Pictures

Almost 4 months old! 

What an awesome kid he is!

Big feet on this kiddo...

Three amigos

Wearing Uncle Trevor's Wawa gear

....and riding grandma's stationary bike

Dad's favorite part of Memorial Day

We love our walks...especially when they're to Rita's!

Noah's finally front facing in the Bjorn!

Wearing his monster towel and chasing Lilly around...

"What's for dinner?" and the WEDDING

My kids are ravenous eaters.

All THREE of them.

The big kids are currently obsessed with peanut butter and chicken/cheese quesadillas with guacamole.

Not together, thank goodness.

Their language is developing quite nicely which means they're more articulate in their demands. Lucky us! Seriously, though, it's pretty amazing. I like each stage more than the next. We recently ran into friends who have 9 year old twins (where has the time gone???). They told us that 6 was the magical age for them. They could take showers, dress, and feed themselves which left whole half hours of household quiet.

WHAT?

I'm not wishing away these moments, I promise, but what a wonderful thought; to have daylight hours where you can do something other than changing diapers, feeding bottles, cleaning up spit-up....

I know we've been blog-absent for a while (and by we I mean me) but there's been so many fun things going on!

At the beginning of May, Steve's youngest sister graduated from Rowan University in New Jersey. It was a gorgeous day and we were excited to celebrate such an accomplishment with her.

Then of course, there've been birthdays and Mother's day and most recently, last weekend, Steve's oldest sister married at the shore in Avalon, NJ. Although it was incredibly windy, sandy and cold, the weekend was wonderful. It took a lot of help and coordination from family members to help Steve and I manage all three kids and we thank all those who offered themselves for assistance. There were many who walked away with soggy shirts, exhausted arms and tired bodies after chasing or snuggling the kids.

A big thank you to my parents who drove ALL THE WAY down to Avalon to pick up the kids and take them back to our house, only to turn around and drove ALL THE WAY home so Steve and I could actually catch up with everyone at the reception.

And for those who met the kids, they remember everyone and still talk about you!

We were so proud of Josiah, Lilly & Noah during the wedding weekend. Weddings are a tough break for kids, but they really were super.

Michelle was a beautiful bride and Tim looked more happy and handsome than ever in his suit coat and boat shoes. Congratulations, you guys!

Tomorrow, very dear friends of ours will be tying the knot. We are thrilled to attend their celebration and will not only be kid-less for the event but also overnight!

Do you notice a pattern here? We'd never be able to enjoy time out if it weren't for our family and friends who are willing to hang out with the munchkins.

Pictures from the wedding weekend:

Lilly & Daddy Steve

LOVED the sand....so much so that they rolled in it. ROLLED!

My beautiful little girl

SO MUCH FUN!

 

Tim & Michelle got the kids little beach bags with toys. SUCH a good idea!

Steve's cousin Jennifer with adorable little Khloe

Morning of- getting my hair done. I look so happy. And so awake.

Love this picture of Lauren; so natural and beautiful

Trying to get pictures

Little Connor, such a cutie!

 

Love this picture of Tim. He's always relaxed and having a good time.

Great speech:

First dance:

Daddy's little girl

Couldn't pull her from the dance floor- both of them

 

Love this picture of Michelle. So beautiful!

Dancing with Aunt Lauren

Cake was delicious!

 

Father of the bride and son-in-law

Michelle, Uncle Barry and Aunt Pattie:

Lauren’s Graduation

We’re a week behind but I’m trying to get caught up on some of the excitement of the past week.

On Friday, May 11th, Lauren graduated from Rowan University.  Below are some pictures we took from the day (ask Michelle to see the pictures she took with her new camera):

 

On Saturday, we had a graduation party for Lauren (complete with Michelle’s “Get a Job!” sign, the piñata, and some ice cream cakes – yes, two!).  We forgot our camera and so we didn’t get any pictures at the party!

About Parenthood & Other Fun Topics

My favorite conversations with Steve are the spontaneous ones that last for hours.

In our busy lives, it's difficult to "find time" to discuss day to day things. We do a lot of coordinating via email as we add, delete, or move things on our family calendar. When he comes home at night (around 8-8:30) we talk about our jobs, our kids, the house, our family and friends and of course, the family agenda.

Sometimes we eat dinner quietly and don't talk about anything.

But what I love is when we set out to do something else, but end up in a deep conversation about the real things in life.

Tonight we talked about parenthood. Our families. Discipline. Our desire for the kids to be resolute and confident individuals yet respectful.

We talked for hours about generation old mistakes and how we hope to avoid them.

We talked about our love for each other and how that will affect our children's lives.

We talked about the three little ones sleeping one room over and hoped that they would become better people than we.

I'm so glad we're in this together.

"Raising kids is part joy and part guerilla warfare."

Ed Asner

A little bit

Bath time is an interesting combination of laughter and tears. It's all suds and bubbles until someone dumps water on the floor, slips in the tub or splashes Noah who is usually waiting contently for his turn after the big kids.

The other night, Josiah decided that he'd had enough fun in the bath and lept out, naked and dripping and into the living room. I chased and chased him and finally had to drag his skinny little self back to the tub to be rinsed. I was soaked with tiny hand prints and irritable until Noah started cracking up as he watched me try to rinse his impatient and flailing brother. Lilly kept laughing at him saying, "Siah. Silly, Siah."

I love them so much, it feels like my heart is going to burst.

Evidence:

 

 

Amidst the chaos, fast asleep on the floor

We were excited to celebrate our friends, Connor and Ashlynn's birthdays! Can't believe Connor is 3 already and Ashlynn is 1! We had such a great time!

So cute