Happy Thanksgiving!

So thankful today and every day!  I'm so glad we are all healthy and were able to celebrate with both sides of our family today.  It was wonderful!

Max was in heaven because he had people to play Battleship and Uno with - Mommy and Daddy were in heaven too because it wasn't us :)

 The cousins were in town so there was lots of fun.  The boys thought the Macy's parade was pretty neat - especially the cirque de soleil pirate ship float.  They looked too cute in this chair watching together.

Jack had so much fun playing with gandpa Jack.  This cute little bus has been a hit for all three of my kids.  But I have to say that this little peg game with Great Grandma was his favorite part of the day.  He would have stood there with her for hours just putting those little pegs in and pulling them back out again.

 Daddy's shoulders are Will's favorite place to be.  Each night Brian takes him up to bed on his shoulders.  Will thinks it's extra funny when he covers Daddy's eyes.  I don't think Daddy always finds that part so funny.

 While it isn't all the kids I think they make a pretty cute group together.

After a yummy meal and lots of fun and grandma and grandpa's we headed over to Nonna and Nonno's house.  Today was even extra special because Aunt Sue, Uncle Will and sweet cousin Madeline were in town.  Jack and Maddie were born on the very same day - just four hours and about 1,500 miles apart.  It was too cute to watch them chase each other all over the house.

Once again my mom made us all say what we are thankful for.  Growing up as an only child it is fun to now have a father and two brothers, not to mention a sister in law and a Josie:)  I love how much my family has grown from the days of just mom and I.  Such and amazing holiday and I look forward to many more to come!

Thanksgiving Take One

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving with my extended family.  It's a bit early, but it was so nice.  No one had to rush off to another meal and everyone hung out for quite a while.  We even played a game of Trivial Pursuit.  Max was the official roller and I was reminded once again that I am awful at Trivial pursuit.

 Sweet Baby Jack took turns hanging out with Aunt Anna and Nonna.  I don't think he could decide who he liked more.  Max was the big man playing with toys and watching a bit of TV. 

After Trivial Pursuit Max really wanted to play Go Fish.  It was too cute.  Too bad Jack kept messing things up.

It was another wonderful holiday.  Before grace my mom made us join hands and say what we were thankful for.  I think it was pretty unanimous that we are all very thankful for the family in our lives.  I may have rolled my eyes a bit at moms suggestion, but it was really sweet.  Family is so important and I'm so happy that my boys are surrounded by such wonderful family members.  We truly do have so much to be grateful for!

18 Months

Wow.  A year and a half already?  I just can't believe it.  I feel like I can barely remember life before Jack joined our family, but then again it feels like just yesterday I was longing for him to be born.  Crazy how things work like that.

So eighteen months in and he is doing great!  This little man has no fear.  Gross motor things are a bit tough for Jack, but that doesn't slow him down.  He keeps up with his brothers and climbs on everything!  One day I was doing dishes and looked up to see him standing in the middle of the table on the screened in porch.  He was so proud!  He was clapping and yelling yay.  It was so cute - too bad I have to discourage that kind of thing.

He loves having me all to himself on the mornings when Will is at school.  We run errands, hit the gym, and once a week we go over to the early childhood center for a play class.  It's so funny to watch him at hte play class.  I can tell that his brother rub off on him.  He gets a bit ticked when other kids try to get in his space.  At least I know he can stand up for himself, as for the pushing we will have to work on that one.  I don't get a lot of one on one time with my baby, so I enjoy this so much.

He is talking up a storm.  Sometimes Brian and I look at each other and question if he really just said that. Some of the words that come out are just so clear. He probably has about thirty or so words and he is beginning to put things together - like when he insists "I see" when Nonna gets out he ipad.

His eighteen month check up went well.  He continues to be long and lean like his big brother Max - 85th for height and 50th for weight.  One of his favorite things to do is color.  He especially loves to use markers, although I think part of the fun is just taking the cap off and putting it back on again.

I have to thank cousin Marichu for this gorgeous picture.  It sure if nice to have a talented photographer in the family now.  Too bad she lives so far away.  I guess she should just visit more often :)

Things Will Says

This little man is such a ham.  I know I'm partial being his mom and all, but he is the funniest kid on the face of the Earth.  No lie.

 While sitting at the table for dinner the other night and wearing a compass around his neck:
Will: "Let me see what my compass says. . . "
Will looks intently at his compass
Will: "Time for dinner!"

