David? Where are you?

David has made himself at home in the new place. His favorite place is not his new bedroom...but rather a kitchen cabinet:









He runs over to the cabinet and says, "Bye Mommy, see ya!" - he spent over an hour yesterday playing in the cabinet. Who needs a bedroom full of toys when you've got a kitchen cabinet full of baking pans.

Shaun is 7 Weeks!

Shaun is 7 weeks old today! We brought up our bouncy seat last night and today we did a photo shoot! He is such a happy mellow baby (unless he's hungry - then all bets are off)!!



Hey Ladies, call me!


Starting to giggle!


Already Breaking Hearts!


Mark Wahlberg's got nothing on Shaun in his Cloth Diaper!

David & Brady!

Friday David, Shaun and I had a play date at the Stack's. It's so much fun to watch them play together and one of the best things about being back in the area is they'll get to do this much more often.

It is hard to believe that their first meeting was almost two years ago.


Now they are so big! Check them out in the boat and swimming in the pool!


More interested in playing than posing for my camera!


Even Cameron joined in on the fun!


David was hesitant at first about the pool, then he started to have some fun. The pool he went in before was two feet deep and he could run around in it. This one was a little different. I am not sure he liked not being able to touch the ground. We're going to be signing him up for swim lessons this fall. I think he'll really enjoy it!



Brian even put him in a sort of wet suit to see if that would help but he clung to me with a kung fu death grip and said "I don't like it" so I took him out and let him play on the pool steps for a while.


Next time we'll get Shaun in on the fun but he was content to sit in the bouncy seat in the shade on the deck. It was a great day (first sunny day all week) and we can't wait to do it again soon!

As we all watched Brady, David, Cameron & Shaun we realized that in a few short months their will be ANOTHER boy in the mix when Princess B welcomes her new addition this November! Yep we're ready to start our own football team!

Story Land

Yesterday we took a headed to northern NH to Story Land. I remembered going when I was a kid and was really excited to be able to take David. We met up with the Stack's early in the morning, got our coffee, and headed out. It was overcast but all weather reports said the rain would hold off until the afternoon. The rain started halfway during our trip. I was confused because nothing said that we would get all that rain. We even heard a weather report on the radio station for the White Mountain Region that said "Partly sunny in the morning and possible thunder storms into the afternoon". Hmmm...if it is partly sunny while pouring down rain I would hate to know what that weather guy's thunder storms would be...a monsoon maybe?

Well, we got to the park and the rain still coming down pretty steady, but we had some umbrellas and had made the 2.5 hour drive and there was NO way it was going to keep up...the weather said so, right?! So we bought are tickets and headed into the park. We took David out to measure his height so we would have an idea for the different rides - he's about 33 inches tall. As soon as we took him out of the stroller he was off. He ran over to a big tree fort with a slide. He and Brady had so much fun running around.

As we looked at the sky, we decided it probably wasn't going to let up anytime soon and decided to join the rest of the crowd and purchase our own bright yellow Story Land Poncho's. We were styling now, but at least it meant we didn't have to carry around the umbrellas anymore!

After the tree house we made it over to another play area that had a place filled with plastic balls. I think if we left it up to David and Brady we would have spent the whole day there, but since there was a huge park to see, we had to drag the boys out move on. Next was the Mad Hatter Tea Cup ride which David ran to get onto. I wasn't sure if he was going to like a ride like that but as soon as it started his face was grinning from ear to ear. He got real upset when we had to get off the ride. I had to explain that there we many more rides to be seen!



After that David went on the Carousel, a Swan Boat Ride, a Train ride that encompassed the entire park, a giant Whale that moved up and down, and the Antique cars. We had wanted to see the circus but by 1:30 we were soaked and cold, poor David's lips were turning blue. The poncho was pretty big on David and after a while he was getting frustrated so we took it off.



We just couldn't stay any longer. We made a quick stop at the souvenir shop and to take a picture by the sign and it was time to go. Erica and I decided it would be worth a shot to see if they would give us a voucher to return since the entire day was a washout. Well, ask and ye shall receive! We may just take another trip on a nicer day since we know David would have fun and it would be free for us!


Even though we were soaked, cold and tired we had a great time. I only wish the ride home were as painless as the ride up though. Route 16 is not fun on a Sunday afternoon and next time we'll seek an alternate route because FOUR hours to get back to Plaistow.

New England Sand Sculpting Festival

This week in Revere is the New England Sand Sculpting Festival. I decided since I finally got my MA plates on my car (and no longer driving around on expired tags) that I would take David over for a looksy.

We left the house at 7:30am so that we would miss the crowds. First we walked down by the water and then over to see the artists. The sculptures were pretty cool. I can't imagine working all day in that sun though!

Cool Just Like Daddy!

Shaun is 5 weeks today! On Monday we moved him from the Pack 'N Play that was set up in our bedroom to his own room. Now we just have to figure out a way to prevent him from waking up David up at 6am.

Here are some new pictures - he may be "Cool Just Like Daddy" but his good looks come from Mommy!



Hi Mommy!


Starting to smile


Sticking out his tongue

Fat Baby Pig & Monkey

These are the new nicknames for the boys. Shaun, who is also referred to as Ziggy Piggy, got this name because all he does is EAT. I mean the kid had almost 10oz of milk the other night when we were out. We were only out for 5 and a half hours. Sheesh. I can already tell he is going to be bigger than his brother. Check out the double chin he is already sporting. His next weight check will be on the 24th.

Fat Baby Pig:


David is like a monkey. He just has to climb on everything, couches, stairs, me. Just today I found him sitting on the coffee table. I mean seriously.


Check out the monkey climbing the wall at the playground.

David's Big Boy Bed (well Futon!)

