Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! For us, Halloween will extend into November. Trick-or-treating was rescheduled in Greenfield due to the storm and all the damage and danger of downed power lines and such. Probably the best thing. We want all the kids to be safe! So we'll look forward to trick-or-treating next Saturday! :)

We still had a fun Halloween though. We made more Halloween cookies, went sledding and had hot dog mummies for supper. Gloria loved it!

In lieu of Halloween photos, here are some fun and incredibly artistic carved pumpkins to take a look at. We carved pumpkins this year but they are no way as good as these! haha The artist who did them is Ray Villafane. Pretty impressive!



I am happy we had such a great family day together today, especially since it was the last day of paternity leave for Tom. He starts back at work tomorrow and we are all very sad. :( It has been wonderful to share so much time together at home with our baby boy and to celebrate the time together as a family. We are heartbroken that the time has come to an end but we feel very fortunate to have had the time off that he did. We hope daddy has a great first day at work tomorrow and we'll all look forward to his coming home at the end of the day! :)

Tales from the Crib

Leo is just over three weeks old now and the time has flown by! I can't believe he'll already be a month old on Monday!

We've been pretty busy here at home getting used to our new schedule of having two kiddos. We are all adjusting, especially Gloria. She has been an amazing little helper! When she hears Leo crying, she is quick to respond. She'll rub his belly or sing to him, it is so sweet. She is struggling with the change in her own ways though. Bedtime has been really tough but we are getting closer to things being back to normal...we hope! :) Overall though, we are all doing so great! Leo is awake more often now, not so much a sleepy newborn anymore. We love seeing his big beautiful eyes open and alert!

The last three weeks have been also busy with visitors of family and friends. Lots of people coming to meet Leo. It was especially great to have my best friend Kimmy and her husband Paul up here the weekend after Leo was born. They had planned to visit during that weekend for a few months so it worked out perfectly that I had just had Leo earlier that week. :) We had such a great visit, much too short, but it was awesome to have them here!

I've posted many more photos from the first few weeks after Leo was born. Visit our August 2011 album to see them.

Leo's Two Weeks

Leo is two and a half weeks old at this point and he is doing so well! What an easy going, sweet boy he is! He is sleeping really well, nursing great and just all around a beautiful little guy!

We took Leo to his 2 week appointment on Tuesday and he had a perfect report! He has started to gain some weight from his 1 week appointment which is good. He also grew a half inch! He is in the high 80th percentiles for both his weight and height.

We are so proud of our sweet Leo James! He is one very special little man. We couldn't be happier!

Leo at 5 days old. :)

Gloria and Leo

I'm still working on getting the birth story written and uploading more pics but in the meantime, here is a video of Gloria getting to know Leo the day he was born. She is so in love with her baby brother! :)

Welcome Baby Leo James!!

He is here!! Our little...uh...I mean BIG boy is here!!! We are so very excited to announce the birth of Leo James born on August 8th, 2011. He was born at 10:27 AM at the hospital (barely) weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs. 6 oz! Like I said, BIG boy! We keep calling him our chunky monkey. :) He is 21 1/2 inches long and a super star baby!

We'll post more about the birth and our family soon but we just wanted to share our big news with everyone. We are doing very well, all four of us. Gloria is especially proud to have her baby brother here at last! We are home, happy and so very much in love with our new little family member! Thank you everyone for all the support, encouragement and the love! xoxo

Here are just a few photos of our big boy! Definitely more to come. :)


Leo James...our big boy with a full head of hair!


Gloria meeting Leo for the first time. :)


Our very happy family!


Leo and his very proud mommy ready to go home. :)

A Child's View

Last night when I was helping Gloria get ready for bed, she says to me "Mommy, I'm a big sister!" I responded by telling her that yes, very soon she will be a big sister. She then says to me "We are going to be a whole new family!" What a kid!! Her words brought tears to my eyes. I responded with "Yes, you are right Gloria, we will be a whole new family. A special new family."

