A Day Out With Thomas

Last weekend we went to the Conway Senic Railway in North Conway, NH for Logan's "surprise trip" to see and ride on Thomas the Train.... Thomas is one of his very favorite shows.  We didn't tell him where we were going... so as we were looking for a place to park he saw the train and then saw Thomas on the end. I'm pretty surprised that the car seat straps held him down because he was bouncing up and down and yelling "IT'S THOMAS!!!!!!!" It was just the kind of reaction I was hoping that we'd get :) Here are a few pictures from our day:

It was 94 degrees that day... the train cars were not air conditioned... and it was HOT! Luke decided about 1/2 way through the train ride that he was SO done with the Moby and I'm pretty sure everyone in our car heard about it loud and clear! ;-)

After we got off the train, we went to see this enormous turtle... That Logan tried to sit on... the zookeeper about had a coronary! haha!

"Turtle... you eat that tall grass!"

Sir Topam Hat.... Logan was thrilled!!

High 5 for Sir Topam Hat!!! I love this one! :)

It was a great trip! We don't have anything else really planned for this summer which is kind of a bummer... nothing more to have to count down to or look forward to, but that's okay! We're hoping to take a few weekend day trips hiking and things so we will certainly be busy still!

Luke was officially 16 weeks old yesterday, but won't be technically 4 months until the end of next week on the 31st... I've already started getting e-mails from babycenter.com about starting solids...how can 16 weeks look so long but feel so short?! This time last year, we were just finding out that we were finally pregnant with him!

Back to the grind....

So I've been back to work for a full week now... I'm sure you recall me writing (okay, whining) about it multiple times before! It wasn't so horrible... it is nice to have a bit of a "normal" routine and my bank account is much happier.

The first day I left the boys, I cried 1/2 way to work (okay, maybe more like 3/4 of the way, but it wasn't ALL the way!!) each day was a little less until today I didn't cry. At all!! Yes, I was sad and yes, I thought about how much it sucked to leave my little mini's but no tears... so progress is being made!

We finally got our family pictures back and I love them! Here's a few of my favorites:

You can really see how green Luke's eyes are becoming!

My little ham bone!

Our family!

<3

It was hard to get good ones of everyone... someone was always making a face!

Mom & Dad with their grand kids!

I love the feet shot :)

Love <3

My sweet boys!

This weekend, we are taking Logan on a surprise trip to North Conway, New Hampshire to the railway there for a Day Out With Thomas! He will get to ride on a real steam train that's made to look like Thomas and there's also games and activities for the kids to do... Logan knows we're going on a "special surprise trip" but he does not know what we're doing. I can't wait to see his face when he gets there! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to post!

Is the 3rd time the charm?

Everyone seems to be asking me the same question lately... "Will you guys try again for a girl?"

Right after Luke was born, I could answer this question without any hesitation. It was a resounding "NO!" I couldn't imagine my life with 3 boys (well 4 if you count Andrew! haha!) Don't get me wrong; I love my boys with every ounce of my being. There is nothing in this world that I wouldn't do for them. I look forward to watching them grow and change and become handsome, smart, responsible young men. However, the thought of nurturing 3 boys to adulthood seems a bit daunting!

But what if we did have another baby?

I wonder about my "Phantom Girl".... Logan's already a little motor head and I have a feeling no matter how many horse shows I drag Luke to, he's going to want in on what Logan and Daddy are doing....

I can remember as a little girl showing many horses... Buster, Cutie, Profit, Putt-Putt (great name, huh? :-P) And winning blue ribbons. Even though my Mom was there watching the whole class I couldn't wait to get out of that ring to show her what I'd won! I was so proud. Horse shows are some of my very favorite memories from my childhood and I won't get to share them with my "Phantom Girl".

"Phantom Girl" and I won't get to go shopping together. We won't get to chat about boys or school or what she wants to be when she grows up.  I'll never know if she would have looked like me or had my laugh.

But on the flip side I won't have to worry about giving "the talk" (haha Drew! You have to do it twice!) I won't have to wash 4 different outfits per day that aren't even really dirty because she didn't like what she had on. I won't have to worry about the cattiness that always happens between teenaged girls or banging the bathroom door down after she's been showering for an entire hour.

