Turkeys and Birthdays and Friends - OH MY!!!

Nathan and the tree. The boys sorting ornaments for the tree.

Nana with her great grandsons Nathan and John.

Allison giving Nathan a ride on his fire truck.

The boys playing BeyBlades.

The big boys, Brayden, Evan, Justin and Tyler.

Where to begin?? We had such a wonderful and busy Thanksgiving vacation this year. We saw so many friends and family and absolutely delighted in time spent together.

On Wednesday the big boys were off from school but G had to work so I had a playdate with a good friend who now lives in the same town as us and her two boys who are the same age as my boys. It was such a nice visit! Thanks Misty.

On Thursday we spent the day with my parents celebrating Thanksgiving and Nathan's birthday (I posted a separate post about the day).

On Friday we spent the day together as a family putting up our Christmas tree and other holiday decorations. We skip the Black Friday rushes in favor of this family-centered tradition with our kids. Nothing truly captures the spirit of the holidays like quality time spent together rather than in retail outlets. Its been a tradition we have enjoyed since Justin was a baby now. This year we put the tree in our breezeway. I just love enjoying the Christmas tree in a main room of the house, but, experience iwth the other boys has taught me that having a tree up with a one year old is not a good combination so we opted to have it somewhere less accessible to Nathan. As a compromise, we are allowing the boys to put a small tree in their bedrooms this year!!! They can enjoy their ornaments every night as they fall to sleep to their lit treee. They are very excited about this.

On Saturday we hosted a first birthday party for Nathan at our house with some of my family. It was such a fun day!!! All the cousins got to play together and we got to enjoy family we didnt see for Thanksgiving. Thank you to everyone who came to make Nathan's birthday a special one!!!!

On Sunday our very good friends Dan and Susan came visitng from "down South" with their boys for the day. We have known them since Justin and their son were 8 months old, when we joined a weekly playgroup together. 3 years ago now they moved away, so its a wonderful treat to have them up and visiting! The boys had so much fun playing together (they also have a younger son who is Evan's age and so this works out very well). We are so glad that we have stayed in touch all these years and been able to visit frequently.

Phew. It was hard getting back into our routine this morning with school for the big boys and a doctor visit for Nathan. Only a couple more weeks until Christmas break now!!!!

Happy Birthday Nathan!!!

Some pictures of Nathan celebrating his birthday which happened to fall on Thanksgiving this year. Nathan, who is allergic to eggs and milk, had his very own special giant cupcake (whose ingredient list are short and sweet to include chocolate one cake mix and one diet coke can - yum it is not) made lovingly by his Nana. He didnt know what to make of the cake and candle and was at first in awe and then very happy as we all stared at him and sang Happy Birthday. AND THEN. Oh my. Im sure he wondered why mommy and daddy stripped him naked to feed him something very sweet and very messy. And equally perplexing was the fact that no one seemed to mind when he got that food all over him, the tray of his high chair and the floor. It was such fun!!!!

I can't believe that a year has gone by already. Its been a very wonderful but very tiring year. Nothing about Nathan's baby days were very relaxing or fun. Constant worry about weight gain, germs and potential complications from his very scary arrival pretty much overshadowed alot of his first year. If I wasnt thinking about the latest cold the kids were bringing home, then it was how much he was gaining and eating, or if he was hitting his milestones. (Add to everything moving a household with three children!) But, now, I feel like we can relax a bit, breathe a little, and while there are certainly no guarantees in life, I feel like one year makes things feel more certain and we can enjoy our beautiful little miracle child. This truly was a birthday to celebrate!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The boys.

A game of darts before dinner.Justin helping baste the turkey, supervised by Nana not pictured but very close by;)A little after dinner dancing to some Christmas tunes.

This year I was sure to bring along my camera (2005 you will haunt me for eternity) to capture the kids, the turkey, the fun. We spent the day at my parent's house and had a delicious dinner.

Now and Then

Alot has changed in a YEAR!!! Happy birthday to our not-as-little-as-you-once-were man. We love you big or small!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

20032004 2006

2007

2008

2009

Thanksgiving through the years....

