to believe that it has already been three months since Shaun made his much anticipated arrival! He is growing like a weed. He is now wearing David's old 6 months onsies and PJ's. While the 3 month PJ's still fit him they were definitely on the snug side. At least in the 6 months clothes he has some room to move around. It's just funny to us because David was such a peanut and Shaun, well not so much.

Just to give some perspective, I weighed myself on our scale at home (I know scary) and then held Shaun and weighed myself again. I weigh 15lbs more when I was holding Shaun. So you have to figure he weighs about that give or take. David was 15lbs at 4 months old.

Here are some new pictures of Pudge in his 6 months clothes! You can also see that his hair is starting to grow in. He is going to have blonde hair and blue eyes. It's no wonder people say he looks just like his Uncle John.




He also likes to play on the activity mat. David never really cared much for it. He even grabs onto the toys now!

29 for the first time...

As most of you know the greatest day of the year, in my opinion, is September 4 - my birthday! This year the Doc surprised me with a baby sitter (thanks SIL) and a nice dinner at Pescatore's, an Italian seafood place in Somerville. I ordered Risotto and the Doc ordered a Seafood Pasta dish. It was a nice meal but the best part was just being out without the children! It was a great birthday and hard to believe the last one of my twenties. The best gift was David's super cute version of Happy Birthday Mommy.

Since the Doc counted my dessert at dinner as my "birthday cake" I decided that I would make some homemade brownies with the help of David.

Here is David with all our ingredients:


Shaun watches from his bouncy seat:


Mixing the eggs, butter and sugar:


Adding the cocco and flour:


Enjoying a job well done!

Fun at the Playground

David, Shaun and I have spent most of our days at the playground. There is a particular playground we frequent because it's all closed in with a gate so David can't escape! Recently he has become more adventurous and started to climb the various ladders. He's pretty good for a little guy but I can't help but be a little nervous watching him!

We've made some new friends by hanging out at the playground and by networking found out about some new activities that begin mid September. It will be nice because otherwise I didn't know what I was going to do with David to keep him busy once it became too cold to play outside.

I am still hoping to sign him up for swimming lessons but the website wasn't very helpful so I'll just have to call to find out more about the programs they offer. We'll probably start that in the winter.

How kids amuse themselves

when there are no toys in sight! Until baby Thomas arrives in November they have no reason to keep toys at their house. This is David and Shaun keeping themselves entertained at the Princess B's house.

Here is David playing with the cat house.




Shaun opted to relax on the couch with an ice cold beer:

So Many Pictures So Little Time to Post!

Wow we have been so busy these last couple weeks. I have been meaning to post some of these pictures but just never seemed to have a spare moment. I decided the best thing to do was to post them on this montage.

We have pictures from David's first trip to the Boston Children's Museum, where he played in the water and with the bubbles and even took his first train ride. The next set of pictures is from my Auntie Pam's 50th birthday bash up at the camp. David had fun playing in the pool and eating birthday cake! After that is our trip to Cape Cod. David got to see his Great Aunts and Uncle and his Nana. He also was able to play at the beach a lot and even learned how to play Mini Golf.

Enjoy all of the pictures. Now that summer is over (sigh) I'll try to be better about my updates!