Justin at 4 weeks

Chillin

Big brother

Friends!

We've been getting lots of visitors because of my moms' group and their awesome Casserole Patrol. I haven't had to worry about dinner at all this week and we are stocked up for the weekend, too. Yesterday, my friend Cheryl came by. Her daughter Daniela couldn't get enough of holding Justin and she did such a good job! Her brother Joseph was pretty interested, too, at least until he caught sight of our three toy lawn mowers!

Monster Trucks!!!

Luke, Michael, Daddy and Poppy went to the monster truck rally on Saturday. They even visited the pit where they got to touch the trucks. Surprisingly, Luke decided he wanted to wait in line and meet the drivers. Here he is with the driver of Tailgator, his favorite monster truck.

Doh-Ray-Mi

Here's Michael feeling happier, being silly with his daddy.

Middle Child

Poor Michael has had a rough time the past few days. We thought he was having some adjustment issues with Justin's arrival. Today he had his three year check-up. He weighs 30lbs and is 36 inches tall--both 30th percentile. He also has ear infections in both ears! And he's cutting his two-year molars. No wonder he's been grumpy. He fell asleep on the way home.

sleeping with sharks

I love the blankets my friend Allanya made for Justin. Somehow, she knew just what would fit in at our house. He has one with sea creatures, one with dogs, one with dinosaurs and this one with sharks, which is Luke's favorite.

Fun with Poppy's iPhone

Happy Birthday Michael!

Michael is three years old today! In his honor is the first "bloggie" post! Matt bought me a new mini digital video camera for my "having a baby" present. I think I've almost got it figured out.

Justin meets Poppy and Nan

Happy Easter!

Easter Egg Hunt

We went to an Easter Egg Hunt at my friend Allanya's this afternoon. It was Justin's debut to the moms' group. The weather was warm and windy and the kids had a blast.

All the kids lined up and ready to go.

Comparing eggs with Caleb.

My three sons.

Coming Home

Justin and I came home on Wednesday afternoon. He's had some jaundice and some nursing issues, but is doing well overall. He's already been on more outings in his first 72 hours home than I think Luke was in his first three months! He's a good traveler and an easygoing little guy so far.

Justin is Here!!!

My water broke on Monday afternoon and after a challenging labor, Justin Gregory Ponesse arrived at 8:06pm on March 29th, 2010. He was 36 weeks and 5 days, technically two days premature. However, Justin weighed in at 7lbs 12 oz. That makes him heavier than Luke's 7 lbs 11 oz and Michael's 7lbs 10oz! He was 19.5 inches long. He has a full head of BLONDE hair! We've had lots of wonderful visitors, but we can't wait to get home later today. Extra special love and thanks to Ali who came to take care of Luke and Michael. Here are some pics, the collage is care of Alyssa.

Zoo

Beautiful weather for the zoo yesterday. Too bad my stamina is non-existent these days, so we made it a pretty short trip. The boys saw their beloved snakes, manatees and bats, though.

A Nursery

We finally got the nursery done. Justin's getting the same Classic Pooh decor as the other boys did, but at least he got a fresh coat of paint, a spruced up changing table and a new guardian angel care of Poppy and Nan.

How to read a story. . .

Yes, this looks like the three-headed monster I posted a while back. Perhaps a bit cuddlier--nothing like snuggling while daddy reads about Komodo Dragons.

Justin wears pink . . .

. . . for the first and probably last time!

Alyssa turned my belly into an Easter Egg today. It was totally awesome. And we had a great playdate at Ali's. I think we were there almost 6 hours. It's amazing how well all the kids do together now that they're getting older.

Daddy goes to school

Matt's on spring break this week and so he visited Luke's class today for "parent sharing." Matt talked about his violin and then he played songs for everyone. Luke helped out by showing his violin and playing along with Matt. The kids sang and danced to the music. Matt was so great with the kids and all of the teachers kept asking me if he was a music teacher. Everyone really seemed to enjoy it.

Congratulations, Matt!

I can't believe we've been in Ohio for almost six years! This morning, we finally got the news we've been waiting for. Matt's been granted tenure and has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor. Yaaaay! I guess that means we get to stay in Columbus. Woo hoo!

PJ Day

Today was Luke's pajama party at school. It's actually my least favorite day of the year because, on top of the usual stuff, we have to lug the sleeping bag, pillow and stuffed animals to school, too. But Luke loves it. Here he is with his friend, Sahar, showing off his Spiderman jammies.

Downtime

We've been telling Michael that when he turns three next month, it's time to give up the bottle. Until then he is, literally, milking his bottle and monkey time for all it's worth.

Saint Joseph's Soup

Matt went to an academic conference that was held at a Benedictine monastery in Missouri over the weekend. He came home with this cookbook written by a monk for me. Tonight we made St. Joseph's Soup. It was really good, although the recipe called for tomatoes which I'm pretty sure St. Joseph never ate since they are a New World food. I don't know why we don't make more soup. It's so easy and the kids really like it, so now we've decided to make a new soup each week. Upcoming recipes include St. Scholastica's Soup, St. Anthony's Soup and St. Lobia's Beer and Mushroom Soup.

A Hypothesis

Our prehistoric sea reptile phase is still going strong, but has merged with a new shark obsession. I must admit I'm having as much fun as Luke checking out books and videos from the library. He's learning a lot. Last night he said: "Mommy, I have a hypofemis. My hypofemis is that I think that Great White Shark's teeth are sharp enough to pierce armor."

Although his pronunciation needs some work, that's pretty good use of the word "hypothesis" if I do say so myself.

Baby Shower

How blessed and lucky I am to have such a wonderful group of friends. My EBC Moms' Group friends threw me the baby shower to end all baby showers last night. It was so amazing. I never had a shower with Luke. I had a lovely little shower for Michael with some close friends, but that was before I joined the EBC group. The scale of last night was just outrageous, thanks in great part to the co-hostesses Ali and Alyssa. I missed Sharleen and Constance like crazy and Melissa, Shelly and Steph couldn't make it, but my friend Heather drove all the way from Louisville for the evening! The food was spectacular. Everyone made bar snacks including deep fried pickles care of Kendra! The games were hilarious as always and the gifts were completely over the top. I don't think we'll need diapers for six months. Thank you, thank you, my wonderful friends!

Diane making up for lost drinking time since the birth of her baby, Nora!

Kendra, Ellen and Ali. Did I mention I was the only one who couldn't drink?

Allanya won the "don't say baby" game.

Alyssa was dead on in the "measure my belly" game, but then claimed she wasn't really playing.

So Diane won! Go Meves!

CAKE!!

Only Ali can look this good with blue teeth.

A ridiculous pile of loot.

Yes, Sharleen, there was chapstick.

And lots of boy gifts--I love these bibs from Cheryl.

And the requisite group shot of the best friends ever!

Train Set

I just finished painting the press board for the train set we bought last week. It's about the craftiest thing I've done in a long while. Now to let it dry and then have Matt haul the thing upstairs to the boys' room.