A Sporty Good Time

This year Zach had a shared birthday party with his best friend. It's something we had been talking about for a few months -- would both boys be able to handle sharing a birthday party? It really made the most sense to do. We live in the same neighborhood (just down the street!), the boys go to the same preschool (same classroom!), and their birthdays are 1 week apart. It was kind of a no-brainer on the parents' sides (one party, same group of kids invited), but we needed to be sure that Zach and Dylan would be okay with it. Dylan right away signed off that he was okay, but we wer a little nervous about Zach. He does like his parties and he does like being the guest of honor. But we talked about it with him for a while and he said he would like to do that. So we chose a date (the weekend after Zach's birthday) and started planning!

All the kids in their preschool class have their birthdays in June, July, or August (they're grouped by age, obviously), and Zach has been invited to a ton of parties recently. So we knew we'd invite their entire classroom of kids, all the neighborhood kids (we've become close family friends), and a few other of our own family friends. We made the guest list and....realized there were over 30 kids on the list! Big party, so now just where do we have it? The new grass in our backyard was not quite ready for 30 pairs of feet. And Dylan's family kind of felt the same way. Plus with 30 kids who are turning 4, that means that at least 1 parent will be with each of them, so that's going to up the total numbers. End result, we decided to have the party at "a place".

A party at "a place" turns out to be actually nearly zero work on the parents end. I don't have a lot of experience with this -- I'm usually the crazed parent the week before the party frantically trying to get themed party decorations, stuff goody bags, make food, make a (themed) cake, and clean my house. For this party, all I had to do was find a place for the party, then write the invitations. Boom, we're done.

We kind of thought that since it was July, maybe a lot of people would be on vacation. Uh, that didn't really work out that way. We still had about 25 kids show up, all with at least 1 parent (yes, they RSVP'd, so we weren't surprised, other than the fact that they all came!) The party was at a sports complex that does kids parties. Zach had gone to a party there in the spring so it was on my radar, and the timing and the price worked out perfectly (even more perfectly since we split it!) The kids played tag, parachute games, some ball games, then went into the party room where they had an arcade and a bounce house. We had pizza and cake, the boys got a TON of gifts, and we went home with a really tired 1 year old, and a really happy 4 year old.

Zachary Turns 4

Zachary at 4 years old
July 18, 2011

Today is Zach's birthday and we've been celebrating for days! He had a surprise visit this weekend from Grammy, went to his first movie in the theater (Winnie the Pooh), got a new bike, made a birthday crown at school, and went to dinner at Chuck E Cheese-Its (that's what he calls it) for his birthday dinner tonight. It's been an exhausting few days but I think he has loved the attention and is eager for everyone to see what a big grown up 4 year old he is now.

When I think back on the past year, I'm amazed at all of the changes Zach has gone through. He's become a big brother and is such a good one. There have been some rough patches there and we have to sometimes remind him to be gentle with Lucas, but for the most part he is, and if he accidentally knocks Lucas down, he immediately goes to help him up and apologizes. Zach is still a little emotional, but he's growing out of it and becoming just a wonderful little person. He was opening a birthday package the other day and I told him that he had also received a check in the card and asked him if he wanted to put the money in the bank to save it or go to the toy store to get himself a toy. He didn't even pause to think -- he said "I want to take the money to go buy you flowers, Mommy." I am not making this up! He really is just the sweetest little boy. He melts my heart. :)

Down the Cape

Cape Cod
July 15, 2011

We had a wicked good time yesterday afternoon on the Cape. It was a summer offsite for my department -- not a bad way to spend a summer afternoon! One of the ladies I work with hosted about 30 of us at their summer cottage and we went to the beach, played work trivia, jumped in the bouncy house, and had a big cookout. Oh, and did I mention that my team won? Yep, I know random facts about my co-workers.

It was a beautiful day to be on the Cape and I just wish we had gone there earlier so we could have spent longer on the beach. I was not overly excited to show off my post-partum bod to my co-workers so I didn't even put on my bathing suit, but the boys did go in and splash in the water which was really warm. The beach we went to is protected so the waves aren't very big and there is public parking -- so now that we know about it, we may just go to this beach again! It was not crowded on a hot July weekday afternoon, but I bet weekends are a different story -- an incentive to go early in the day.

LJ at 15 months

My baby is now 15 months. The time has flown and I just wanted to share what life is like with Lucas now that he is a full-blown toddler and rapidly trying to run (not walk) out of babyhood.

Lucas loves his big brother. A lot. He thinks Zach is the funniest thing in the world and it's so cute to see him copy what he sees Zach doing. Sometimes before his bath when I'm running the water in the tub he'll walk over to the toilet and I think he's thinking about trying to use it. It could also be that he just wants to splash in the toilet (gross, but he does do that too when I'm not quick enough to stop him). Once he peed while standing by the toilet so I probably need to bring the potty chair out of hiding and see if I can harness this opportunity to my advantage!