Last year Thanksgiving was celebrated in the hospital with the arrival of our baby boy Nathan, all other years have been a bit more traditional :)

A couple of the years it was just G and I for Thanksgiving (so no one to take a family photo of us 2004, 2005). I dont think I even broke out my camera in 2005 - THE HORROR!!! I have no pictures from that year.

My favorite Thanksgiving will probably forever be last year. We had so much to be grateful for after such a scary arrival, Nathan was healthy and doing well on Thanksgiving Day. Our most comical thanksgiving has to be the year (I think it was 2001) when we hosted my entire family and G's family (20+ people) at our house and the oven broke!!! The turkey wound up being microwaved. It was disasterous and hilarious and I will always look back and smile on that year, and NEVER EVER host a large Thanksgiving again.

Wishing all our friends and family a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We had so very much to be grateful for this year as we celebrate with a full heart, family and new home.

Oh! The Places You Will Go and Grow!!!

I've been to the doctor's office more than I care to be, in the last few days. The good news is Nathan seems to be on the mend of his cold/cough. He weighed in at a whopping 20.8 lbs when he went last week. Im very impressed, he has come a long way from 4lbs 6oz, his lowest weight at birth. Our chubby baby Justin weighed 22.8 lbs at one year old. Evan weighed 21.9 lbs at one year old. So, all in all, Nathan is not that far behind!!! Go Nathan.

Speaking of weight and growth, Justin had his 7 year appointment at the doctor this week. He is 38.5 inches tall and 39 lbs. Almost square!!! Hee hee. He was slightly above average for height and just below average for weight. He had a perfect check up!!!

Nathan has been walking everywhere lately. His latest favorite thing is to carry things while he walks. He is quite proud of himself.

Justin got his first 1st grade report card this past week. It was fabulous! We also had a conference with his teacher. He is an excellently behaved little boy at school and his teacher tells us he is an extremely hard worker and good listener. She says he excels at math (which we all knew) and is making great gains with his reading! He loves school too, which above all else is the most important thing to us. His teacher this year is such a wonderful woman, we are having the best experience at his new school this year!

Today is the last day before Thanksgiving vacation. The kids are eagerly awaiting Thanksgiving, Nathan's birthday and putting up the Christmas tree after Thanksgiving! Many more pictures to follow in the coming exciting days....

Around the House

I love looking out the window in the mornings, overlooking our yard. I never stop appreciating our land. We are so lucky. And I never know what Im going to see out there. Ive seen three deer together grazing and on a separate occassion this turkey eating our birdseed!! Evan wanted to catch him, to EAT him. That sounds like something I would do right?! NO. I managed to get a picture of him though, before he went running surprisingly fast into our woods.

We have all been sick with colds around the house. I started it all a couple weeks ago. Im afraid I didnt manage to keep it to myself either. First Evan, then Nathan. Justin and G rarely ever get sick, so its not a surprise they managed to miss out. Poor Nathan has been just miserable this week. I brought him to the doctor on Friday just to check and make sure he didnt have something more serious. Luckily its just a really bad cold. The good news is that he now weighs over 20 pounds!!!! I was thrilled to say the least. What a long way we have come from 4 lbs.

We have been in the house all week aside from school and a few trips to the store for supplies. We are going a bit stir crazy around here. Evan gets a bit silly when stuck in the house for a long time. He decided he was going to dress in his brother's clothes. Nathan's!!! Backwards!!! Quite the silly boy.

Random Catch Up

Justin showing off some gymnastics skills to his baby bro. Now THIS is how you play with your new toy Nathan. Nathan watching with delight, because everything his big brothers do is amazingly fantastic!

We were dog sitting this past week/weekend for a friend's adorable little dog Logan. The bigger boys definitely miss our dog. They fought over who could walk him, feed him, brush him. Logan got alot of attention. Even Nathan enjoyed the dog, after he got over the initial shock of what the furry thing walking around was. It was so nice having a dog in the house again. Something we definitely want to persue in the Spring.

Justin is learning to play darts. After years of begging Justin's Pa finally relented, and let Justin use the real darts. Justin got a bullseye! He is very proud of himself and his new sport!!! I shudder to think of him with a sharp object being thrown at anything. Yikes. What happens at Nana and Pa's house, stays at Nana and Pa's house.

Nathan in the garden.

Evan in his show and tell paper airplane hat for H week at school. He was really proud of his creation!