What an amazing kid we have!! I love her perspective and insight into the world. Even with the unknown and all the changes taking place around her, Gloria keeps a sweet and wonderful outlook on things. She is going to be a fantastic big sister!! :)

We are still waiting for baby brother to make an appearance. I wish I could say things were progressing...contractions, etc., but there have been no signs really yet. I thought for sure this baby would be early but I guess he's just not ready.

In the meantime, we continue to have fun on our weekends. Gloria and I went to the Paint Box Theater again yesterday to watch "The Sword in the Stone." It was especially fun since we met up with Dawn, Matt and the girls. Gloria was so excited to see her friend Bre! :)

Today I went with Gloria and my friend Amanda up to the Cheshire Fair in New Hampshire. We had a great time even though it was REALLY hot!! Or, at least, I was really hot! :) My favorite part of the whole day was Gloria riding the kids rollercoaster! She went on with Amanda...twice!! haha She is such a thrill seeker, I love it! The second time she went on, she even put her hands up in the air and yelled "wooohooo!" Of course, Amanda had her hands tightly around her the whole time. I think she was more nervous than Gloria was! ;)

Unfortunately, Tom had to work over the weekend so we didn't get to do too much with daddy, especially in the evenings since we were so pooped from all the daytime fun. We did fit some park time in on Friday though. We also went together to get some homemade ice cream from The Wagon Wheel! It was SO good! If you haven't tried their ice cream yet, you must!!

I posted photos from our weekend adventures in our August 2011 album. We hope you had a fun summer weekend on your end! Love to you all!



Gloria and Amanda on the rollercoaster! :)

Girl Time

Gee, I wrote out this post and I guess I never published it. Oops!! :) This post was from Sunday.

Gloria and I had a fun girl's day today. Since Tom had to work a double shift today, I decided today was going to be a designated girl's day! Gloria was all about it! :) We painted eachother's nails, snuggled, had some park time, read some princess books and had a movie night. I'm so glad we are able to have this time together. It really is so very special!

Besides our girl's day today, we had an fabulous weekend with friends! Liz joined us for some fun at the lake on Saturday. A perfect day to be beach side! Then we made some very spontaneous plans with our friends the Renauds to have a low-key BBQ at the camp. It was fun hanging out at the river the kids and taking walks. We even got a chance to roast marshmallows! Yum!

I love weekends where you don't really make any plans and they turn out to be the best!

Visit our July 2011 album for pics from our weekend but also some other fun adventures that I'm just getting caught up on now. :)

In pregnancy news, I'm now 39 weeks pregnant and still hanging in there. Or at least, baby boy is hanging in there! ;) I will be doing shorter days at work this week in hopes of trying to take it easy a bit. My body is definitely telling me to slow down, not something I'm used to doing. One thing I learned from being pregnant the first time around was that I need to take care of myself, first and foremost so that is what I'm trying doing.

We'll keep you posted as things progress. Thank you for all the support and notes of encouragement! We are really lucky to have you all in our lives! xoxo Hopefully we'll have baby news to share very soon!

HOT HOT HOT!!

It has been super hot as most of you know! We've been trying to stay cool. Honestly, I don't really want to leave the comfort of our air conditioned home but I can't imagine staying in one place with a very active 3-year-old!

Yesterday, at the suggestion of a friend, I took Gloria to the Paintbox Theater in Northampton to see "The Emperor's New Clothes." It was very silly and super fun for the kiddos! Gloria had a blast! After the show, her and I went to eat at my favorite sandwich shop, Woodstar Cafe. I've missed working in Noho where there are so many yummy spots to eat! After lunch, we walked over to A Child's Garden to pick out a present for baby brother from Gloria. She was very excited about picking something out just from her. It didn't take her long to find something that she thought was perfect! We had fun sitting and reading some book and enjoying some of the fun toys the store has to offer.

Saturday night we headed over to Corey and Liz's house to use their pool. We had so much fun! Gloria was hesitant at first but once she got in, she was all about swimming with us! She even braved getting on Dolphe which is Liz and Corey's pool whale. :) It was great to see Liz and Corey and it was the perfect way to end the day and cool off!!

