Christmas song

Christmas Day

Chriastmas Eve

Our first Christmas home and completely alone...and I think it worked out well. We missed all of you, and tried to fill the time with as much happiness and craziness as possible (the crazy is pretty easy for our family).
Tricia and the kids delivered 10 plates of cookies to our closest neighbors. We made sure to give the priests a few extra cookies on their plate.
Mario took over sugar cookie baking and decorating.
And all the kids were VERY excited on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

24 hour babymoon

Tabitha and Babu agreed to repay Mary, Ryan, Mario, and I for our babysitting favors by working an amazing weekend for us all. I don't know all the details of Mary and Ryan's weekend (we are excited that you have your new place) but I do know that the very Sat-Sun that the Kazas agreed to watch our children turned out to be the day they helped Mary and Ryan move into their new place. So, I believe it was an amazingly self-giving weekend for the Kaza family.

We are very grateful for your gift of a 24 hour babymoon. From 1:30pm Sat to 1:30pm Sun we were quite free and able to relax. Mario and I had a great time! It began with checking into our hotel in downtown DC (thanks to some Hilton points), then bowling in the White House bowling alley, dinner at the Hotel Palomar in Arlington and then drinks and dancing at the rooftop lounge of the W Hotel (very close to the White House with a great view of the Washington Monument). It was fun to enjoy some relaxation in this city we are so close to, yet often rush in and out of for events.

The White House bowling alley may have been the coolest thing we have done. My friend Andrea works in OMB and has access to some fun White House things. This just happens to be one of them. After passing through 2 security check points, wandering the halls of the White House and connecting building to find the Secret Service office in order to get the key to the bowling alley, navigating the basement tunnels beneath the White House, we finally found the Truman Bowling alley. It was a lot of fun just getting there. We have lots of pictures of the bowling alley (modest, but if it's good enough for presidents, it's good enough for us). Mario sat in each chair knowing that at least one president had sat there before him - similar to the stash of the bowling shoes and bowling balls in there. It didn't hurt that I happened to win (115); but I had a lot of fun regardless of that.

Then we had time to change and get ready for the Booz Christmas party at the Hotel Palomar and then the W Hotel in DC. We stayed out until nearly 2am and definitely had a good time (our little baby girl enjoyed dancing with us).

We returned to happy children who seemed to have such a fun time with their cousins! Thank you so much Tabitha and Babu for looking after our 3 crazy kids!

Sheila is 2!

Sheila seemed to really enjoy her second birthday. She had been sick on Friday with a fever and cough, but slept a lot and I think that helped her recover for her big day. The boys were so excited for her birthday, they woke up early (I was afraid they were going to wake up Sheila) but instead they helped me finish decorating before she woke up. We think she enjoyed her special decorations.

Mario and I were both surprised by how well she understood the concept of her birthday. She walked around saying "Happy -day" and that she was "Two!" We'd say from another room, "Where's the birthday girl" and she'd call back "Right here!"

We spent a good deal of time decorating outside and raking leaves today. And just before dinner we went out to check the lights, and she seemed very excited about them. I wonder if she felt it was all for her birthday?

She enjoyed a yummy dinner with Suarez meatballs, spaghetti, and steamed fresh broccoli. Mario did a great job making and decorating Sheila's birthday cake (MJ suggested the sprinkles and Joey said we should use pink frosting).

Thank you for the birthday wishes and thank you Godfather Christian for the great gifts. The outfit is so cute, and the puzzle is so girl and perfect for Sheila. She also received new crayons, markers, fairy wings and tutu, a new baby and mommy backpack, magformers (which she really loved...another engineer?), a bouncy ball bought by MJ and Joey, and a rocking horse (she doesn't really need to know that we got it from a neighbor).

- and the first picture in the slideshow is from our trip to the dentist on Thursday. The boys had been before and this was Sheila's first cleaning. She did a great job and they were impressed with how she cooperated. The kids really love all the prizes they get from the dentist (the dentist goes to our church!) -

2 years of Sheila

You've always acted older than you are, and I still can't believe you are 2!

Happy Birthday to our sweet, adventurous Sheila!

Thanksgiving

Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving in St. Louis. Bobby and Suzanne have one of those nice cameras so they have most of the nice group shots.

Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween was not as "exciting" as the Kaza's. Though, I did paint my shirt orange and was using a hair dryer to try to get it to dry in time. I used kids' washable paint so it made my shirt kind of crinkly.

