7 months!?!?!?!

What in the world! Please make time stop. I can’t believe my baby is seven months old. It’s crazy!

I mean, I can’t believe I looked like this 8 month ago.

Yes world, you’re welcome for that beautiful belly shot. I love a pregnant belly.

This was on her six month check up. She’s pretty much 30% for weight, height and head circumference. Here’s some other stats you need to know about Poppy…

 Poppy appreciates a variety of reading literature.

She is so much fun to be around.

Seriously, when she naps I find Sebastian trying to wake her up he wants to hang out with her so badly.

She loves her brother. He gives her lots of sweet hugs and lots of scary tight hugs.

Poppy is also rolling all over the place. She has strong legs and loves to stand up on them, even though she has no balance. Poppy is an excellent pureed food eater. She will eat anything and eats it fast like we are just teasing her with or something. She also has very strong quick arms. Poppy loves to pull things close to face then chew on it a little bit. She’s gotten in position to crawl but hasn’t started yet. She will sit up by herself for a few seconds then falls over. She will smile at anyone who giver her eye contact. She loves to cuddle but will also play independently. She’s laid-back. Great sleeper and napper. Our princess Poppy has lots of nicknames… Popsicle, popstar, poptart, popalicious pop, Princess Penelope, my girl, and daddys girl. Yup, she’s pretty much a very joyful amazing baby. I’m so honored to be her momma.

And here’s a quick update on this guy…

He loves to dance to all genres of music.

He enjoys the small things in life like jumping in a good puddle.

He’s been potty trained for about a month now!

Other facts- He loves all things transportation- cars, trains, scooters, ambulances, airplanes, buses etc. He knows most the letters of the alphabet upper and lowercase by sight recognition. He knows the sounds of probably half. He has a great sense of humor. He tells everyone that he kissed Dora on the beach. He can be kind of a picky eater.  His favorites are pizza and pasta just like his daddy. He’s kind of an early riser but a good sleeper and napper overall. He adores his sister. His nicknames are Bashin, Ba Shon, Super Sebastian and our handsome little man. He is one cool dude. We are so proud of him.

P.S. We are going to the beach tomorrow for two weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!! So. excited.

Grafton, Vermont

A few weeks ago, Chris and I went on a marriage retreat with our church. It was in Grafton, Vermont. Grafton is a picturesque little town in Vermont best know for their amazing cheeses and maple syrup. The theme for the weekend was practicing gladness in marriage and having fun with your spouse. You can bring your kids and for a small fee their is childcare for the majority of the weekend. The weekend was structured to give you lots of free time with your spouse. There are some facilitated small group sessions but the majority of the day Saturday is laid back. Just enjoy yourself.

If there is anyone I could hang out with to stay in or go out or travel with, hands down it would be with my man. We are always laughing together and truly enjoy each others company. What a blessing! It was a great weekend to have some nice long conversations. I feel lately for us when you have kids and busy schedules conversations can get very business like. For example, lots of conversations like this… What’s for dinner? I’m so tired. Are the kids already in bed? What are we doing this weekend? I’m so tired. What time are you coming home? I need you to watch the kids on blah date? And I’m exhausted. No, we aren’t usually this tired but my sweet husband has been moonlighting so we can stay in our apartment. (Long side story for another post) So basically he works a full work week and then does additional shifts from 7a-7p on Saturday and Sunday every other weekend this month. Also, he’s been working in the cath lab getting home around 6:30-7 during the week.

OK, back to Vermont. We stayed at the beautiful Grafton Inn.

We went on  a nice bike ride across covered bridges.

Sunday we had a fun family day. Sebastian picked me flowers! Sweet boy.

We stopped by a farm and tasted more cheese.

We spent a lot of time outside. Love my girl.

And we even went on a short hike with the kids before heading back to the city. Vermont is awesome!

Oh, and I snagged all these goodies for $7 from a flea market we saw on the side of the road. Score.

