Our sweet Jake....

This past Tuesday, we had to say goodbye to our sweet Jake dog. He suddenly became ill and when we took him to the vet we found out that he had cancer in his spleen. A tumor had burst and he was bleeding inside. From what I have read, even dogs who could sucessfully recover from a splenectomy still only survive less than 6 months. In the end we decided that it wouldn't be fair to put thim through all of that stress if the end result would be the same.

I had no idea I was so attached to the big, hairy old guy. Saying goodbye to him was so hard and I felt like the grim reaper. It was awful to say the least. Andrew and I got to spend some alone time with him before he was put down. We talked to him, pet him and cried on him. We fed him treats and he snorted like he always did. He was truly the best dog in the world. There will never, ever be another like him.

To make it even harder, Logan dosen't really comprehend what has happened. We talked about how Jake was sick and he was hurting and that Mommy and Daddy took him to the vets, but he couldn't be fixed. We used the term "passed away" instead of "dead" as it sounded a little less scary. We read the book Dog Heaven and so far this has been an acceptable explanation for him. He does talk about Jake quite a bit still and says that he misses him. When we were picking up his dishes and things, Logan wanted to know if we could take them to "Kevin" (Heaven) so Jake could use them there.

So we've been taking it day by day. The house feels empty and I often am reminded of him. Places he used to lay, sounds he used to make. Jake, wherever you are, I hope there's lots of bacon treats and big soft beds to sleep on... We miss you, buddy!

Big Baby News!

Big Baby News!!!!!!!!!!

Erin and Casey's family expanded to three this evening at 7:32pm when they welcomed Miss Kendall Brooke to the world.

She's adorable and perfect and I can't wait to get my hands on her and love her up, honorary Auntie style!! Poor Erin was in labor for approximatley 30 hours, according to my calculations... it could be more though! (I didn't get to talk to her at length tonight!) I'm so excited to talk to her and hear her birth story! Birth stories are fascinating to me! You can see Logan's birth story here. I still haven't written out Luke's yet... all of this baby talk is making me want to! It's also making my ovaries do somersaults! I always thought I only wanted 2 babies.... but almost immediatley after Luke was born, I found myself wanting another... and here we are again...So who knows... maybe Team Thibeault is not yet complete!

With this being Christmas week, our Elf on a Shelf, Herbie has been up to his usual shenanigans... here's what Logan will find him doing in the morning:

I think this one is my favorite one to date! I love how Logan gets up every morning and the first thing he does is to look for Herbie. I'll be sad when old Herb has to go back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve...

catch-up...

It's been quite some time since I last posted. I guess amidst the chaos I felt like I didn't have much to update on... It feels so busy, but when friends ask what we've been up to, it's mostly kids, work, sleep and repeat. It's amazing how much time of our lives that these 3 seemingly mundane things take up!

Today was a big day at our house, as Luke (finally!!) sprouted his first tooth! After 8 1/2 months my baby has a tooth! It only took Logan 4 months to get teeth, so I was beginning to wonder if Luke had any in there at all! It's so exciting and so very sad at the same time. My sweet little baby is starting to become a big boy. It makes me so sad, as he's likely our last baby so I just want him to stay little forever.

We're gearing up for Christmas! Logan is very into it this year which has made it so much fun :) We've "adopted" an Elf on the Shelf (if you don't know what this is, check it out at www.elfontheshelf.com) Logan has named him Herbie and he's a bit mischievous! If you follow my  Facebook page, then you've probably seen pictures! It's been a lot of fun for Logan and for us!

My dear friend, Erin is about to have a baby which is so exciting!! We're all quite excited to meet Baby H and welcome him/her to the world. Erin and Casey have chosen not to find out the sex which makes it even more exciting. I have to give her kudos! I don't think I could stand the suspense! For the record, I think it's a girl, and it's going to be born on a Sunday!

silence...

Silence... it's what you've been getting from me latley! To say we've been busy is putting it lightly. Chickens running around with their heads cut off is probably slightly more accurate!