Today we were suppose to go to the lake but because the weather wasn't looking great at first, we decided to stick close to home. Instead, we went to the farm stand, had a picnic at a local park and Gloria got to play for a bit. It rained a few times while we were out but it wasn't too bad. I suppose we could have gone to the lake after all...oh well! We still had a good day.

These days have been very special for me in terms of spending them with Gloria. I always love our time together but right now I think I put even more emphasize on how special they are because they will soon change. Soon we'll have a little baby in our family!

We have been trying to prepare Gloria for the arrival of her little brother. We know this will be a big change for her and us! She really is excited! The other day, she lifted up my shirt to look at my belly and said "Mommy, I want to see baby brother's face!" :) She is just as ready as we are to meet this little guy!

We had our appointment at the hospital the other evening to go over our birth plan, fill out paperwork and then show Gloria where she was born and where we hope the baby will be born too. She thought it was pretty cool! When she walked into the room where we told her she was born, she said to us and the nurse "Wow! This is amazing!" haha She just cracks us up!

We continue to do little things here and there to keep us busy while we wait for baby's arrival. Tom finished the front walkway about a week ago and it looks great! I'm very proud of him! I'll post some photos soon.

Have a great week and try to stay cool!! :)

Beach Bums

We finally got a chance to go to the beach as a family on Saturday. It was a gorgeous weekend to be outside! We had such a great time together. Gloria loved being at the lake and even made a new friend. She does that a lot. :) You can check out a few pics in our July 2011 album.

Besides beach fun, Tom has been very busy working on the front walkway of the house. He is doing an excellent job! I can't wait to post pics of it when he is done! The house hasn't had a front walkway since my mom bought the house back in the early 90s. It is going to look great!

For me, I've been busy "nesting" for the most part haha! Lots of little things to finish up before the baby comes. I'm 36 weeks along now. So far, baby is head down (hoping he stays that way) and I'm 2 cm dilated. Not that being dilated means much...I could walk around like that for weeks! Let's hope not though. Everything has been going really well! I've been very fortunate to have a good pregnancy overall. We are ready for baby's arrival anytime! :)

Weekend of Love

It was one of those really great weekends. Even with the rain we had today.

Friday I was able to take some time off from work to go to the Brimfield Antique Show with my good friend Lauren. This antique show comes around 3 times a year, spring, summer and fall. A paradise for antique shoppers such as ourselves!! I had my list and took Tom's truck. I was ready to find some great stuff! :) We had a great time! What a fun thing to do. We saw all sorts of fun things but didn't find what we were looking for. We did leave with a few items but nothing we had hoped for. Oh well. There is always the next show! ;)

Saturday was a one-on-one Gloria day. I just love my days with her! Especially when we can have a low-key day together. She's been especially chatty lately which is too funny. Her latest thing is to tell you stories. Big, long, made up stories. She has quite the imagination! It is a treat to sit and listen to her. I love watching her be so animated and so intense about the story she is telling me. I love her little world!

Today was a really special day also. Not only did I get to spend the day with my two loves, Gloria and Tom, I got to see some of my favorite girls at a little party in honor of baby mac! My dear friend Liz put together a small gathering to celebrate our baby boy's upcoming arrival. It was so sweet! I was touched by everyone's thoughtfulness! It was truly unexpected. I thought I was going over for a small get together for some ice cream! :) It was a great surprise to see some faces I hadn't seen in a while. Thank you to Liz and her helpers for such a wonderful afternoon of socializing and ice cream! Tom, Gloria, myself and baby mac thank you for your love and thoughtfulness! Mwah!!!

It was a perfect weekend. Just perfect! Something that was much needed. :)

Greatest Gift of All!

As I sit here at the computer trying to catch up on some photo editing, I feel the little guy inside moving, poking and shifting. Even though this is my second time being pregnant, I still can't help but be amazed at this process! It truly is a miracle and I feel so fortunate to experience it again. An amazing blessing and gift!

