Boston Marathon

Marathon Monday started out just like our other Marathon Mondays in the past.  We wake up, turn on the tv to watch the start of the marathon (first the wheelchairs, then the elite women & men, then everyone else) and eventually make our way to a spot along the course to cheer everyone along.  This year we knew two people running--which makes it even more fun.  I was looking to cheer for Jenny, a sibling of an OT school friend of mine, and Michael was watching for his "little sister" from dental school, Mindy.  We were able to walk from our house to watch the marathon between miles 14 and 15.  (In the past (before the kids came along) our routine was to go to the Red Sox game and then head to Boylston Street to watch around the finish line.)  It started out as a chilly morning and so we bundled up and headed to Route 16/Washington Street.  Nicholas slept in the baby carrier (at one point he got hot and I took his hat off which resulted in sunburned cheeks!) and Mikey was half interested and half hungry, which made him irritable and not much fun to be around.  After an hour and a half, I had cheered  screamed for/at Jenny and we missed Mindy (based on her stats on the Boston Marathon app).  When there are so many people running it can be quite difficult to find someone in the pack!  We headed home around 1:30 to have lunch and Mike went to work.  After I nursed Nicholas, I ate lunch with Mikey and was downloading the pictures to the computer when Michael called me around 3:20 to tell me to turn on the news--there was a bomb that went off at the finish line.  I didn't know what to think.  I raced into the tv room and saw the footage.  They stopped the marathon and I was sucked in to the news reports---although we didn't know much.  Lots of family and friends were calling, texting and posting on facebook asking us if we were okay.  Thankfully we were all fine---just very scared and confused.  How could this happen?  Who did this?  Is everyone we know okay?  I offered for Jenny to stay here (she was thankful but declined) and Mike got in touch with Mindy.  It turns out that Mindy was staying at the hotel positioned at the finish line and it was closed.  They live in NYC and were planning on staying the night.  Thankfully they were safe and spent the night with us.  

That week was a week like no other.  Here we watch shows on TV like "24" and "Homeland".  Who needs to watch those "fictional" shows when this was real and it happened practically in our own backyard?!  It was frightening and scary for so many reasons.  I was afraid of the dark for a few days following the manhunt and jumped at any sight of a black, unattended backpack.  

Slowly we will all recover and remember those who lost their lives on such an innocent and patriotic day.  It is very discouraging to think that this is the world that Nicholas and Mikey are growing up in.  Through all of this, there have been many positive stories of strength, courage and love and we must remember there are many more good people out there than bad.  And I pray we will never have to live through something like this EVER again.

Here are some pictures before our lives changed forever:

(I think I need to get rid of the aviators--I look like a man in this picture!)

                                              

It was amazing to see everyone smiling and having so much fun....while running.  Simply mind blowing to me!  We were a mile from the start of heartbreak hill!

Team Hoyt--so inspirational!  I look forward to cheering the father/son team on each year!  Thankfully they were stopped a mile from the finish line and were also safe.

                                        

Nicholas with his new friend, Charlotte (Mindy's daughter)

Mother's Day

I got to spend Mother's Day with my family and it was perfect!  The boys spoiled me with cards and flowers and even let me sleep in until 9:00!  Daddy made us breakfast and we spent a majority of the day in our PJ's just relaxing with each other--which is a nice change of pace since I feel like all we do is race out of here in the morning!  The weather was crummy--rainy in the morning and then cloudy in the afternoon with occassional glimpse of sun.  We were hoping to get to Rockport--maybe next weekend.  For dinner we went to the Summer Shack.  It was the typical eating out experience with a little boy and 5 month old---Mikey did cheers and my beer spilled all over my menu and my pants, Nicholas pooped AND needed to eat just when dinner was being served...you get the idea.  Hey, if we wanted to have a quiet dinner we would have gone by ourselves.  It was Mother's Day and we spent it the way a family should :)  

Mikey made me a flower bouquet at Eva's which was beautiful.  However my most favorite gift was the envelope with my card--handwritten by Mikey without ANY help from Daddy:

Morning snuggles in bed with my favorite boys

Mommy & her boys (there was a balloon artist that made Mikey the cookie monster "hat")

 What dinner looked like....

Mikey & Nicholas: Thank you for my special day.  I love you both to the moon and back!  

Michael: Without you I wouldn't be a Mommy....thanks and I love you! 

xoxo

5 months!

Here's our happy baby another month later!  Look at those hands!!  Papa Fred says Nicholas has his Daddy's smile and hands.  He is so right! (Btw--that outfit is 9 month size!)

Nicholas is such a good baby.  He is so flexible and portable---not like he has a choice---but I'm sure that comes with the territory of being the second child.