And silence is what I'm listening to right now... just sweet noises of Logan, Luke, Andrew (and even Jake!) sleeping. I've been tossing in turning in bed for about an hour, unable to get back to sleep after Luke's 3am feeding. Too many lists of things to do running through my mind!

Things seem to be sliding right along as we go from summer to fall. Luke is quickly approaching his 6 month birthday (!!) He's rolling all over the place now and is working on some sort of crawl... (scoot butt up and face plant into the floor... scream and repeat!) We started solid foods this week and Mr. Food Connoisseur with his delicate little palate can't possibly eat it unless it's warmed AND thickened with cereal. It's been really fun to watch him experience new tastes and textures. Is it possible that your second child grows even faster than your first?!

Logan is such a loving big brother. He loves Luke more than anything and has taken to telling him "You're my best friend!" quite often. As a Mom, there are few things sweeter than that! I can only hope that when they get a little older, he still feels the same way about him! He's always so concerned about where Luke is or why he's upset. Hopefully this means that not only does he love his brother but that we're doing a good job of raising a compassionate, caring young man!

A few weekends ago, we took the kids on a (very impromptu!) trip to Boston for a quick over-nighter. We hit up the New England Aquarium, Faniuel Hall and Quincy Market! (and I talked Andrew into a quick stop into Ikea!! wooot!) Logan really loved the aquarium! Staying in the hotel was a cool idea as well... until it was actually time to go to bed. It's a good thing we had a king, because he ended up sleeping with us!

Hanging out at the hotel, waiting to go to the Aquarium!

"Mom!! That fish is like this big!!!"

Logan got to touch Hermit Crabs and Starfish.... and was thoroughly creeped out by it!

Luke slept through the whole thing....

(darn blogger keeps rotating this the wrong way on me!!)

Playing in the Learning Center

Terrible two's??? Try terrible three's!

Whoever decided that a childs two year old year should be nicknamed "the terrible two's" clearly has never lived with a 3 year old.....

My sweet little baby Logan has turned into Mr. Independent pre-schooler Logan who knows everything and can do everything "BY MYSELF!!!" I love that he's independent and wants to learn to do things for himself; but when we have only a certian amount of time to get out of the house in the morning and he insists on "tying" (read: trying to tie, not suceeding and throwing a tantrum as a result) his shoes, a Mom has to draw the line somewhere!!!!

I know they say to choose your battles and to not fight over the small stuff (I think this also comes from someone who has never lived with a 3 year old, but I digress...) We try to redirect and distract, we try to ignore bad behavior and praise the good and rewards - some of which works sometimes and not others (of course!)  We have been muddling through, and I'm hopingthat the day he turns 4 all of this craziness and chaos that our house can sometimes be will vanish (hey, a Mommy can dream, right?)

bleary eyed and sleep deprived

I've always been told that 1st children are easy so that you have more.... if you had your second child first, that you would have stopped at one! Luke is fairly identical to his brother..... except for this whole sleep thing. At first I chalked it up to the "4 month sleep regression". But here we are, closing in on 5 months old with no relief in sight...

I'm. Still. Tired.

We've started feeding him rice cereal before bed and he's still getting up 3-4 times at night to nurse. As much as I don't want to (read: am not ready to!) put him in his own room, I think I will have to try that. Maybe Andrew and I are noisy sleepers? Are we possibly waking him up? I feel like I'm grasping at straws for something.... anything!

For more exciting news.... I'm GOING PART TIME!!!!!!!!!!!! Starting in October, I will have Tuesday's off! I'm so excited about this I can hardly stand myself... I can't wait to be able to spend more time with my boys!

Luke is rolling over in both directions and now can pretty much roll himself where ever he wants to go! And Logan is now mastering the art of writing his own name. He's getting pretty good at it which makes me SO proud and so sad at the same time! Why are my little boys growing up so fast????

We also enjoyed Field Days recently.... here are a few pictures!

I think Logan needs a pony......

Luke wasn't as thrilled about the Children's Barnyard as Logan was!