Mario had to work a lot right up until we left to go out and party. But we were able to throw together this costume for him which ranged from a Private Detective, to a Police Officer, to Wyatt Earp.

Sheila was a little sad that she couldn't be a dinosaur like her brothers, but quickly got happy for her princess costume. And while I really wanted to be a matching princess with Sheila, I felt I should maximize my belly opportunity while I have one.

All the kids really enjoyed trick or treating. Joey's enthusiastic "Happy Halloween" that he said to neighbors as he left was later joined by his get to the point, "Can I have some candy?" whenever they'd open the door and then pause to comment on the cute dinosaur costumes.

Our neighborhood Halloween party was fun as usual. Though these neighbors really make the Haunted Woods in their backyard pretty spooky. But none of the kids woke up with nightmares, so I think all went well. I however, woke up without a voice - I guess a combination of my cold and too much Halloween partying will do that to you. It's funny because I can only whisper and Joey and MJ have been whispering back to me this morning.

Happy All Saints Day!

MJ's Mom song

MJ made this song for me a few months ago and I've been wanting to share it for awhile. I seem to be complaining a lot to Tabitha about my deeply emotional first born son. He feels everything so very deeply, and this is just the upside of the coin. I must admit, when I'm upset and he sings this, it does help me out. And after he's asleep, I sometimes get it stuck in my head and it keeps me going when I have to clean the kitchen. I'm not certain what makes him want to sing this to me, but he finds his own time to do it. For this video I asked if I could record him, and I think he was a little shy and quiet.

I should also mention there is another version of this song called "You're my dad". I think you can guess what it sounds like.



After posting this, I searched our other home videos that I just put on the computer and came across this one. I believe this is a more original version of MJ's song for us, but if you ask him to sing it today, it will sound like the first quiet video I posted. This clip is a little longer as it includes both of MJ's songs PLUS a bonus Joey song which. (Joey's song was a one-hit wonder and has not been sung in our house since...but it is funny). If you cannot tell, Joey mentions "a picture of dark blue lightning mcqueen" at the end of his song which is why MJ and I laughed. Also, it is just a coincidence that MJ is wearing the exact same pajama top.

Busy September

I've been wanting to post about all of our activities, but it seems with the end of the slow summer days came busy fall days and I've been too lazy to do anything at night.

So, going back to all the way at the end of August, the kids enjoyed their final days of heat at the pool and MJ enjoyed his first day of Kindergarten! I've forced myself to become more of a morning person, and the little breath of fresh air as we take the short walk to school has helped. I was not 100% sure of our decision, but seeing how things are going well and that St. Theresa was just awarded the Blue Ribbon of excellence (I believe Luke's parish school won that last year) I'm feeling better about things. Joey and Sheila have enjoyed their time together, and it is fun to see Joey being the BIG brother.


We went to ND's first game of the season vs Purdue. We enjoyed the pep rally (where my embarrassing TV clip was filmed) and our traditional trip to LaFortune to buy their bagged bulk candy. The kids had fun at the tailgate.


And on the walk to see the band play.



The weather was gorgeous, my mom watched the kids, and Mario and I enjoyed a very pleasant date at the football game.

It is so hard not to think about my pregnancy with MJ as I go through this one. Exactly 6 years ago, I went to ND's first home game with Mario while carrying a kicking little MJ. His youngest sister also seems to like football!
We stayed Saturday night so we could go to mass at the Basilica on Sunday and have another casual walk around campus before leaving.



The kids were very helpful in the car as usual, though I have now determined it is best to give them all Dramamine just in case. Sheila is the only one who has actually gotten sick (on a short drive to Baltimore) but MJ and Joey have both complained about symptoms. Even the drowsy kind doesn't make our kids sleepy. Fortunately, they are usually pretty happy in the car. Sheila can sometimes get antsy, but she knows how to work Mario's i pad. We have a video of her hitting the home button, scrolling through pages, selecting and playing the app she wants.

Pretty scary... incidentally, this was Sheila's last day in diapers. We got back Sunday night, and on Monday Sept 6th I began the rigorous potty training that worked so well for Joey. She's in big girl underpants, and I wanted to get a cute picture of her with them on, but haven't seemed to get the right shot yet. While I had scheduled this potty training week a month in advance, I did not anticipate her learning to climb out of the crib at the same time. It is not recommended to go through 2 major transitions at once, and I know why... it drives mom crazy! Sheila would get up out of bed saying she had to go to the bathroom, and as we were training, I had to comply. This resulted in some pretty late bedtimes for both of us. The potty training has stuck, and now we are on the right track to getting her to stay in her bed and lay down.

