Happy Halloween

On the eve of Halloween, we set out to add some carved pumpkins to our little family of pumpkins. So I asked the boys to show me what they wanted their pumpkins to look like.

Connor's scary face

Garrett's Scary Face So maybe I made the jack-o-lanterns a little happier looking because my boys faces were too scary to duplicate. We had so much fun last year that we had to return to the Walsh household for some more trick or treating this year. Actually, we invited ourselves over and thank goodness they let us come because their neighborhood is awesome. Everyone got dressed up and below is our little Emily as a cupcake. Connor was the perfect firefighter and Garrett was supposed to be Luke Skywalker but at the last minute decided on becoming Bob the Builder instead. I personally think they looked great. Brotherly love...I cherish every moment.
We trick or treated for hours (including Emily) in the cold and you should have seen the amount of candy we brought home. There is one house which is decorated and so spooky that all the neighborhood kids run away from it. Well, the boys were so brave and we made it all the way up to the porch to get candy and then ran out of there. Candy is a very motivating factor.

Newport - October 23-24, 2010

For Grandma's birthday, we asked her if she would come with us on a little trip to Newport, RI and babysit the kids for us while we went to a party. Of course, Grandma being as generous, giving and selfless as always agreed to come. Papa was happy to oblige when I asked him to join us, to try to make Grandma's birthday a little special. After checking into the hotel, we headed off to have some lunch. As you can see, Emily found Grandma and Papa to be hysterical.

Newport is a great town to walk around with so many fun little shops, piers and historical buildings. Of course, Dad ran across a street to get his picture taken in front of the "Best of British" store. Anything to rub it in to Brian...

This was the crew walking the streets of Newport.

So we went to Kristen & Chris's Anniversary party on Saturday night which was spectacularly planned and executed. It was a beautiful evening and so much fun. Of course, Kristen thought of everything and even had an after party planned. One of my favorite moments was when Brian went to look at something on the dance floor - there were a bunch of girls celebrating a bachelorette party at the time. As he went over to the dance floor, one of the girls came dancing up to him and the picture below is his face as it happened. Unfortunately, the girl was just to the right of my picture. Brian got so nervous he ran back to our table laughing.

The next day we decided to walk around and enjoy the Newport piers. We saw a lobster the size of Garrett, went into all the cute shops and enjoyed the views. At the end of one of the piers, there were white reclining chairs to relax on. As we were all enjoying the moment, Garrett asked Brian if he could run down a ramp. Brian explained to Garrett that there was a sign saying "private" and we were not allowed to use the ramp. Garrett turned to Brian and said "but Daddy I have privates." Enough said.

Grandma bought the boys a football and they were hysterical playing down the streets of Newport. Of course, Papa was in on the action and at one point they all managed to get a crowd to applaud their most recent pass play.

It was a fun weekend and we were happy that Papa even came back home with us to spend another day with Grandma and the kids. Since all my pictures seem to be us walking around, you never get to see Emily. You couldn't ask for a better little girl. She never makes a fuss and goes along with the program no matter what we do. Thank you for being our little angel. Here you are one day hanging out with Grandma while the boys were sleeping.

Beautiful!

Weekend before heading back to work

Brian is away at Kung Fu camp and Nana came for a visit to keep me occupied. I had to keep myself very busy during my last weekend on maternity leave because I just didn't want to think of having to go to work instead of being home with the kids. We decided to head to the local farm to pick some pumpkins and apples. Those are some cute apples in that tree.
The boys were quick to climb the hay stacks and pose for a picture.

Connor insisted on getting his face painted - How do you like my pumpkin?

Garrett was drawn to the ponies and couldn't wait to go for a ride. He looked like a natural during his ride. As you can see, Emily went for a walk next to the pony.

A funny thing happened on the way to pick our pumpkins. We decided to walk around the pumpkin patch to find the very best pumpkins. We were all doing fine and I was following the boys around with Emily in the sling when all of a sudden my foot sunk into the ground. I quickly pulled my foot up and all I see is my sock on my foot. I call Nana over since I can't bend over because of the sling. She comes running over and I explain that my shoe is in the ground. Nana looks at me like I am crazy because exactly where I am pointing there is absolutely no shoe just mud. Basically, when I pulled my foot out, the mud acted like quicksand and covered over the shoe. Nana thinks I am kidding around until she realizes I am not wearing a shoe. As always, we hatch a crazy plan. We grab a Ziploc bag out of the diaper bag and Nana puts it on her hand. Believe it or not Nana reached in and pulled out my shoe. Obviously, I didn't put the shoe back on - I was the only one that left the farm with an apple picking bag wrapped around her foot. Every time I think about this I start to laugh. We had to take a picture of Nana with her new found treasure.

We had a blast all weekend and then the sad day of returning to work arrived!

Garrett is 3!

In the blink of an eye, time has passed and our munchkin Garrett is turning 3. Seriously...how is that possible. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise since he can tell stories, sing full songs and has the coordination of a professional athlete. As you can imagine, with three kids you definitely have your hands full but no one is better at multi-tasking than Grandma. She is the ultimate wonder woman. Here they are after lunch enjoying a book. Take a look and you will see how Garrett has his arm wrapped around Emily.
I guess we have to admit there are a few perks of not living close to everyone and at birthday time the kids love that every day is like Christmas. You open the front door and another present has arrived. Garrett was so excited.

He also found it helpful to have an older brother who can power through the wrapping paper when the presents have been taped up nice and tight.

Here is a little fact about Garrett - he loves sweets (and butter but that is for another topic). Anything that contains chocolate or sugar he will eat and savor. Of course, other foods we have to play games with to get him to eat. So when he hears it is Birthday time, his only concern is will he get the first piece or the second piece of cake when it is cut. As you can see from his grin, he couldn't wait to dig into his very own ice cream cake.

