Beach boys

Before we left for Destin in September, Emily and I decided we would take each other's family picture on the beach. However in a matter of just a few hours our idea evolved into a "surprise" family photo shoot with a professional photographer. We knew that Patrick and Brandon would never go for the whole matching clothes, photo shoot otherwise. So into our suitcases we packed matching attire and surprised our husbands with a sunset photo session on the beach.

We were able to view our pictures online the day after we had our pictures taken, but we just got our CD in the mail. I think both husbands would agree now that it's over that it was well worth it!

Brothers!

Henry and William

Henry

Writing "H" in the sand

Jumping for joy

William

Bless his heart, he still wasn't feeling well from his ear infection/cold and had the same semi-puzzled expression for every picture!

"Cheese"
Henry and Charlie William, Charlie and Henry
The whole group
Me, Patrick, Henry, William, Brandon, Emily, Charlie

LOVE this

There is nothing that says the holidays are near like the red Starbucks cup. Mmmm, I just love it. I treated myself to a latte this morning after a ridiculous grocery trip to Wal-Mart and an even more ridiculous cashier, and I was so pleasantly surprised by the red holiday cup. I feel totally festive and am officially in the Christmas spirit. Andy Williams, any one? hahaha, Holly!

BTW, if you're feeling over-the-top festive and holiday cheerful try the Peppermint Mocha Twist. It's the standard peppermint mocha latte but with peppermint whipped cream and dark chocolate shavings. I got mine with just half the pumps of syrup. If the cup doesn't get you in the holiday spirit, surely its contents will.

Love this cup, but I love this boy even more!

Look at him trying to slurp out the contents of this emptied and washed out holiday cup!!

Election Day

November 4, 2008 is a day that most of us won't forget. Certainly history was made and it was touching to hear both Barack Obama's acceptance speech and John McCain's speech of concession. But for reasons more than the political ones, that day left an indelible imprint on my memory.

The day started off as usual, although for an early November morning it was unusually warm and sunny. Henry went to preschool, so William accompanied me to our polling place. We walked since the place was a church in our neighborhood just a few blocks away. Besides crashing William and his stroller into the booth next to mine upon trying to exit, voting went well. And William proudly wore his first "I Voted" sticker for the remainder of the day.

That evening when William woke up from his nap I noticed that he was wheezing. Patrick came home early that night to leave enough time for him to vote and he also noticed the wheezing. Around 5:00 we decided that we should take William to the doctor to check his breathing. We keep a nebulizer at home since he has had recurring wheezing and he didn't seem to be responding to the treatments. I brought him to Prompt Care since our doctor's office was closed for the evening and expected to get a prescription and be home by 6:00 to watch the election coverage. (I have become an obsessed CNN junkie and wanted to watch the results of this election unfold.) However, the doctor at Prompt Care was worried about his breathing and sent us to the ER. Needless to say, it made me even more worried and I hated doing it alone. Patrick and I definitely work as a team and he is a certain rock of mine when it comes to dealing with stressful situations. I really wanted him there, but I was rushed around so fast that I didn't have a minute to call him. After doing some more paperwork and duplicating the same tests/checks on William in the ER that had already been done in Prompt Care, they put us in a little room. Laughably, the man who walked us there told me to put William in the bed - a regular hospital bed. When I asked him it he would fall out, he pulled up the other side and said, "he might try." Hmmm. I finally had the chance to call Patrick and he came as quickly as he could. His brother Matt graciously came and stayed with Henry at our house.

William had to have two chest x-rays and then did two breathing treatments and was given an oral steroid to help with his breathing. After they monitored him and his breathing returned to normal, they let us come home. It was about 9:00 and he was exhausted and asleep. They diagnosed it once again as bronchiolitis. Fortunately, his chest x-rays looked normal. Although by now, I'm thinking there must be more going on.

He is doing tons better and isn't wheezing at all today which is both a blessing and a relief.

And since I know what you are all thinking right now I'll go ahead and say it : I am shocked, too that William was in the ER before adventure-loving Henry. (!)

Halloween 2008

We started the Halloween festivities this year by carving our pumpkins. Henry loved helping scoop out the pumpkin's insides (a.k.a. "pumpkin guts", thanks Dad!) and doing some carving. He was very clear that he wanted moon eyes and a moon nose and two teeth. Patrick and Henry carving

William pointing to the balloon (left over from his birthday).On Thursday morning the children at Henry's school had a Halloween parade. Each class made their own costume, so all of the children in the class were the same thing. Henry's class dressed up as clowns. Their costumes were adorable. I'm impressed with his teacher's ingenuity - it's amazing what they made with a paper bag and some construction paper. Erica and Ben came to visit us Wednesday night and I was thrilled that they could come with us to the parade on Thursday. Henry loved having them there, too! These pictures were taken by Erica - she took pictures so I could videotape for Patrick. Thank you Erica!Henry in his clown costume
William and Ben watching the parade
They were pretty fascinated with all of the children parading by.