Petting the donkey's with a little help from Justin

Family ride on the merry-go-round

I'm pretty sure Logan sat on every tractor there!

Luke napping at the tractor pulls 

(I'm feeling a bit like redneck momma!)

Marriage... it's what brings us together today...

If your'e a fan of the movie "The Princess Bride" you totally get the title of this post!

5 years ago (tomorrow!) Andrew and I were married! It's crazy to think about how much has changed since then and how our lives, home and family have all grown since then! He's the greatest Husband, father and best friend I could ever ask for. 

I can remember at our wedding ceremony how my left leg (why only my left, I have no idea!) shook. Throughout the entire ceremony I could not keep my left leg from shaking.(good thing the skirt of my wedding dress was big so nobody could see!!) We had been planning the wedding for an entire year.... everything about the day was as planned as it could possibly be! Looking back I realize it wasn't nerves or being scared. It was excitement... excited about our special day that we would always remember. Excited about all the possibilities that our life together as husband and wife would bring. Excitement for the family we had talked about having together. And now 5 years, 1 home and 2 children later, I couldn't ask for more.....

sleep..... what's that?

A 4 month sleep regression? Why don't I remember this happening with Logan? Oh yea... because he was STTN by 3 months! (spoiled much?!) Luke however, in his quest to look identical to his brother but to act as his polar opposite has entered this blessed time period....

I. am. tired.

20 minutes after I'm up for the day, I'm yawning and wishing I had time for a nap. Luke for quite a while was getting up for only one night time feeding at 2:30 am and then this whole sleep regression thing started. He's now up at 11, 2 and 4:30 to eat. At first I thought it was a growth spurt, but it's been 3 weeks now and I REALLY don't want to be forming a habit here.... What's a tired Mommy to do???

mish mash!

I am a girl of many lists. I always seem to have one going... stuff to get done, groceries to buy, things to pack, bills to pay....... There is just something about being able to check a task off a list that it satisfying to me. It's visually "done".

So as I sit here in the kitchen waiting for my last batch of cookies to finish baking I'm tallying the running list in my head. I feel like as soon as I get 1 thing checked off as done, 3 more have appeared on my list. Since I am back to work full time, I feel like I'm getting further and further behind. I try to manage my time as best I can but it sure is easy to fall off track when you have 2 handsome boys to distract you!

How do my other workin' mama's keep their house in some sort of order during the week?! I'm always behind! Some of the dishes I just put in the dishwasher were from Monday night! (insert BBC vomit face here!) I'm clearly in need of any and all tips!

Last weekend, we hiked up Mooslamoo (on the Salisbury side) to Silver Lake. It was a lot steeper of a hike that I remember it being, so Andrew had to carry Logan up on his shoulders after the first hill! Both of the boys loved it! Jen, Kyle and Carly came along and we all had a really great time!

Luke was awake the whole hike up, all the time we spent at the lake and then about 1/2 way down he fell asleep...chewing on my thumb! He's been gnawing on pretty much anything he can get into his mouth lately. At this age Logan was sprouting his first tooth and I guess Luke isn't about to be left behind with that milestone!

Today's also a big day because My sweet niece Carly turned 1!!! We're really looking forward to her party on Saturday! We scored her some pretty awesome birthday goodies that I can't post about until after her birthday, incase her Mommy reads this post! :) 

Then...

and

Now!

 Happy Birthday, sweet Carly!! We love you!!!

1 year ago today...

1 year ago today we found out our family was going to be growing... We finally got the positive result we'd been looking for on the pregnancy test (EPT is probably able to give raises just from all the sticks I peed on!) I was ready for disappointment, just like in the previous months but low and behold.. A BIG FAT POSITIVE! I had no words... Andrew had no words... we sat there for about 10 minutes just grinning at each other. It's a memory that I'll always hold dear to my heart :)

Exactly 365 days ago I imagined what life would be like right now... and you know what? (I know this sounds so sappy... so what! lol, it's MY blog!)  It's even better than I had imagined!