Happy National Ice Cream Day!

So, today wasn't just National Ice Cream Day... it was the day on which I braved the grocery store alone with two children for more than just a gallon of milk.  I must say, the boys did excellent!  Jack did have a minor freak out at the fact that there were NO car shopping carts.  The only way we made it into the store was by me carrying a 33 lb. 3 year old while pushing the cart with the 8 month old... ah, I was a site to see.

And of course, I couldn't go to the grocery store without getting ice cream to celebrate!  Here's Jack enjoying the treat after dinner:

And we can't leave Christopher out:

Playing with Daddy's Arnold Palmer while I cooked dinner!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone!  Here are some fun family pictures from our HOT day today!

Christopher hanging out on my back before our town's 4th of July parade!  I absolutely love being able to walk to our city's downtown from our house!

My favorite guys watching the parade... that's a yawn from Jack, not a surprised look.

Hot baby playing with the flag that was passed out... he & I walked home shortly after this shot.

Later that day after naps and lots of inside time, we went to the city's festivities at the park.

Me and my boys... Jack cheesing it up!

I love my silly little boy!

Daddy took Jack on a fair ride!  It was a fire truck that went around in circles... Jack LOVED it!

Jack's favorite ride was the train... he had to sit in the engine all three times he rode on it!

On the train!

Getting ready to leave... we lasted maybe an hour because it was so hot!

Today's plans were a bit spur of the moment because we were supposed to go to my grandma's but that was cancelled.  Please say some prayers for her as she's in the hospital and has a long road of recovery ahead of her.  Thanks!

Merry Christmas!

This was scheduled to be posted December 23rd, but somehow it didn't and I never noticed.  Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!  I'll post a Christmas follow-up soon I swear!

This year will be a big year for visiting family during the holidays.  Our Christmas celebrations started last weekend with Matt's grandma and a party out of town with our friends from college.  When we were celebrating with Matt's grandma, we got to participate in a Polish tradition of breaking of the bread.  The wafers are similar in consistency to communion wafers.  We each got a wafer and then went around the room breaking pieces off of each other's wafers while we exchanged well-wishes for the holidays and upcoming year!  It was a very neat tradition in which to participate and we might keep it up each year... it is something that they did with extended family when Matt was younger but haven't done in years.

Jack holding his youngest cousin, Evan.

Jack, Evan and Christopher... they're all making strange faces but at least their eyes are open!

Matt with our youngest nephew and Christopher!

Jack giving his great-grandma (Busie, a Polish nickname for grandma) a kiss!

My sister-in-law with her son Evan and me holding Christopher... both babies were all tuckered out!

Actually the celebrations started with Jack's Christmas program and party at school.  Of course we have decorated our tree too!

Matt with the boys while Jack enjoys snacks at his Christmas party!

Jack putting one of his snowman ornaments on our tree!

Getting to put the angel topper on our tree!

Ta-da!

My company does a childrens' holiday party every year... definitely beats the lines at the mall to see Santa!  Mommy had to be in the picture because Jack wasn't so sure about Santa.  Santa also appears to have never held a baby before...

We continue into this weekend with a day trip to Indiana to celebrate with my Mom's side of the family; all of my cousins will be in town which is quite the accomplishment considering 1 lives internationally and 2 more live out west!  Christmas day will be jam packed as well waking up at home then going just across town to my in-laws' and my parents' homes. 

This is Jack enjoying the train that goes around my parents' Christmas tree.

The day after Christmas I'll be headed on a couple hour trip with the boys to visit with my dad's side of the family, unfortunately Matt has to work.

How are you celebrating this Christmas season?

Oh, Christmas Tree!

One of my favorite family traditions is having a fresh cut Christmas tree in the house!  We have a local Christmas tree farm that is only open one weekend a year.  It is a family operation and they always have a great selection!  Very excited to get our tree set-up and decorated, but here are the pictures from the Christmas tree excursion!

Our tree is right behind us... it's about 6 ft tall, which is kind of small, but our living room has been overcrowded with "enough" toys & gear for two boys!

Matt cut down the tree but then Jack wanted to help, so my sister held the tree up so Jack could help Daddy cut it down "again".  Jack's response after my sister let it fall... "Do it again!"  He's on to us...

My almost 2 1/2 year old little boy looks SO old wearing one of Daddy's winter hats... he must have a big head!

