The Borettis

End of Summer Fun...

2010-08-31T21:13:00.006-04:00

With September quickly approaching, I am feeling the need to get in all sorts of fun summer activities one last time. It sure helps that we are having a heat wave too.

On Sunday we headed to Nahant beach. Ryan LOVED the water and waves... He had a great time "jumping waves" with Daddy. While Ella is still real timid; she loves the pool and lake, so I am guessing the waves makes her uneasy. It was a perfect beach day and we all had a great time. I can't wait to visit Nona and Grampi in North Carolina in a few weeks; the kids will love it!

This morning we went peach picking at Brooksby Farm. We had a lot of fun but unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures:(

Then this afternoon we went over to the Ettenberg's to help Andie celebrate her 4th birthday. Ryan and Andie have been buddies since they were 6 months old. I love the special bond they have and I think this picture kind of illustrates Ryan adoration of his first love.

Millie and Ella are quickly becoming good friends too! I can't wait for music class to start.

Rain, Rain, Go-Away

2010-08-31T20:58:00.005-04:00

Last week it rained for FOUR days straight... The kids were so desperate to play in the puddles on our walks to and from the gym that I finally let them go "puddle jumping" when it finally calmed down to just a drizzle.

I love Ella's rain gear, it's a hand-me-down from Ryan...

And finally the sun came out on Thursday so we headed to Bradley Palmer- it was a little cool, but the kids had a blast:)

Catching up...

2010-08-29T21:03:00.003-04:00

It's been a busy summer and I have lots of great pictures to show for it... So I am going to try and record our summer activities on the blog for my own recollection: ) Be on the look-out for blog posts pre-dated. i.e. I just posted pictures from our trip to Edaville in June.

Cousins Visit

2010-08-24T21:40:00.012-04:00

Last weekend, the whole Boretti clan was up here for Mike's cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful weekend with a lot of great family time:) On Friday, Matthew, Erin, Mike and I went to the Children's Museum with the kids. Here's Ryan pretending to be a mailman...

Both Ryan and Ella were mesmerized by these "floating balls" On Saturday, we all (sans Grampi) headed into Boston where we met up with John and Jennifer.

We happened by a skirmish on the Boston Common between the Red Coats and Patriots. Talk about lots of questioning from Ryan!!! Next stop- the Frog Pond

Ryan with his God father, Uncle John at lunch. We ate at Wagamama, where we had the whole downstairs to ourselves.

Check out our little fish! Ryan started swim lessons 2 weeks ago and look at him go!

Enjoying an afternoon without the kids at a beautiful wedding.

Mike and his cousin, Tara. All 16 Boretti cousins were there! Ella was entertained by this baby carrier for a good 15 minutes at an impromptu get-together at Aunt Patti and Uncle Eddie's.
Ryan and Ella with their second cousin, Stella.

Deep Creek Lake

2010-08-04T20:51:00.014-04:00

We had a wonderful vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's Lake House in Western Maryland. I arrived with the kids on Monday, July 11. The car ride went surprisingly well. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Bri, Aunt Katie, Bryce and Belle were already there. Daddy and Uncle Kevin joined us on Friday and we were all there together for the second week. Here's an attempt at a group shot of the three kids... Ella feeding her new baby doll. She is SO into dolls now, it's so cute! She's constantly carrying a doll around, trying to feed her, put diapers on her, etc. I guess I have a GIRL!!!

Bath time- it's always more fun with your cousin:) Someone said something funny! Are they marching? Breakfast

"Cool Dude"- I just couldn't pass up taking a picture of Ryan with his shades and chocolate all over his face! One of our favorite things to do is get ice cream by boat. Ryan asked to do it the very first day, I couldn't believe that he remembered it from last year.

From the beginning, Ella LOVED the boat:) She actually wanted to put her life-jacket on because that meant boating. So different from Ryan's first two years.

Bryce wasn't too sure at first, but he quickly warmed up to boating too!

Driving the boat! This is the life:) Such a ham- she now smiles and says "cheese" on cue.

Cocktail cruise- Ella and Bryce went to town on the snacks:) Ryan went tubing a lot this year and loved it! He wanted to go even faster!

Just hanging out on the tubes- We could tell that Ella and Bryce were itching to be big enough to go tubing, they loved playing in the tubes:)

Ryan giving Bryce a ride on the truck. Ryan takes after his Daddy and LOVES the hot tub. This was the first year that we let him use it:)

The boys Ryan and Grandpa Mike and I took Ryan and Ella to Swallow Falls one day for some "adventure". They loved it... What kid wouldn't like climbing on rocks and wading in a river with their clothes on and hiking through the woods. It was a beautiful day and a great family outing. Ryan loved it so much, that he and Daddy went back later in the week and actually went swimming in the waterfalls.
And now for some videos...

This one makes me laugh everytime, I think Ryan had water in his ears!

Grandma and Aunt Bri Visit

2010-06-21T20:42:00.017-04:00

We had a wonderful visit from Grandma and Aunt Bri in the beginning of June, We were busy doing lots of things and here are some highlights: Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of us shopping at Kohl's:(

On Tuesday, Melrose Department of Public Works hosted a "Recycle Island" Day... Grandma and Aunt Bri took Ryan and Ella there while I went to the dentist. They had a blast, climbing into and pretending to drive all of the different trucks, eating popcorn and Cheese-Its, and we couldn't get Ryan off of the big Moon Bounce slide.

On Wednesday, we went into the city for the annual Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl, an all you can eat Ice Cream fundraiser. My little man, Ryan only wanted Chocolate Ice Cream, and just plain chocolate, without any fancy extras.... this proved to be difficult... I finally got him to try the rainbow one below and fortunately, he was a fan:) Ella LOVED them all... even the ones the grown-ups didn't like!

And don't you love her outfit? Perfect for the occasion, huh?

My mom and Bri were getting a kick out Ella walking around with her hands behind her back. I don't know where she got this from, but she does do it a lot.

Cute picture of Grandma and Aunt Bri; not so cute picture of the kids. Oh well!

Some cute videos of the kids dancing to the music:)

On Saturday, there was a festival by the lake in Wakefield. Unfortunately, it was raining, so we didn't stay very long. But Ella did get a chance to try out her first moon bounce!

Ryan gave the Bean Bag Toss game a whirl.
Then Ella gave it a try!

Summer is Here!!

2010-06-21T20:27:00.008-04:00

Ella's first popsicle, she was a big fan.

Yummm....

Ryan's has always loved them.

Ryan is now drawing faces:)
Breakfast at the little table, Ella gets a real kick out of sitting here.

Happy Memorial Day! Home from the Melrose Parade...
Not sure what they are doing here, besides making a mess, but they looked cute:)

Ella enjoyed her first corn on the cob!! She went to town!

Day Out with Thomas

2010-06-19T20:51:00.002-04:00

A wonderful June day spent in Edaville...

Our first ride, Jumbo the Elephant
Mommy and Ella

Peek-a-boo

The highlight of Ryan's day, riding Thomas! His excitement about the train ride verified my decision that a trip to Edaville was a must for us this summer:)

Daddy and Ryan on the train

Mommy and her little boy!