But which side is worse? I'm not really sure...........

Our weekend at the lake!

Just wanted to share some of the fun we had at the lake over the 4th of July weekend! 

Fishing on the dock

 Logan adores his Uncle Kyle!

This is the correct form for tube entrance!

 Relaxin'....

 Camp

Andrew thought he'd be "Squanto" and tried paddling the canoe standing up... clearly it had a much wetter ending than anticipated!

Views off the dock

 Aunt Jen brought a Slip n' Slide... hours of entertainment!

Happy parade patron! 

Hanging at camp is tiring!

All in all a GREAT weekend had by all! Can't wait to do it all over again next year!

It's finally here...

I go back to work tomorrow.

Why does everyone ask me if I'm ready? NO! Of course I'm not ready. If it were my choice, I'd stay home with the boys all the time. But since we have bills to pay, that isin't really an option....

We went to the lake for the long holiday weekend with my parents, Jen, Kyle and Carly. We all had such a wonderful time and are already talking about going again next year.... We had family pictures done... Maegan sent me a sneak peak of a few and I'm so excited to see the rest!

I'll blog more about the trip another time... right now I need to go get some more sleeping baby snuggles!

Bedtime Goodies

Right now, both of the boys tend to go to bed at the same time so Andrew does Logan's routine and I do Luke's. Luke went down early tonight, so I got to read with Logan; which I haven't done in a while. I forgot how much fun it is! Tonight, we read 3 of my favorites. Logan knows them all by heart and recites along while I read! They are:

Roar of a Snore - By Marsha Diane Arnold

Goodnight Moon - By Margaret Wise Brown

I Love You, Stinky Face - By Lisa McCourt

I hope that when Logan grows older, he'll get to read these stories to his own kids and will think of the time that we spent together reading them :-)

Take me out to the ball game....

We're working on the art of the roll over right now... and it's very hard work! Here's a few pictures of the attempts....

We're almost there... he can already spin himself around on the floor so I'm sure the big roll over isn't too far behind!!

On Friday night, we went to a Lake Monsters game (for my non-local friends, they're our minor league baseball team and are affiliated with the Oakland A's) with our friends Zach and Jennie and their daughter, Sophia. We've never taken Logan before... I always thought he'd get bored with it and want to leave by the 2nd inning. But he actually loved it! He got to give Champ a five and even got his hat signed by him! I didn't think to whip out my camera for any pictures of that as I was too busy watching Logan thoroughly enthralled with the biggest, fuzziest, 4 wheeler riding green mascot he's ever seen! 

Luke however, didn't make it past the 3rd inning... even with the PA system right above our heads and everyone yelling and cheering, he slept like... well... a baby! :)

So at this point, Logan got his hands on the camera... of about 50 (no, I'm not exaggerating!) pictures that he took, here are a few that I thought I'd share. I asked him to take pictures of what he thought was important at the game...

He took quite a few of the people sitting in front of us... apparently, they're integral to the game ;-)

"Just think of the positives...."

This is the advice that Andrew gave me when I was talking complaining to him about having to go back to work. Obviously this has been a topic that has been on my mind a lot lately, as I return to work in only 11 days. So here I am, trying to come up with a list of positive things...

1) I won't have to come up with an answer to the question "But why, Mommy?" I'm not exaggerating when I say that I must answer this question 100 times in a day... "But why is Luke crying?... But why do you have to fold that laundry?... But why do I have to take a nap?" (that last one is usually accompanied by foot stomping and some screaming... I guess I won't miss that part either!)

2) Feeling like I really need to keep up with the laundry/dishes/cleaning... Since I'm home all the time, I sort of feel like I have to keep up with all of the above... otherwise, I'm not really contributing much. I've already informed Drew that once I'm back to working 40 hours a week, he can kiss his freshly made bed goodbye. Chances are he's going to be getting into it the same way he got out of it that morning!

3) Adult interaction. Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with the boys and all the chats that Logan and I have had... But theres only so many topics that are interesting to a 3 year old boy... Trucks, trains and poo are 3 conversations that can only go so far before you're saying all the same things over again! And why are little boys so obsessed with talking about poo anyway!?

