Category: Uncategorized

Month One

Month Two

Month Three

Month Four

Month Five

Month Six

Month Seven

Month Eight

Month Nine

Month Ten

Month Eleven

Month Twelve

 

 

One: Lucy had been asking all week to get her ears pierced so we took her after school on Friday

After we left she talked about all the piercings she wants to get in the future. Ha!

Two: after getting her ears pierced we went over to Starbucks and I got my first ever Pumpkin Spiced Latte. 

It was so good that I actually went back the next day with Chloe and got another one. Lucy got my other favorite, a green tea.

Three: the weather turned cooler so we spent a lot of time cooking fall favorites

Four: Beckett took his first ride in the car grocery cart and loved it! His seatbelt was broken so Lucy volunteered to hold on to him

He tried stealing all of the slim jims 

Five: we went back to the apple orchard since our first outing was cut short by a poop explosion 

I’m really trying to keep up over here but life is SO busy! 

Megan and Chloe are in the middle of their fall sports. So we’re spending a lot of time going back and forth to the high school 5-7 days a week. Not complaining though, I love it! 

But it’s not all work and no play. Jon and I have been having lots of dates lately. Having five kids so spread out in ages can be challenging and lots of work but it’s so nice to have teenagers who are willing to watch Lucy and Beckett so Jon and I can get out for a little while. 

Lots of dinners and a movie last week. Ha! Megan loved that picture so I had to include it. 

Jon tiled the backsplash in the kitchen last week

I love it! He did such a great job. 

Emma took me out for a tea date 

Chilly mornings at the bus stop

Gorgeous afternoons are spent outside

The weather is supposed to turn cool tomorrow so we’re all looking forward to a chilly first weekend of autumn! 

We did our annual apple picking date with the kids this weekend. It was a quick 10 minute Apple picking date because as soon as we got out into the orchard I realized that Beckett had a major diaper blow out. Not the kind of day I had hoped for but I did get a few cute pictures. 

We’ll definitely be back out there a few more times this fall. Chloe already started baking! 

I love fall!!

Oh sweet Beckett!! 11 months!! Last year at this time I was waddling around the apple orchards waiting for you to make your arrival. Every day I was sure that “today was the day”. Your sisters came early and so would you. Boy, was I wrong. 

You have definitely proven to be different from your sisters. At 11 months, you are already a wild man with a mind of your own. You keep us moving all day (and night) long. But, we are all enjoying it so much and can’t believe how fast this year is flying by.

Likes: Right now your favorite thing to do is ride around in Lucy’s little pink car. You will sit there for a long time as we walk up and down the driveway. You watch Lucy zip around on her bike and I think in your mind you’re doing the same thing.

You also love crawling over to the refrigerator and pulling off the bottom part. Not sure what you’re thinking but it’s the first thing you do when we put you down on the kitchen floor

You still spend a ton of time out on the swings and have been loving your daily walks in the stroller. You spend a lot of time playing with your toys, looking through books and emptying the cabinets.

Dislikes: there aren’t too many things that bother you right now except when we try to move you away from something we think is too dangerous. You’ve been really happy and easy going lately.

Sleeping: I don’t even want to jinx this but I know I’ll want to look back and remember how you FINALLY started sleeping though the night. I think it’s the combination of only one nap (2 hours in the morning) and all of the fresh air that you’re getting.

Eating: EVERY THING! You are still nursing when you wake up, a few quick nursing sessions through out the day (you don’t like to sit still long) and when I put you to sleep. You are eating all of the same table foods that we are and only have one of your pouches if we’re out somewhere and you need a quick snack.

Wearing: 12 month clothing, size 2 FP and size 3 diapers

Milestones: You are walking along the furniture now. You have started letting go while standing up (but almost immediately fall down). You say mama, dada, baba, dah (Daisy or dog) and hi. You actually say hi whenever anyone walks in the room or walks by you in a store. You have become such a flirt with all of the girl’s friends and women you see while we’re out shopping. You shake your hear no when you don’t want something. You wave hi and bye and clap your hands. You have started sharing toys when asked too. Such a good boy!