Awestruck!

Posing for a picture with Thomas

Choo Choo

Ryan and Daddy ride the Ferris Wheel!

Fortunately Ryan is not scared of heights. He loved it, especially seeing Thomas from way up there.

Time for a slush break.

The last ride, The Red Baron.

Flying high

And the highlight of my day...When we were leaving and Mike asked Ryan if he had fun, and Ryan replied yes, "but I didn't know that Thomas was real; I thought he was pretend"! How cute:)

First Beach Outing of the Season

2010-05-21T21:28:00.010-04:00

Today Katie and I loaded the kids into her car and headed to Sandy Point State Reservation on Plum Island. It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies, although a little chilly. The kids had a blast playing in the sand and tide pools and just running around. I look forward to many more beach trips in the next few months.

Ryan wanted to play in the "waves" but it was too cold down there for Ella and me...

After a while the kids were soaked and cold, so they changed into their swimsuits.

Ella and Adelina

Ethan's Birthday Party

2010-05-21T20:59:00.005-04:00

Last weekend we were able to help our good friend, Ethan celebrate his 1st Birthday. It was a beautiful evening and Ryan and Ella had a blast playing outside.

Ella chatting on the phone

Ryan and Jack ready for some cake!

Both Ryan and Ella loved playing in this clubhouse.

15 Months

2010-05-12T19:24:00.017-04:00

Ella had her 15 month check-up today.... Although she doesn't necessarily look it, she's tall and thin:) Weighing in at 22 lbs 12 0z. (47%tile) and 31 1/4 inches tall (73 %tile). Great report from Doctor Gebhardt again:) My little girl is learning more every day; it's such an exciting and fun age.

Some of Ella's favorite things to do include: trying on shoes and hats, playing outside, riding Daddy as a horse, talking on the phone and just being with Ryan. I now understand how great a gift it is to provide your children with siblings. Ryan and Ella just adore each other (Yes, they still drive each other batty) but deep down they are so in love. First thing in the morning, Ella wants to go wake Ryan up and misses him while he's at school. Ryan wants so much to play with Ella and gets frustrated when she doesn't cooperate in his pretend play. Ryan has developed quite the imagination lately, playing "house" or "fire fighting". My heart swells when I hear the two of them giggling together.
Ella has also become quite the chatter box lately; she's constantly jabbering away. She has a handful of words including: Mama, Dada, ball, night night, bye, more, baby, book, sock, car, and I am sure many more that I just haven't deciphered yet.

Here are some photos of our sweet angel....

Trying to get some of the Barnes Artistic tendencies to rub off on Ella... Ryan clearly is not into drawing; but I'm holding out hope for Ella:)

Ella LOVES brushing her teeth!

Humidity Hair and 80's party

2010-05-03T15:20:00.009-04:00

On Saturday evening, Mike and I went to am 80's party hosted by one of his co-workers... There have been many requests to see pictures... so enjoy and don't laugh too loud!!

Hot Mama...
At the party

Mike and his co-workers(including his boss)

What a rockin couple!
And here's what the heat and humidity does to Ella's hair.... CURLY Q!!

Visit to Grandma and Grandpa's Part 2

2010-04-28T20:41:00.013-04:00

We had an Easter Egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's. It looks like Ella has already found some jelly beans.
Yeah, another one!

Ella looking cute in her party dress. We were fortunate to be in town for my good friend Stephanie's daughter, Isabella's first birthday party. Both Ryan and Ella had a great time with Isabella and her big brother, Aidan.

On Sunday, we headed into Washington D.C. and saw where Barack Obama lives.

Grandma and Ryan

Coincidentally, they were having Garden tours that weekend, so we were able to walk around on the White House grounds and see things up close. It was a really neat experience, except Ryan was very upset that Barack Obama didn’t come out to say hi.

Here's a family shot of us standing on the South Lawn of the White House. Right behind us is where Marine One lands.

Mike playing with the kids.

Having fun with Daddy

Daddy and his little girl:)

On Tuesday, we went back into the city and went to The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Here's Ella walking through a termite hill.

Ryan holding a grasshopper; he already held the cockroach. I am proud of myself for staying calm while holding him and trying not to let him feel me shaking:)

It was a wonderful week home. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, Mike and I had a date night:) We went out to a nice dinner, hit some "lounges" and spent the night in the hotel:) It was my first night away from Ella, she did great, but was certainly happy to see me the next morning.

Visit to Grandma and Grandpa's Part 1

2010-04-28T14:29:00.009-04:00

Last week Mike was attending a conference for work in DC so the kids and I headed down to Grandma and Grandpa's. We had a wonderful week doing a lot of fun things including meeting up with Daddy two times in DC. On Friday, we headed to the Reston Petting Zoo. It was beautiful day and we all had a great time.

Ryan feeding baby goats. We learned that the goats liked the feed better and the lambs were the ones that liked the bottles.

On the hayride to see some animals up close. When we stopped, they came right up to the wagon for a snack.
Here's a baby bull from Africa, can you imagine how big their horns get??

Ryan and Grandpa feeding a camel

Ella didn't want to get off... She was memorized by the "big" animals.

Ella just enjoying walking around

Ella running to Grandma!

Ella's ready to feed the goats. She wasn't scared at all.

Ryan feeding a pig

Ella wanted to share her sippy cup with the lambs; she didn't understand why they wouldn't share their bottles! You'll see in the video that she tried to drink their bottles!

Enjoy some videos of the kids feeding the animals:) It was such a cool zoo, we'll have to go back!

Easter Day

2010-04-08T15:31:00.006-04:00

The Easter Bunny came!!
How did the Easter Bunny know that I loved trains... and that I didn't have Rosie?

Is Ryan really sharing with Ella??

Ella quickly learns that there are jellybeans in the eggs!! (She's still checking every plastic egg she finds)

A family portrait before mass... Like usual, couldn't get one with everyone smiling.

Letting Ella burn some energy before mass started... Doesn't she just look precious in her pretty Easter dress?

After church, Mike, Matthew, Dad and Megan headed into the city for a Celtics game (which Megan reported was the best day of her life!). At home, we colored Easter eggs.

Hard at work

Mike's Uncle Bill invited us over to his house for a gourmet Easter Dinner that Robert cooked.

They had an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids.

Ella finds more jelly beans!

And here's two not so good videos of the hunt...

Easter Weekend - Part 2

2010-04-08T15:17:00.004-04:00

Saturday was Nona's birthday, so we all walked down to Sterns and Hill for dinner. On the way home we stopped for a dance party in downtown Melrose. I am sure that we got some strange looks, but the kids were having a blast!

Ryan showing off his break dancing moves!

The kids are READY for cake!

Easter Weekend- Part 1

2010-04-08T14:53:00.006-04:00

We had a wonderful Easter weekend with many visitors. Uncle Matt, Aunt Erin, Megan, Alexandra and Tessa arrived late Wednesday night. On Thursday, we headed to the Children's Museum, where they all had a great time.

