Holiday Fun

Nate loves trains!

He does NOT love to bundle!

We (all the grandparents included) braved the very cold, windy, Thanksgiving Parade

Not so bad if you have the right gear... and hot chocolate!

Papa keeps Nate toasty!

Hunting for our Christmas tree!

Ready to cut!

Nate found one just his size!

Investigating the sap

Heading into the Big City! 

Ethan and I make the snow dance at the interactive Macy's window

The tree!

Checking out the trains at FAO

Big Piano!

Big lights!

Ferris Wheel ride in Time Square, Toys R Us

Can you tell he's excited?

Lots of serious discussion about trucks going on here.

Our December morning ritual- advent calendar and Elf search!

Snow!

We are certainly getting into the Christmas spirit around here! The boys are so excited about every single thing. What a fun time of year to have little kids!  Our morning ritual is to go straight to our Advent Calendar and then search around for our silly little elf.  Ethan gets so excited- I swear he wakes up earlier just sneak downstairs to be the first to find him.

Ethan has been a little bit freaked out about Santa, avoiding him at all costs (even a tractor ride when we got our tree)  But, the other day we were at the mall, and he got it in his head that he was going to tell Santa what he wanted (I guess some things are worth pushing through your fears)  He was adorable.  He told Santa, with loads of detail, what he wanted.  Meanwhile, Nate sat quietly taking it all in and was just about to lose it, when I picked him up.

The kids have been really great.  Nate's vocabulary is coming along slowly but surely.  I think he's talking later than Ethan did, but that's to be expected when you have a big brother who does all of the talking.  Nate will happily tell you what animals say, and identify different vehicles.  And he can say, "Ethan", but it's more of a two syllable hum, than a word.

He has gotten very use to our new house, and when he hears the "beep, beep" of our kitchen door opening, he runs to the kitchen, shouting, "Dada!" to greet Pete.  One of my favorite parts of the day (for more reasons than one!!)

He really loves trucks, trains, and cars.  He LOVES books!  And, just in the last few weeks, he's been doing puzzles.  I sort of forget how old he is and that he can do stuff like that, and when he does, I'm blown away. time sure does fly!

Ethan is really great too.  He loves school, but he loves his days home equally as much.  He continues to blow us away with his knowledge and his memory.  He's interested in everything.  He had people on the train into the city chuckling to themselves as he shared all sorts of facts about the train, the tracks, etc (most of which I didn't know about) with me as we rode along.

All in all, we are doing really well.  We are settling into our new house and really loving it.  I am enjoying having Pete home more than he has been in many years.  I know that (most nights) we can sit down together as a family and have dinner and am so glad that he gets to help see the kids off to sleep every night.

Happy Holidays to you all!  Thanks for reading!

A Few Favorites from Fall

Apple picking

Nate couldn't get enough!

Watch Hill, RI- last beach day for the season

My boys

Checking out the pigs at the farm

A firefighter and his dalmation

Fall cleanup

Choo choo!

Big Changes!

Ethan wanted to take down that sign because this house "is all ours now!"

The boys called this room, "the excitement room" and would just run around and yell, "echo!!" just to hear the sound that their voices made.  

Ethan surveys his estate!

First snack at the new house

Family shot (missing from picture, Barley)

Moving trucks- exciting stuff for three year old boys!

Our moving crew (they work fast!!)

Big time excitement!

Nate gets a haircut, Ethan sticks close for moral support (and lollipops)

Ethan thought it would be a great idea to set up the ladder in the yard and have a snack.  Papa obliged.

My guys, eating pretzels in Central Park. We took Ethan into NYC for a special birthday day.

Heading into the Natural History Museum

lunch in Central Park.

Heaven!  A WHOLE WALL of hot wheels!!  (Toys R Us in Times Square)

Ethan's birthday

We all chipped in and got him a John Deere Gator- pretty cool stuff!

John Deere Party

The nearly unbreakable tractor pinata

Annual ice cream truck picture!

Nate, 17 months, Narragansett Beach

Sammy and Ethan!

Run!

Buddies!

Nate's hanging with the big boys!

Building roads!

These guys are too cute!  LOVE each other!

Preschool, day one!

Success!!

I will only apologize a little tiny bit for the number of pictures in this blog.  This blog has served, especially these days, as my baby books, photo albums and journal! When life settles (when is that??!) I'll start creating photo books and noting milestones in baby journals again (once they are unpacked!) but for now, this is it!

Clearly, there have been some mighty big changes for our little family.  Most notably, we've "officially" moved into our new home, and Ethan has started preschool.  Both of these have, so far, been super positive.  Ethan ran out of his classroom this morning, gave me a huge hug and exclaimed, "I had sooooo much fun at school!"  Major relief for Mama!  He is eager to go back (more relief) and reports that he loves to play with the parking garage, is able to go "potty" on his own and pull up his pants, and that "you don't even have to paint if you don't want to!!"

We've been in our house for six days now.  The kids have adjusted remarkably well, with Ethan even sleeping in his own bed (for half the night at least!)  A huge milestone for those of you who know us well! Pete and I are loving having our own space again, and it's feeling really great to be part of a community.  Our neighbors all seems really nice and there is even a young family down the street with two boys almost the exact same ages as Ethan and Nate.  They've already become fast friends.  We're not quite sure how Barley is feeling about this place.  The hard wood floors (as we predicted) have given him some troubles, especially on the stairs.  Hoping to get some runners or something so he's more sure footed and happier!

Ethan also celebrated his fourth birthday with a John Deere themed party.  He had a blast, as did we!  Great weather, awesome friends and family always make for fantastic day!

To add to our week of "new things" (new house, new school) Ethan visited our new doctor for his four year check up.  As always, he had everyone at the office cracking up with his quirky little comments.  When the doc asked Ethan how he liked living in Trumbull he replied, "I really love it.  It's such a nice, quiet town."  What kid says this?  For the record, Ethan is weighing in at 43 lbs. and is 43 1/2 inches tall!

Nate is doing really well too.  He is such a cool little kid.  He laughs easily, recovers from tumbles easily, and just sort of goes with the flow.  He's getting better and better at keeping up with his brother (who he ADORES, by the way)  He has his own funny word for trucks- still can't figure out if it resembles anything recognizable- "bitchoo"  We've wondered if it's "pick up" but really have no clue.  But for now, "bitchoo" means truck!

So, there it is!  An extremely short synopsis of this extremely crazy, wonderful, scary, happy time in our lives!