Santa Baby

I can't believe I'm even taking the time to post this blog right now. I'm supposed to be baking, and cleaning, and shopping, and wrapping, oh- and taking care of three children. I asked for a cape for Christmas. But I just had to take a minute to share these pics of the boys as they anxiously wait for old St. Nick. Jack sported a festive Santa Suit today (thanks Aunt Mindi!) and looked adorable! The grandmas at the mall fussed all over him. Rex and Sean were entertained this afternoon by the huge box that our new dishwasher came in (yes, our old dishwasher sadly passed two days ago.) It sickens me to know that I have spent way too much money on toys this year when a large cardboard box is all any child really wants. I'll try to get some good Christmas morning pictures posted when the big day arrives. May you all have a very Merry Christmas!!

Two Months

Wow. Jack turned two months old on Wednesday. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Here are some pictures of the little butterball. The first is from when he was one month old. At his one month doctor's appt., he weighed 13lbs and was over 23 inches long (off the charts for percentiles!). He is huge! He has almost grown out of the 3-6 month clothes! And he gives the best open-mouth, toothless smiles. He goes for his two month appt. next week. I also included a picture of Sean playing with Jack in his boucncy seat. I must admit- I was wrong. I thought for sure Sean was going to hate Jack for taking away some of his attention, but I was pleasantly surprised to see just how much Sean dotes on Jack. In fact, I can't leave them alone for fear that Sean with accidentally smother Jack to death by hugging him. It's really sweet. And Rex has been fantastic with helping me with Jack and with Sean. He's very good at gently bouncing Jack in his seat to soothe him while I cook dinner, and he helps to distract Sean with toys when he's heading for a meltdown. Neither one of them likes to hear Jack cry. Anytime Jack starts to fuss, Sean comes running to give him a hug, and Rex starts searching the house for a pacifier to plug into his mouth to quiet him down! Now that's teamwork!

Jack's Baptism

Okay-my mistake. I did this entry several weeks ago, but forgot to hit the "post" button, so it never posted. Well, better late than never!

On Sunday, November 16th, in the presence of family and friends, little Jack was baptized at the beautiful St. Mary's Church here in Annapolis. His cousin Amanda (my oldest niece, who happens to be nine months pregnant with baby #2!) and her husband Rich stood for him as Godparents. The weather was cold and windy, but we managed to have a nice day regardless. Jack looked so handsome in his Baptism outfit which was handmade by Grandma Sutton. She did a beautiful job! She has sewn outfits for each of the boys for their baptisms, so each has their own to hand down to their children. I hate to be biased, but Jack's outfit has been my favorite so far. His little jacket has his name embroidered on the inside along with his baptism date. It is precious. He also had a matching hat, but as you can see in the photo, he didn't care for that much. The ceremony was nice, and Rex and Sean were able to come up on the altar to watch. Afterwards, we had everyone back to the house for a small get-together. It was so nice to get to see everyone. We were even able to celebrate Michael's Aunt Dyanne's birthday- with one of Aunt Jean's famous coconut cakes! We look forward to seeing everyone again over the holidays.

Happy Halloween!

Here are some pics of my little goblins dressed up for Halloween. Rex dressed as an astronaut, Sean is Bob the Builder, and Jack is dressed as Tigger. They had a trick-or-treat parade this morning at preschool. (Nothing like starting the "way too much candy"/"mega-sugar rush day" at 9:00 in the morning.) The kids walk down the sidewalk (Sean's class rides along in wagons) and the different businesses come out to hand out the candy. It's lots of fun, and I think the herd of camcorder-happy parents have just as much fun watching all of the adorable costumes as the kids do trick-or-treating! But this is just the beginning. We have a neighborhood Halloween Party today with lots of fun games planned for the kids, and the day will be topped off with trick-or-treating around the neighborhood after dark. Hope you all have as much fun as we plan to! Happy Halloween!

New Pics

I don't really have time to write, but I thought I'd take a moment to post some new pics of Jack. He changes so much each day- he probably doesn't even look the same as these pictures right now! I'll try to get more up soon.