Ryan and Tessa playing in the water
Ryan rock climbing

How'd she get in there?

Everyone had fun in the "ball" room.

That evening, we went over to Carrie's (Mike's Cousin) and had some great photo opps.

On Friday, we took the train into the city. The kids were SO EXCITED about riding the "subway"!

Ella walking with Uncle Matt

Cutie

A rare picture of Ella and her mommy.

Who's walking whom?

Happy St. Paddy's Day

2010-03-18T21:23:00.005-04:00

We have been blessed with beautiful weather the last few days which means trips to the playground morning, noon and night. The kids are LOVING being outside and I got a few pictures yesterday before my camera battery died.

Ryan was so proud of himself for climbing to the top of the jungle gym!

Ella LOVES the swings, she laughs aloud every time.

Then today Ryan decided to demonstrate his exhibitionistic behavior again. I was inside with Ella, taking her temperature (she's sick again) and whenI looked out the window to check on Ryan, this is what I saw. So I grabbed the camera and headed outside to ask him why he wasn't wearing pants. "I peed in them". I then told Ryan that just because he's outside doesn't mean he can't take a break and go inside to go potty. To which he replied, "No, I can't. I have to play, play, play." Good thing he has such a cute hiney!

West Palm Beach

2010-03-16T22:00:00.015-04:00

We had a wonderful trip to West Palm Beach, Florida last week with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Brianna, Aunt Katie and Bryce. It was unseasonably cold, but we still had a wonderful time swimming, playing in the sand and just being together.

At the airport, waiting for our plane

Playing peek-a-boo in the condo

Ella had a great time playing with Bryce. It was so neat to see them interacting with each other.

Day 1: Ryan HAD to go swimming... I don't blame him; it was a beautiful pool, but it was freezing!! Ella had no fear and followed her brother right into the pool. She even bent down and put her face in the water.

Fortunately Ryan finally agreed to get out and warm up, so we headed down to the beach with Grandpa.

Bryce was all smiles; what a cutie.

Make your own Sundaes in the "Kid's Room" . Everyone loved the ice cream including Ella:)

Day 2: Aunt Bri ventured into the pool with Ryan.

Ella collecting shells on the beach

Ryan playing in the sand.

Group shot

Girls Night out. Thanks for babysitting Grandma and Grandpa.

Day 3: Morning trip to the beach; Ella LOVED digging in sand.

Check out that smile.

Play time!

Ella and Bryce were fascinated with the zipper on Bryce's shirt.

Ice Skating

2010-02-27T20:48:00.003-05:00

Mike's work hosted an Ice Skating event last week. We all had a great time and both Mike and I were impressed with Ryan's ice skating deput. We'll have to go again soon- I enjoyed myself too:) It's been a long time since my figure skating days at Sky Top, lol:)

Big Night Out...

2010-02-26T07:26:00.002-05:00

For Mommy and Daddy, that is... Mike's boss gave us and two other couples tickets to the Boston Philharmonic and paid for a nice dinner out last night. So for the first time, I left my babies with a "real" babysitter... i.e. not a relative or friend. We used a college student that was referred by a good friend and she was great... But let me tell you, I was a mess! I don't know why I was so anxious; I was fighting tears as I was driving into the city to meet Mike. It was just so weird leaving my most precious possessions in the hands of a stranger! But they survived and did great!! Now for the amazing part, I woke up at 5:23am and realized Ella hadn't woken up ALL NIGHT... With panic, I ran into her room, without first imagining all the terrible things that could have happened... She was fine, but curled up in the opposite side of her crib with all of her stuffed animals??? She is ALWAYS at the other side? I nursed her with pure enjoyment and put my sweet baby back in her crib. She is still sleeping now, as his her daddy who was up all night, throwing up:( I am hoping for food poisoning as oppose to a virus...

It was a great night out, but it sure did hurt handing over $70 cash to the babysitter; thank goodness the rest of our evening was free:)

We finally get some snow

2010-02-22T21:36:00.002-05:00

Grandma was here visiting while DC got hit with over 3 feet of snow, so of course there was a lot of talk about snow in the house. Poor Ryan kept asking to play in the snow; we had to keep reminding him AND showing him that there wasn't any snow outside!! Well finally, last week we got a few inches and Ryan got to play outside in it. He loved it and then even brought in some snow for Ella, she was mesmerized.

The nightly routine

2010-02-22T21:23:00.002-05:00

Often the most precious parts of my day are the evenings (and no I am not talking about after the kids are in bed, while that is precious too). After dinner, both kids get a bath. Ryan then likes to get his pajamas from his room and get dressed in Ella's room. They take turns getting 'lotioned up' and put their pajamas on. Next they run around upstairs giggling, it's so cute... Then it's story time, Ryan has taken to reading to Ella, and again so cute! Here's an adorable picture of them in the glider, where we read books.

You see Ella looking adoringly at her big brother?

Ella Making Valentines

2010-02-22T21:18:00.003-05:00

Ella got into the spirit and made a valentine for her first love, her Daddy!

Hard at work....

Photo Catch Up

2010-02-13T20:42:00.012-05:00

Here's a mix of pictures from the last two weeks that are just too cute not to post:)

Ryan and buddy, Charlie Hanafin. Charlie, the son of a high school friend of Mike, is 4 days older than Ryan.

Here they are at 3 months:

Ella discovering her belly button and legs... I can't wait for summer time when she doesn't have to be bundled up all the time.
Enjoying her birthday suit and trying out Ryan's old sunglasses

"You caught me!"
Fun with toilet paper
This is how she always sleeps, curled up in the corner of her crib. Supposedly her Daddy slept the same way:)
Coloring for the first time. I can't believe that she's old enough to color, where did my baby go?

Hope this one doesn't find its way to her when she's older:)

Happy Birthday Sweet Ella

2010-02-13T20:29:00.014-05:00

We celebrated Ella's First Birthday last weekend with a little party for all of her friends; who just happen to be the younger siblings of Ryan's friends:) Ella's cousin, Bryce also came up from Atlanta to help celebrate.

The girls playing:
Ethan checking out the scene:
Lunch time:

Ella and Adelina trying to be big girls, using forks:

It's time for cake! Big Brother Ryan blows out the candles.

First Taste

Now she's really going for it:

Time to rub it in her hair?

And this is what icing does to your hair!Time for presents:
Talking on her new phone:
Enjoying her new teapot from Bryce

Giving Bryce a cup of tea:

Fun with Daddy

To see more pictures, you can check out the birthday album on snapfish at:

http://www3.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2681679006/a=14839073_14839073/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Waving Goodbye to Daddy

2010-02-10T08:08:00.002-05:00

One morning last week, Ryan forgot to give Daddy a goodbye kiss, so we went to the window and blew kisses to Daddy as he walked to the bus... So for the next few days, Ella kept going to the windows, banging on them and saying her version of "Daddy"... So cute:)

Ryan's First Teeth Cleaning

2010-01-26T13:08:00.008-05:00

Ryan had a successful visit to Dr. Mickey's yesterday. He got his teeth cleaned and flossed for the first time and had a fluoride treatment, which I might add was a heck of a lot nicer than the fluoride treatments we used to get. Ryan was a super star and Mommy was so proud of him. The dentist said Ryan's teeth are beautiful and he's doing a great job brushing.

