Baby Belly Love!

I am going to miss my pregnancy belly.  I love feeling him moving around...little feet pushing against my hand...little bum (or was that a knee?)...sticking out as he readjusts.  My morning ritual of rubbing on cream  reminds me of rubbing a Buddha belly for luck.  Round, full of life...always changing...it's so remarkable.

With my new fancy camera for Christmas, I've started experimenting with different fabric backdrops.  I've seen this photo on the internet before and decided to duplicate it for our own "belly shot".

Hard to believe, this little guy will be here so soon!  Officially 3 weeks and counting -- unless he decides to make his debut beforehand!

Farewell to Kisses

Well the Blizzard of 2011 brought us lots of excitement and a little sadness.  We woke in the morning and were enjoying the pretty snowfall when we heard a loud crash.  A branch came down and sheared our electrical right off the side of the house.  Power surges and burning smells prompted the arrival of fire and ambulance and we were evacuated in our pj's into the ambulance.  At first, the boys were terrified, but then realized they were actually IN an ambulance with a real fire fighter and came around fast.  :)

Upon getting the okay to return inside the house, we learned that the burning smell was most likely coming from our appliances.  (We won't know for sure what was lost until power is restored.)  After a quick inventory we noticed Kisses the goldfish wasn't moving much.  Kevin thought she might be sleeping, but upon returning home this morning, found that she had gone to the big fish tank in the sky.  Apparently, her tank fell victim to the surges as well.  Poor Kisses!!  We'll miss her!!  We were just preparing to celebrate her 1st birthday.

Let's hope the boys don't notice a difference in our replacement fish.  Kisses 2 will be making her debut soon.  But for now, a moment of silence to celebrate the short life of our very first pet.

Farewell Kisses!!

Supermarket is Open!!

For Christmas, Auntie Meredith gave the boys a cash register.  They also got AMAZING shopping carts from Chris and Molly and Uncle Jimmy and Auntie Janice.  What does all this add up to?  Why the best supermarket on the South Shore of course!!  The boys love to set up their "grocery store" and take turns shopping.  Tommy uses magazine order cards as "coupons" and they love being the cashier.  Here is a cute picture of Cole making change for Tommy.  He even says, "Thank you, come again soon!"

Thank you everyone for our beautiful gifts!  We're getting LOTS of use out of them!!!

Our "Dry Run"

Yesterday, we had a little dry run with the baby.  It wasn't planned...and of course the timing was terrible with Kevin traveling for business.  But the good news is that our little man decided to stay put.  Now mommy has to "stay put" for the next few weeks in order for him to fatten up a bit.

Thank you to Beth and Joe for helping me out -- from beginning (Joe arriving with a HUGE tarp in case my water broke in Beth's car) to end (Beth and I celebrating in ultrasound that the crazy doctor on duty wouldn't be delivering me) -- it was full of laughs and quite memorable.

The boys didn't miss a beat and were a little bummed that - as Cole stated with a disappointed sigh - their brother "didn't want to come out".  :)

Now, if we could just explain "mommy needs to rest" in a way that they would actually understand...

Happy New Year!!!

Beginning...

Middle...

END.

Hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's!!  We partied with our little revelers and bid farewell to 2010.  Next stop?  Our new baby brother!!  I think we'll ALL be looking as tired as Cole come February.  :)