Baby bear Christopher all snuggled up in his little pram/coverall... he slept the whole time!  So snuggly!

My sister has come with us when we go to the tree farm... it's definitely helpful to have an extra set of hands when Jack is running around the field (that little guy is FAST)!

Fall Tradition Weekend!

I love fall weather, especially being 36 weeks pregnant!  The temperature is great, the leaves starting to change and even the bare trees after the leaves fall are beautiful!

Last year we started a new family tradition of going to pick apples and pumpkins before Halloween.  It really started because it was our first Halloween in our house and I really wanted to take Jack to a pumpkin patch.  Of course my husband had no recommendations, even though he was born & raised in the area, so we went off of the recommendations of a few friends.  Decided to do the apple picking while we were there to get pumpkins... might as well, right?  I had actually never been apple picking. 

Last year we did the wagon ride/tour and just picked one apple each to eat during our trip then bought some from the main market afterwards to take home.  This year we decided against the bumpy wagon ride with the fact that I'm 36 weeks pregnant and opted to drive right to the orchard to pick a bag for ourselves!  The fact that Jack was older and could be an active participant in the picking certainly helped.  The weather was a balmy 40 degrees when we headed out to the fruit farm, so we had to bundle up a bit.  It actually didn't feel so bad towards the end of our trip since it was so sunny!

Here are pictures from picking our very large pumpkins:

Father-son trek over the pumpkin vines!  P.S. I think this picture makes my son look very old!

Running to find pumpkins... there were so many he would've taken them all!

Sitting in our trunk after we decided on the two perfect pumpkins to take straight off the vine!  It was sunny so he was trying not to look up (even though I was below his eye level to take the picture).  I bet these will look amazing once carved!

Then we headed over to the apple orchard section to pick our small 10 pound bag to take home!  This weekend they had red delicious and golden delicious (as well as Jonathan, but we didn't get any of those) to pick.  Anyone have some amazing apple recipes?  Feel free to share because I don't know how all 3 of us are going to eat these apples!  (Yes, we've already started to give some to neighbors & family.)

Getting a golden delicious right at his level... some low hanging fruit for the little guy!

Daddy helping him reach a red delicious apple that was much higher!

Both of those pictures I have of him picking apples he looks so serious... I think it was because he was trying to pull so hard to get them off!

I'm very excited that the hats I got for Jack and baby's Halloween costumes arrived yesterday!  Stay tuned for Halloween pictures... sorry, you'll have to wait a few weeks!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  I know mine ended up being extremely relaxing... much needed after my crazy work week last week!  This week will likely be just as busy at work, but I am very excited for my doctor's appointment on Tuesday!  Last week (36 week check-up) I was 2 cm dilated though not effaced at all but my doctor wants to do an ultrasound to check on the baby's size to ensure I won't have a baby that's "too big" this time.  (Jack wasn't technically too big, but his larger size probably didn't help my delivery.)  Hopefully I'll have some ultrasound pictures to scan and show off!

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Boy!

Today is your 2nd birthday, Jack!  I'm so lucky to get to be your mom every single day, even though it seems as you're getting into the "terrible twos" more and more.  Today you're actually sick with strep throat and you've got a terrible cough to go with it.  It breaks my heart every time you cough and are in pain, but you seem to smile and act goofy through it all!

We're having a Mickey Mouse birthday party for you this weekend (on Father's Day) because you love to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse every morning with Daddy (and any other time you ask us to put in the DVD).  You're almost starting to outgrow Mickey Mouse, in favor or "bigger" and "better" things like Toy Story (Woody & Buzz) and [race] Cars (Mater is your favorite), but you're just showing your strong personality!  That's ok I suppose, even if that means your personality is growing up a little bit...

You are all boy!  Your favorite toys are planes, trains & automobiles... basically anything with wheels or that "goes"!  You are especially fond of construction trucks, because somehow you already know they are louder than other vehicles.  You loved riding on the airplane this past week to go to Texas, and you were quite the awesome traveler!  You made Mommy very proud, even when yelling "Blast off" over & over as our 6:30 am flight was taking off!  Another way you are "all boy", Grandma took you to McDonald's earlier this spring and you saw a baby in an infant car seat... at first you were sweet and introducing yourself to the baby, then you started to growl at the baby!  You're so silly... you must get it from your Daddy!