I haven't really updated much on the pregnancy. Mostly is has been smooth sailing. No real complaints other than a few aches and pains. I love being pregnant! Our baby boy has been active and he seems to be growing at lightning speed! We might have a big boy on our hands. :) I'm just shy of 28 weeks by a few days. I can't believe only 12 more weeks to go! Time has gone by SO much faster this time around. Having a very active toddler keeps us very busy. However, I'm happy the time is going quickly because we can't wait to meet our little guy!

As far as Gloria goes, she has been funny lately. Tonight she says to us, "The baby is sleeping inside my belly." She's been trying to figure out this whole baby thing. She understands the baby is in mommy's belly but I'm not sure she fully understands that we are going to have a baby in the house soon. She goes back and forth from being really excited to not being sure she wants a brother. We have a feeling that once the little guy is born though, Gloria will be over-the-moon in love! She is so nurturing and sweet that she'll want to take very good care of her baby brother. :)

The Suspense

Last time we were pregnant many of you might remember that we didn't know what we were having. I was really adamant about not finding out. Funny because most of my friends tell me that they are surprised I didn't want to find out. After all, I'm a planner and a control freak! Kind of odd that I wasn't planning for the biggest event of our lives...in the gender sense anyway. For me, I was focused on just getting ready to be a parent and getting ready for our baby, boy or girl. The outcome was going to be the same for us...we were going to be parents and we were going to love our little baby no matter what!

This time around has been a little different. One of us didn't want to find out, the other (Tom) did! :) Well, this topic has been under "discussion" (as I told people) since the day we found out I was pregnant! Goodness, Tom has been stubborn! haha To be fair, we decided (the night before the ultrasound) that we would find out. I was still questioning our decision right up until the technician asked. When she did, Tom jumped out of his seat and didn't even let her finish asking the question before he said very strongly "YES!" He was so excited to find out this time around. It made me chuckle.

The technician then showed us a shot of what was definitely not to be mistaken as a girl. It was a boy, no doubt about it! We were thrilled!! The bottom line is we want a healthy baby but finding out we are having a boy is really very exciting news.

Here HE is! Our little boy! Almost looks like he could be a thumbsucker too! :)

Serenity in Simplicity

Life is nuts. Actually, life is a whole truck full O' nuts! Time is a precious commodity around here lately as I'm sure many of you can relate. Not really different from any other time in our lives to be honest. Well, more for me than Tom. For some reason, I find keeping my life as busy as possible to be comforting? Crazy but so true. I'm not sure why but the more I have to do in my life, the more it makes me feel involved in life. I must note though, and Tom will be sure to mention this, that I will then complain to my him that I have NO time! HA! I think I need to work on that one! :)

As much as I say that I have no time right now, I'm pretty sure my eyes will be wide open to what "no time" really means when August rolls around. Many of you probably know this already but I must bring you up to speed...Tom and I are expecting our second child! I am 20 weeks pregnant. Hard to believe I am already halfway there! We are over the moon excited and can't wait for our family to grow! We've wanted a sibling for Gloria for quite a while now and this year, that wish will be fulfilled. We are so in love with our family, craziness and all, that we couldn't imagine not having another child to share in our love. Our life will indeed get busier but we also felt that way before Gloria was born and we can't imagine our lives without her! Our busy lives may bring some challenges but we always team up and make things work no matter what. The bottom line, family is the most important thing to us!

The one thing I think I value more than ever is finding peace in the simplest things. We don't have to make extravagant plans to have a special day together. Because we are always so busy with our every day lives, we find great serenity in the simple pleasures of just being home and spending time together. One of Gloria's favorite things to do it snuggle! We had a lovely snuggle this morning together as a family, each of us in each other's arms. I thought to myself, I love this! I also thought, I can't wait to do this very same thing with BOTH of our children!

We may be busy, and will get even busier, but we'll always have time for loving each other and our children! Always!