Jack Philip McAllister

He's here! Jack Philip McAllister joined us on Friday, October 3rd at 4:59pm weighing in at 10lbs 4 oz and measuring 22 inches long. He is a beautiful, healthy, baby boy. He has dark black hair, dark blue eyes, and the chubbiest cheeks I've seen. In our few short days together we have shared those wonderful newborn moments where you simply stare at your new little angel for hours at a time trying to memorize every feature, and we have spent hours trying to figure out how to get that angel-turned-devil to stop crying. The joys of having a newborn. It's just as magical the third time around. Here are some pictures from the past few days. As you can see, Rex could not be prouder of his new little brother. Sean is pretty much ambivalent most of the time, but he does like to blow kisses to Jack. Rex was insistent that Jack should have a cake to celebrate his birthday, so Jack's arrival into this world was celebrated with candles and all, and Rex fulfilled his first duty of being a big brother again. I am pretty much bound to the couch these days, (ten pound baby, natural childbirth, faulty epidural- you get the picture), so hopefully I can post pictures more frequently over the next few days/weeks. I will do my best- it is a bit of a zoo around here right now. But we are loving every minute of it.

Boys Being Boys

Thought I'd get a few recent pics posted before #3 arrives. Only 10 more days until my due date! You know, for the other two, I couldn't wait for the baby to arrive. For this one, while I'm excited to see him, I'm really hoping he's late. I'm just not ready yet! The house is a mess, I still need to do a ton of laundry, and I have yet to find where we packed away the bassinet. But I guess there is just no timing these things. He will arrive when he is good and ready- which could be tomorrow for all I know. I guess I'd better get moving on that laundry...

Here are some pics of my boys doing their "boy" things. No trip to Home Depot (and there are a LOT of trips there from this house!) is complete without the routine ride on the tractors (lawn tractors, that is). Sean starts reciting "tac-tor! tac-tor!" as soon as he sees the big orange sign outside. Who needs amusement parks or quarter rides when there is a Home Depot around? The boys also had way too much fun with some leftover diaper boxes from Sam's Club. Rex made one into a car (complete with paper plate steering wheel), and asked Daddy to attach the second box as a side car for Sean to ride in. Once again, who needs amusement parks...

I hope they can keep themselves this entertained when the baby comes!

Back to School

After a wonderfully relaxing week off at home last week, the boys returned to school today to begin the new school year. Rex started Pre-K this year. I remember when I first took him to work with me when he was six months old. I looked at the Pre-K class that day and thought to myself, "I can't imagine him ever growing old enough to go in there!". I feel like I blinked twice, and here we are. If I blink again, he'll be starting Kindergarten! Okay- let's not go there yet. I've still got one more year of having him with me. But it never ceases to amaze me how quickly time passes. Rex loved his first day in his new class. He was so excited to see that every child gets their very own pencil box with a glue stick, scissors, pencils, and crayons. They have a lot of work to do in Pre-K! It's not just play-doh and legos anymore. Sean's first day was fun, but a little less exciting. Instead of moving him up to the two year old class, I chose to keep him in the toddler room for a little while longer. (One of the perks of being a director at your child's school is hand-picking his teachers!) He is making such great progress- I didn't want to mess that up. We'll re-evaluate that decision in a few months, but for now- I feel good about him staying put, and his teachers are elated that he's not leaving them. Sean has had quite a bit of excitement of his own recently that is not (directly) school related. The child who has lived off of pureed foods for two years is finally eating crunchy food!!! His teacher called me into the room one day a few weeks ago to show me that he was eating a potato chip! I nearly fell over- and then I cried! I was beginning to think that day would never come. Now he eats goldfish crackers, cheerios, chicken nuggets- a whole new world has opened up for him! I don't think I will ever grow tired of watching him chew. It's amazing how such a simple concept can be such a big accomplishment for some people. We are so proud of him! Enjoy the pics of my two little men from this morning. And Happy New School Year to all the kiddos (and teachers) out there!

Busch Gardens

The McAllisters and the Mays (our next door neighbors) headed off last week for a long weekend in Williamsburg to visit Busch Gardens and Water Country USA. What a blast! The kids had so much fun and were so utterly and completely exhausted at the end of each day- it was great! Busch Gardens had a lot of rides suitable for kids, and is the prettiest and cleanest park I've ever seen. Water Country has tons of water slides, but also has three different "kiddie" areas with mini slides and shallow pools. Sean was in heaven. I didn't take any pictures at Water Country, (I'm pretty clumsy these days and I didn't want to drop my brand new camera in the water!), but just imagine Sean doing his signature arm flapping with a huge grin on his face for eight hours straight (we skipped nap time that day). By the time we were done, he was so overtired, overstimulated, and full of water that when we tried to take him back in the water the next day, all he wanted to do was sleep! I did manage to get some pics from Busch Gardens. Let me tell you- walking around for three days in the heat of August when you are eight months pregnant is not exactly what I would call a vacation, but seeing the kids have so much fun definately made it worth the while.

