May 2014

We began May by celebrating Doug and Nick's 35th birthdays. Their parents were up so it was a fun time for the family. And we got to check out a local bakery cake...delish. 

My boys love a bath!

 The kids are really enjoying living near their cousins. They find such productive uses of their time together. I mean, if they lived far apart, it might take months to perfect these crazy faces. :)

Okay, so we knew we bought our new house close to a flood zone (and we got the insurance, you better believe it!) but we didn't think we'd get have to be so nervous about it so soon after moving it! The water actually got a couple feet closer than this. Luckily we've already made friends with the neighbor next door and he promptly texted reassurances to me that it would recede before it came in the house. Thank God he was right!

After a couple days, the kids were ready to explore our giant puddles. We made a special trip to walmart for the boots, I figure this may happen again. :)

Gianna's class had a special mother's day tea. It was so cute!

And Joe is still here. Sleeping and playing quoits. 

Joe's First Birthday and Easter

Well, much to my dismay, it happened. My baby turned 1. He loved his presents and celebrating with his whole family. Just 1 week after moving in was Easter so both sets of grandparents, plus Aunt Jenny and Uncle Steve came up to see the new house, celebrate Joe's birthday and celebrate Easter all at once. It's so great that Nick and Elizabeth are just 10 minutes away so we can share in family fun whenever there's an occasion! 

A few things about Joe on his first birthday. He says almost nothing, an occasional dada or hi and that's it. He loves to eat. He's an accomplished walker. He loves men-folk: daddy, grandpas, uncles, male strangers, he doesn't care. If you're a man and you're nice to him, you've got a friend in Joe. 

Enjoying cake on his actual birthday (this was after the weekend with the family, so he already had cake experience :) 

Joe opening and enjoying presents. He truly loves that vacuum cleaner.

 

Birthday party with the fam. Pizza and cake was easy enough since we weren't all unpacked yet. Notice the lack of carpets or anything on the walls :)

The cousins. 

Not sure what this cake thing is all about it, but he eventually got into it.

 Easter Sunday. Not exactly a formal pic, but at least you can see how stinkin' cute the kids are. Those boys and their ties are too much for me. 

April 2014

Well, we have moved and I have no pictures other than those of inside of our new house to mark the occassion. I meant to take a picture of us in front of our old house one last time, but I forgot. And i meant to take one in front of our new house as well. I'm the worst. I'll have to go back and recreate those moments!

It was certainly a stressful few weeks leading up to the move. We're going to try to never do it again. Honestly, why does getting a loan have to be a gut-wrenching process?! Because of the stupid bank we weren't sure we'd be ready for closing until literally 48 hours before it happened. Awful. 

Anyway, that's done and we are so pleased with our new home. We spent some time saying goodbye to old friends and our favorite bagel joint! I know we'll be back to visit often! 

I did manage to capture a few moving moments. Here's Joe right after closing exploring all that open space before moving in the next day!

 The kids hit their favorite spot at the new house right away! What a blessing to have bought a house that already has a playset. They were delighted! And something to do on moving day is always a good thing!

This is our mudroom. I am perhaps definitely more excited about this room more than anything else in the house. Can you believe the previous owners did nothing to make this room usable? A nice blank canvas for us at least! Stay tuned for after pictures. Grandpa is on the case to make it awesome!

Joe had to make sure Sissy's bed is as awesome here as it was in the old house. His face says it all, I think!

Morning stories in the new place. I hope to make thousands of happy memories here!

March 2014

We are still set to close in a couple weeks, so we've been trying to enjoy the last few weeks in our home. Hard to believe we'll be leaving the place we've been since Gianna was 1. It makes me a little sad. But I'm so excited to be moving closer to Doug's brother and to a home with lots more space. I think we outgrew this house at least one child ago! So, again, in no particular order, here's what we've been up to.

Joe doesn't mind wearing unusual head gear. 

His new favorite thing to do is peek through this toy kitchen oven window.

Her are the big kids at our town's St. Patrick's Day parade. A tradition since Mark was 6 months old!

Joe also loves the bath!

 You're not Gianna's younger brother until you've worn one of her crowns. He's happy to oblige.

Little half birthday treats for the 6.5 year old.

More faces of Joe.

He can stand and walk. I guess he's so skilled at sword fighting he can do it sitting down.

 The kiddos.

February 2014

We took a trip to Virginia this month. Didn't do much of anything interesting, but Joe was a big fan of Uncle Steve. Fondness for the men in his life is definitely a theme for our little guy. 

My poor baby had a bad cold and was very pathetic for a couple of days. 

The kids have to find something to do to stay busy while stuck inside from the bitter cold!

These next two pictures were taken on the same day, hard to believe. And cute, I think, regardless of mood!

Gianna and I both got our hair cut at my salon. How cute is she here?!

My sweet baby boy. 

In house hunting news, we have a buyer for our home and have found a new one. We're set to close in early April. It's all happening so fast, I can't believe it. Fingers crossed and lots of prayers to be said that all will work out well in the sale and purchase!

January 2014

As I think the whole world knows, the northeast has had lots of snow and some frigid temperatures. Here we are all bundled up to prove it. I can't tell you how glad I am that Gianna's bus stop is just yards from our front door and I can leave the boys at home for 3 minutes while I take her there. (Don't worry, Joe is always safely strapped in his high chair while I'm gone and Mark kindly entertains him there!)

I almost didn't buy Joe any major winter gear since last winter was so mild, but I'm sure glad I did, for both practical and cuteness reasons. 

He's always happy when Gianna gets home. 

Joe is always sneaking into silly places. Here he is under the kids table with cheerios on his chin. 

I said this on Facebook, but I'll say it again. I think he's too happy for the dark side. 

 Here's the proof of all our snow. 

He says, "Look people! I can stand!"

 Gianna started fencing lessons. How cool is that? She's the little one. The coach is so good! Firm but kind and has high expectations.  It's amazing how much and how fast she is learning. 

In other news, we've decided to put our house on the market and look for a home closer to Doug's work. The commute is getting to be too much for all of us. Rather than wait till summer and potentially miss out on a great buyer for our home and finding the perfect new home, we decided to go for it now. If we have to move during the school year, we will. I definitely have mixed feelings about this. I love our little town and especially love our neighbors. I can't even bring myself to think about how much I will miss it all when/if we move.