Look at those beauties!

Hanging a tooth on the "no cavity wall"

Meanwhile, Ella did great at my friend, Laura's house.

Weekend of Firsts

2010-01-19T16:01:00.009-05:00

We had a nice three day weekend with Daddy home....

Saturday morning Ryan and Daddy went to soccer for the first time... I'm sure this is the first of many Saturday morning sporting classes/practices.

Saturday afternoon we went to Ella's first birthday party, her good friend Millie was turning ONE!

Ella is also officially walking now... She took her first step at 10 months and on Christmas Day started walking 5-6 steps to someone. For about 2 weeks, she would walk to you when encouraged, but still preferred to crawl. Now however, she's walking everywhere!! Here are some not so good videos to show off her walking to those who haven't seen it in person yet.

Please check out the third video, it illustrates 1.) Why Ella is going to be one tough cookie, 2.) Why Ryan spends a lot of time in Time Out and 3.) Why I need a glass of wine at the end of the day...

I hate to show my little guy in this negative light... He really can be so sweet. For instance, as I write this he just went over to Ella and rubbed her head and said, "you are the best sister in the whole wide world, Mommy and I love you so much"

Finally...

2010-01-10T21:57:00.017-05:00

Sorry it's been so long... I know my avid followers have been missing us... We did get a new camera and have a lot of great pictures from the fall including Ryan's birthday, Thanksgiving, and of course getting ready for the holidays... But I am afraid it will take too long to catch up so I am going to jump right back in with some great Christmas pictures:)

We had a wonderful Christmas! The four of us flew down to Nona and Grampi's in North Carolina. Ryan was more excited about seeing his cousins than Santa coming:)

But the highlight of my Christmas was during Christmas Eve mass. The priest invited all the children up to the front for the Homily. He began by joking about the Easter Bunny coming tonight but then got serious and asked what we were really celebrating. When I heard my little Ryan answer, "Jesus's Birthday", my heart swelled with pride.... I guess I am doing something right:) The priest was even impressed and asked him to repeat his answer, but Ryan got all shy.

A Family shot

Ella's so excited for Santa to come

Santa came!

Ella rocking Jensen

Ryan and Isabella rocking it out with Ryan's new microphones

Ella and Jensen just hanging out

Everyone loved Isabella's new trampoline

We made several trips to the pool and both Ryan and Ella LOVED swimming.

We returned home after a week at Nona and Grampi's and Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Bri, Aunt Katie, Uncle Kevin and Bryce came up for a quick visit.

Ella loved pulling the tags off the presents

Ryan giving Bryce a kiss

Lastly we took a day trip to Connecticut for the annual "Ells" Christmas

Grandma and her two babies

Ryan loved playing the piano at Aunt Nancy's house

9 Month Stats

2009-11-09T21:06:00.002-05:00

Ella had a great 9 month check up at the Doctors....

She weighed in at 19 1bs. 4 oz and 28 inches...

Still no camera, so no 9 month photo, but we ordered one yeah!!!

Ella is cruising all over the place and even crawled up the stairs today!

The Wiggles

2009-11-07T20:48:00.007-05:00

Grandma gave Ryan tickets to a Wiggles concert for his birthday. It was an AWESOME show, we all had a great time and really enjoyed it. Ryan has been asking daily to go again:)

Ella was particularly adorable. We weren't sure how she'd do, but she LOVED it.. dancing and clapping. She was entertained the entire time. Ryan was more awe-struck...

The Festivities Continue

2009-11-07T20:24:00.007-05:00

The big day is finally here....

Pumpkin carving time...

Ryan and Grandpa carving the jack-o-lantern

Showing off their Jack-o-Lanterns... (too bad the photographer forgot to include the pumpkins)

Yum... I could get used to this Halloween thing:)

Ladybug and Monkey

Ready to hit the houses:)

Enjoying the candy wrappers in her new Halloween PJs

Showing off his loot....
Ella enjoying the candy...

Downtown Melrose Trick-R-Treating

2009-10-30T21:09:00.009-04:00

Every year our wonderful town closes down Main Street and the kids go Trick-or-Treating to the stores. It's so much fun meeting up with our friends and checking out their costumes. This year they did it on Friday afternoon. Spreading the festivities:)

Introducing the Monkey and Ladybug....

Friends, Caleb and Adelina join us...

"Hey Turtle, your shell is getting in the way!"

And here's Jack the Power Ranger...

Just Monkeying around....

Andie the Cow Girl....

Buzz, aka... Matthew

Ryan wasn't scared of this witch...

The little girls were riding in style...

Later that evening after dinner we were having fun on the floor, and we got these adorable action shots of Ella.... She loves flipping over me.

Let the Festivities Begin

2009-10-30T20:47:00.011-04:00

Grandma and Grandpa flew in yesterday to celebrate Halloween with us. We began the festivities today with a trip into Salem to hunt for witches. I think both Ryan and Ella enjoyed people watching.

We finally got a double stroller:)

Grandma and Ella

Ella and Mommy

Ella the big girl:)

Ryan sitting on the front step of a "witch's" house.

Grandpa buys Ryan his first Candy Apple, the first of much candy consumed today

Ryan and Grandpa master the corn maze...

Nona and Grampi Visit

2009-10-08T21:21:00.008-04:00

Nona and Grampi were up visiting for a few days. The kids enjoyed all the extra attention and Nona got some cute shots with her camera. (still no camera for us)

Ryan modeling his new umbrella from Nona...

Ryan and Grampi

Daddy and Ella at Brunch at the Cheesecake Factory

Ryan and Ella sharing an inside joke

A common sight- Ella loves standing up at the toy box and occasionally even pulling toys out of it; such a big girl!

Close up of our cutie

Imajine That

2009-09-29T20:34:00.004-04:00

On Monday my friend Katie invited us to join her and her kids at Imajine That... Our camera is broken, so she took some pictures for me... It's so cute how Ella and Adelina are now "playing" with each other...

Ryan and Ella playing together... They are doing that so much now, it's priceless. Ryan likes to crawl and have Ella chase him... I'll have to get it on video once we get a new camera.

So much fun having a girl:)

2009-09-16T16:02:00.004-04:00

This weekend, I put barrettes in Ella's hair for the first time... I always thought those moms that did their daughters non-existent hair were so silly... but here I am doing the same thing... who knew... But she just looked so darn cute:)...

If you like the barrettes, check out my friend's blog at http://thelittlepinkturtle.blogspot.com/

Ryan's First Day of School

2009-09-10T21:30:00.007-04:00

Today was Ryan's first day of Preschool and he did GREAT!!!

It started with a special breakfast:

Mommy and her big boy...

Ready for the big day...
In his classroom...

He's not too sure....

Celebratory lunch...

Ryan was so excited about his first day at school and was able to tell me all about it. From story time on the rug to playing on the playground to goldfish for snack. He also told me about how one of the boys cut his finger on the playground and how another boy didn't want his diaper changed. It was cute and and he can't wait to go back.