The following weekend, MJ had his first flag football game. Mario is the head coach and he is really enjoying it. He is a really good coach, though at this age the game is a little different. MJ was the quarterback for his first game, and I have a few pictures of that I will share in a slideshow later.

We don't want to leave out our sweet Joey - who while not achieving many "first" milestones is doing quite well. We are making an effort to keep him from getting lost in the shuffle. I wanted to post about his first K4J "Kids for Jesus" class which he attended last year in the shadow of MJ. But his first class this year was on Friday, and Mario also had a special plan for Joey that day and offered to take him in to work. Joey had an awesome time and is still talking about his special day with daddy at the office.

And just last weekend, Mario invited his office to our house for a BBQ. We've known about this for awhile; I had grand plans to have the house in perfect order to put the best foot forward for family life. The plans didn't all work out (there are still fingerprints on the doors and windows) but still, I think the BBQ was a success. I believe it was our best tasting BBQ ever - I'm not sure if I can say it b/c it's sounds like I'm praising myself too much, but it was really a Tabitha style party. I chopped and prepared for HOURS and every item on the menu save one (Sabra Hummus) was home-made. We had an amazing BBQ skirt steak which Mario got the recipe from a restaurant in NJ, Jerked Chicken (not on kabobs which saved us some time), sliders, guacamole, mango salsa, Tabitha's salsa, fresh cut veggie tray, fresh cut fruit salad, chocolate chip cookies and brownies.... gosh, when you list it out like that, it doesn't seem like it should have taken me so long. The other plus to this BBQ on Saturday is that after the kids were asleep and we started the ND game, I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I'm sure this drove Mario crazy, but I literally woke up as the announcer made the last call of the game. I was in a bit of a daze, realized I should be somehow helping Mario emotionally, but quite refreshed for taking such a nice nap.

A Fair Family

I have a 4 minute video interviewing MJ and Joey about their new sibling with guesses on the birth day and boy/girl. It is very cute, but I'll save that for later. MJ thought a boy would be nice "like him" but that a girl would make us a "fair family" 3 boys 3 girls. MJ said he also wanted us to find out if it was a boy or a girl but to surprise him on his birthday - because this baby is definitely coming on his birthday after we have his cake and presents.

Hopefully this letter tonight was a good enough surprise for him.

MJ's new obsession

Mario takes on new...well they are like obsessions - every week or so. A book we got from a neighbor is kind of like a child's dictionary but sorts by categories too. So, there was a page on birds and he is now very into birds. He can tell you what each one of these are and I get questions all day long like "Which is bigger a bald eagle or a stork?" He's also into dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals after watching Ice Age. So he alternates running around pretending to be a sabre tooth tiger and at the grocery store a few days ago he told me he was being an ostrich. MJ sure makes life fun!

Trip to Florida

Last week the kids and I went to Florida to meet my parent's at their condo down there. I was set to drive the almost 16 hour drive, but the morning I was set to leave, my dad convinced me to fly. So, we flew out Monday night and had 4 full days of fun, returned Saturday afternoon (to Mario who was working very hard on this insane project). The kids traveled very well. We only got minor sunburns on Wednesday that cleared up by Thursday (I guess staying out at the beach for 3 hours may do that to you!) I'm very glad for my parent's hospitality and for the opportunity to take the kids there. They all really love the ocean (except for seaweed which makes them crazy for some reason). Sheila is almost too brave and adventurous in the ocean which kept me on my toes. But it was a very good time overall. As usual, I wish I took more pictures. We went to some pools there as well, but I have no pictures of that. MJ was happy to show off his swimming talents, and Joey (who is very brave in the water and loves to wrestle with MJ at 2 1/2 ft deep) learned how to float better with floaties and kick himself around - which I find is a necessary pre-step to learning to swim. So, we were happy for him. Sheila also enjoyed using the ring floats as well.

7 years ago...

I made the best decision of my life by marrying Mario! We've had a great 7 years and lots of reasons to celebrate.

We had a fun weekend celebrating our anniversary since we knew Mario would have to go back to Newark today for work. Friday night we had a babysitter lined up for us to go out to dinner. I planned on something close by, but Mario felt we should really celebrate such a special occasion. He Mario picked a fabulous place about 35 minutes from our house. It was fun driving along the countryside of VA to get there (in Paris, VA). I'm not sure of the history of the Ashby Inn, but is definitely a fancy restaurant. The chef takes great pride in his creations and the menu is full of amazing food utilizing ingredients from the local VA farms. Each dish was paired with a wine by the sommelier. Mario will have to take us back sometime when I am not pregnant so I can really enjoy the blending of flavors. We ate outside and enjoyed a fabulous view with a tasteful live band playing some music for us. Later in the evening, there was a hint of a thunderstorm with far off flashes of lightning and a nice breeze. Fortunately it didn't rain on us.

