Events from November and December

Once again I'm falling behind here, but don't worry, you haven't missed much.  It's been a slower couple of months, all of us adjusting to life as a family of 5.  The day to day activities fill life with enough excitement as it is!  It feels like things have picked up at a whirlwind pace and I wouldn't have it any other way.


First off, this kid.

Can't even begin to describe how in love I am with him.  What a joy it has been to bring another little one into our family.  Having two very exited older brothers to love on him make the experience very different this time around.  He's such a good baby.  Calm and chill, loves to cuddle and though taking longer to start smiling initially, loves to flash that darling smile around now.  He is finally eating better after many weeks of struggling with breastfeeding due to tongue tie issues.  He is growing well and already reaches at toys around him.  He's very alert and following his brothers, has a strong neck and pack, holding his head up and looking around, even at just a couple weeks old.

2 1/2 months old now!

One month old

The boys love to have him tucked into bed with them

6 Weeks

Watching a show in a laundry basket...anything to keep them entertain on those long nights when Zenith has class!

Every year at the beginning of December, our city does a big parade that goes right by our street. The boys enjoyed all the bands and of course the candy being thrown out was a highlight!

He slept through all the noise!

The night before Thanksgiving, since we weren't doing anything for it, we took the boys out to eat.  Everything is closed on Thanksgiving, thus why we went out the night before.

Shaving with Daddy!

Trying out the new headphones before our trip!

Zenith switched jobs and therefore work vans and had to rearrange everything.  William was a big help, loading everything and supervising.  I've never seen this kid so excited!

Playing Mass...he put this all together by himself and came to show me.  My little priest in the making, God-willing!

The boys put their shoes out for the Feast of St. Nicholas and found treats in them the next day, along with a progress report of how they've been doing and what they need to work on, left by St. Nicholas.

Our studious boy

Last weekend it snowed and we got around 5 inches.  For once we get snow before Christmas and it's feeling all "Christmasy" and here I am headed across the world to summer in Australia for it!

Tomorrow.  I can't believe we leave TOMORROW.  I'm pretty much freaking out feeling fairly prepared and ready to go. Well, as prepared and "ready" as one can be when preparing to travel on an airplane for 21 hours (not including layovers) with 3 little ones.  I have activities, lots of diapers and a heap of snacks for the boys and I've been preparing with prayers and novenas that all goes well.  Keep us in your prayers as we head down under and the next post will be full of pictures of our Christmas in Aussieland!

~Lindsay

Happy 2nd Birthday Marcellus!

I can't believe 2 years have already gone by since Marcellus made his way into this world! What a spunky kid he is, too. He has such spirit with a lovely, fun nature. At 2 years old he is starting to speak more in complete sentences, has quite an appetite for most foods (minus cooked mushrooms and onions with which he shudders and gags to get down in a hilarious way), has a killer smile that attracts all the ladies and has them fawning all over him wherever we go, and is quite the mischiefmaker. He has much more of a strong will than William and it has been much tougher training this guy. He is almost full time in underwear, but it doesn't stop him from still having accidents from time to time...potty training is not a fun process especially when you're stuck nursing a cluster feeding infant and can't oversee the potty trips. But we're making progress and hopefully it will click...one of these days!
Zenith had school tonight (Marcellus' actual birthday) so we celebrated on Sunday which was also the feast of Christ the King. We had a special brunch for the feast day after Mass, and then a birthday party in the afternoon/evening.

Feast day brunch menu included lamb sausage, pepper, onion, mushroom and potato hash casserole, chocolate chip banana muffins, fresh fruit and warm mulled apple cider.






The theme for the party was airplanes since that has been Marcellus' favorite thing lately












Lemon cake layered with a blueberry compote and topped with a lemon buttercream frosting...quite yummy esp for a gluten free, dairy free cake!

Marcellus was thrilled to be the center of attention and his favorite part of the day was probably playing with the balloons! Quite a nice day despite the cool and rainy weather outside.
Speaking of weather, definitely starting to turn cool here. Sunday night we had a pretty bad storm that blew down many branches and trees and much of the state is still without power. We were one of the few who made it through without losing electricty! What little foliage we had (not a very good year for it thus the lack of pictures) is all gone now from the high winds. I feel like I missed Autumn completely between being postpartum and recovering from having a baby, the poor foliage and then the warm weather. Oh well, another year!
I think Dominic has finally fallen asleep for the night so I'm going to take advantage and try to get some sleep before the next feeding. He has a doctor appointment on Thursday so I'll give an update on him after that.
Nighty night!
~Lindsay

Outdoor fun in Autumn

The foliage this year hasn't been as good as other years but we've still managed to get out and enjoy what there is.  The weather has been unseasonably warm which has given us the chance to get out and do more!  We've made trips out to farm stands to see the animals, playgrounds, and nice walks in the area.

Unfortunately at this one, Marcellus experienced his first bee sting!  Poor kiddo was feeling it, but he was so brave.  He didn't cry for long before he was back to playing, tucking his wounded hand up safely to him to whole time.

Brotherly love

Well...one of them might not have been too happy :P

Another playground day out

Leaves in our backyard

This past Saturday we headed out with a picnic to a local farm that is open to the public with lots of trails around it.  The boys loved the old farm equipment still there and enjoyed playing on the small playground that was also there.

We ran out of time to really walk the trails but we're hoping to go back soon and see what's supposed to be the oldest tree on public property in Haverhill.  It was measured at 11 feet in diameter!

~Lindsay