Weekend in Virginia

2009-09-10T20:38:00.014-04:00

We had a wonderful weekend home in Fairfax with Grandma and Grandpa. All four of us flew into BWI on Saturday; Grandma and Grandpa picked us up and took the kids home while Mike and I went to my friend Amy's wedding. Here's the cutest story: Ella and Ryan fell asleep on the way home from the airport. Ella woke up once they reached home and was crying inconsolably, my parents couldn't figure out what was wrong, she didn't want the bottle, didn't want to play, her diaper was fine??? They called us looking for guidance. I suggested that maybe she was having stranger anxiety and maybe Ryan could cheer her up? So they went and woke Ryan up, he came into the room, Ella took one look at him and was fine! She just needed her big brother:) How cute is that???

We all went to the zoo on Sunday. Then on Monday we went and visited Mike's cousin Teddy and met the newest Boretti, Stella.

Helping Grandpa:)

Second cousins:)

On Monday, Grandma introduced Ryan to Chuck-E-Cheese; unfortunately, the big car "ride" was broken, but we still got some pics of the kids sitting in it.

6 Months going on 9 Months

2009-08-25T14:55:00.014-04:00

Ella's 6 month Stats:

17 pounds

26 inches

My little girl is taking after her brother in being "advanced" physically. She went to her 6-month check up 2 weeks past her 1/2 birthday and the Doctor wanted to make sure we really there for her 6 month not 9 month check up.... She is crawling like a pro now and all she wants to do is stand... She's doing a little cruising and will even walk holding on to your hands... Amazing and Scary... what am I in for??? She's still infatuated with Ryan.... He can make her laugh like no other and she is thoroughly entertained by him... Fortunately, she doesn't seem to hold a grudge when he rough houses with her and doesn't share his or her toys!!

Enjoy the pictures and videos...

Lake Vacation

2009-08-23T12:22:00.007-04:00

I'm finally getting around to adding the pictures from our vacation at the lake... We went to my parents Lake House the first two weeks of August.

Katie, Ella and Bryce hanging in their PJs.

Family game of Candy Lane

Ryan and Bryce

Thank goodness I don't have twins:) How do those moms do it??

We celebrated Ella's 6-month birthday

She likes the wrapping paper best:)

Ella really started enjoying solid foods while on vacation, yes, some did make her mouth:)

Time for boating...

Ella and Bryce

Captain Ryan

Boating wears the kids out... They both fell asleep if you can believe it... I guess it was the hum of the motor??

Ryan goes tubing for the first time

Hilton Head Vacation

2009-08-20T16:47:00.033-04:00

We had a wonderful vacation in Hilton Head, SC the third week in July with Nona and Grampi, John, Jennifer, Isabella and Jensen and Matt, Erin, Megan, Alexandra, and Tessa. We enjoyed going to the beach, playing in the pool at the resort, and lounging in John and Jennifer's new backyard pool. There were so many great pictures, I had a tough time narrowing them down.
The kids did great the first time we went out to dinner, it was a different story the next time:)

Ella's introduction to the sippy cup

Grampi and his girls

Blowing bubbles

Bathing beauties

Ella after a nap in her stroller

Ella loved the water! Both the pool and the ocean

Caught Ella standing up in her crib for the first time! (5 1/2 months)

The boys going on a bike ride. We rented bikes just like Mike used to when he was a kid. Ryan was not too sure at first... he was crying/screaming so loudly that I am sure people were wondering what we were doing to the poor kid.

Ryan and Isabella; Ryan was famous for his "hugs" by the end of the week

Ryan and Tessa.. It was so great to see the cousins playing together. Ryan and Tessa really played nicely together, granted Tessa was into playing cars...

Ryan and Gramps

Ryan loving the pool!

In Loving Memory of Uncle Jack

2009-08-20T16:47:00.032-04:00

It is with great sadness that I post these pictures of Uncle Jack who left us last Sunday, August 9th... We were all vacationing at the lake, (Mom, Dad, Bri, Katie, Kevin, Bryce, Mike, Ryan, Ella, and me).... What a blessing that we were all there together.... Out of no where, Uncle Jack started having extreme pain in his legs Friday evening.... we called 911 and an ambulance came and took him to Garrett County hospital.... He apparently had THREE blood clots and was suffering a heart attack... He was airlifted to Mon General in Morgantown, WV and went into surgery Friday night to remove the clot in his leg. He was awake Saturday morning when my parents left the hospital to come home and get some sleep... but then suffered another major heart attack from which he never recovered.... He left us at 11:15 Sunday morning....

Uncle Jack will never be forgotten... He was such a sweet, kind, and generous man whose life ended way too early!!! I'm so distressed that I can't find a single picture of him holding Ella:(

Our very last picture of Uncle Jack.... We had a celebration at the lake Thursday night... Here's Uncle Jack helping his first nephew open a present. "Here Ryan, I'll help you".

Bryce, Ryan and Ella sitting in Uncle Jack's chair, modeling the new T-shirts that Uncle Jack brought back for his grand nephews and niece from his recent trip to VA Beach. He was always thinking of them and bringing back souvenirs as he always did when I was growing up... He used to give me such a hard time for wanting XL T-shirts. At the lake he was asking about ordering pencils for Ryan with his name on them for his first day of school and we found CDs in his room that he didn't have a chance to give Bryce:(

Ryan and Uncle Jack at Christmas....

Uncle Jack and me at Brianna's graduation (June 2009)

God Bless you Uncle Jack! You will be greatly missed...

Ella's Solids Debut

2009-07-31T08:35:00.006-04:00

My little girl is growing up too fast... We introduced her to rice cereal on Tuesday and she's a big fan... I can't get it to her fast enough...

And here's our big girl who pulls herself up now!!! This was my greeting when I came into to get her from her nap yesterday! She's also pulled herself up on Ryan's trash can and sit-n-spin... The problem is when she pulls herself up at night and gets stuck!!

Trip to Atlanta

2009-07-28T22:04:00.015-04:00

We traveled to Atlanta the weekend of July 11th and 12th to celebrate our nephew, Bryce's, Christening.

Ryan loved pulling his own suitcase:)

Here's the star of the weekend, Bryce Joseph-2 months

Family shot of us all dressed up

Ella and her godmother

Ryan demonstrating his typical church behavior... (Yeah right, I wish)

Ella and Aunt Bri

Ryan and Daddy

Grandpa and his two youngest grandchildren (They were both awake at the same time)

Ella was not afraid of Belle, didn't even seem to mind her kisses....

Ella's first trip to the pool

A natural swimmer
Ella and Grand Aunt Patty

Fourth of July

2009-07-04T22:30:00.017-04:00

What a wonderful day! The best part was that as of last night, it was suppose to rain yet again today, BUT we didn't get a single drop all day!

We started the morning at The Common for the official Melrose Independence Day party! Ryan had a blast in the moon bounces, playing with the parachute, saying high to Uncle Sam, dancing to the DJ's music and running around with his friend Jack. We came home for a quick lunch and naps for both kids. Then onto Wakefield for the biggest parade in Massachusetts, 8th biggest in the country!! We came home for a barbeque outside including corn on the cob!