4) Doses of "Cat In The Hat", "Sid The Science Kid" and "Curious George" are something I will only be subject to on weekends... PBS is great, but when you watch it at breakfast every day.... well, you get the picture!

5) Money... is there really any explanation needed for this one??

So I know it won't be totally horrible. I know I'll get through it and once we get settled into a routine we'll all be just fine. But yes, I still have 11 days to dread it and chances are you'll be reading about it again soon ;-)

a good, old fashioned, stomp your feet kind of tantrum...

Can I just have a minute to throw a bit of a 3 year old tantrum? (trust me, I know all too well how these go down!)

I really, really, reeeeeeally wish I didn't have to go back to work. It's still 2 weeks away and I'm dreading having to leave the boys. It probably does not help that for the past 11 weeks and 5 days, Luke and I haven't left each other's side...

I know, I know. You don't have to say it... I know I need to leave him at least once for a few hours before I have to do it for an entire work day. But this is likely our last baby... (that's another post, however!) I'm never going to have this time again. I don't know if I'm ready to give up this part of my life. When I go back to work, it'll be gone forever. I feel as though we're almost frozen in time right now. I got to freeze my 'normal' life for 3 months. I got to put 100% of my focus into my 2 amazing children and the family Andrew and I have created and now I have to give it up. Monetarily, we both have to work right now so I know there's no way around it, but it just feels so unfair... Bills, mortgage... all of it is just so unfair!

okay... tantrum over.

2 years, really??

It's been about 2 years since I've blogged. Recently, a few of my friends and some fellow March Mommy's have started blogging and inspired me to start again... so here I am.

So where to start... Let's go with since 2009.......

We went camping for the whole fourth of July week with Jen and Kyle in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. It was HOT.... near 100 degrees every day. We had such a wonderful time and it was a great last hurrah for Jen and Kyle, because.....

This gorgeous little girl made her debut!!! Carly Ann Delabruere was born 8/3/10 about 3 weeks early. She only got more and more beautiful as time went on... here she is now.

Also in the summer of 2010, Andrew and I found out that we would be adding to our little family as well! Logan was so excited to become a big brother. He nicknamed the baby "Baby Popcorn" and for weeks after he was actually born, we still continued to call him that!

Summer faded into fall and then to winter... We enjoyed holidays with our family as my belly grew larger and appointments with our midwife grew closer together. "Baby Popcorn" was due to arrive 4/3/11. My last appointment was 3/30/11. I was 39 weeks and 3 days, and it was also Andrew's birthday. The one thing Andrew had said all along was that he hoped the baby was not born on his birthday was because he wanted him to have his own, special day... So at this appointment, I had my membranes swept (don't worry... it sounds much more painful and gross than it actually was!) and I was on my way. We had dinner at my parents home and went home and put Logan to bed.... I woke up at 11:52. The red alarm clock numbers are for some reason, something I will always remember. I never went into labor with Logan... I had to be induced so I really didn't know how it felt to start contracting on my own. Anyway, I ran to the bathroom... clearly, I was thinking these were a different kind of cramp ;-) Nothing happened. I went back to bed... about 20 minutes later, it started happening again. That's when I first thought this might be it... I started writing down and timing contractions at this point... and about an hour and a half later I woke Andrew up to tell him that I was in labor... he went from half asleep to jumping out of bed with his eyes as wide as quarters all within about 3 seconds! We timed them for a few more contractions and then called Andrew's mom to come stay with Logan. This was definitely it. We drove to the hospital, got lost in the halls on the way up to Maternity and Luke Donald Thibeault made a fast and furious entrance to the world all within ONE hour.

The last 11 weeks have been a blur of diapers, nursing and intermittent sleeping. Everyone has adjusted pretty well. Logan just adores being Luke's big brother. He proudly proclaims to anyone who asks "Luke is MY baby"

So that brings us to now... I have 2 weeks left before I return to work... It's bittersweet... maybe a little more bitter than sweet, I mean, how can you resist these faces???