Go Navy!

Is it football season yet?

OK, maybe it's a little early, but the kids will be all ready to cheer on our favorite team (and our favorite player) when the season starts - thanks Grandpa!

Lil' Navy Fan

Go Middies!

(By the way, does this picture remind you of these? Hah!)

And Elijah is all ready with his cheers:



(Sorry about the weirdness - I am dumb and originally took the video sideways. Note to self: rotated video = poor picture quality and larger file size. Duh.)

Video from the Beach

Here is some video from our trip to the beach a few weeks ago. Enjoy!

Movin' in and movin' up

Molly moves in

Yesterday we put the crib (now Molly's crib) back up in Elijah's room (now the kids' room). Miss Molly will still be sleeping in our room at night for a while (until she is waking less often), but she did need a safe, Elijah-proof place to take naps and chill out during the day. I am glad that her quilt really seems to work well in the room - now her side looks feminine and his side looks masculine, but they go well together. I don't know why I get so concerned about these things - Molly isn't going to notice for quite a while - but it really makes me feel so much better that it looks like she belongs in the room too. I have a little project that I'm working on for wall hangings, and the curtains still aren't up, but we're getting there.



Movin' on up

When Patrick's parents were here last week, they brought us two big, new (to us) things: a couch and a minivan! Our last couch was originally my grandparents' and although it's been great, it has been showing it's age (mostly by sinking lower and lower to the ground - great fun for getting up out of it when you're pregnant!), and was now past ready for retirement. Patrick's parents are redecorating and very graciously offered us their couch. It is a good piece of furniture that is still in great shape and I'm sure will last us many more years. Hooray!

The biggest change around here is our new-to-us van. It is a 2002 Chrysler that was originally Patrick's grandfather's. Some of you (those who already drive some similar family-type vehicle) are saying, "Oh, don't you just love your van!?" Some of you (those who haven't yet come to this very interesting place in your lives) are saying, "A minivan? Do you really want to drive a minivan?" Honestly, I feel a little of both - I am excited and not really excited at the same time.

First of all, we have two kids now. Two kids in car seats. And a double stroller and all the other junk that kids need when they travel. It all just doesn't fit very well into my little Civic. You should have seen us trying to get the four of us plus my mom and even a minimum amount of gear into my car. Yikes! We need the space! (Especially now that we would have to buy another ticket - driving is more reasonable than flying.) And I have to say that getting the kids in and out of the van is much easier than the car, especially with power doors.

But I will miss driving my Civic (it will be Patrick's commuter car now when he doesn't take the bus). I really do get unreasonably attached to my car. I can't say that I've ever wanted to drive a minivan and I'm still kinda uncomfortable with it - both the idea of it and the actual physical vehicle. There's the adjustment that comes with driving any new car - learning where everything is, and getting a feel for how it drives - plus, 1) I'm switching from a stick shift to an automatic, and 2) I haven't driven anything this big since high school. Of course, I loved that car, so maybe this one will grow on me too ... For now, I am still really nervous whenever I have to back up, but I think it's so cool that my key chain has a remote for the doors. Silly!

Molly is one month old!

Good morning! Molly and I are up - she's working on getting back to sleep after her 2 am feeding - so I thought I would write a little update. Little Molly is a month old already, and she is growing fast! We go to see the doctor tomorrow, so I'll have the statistics then, but she looks longer and chubbier every day. She is usually sleeping for one 4-5 hour stretch at night now (hooray!) and I am trying to make sure that starts later in the evening (like 9 pm instead of 7 pm) so that I can get as much sleep then as possible, too.

Elijah has been paying a bit more attention to his little sister recently, but so far he's been kind and mostly gentle with her. He does try to drive his trucks across her, but he does that to me too! He loves to lean over to her and say, "Hi Molly!" ("Hi Mowwy!") and he loves to give her hugs and kisses.

Are those cheeks growing?

Hi Molly!

A week with Bobbi & Papa

Patrick's parents were here this week visiting us. It was great to see them, and they were a big help. Elijah really had a fun week with his grandparents! Papa, Bobbi, Patrick and Elijah did the Newport Cliff Walk and visited Salve Regina University. We all enjoyed walking around the town of Newport. Bobbi & Papa took Elijah to the waterfront to see boats, lobsters, and all sorts of fun. Yesterday, Papa and Elijah went to the Providence Children's Museum. Last night Patrick and I got to go out for ice cream and a walk on the beach. It was so nice. What a fun and busy week!

Here are some pictures from the Cliff Walk and Salve Regina:

Some pictures

Peaceful

Just chillin'

Elijah and the Elmo balloon he got for his birthday - how cool is that!?

Tagged!

My friend Wizzy tagged me with this list of questions:

01. WHAT TIME DID YOU GET UP THIS MORNING? woke up at 5:00 to the sounds of both kiddos ... got out of bed at 7:00 (when they were supposed to get up!)

02. DIAMONDS OR PEARLS? Diamonds, I guess ... I really like my wedding/engagement ring even though I don't normally care much about jewelry

03. WHAT IS THE LAST FILM THAT YOU SAW AT THE CINEMA? Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

04. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW? Grey's Anatomy

05. WHAT DO YOU USUALLY HAVE FOR BREAKFAST? Cereal, which I share with Elijah, and then usually some toast later

06. WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME? Beth

07. WHAT FOOD DO YOU DISLIKE? Lot of things. Ham, bacon and raspberries are particularly evil.

08. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CD? Yikes, I don't know - I haven't listened to my CDs in ages

09. WHAT KIND OF CAR DO YOU DRIVE? Honda Civic ... OK, I'm still in denial - it's a gold Chrysler Town & Country

10. FAVORITE SANDWICH? Roast beef (really thin slices), cheese, lettuce tomato & mayo on good bread (or the turkey MTO version of that with italian dressing that we used to get at Sheetz.)