Ella in Fourth of July outfit courtesy of Grandma....

Ryan's ready to "rock-n-roll"

Ella and Daddy at the playground

Action shot of Ryan

Mommy and Ryan at the parade

Ryan and Matthew

Now it's photo opp. time in our backyard... I tried SO HARD to get a picture of the two kids but no go. But I did get some cute ones of them by themselves and even a family one using the timer.

Hope you had a wonderful 4th!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-23T08:10:00.002-04:00

On Saturday, we all went into Boston for the Life is Good festival on the Boston Common. It was a great day to be out and about, for it was only day this past week that it didn't RAIN!!

My two favorite boys at the SteveSongs concert

Ella spent most of the time sleeping in her stroller

Time for Italian Ice, yummy...

Can you tell Daddy dressed the kids today? They're both wearing sports themed outfits:)

Happy Father's Day! Daddy and his two most prized possessions.

Ryan filled in the blanks to create this Father's Day card. It's an interesting glimpse into Ryan's view of his Daddy!

Every day, Daddy goes to the gym.
I like to play chase with Daddy!
Daddy is really good at catching me.
Daddy has a really big lawn mower.
Daddy likes to eat Hamburgers.
Daddy likes to play cars with me.

Brianna's Graduation

2009-06-22T21:57:00.010-04:00

Last Saturday, Ryan, Ella, and I flew home to D.C. for Brianna's High school graduation. (Daddy had to stay some and earn the bacon!) The kids did really well on both flights and had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Bri, Aunt Katie, Uncle Jack, Aunt Patty, and meeting their new cousin, Bryce!

Ella and Aunt Bri- the star of the weekend!

Ella 'hangin' with her cousin. It's amazing the difference 3 months makes....

Here's the fair-skinned beauty and the dark and handsome gent

Cake time! Of course, Ryan's right there!

The Graduate

It's been a busy few days, Ryan's pooped

Brianna and the proud family. Graduation was at 7:30pm at the Patriot Center, so my kids stayed home... We were very fortunate to have family friends watch them.

Note, Brianna is wearing a Robinson Scholars medal for achieving a 4.0 and a Honor Society Stole... Way to go Breezey!

Ella loved the Johnny-Jumper, although here she is just chillin!

Finally got a picture of Ella sitting by herself!

Calling all talent scouts

2009-06-06T22:00:00.015-04:00

Here's our future performer... song writer, singer and dancer all in one!

Like his song?

"We love cookies, we love cookies,

We're best friends!"

(We did just make cookies)

And this picture is just too cute not to post...

Ella at 4 Months

2009-06-05T22:34:00.020-04:00

Ella had her four month check-up today and here are the stats... drum roll please...

Weight: 14lbs. 8oz (70%tile)
Height: 25 inches (77%tile)
Head Circ.: 16 inches (40%tile)

Ella's doing great! She's rolling over both ways, sitting unassisted, smiling, laughing, and cooing all the time. She loves her big brother Ryan, and watches him non-stop. She loves standing and mouths EVERYTHING!!

Here is her Monthly Pose:

My big girl standing:)

I finally got out the exersaucer... She likes it, but gets frustrated when she can't pull the toys all

the way to her mouth.

See how much she loves standing?

And here she is mouthing "Everything"

Now for some videos.... I hope that you think she's as cute as I do...

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-27T08:41:00.015-04:00

Happy Memorial Day!!

We had a wonderful and busy weekend. Saturday, we all took the train into Boston. Our first stop was Faneuil Hall...

Here's a family photo:) We have a picture of Michael and Me in this same spot 10 years ago! I came up to Boston with his family for a little mini vacation. Who knew that 10 years later,we would be married, with two kids and living in Boston!!

It was a festival for Street Performers, Ryan had so much fun watching them and asking ALOT of questions. We ate lunch outside and had front row seats to a pretty cool acrobat performance.

After lunch, we stopped by and saw Tara, Mike's cousin who works at Sprinkles Ice Cream. She gave Ryan a HUGE cone with sprinkles. He was in heaven!

Next stop, the Merry-Go-Round in Boston Common... This is the first time that Ryan wasn't too scared to ride one:)

Off to the Swam Boats...

And two exhausted kids on the train ride home

On Sunday we went to the Memorial Day Parade on Main Street. Ryan really enjoyed the marching bands, fire trucks, police cars and horses. But his favorite part was the candy that some groups were throwing into the crowd.

On Monday, I was outside setting up the sprinklers to water the grass and a very interested Ryan had to come check it out. He then a ball running around "getting wet". I think that he thought it was pretty cool that Mommy was "letting him" do this??!!

Ella has officially found her thumb! Will she be a thumb sucker like her mommy?

First "Beach" outing of the season

2009-05-26T14:14:00.007-04:00

On Thursday we enjoyed the 90 degree weather at Breakhart Reservation which has a little sandy beach and lake. Ryan had a blast playing in the sand and finally the water. At first he just waded in in the water, playing with sand toys. Towards the end though, after I put his clothes back on, he found the coolest toy ever:

A PLASTIC DUNKIN DONUTS CUP!!!

And before long, my water-loving son had other little kids staring at him like he was CRAZY... See for yourself!

Here's Ella a snoozing at the beach with her new security blanket, HER FOOT!

A Day in the life of Ella Maeve

2009-05-26T08:00:00.007-04:00

Hanging out with my buddy, Adelina....

I just rolled over for the first time with witnesses:)

Time for dinner, for Mommy, Daddy and Ryan that is! But I have fun hanging in my Bumbo chair.

Bedtime- my big brother, aka Batman!!

Eating my toes and sucking my fingers, my two favorite pastimes.

Ella at 3 Months

2009-05-17T07:43:00.003-04:00

Ella in her monthly pose!

She's smiling all the time now, especially at her big brother Ryan!

Fresh from the bath:)

How did she do that??? I only left the room for a minute!

New Cousin

2009-05-11T17:11:00.004-04:00

Katie and Kevin welcomed Bryce Joseph into the world Saturday morning:) Weighing in at 81bs and 2 oz and a full head of redish/blond hair.

We can't wait to meet, "Grace" as Ryan calls him.... Grandpa already has fishing trips planned for Ryan and Bryce, maybe he'll let Ella tag along:)

Don't Ask!!!

2009-05-04T20:39:00.010-04:00

Days like today and you just have to laugh...

It all started with racing home from the mall after buying a new web cam and Ella was SCREAMING to eat. So I get home and quickly get settled on the couch nursing Ella. I guess Ryan was hungry too because he comes in from the kitchen carrying the container of Chocolate cake! He pulls the top off with his teeth and has some before I can get it from him... He then proceeds to go back into the kitchen and comes back with the bread pan of coffee cake....