For appetizers I had the green tomato gazpacho with grilled parmesan crumble, bacon, olive oil espuma. Mario had the rockfish seviche with honey, espellette, puffed wild rice, sour cherry granite. We usually each pick an entree and split them, but we both wanted the smoked beef rib loin with triple cooked potato, rosemary, beet vinaigrette and we were very happy with our choice. For dessert we had the grilled creme fraiche pound cake with blueberry syrup, salted butter ice cream. The chef brought us extra treats in honor of our anniversary. One was a gummy like dessert and the other was a lemon caramel which was incredible. I gained 2 pounds that night, but I think it was worth it, and baby Suarez was happy. http://www.ashbyinn.com/

I've included other pictures in the slideshow. Our other very exciting news of the weekend is that MJ passed the swim test! He had to swim one length of the pool (50 meters I think) and then tread water for 30 seconds. We didn't think he'd be ready to do it on Sunday, but with both Mario and I at the pool with the kids, we had time to practice with him. MJ was determined and he did it! We were so proud of him, but he was equally proud of himself.

Backtracking a little, I have pictures from our fun sailing event thanks to Booz&Co and the Kaza family who watched our kids for us. It was the first time it rained in about 2 weeks, so it was a very wet sail. But we got to actively participate and trim sails, steer the ship, as well as hang out with coworkers, so it was a fun time.

Rounding out the slideshow are a few kid pictures. Joey passed out on the kitchen floor...I guess he was tired. He fell asleep around 5pm and we decided to see if he could make it through the night, which he did and slept 14 hours! Sheila is very interested in dressing herself now, and while she can't put everything on by herself she has her own opinions of what she should wear.

The final picture was taken at 4:30am this morning. Mario found me on the bed in Sheila's room since she was up vomiting in the middle of the night. He was about to drive to the train for work...but we have made an effort to have a picture together on our actual anniversary and this is what we got! Although, I think it does show our love in action.

Mario in a comic

Mario has been working long hours as usual, but on top of that, he has always managed to spend time recruiting for the company. As a way to thank the people who have helped bring new talent to the company, they made this comic of them. Some other form of compensation/reward should be coming later for all this hard work, but in the meantime, we thought this was pretty fun.

Baby #4

I'm 13 weeks pregnant with "Baby Gh" I probably should verify the spelling and name with Mario. With his unusual humor, Mario nicknamed this baby after Ghandi in hopes that this child would grow up to be peaceful. Baby Gh is possibly due Jan 16th (MJ's 6th birthday) and he is VERY excited to have a new baby for his birthday. This being my 4th winter baby, I've been able to compare pregnancies pretty well (and I am already much larger than I was with MJ (sigh)). But with their potential shared birthday, this has been especially fun.

Baby Gh at 8 weeks taken on 6/8/2010 exactly 6 years after....

Baby MJ at 8 weeks, taken on 6/8/2004

And today all 4 of my children were incredibly cooperative during our 1 1/2 hour visit to the radiologist for this ultrasound. I had not intended to bring my 3 out of womb children with me...alone...but I did, and we survived. As you can see based on these 2 images, Baby Gh was moving quite a bit. Though baby often found a cozy position all curled up and face down.

Baby Gh at 13 weeks

That's my brother!

As you may know, Bobby has been in Japan as a starting pitcher this year and is doing very well. Here is a recent article about him - at the time he was 9-1 and now he is 10-1. Way to go!!!

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20100624j1.html

So after each game, they pick two "heroes" or MVPs to interview. Bobby has been picked several times. A few things of note: there are lots of fans still in the stands after the game (baseball truly is a favorite sport in Japan). I think the bear microphone is cute. Bobby has a translator - the guy in blue standing standing next to him. In this hero interview, the other teammate is quite the jokster and was making up his own interpretation of what Bobby was saying. Fortunately, it seems people knew that he was joking.

http://www.tv-live.jp/vod/20100518_heroFG.html

Weekend with family

We had a terrific weekend with all of our family in town. Really and truly, Christian & Michelle did visit (though it seems as though my pictures don't have any of them present)... I just didn't take enough pictures. Thanks to everyone for making the long and short trips to Ashburn this weekend. Thank you Tabitha for the endless supply of food, Mary for the delicious cookies, and the incredible clean up crew!!!

