Fun Shots from the Last Month

Here is Gracie's first encounter with a T-rex. Although not pictured, this prompted Josh to make a poster that read "Looks like we got a meat-eater!"


Gracie's first "playdate" with her friend Morgan, who is 10 months old and on the move! Here they are sharing tips for surviving life with 2 brothers, close in age....






Ben and Josh marveled at how mobile Morgan was, crawling all over and climbing up the deck stairs! Time to hide those legos, guys!




And here are the brothers (all 4 of them) mid-lightsaber battle....Thanks for a fun evening, Cathy! Looking forward to our next get-together.


Here is Gracie meeting her brand new cousin Claire. Better pictures to come with our next visit, hopefully. These girls are the closest in age of all the Carguello cousins-only 4 months apart! May this be the beginning of a lifelong friendship! Looking forward to our first tea party, Claire and Sara!



And this is what happened one morning when I ran upstairs to get something before leaving to bring the boys to school. Aware of the fact that it was time to leave, they scooped up Gracie and attempted to buckle her in her seat, as a helpful surprise to mommy. (Notice her shoulder straps buckled around her waist...:) And ironically, she didn't make a PEEP when they put her in, contrary to the fuss that she usually puts up for me many a morning!



Enjoying her jumper...



And lastly, this is from today (how current am I?!-wish I could say that about my scrapbooks), posing in her bumbo seat after church. I just had to get a shot of this adorable hat before she outgrows it. (The baby wearing it is pretty darn adorable, too!)
Happy 5 months Gracie-poo! It really, truly has been!
And dear sweet baby Will, we send you all our love on this, your 2nd Heaven Day....

A Fun Family Day

We had a nice day on Memorial Day-Patrick had the day off, and after working hard around the house most of the weekend, we decided we all needed to get out for a bit. We took the kids to Fort Ontario in Oswego for a picnic and a little history lesson. It was a SUPER windy day and we were a bit chilly, but had fun nevertheless.

The fort has an interesting star shape if viewed from above and it is elevated above Lake Ontario with a beautiful view of the water and quite a steep drop-off. The boys enjoyed seeing how people lived in the 1800's (and the cannons) and Gracie just took it all in and went with the flow. I think my favorites shots are the goofy piggyback series at the end.
So nice to get away for the day!

mother of the year......

my poor baby! well, gracie rang in her 5 month birthday with her first accident...i was attempting to clean her up after a HUGE poopy diaper...after doing what i could with wipies, i buckled her into her changing table and ran into the bathroom to start filling her tub. when i returned a minute later this is what i found......





this, and muffled screaming from what sounded like far away. i proceeded to scream her name and then saw her little legs and bottom, still nudie, sticking out of her clothes hamper!! she apparently had wiggled backwards and gone headfirst into her hamper, which, THANKFULLY, was right next to her dresser and pretty full. O.M.G! i scooped her up as quickly as i could, wrapped her in a soft blankie and snuggled her while she wailed for about a minute or two. she calmed down quickly and was even her smiley self just a couple minutes later. thank GOD she wasn't hurt, just scared, and i think my heart started beating again sometime the next day.....

okay, so bring on the laundry jokes-patrick hasn't let up since it happened............

An Incredible Day

Mother's Day has been a bittersweet day for me since I lost my mom in October of 1999. It has become somewhat less so since I have become a mom myself.
This Mother's Day was an incredible day, for so many reasons. The boys made their first communion and Gracie was baptized on this day.

Incredible that we made it to church on time, with everyone in their proper dress.


Incredible that Gracie was able to wear this BEAUTIFUL baptism gown that was loaned to us from my Godparents family. It is handmade and as if this wasn't enough, every baby that has worn it has their name embroidered into the lining. THANK YOU Aunt Laurie, for including us in this wonderful tradition!!

And here's Gracie modeling the rest of the outfit...



Incredible that she didn't make a fuss throughout the whole mass, and seemed to enjoy the holy water on her forehead...
Look at these 3 little faces-incredibly sweet!
Incredible that after many weeks of practice and lessons, the boys pulled it off and remembered what they were supposed to do. As did the rest of the group, for the most part, and it was a LARGE group of communion candidates-17 to be exact. Here is Ben doing a great job reading the first of the intercessions.

And here is the big group-I photoshopped out the horns....:)
And here's me, as a Eucharistic minister...I was under the impression that you needed to take a class to do this-but it was sprung upon me at the beginning of mass. Incredible that I didn't faint up on the altar from nerves....

Waiting for their wafers....

Showing off their banners they made for the occasion. Note Ben's nod to Star Wars....
Gracie's godparents are Uncle Terry and Aunt Denise-thank you so much, guys!

Incredible that Uncle Terry was able to make it-he and Lisa just had baby number four only 2 days before! Welcome to the world Miss Claire Marie!!
My beautiful sisters...
The day was incredibly chilly and I kept hoping it would warm up so we could eat on the deck, but no such luck. Here are cousins Sara, Matt and Courtney having fun in the basement.


Cousins Maryssa, Lauren, Bridget, Aunt Lee , Uncle Terry and Superman (aka Mark)

The kids table...
Chatting with Father Sean....
Great Aunt Rosemary and Nana....Incredible moms, grandmas, aunts and women, all of them. I am so blessed to have so many in my life, to help fill the void that losing my mom left.....
Ben and Daddy enjoying a new book...

Joshy opening some gifts...
Gracie enjoying some QT with Uncle Todd...
Gracie and Oma...Thank you Oma for babysitting Gracie so that I was able to help with the communion group. I could not have done it without you....And what incredible timing, as it turns out.....


Ben looking incredibly relaxed at the end of a busy day....

And here's the cake that I made for the occasion-the kids each got to choose the flavor for their respective layer (I chose carrot cake for Gracie's layer :), but, after lots of work, it turned out incredibly DRY....
All in all, it was a incredible day. Thank you to all of our wonderful family for making it the incredible day that it was!