You give some pretty fantastic hugs too and I love when someone catches them for me

You, my sweet boy are the absolute best!! Happy 11 months! ❤

Today is the first day of school. Before I get to that I have to post a few pictures from this weekend. Because it was a good one. It’s been really rare to have all 7 of us available on the same day (luckily Chloe’s practice was cancelled). We packed up the car early on Sunday and headed down to Newport. We stopped at Flo’s for our favorite clam cakes and then took a ride over to Brenton Point for a picnic and a few photos.

Time is going by so quickly and I know that there won’t be a lot of opportunities for me to get these pictures

 

We thought by getting to the beach later in the day we would have a better chance of getting in and getting a good parking spot. WRONG! The beach parking lot was full so we had to take a ride out to Horseneck. We haven’t been there in years!!

The waves were huge and Beckett was not feeling it that day. He was happier sitting in the sand people watching.

Another end of another great summer. Jon’s vacation ended today and the girls have started another school year. 180 days of classes and then they’re all mine again.

 

I don’t have too many photos to save/share this month but wanted to make sure I posted a few

Jon and I celebrated 17 years of marriage which is completely unreal! We started dating when I was only 17!! Time flies when you’re having fun 😉

Jon took Lucy and Megan to the drive in a few weeks ago. I was happy to sit this one out. I usually try and go every year but I knew it would be too tough with Beckett. 

We took our annual day trip to Gillette Stadium. I’m planning Beckett’s first birthday and had to get some football pictures of him. His invites came out adorable!! 

Beckett had his first real illness. He had a temp of 103 at one point. I’m actually not sure if it was an illness or just his teeth. He didn’t have any other symptoms. 

We celebrated sweet Camden’s first birthday ( and Connor’s third). 

Just call Jon the baby whisperer. 

I took Lucy on a school shopping date. We also bought a ton of Lush products and Starbucks 💕

And then I turned 40. Yup, 40! I’m not going to lie, I had a very hard time with this one. So much so that I refused a party. There were a lot of tears (for real). I almost closed my Facebook down the day before so I didn’t have to be reminded by 100 people that it was my birthday. Told ya!! This was a tough one for me. Then I sat back and thought about how much I’ve been blessed with over the last 40 years. How much I have to be thankful for. Forty has been fabulous so far. 

Getting this bag for my birthday also helped a LOT!! 

Ten!! As in ONE ZERO! How are you already into the double digits??

This was you last year at this time:

And here you are today:

SOOOO happy and full of life!!

Likes: You LOVE the pool right now. As soon as you see daddy in the pool waiting for you, you start to wave your arms like crazy trying to get to him. You still love going on walks and swinging in your swing. Pretty much anything outside. We’ve been picking up new toys for you whenever we go out shopping but you prefer to rip apart magazines and empty my cabinets. You LOVE when Lucy gets down on the floor to play with you but HATE when she tries taking anything away from you. You also love to see Daisy napping and crawl right over to her to wake her up. You love your bath time and LOVE to eat. Exploring the house is your favorite thing to do.

Dislikes: you still hate to sit still. If you’re in someones arms they need to be walking around with you. You get so angry if someone takes something away from you (pieces of magazines, fuzz from the wool rug, anything you can choke on). If you’re going for the wires and we try to move you away you WILL throw a major temper tantrum. You hate to be told “no”

Sleep: I love when I don’t have to complain too much about your sleeping habits. Although, our week in Maine screwed up your sleep schedule for a little while. You go down to sleep around 6:30-7:00pm, most nights you sleep straight through until around 4:30. Wake to eat and then go right back to sleep until 6:30am. You have a two hour nap starting around 9:00am and a quick cat nap sometime in the afternoon. I WISH I could get you to sleep a little longer but our house is TOO BUSY and you are WAY TO NOSEY!

Eating: Still nursing whenever you want. I ask you “want mama to feed you?” And you giggle your head off. It’s your favorite thing!! Breakfast is typically yogurt and puffs. Lunch is different everyday. You love mac and cheese, pasta with butter, toast with butter, avocados, bananas, strawberries, baby food pouches. Dinner is whatever we’re having. You haven’t met a food that you don’t like yet. 

Wearing: still wearing 6-12 month clothing. Size 3 diapers. Size 1 FP and size 3 sneakers.