Dinner Conversation

Tom: "Gloria. Do you want a baby brother?"

Gloria: "Uh...yes!" Shaking her head.

Me: "Hahahaha! See Tom, she wants a baby brother!"

We chuckled and continued eating our dinner. A few minutes had passed...

Gloria: "Please! Baby brother! Please!!! Baby brother! Baby brother!"

Tom and I: "Hahahahaha!"

Tom: "I guess that's what I get."

No, I'm not pregnant. :) Who knows if I will be any time soon. We've just been talking about it lately. We've also been asked by other people what our plans are. We never saw Gloria as an only child but...sometimes circumstances change and you just don't know what the future will bring.

During one of our baby conversations, Tom thought he'd ask Gloria her thoughts on the matter. For some reason, Tom picked to ask if she wanted a baby brother. Gloria would be an amazing big sister! She is so nurturing and, as many of you know, she LOVES babies! In almost an unhealthy way, haha!

Anyway, we thought the conversation with her was pretty funny so I had to share it with you all. Our little girl has spoken! If it involves a baby, she is 100% on board! :) Good to know we have her seal of approval. Although, we know she isn't completely aware of what a baby brother (or sister) would mean but I'm pretty sure she'd love him or her more than anything and that's all that would matter:)

Toasted Flour for Diaper Rash?

Ok, sort of an odd post to share just after a recipe but it just had to be done while I was thinking about it.

I think diaper rash is such a horrible problem for little ones. Its got to be so painful and it breaks my heart to see the flaming red glow of a rash. Fortunately now, Gloria really doesn't have many problems but at one point, it was a horrible battle! No matter how often we changed diapers, had air time, diaper rash cream, it was an issue.

When I had expressed my concern at work to other parents, my previous bosses had suggested a home remedy to try. I was desperate so I gave it a shot. They said to take some flour, toast it in the toaster oven until brown and put it in a container to sprinkle as needed on the rash. What do you know...it worked!!

I looked for some other home remedies for diaper rash and came across Granny Med's site and YGO Home Remedies. There are a few other suggestions (including the flour one). I just thought I'd share this little piece of advice with you parents and care givers out there. Hopefully these are helpful to keep your baby's bum happy:)

Celebrating a Special Little Boy

A week ago, my mother-in-law Irene and I made a trip to Wakefield, Ma to celebrate a very special baby, James David. Amy's mother and sister hosted a beautiful shower in honor of Amy, David and baby James. It was a wonderful party! You can see how much joy this little guy brings to his family. He is very loved! It was really nice to be part of such an important occasion. I was especially excited to get a chance to hold James again:) He is just such a sweet little guy! We are so thrilled for Amy and David!

You can view more shower photos in the Welcoming Baby James album.

Baby Blue

Recently I had the pleasure of photographing an adorable little baby boy. When Tom's cousin Amy asked me to take photos of her and her husband's little guy, I was so flattered and very excited to help!

This was my first time taking photos of a newborn as a "job" so to speak. I didn't really do many posed photos of Gloria when she was this little and I regret it. This was a fun experience! Its got me thinking about photographing more newborns! :) Although I wish I had done some more poses with James. Hopefully I will get the opportunity to photograph him again. In fact, I'm going to a baby shower on Saturday for James, Amy and David. I'm sure I'll sneak in a few shots then:)

Without further ado, Baby James.

Shower for Baby Mac

This past Saturday was our baby shower which my lovely mother-in-law, mom and friend Liz put together for us. It was a perfect day! The shower was held at Patty Cake, Patty Cake which is a small cafe-type restaurant in Turners Falls. It was super cute and the food was amazing! It was so great to be surrounded by dear family and friends to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our little baby mac. Thank you to Irene, my mom and Liz for putting together such a wonderful celebration for baby and us! It was truly amazing!