I know the kids had a great time with their cousins - and we are still catching up on sleep today. Some of these slideshow pictures picture:

-the daytime fireworks
-how much Sheila loves Cecilia
-a small frog found by the boys, he made it away alive
-bedtime for the first sleepover night
-4 handsome boy cousins (who were all well-behaved in church)
-a few nighttime fireworks

First summer vacation

It feels like we were gone for so long, but really it was only 9 days. I don't think it helped that the days before leaving for the trip (you know, those crazy days of cleaning, packing, preparing) we were sick with the stomach flu. But we left on time Friday June 11th and headed for Chicago for my friend’s baby shower. We made the 12 hour drive (despite a tired mommy who just had the flu on Thursday) and arrived at a fancy Marriott in downtown Chicago. (Mario flew to Chicago for work). The kids really enjoyed the city and I wish we could have stayed longer.

Saturday during the shower, Mario and the kids went with Jeff and his son Joseph to Two Toots (a fun restaurant where they serve hot dogs and hamburgers on a train the runs around all the tables. Sheila and Joseph (almost 3) were really cute together.

Sunday, Mario flew to NY and I drove with the kids to St. Louis. I learned that you are contagious with a stomach bug even after you feel better since I got my friend Emily and her son Joseph sick, my mom and my sister. I’m not certain they will invite us back again. J The kids and I had fun in St. Louis with the Keppel family, and my Grandma was visiting too.

Then Thursday we headed to ND for my cousin’s wedding. The rehearsal dinner was at Fiddler’s Hearth (an Irish pub). Sheila is definitely Irish - she can’t help but dance when she hears music and was compelled to climb on the table and start dancing there too. The wedding was fun, and it was nice to reminisce about our own wedding at the Basilica almost 7 years ago.

We arrived 11pm Saturday night (after buying some fireworks for our 4^th of July celebration) and spent most of Sunday relaxing and enjoying our family. We did get out to see Toy Story 3 which was really cute. I’m so excited that we will be seeing so many family members very soon!

We are happy to share...

Updates

We just got back from an amazing weekend in Connecticut. We were fortunate to witness Luke as he became ordained a deacon. I've never been to an ordination before and it was so amazing - I highly recommend going if you ever have the opportunity. Photos from the ordination are on the Suarez family blog. Here are a few pictures from our recent family visits.

Bobby in Japan

My brother is now pitching in Japan. I think it was a pretty exciting deal for him, and of course a great life experience. I guess there was some big game or series for his team and they won. I'm impressed by the crowd's enthusiasm. Hopefully these video links will work.

The game highlights
http://www.tv-live.jp/vod/20100429_digestFBs.html

The post-game interview - I love the mic with the mascot on it.
http://www.tv-live.jp/vod/20100429_heroFBs.html

A birthday I won't forget

Our plans for the weekend were to be in Charlottesville from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning for the Darden 5 year reunion. So, I knew my birthday would be a bit different but memorable. Friday night we left the children with a babysitter (nursing student from UVA - who we had arranged for both nights) and went to the first reunion event at the downtown mall (for those who were able to visit us there, it's a really fun part of town). It was so fun to catch up with so many friends, and I believe half of the class was there (which is a lot as far as 5 year reunions go at UVA).

Saturday morning, Sheila gave me my first present of the day...she fulfilled her name of "Danger girl" by jumping on the bed, falling off the bed, and cutting her nose on the nightstand. Right away we could tell she'd need some stitches (there are 2 lacerations). So, Mario kept the boys and I rushed Sheila over to UVA hospital. There are 2 hospitals in C'ville, I delivered MJ at the one with the great birthing center (Martha Jefferson), but the last time I was at the UVA hospital was for Mario's surgery. I guess reunion weekends are all about bringing back memories. :-)

Sheila was quite the trooper at the hospital, and for the first half hour impressed everyone who came to check on her. She was calm and cooperated as everyone did everything to look at her nose and check her out. Then I guess she got bored of the whole thing and was a bit ready to move on. Nothing a few distractions couldn't fix. We finally decided the best treatment was to have the doctor on call for faces, who was a plastic surgeon this shift, come and repair one of the lacerations with a stitch. So, Sheila was given a topical anesthetic, strapped in that pappouse thing (I've now done this with Joey and Sheila), and she got 2 stitches on the bigger laceration on the side of her nostril, but the one in the center they only felt the need to apply dermabond glue. Sheila is healing very well and it appears as though the doctor did a great job. I was told to keep Sheila from running around too much on Sunday (hah!) and for the next year I need to make sure she has sunblock on her nose whenever she is outside. Everyone at the hospital was really nice and I got more birthday wishes from almost everyone who worked with us.