Mommy and Daddy love you very much big boy!  I can't wait to watch you grow up for many many years to come!

Memorial Day Weekend!

Happy Memorial Day everyone!  A special thank you to all of those serving in our armed forces.  My cousin and his wife are both in the military as well as a number of family friends who serve our country.  Thank you for all that you do for us!

We've had a fun, very full, long weekend!  I'm so thankful my company [usually] gives us an early release before a big holiday weekend. 

Friday I got off work at 2... okay didn't leave until 2:30 pm, but that's still way earlier than 5!  We had my little brother's high school graduation Baccalaureate Mass that evening, so instead of wrestling him throughout Mass, he went to our friend's house to hang with them and their little girls.  Mass was really nice for all of the graduates!  That evening we didn't get home until after 10... Jack luckily fell asleep on the way home, so it was straight into bed for him!  (See previous post on his new fight to go to sleep at night)

Saturday was a little more low key, but relatively productive!  We got some family time in that morning and, when Jack went down for a nap, I got to run a few errands while my amazing husband mowed grass and did some laundry!  I got to get a birthday gift for a party later that day, and had fun picking out items for my friend's baby shower gift!  Jack & I are going down in a week & a half to visit and attend her baby shower... she's planning on cloth diapering her little guy so it was a LOT of fun to buy for a new baby!  (That will have to be another post on what I chose to get her.)  Saturday evening, we attended the birthday party for the first of our "baby crew" who turned two!  (Baby crew = there are 4 of our friends' kids all born within 3-4 weeks of each other; 3 boys and 1 girl) It was a blast of course!  Jack had a cupcake and even "jumped" on their full-sized trampoline!

Jumping doesn't quite involve both feet off the ground at the same time, but it still got lots of giggles!

My son eating a cupcake... not only did he get icing on his face, but he smeared it up by his eyes using his hands.  Hence, why I had to take over holding the cupcake!

Sunday was my baby brother's high school graduation!  He's the 4th, and final, of all of us to have graduated from a Catholic high school!  I was the only one who attended public school during my K-12 education, simply because there wasn't a Catholic school in one town in which we lived.  A big thanks to my mom & dad for putting us all through Catholic schools... Matt and I hope to be able to share that experience with our children when they reach school age, because we both loved our Catholic school experiences!  It was really neat at the graduation to hear of the family who had their 11 or 12th (and youngest) child graduating Catholic school, for a grand total of 30 years of Catholic education amongst their kids!  Amazing!  But anyway, congrats to my baby brother on his high school graduation and good luck in college!  We all know you'll do great!  We went out to lunch to celebrate, and of course Jack wouldn't sit down at the table for more than 5 minutes, and even begged Daddy to do a few laps outside Olive Garden.  But he did ask the waitress for milk very politely by saying "malk peese"... who can resist that?

You can tell it was a hot couple of laps around Olive Garden... sucked about half of that milk down without taking his mouth off the straw!

Mommy got some snuggles with her baby boy that evening!  Is it just me or does my belly look huge in this picture?  Only about 18 & a half weeks along...

Today has been very full, and we did it by our choosing!  We went to the zoo for about an hour & a half this morning.  Yup, only an hour & a half, but we have passes and it was HOT.  This pregnant mama and her toddler got really hot, pretty quickly!  Oh well, that is why we'll always get passes to the zoo... no need to fit everything in during one visit!  After Jack's afternoon nap, we made an appearance at Matt's boss' annual Memorial Day cookout.  Jack and I went swimming... and he LOVED it!

Point to the (grizzly?) bear!  I love how close he can get to the animals at our zoo!

Enjoying the pool... the water was the perfect temperature for me!

Playing some pool basketball!  Much to Jack's disappointment, I could only life 30 pounds above my head a handful of times so he could put the ball through the hoop.

The conclusion after this weekend: it is going to be one fun summer!

Happy Easter!

We went to an Easter egg hunt yesterday with some friends!  Here is quite possibly the cutest kid thoroughly enjoying himself!

What's an event (or just an ordinary day) with my son without a cookie?

Shaking the eggs because they had candy and "monies" in it!  He was thrilled to find the coins to go into his bank at home!

Finally getting the concept of putting the eggs in his basket, instead of just being happy with shaking one!

My happy boy!

Hope everyone has a very blessed Easter!