When 2 Pictures can say a thousand words...

Then & Now: JUNE 2008 & JUNE 2009

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

DADDY WE LOVE YOU!

Daddy we love you for
all that you do.













We kiss you and hug you
'cause you love us too.
















You feed us and need us
and teach us to play.










So smile 'cause we love you.
on this Father's Day!

Love: Joe, Ryan, Caitlin & Madison

Round 2

This past week I experienced Round 2 of a virus that hit the babies about 6 weeks ago. Only this time I was flying solo- Joe was in Chicago most of the week. Not fun at all, but we survived. I took the babies to the pediatrician Wednesday for Ryan & Caitlin (lucky JP got to play at his friend's house). Ryan has another ear infection and Caitlin just has the fever & upper respiratory junk. So far, Madison has had a cold but no fever, so maybe we'll get lucky with her. They were doing much better today, so I hope everyone is on the mend.

Because of all the sickness, it was a pretty uneventful week around here. Today I took JP to a local toy store to spend a gift certificate he had gotten for his birthday. He was so excited and picked out 3 things: a bathtub volcano, a flashlight that shines images of animals, and a ball. As we were walking out of the store he said to me "Mom, when I grow up I'm going to own a store, but its not going to be a toy store." I said "why not?" "Because parents don't buy toys." "Then who buys toys?" "People like the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus."

This made my day for 3 reasons:

1. I love his entrepreneurial spirit. I also love that he changes what he wants to be when he grows up almost daily. So far this week it's been a kung fu teacher, a tornado storm chaser, and a store owner.

2. He doesn't just expect us to buy him toys. We must have done something right along the way.

3. My 6 year old still 100% believes in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. The magic of childhood continues.... :)

Here are some random pictures from the past week or so.

Cute boy in his plaid shorts

Their birthday present from Grandmom & Pop arrived- a double umbrella stroller! We're just about ready to take our first plane ride- yikes!

Maddi chillin under the grill.

JP having fun with bologna. It's the first time I've ever bought it and it may have been the 1st time JP ever ate it- he loved it of course!

Ryan telling me he's "all done!" with his meal.

She's almost got it! and other videos

It's been another busy week around here. We've gotten a new kitchen faucet and our carpets cleaned this week, both VERY exciting. We were without a kitchen faucet for 5 days and that was Tough! Washing 3 bibs and 3 trays alone 3x's a day was challenging with only tubs of water from the bathroom. It felt a like camping in our own home- and we're not exactly big campers. Thank you to Uncle Sean for installing our new one!! We got to see George & Anne on Monday night also, so that was great too!

On Tuesday the carpets got cleaned- every single one! Yay, we officially have no more formula anywhere in the house. We're making the babies drink their milk on the wooden floors now. Because even the sippy cup leak :(

All the kids are doing great. JP is officially on summer break and I love having "JP conversations" during the day again. Here are a couple that just make me laugh:

"Hey Mom. how fast do you have to go to make dust?"

"Hey Mom, do lions eat pigs?"

"Hey Mom, do you think Spongebob is living in that pineapple? (that I was about to cut up)" "Well maybe we could bring it to Florida and put it in the water and he'll move in" after I told him "Spongebob lives in a pineapple under the sea" :)

Every time I hear a Hey Mom... I know its going to be good.

Here's a few videos from yesterday & today.

I think we've figured out who is going to be walking first! Caitlin's on the go and Ryan started to stand on his own this week- he won't be too far behind.

Ryan learned a new word this week- uh oh.

JP loves to give train rides. Madison was not too happy she missed the departure!

Say Bye-Bye to the Bottles

What big kids!















I've been trying to get the babies used to sippy cups for awhile now, but nothing seemed to be working. Santa Claus brought them the kind that JP used to have- they didn't like those. The Easter Bunny brought them another kind closer shaped to a bottle- nope, those weren't good either. After reading how some kids like ones with straws, I finally found one that works! They like the Munchkin straw sippy cups. It took a few days for them all to "get it", but last Thursday I decided to go cold turkey- No More Bottles.

The doctor had told us to try and get them off bottles by 15 months. I was going to start off with sippys all day and a bottle before bed, but the more I thought about it I decided it would be easier on them if they just got all their milk from the same place. How differently I do things with 3 vs. 1!

They are all on milk now instead of formula. Even Maddi, who at first we thought was having some tolerance issues, is doing great. It was a little sad to move out of this stage of babyhood, but I must admit it felt great getting rid of the bottles and being able to see more of my countertop again!

On Sunday, JP and I headed to church for a CCD teacher appreciation mass. The kids got up in front of the church and sang "If I Was A Butterfly" for the congregation. He did so great acting out the motions and hamming it up for the crowd. Joe was trying to get some studying in for his final week of school, so after church I took all the kids over to Central Park. We had such a fun time. The babies loved getting up close to the jumping fountains. Next time, I'm definitely going to have to put them in swim diapers!

Here's a bunch of pictures from our fun afternoon:








Ryan thought the water was so cool!












Maddi managed to get the wettest!












































Brothers









Snack Time










Over to the Swings
















My Monkey




The afternoon storms were rolling in. Time to head home.