Time to put Ella down and intervene... I walk Ryan and the cake and bread back into the kitchen and realize that Ryan's diaper is wet, so I strip him down to change, might-as-well take his shirt off since there's chocolate all over it. Uh oh, I am out of diapers, so I run upstairs to get one (Ella is wailing). I get back downstairs and Ryan has peed a river all over the kitchen floor!! Get the paper towels (Ella still wailing). Out of paper towels! Run down to the basement to get more and Ryan decides to go outside not before stopping to put his shoes on! (Ella falls asleep).

What fun!!!

Monkey Joes

2009-05-04T20:38:00.006-04:00

After the Christening, Grandma stayed for a few days. We went to Monkey Joes, a bounce house in Danvers. Ryan had a blast!

Ella doesn't look too excited

It was so warm last week that Ella spent a lot of time, just in her diaper. She enjoyed the lounging in minimal clothing:)

Ryan and Grandma playing in the sandbox. Love the shades:)

Ella's been enjoying sitting in the Bumbo chair lately. Who knew that watching your big brother eating was so entertaining:)

Rollie Pollie Ella

Ella's Christening

2009-05-04T20:37:00.018-04:00

Ella Maeve was Christened on Sunday, April 26th at Incarnation Parish. It was a beautiful celebration and we were so blessed to have so much family there to witness her initiation into the Catholic faith. We had a great celebration back at the house and appreciate all our friends and family joining us in the celebration:)

Uncle Matthew is Ella's Godfather and Aunt Erin stood in as the Godmother since Aunt Katie couldn't make it, because she was just 10 days away from her due date....

Our growing family:)

There were so many great pictures of the day, that I am including the link to Snapfish to see ALL the photos if you'd like: http://www3.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=565146006/a=14839073_14839073/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Time with Cousins

2009-05-04T20:37:00.012-04:00

Last weekend we had a lot of visitors for Ella's Christening. We had a wonderful time with family and Ryan was THRILLED to spend time with his cousins, especially Megan. He's still asking daily to go to Megan's house!

On Friday we went to Franklin Park Zoo; the weather couldn't have been nicer!

Ella especially loved the giraffes!

Megan and Ryan checking out the camels.

Aunt Bri and Ella

Lounging on the Alligator

Everyone out to dinner at Kowloons

Daddy and Ella, love the necklaces!

Megan was so great with all the kids!! Ryan and Isabella were fighting for her attention.

Boys Day Out

2009-04-20T16:19:00.012-04:00

This is the start of a couple of Ryan's new favorite things:

1) Riding trains and 2) going to Fenway to watch the Red Sox win!

We really liked our seats right behind the Red Sox dugout! Daddy had lots of fun watching Dustin Pedroia knock balls off the Green Monster, but my favorite part was watching Wally cheer on top of the dugout between innings!

YOOOOOOUUUUUUUKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daddy took me on a tour of Fenway and showed me where Jonathan Papelbon warms up...someday I hope to earn $8M per year for working 1 hour per week!!!

I even got to run the bases after the game! Daddy timed me at 12" around the bases, but I think there was a headwind that slowed me down a bit:( Next time, I want Jacoby Ellsbury to stick around after the game to race!

If I was on the Yankees, Mr. Steinbrenner would make me get a haircut...another reason that I'm NEVER leaving the Red Sox!

I was disappointed not to see Manny Ramirez during my visit:( Daddy told me that he was playing peakaboo behind the Monster scoreboard but that he might come out during our next visit to Fenway!

Wow, what a ballpark! If I'm lucky I may get to play baseball here someday, but in the meantime I'm content to play cars at Fenway.

I'm a quick learner...next time, Daddy is going to teach me the words of Sweet Caroline!!!

I even got to sit on top of the dugout between innings. Fortunately, Youk didn't miss any balls thrown his way!

After the game, the Red Sox held a press conference announcing the signing of me and another little lefty to minor league contracts. I am going to work hard on my swing to make sure that I stay on the fast track to the big leagues!

Young Love

2009-04-19T21:58:00.007-04:00

Last Thursday we had beautiful day and met Katie, Caleb, and Adelina and Laura, Andie, and Millie at the Stone Zoo. Ryan was so excited to see his friends and the bears! I got some cute pictures of Ryan and Andie walking hand-in-hand and a good shot of the three of them in front of the bears.

Ella Bella

2009-04-19T21:07:00.005-04:00

Ella or Ella Bella as we often call her is growing so quickly and achieving milestones already...

She's been grabbing the rings on her bouncy seat...

She's spending more time outside... Ryan and I were out gardening on Saturday, but it was too sunny for Ella....

She's still loving her baths... even giggling a little.

And here is a picture of big brother, Ryan's first war wound (the first of many I am sure). He fell into a small wooden table on Tuesday at a playgroup... The pediatrician sent us to a Plastic Surgeon for stitches but she fortunately decided that he really didn't need him. Hopefully he won't have too big of a scar on his gorgeous face...

Ella at 2 Months

2009-04-13T16:53:00.005-04:00

Can't believe that Ella is already in her 3rd month of life, boy how time flies... We went to her 2 month check-up last Friday and she weighed in at 11lbs. 9 oz... She did great and the Doctor gave her rave reviews... She even said that Ella was going to be a dancer because she was standing on her tip toes... I am sure that Nona is smiling:)

I can't believe how much she looks like Ryan... I believe I have an identical picture of Ryan... I'll have to try and find it.

Here's a cute video of Ella smiling... sorry that you have to listen to my sing song voice...

Happy Easter

2009-04-13T16:10:00.009-04:00

Happy Easter!!! We had a wonderful Easter at home, just the four of us. Ryan had a blast decorating eggs Saturday night.

We came downstairs Sunday morning, "to let the Easter Bunny in"... I guess Ryan was a little confused. But with some prompting, Ryan was off to find his Easter Basket. He found Ella's first and then found his in the kitchen.

He goes right for the chocolate- just like his mother!

Yum...

After church, it was time for the Egg Hunt... Ryan was a little unsure at first, as you can see he walked right by some eggs! But he quickly got the hang of it... He stopped to open each egg as he found it.

"Wow, a car!"

After naps, we got dressed again and did another egg hunt inside.

Picture time!

What a cutie!

Trying to get one of the two of them...

Video of Ryan eating his chocolate.... He was in heaven!

Sweet Ella

2009-03-26T14:58:00.009-04:00

Thank goodness Ella is such a great baby. Poor thing is left to defend for herself much of the day. As you see in the pictures below, she's been spending a lot of time in her bouncy seats, swing, play mat, etc. For her big brother has been quite demanding lately. My sweet little boy still makes appearances occasionally in between temper tantrums and many time outs for being aggressive towards Ella. Is this just the terrible twos or is he still adjusting to sharing my attention? I am hoping the latter, so that I can look forward to my sweet little Ryan returning.

She's also smiling more and more now... It's so cute... Here's my best attempt at trying to capture it on camera.

On Wednesday, we had a play date over at Matthew's house. Ryan and Matthew had a great time wrestling and being very active little boys... Here they take a break in a cradle/boat!
The cutest thing is that I walked into the room holding my camera and they both immediately pasted big grins on their faces and said "cheese". We have them trained well!

