February in Review (a lost post from March 3)

March came in like a lion here, albeit a very gentle lion--maybe a cub who's been declawed. In other words, it snowed lightly, school wasn't cancelled, and the winter continues to be absurdly mild.

Here's our February in review:

Dave, his parents and siblings at Uncle Bill's funeral reception

The boys hugging, then roughhousing, as usual...

We had a lovely visit from Auntie Jenny, Fiona and Mica (he's the dog):

Yep, Will still thinks he's of the canine persuasion.

Here was Valentine's Day:

Will made his "King Valentine" crown at preschool.

They proceeded to call themselves Baby Bunting

and take turns in the laundry basket:

They also took turns putting each other to bed

and giving goodnight kisses.

Here are my boys hiding in their box-cave because

"The bear's comin'! Hunters are comin'!"

In the middle of the month, Mindy had her beautiful baby girl:

The original Isis seven went out for dinner to celebrate Noon Baby #3;

the girls got these fantastic tee-shirts for Will and Finn.

 "Biggest Brother Will"

 "Big Brother Finn"

And here's Big Brother Finn in action,

"snuggling the New March Baby!" as he likes to say.

This baby is seriously lucky in the big brother department.

Happy start to March, everyone!

Our Girl

 Bridget Frances

(formerly known as the New March Baby)

March 5, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day

Last week, Dave's uncle passed away suddenly. I wanted us all to go, but it wasn't going to happen at eight months pregnant, so I stayed with the boys while Dave traveled to New Jersey for the wake and funeral. Will has been talking a lot about Uncle Bill and Heaven, drawing pictures for him at preschool. Finn will randomly say something like "I miss Uncle Bill"--obviously parroting one of us, but still pretty sweet.

On the same day (within minutes) that we got that bad news, we also got the wonderful news that my friend Mindy was in labor. A few hours later she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

I guess that's fitting, right? I'd like to think Uncle Bill gave baby Grace a high five as they passed each other in opposite directions.

Losing a member of the family and gaining a member of our (and our kids') inner circle has made this Valentine's Day a little more special, and easier for us to count all of our blessings with infinite gratitude. Case(s) in point:

Will wore this shirt today to school and informed me that his nickname was "Heartbreaker--because that's another language for 'I love you.'"

Is There Room for One More?

By next March, we'll need another horse on the carousel.

And another ticket to the firehouse tour.

And some matching tee-shirts for the TWO big brothers.

March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, 2012, to be exact;

we're having another baby!

Will Turns Three!

We woke Will up at 8 a.m. with a pair of birthday balloons, some presents to unwrap, and a singing not-so-baby brother.

Here he is with his gifts from the Philly Noons:

And here he's blowing out the candles on his birthday donuts (again).

A quick family picture before the day truly begins:

After dropping off Finny at his playgroup, we headed for the bike shop.

We were early, but Will wanted to wait outside until the sign said "OPEN," so we did.

Once inside, he went right for the bike he wanted, the same one his BFF Connor has.

They matched him with a 16" bike, which is apparently (but unsurprisingly) a big bike for a just-three-year-old. I know nothing about bikes, but I know he looked like a serious KID on that one.

He also picked out a helmet in 1.3 seconds flat--

"I want that one, ALL BLACK," he said, pointing emphatically.

We returned home with Finny in tow,

and the boys had a blast racing with their balloons.

Will shared one of his two balloons with Finny.

Not because we asked him to; he just did it, all day long.

Will also "read" the balloon out loud to me and Dave at separate intervals.

He told me that his balloon said, "Dear Will, Happy Birthday! I hope you have a great day. We'll see you next week! Love, Your Birthday."

He told Dave that it conveyed the simple message: "Dear Will, Happy Birthday! Love, Cake."

He tried on his new puffy vest,

which had been on his wish list since he had to hand his old one down to his brother.

And he didn't take off his Curious George shirt for the rest of the day.

After nap, we headed out for a nice long walk with some friends, saw a couple of trains, and went out to dinner with Nan and Mamp.

The day was like the birthday boy himself: perfectly wonderful.