Gobble, Gobble!

We hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving! It was great being home this year! I even got to host my very first Thanksgiving on Friday with the Doc's family and am very proud to say it went off without a hitch!

On Thursday the Doc had to work so the boys and I headed to NH to spend the day with my family. The food was great and I, as always, stuffed my face with food! David had a blast playing with Savanah and Cohen and of course Shaun enjoyed all the attention from everyone!

Uncle John, Savanah, Shaun & Scottie:


Me & the Boys:


Shaun trying some carrots for the first time!


On Friday the Doc had to work (his normal day at the VA Hospital) and so we planned for his family to come to our new place since we didn't know when he would be done for the day. Thankfully they were not busy and he was able to come home early morning. Since he took call the night before he was really tired and they knew he was going to be on call all weekend as well.

I came up with a pretty simple menu which included a very delicious stuffing made with Ciabatta Stuffing with Chestnuts and Pancetta. I did not stuff the bird (yes I know Alton Brown would be so proud) nor did I brine it (yes I know Alton Brown would be so disappointed). With some tips from Brian I used aromatics to stuff the bird in lieu of the stuffing. I used an onion, lemon, apple, garlic, cinnamon sticks, fresh rosemary and fresh thyme. I am a big fan of a butter basted turkey so that is what I did. I used a stick of butter all over the top and covered it in foil. During the last hour of cooking the foil comes off and the baster comes out!

My Turkey:


Shaun enjoying his Thanksgiving feast:


David cutting up his food before eating:


It was another great holiday spent with our families and there is nothing better than that in my book! Now onto Christmas!

Bring on the Milestones!

Shaun has hit the milestone motherload this past week! He can balance himself enough to sit on his own, he's eating baby food (already tried peas and carrots), he found his feet, he is grabbing for toys that are in front of him, and he sucessfully grabs his binky and put it in his mouth!

He is just growing up so fast!!

Sitting up by himself!


Trying to feed himself (more just to chew on the spoon!)


Trying real baby food! Mmmm peas!!

Photography by David!

OK so David is obsessed with my camera. Since he accidentally broke my last camera I don't like him playing with it. Unfortunately I have a bad habit of leaving it out and he goes around taking pictures.

As I was uploading the pictures from the camera this afternoon I noticed that there were 127 pictures to upload. Half of those were from the parade and Shaun's latest milestones - the other half were pictures taken by David.

I was impressed to find that some of them actually came out pretty good!

Taking a picture of Shaun


His Thomas the Train


Stuffed Nemo


His attempt to get his stuffed Mickey


Sully on the TV

David & Shaun's Portraits

Last Saturday we took the boys to get their portraits done at Target. I am so happy with how they came out. The whole experience wasn't even that bad. David had some issues with sharing the spotlight with his brother but on a whole they were both very well behaved and she got some great shots.

Because David didn't want to share the spotlight with his brother we were only able to get them together with a Christmas background. While it makes for a great Christmas card picture - it's not exactly best for displaying long term. Oh well - not the end of the world!

Mmm...Highchair!

I don't know why but I find it funny that the boys gnaw on the highchair like it's a chew toy.

Here is David back in the day:


Here is Shaun this morning:

Silly Shaun!

Shaun is constantly cracking me up! He recently started doing this new thing where he screams at the top of his lungs to show his excitement! It's hilarious and so I tried to capture it on video. The video doesn't show him at his best but he still cracks me up!


He also has been enjoying yummy rice cereal for a little over a week, and on Saturday we added Oatmeal to his diet!






Shaun's other latest milestones are quasi-sitting unassisted, and tonight he found his feet! He is overall still very mellow unless he is hungry; then he transforms into the spawn of the Devil. He has never once cried in the tub or shower (unlike his brother), and is an attention whore who loves to flirt with the ladies!


Shaun thinking..."Yeah I am stud!"

Meeting Thomas!

Today we headed to the Hospital to meet Baby Thomas. He is so teeny. It's funny how much you forget and I only had Shaun FIVE months ago! Like the newborn cry - it's so different and man does he have a set of lungs! The new Mommy is absolutely glowing and tomorrow the head home to start their new life as Mommy, Daddy and Baby!

The Happy Family:


So precious!


Thankfully my baby still doesn't sleep through the night or I'd be having some serious baby fever right about now!

Welcome Thomas Alexander!

I am so happy to announce the arrival of Thomas Alexander (aka Baby TAD). He was born this morning November 11, 2008 at 7:27am. He was 7lbs 14oz and 19 inches long. I cannot wait to meet him tomorrow!!! There has to be something said for "mother's instinct" as the new Mommy won her own baby pool! Congrats to the new parents from all of us!

Rice Cereal: Better than a 30 Minute Meal!

Shaun is going to be 5 months on Monday which is not hard to believe since he's already wearing 6-9 month clothing, is as big as an 8 month old and by next month will be too big for the infant car seat carrier. *sigh*

And since Shaun is such a big boy I probably could have started him on cereal a month ago but I wanted to use the same feeding schedule I used with David (5 months - cereal, 6 months - veggies, 7 months - fruit). He has already been using the highchair a lot since he outgrew his bouncy seat and I needed somewhere to put him during dinner.

Here is Shaun sitting in his high chair for the first time:


So tonight we started rice cereal! David was not a huge fan his first time but Shaun couldn't get enough of the stuff. I couldn't feed it to him fast enough. Tonight he earned his nickname Ziggy Piggy!

YUMMO!


"Gimme more WOMAN!"

David's Civic Duty

Well David may not be old enough to cast his own vote but he and Shaun helped Mommy cast hers!

Forget Joe the Plumber...

Here is David the Musician with a message of his own.

Happy Halloween!

Today David, Shaun and I headed to NH to go trick-or-treating with the Stacks. This was David's first time going and he had a blast! He said "trick-or-treat" and most of the time he even said "Thank-you"! The neighborhood was perfect for trick-or-treaters and we got to see some really great decorations. The best was a pick up truck pulling a decked out trailer that had lights and music. The adults riding in the trailer even passed out candy to the kids. We decided that we would try that out once our boys were a little older!

We had a great time and here are some pictures from the night:
Trick-or-Treat!:


Super Why! & Winnie the Pooh:


Baby wearing mama's carrying Curious George and Alpha Pig!


The Decked out truck passing out Candy:


Shhh! Alpha Pig tuckered out!

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!