On Thursday, we ventured out to the park in our double stroller for the first time. It ended up being much cooler than I thought (it was sunny and like 10 degrees warmer before Ryan's nap!) and I questioned my parenting... Should I really be taking my 7 week-old out for a walk in this brisk weather? Then to top it all off, it started to drizzle on the way home!! I felt like such the responsible mom!

We ran into Ryan's friend, Jack, at the park and they have a great time driving around in the cars.

Ella's First Trip

2009-03-23T09:13:00.003-04:00

Ella went on her first of many flights last weekend. Ella and I flew down to Fairfax for Aunt Katie's baby shower! It was a wonderful weekend, hanging with the family and introducing Ella to many relatives.

Ella and her Godmother, Aunt Katie... Ella's keeping her fingers
crossed that the baby in Aunt Katie's belly is a girl:)

Ella and Grandma

Sleeping Beauty in Grandpa's arms.

I know this is a blog for Ella- but this is a cute picture of my

sisters and me at the Shower.

Happy St. Patrick's Day- 6 weeks

Ella modeling her new sweatsuit

Close up

Can't take a picture without Ryan getting in on it:)

Out and About

2009-03-13T09:35:00.003-04:00

Ella now takes the pacifier:) She's so talented, she can even hold it in her mouth!

We made it to school on Wednesday! Ryan did great, it was his first time with Ella. Ella did great too, hanging out in the Baby Bjorn. I was feeling so competent that we headed to Micky D's for lunch and did some shopping at TJ Maxx. I bought my first dress for Ella:)

Ryan helping out around the house, using the dish sponges to wash the kitchen floor...

We also made it to the Network this week for a play group. Here they are doing crafts.

Ryan is finally starting to enjoy crafts; especially using glue sticks!

Meanwhile, here are the younger siblings, left to defend for themselves!

Close up of Ella...

Ryan getting a kick out of laying down next to Ella.

Ryan finally agrees to hold Ella so I can at last get another photo of the two of them together.

Ella is putting on the pounds!

2009-03-09T11:40:00.003-04:00

Ella had her 1 month check-up at the pediatrician today and got rave reviews from Dr. Gebhart.

Her Stats:
Weight: 10 1bs. 9 oz
Height: 22 inches

Ryan at 4 weeks (where as Ella is 5 weeks tomorrow)
Weight: 10 lbs. 8 0z.
Height: 21 inches

* Bear in mind that Ella started a whole pound and half heavier than Ryan!

A Peek at Spring!

2009-03-08T09:35:00.012-04:00

We are having a beautiful weekend. Despite snow on the ground, it's been a spring-like weekend, in the sixties yesterday and fifties today. Yesterday all four of us took a walk to The Common. Ryan had fun pushing trucks in the snow and stomping through puddles. Ella finally got used to being in the Baby Bjorn, after screaming for the first 10 minutes.

Ella wearing a dress for the first time for her Church Debut!

What a cutie:)

How am I ever going to get anything done???

2009-03-04T15:05:00.006-05:00

So today has been one of those AHHHH... days... It started off nice enough, Ryan awoke at 7, but Ella was still asleep; so I got some quality time with Ryan including cuddling in his bed. Ella woke up around 8 and promptly wanted to be fed and then fell asleep in my arms. I tried to transfer her to the carseat so that we could drive Daddy to the T, but she woke up... and this is were it got hairy... For the rest of the morning I couldn't get Ella back to sleep and I NEEDED to go grocery shopping. (I had wanted to go yesterday, but it never happened) Starting around 10 am I really started trying to get Ella asleep, she'd fall asleep in my arms, but as soon as I put her in her carseat she'd wake up wailing. I finally decided that she was just going to have to cry a little bit, so I could get Ryan and me ready. (my shower would have to wait to Ryan's nap time).. and this is where Ryan turned into a little devil. Running away from me, refusing to take his pajamas off, having a major tantrum because he couldn't take a bath and also trying to get in Ella's face and wake her up every time she drifted into sleepy land... AHHH.... (oh, and I even tried nursing Ella while she was buckled into her car seat... try that one!)

I finally get Ryan dressed with a bribe of a balloon from Trader Joes and Ella's still wailing. By now it's after 11:00 and we really need to get out the house, so I try a trick recommended by Dr. Harvey Karp, author of Happiest Baby on the Block and do the old hair dryer trick and wouldn't you know it, Ella calmed right down. Now of course, Ryan is very interested in this and wants to hold and play with hairdryer and proceeds to have another fit, but Ella is still as serene as can be. But she doesn't fall asleep.... See photo...

But we really have to get the grocery store... so it's out to the car we go... I take Ella out, who starts wailing as soon as I turn off the hairdryer and put her in the car and turn up the static on the radio- another trick of Dr. Karp's that i figured out worked for Ella yesterday and go inside to get Ryan. Now where is Ryan? Upstairs hiding!! What fun!! So we drive to Trader Joe's with blaring static and Ryan begging me to put on "songs"... Ella was as quiet as a mouse, so I thought she had finally fell asleep. But of course as soon as I turn the static off, she's a crying! She lasted a few minutes in the store before I had to take her out and carry her around the store with my finger in her mouth. Try grocery shopping, pushing a cart, carrying a baby with your finger in her mouth and trying to make sure that your "dancing" toddler doesn't run into anyone or anything... Not to mention that I was SO HOT with my winter coat on... Anyways, $70 later, we are finally in the car and I nurse Ella in the backseat squeezed between two carseats while Ryan goes back and forth from the trunk to the backseat. Ella's now not hungry, but still not asleep, but we have to go to Target... so I buckle her in the carseat and then Ryan and we're off... and finally she's asleep... YEAH... She sleeps through our quick dash into Target and is still asleep now...

So I am just wondering, How am I going to get anything done???

On a brighter, not so "whiny" note, yesterday Ella was a month old! I can't believe it's already been a month. I feel like I was just in the hospital- life is just going to fly by, before I know it Ella's going to be walking!

Here are some pictures of Ella at one month:

Oh and for those of you wondering, in the last Post, it was Ella in the first photo. She's a little fairer than Ryan was and has lighter hair.

Ella or Ryan??

2009-03-02T18:17:00.008-05:00

Here are two pictures of our sleeping angels... Can you tell which one is Ella and which one is Ryan? When they are sleeping, we think that they look a lot a like.

Hum??? They do look a lot a like, huh?? Can you tell whose who??

Here are some more pictures of Ella during her 4th week of life:

Close up... (taken today)

This is Ella's favorite place to be... She seems to like being in the corner with the light streaming in from the two windows. She also likes the bear mobile and will even reach out to try and grab them. Hopefully she'll soon like her bouncy seats and swing too, but I guess we should just be thankful that there is a place that she's happy besides my arms:)

Big Brother Ryan builds the tower all by himself!

Nona and Ella... Nona left us last Thursday, we are managing so far but miss the help!

Nona and our little papoose. She loves being swaddled, we swaddle her every night.

Here's a video of Ryan rocking Ella- Good thing Ella is tough, looks like she's going to be enduring some tough love:) It's amazing how different you are with your second child, I guess you have to be with a toddler in the house:)