Toys are not nearly as fun as non-toys to Lucas. The toy room is literally filled with his baby toys, but what does he want to play with? Tupperware. And Zach's little tiny toys that are chokable for babies. Lucas does still put a lot of things into his mouth -- not nearly as much now as he did a few months ago, and less than Zach did at this age -- so we still have to watch him vigilantly. He also loves my keys (but not his toy baby keys) and my Blackberry (and again, not his toy phone). Sigh. Typical teenager. I mean toddler.

Lucas has still not had his hair cut and he does need it. I've been resisting it because it's not terrible if it's humid and the curls on the back of his head curl up and it looks shorter, but his hair is pretty long. I love his little curls though and am afraid that if we cut them off, then they're gone for good. We'll do it sometime this summer, but it might be more traumatic for me than it is for him.



Watching Daddy on the grill



Yesterday was Lucas' 15 month check up at the doctor. This is his new doctor and it's very conveniently located across the street from his daycare. I literally walked across the street with him! Such a nice change from his previous doctor's office which was halfway between home and my office. Getting the kids in for a visit on a work day pretty much required one of us to take a day off. So this feels kind of luxurious. :) Anyway, his appointment was during his nap time and Leda kept him up. As a result he was a little cranky and I made a mental note to make his next appointment for first thing in the morning. Lucas is growing well and nearly 27 pounds! This is a 2 pound, 10 ounce gain from 3 months ago. His height didn't change from 31 inches in April, but I think there might have been a discrepancy between the two different offices or the squirminess of babies. To me, he looks taller, more stretched out (aka: less chubby), so I think someone measured wrong. Lucas is playing catch up on his immunizations so they treated him like a 12 month old at this appointment. This is a result of the last doctor's office being overly cautious with immunizations, stretching out the number of immunizations they give out at a visit. He will be fully caught up at 18 months when they give him his 15 month immunizations since he normally wouldn't get shots at 18 months otherwise. The doctor asked if I had any concerns and I told her two things. One, his speech seems a little delayed to us. We talked about this and she asked a bunch of questions. End result is she's not concerned since Lucas hears and understands what we say (as evidenced by him handing me something I ask for or starting to follow directions), that when he babbles he uses intonations and does have a couple of words, and because he has an older brother who talks for him. The second thing I mentioned was that when Lucas walks, his right foot is not straight ahead, but kind of flared out. We had Lucas show off his walking skills (which he readily did with a smile), and she said he's fine. It's just slight and he doesn't seem to have any issues with walking. So all in all, he had a good check up and got a clean bill of health!

I'm just loving this particular stage in Lucas. He is still snuggly and I'm his go-to comfort person, but he's clearly curious and I just see him soak everything in. He is trying to put together puzzles, push cars around on the floor, and turn the pages on books (when he's not flinging them). He's getting good with a spoon (again, when he's not trying out the gravity test), drinks out of a sippy cup and is fantastic about going to sleep for the night. His room is small and gets toasty so I have a fan in it which is wonderful for white noise so masks the going-to-bed sounds that Zach makes upstairs. I find myself in that uncomfortable position of wanting him to learn and grow and try new things, with desperately wanting him to stay as a cuddly little baby. It's a selfish feeling on my part and something I struggle with with all 3 of the kids (although there are a couple of whiney periods in those years that I could do without).

Lazy Summer Weekend

What a beautiful weekend we had! It was so nice to not have any plans and to just do a few things around the house. I cut some flowers from my gardens to put in vases inside and they really just make me so happy! My hydrangeas have really taken off this year and I'm wondering if my aggressive pruning had anything to do with it. I'm loving all of the flowers and so happy to have beautiful perennials that come back each year and love me no matter how badly I neglect them.

Next year should be a much better year for me to go out and do some more gardening. Last year I had newborn Lucas plus Zach. This year, Lucas is just into everything and super quick -- I can't turn my back for one second! So gardening is not high on my to-do's this year. But that's okay. We still had so much done this year that has made our yard look 10 times better than it did last year. I weed when I can and put down some mulch this year (none at all last year so I figure I'm ahead of the game). I have a lot of ideas and even Kevin is energized to want to plant and beautify the yards so next year we should be in excellent shape.

Summertime

It's finally that time of year when I don't have to think about what shoes I'm going to wear and where my coat is. It's summertime! It's hot outside consistently enough that I don't need to check the weather report in the morning before getting dressed. I love this time of year! No one appreciates good weather more than New Englanders. :) I think it's because we've been beat over the head for so long by winter.

I have so much to comment on and not enough time to do so. Hmm, maybe if I posted everyday? Ha! I can barely shower everyday. There are just not enough hours. Man, I don't know how I ever complained about no time to myself before I had kids. Not that I would change it for a SECOND, but the free time that I used to have...someday I'll have it again. In the meantime I'm living with and loving chubby hands hugging me, sticky popsicle lips kissing me, and falling into bed exhausted each night from the time I have with these little busy men of mine. They are sweet and beautiful and lovely and mine.