Mario and the boys joined us when it was all over with some great birthday cards, and one of my favorite C'ville lunches (sandwiches from the Market). Mario had a lot of work to do this weekend and is leaving for Germany on Monday, so we took this incident as a sign that we should head back home and take things easy. We packed up, drove home, and then I had a delicious meal at Outback including the surprise singing waiters and an ice cream sundae to share with the family. We watched half a movie with the kids, I was showered with more hugs and kisses from them, and we tucked them in bed.

MJ has been interested in that he was born in Charlottesville, so we took him to his first home... good old Ivy Gardens.

And now I have more babies!

After our yummy meal at Outback. Yes, you can take a self-portrait with 5 people in the picture.

I need to get a better shot of Sheila's nose...this was taken by either MJ or Joey.

What a day!

Catching up

It would be easier for the reader if I uploaded each picture and gave it an individual caption, but I am short of time and thought I'd take the short cut and make a web album slideshow. We've managed to keep ourselves too busy these last few weeks, but I realized that it is largely b/c I make my own "trouble". Our new adventure is a free play set that someone was giving away that was only a few miles from our home. I convinced Mario to help me take it apart and after a long weekend filled with drama as to whether it could actually come apart, it is now sitting by the side of our house. It has been pressure-washed and waits sanding and staining and then re-assmebly with all new hardware. I think we are all now really excited about it.

In the meantime, we have been enjoying the spring weather. I've not tested this theory, but I think our kids spend much more time outside than other children. This is partly due to the private and safe location of our house and partly due to their neglecting mother who encourages them to "go find something to do" I do think they are having a lot of fun though.

Pictures in the slide show include:
1. Sheila continuing to act older than she is
2. Sheila having fun on her bike.
3. All 3 kids on their bikes (and my nice old neighbor taking care of his lawn)
4. MJ's homemade kite inspired by a windy Saturday
5. The kids hanging out with the "drawing table" and all it's creative mess behind them
6. MJ's picture of the Pirates Veggie Tales (thanks Kaza's for letting us borrow your movie - whether you knew we had it or not)
7 - 10. A series taken by Joey of his adventure with Sheila one morning (Joey has been into picture taking lately)
11. Another Joey picture - of his blue lacrosse made out of Magformers (just like Daddy's) Thanks Kazas for the great toy idea... we are thoroughly impressed by Joey's building skills
12 & 13. Cleaning up after all our fun!

To expand on #s 7-10:
On one of our unusually cold spring mornings, I was helping MJ to breakfast and chatting with him, when I heard Joey and Sheila off somewhere playing. I thought to myself, "It is so nice that those two have learned to have fun together" After awhile, I began to wonder where exactly this fun was taking place, and the mommy radar alerted me to potential danger. I searched all of Sheila's most fun places - the bathrooms - and then realized I had forgotten to put away the bunk bed ladder. Sure enough, she and Joey were up there happily playing. And it was so nice of Joey to capture all of their adventure on camera (he took a dozen or so more pictures).

A special time with the Kazas

We just had a fabulous time with the 7 Kaza children as they spent the night here. We feel so lucky to live near enough to the Kazas so that these cousins can have special weekends like this one. Here are a few pictures from our visit together.

Happy Easter

We didn't bring our camera to the big family celebration on Easter, so we are awaiting those pictures. But here is a good start.

 

Our 15 month old is toilet-trained

Okay, so this is a bit of an April Fools Joke. I've been wanting to do a family post for a month, but we've actually been sick for most of March and while it hasn't slowed us down during the day, getting up for 4 weeks in a row with fevered kids or coughing and wheezing kids has been a little draining. Sheila is not toilet-trained, but 1 month ago she started using the toilet. Her first attempt was to stand like her brothers, but as amazing as she is, this did not work. Instead she now balances herself on the big toilet (I haven't yet gotten out the little ring to put in for her). I'm not really engaging her in this training yet as I think it is a little too early, but still I find it impressive. Oh, and the picture is Sheila eating some turkey stick or something like that. Mario thinks that is cool.

Mario has been traveling and working so much we haven't seen much of him. So one Friday we went to Tyson's to meet him for dinner. Here are Sheila and I at the Cheesecake factory.