We got some wonderful gifts, thank you to everyone for your thoughtfulness! So many cute clothes...baby mac will be a very well dressed little baby:) We also received many essential baby items that will be important for taking care of baby. We feel ready! We've washed everything and have put things away. My nesting instincts are definitely kicking in at this point because I was determined to get things in order asap! I had just about everything put away on Sunday...I wasted no time. Besides, you just never know when baby will decide to make an appearance:)

To see photos from the shower, visit Baby Mac's Shower album.



Our next appointment is Thursday. I will keep you all posted on how it goes. From this point forward, I'll be going to see the doctor every week.

On a side note, I have to tell you all that I had another dream last night about our baby. Its been a while since I've dreamt about baby mac. I've had dreams that I'm in labor or preparing for baby but I've missed seeing the baby. Well...last night I dreamt we had a little boy. In my dream he was about 5 months old. He had dark hair and chubby little cheeks:)

If I haven't mentioned before, I think we are having a boy. Before I was pregnant I would always have dreams about having a girl. It wasn't until after I was pregnant that I had my first dream EVER that we had a little boy. Its a 50/50 chance and it will be funny if I'm wrong...being the one carrying this baby and all:) Either way though, we just want a healthy baby! I think its just fun to guess.

Enjoy the week!

Finally!! Some Photos!

Pregnancy: February 1st we go to get a sneak peak at baby mac again. What an unbelievable experience! Baby was quite active during this ultrasound visit. Seeing the baby move makes me laugh every time! I don't know what it is. You would think, me being the emotional person I am, that I would be reduced to tears each time I see our baby on the screen but that isn't the case. I am filled with so much excitement and joy that I can't help but laugh! I guess each person has their own way of reacting. I suppose I am saving it all for the day of baby's arrival...I KNOW I will weep like a baby on that day!

Anyway, the technician was able to get all the pictures she needed. Normally, we wouldn't have had another ultrasound so close to together but they weren't able to get good shots of the baby's spine at the last visit. No problems this time around though.

Below are some pictures from our visit. I've also included some long overdue ultrasound pics from our last visit when I was 19 weeks pregnant. One of the funniest pictures, in my opinion, is the one of the foot. The technician says our baby has big feet, lol! I guess baby mac gets it from my side of the family:)


Week 23: Face


Week 23: Fingers


Week 23: BIG Foot


Week 19: Profile

Baby mac is doing very well! Everything looked great at my last appointment. The baby is moving around like crazy these days. As I type this, baby mac is kicking something fierce...it is so weird but very cool! At this point, the baby is about 8 inches long and weighs about a pound. On Tuesday, I will be 25 weeks (just over 6 months), crazy to think I'm so far along already! Time flies!!

I've also included some belly shots too. The latest ones (below) were taken at a friend's Mardi Gras party this past Tuesday. The rest you can see by visiting our Baby Mac Album. Please note, I do not wear the same white shirt all the time...seems as though every time we take belly shots of me, I'm wearing the same shirt. I DO have other clothes in my wardrobe, not many, but more than that darn white shirt! :)


Tom and I at the Mardi Gras party.


Me(due May 27th), Stacey(due May 10th) and Heather (due Feb. 15th...any day now!) all showing our beautiful bellies.

Getting ready for baby: We have lots to do before baby mac arrives. The nursery hasn't been put together yet but we are working on it. We have some items already but are trying to get the biggest item, the crib, very soon. Our biggest challenge is finding things for the baby's room that are eco-friendly. I can go into that another time but in a nutshell, we are trying to put together a 'green' room...not the easiest thing to do. We are doing our best to make our home a more earth-friendly, healthier place for ourselves and for baby.

Around the house: As I had mentioned way back before Christmas, we were planning to redo our bathroom. Well, the project started January 8th and is still going on today. We had some issues with our vanity arriving on time, something our vendor was responsible for. I will complain about that whole situation another day! Anyway, the vanity is finally here (in the middle of our kitchen in fact) and our contractor is coming Monday to finish things up . So far, the bathroom looks great!! We can't wait for it to be finished! Hopefully by next weekend we'll have some finished pics of the room.