Milestones: You are crawling all over the house. You now use your legs instead of the army crawl but your belly still drags on the floor most of the time. When you do get up on all fours you try to stand up. You’re taking steps while we hold your hand and I’m afraid you’re just gonna start running at any moment. You laugh at everyone. You wave goodbye and say “bah”. You like to give high fives and you give the best kisses and hugs. You have a third tooth, right up top and to the left. Your gums are all swollen and it’s just a matter of days before they all start popping through. You wear your amber necklace everyday and seem to be handling teething like a champ. You sit and play with your toys for a little while without having to have someone right beside you. You feed yourself your dinner every night and like to share with Daisy. You moved into your new big boy car seat this month too.  You are growing and changing so much and it seems like you are doing something new everyday. I just want time to slow down a little bit. Here I am, planning your first birthday. Doesn’t seem possible.

Beckett James, I still can’t believe you’re mine.

 

 

 

We just got back from a week long stay in Maine. We were lucky enough to be offered a cute house right off the beach.

This was our first vacation as a family of seven. Unfortunately, Emma was only able to come for a few days because she needed to get back to work.

We spent last Sunday up in Portland and found THE B.E.S.T. donut shop EVER!! Holy Donuts! It was so good that I could do an entire post on just that place alone!!

We also loved the city of Portland. It was just very “us”

Matt came up to get Emma so she didn’t have to take her car up and drive back alone. We stopped at a great little place to grab some lobster rolls before they left. One of my favorite things about Maine was the food!

 

(There is always someone with a camera in this baby’s face)

Another favorite of mine is the Maine sky

Megan wanted to wake up to see the sunrise one morning and since Beckett was awake at 3:30 it worked out perfect. HA!

It was worth every tiring second the rest of the day because it was absolutely gorgeous!!

We spent lots of time playing on the beach. We took walks up and down it ALL day and night.

Megan’s sweet friend Grace came up to spend a few days with us and we took a ride back to Portland….. for more donuts

Then we took a ride to Freeport

Then we went to a water park with them. They’re way up there on the top of those stairs. Lucy was brave enough to go on the big water slide with Megan, Chloe and Grace.

They loved that! I ran into two of my good friends from high school and their families at the park.

We tried Old Orchard Beach but wasn’t very impressed. Lucy did try a corn dog for the first time

And a few more pictures:

It was such a fun week! We created a lot of fun memories with the kids. I never knew how beautiful the coast of Maine was. It’s like a hidden gem up there, away from the traffic and crowds of the Cape or Newport.

Weight: 17 pounds

Height: 28 1/4 inches

You are such a tiny little peanut! We just got home from the doctors and even though you’re little, the doctor said you are absolutely perfect. But I already knew that. 

Likes: your personality is just bigger than life! You are the happiest, silliest boy and you laugh so easily. Especially when Daisy comes over to lick your face 

You laugh and squeal every time you’re on the swing

You love going in the pool with daddy, going for walks with mama and playing with all of your toys. You’re into playing with your farm and the llama is your absolute favorite. Peekaboo is a favorite of yours and you’re finally getting into books. 

Dislikes: sitting still, being put down and unfamiliar faces. 

Sleep: YES!! Finally!! You normally go down at 6:30pm and will sleep for a good 12-13 hours. You have a 1-2 hour nap in the morning and a quick 30 minute nap in the afternoon (we’ll work on that one) 

Milestones: you are amazing us everyday with your new skills! You started the month off by rolling wherever you wanted to go. Now you’re army crawling to get around. You can pull yourself to a standing position and have started giving high fives and blowing kisses

Wearing: Still wearing 6-12 month clothing and still in a size one Freshly Picked Moc. 

Eating: You are a GREAT eater!! Still nursing around 5-6 times a day. Eating 3 solid meals a day. You typically have yogurt and puffs for breakfast, fruit and veggie pouches for lunch and dinner along with anything that we’re eating. You want everything we have and last week you ate an entire slice of pizza! You love Mac and cheese, bananas and avocado! 

Nine month photos:

Nine months in, nine months out. This has been the fast 18 months of my entire life. I was a little sad today when I made your next doctors appointment and it’s when you turn one. Time certainly is a thief. You are so loved, Beckett James!! By everyone who has ever met you. People always comment on your sweet little face and how gorgeous your big brown eyes are. Happy nine months, Bubba!!