We built our own fire pit! For these cool spring evenings.


Joey has been very determined to ride his big boy bike with training wheels. It is a little too tall for him, but now he's got it down and he can really move.


MJ is a drawing and writing machine. We go through a lot of paper each day (thankfully dad brings us scrap paper from work that we can use). MJ can also climb trees by himself...we are so glad we can tell him to "go climb trees" when he gets restless and starts climbing furniture in our house.


This is what happens when Joey gets the camera. We have a lot of pictures like this.


SPRING! These daffodils(?) were growing all over in our grass. Last year they were cut down mercilessly by the lawnmower. This year I dug them up and transplanted them. A little risky this time of you, but at least they won't be cut down.

This was from awhile ago

For those who know the cute babies involved in this video, this is especially for you.

Here come the Irish

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day twice (last Sunday, since Mario travels during the week and would be gone, and then on the actual day). For our first Irish meal we had the corned beef and cabbage and the best green dessert I can think of!

I did not get as many cute pictures of the kids as I had hoped on either day. Joey got Sheila's bad fever illness so I'm going on my second week in a row with a child with a 101-103 temperature. If I'm incoherent I blame it on the lack of sleep and if MJ gets sick next week, I'm done for. We planned to make shamrock sugar cookies as well, but ran out of a key ingredient and I couldn't decide between leaving Joey in the car with his burning up fever while I shopped with the potential of him being stolen or me being arrested OR dragging his very tired hot little body through the store getting everyone sick and exposing him to more germs. So... no cookies. But we did enjoy our first viewing of a VHS tape of the life of St. Patrick that I got from freecycle. I haven't used a VCR in years, and it was a lot of fun! And yes, MJ did ask, "What is that thing mommy?" Ah, old technology.... We completed our feasting with a Shepherd's pie and some Irish music. Sheila was inspired to dance, but certain Irish songs seem to make my boys think of football. So all the efforts I made to get a cute video of the kids dancing this year were replaced with the boys tackling each other in the family room.

Jello is a weird dessert, but I guess I've done this in the past and Mario asked to do it again. At least it's fun to make and looks pretty.

3 years of Joey

3 years ago at 4:31pm we welcomed our second baby boy Joseph Patrick to the world. He broke the mold at 9lbs, 8oz; 21 ¾” long, 14 ¾” head circumference

I've spent way too much time making a slideshow with pictures of the first three years of Joey's life. Who says the middle child doesn't get any attention? I apologize for all the pictures, but it was hard to get rid of any more - and I had to have some of Joey with his cousins. With all of the pictures, I hope we were able to capture the many sides of Joey's personality.

Could we have 2 ft less please?

Since two of my children are about 3ft tall or less, this is just TOO MUCH SNOW to have fun. Reports say Ashburn got 34.5 inches of snow over the weekend. And now we are going to get 10-20 more inches on Tuesday-Wednesday. REALLY?

Snowstorm 1

This probably isn't accurate, but we have 27" and it is still coming. I am not a tree-hugger, but we have lost branches to 2 of my favorite trees and I hope they will survive. Other trees are bending over by the weight of the snow. I'm sad for the tree damage, but the snow is kind of fun. Making forts and an igloo should be easy. Mario and I have already shoveled the driveway a couple of times, but we will still need to do the pipestem and I hear our cul de sac may not be plowed. When taking pictures, I had to stomp through snow all the way up the inseam of my leg.

Seriously, I love snow, but I think we've had enough now. Thank you.

Bobby may be in Japan but he'll be on TV in the US this weekend

Watch "Faith Bowl III" on Sunday, February 7, 2010
Faith Bowl III, a half-hour, round-table discussion by sports celebrities about the challenges of living the Catholic faith and the challenges to family life amidst the public arena of professional sports, will air on several Catholic television broadcast outlets and networks Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. This is the third consecutive year that Family Theater is producing Faith Bowl in collaboration with Catholic Athletes for Christ and the Knights of Columbus.

This year's program features:

Mike Piazza, a retired catcher after a 16-year career in Major League Baseball, mostly with the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was a 12-time All-Star and the 1993 National League "Rookie of the Year."
Mike Sweeney, a designated hitter for the Seattle Mariners in 2009, a 15-year MLB veteran and five-time selection to the All-Star team as a Kansas City Royal.
Bobby Keppel, a relief pitcher for the Minnesota Twins. He appeared in 37 games in 2009 and was the winning pitcher of the Twins' playoff game with the Detroit Tigers for the American League Central Division title. He is the Faith Bowl III moderator.