A quick rundown on what has transpired in the last few weeks (this is not in chronological order):
1) we spent a week in NJ visiting friends and family
2) my goddaughter Michelle graduated high school and we went to her graduation party
3) my nephew Thomas was born!!!
4) my nephew Alex turned 12
5) Emily moved into an apartment
6) Zach and Kevin got matching buzz cuts

The buzz cut thing was planned, but I think we were all surprised at exactly how SHORT Zach's hair ended up! He looks super cute though and you can see his cowlicks really well now. I think we'll let it grow out a bit before cutting it again. It's a little too short and I'm afraid of his scalp getting sunburned. Lucas officially has longer hair than Zach now and I think it's going to stay that way for awhile. Lucas really does need a haircut, but he has the cutest curls in the back of his head and I can't bring myself to take him for a haircut. He may just be a hippy baby for a little longer.

Matthew, Zachary, William, Lucas

We had a fantastic trip to New Jersey! Kevin gets a ton of vacation time and needed to use some up before July 1st, so we planned a trip to see friends and family. We hadn't been there since Thanksgiving which is the longest we've gone in years! I was also able to see two of my best friends -- Debbie, who is my goddaughter Michelle's mom, and Kim, who is one of my best friends from high school. Debbie lives about an hour away in Pennsylvania, and Kim lives about 10 minutes away from Sandy and Bob. My pictures from the first half of the week are still on Kevin's laptop so I can't share any from my trip to PA, but I have a picture of my two boys and Kim's two boys that I think is adorable! Matt and Zach are both 3, Will is 6, and Lucas is 1. It makes me SO happy that my children are friends with my friend's children!

Emily getting some brotherly love

While we were in NJ Emily texted me to let me know she was moving in with her girlfriends. She has been home since Christmas (figuring out her life....) and it just hasn't been working out that great. She doesn't have any independence at home -- she works but doesn't have a car (or a license) so is dependent on me to take her anywhere (including to and from work, which is really hard on all of us). She was spending all of her free time in Brookline with her friends, and they invited her to move in, so she did. She transferred her job from Natick to Boston and it's working out pretty nicely since she can take the T to work. I'm anxious about her money situation, but she is making efforts at getting her life on track and in order so I'm trying my best to stay out of it. I think this is the best thing for her and she's super excited so hopefully it works out!

Also while we were in NJ our new nephew Thomas was born! It was so nice to be around family when he was born -- even though Scott and Rachel were in NC and we were in NJ, we got a lot of updates and all hugged and laughed and got teary-eyed when he was born. We also toasted later with champagne! I can't wait to meet him and give them all big hugs in person. He is such a sweet baby and has tons of blonde hair. I think he looks like Rachel, so I'm sure he will be beautiful just like she is.

Fishing for prizes

You can't have a visit to NJ in the summer and not hit the beach, so we headed for the Jersey Shore for a day, a challenge considering the whole nap schedule thing. We decided to say the hell with the nap schedule and took off mid-morning for the shore. Lucas slept for about 10 minutes in the car and then was wide awake while we were on the beach. He ate a little sand and had a great time! Zach is the biggest beach babe and always has a blast. He and Kevin dug holes on the beach and Z and I played with the waves, running from them before they could "catch" us. Sandy came with us and it was great to have an extra set of hands. I have to take pictures every year of her and Lucas on the beach at this particular beach and with that particular beach umbrella (sorry Sandy, but rusted or not, you can't get rid of it!) After we had all had too much sun (I burned and peeled and am currently really itchy), we left to get some lunch on the boardwalk at Seaside Heights. Those of you who watch Jersey Shore on MTV know that this is the boardwalk where they film that tv show. I'd been before with Em when she was younger and we wanted to bring Zach because we knew he would love it. He did! He rode rides (his first), played games (first time ever), and had a blast. The boys had a great time and Zach crashed hard in the car. We even carried him asleep upstairs and he finished off a nice long nap in the bed for another 45 minutes or so before dinnertime.

Like our grass? This is the back yard!

Now it's July 4th weekend and we are busy at home trying to do yard work, house work, and play with the kids. Again, not enough hours in the day! It's not that hard to do with Zach, but Lucas is into every thing so one person always needs to watch him closely. Our big purchase of the weekend (of the summer probably) was a new lawnmower. Ours died a few weeks ago and we had been borrowing our neighbors. We got lucky for 2 years because the lawnmower came with the house so we didn't have to buy one when we bought the house. But it wasn't easily or cheaply fixable and we couldn't keep borrowing the neighbors (and their lawnmower is 47 years old! they told me that today). Kevin bought a nice one that mulch mows, which will save us lots of lawn/garden bags and having to store the filled/heavy bags in the garage.

Tomorrow we're having some friends/neighbors over for a cookout. Kevin used the new mower today, and we also borrowed our neighbors huge ladder to clean out the gutters (trees were growing in them). We're going to fire up the grill and put out the kiddy pool and sprinklers (two!) and pray that it doesn't rain. Our inside is semi-updated, but we still don't have a lot of furniture/places to sit, so I'd rather have an outside party than an inside one. :)

Next up is Zach's birthday party -- the weekend after his birthday. It's going to be a joint party with his best friend. I think we're getting him a new bike (shh, don't tell him!)

Who is that masked man?