In the basement on November 15thish - when the Halloween candy was making me crazy. Jack is upstairs napping

Will finds Easter baskets in the storage area while I'm doing laundry.  He goes upstairs to find the bucket of candy that is still left and puts the candy in the baskets.  All the while he begs for just one more piece.  Ten minutes later he finds a cooler and puts all the candy in the cooler.

Mommy: "Will stop with the candy.  NO MORE CANDY!!"
Will: "Shhhhhh Mommy, you will wake up Jack."

That evening the candy went in the trash after each kid picked three more pieces.

 This morning when Daddy is getting ready for work Will walks in sucking his thumb. 

Brian: "Can I have some of that thumb."
Will: "No Daddy, that's my thumb."
Brian: "I'll share my thumb" said while holding out his thumb to Will
Will: "Your thumb is too hairy Daddy!"

Each and every day with this little one is an adventure.  He can make me crazy one moment and crack me up like no one else.  I need to do a better job of documenting his hilarious comments.

Happy Halloween - a bit late

 From the Man in the Yellow Hat, Curious George, and Mario!  I love these three so much that it hurts.  Every day with them is just so fun - well unless someone is sick, or pushing my buttons :)

Our sweet Mario was too excited to sit still for an individual picture.  He knew what was going to happen and he couldn't wait.  I love how his hat is too small for his head.  Max has one big noggin!

Poor Curious Goerge's outfit was a tad bit small.  I didn't quite get around to making a bigger version - I couldn't' find a brown goodie in his size.  He looked pretty cute anyway.

And this guy - let's just say he was quite the ham.  We deicded we all wanted to go trick or treating so we left a bowl of candy on the porch, loaded up the wagon, and headed out.  Max and Will had so much fun going door to door.  After a few houses Max was confident enough to say a joke - How do you make a tissue dance?      You put a little boogie in it :)

Will didn't take any time to warm up at all.  He was Mr. Personality from house one.  I think our favorite was the 90+ year old man down the street.  He had quite a few leaves in his front yard.  Whne he answered the door Will started going on and on about how he needed to cut his grass and it was sooooo long.  The sweet old man didn't have the best hearing so he just said "I don't hear so well, Happy Halloween!"  Will tried three more times to tell him to cut his grass and eventually gave up.  It was pretty cute.

Will's Halloween Party

So much fun.  That just about sums up Will's Halloween party at school.  It was too cute.  The kids put on their costumes and paraded around the building.  Our little man in the yellow hat was a bit shy, but one of his sweet teachers helped him out. 

 After the parade the kids all went to the little gym to sing some songs they have learned.  Will cracked me up by sitting like this pretty much the entire time.  His mouth didn't open once.  Normally he is so animated it was strange to see him being more reserved.

After songs we went back to his classroom for a snack.  He devoured that giant pumpkin cookie.  It was so funny to see all these little kids eat such huge cookies.

With full little tummies we headed to the big gym for games.  I think we over-planned on the games.  The kids barely got through two of the five games we had planned.  It was so much fun to watch Will at his school.  He is really thriving there.  We just met with his teacher last week and she had great things to day.  He has adjusted really well and does a great job listening - too bad the same doesn't hold true at home.  He is kind to his classmates and attends well to the activities.  We are going to visit our favorite speech therapist, Miss Lolo, to help him out a bit.  He didn't qualify for anything through the school district, but we think he can use a little extra support there.  Will has grown so much since we started preschool.  I can't wait to see how much he continues to grow as the school year progresses.

Halloween Bash

Every year Aunt Carm and Uncle Mike's Halloween party just gets better and better.  This is was no exception.  In addition to all the usual suspects, cousin Butch, his wife Marichu, MJ, and Uncle Butch were all in town!

Since we missed Butch and Marichu's wedding party Saturday night we were thrilled to be able to catch up with them on Sunday evening. 

Will cracked us up eating these pretzels.  They were crazy hot and he couldn't get enough of them.  I think he sat at that bowl until every last pretzel was gone.

Jack really did have more fun that it looks like.  Since it was so hot we didn't put the kids in their costumes.  He had a great time wandering around and chasing all the big kids.  I love that this family party has six kids under seven.  It's so much fun to watch them play and interact!

The boys  just love their Aunt Carm and their Nonna.  Watching them snuggle up was just too cute.

Max was a total trooper.  He was the star of the party with his cast and sling.  He did a good job putting on a brave face.  Eventually it started to hurt, but some medicine helped make it all better.  Well medicine and a smore.  He had been talking for weeks about the smores that Aunt Carm and Uncle Mike would have at their party.  In fact when he was screaming out in pain during his xrays I kept telling him to think about the smores.