Emily as always loves watching her brothers and they can even make her laugh now. I mean a full belly laugh which then makes us giggle. Our little girl has the best personality - smiling all the time and the giggles are priceless. The funniest part is when the boys are napping we think Emily is constantly looking around for them because it is too quiet. Look at how much she has grown. I love kissing those cheeks and thighs.

Sports and School Fun

We are now in full swing of fall sports and the boys are enjoying their new activities. Garrett was signed up for soccer.
He paid attention.

Learned to dribble the ball but then he looked to see what his big brother was doing. Connor was off playing with Jake (a buddy from his soccer days) and they were running around like mad men...playing a little soccer, tag and just running. Of course, Garrett thought this was great so he was off and running too. So our quest to play soccer turned into a play date with Jake and Charlie (Jake's brother who is Garrett's age). At least they had fun and lots of exercise.

Connor was signed up for T-ball and he takes sports very seriously. He absolutely loves playing and played in rain, cold and windy conditions. He is actually unbelievably fast.

Here he is ready to hit a home run.

At this point, school is in full swing as well. I am lucky enough to still be home on maternity leave so I was able to attend the field trip to the fire house with Connor's school. Here we are learning about all about the fireman's equipment.

Fully dressed including the oxygen mask!

Here they are learning about all the equipment in the ambulance. My favorite moment was when they asked if anyone know what the blood pressure equipment was...Garrett spoke up and explained that he had just been to the doctor and it gets tight on your arm. Great job Garrett! (At his doctor's visit he weighed in at 33 pounds).

Taking the fire truck on a test drive.

Connor's whole school

It was so much fun - I was thrilled I could participate and hopefully I will be able to go on many more field trips in the future.

September Happenings

It was a beautiful September day and we wanted to do something different. Brian had been talking to a co-worker and he suggested Edaville, a small amusement park about an hour away from home. We weren't expecting much but to our surprise it was perfect for our outing. Below is the first time the boys were on a ride by themselves. That's right...all by themselves.
Garrett even rode a couple rides all by himself. Of course, Connor wanted to go as well but can you believe he has outgrown some rides.
The whole family went on the train ride around the park and we took this picture to prove that Emily and I were actually there. We even got to meet the Bernstein Bears and as you can see the boys were in great spirits the whole day.

The carousel is always one of their personal favorites. Connor and I even went fishing at a real pond - we didn't catch anything but I did learn that he is dangerous with a fishing hook. When Connor would go to cast, you had to hit the deck quickly. A week later we headed down to Long Island to visit everyone and to go to a birthday party. Since Emily eats about every three hours, we thought it would be an efficient use of time to take the ferry. We all love the ferry since it is so convenient and a nice break in the middle of the trip.

Of course, our priority was to visit with Aunt Daph and Uncle Eric. You can always be assured that when Uncle Eric is holding a baby - there is absolutely no shot of him dropping the baby. He is so careful - look at Emily looking up at him.

Do you see a family resemblance because I certainly do. Aunt Daph did her best to hold and snuggle with Emily.

It was Nicholas' First Birthday and all the LI kids were there. They all played so nicely together it was amazing. Here is Garrett and Madison playing some soccer.

Emily slept allot at the party - I tried to wake her up but instead she just stretched and went back to sleep. Gorgeous!

Here we are!

Look at my handsome young man being so responsible and holding Emily.

The next day was a perfect fall day for the beach and we took advantage. My favorite part was when Connor threw the frisbee and asked his daddy to go fetch it from the water. Brian had brought mesh shorts but by the time he had finished playing frisbee - he was drenched. The kids loved walking along the water and then checking out all the boats on the pier. The rocky beach didn't seem to bother them as much as it bothered daddy's poor bare feet.

Papa carrying little Emily outside.

It was a fun trip but we had to return home as usual.

So many firsts...

The end of August and beginning of September has brought us so many firsts - we could barely keep up.

Garrett is not only a big brother for the first time but he also successfully potty trained at the end of August. He is a big boy now and after one mishap (let's just say hallway of balloons and no diaper) he realized using the potty is no big deal at all. Congrats Garrett - we are so proud of you.

Connor started taking Kung Fu during the summer and to see the weekly progress is amazing. By August, he was ready to take his first test given by Master Instructor Tom. Below you can see the test in progress. He was so excited to earn his yellow shirt.Now Emily is just amazing on a daily basis but has charmed us all. She is already smiling and has started cooing...the cutest sounds you have ever heard.

Now with the arrival of September you know we started school and playing sports. This is a big year for Garrett because he started school and sports for the first time. It only took him a week and a half to adjust to school life. When I met the teacher for our conference, I was told he was the most social kid in the class. She says he starts most of the conversations and will get kids talking about topics. Keep in mind he walks into school covering his eyes so no one can see him. As soon as I leave, it is a whole new ball game.

Connor is now the big man on campus at nursery school and he is so in love with school he asked if he could stay for extended day on all three school days. He really loves every aspect of school and I hope that continues.

Here is a sequence of photos from the first day of school. Never a dull moment - always on the move. A look of mischief.Another notable first, is that during our trip to Fishkill Connor swam in the pool all by himself with a little assistance from floaties. It was amazing to watch him take off with no one holding him. Great Job!
Since I am on maternity leave, I have had a blast shuttling the kids to school and sports and to whatever we decide to do that day. So of course, the kids say the darnedest things and I am just happy to be around to hear them. One day on the way home from school, Connor informs us that he is Irish and Garret is from New Mexico. Then they both agreed that mommy got them in Japan. Seriously, where do they get this stuff.

I can't believe how fast everyone is growing up and this is my attempt at trying to remember each precious moment.