11. WHAT CHARACTERISTIC DO YOU DESPISE? Not caring about other people

12. FAVORITE ITEM OF CLOTHING? White t-shirt, jeans

13. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON VACATION, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? Back to Ireland, Scotland & England

14. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BATHROOM? White, cream, tan & sage green

15. FAVORITE KIND OF CLOTHING? Comfortable and cute, and so much the better if it's plaid. I saw some red wool plaid ballet flats with a kilt pin in the front the other day - how cute is that!?

16. WHERE WOULD YOU RETIRE TO? I don't know ... Ireland? Hawaii? both? =)

17. WHAT WAS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE BIRTHDAY? ??

18. WHO DO YOU LEAST EXPECT TO RESPOND? I don't know

19. FAVORITE SAYING? "Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear!"

20. WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? December 18th

21. ARE YOU A MORNING OR NIGHT PERSON? night owl - mornings are wretched.

22. PETS? Nope.

23. ANY NEW AND EXCITING NEWS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?? We got a minivan. Is that exciting?

24. WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE? Apparently I told my mom I wanted to be pregnant. A mom, and an architect.

25. HOW OLD DO YOU FEEL? 31, I guess - really young sometimes and sometimes old

26. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY? Twizzlers or Twix

27. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER? Roses

28. WHAT IS A DAY ON THE CALENDAR YOU ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO? I don't know, they all kinda run together now-a-days =)

29. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? My beautiful baby girl snorting and grunting like an angry little bull (in her sleep!), Elijah's monitor and the dishwasher

30. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? salad with ranch dressing and sunflower seeds

31. WHAT WOULD YOU WISH ON STARS? I've never tried

32. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Midnight blue

33. HOW IS THE WEATHER RIGHT NOW? Hot and humid - lovely.

34. FAVORITE SOFT DRINK? Coke (but I usually drink caffeine-free instead of regular)

35. FAVORITE RESTAURANT? Lots: Spicy Pickle, Olive Garden, Chilis, or anything with really good hamburgers or cheese enchiladas

36. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD? my Mandy doll

37. SUMMER OR WINTER? Spring and fall

38. HUGS OR KISSES? Both =)

39. COFFEE OR TEA? neither, unless it's Mocha from Starbucks

40. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate!!!

41. DO YOU WANT YOUR FRIENDS TO RESPOND ON THEIR BLOGS? YES!

42. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Sometime last week when Molly wouldn't go back to sleep in the middle of the night.

43. WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT? Went with Patrick to our storage unit to pick up some baby stuff and my non-maternity clothes.

44. FAVORITE SMELL? Patrick in his old cologne, pearberry, the top of a newborn baby's head

45. WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? Lot of stuff - strangers and groups of people, mostly

46. SALTY OR SWEET? both - together!

47. HOW MANY KEYS ON YOUR RING? Five - I just took off 2 that I didn't know what they were for ...

48. HOW MANY YEARS AT YOUR CURRENT JOB? Two years and one week

49. FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK? Saturday - Patrick's home! =)

50. HOW MANY TOWNS HAVE YOU LIVED IN? 6

51. DO YOU MAKE FRIENDS EASILY? It depends. Lately, no.

Molly's baptism

On Sunday, we had Molly baptized. We were so glad to have all of her grandparents and Uncle Cameron here for the event. It was really hot in the church, but it was still a good day. (Sorry about the sweaty people in the pictures!) Bobbi (Patrick's mom) made Molly a beautiful sweater with matching hat, booties and a blanket, but it was too hot to wear them - how sad!

Molly, in her pretty dress, with the pretty blanket that Bobbi made for her.

Everyone

Elijah and Molly with their grandparents

The baptism

Papa praying for Molly

Busy weekend

We had a very fun and busy (and rather crowded) weekend with family. Patrick's parents, my parents and my brother Cameron were all here for the weekend, and my cousin Jackie and her family spent the day with us on Saturday. It was a big crowd for our little apartment, but we had a great time together.

Elijah and the boats
On Saturday morning, Cameron and my parents took Elijah to the Newport naval base to see the boats. They saw an aircraft carrier and sail boats - Elijah was thrilled. He's been telling us about the "huge ship" ever since ("aircraft carrier" is hard to say and no one understands him when he says it, so "huge ship" works better).

the aircraft carrier

with Uncle Cameron and the sailboats

Elijah's Birthday (the delayed party)
On Saturday afternoon, we all got out of our little apartment and went to a local park to celebrate Elijah's birthday. It was great to have everyone there! I was afraid it might be too hot to stay long, but it was comfortable at our picnic table in the shade. The kids enjoyed playing on the playground even though it was warmer out in the sun. You can see Jackie's pictures from our day on her blog. After the park, we all headed to the Coddington Brewery for dinner - yum! The food was great and the guys had fun trying the beer sampler. It was a wonderful day and I loved having a big group of family here - who would've thought we could have them all here together in Rhode Island?!

Elijah loves flags, so we had a red, white & blue party

Elijah's own little cake (yes, that is real frosting!)

He liked it, but was more interested in the blueberries

Yummy!

Molly with her grandmothers

Nana

Bobbi

Molly with her grandfathers

Talking to Papa

Relaxing with Grandpa

Elijah playing at the park

Elijah and Nana have been going to the park almost every day (twice a day when they can!) and Elijah has been loving it! Here are a few pictures.