Henry parading with his class

On Halloween morning we had a special Halloween breakfast and then got ready for a Halloween party playdate at Henry's classmate's house. His friend John and his mom invited all of Henry's class over for a playdate. Henry had lots of fun - there were about 8 children there and he loved playing with them outside of school.

Halloween breakfast

Who doesn't love to start the day with sugar? hahaha, I know it's terrible, but it was Halloween. Pumpkin shaped chocolate-chip pancakes with M&M faces, and banana slices topped with mini-marshmallows for Henry.Just plain pumpkin shaped pancakes and some eggs for William.

Halloween cookies we brought to Henry's playdate.

And then it was time to trick-or-treat!

William the turtle sees himself in the mirror for the first time

Brandon, Emily and Charlie stopped by to visit before doing some trick-or-treating on their own. Tigger and the turtles had fun playing together for a few minutes. Charlie, William and HenryCharlie and William

The boys both had detachable shells. Hilarious. They bopped all around when they walked.

Henry, William and Patrick

We walked around our neighborhood to do some trick-or-treating. The weather was perfect and there were lots of other children and families out. We went to our neighbor's house first and even though we know them pretty well, Henry was too shy to knock on their door, say trick-or-treat or even accept candy from them. My poor neighbor literally chased him around trying to put the candy into his little basket. Ha! By the time we got to the second house, he was a pro and loved saying trick-or-treat. He collected lots of extra loot for "his baby brother". Everyone saw William and wanted to make sure he got some candy, too. Some people were flustered that he didn't have a treat bag of his own. Henry declared that he would go home "once his bag was full". The shells. My favorite part.

Happy Halloween!

William's 1st Birthday

William turned one on October 19th. We celebrated on that day with friends and family and a pumpkin/fall themed party.

the invitationThe food and decorations

The main course was chili made by my Mom and my brother, Dan. We turned it into a competition and had people vote for their favorite chili (they were anonymous and weren't announced until voting was over). Both were delish!! And in the end my Mom's chili won by one vote.We also had Farm Apple Pie and Pumpkin Pie Bars with cream cheese frosting which were so tasty (courtesy of my Dad and Sandi), apple pie with a beautiful lattice top (made by my Mom), Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread (some with pecan and mini chocolate chips), Pumpkin Chocolate Chip squares, and Pumpkin dip. Mmmm, I love fall!Holly was in charge of decorating - this fan is my favorite part!A look at the favor : inside the bag was a miniature jar fall scented candle, and personalized cookie(s). I ordered these sugar cookies from a local bakery and Holly personalized them with each guest's name.
the cakeWilliam was getting super sleepy so we hurried to do his song/cake. Being tired didn't stop him from enjoying his whole cupcake! And after consuming all of that sugar he got a second wind and had lots of fun opening presents and hanging out with his friends! the gifts

Looks like it's true - the box is just as much fun as the toy that comes in it.

the guests

Who is this mystery guest?

hahaha, I love Gabe!

William and Great Grandma Hogan

Caleb

Trying out the ride on horse from Dad, Sandi, Cory and Mimi

William and Grandma Bug

Riding the new horseMy Dad, Gabe and Henry

My Dad gave lots of rides in this firetruck.

William, me, Erica and Ben

My Mom and meRachel, Holly and me

Me and Holly

I love fall and love that William has an October birthday. Now I get to do one summer bash and then a fall party, too! I have a feeling this theme will be a recurring one - although once William gets older we'll have to start doing some pumpkin carving contests and apple bobbing at his parties, too.

I want to say a HUGE thank you to my family and dear friend Holly for their help with William's party. Thank you Dad and Sandi for bringing those DELICIOUS desserts and thank you to Dad for coming early and helping out so much with the boys before the party so we could finish all of the last minute preparations. Thank you Sandi for helping with all of those frenzied last minute things! Thank you Dan for making that delicious chili. You will always be a winner in my book! Thank you Mom for making your now prize-winning chili and also that blue ribbon worthy apple pie. And thank you Holly for all of your help with the pre-party prep. You are the creative force behind everything we see. Thank you everyone for celebrating with us!

We love you all and are so thankful to have such amazing friends and family in our lives!