I recently put together a few new cards, more on the simple side but some of them were made for a client who likes them like that!!! It was nice to spend a few hours stamping again - I've been doing *way* too much knitting lately and knitting baby blankets is starting to drive me nuts!!
Here are some of the top cute summer pics of the boys to date. They sure are turning out to be a couple of lookers :-) (OK, I'm biased).
Nothing says summer like a good ice cream cone, does it?
Yes, that's a tiny bit of hair you see on David's little head. A few blond strands have graced us with their presence this summer. He may be a non-baldy by Christmas, at this rate!
Nothing to do? Why not swing from a clothesline?? It's quite fun I've been told.
David, smashing as always in a golf shirt and plaid shorts. "Enough fun, mommy, let's get down to some reading now!"
Pete raided my closet last week to try out a little shoe fashion shoe show . . .
And looking simply stunning in the knee-high boot . . .
Couldn't leave out Rudy. Thanks to our friends Karen and Sheldon, we have become avid watchers and followers of The Dog Whisperer. It has seriously changed the way we interact with Rudy - it's been fabulous and we are really noticing some positive changes. It's all about your *energy* and how this is passed on to your dog, how that dictates his/her behaviour. If you own a dog, you need to see this show, or read his book!!!!
And here I am with my summer highlights and longer hair . . .
and, yes, here is my newly-expanded belly. For those not aware, yes, I am pregnant with baby number three. Yes, we are crazy. And for all the comments I am starting to get - both from people I know and from strangers - YES, I AM HAVING ANOTHER ONE!!!! Here is Pete and David's new little sibling - and my 18 week pregnant belly.
We hadn't told many people we were pregnant, mostly b/c I had been playing softball on a team that was not allowed to know I was pregnant (or I couldn't play) and we were away traveling a lot this summer.
I had morning sickness for the first 12 weeks, and am feeling like a million bucks now. I have all my second trimester energy, which I certainly need b/c my days are fairly full these days :-) My ultrasound is September 5th . . . not totally sure if we will find out the sex of the baby but I am leaning towards wanting to know. And I truly have no preference, but realistically if it is a girl I would likely make some changes to the nursery.
And until we move from our incredibly shrinking home, the boys will have a new sleeping arrangement. Click on GINGER - that's ours!!! I doubt we will be in a hurry to move David into Pete's room but we wanted to buy the bed b/c we had been looking for a long time and just fell in love with this one. I'm not due until January so David has a few more months to enjoy his crib before he gets kicked out ;-)
Once again, a bit behind in keeping track of my life for the masses. It's been such a busy summer, since we have been back from vacation we are out and about almost every day, enjoying the nice weather and seeing parks, museums and friends while the warm weather is here.
So let's rewind to the August long weekend. Paul's sister Steph, husband Chris, and four month old Pierson (my first nephew!!!) came to visit. We picked up Steph and Pierson at the airport (Chris arrived a couple days later) and David and Peter were very interested in their new cousin. Pete was concerned that he "couldn't crawl, walk, talk OR eat anything other than breast milk", but seemed charmed by Pierson nonetheless :-)
I won't go into any lengthy details b/c the boys actually had a pretty rough weekend, which ended up being very hard on me. David was just getting over and Pete was in the midst of the most bizarre illness - quite high temperatures with basically no other symptoms. Well, aside from lethargy, tiredness, crankiness and general angst. So the boys were not on their usual fairly-good behaviour which made things a little tough with tons of family staying at my mother-in-law's house - including two other toddlers and a baby. But we all survived and had a great time seeing family with whom we don't often get to spend time.
Here are all of Paul's cousins, including spouses. We are on the left, Paul's giant cousin Andrew is peeking up behind Paul's head!!!
Here is Andrew with his super duper cool girlfriend Shayna - they stayed with us and seemed to have a good time. They loved Rudy, although we did learn Shayna has an aversion to dog saliva. Good things to know :-) Shayna was great with the boys, Pete asked for her for about 5 days after she left. She runs a school for autistic children in Toronto, so she *knows* kids pretty well. p.s. Andrew is very cool too.
Brigid's (MIL) sister Mary, David, and siblings Anne, Andrew and Cathy! Lookin' good guys, all smiles!
Here are all the Irish cousins - well, I mean Irish offspring :-) Cathy, Anne, Joan, Steph, Paul and Andrew.
Offspring of the cousins - Devlin is Joan and Matt's son, in between David and Peter (whom you surely know by now!), Pierson is the babe and Aiden is in the front (Anne and Dave's son). Not perfect but not bad for a picture of five kids aged four and under!!!
Joan and Matt brought all the kids Yankees hats from New York City - they were a big hit!!
Pierson sharing a very alert and adoring moment with mommy!
Pierson lounging with mommy and daddy in the gazebo . . . mmmm, see the beautiful garden in the background - many long hours put in by my MIL but clearly rivals Martha Stewart, as you can see!
Paul's sis Steph, my BIL Chris, and all three cousins!!
Devlin takes some shots in our backyard . . . don't you love that hair?????
Contemplating global warming - no, but that serious look is just thoughtful planning before going down the slide into the pool!
Pete warming up for a big splash as well . . .
Devlin in the sandbox with Pete and David.
Dave and a few others took Aiden to the water park that day - it looks like they had a great time! (I got that great shot from Shayna, sorry Dave!!!) :-)
It was really hot this day, so we turned on the Elmo sprinkler so the kids could run around - Pete was thirsty so cut the water off at the source, lol!!!
For the second part of our vacation we drove over to Nova Scotia to visit my parents. We rented this cottage/home with our friends Doug and Karla and their kiddies Liam and Taylor. The house was beautiful and huge, so there was plenty of room for everyone. We ate lots of seafood and quite a lot of alcohol was consumed too (not by me, sadly).
Here is Willow Cottage, where we stayed in Port Mouton, Nova Scotia.
The whole week was HOT and SUNNY and we spent a lot of time at the beach. The kids loved it, I can't believe how much my boys love the beach - they can spend hours there and be completely content. Here they are cooling off on a hot day at one of the most beautiful beaches on the South Shore, Summerville Beach.
Here is a pretty good view looking down one side of the beach - ahhhh, heaven!
Four dirty, sandy kids in a tub :-)
To break up our week we headed up the shore to Lunenburg for a day. We missed the Bluenose (it wasn't in port that week) but we saw lots of boats and took a tour of the Atlantic Fisheries museum. AND had some yummy seafood. We went to the Ovens Provincial Sea Caves park for the afternoon for some hiking.
Pete contemplating his big afternoon.
Here's a big sailboat would could see from the top of the cliffs.
The gang at the entrance of one of the caves. (It was a long walk down!).
A view along the coast, where we hiked.
Pete overlooking the Atlantic ocean.
The boys hiking.
It was a great trip, the weather was perfect and we had lots of fun. My parents had us over for dinner a number of times and spent lots of time with the boys. We went to White Point (where we were married) for dinner on our last night and we all had a great time.
