7 1/2 Year Old Boys Are Funny!

Happy Anniversary!

11 years and going strong!

Michael's 1st Communion

The 1st Communicant!

Fr. Nguyen & Michael

Michael and his 1st Communion banner

Damien says "Thumbs up to Michael!"

We were so lucky to have Grandma & Grandpa drive up for the weekend. The kids were so excited to spend time with them. They were a HUGE help wrestling Damien during mass.

Mom, Dad & Michael

Abby is very excited to get her first communion (when she is in 2nd grade).

Damien says "What do you mean? I was a perfect angel during Mass."

Michael received an array of wonderful cards and gifts.

Thank you Grandma & Grandpa, Nana & Dziadiza, Great Grandma, Uncle Jim & Auntie Val, Uncle Bob & Aunt Dianne, Uncle Msgr. John, Uncle (aka Godpapa) Pat, and Uncle Paul & Aunt Susan for helping us make this such a special day for Michael. :)

Our Baby Girl is 6!

...moving on...

This was our home.

We moved into this house one month after we got married, Ben was 22 and I was 21. Our history with this house, however, goes back much further. My older brother used to live here and the first summer Ben and I dated ('97) Ben stayed with him when he came to visit me. It was in this house, one summer evening, that Ben and I first exchanged "I love you"s. We didn't imagine that we would buy that house a few years later and live there for 10.5 years!!!

When we moved in we had a full size bedroom set, a couch, a bookshelf, a chair, a TV, a throw rug, a futon, a very small dining table and chairs. I remember sitting in our living room imagining hearing little feet thundering down the hallway and a small face peeking around the corner. We discovered we were going to be parents four times in this house, we brought 3 babies home to this house....we lost a baby in this house...we, in a sense, grew up in this house...so many memories...so much laughter...a few tears...it seemed so weird to leave...

...but it was time for us to move to the next chapter of our lives and let another family create their memories in this house...

we were so blessed to have as our realtor my brother, Jim . He did a great job and 15 days after the house was placed on the market we had a great offer. We actually knew the family who bought it, although we didn't know it until we got the offer. They will take such good care of the home and have plans to update a few things (the flooring & the kitchen) I had always dreamed of updating - until the layoff. They have invited us back to see all they did to the house when we are in town and I am very grateful for that.

I need to see if Jim still has the pictures he took of the inside for the listing. It looked SO good!! :)

Best of 2009

A few of my favorite posts from 2009.

Oh those eyes!

Swimming

Stuck!

My Boys

Auntie Jenney's Surprise Wedding

Michael builds an iTouch

Spike!

You Talking to Me?

Brothers

Abby Singing

Our sweet 1 week old

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy Birthday Damien!

Happy Birthday to our little Lolek!

[taken a few minutes after birth with my mom's cell phone]

Here are some posts from Damien's actual birthday one year ago...

Ben's Post

Mary's Post

Meeting Michael & Abby

Visitors

Our Lolek

Lolek at 3 1/2 months

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY!

New Hair Cut!

Abby got her first real hair cut today. I haven't had it cut sooner because I LOVE the curls at the end and knew those would disappear once the hair was cut. However, her hair was getting to be a real pain to comb out and so she finally decided that a hair cut was a good idea (after initially telling me that she would cut her own hair). She handled it a lot better then the first time I cut her bangs. Abby's friend Olivia's mommy has a hair salon in their house so we headed over there.

Abby and Olivia. Abby wanted her hair to look like Livie's.

The back of Abby's hair has never been cut.

Misty had a special seat for Abby to sit on.

One last look.

*snip snip*

Shaping the cut.

Abby holding her ponytail...she did a great job!

Best Friends! (and now haircut twins)

O Star!

This year it was my turn to put the star on top of the tree. I was super excited!
Here is Michael and me in our pajamas we got for St. Nick's day. We really love them!

38 Weeks...waiting...

I am now 38 weeks pregnant. I had an appointment yesterday. I'm making good progress (hooray!) but my doctor doesn't think labor is imminent. As much as I'd like to be done I'm not ready yet...funny thing about your 3rd child...your daily life goes on and you have to make extra time to get everything ready (especially right before Christmas).

Ben and I are very anxious to meet this little man and the kids are very excited, Abby has been practicing on her babies. We are trying to spend as much time cuddling and loving on the kids knowing that once the baby gets here the first few weeks will be a little crazy. I am thankful that Ben will have 2 weeks vacation (mandatory HP plant shutdown for Christmas). That will take a lot of pressure off me.

When I do go into the hospital I'll try to post something, at least on twitter, saying that we are going in. So stay tuned!

Don't forget to enter your guess on the birthday, weight, length, etc on ExpectNet - link to the right.

We Are So Thankful...

for these two rug rats and the little boy who will join us in the next 3 weeks.

Life is very good!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Today is Ben and I's 8th Wedding Anniversary (holy camoly!).

Our beautiful flower girl Rachel was 4 years old.
(she is 12 now!!! - and our chief babysitter)

[these are just a few of the pictures I have scanned to the computer - our wedding was way back in the dark ages before photographers were really using digital cameras - :P]