Among scheduled broadcasts on Feb. 7 are:

• EWTN at 5 PM (EST/2 PM PST)
• CatholicTV, Boston at 5:30 and 10 PM (EST/ 2:30 and 7 PM PST) airing on cable systems throughout New England
• Nationally on Sky Angel IPTV and its website: www.catholictv.org
  

I love this snow!

We woke up to some beautiful snow this morning. The lighting was beautiful with the early morning sun trying to peak through the clouds. So I rushed to put my boots on and take a picture. Sheila saw me and immediately got her hat and gloves...so she joined me for picture time. The church is off to the right behind our house and I think it's cool that it looks like the light is coming from that direction.


The backyard...you can't even see the church through the snow covered trees.

When Joey woke I asked him excitedly about what was outside. He kind of grumpily said, "I don't like the snow on the cars, now I have to go brush it off." I guess someone in this family has to be practical about all of this.

Winter Fun

It's been awhile since we did a recap of our family life.

MJ has been drawing, writing, cutting, and creating many things lately. While this is very sweet, it has also led to some messy scraps of paper on the ground. We are proud of his creations and are happy he is learning how to clean up after himself. He's still having fun at school and his teachers say he is a very good friend and student. He had "Dad's night" at pre-school last week and it was very sweet. They went to McDonald's for dinner and then to the pre-school where they did a few activities and made a wooden piece of art. He said he really enjoyed hanging out with Daddy. MJ has also a recent fascination with cooking after watching the food network with us one Saturday. He has come up with some interesting sugar/water things, but when he tried to put milk and OJ and lemonade and bacon into a drink, we decided we should draw the line. So, tonight he helped me make some real dinner, and I think that was satisfactory to him.

We've been thinking that since Joey is almost 3, he should be rid of the pacifier. When we try to negotiate different ways of him handing over the one blue pacifier he has left, he says he'll do it and then of course we'd trade it in and get him a bigger blue pacifier. Blue, specifically light blue, is still Joey's favorite color. He wants everything to be blue, and if it isn't really blue, he'll pretend it is just to make himself happy (I bet you didn't know our silver Odyssey is in fact blue). I am making a conscious effort to have Joey be a helpful big brother and not just ask MJ to always help out. Joey likes it, but unfortunately this has led to unusual arguments where MJ and Joey fight over who gets to be the helper first. (sigh) Joey has recently decided that playing in the snow is an okay thing, this has made the winter so much better for us. He's been known to cry and whine when he is all finished playing in the snow, in fact, one time MJ, Joey and I were out last December, he cried nearly the whole time. Hey, he was the one who chose to sit on the hill instead of sled and have fun - I guess tough love works sometimes.

Sheila is still quite the climber. But she does have INCREDIBLE balance, so I find myself letting her sit on tables. I think this is a bad habit both she and I have to break. She's starting to say a few more words - but even without them is quite capable of conveying what she wants. She still thinks she is as old as her brothers and it is fun to see her play with them. Her adventurous spirit has carried over to the outdoors and she loves the snow. If she senses we are getting ready to go out, she immediately gets her hat and boots. We think she has a similar intense personality to MJ's. Of course, every child is different, but at the moment, we are seeing her similarities to MJ as a baby. We are a bit concerned with her small size, though I guess she is 75% and on track. We just had such huge babies before, we just don't know what to do with this normal size.

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. Last weekend we had a lot of fun beginning with some snow Saturday morning. All the kids had a ton of fun sledding on the hill behind St. Theresa. Then after a good nap, we took them all the the DC auto show. This seems to be an annual event for our family. Braving the falling snow proved to be worth it as the snow kept the big crowds away. It was so great being able to climb in and out of the cars without waiting in lines. The same snow from the weekend is still here now (and being snowed on top of even more). We made 3 snowman, got a picture, and then Joey and MJ tackled them. Did I share that video of Mario tackling the giant snowman? I think I should.

Sheila getting ready to go out in he snow.

MJ and Bumblebee at the car show

I guess this is her car.

This IS Joey's car, the last one he played in before we left. Notice it is light blue. He buckled himself in and says that he is talking on the phone. I didn't know this car had bluetooth built in to the seatbelts. It was sad, because Joey actually thought he was going to take a car home. So the whole time we were leaving he whined and cried about wanting his blue car (we stayed out until 9pm). They somehow were still awake when we got home and Joey said sleepily "I was just crying in the car because I wanted my blue car" You can probably understand why he now calls our Odyssey blue.