Cousins!

We had a wonderful weekend last weekend with a visit from all the Vermont folks!!! The boys were so excited to see their cousins! Everyone played so well together, its so nice to have all the boys together. Of course, true to form, no one (or at least my kids) wanted to cooperate for their picture but, here's the best I could get.

WALKING

The quality of the video is crummy, I have to work on my video settings on my camera. But, you can see Nathan walking around like such a big boy!!! He is so little that it looks almost wrong seeing him walk around.

Justin's Seventh Birthday Take Two

Monday was a busy day, Justin had school and gymnastics class, and then we squeezed in his birthday cake and presents. Justin had picked a cake from the store for his actual birthday, a football one. My parents came over for cake and to give Justin his presents. Justin got a really cool Loopz game that is a big hit with everyone (sheepish grin - including me). We got Justin his very own golf club set, that he has already put to use!!! He is so excited to start golfing with daddy and Pa. Evan gave Justin the Minotaur Lego game that Justin was begging for - I dont know who was more excited about the present. I got the absolute best picture of Justin opening the present and Evan literally jumping in excitement for what he gave his brother. It so truly captures what a wonderful big heart my Evan has and how much he feels for others. I will always cherish this picture of him.

I am still in disbelief that Justin is now SEVEN years old.

Uh - oh!

Short little video of Nathan saying uh-oh! He says it constantly now, it is quite cute!!!

My Frog Princes

Nathan 2010 Justin 2004

I can definitely see differences in the boys now, more than when they were younger, but, thought this comparison was cute nonetheless!

Justin's Birthday Party

Justin celebrated his seventh birthday with a big bash at a local baseball complex where the kids batted, pitched and slid to their baseball hearts content. It was a phenomenal party, I venture to say the best party we have ever had! Justin had 20 of his friends there to celebrate with him. It was a wonderful mix of new friends from his new school, old friends from his former school, playgroup friends and family. In fact, of the 20 children who attended this year, 12 also attended his party two years ago (last year we didnt do a birthday party because of my pregnancy). Its nice to have such wonderful friends and we are so very grateful to everyone for coming to celebrate with Justin!

Halloween

A quick update of Halloween with the boys. We went trick or treating in our new neighborhood, it was nice to meet more of the neighbors. The boys had tons of fun just going to the few spread out houses on our street and the neighboring street. They got just enough candy. It was COLD. The older boys had the lightest possible weight costumes this year, by luck not design. I hadnt really given the warmth of the costumes a second thought because its usually so warm. Not this year. I was glad that Nathan had a really warm costume at least. Everyone got to enjoy two pieces of candy and then off to bed because Monday morning comes early after Halloween! Even Nathan sampled a lollipop (he really wanted a kit kat but is sadly allergic to them), his first piece of candy ever! He really, really liked it.

To Justin On the Occassion of Your Seventh Birthday

My first born, you turn seven today. Seven. The number takes my breath away. How could you possibly be seven years old? Yet, to look at you I immediately know it is true. You have the tell-tale seven year old smile, toothless. And to watch and know you, one has no doubt that gone are the baby, toddler and little kid days. You are a big kid now. This makes me one part sad, but many parts happy, because although you were a sweet baby and lovable toddler, you are such a great big kid.


Justin, you are uniquely and wonderfully you. You are energetic and outgoing, funny and kind. You make friends so easily, you leave a room with everyone knowing your name. You are the life of the party! You are so smart, Ive never met another child with so much math sense at such a young age. You are creative and imaginitive. You have the fiercest determination of anyone I know, occassionally this drive me crazy but most the time I appreciate it. You are a diligent and hard worker at everything you do. You are so very neat and clean (dont ever forget how much mommy appreciates these qualities - they make her work load lighter). You have the most wonderfully blue eyes that sparkle with mischieve and curiosity and life. Those eyes light up my life with happiness, excitement and joy. Since you have been born there has never, ever been a dull moment.


Thank you for being my son. Thank you for a million smiles and kisses, I carry them with me even when you arent. Thank you for every day of the seven years I have known and loved you. Even the toughest of days because they have made me a stronger person. Thank you for giving my life purpose and meaning beyond anything I could have achieved on my own. I love being your mom. I love you a GOOGLE PLEX (our inside joke).