Charleston, SC

Last month I traveled solo to Charleston to visit my sister, my precious nephew and my parents. I absolutely love Charleston. It’s a beautiful southern city with charm, good shopping, stunning homes, beaches and amazing restaurants. I flew in on a Friday, we just hung out and played in the yard. Saturday, we went to an awesome farmers market then ate dinner at one of my favorite places, Poe’s Tavern. Sunday we relaxed on the beach. Monday we went shopping and Tuesday we flew home. Even though it was completely exhausting flying by myself with one infant and one potty training toddler, it was totally worth it. I love spending time with my momma and sister. Also, it brings me such joy to watch Sebastian and Connor play together. Those two always have the best time together.

Because I’m leaving for the beach in the morning, I’m trying to crank out some much needed posts which means…. I’m doing another slide show. Enjoy.

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Marblehead, MA

A few weeks ago, on a sunny but windy Saturday we took the kids to a beautiful little beach town called Marblehead about a 30 minute drive from downtown. We had so much fun playing on the beach, reading, and exploring this quaint little New England beach town. Here’s a slide show because I hear my little ones waking up from nap.

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Go Red Sox!

Well, the Red Sox are playing again which means several things to us.

The T is going to be massively crowded. This is our main source of transportation and when there is a game it’s crazy. This was on our way home from church. OK- not the best picture but we seriously can’t move. (how cute is my little nose picker though?)

We live two blocks from Fenway stadium and a two minute walk so the streets are always really crowded game day. This was the same day on our way home from church.

However, despite the chaos, it really means we have great family fun. Beth Israel Deaconess, the hospital Chris works for,  is the official hospital of the Red Sox which means anyone with a BI can get two tickets per i.d. for $5 about 30 minutes after the game starts. So we get to go a lot of games.

Chris took Sebastian to the opening game of the season.

We went to a games with some friends a few weeks ago.

my handsome men.

We have such a great time. The nice thing is we only pay $10 for our whole family to go. If it’s a complete failure because kids are tired melting down etc we can be home in 5 minutes. But the kids love it.

Sebastian loved driving the baseball car.

Go Red Sox! Hopefully this season will have a better ending than last year.

Boston Marathon

Well, I’ve been slacking in blogland. I usually try to blog during the kids naptime or at night. Lately, I’ve been obsessing over this little known series called The Hunger Games. I’m almost done with the third book and I started the series just about two weeks ago.  It’s amazing what you and can’t get done when you put your mind to something. Also, I’m kind of loving some instagram, which is an app on your phone that allows to take an ordinary picture and make it look fabulous through these cool filters.

Anyways, so much to catch up on… about a month ago we witnessed our first Boston Marathon. The day before the marathon I ran a 5K with some friends. It is a short fun run around downtown Boston and in the Back Bay. While running this 5K you finish at the same spot on Boylston as the runners who run the marathon the next day. It will definitely be the only time I’ll ever cross the finish line for the Boston Marathon. Ha!

Here is a picture right before the start of the race.

The kids weren’t too impressed.

The day next day, we picked out a perfect spot down on Commonwealth Avenue to watch the runners. Patriot’s Day, which is the third Monday in April, is a holiday for Massachusetts. Luckily, for us Chris had the day off as well. We were in Europe last year and missed the race. Such a bummer too because our tiny 720sqft apartment was on Commonwealth and was on the course.

The Boston Marathon is one of the toughest marathons in the world to qualify to run. Prospective runners in the age range of 18–34 must run a time of no more than 3:05:00 (3 hours and 5 minutes) if male, or 3:35:00 (3 hours and 35 minutes) if female; the qualifying time is adjusted upward as age increases. Pretty sure my pace could never do that. Anyways… here are some shots we got from the day.

The kids having fun.

On our way home passing more runners.

It was truly so inspiring to see the runners who have trained so hard come running by. We also saw some wheelchair runners and blind runners. It was amazing.

Happy Mother’s Day!!!! (Hacked Guest Post)

Technically this is our family blog, so me adding a post without Audra’s knowledge shouldn’t count as being hacked but that is what happens when you have the computer remember your password.

Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful bride Audra, my mother and mother-in-law. Also a special inclusion to my sister Michelle and sister-in-law Natalie. Rare is it that a man has such amazing woman in his life, but I am that lucky man.

Audra is such an amazing mother, as anyone who has read this blog already knows. To our children, she gives so much without expecting anything in return. I have the utmost confidence in everything she does with our children and as a result of her love, they absolutely adore her. I used to get jealous when Sebastian would choose Mommy over Daddy for every little thing, then I realized I would pick Mommy over Daddy too. Through thick and thin, despite exhaustion and when she could really use a break, she always goes the extra mile for our kids. I fall in love with her more every day watching her with them.

Babe, we love you soooo muuuucccchhhh!!! (In Sebastian words)

I have also been blessed to have such an amazing mother. I see so much of how Audra treats our children in how my mom related to me and my sisters. Sacrificial love, consistency and amazing cook come to mind every time. I am confident I would not be the man I am today without her.

Lastly, Elane is such a great mother-in-law. Some son-in-laws may not like their MIL, but Elane really is great and I am so lucky to have her in my life. If there is anything we ever need, I know she would be the first one here. You rock!

Michelle, you are doing an awesome job with 2 and can’t wait to meet number 3. Natalie, keep up the hard work, you are a machine.

Chris

More on Easter week…

Well, it’s been busy around here which means I get really behind on the blog. A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of Chris’ parents stopping in town for a quick trip. We had a blast with them. We love then family comes to visit. We spent one morning in Charlestown Navy Yard.  Sebastian loved seeing the big ships. He kept calling the remake of this ship a pirate boat.

 I even got to go to Costco and Target by myself one afternoon, which was a treat for me. The next day we all went to a fabulous Easter playdate hosted by my friend Brittany. She is the best hostess! She made the cutest goodie bags and snack arrangements for the kids.  We also went on a fun Easter egg hunt.

That Friday evening we walked around downtown.

The next day they left early in the morning. The kids had so much fun hanging out with their Grandma and Nonno.

We continued celebrating Easter weekend with another egg hunt in Roslindale. This is Chris strategizing with Sebastian.

Sebastian was supposed to be lined behind the tape with the other kids. When they blew the horn everyone took off and Chris dropped Sebastian on the other side of the  fence. Chris went in with Sebastian so he didn’t get trampled. It was a madhouse!!! I swear my parents yard was bigger than the space for this egg hunt. All of the eggs were in 30 seconds.

Also, at the egg hunt Poppy met the Mayor of Boston. He confirmed what Chris and I had been thinking for the past six months. She is the smartest, sweetest most beautiful girl in Boston.

We then Stop at the park and Poppy gets her first swing ride.

The next day was Easter and here are some pics of the kids in our courtyard.

Sebastian wanted to hold her.

Then got tired of her holding after 5 seconds.

And pushes her to the ground.

Well, at least I got one good photo from the day. Aren’t they beautiful? I love them to pieces.

Happy Easter

 This week has been filled with lots of Easter egg hunts and time with family and friends. Chris’s parents were in town for a few days this week. We had fun with them as you’ll see in a blog post coming soon.

We  wanted to wish everyone a happy Easter. Despite all of the plastic eggs and candy, we are so grateful to celebrate the true meaning of Easter, which is the fact that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead so we can have eternal life one day with him. This is the true celebration this week, month and year after year.

Thank you Lord for all you have given us. We are so incredibly blessed beyond measure.

Music Class

For the past few months we have been going to a music class in the Old South Church in Copley Square. Sebastian has a blast every week. He loves playing instruments, dancing, singing and parachuting. The class ended last week but we start again in a few weeks. One nice perk is that Poppy can join her big brother for free in the class until she turns one. Sebastian loves having her in there. Every time we sing our hello song he says “hello Poppy Hello Poppy!” just reminding everyone not to forget her. He will always bring her an instrument when they put them out. He is such a good big brother.

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Here’s a little video of him standing in awe of the parachute and all its glory. I know video is sideways, I forgot I have to turn it a certain way when recording.  for it to look right on the blog.

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