Christmas on the Cape

Christmas is officially over. Our tree is down and all the decorations put away until next year. But when you have a big family and lots of people to meet up with you have the luxury of having more than one Christmas! This past Saturday we drove down to the Cape to spend the day with the Doc's extended family. We did a Yankee Swap, had a fabulous dinner, and celebrated Nana's 80th Birthday. Normally, since her birthday is two days after Christmas, she celebrates it in February, but since we were all together I don't think she minded the Happy Birthday wishes and the cake. I know David enjoyed helping her blow the candles out!

Here are some pictures of the fun day spent with family!

Great Aunt Karen, Omi & the Kids


David and Daddy


Shaun in his favorite place - snuggling with Mommy in the ERGO. Perfect for getting baby to nap so Mommy can enjoy Christmas dinner!


Happy 80th Birthday Nana!


Nana & Shaun


Great Aunts Vicki & Karen holding Shaun (that kid just loves to be held - I mean god forbid you put him down for 2 seconds!!)

Merry Christmas!

Hard to believe that Christmas is over and soon it will be time to take down the tree, decorations and lights. This year we celebrated Shaun's first Christmas, and he really enjoyed playing with the paper! David was so excited to see all the gifts that Santa had left him at his Omi & Grampy's house. Mother Nature was not so kind, sending howling winds Christmas Eve which knocked the power out for our Christmas morning. It was not ideal, but we refused to let that bring us down. Christmas spirit ruled the day! Here is a slide show of pictures we hope that Santa was as good to all of you as he was to us! Wishing everyone a safe and Happy New Year! All the best in 2009!

Caroling with David:

Each night before David goes to bed and after Daddy has read him his bedtime story we sing songs together. With Christmas just around the corner - I have been singing carols to him. His favorites are Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Jingle Bells. I have only been singing these songs to him for a couple weeks and he already has picked up the lyrics. He can sing Jingle Bells by himself (although the lyrics are a little off) and Santa Claus with assistance from Mommy!

Check out David's version of these classic Christmas Carols:

Santa Claus is Coming to Town:

Jingle Bells:

Fat Baby No More:

So our fat baby is now an average baby! He only gained ONE pound since his four month check up and about 1 inch.

Height: 27 inches
Weight: 18 pounds

That puts him in the 50 percentile for his height and weight so he is now just an average Joe.

He can now sit up and play with toys and rarely falls but he is so jumpy that sometimes he loses his balance. He can also stand and hold himself up on a toy at playgroup (you can see him playing with it in the previous post at the rec center). We were able to snap this picture of him holding himself up on the couch at Owen's party a couple weeks ago before he lost his balance and fell on his bum!


Since he has gotten so good at sitting up we felt confidant in his ability to sit up in the tubby! Check him out with David. It is so nice to bathe both boys at the same time!



Next on the list of his accomplishments will hopefully be sleeping through the night! It's a work in progress and I am currently (thanks to some great tips from my mommy board) doing some hardcore sleep training with him. The first night was rough and I am not sure who shed more tears me, or him. But if a few bad nights means that he stops waking up every hour at night, then I'll take it.

Stars and Strikes!

I have been bowling for the Eagle Tribune league since early September. It is every Tuesday night, and now that we actually live closer to family we have lots of options for babysitting! It's been really great because MIL takes David every week and now even takes Shaun. It's a nice (much needed) night out for myself and the Doc gets the house to himself for some (much needed) peace and quiet!

Well due to the lack of power in NH and at my MIL's since last Thursday the boys came with me tonight to the alley. Scottie came too, since my parents do not have power either and there is no sense in sitting in the dark. I had gotten some free strings of bowling from McDonald's and David has been wanting to bowl for a while now. He talks about it all the time. My sister took him and Scottie to one of the free lanes and set up the bumpers, and David got to try it for the very first time! David did so well and he was very serious about it. He cheered each time the pins fell over! His first string was a 53 and his second was a 64. Not too bad for his first time!

Check out the next star of candlepin bowling:

Trying it with the way to big bowling shoes first!


This is fun!


Very serious business:


Going for the spare!


Another good ball!

A Playgroup Christmas:

Today was David's Christmas party with his playgroup. It was so much fun. Santa came as well as Silly Willy the clown. He did a really fun show for all the kids that included magic, songs and balloon animals & hats. I wasn't sure how David would react to a clown since it would be his first time seeing one but he LOVED it! He was clapping and yelling the magic works.

Here are some pictures from our day:

Shaun having fun with the toys:


All the kids waiting for Silly Willy:


Silly Willy


David watching Silly Willy:


David's Reindeer Hat:

Our Weekend with Great Friends:

What a fun filled weekend we had. I wish it didn't have to end. On Friday we had a surprise visit from the Mailloux's. Thankfully I had plenty of time before they arrived to clean up a bit. They were in town from Rochester, NY for Owen's first birthday party that they held up in Gloucester! I can't believe Owen is going to be one in a couple weeks and Shaun is going to be 6 months on Wednesday!

The Birthday Boy Owen!


Maddie & David had not seen each other in about 7 or 8 months and you would have never known it. They picked up right where they left off. That is until David decided to throw a tantrum and Maddie said it was time to go back to her Nonnie's house because David was hurting her ears! Kids!

On Saturday we headed to the party and David got to play with Maddie some more. This time without any tantrums! The best birthday present was a visit from Santa. He came all the way from the North Pole to wish Owen a Happy Birthday. David was very excited to see Santa and even sat on his lap to tell him that he would like some Thomas the Train toys for Christmas this year. I wasn't sure how David would react to Santa being there since he wasn't very excited when we saw Santa at the Mall right before Thanksgiving.

David & Maddie being goofballs & playing in Nonnie's shower:


High Five on Daddy's Shoulders:


David & Santa


Shaun & Santa

It was a lot of fun and hopefully we'll be able to make a trip out to Rochester to visit their place before they move back to New England next summer!

Sunday was our annual Santapalooza that we started our senior year in college. It was a little crazy at times as all five boys were with us for the first time!! We had great food and I personally enjoyed my two glasses of Sangria as my boys kept me up the night before with their boogies and coughing (fun times).

Thomas, of course, is cute as a button and if and my boys and I were not germ infested I would have held him all night! The boys enjoyed opening their gifts and it was fun to watch how excited they were! This is by far my favorite time of year and I am glad to be able to share it with such great friends!

Sleeping Baby Thomas:


The Mommy's:


The Boys & Their Daddy's:


Shaun playing with his new toys:


Cam playing with his new toy!

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!