Nicholas is going to sleep between 7:30-8:30 and waking once in the middle of the night (somewhere between 1 and 4) and then again between 6-7.  He will mostly go back to sleep until 7:30 or 8 (depending on how the night went).  He is taking NO naps when Mikey is around---he doesn't want to miss ANYTHING!  On the days when Mikey goes to Eva's, Nicholas sleeps A LOT.  It is really unbelievable!  He is not yet on any kind of napping schedule (or falling asleep on his own) but that is something I hope to work on this month.

A big milestone for Nicholas is that he started eating food this month.  So far he has eaten oatmeal, avacado (not a fan) and zucchini.  He eats one of these items now every day---typically in the afternoon sometime.  It helps if he eats when we eat.  For the most part, he LOVES it.  He helps me bring the spoon to his mouth and grunts when I take it away to get more.  I need to purchase a high chair for Nicholas.  I can see him spending a lot of time in it.  Mikey isn't ready to give up his chair yet (to pass it on to his little brother) and our other seating options aren't ideal--the Bumbo seat (he doesn't seem very comfortable in it) and the infant seat (too reclined).  That will be another project that I work on this month.

Nicholas is inconsistently rolling from his belly to his back and that's about it on the motor front.  He loves grabbing his toys and bringing them to his mouth.  He can push up on his forearms and spend a lot of time on his tummy when distracted (he spends at least 40 minutes of our time at Baby Group on his belly!).  He loves when we sing to him as well.  He has a tendency to put his blanket in his mouth, if it is nearby.  I'm wondering if we will have another "lovey" boy on our hands.....

Each month passes faster and faster.  I can't believe he is 5 months already.  I am trying to take in everything I can since the days are passing too quickly and I don't want to forget a thing!

Dinnertime Entertainment

Sorry for it being sideways.  I will remember that for next time.....

Wellesley Fun

People have been asking me how I like living in Wellesley so far.  I can't say I have had much of an opportunity to really "get to know" the town since we have been home bound pretty much since we moved in (excluding grocery shopping at Roche Bros).

I am a part of the Wellesley Mother's Forum which hosts events and posts info about the town which has been helpful.  So far we have participated in the following:


A tour of the fire station:

Light Up Night back in December:

And most recently we explored Longfellow Pond which is walking distance from our house.  We walked around the pond and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  We even stumbled upon an open field perfect for running, playing any kid of ball game and picnic-ing.  We were disappointed that there weren't any ducks to feed but all the more reason for us to keep visiting!

Oatmeal!

I tried to hold out as long as I could.  He could very well be my last baby....and I want to keep him that way for as long as possible!  But this kid LOVES to eat.  He is still breastfeeding every 3 hours during the day and gets up 1-2 times at night.  When we eat, he GRUNTS.  He watches us bring the food to our mouths and opens his as well.  It was time.

We started with oatmeal.  Clearly he loved it.

Guess who he is looking at here?!?!

(I am currently having a love-hate relationship with this blog server.  It isn't uploading a lot of my pictures correctly and I am getting very frustrated.  Hopefully the issue resolves itself soon!)

Nicholas' Christening

Nicholas was baptized on Saturday, April 20 at 2:30 in the afternoon.  We were so grateful to have so many family members present for Nicholas' special day.  Nicholas was baptized at St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill (on the Boston College campus) by the same priest that married Michael and I and also baptized Mikey.  The dinner was at The Cottage also in Chestnut Hill.  It was great to be able to spend time with all of our family since everyone lives out of state (excluding cousin & Godmother Emily who attends BC!).  We were able to visit with some on Friday night, everyone on Saturday as well as at breakfast together on Sunday morning.  

Thank you to everyone for coming!  

Handled the holy water without a peep!

Godparents--Timmy Scialabba and Emily Ecker

Mikey had the best view in the house--err--church!

Godparents & Grandma Ruth Ecker

Ecker family shot

Scialabba family shot

Donnelly family

A picture of the four of us!  

VanName (Tulumello family picture)

My parents ("Gran-ma & Bob")

Mimi and Papa Fred

Great Grandma Ruth

With Father McGowan

Great Grandma and Grandpa Scialabba

Nicholas & Emily

Scialabba table!

Grandpa Bob & his Mom 

Donnelly table

Mom & I with Annabelle and Nicholas (29 days apart!)

Always staring at his brother....

Mimi and her sisters

As a side note, Nicholas' christening was the day after the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers that caused the city and neighboring towns to shut down completely.  It was nerve racking for many reasons to say the least.  Our church and dinner party were held in Newton (which was in lock down) and the cake was made in Watertown (also in lockdown and where the suspects were!).  It was a very scary day but it was nice to have something happy to celebrate after much sadness that week.

God Bless you, Nicholas Patrick!

(More pictures to come!)