Ian's 1st Day of Playschool at Miss Tammy's

This was the best photo I could get on his first day of school - he was playing in Grammie's playroom waiting to be brought to school. He was completely nonchalant about being left for three hours and could have cared less when Grammie came to pick him up!

Meanwhile, for anyone looking at this blog, I realized later in the rush of the morning to see him off that I was photographing a choking hazard - bagels in both hands and jumping on a horse! I had not finished my morning coffee I guess!

Thankfully, he survived my oversight and made it off to school without a hitch!

Jocelyn's First Day At Preschool

Our little princess had her first day at preschool last Thursday (I can not believe how fast time is flying by). She was very excited to meet all her new classmates and see her teacher Susan, who had visited all the kids' houses the week before to ease their transitions into the classroom. She was rewarded for her efforts at our house with a big hug from not only Jocelyn but Ian too.


Part of the thrill of going to school for Jocelyn is the opportunity to put on a pretty dress and have Momma do her hair beforehand. Even though she usually pulls out the pigtails and barrettes about 10 minutes afterward, she loves the attention and pampering that goes with getting ready.


She was also excited to get to use her butterfly backpack. What will go in there is anybody's guess, but that's probably not the point!

Captain Crazyhair Is No More

You may have noticed from previous posts that Ian's hair was getting a bit unsightly. When he was smaller Julie and I thought it would be cool to let it grow out into full snowboarder hair. What we failed to appreciate was that the hair on the front and sides of his head would grow the fastest, forcing us to do a serious combover to make it look even remotely presentable. The result was he looked more like Donald Trump than Shaun White.

With his first day of playschool coming up this week we knew we had to take care of business. Here he is before a little snip-snip this weekend. Note the 1970's Shaun Cassidy feathering that usually takes hold on the sides after a little bit of activity (we had just gotten back from the playground when this was taken):


And then I proceeded to take a small woodland creature off the top of his head:


And here he is with his fresh new Wall Street banker cut. I didn't think he could get any cuter than he already was, but there you have it.


We considered taking him to a barber but thought it might freak him out, so I unleashed my inner stylist. We put Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the TV and gave him a snack, knowing it would induce the trance-like state you see here, and he pretty much let me do my thing...


...until it was time to clean up around the ears, and then he was having none of it. So he kind of has a little Bilbo Baggins thing going with the sideburns, but if that's the worst we're dealing with, at least it's much better than what it was!

Taking Care of Baby Dog

This morning, as Ian was taking his grand ole time eating, which is not unusual for him since it typically takes him an hour every morning to eat half a bagel - he is following in his Godfather Tim Callahan's footsteps:)...

Jocelyn had set up Baby Dog and Kitty Cat to have breakfast with her...

She fed Baby Dog first - and for those who haven't noticed in previous pictures, she carries this stuffed dog around with everywhere we let her...

Then herself...

And was so proud of herself when I noticed what she was doing!

Jocelyn's New Thing - Yoga

Jocelyn has decided that Yoga is her latest adventure. She has watched Momma and Poppa do this and wants to copy us. This is her Vinyasa pose...

and her Downward Dog!

Her Tree pose is a work in progress...

...but with a little balance aid she shows some pretty fine form!

Tackling Poppa!

Ian loves to rough house with anyone lying down but Poppa especially - this is a favorite shot of mine!

Going to "See Jesus" with Grammie and Pepere

Jocelyn and Ian are dressed for Sunday Mass with Grammie and Pepere, which is one of the only times they do not look like ragamuffins. Here is one of the first shots of Jocelyn with her hair in pigtails. She likes the idea of pigtails but usually has them pulled out within about 10 minutes.

Ian is sporting a long swath of hair in the front which we have yet to cut, hence the slick Donald Trump look going on:)

Ian's First Black Eye and Trip in an Ambulance

We were only in the new house for about a week and a half when we ended up scaring all the neighbors with firetrucks, police cars and an ambulance outside the house! We hired a new cleaning woman who forgot to reattach Ian's booster seat to his chair, so when he tried to get down after lunch one day he took a nose dive and nearly passed out 3 times in about 5 minutes! He ended up with a substantial black eye but was running around at the ER playing with toys by the time Poppa made it there from Boston in a panic.


These pictures were taken about a week later... what you can't see too well on them is his scratched-up chin in addition to the black eye. The day after the booster seat accident, Jocelyn unlatched the back patio door and he fell face-first on to the granite step and patio pavers. He had a rough 24 hours and we were a bit worried that DSS would be knocking on our door after a quick look at him!

Yes - We Have Moved!

We moved into the new house on July 31st and we have been waiting for the carpenter to finish building the built-in desk in our office so that we can get the computer set up. I am done waiting for him and decided to update the blog from my work computer! Here are a few shots of the kiddos enjoying the new house...


Things went right down to the wire before our planned move-in day, as we finally got our carpet, refrigerator and closet shelves the day before and had workers all through the house the week afterward. But we are very happy to be unpacked after three years of living out of boxes!! Due to some timely babysitting by Aunt Cathy, cousin Caitlin, Nana and Grammie, the move was pretty uneventful - thank you!

It took the little ones about a week to get settled in their new rooms and sleep in past 5am - Yikes! But Jocelyn now loves her new pink room, the playroom next door and the family room with a big cabinet full of toys.

Ian loves the musical instruments stored in the cabinet - Pepere likes to encourage him to play the drums, which is never a tough sell.

Poppa's Idea for a Half Birthday Gift

This is the birthday gift from us to Jocelyn this year. She loves to take care of dolls, stuffed animals, etc. so this was the perfect gift to encourage the "Momma" in her! Great idea Poppa!


She had some serious curls going when she opened her present at 6:00 am when she got up one morning...what a hot & humid summer we had!