We had decided that since David would be 22 months when Shaun was born that we would transition him to a regular bed. We didn't want to have to buy another crib when we knew David wouldn't be using it for much longer anyway.

We were trying to decide what to get him when it dawned on us that we could just use our futon. He has done really well with the transition considering all the big changes the poor kid has gone through recently. He sometimes gives us a hard time, but for the most part he goes right to sleep. The only difference between his crib tantrums and his big boy tantrums is that he can get out of bed now and bang on the door instead of just shaking the railing on his crib.



That is David in his new bed with his new bedding that his Omi got for him. Can you believe he is going to be TWO in a month!?

Firsts!

We have been at our new place for a little over a week now and of course we're still trying to get organized! We'll get there though.

Our new place has some pros and cons. One of the cons being the airplanes that fly overhead but it hasn't been too bad. We lived on an ambulance route once and that was much worse!

One of the pros is that the beach is about a mile away! Steph came for a visit on Wednesday and we all went over to the beach and to eat at Kelly's! They have one of the best Roast Beef Sandwiches I have had as well as a pretty awesome Reuben. We ordered our food and then ate under the canopy that is set up with benches. David loved chasing the seagulls and dancing to the music from the passing cars.





After we ate we took David down to the water. He has been to the beach before but never stuck his toes in the ocean! The water was FREEZING and so after David put his feet in once he didn't want to do it again. He had fun running up and down the beach and using his toes to make designs in the sand.



Now that Shaun's belly button is all healed we decided to give him his first bath in the sink. I thought he was going to scream his head off, but he surprised me and only fussed a little.



I have decided to nickname him "Ziggy Piggy" because if he isn't sleeping then he is eating, and he'll let you know when he is hungry! You'd think I starved this kid the way he is constantly begging to be fed! Check out his "but Mommy I am SO hungry - please feed me" face!



Today is the Doc's first day as a Fellow. He is currently at his orientation and so this is my official first day as a full time Mommy. So far so good but it's only 8:15am. I can't believe he is in his last phase of training before he is finally done. It just seems like yesterday that we were at Dartmouth with Ben and Robyn. Ben starts his OB fellowship this week as well. They are leaving for NY tomorrow...good luck with your move!

Time to get the boys ready to go visit my nephew Scottie. He spent his weekend in the hospital with an infection resulting in an emergency surgery to have the infected cyst removed along with his appendix. Hopefully he gets to come home today.

Getting Settled:

We have been here for almost a week now and we're still unpacking. It's never ending. Don't know what we would have done without our family and friends to help us. Moving day was an adventure.

P. Bride and her man, my brother and his buddy all came to Philly last Friday night so that we could be up early to pack up the truck. We got Dunks for breakfast and started about 7:30ish. It was so hot and humid even for 8am. I felt so bad for the guys - but they toughed it out.

Here is my brother and his friend - they drove to Philly in Krystal's car and yes the license plate says Glmrous!!


P. Bride was nice enough to ride back to Boston with me. I figured I would need a hand with David and Shaun and I was right. Poor David got sick three times in the car ride home. It was so much fun. I attribute it to the heat and anxiety from the move.

So over-tried he fell asleep right on the couch:




We got to Boston at about 7:30 and MIL and SIL were waiting for us with food! We got the truck unloaded by 11pm. On Sunday we had more company. Brian came with the boys which was a great distraction for David. He and Brady had so much fun playing together while we kept on unpacking. My mom, sister, Pattie and Jodi also came by to help. My mom even stayed over to help me as the Doc had to go back to Philly for the closing on our house.

We are slowly making this house our home and are so grateful to have the best friends and family around! Thanks for all the help everyone we couldn't have done it without you all!!!

Don't Want to Pack Anymore So I'll Post!

The first thing that people say when they meet Shaun for the first time is:

"He looks just like David"

We noticed it too. Not so much at first but now he's David's "mini-me". Check out these two pictures. The one where I am asleep was taken when David was three weeks old. The other one is Shaun two days ago. It will be interesting to see if they continue to look alike as Shaun gets older.

It's Been One Week:

Well a week and a day - but I had to catch some zzz's last night so that I could wake up and watch the fourth quarter of the Celtics game. I mean let's face it, it's the fourth quarter that really decides games. Who knew the Celtics would have sealed the deal by half-time!

Things have been pretty hectic around here with the big move in three days. We have been packing, cleaning and purging. I don't know what I would have done had I not kept David in his daycare for the week. He just has way too much energy to let us get anything done around here. So the Doc and I have been trying to get it all done during the day in between nursing sessions when Shaun is napping.

Shaun is fairly good natured. He LOVES to eat. He's a great nurser and I am sure it's my confidence that has made the transition fairly painless. Shaun even allows Mommy to sleep for four hours straight - but it means going to sleep at 8pm. Hey, I'll take the sleep when I can get it. Shaun also loves to be swaddled and we have had to become a good swaddlers. David hated to be swaddled so it was no big deal that the Doc and I sucked at it! At first I thought they looked very different but looking at some old pictures of David made me realize that minus the dark hair they have the same exact features.

David is adjusting well to the baby. Before Shaun I would pick up David and think he's so little. Since Shaun, it seems that David weighs 100 pounds! He just seems so big now but I suppose an almost 8lb newborn will do that!

Here are some new pictures of the kiddos:

Asleep:


Awake:


David enjoying bath time:


Check out the size difference! Shaun wasn't happy to be out of his swaddle.




Tomorrow I am taking Shaun back to the Pediatrician for a weight check. He was born at 7lbs 15oz and dropped down to 7lbs 4oz when we left the hospital. On Monday he was still under his birth weight 7lbs 12oz. Since I am nursing they just like to make sure they are gaining weight appropriately but I can't imagine he's not past his birth rate the way this kid has been eating!