Sean's Two!

I've been trying for weeks to get these posted. Yes, our little Sean-Sean is now two years old!!! Here are some pics from our little family party we had here at home. Since we were traveling that weekend, and so were most of our friends and family, we decided not to do a big shin-dig for his birthday this year (don't feel too bad- we skipped Rex's second birthday, also). Just Michael, Me, Rex, Sean, and Kaleigh. Besides, as long as Sean had cake, he couldn't care less who was here or how big his party was. A big change from his last birthday when he wouldn't even taste his cake- he devoured it this year and then had more! He may not eat much, but he knows what he likes! And after peeling the wrapping off of his presents one little two-inch piece at a time, he had lots of new toys to play with. It's so hard to believe how fast time has passed. Sean has changed so much over the past few months, and continues to make new strides every day. He's talking more and more, and feeding himself, and throwing mega temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way. (He's definately got some Irish in him.) He also loves to give hugs and kisses and snuggle up with you. He is very affectionate. We just ride along on the emotional roller coaster of having a two year old. The "ups" get us through the "downs." So Happy Birthday to our "little man." We love you to pieces.

July 4th Float 2008

Once again this year, the "Windmill Hill Ladies Association" sponsored a decked out patriotic float for the Annapolis Independence Day Parade. The neighborhood kids had fun stuffing the tissue paper all around the bottom the night before, and had even more fun riding down main street in the rain! (Except for Rex, who bailed halfway through and went up to ride in the truck!). Sean was not sure what to think about the whole ordeal at first, but once we got rolling, he loved seeing all the people. This year's float even had a bubble machine- which was a huge hit with the kids in the crowd. We had so much fun! We're already throwing together some ideas for next year's entry. (Suggestions are welcome!)

Farm Family Reunion

Here are some photos I promised from our weekend at the farm a few weeks ago. Our weekend got a late start since the boys and I all had a nasty stomach virus, but once we recovered, we headed to Virginia to one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I wish I had the words to describe what a special place "the farm" is. And with 20 aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandmas, it was even better. We started by having our first annual Family Olympics, complete with a hula hoop contest (being prego- I sat that one out), an egg toss, a water balloon toss, and lots of other fun competitions. Everyone had such a good time. Cousin Bobby was the grand champion this year- but I think we'll all be practicing for next year! The boys had lots of fun riding on the four-wheeler and climbing trees, and just plain running around. I don't think Sean sat still all weekend! They even got to watch the local farmer use his combine to harvest wheat out of the fields. How cool! We can't wait to do it all again next year!

Catching Up

Yes, I know- it's been a while since I've posted pictures. Sorry- life with two small children, one on the way, and a house under construction doesn't always leave enough time in the day for things I want to do. But here are some recent pics from Father's Day and from our yearly neighborhood trip last week to Dutch Wonderland. For Father's Day, we planned to take Michael on a picnic, but it was so blessed hot, we ate our picnic at home and waited until evening when it cooled down a bit to take our trip to the park. Rex loves going to the park, and doesn't stay still long enough to take his picture. Sean has become more adventuresome there recently. He used to just spend his time on the swings (who can blame him- swings are still my favorite!), but now he's climbing into tunnels and sliding down slides. I'm not sure if Sean just liked hanging out in the tunnel, or if he couldn't figure out how to get out of it, but he spent a lot of time in there!

Last week, the younger neighborhood kids headed back to Dutch Wonderland for our annual trip. The kids had so much fun- it really is a very nice park. Sean was old enough this year to ride on more of the rides, and Rex was actually tall enough to ride some rides without an adult! I love the picture of Rex scrutinizing how the park attendant is fastening the lock on the ride. He looks so skeptical! As if he knows how to do it better! And he takes "driving" a bulldozer very seriously. Sean is just happy to be along for the ride. Finally, the look on Sean's face with Ms. Penni on the huge slide is that of pure joy. We had such a great time! I'm already looking forward to next year's trip!

What else has been going on around here? Well, in the past month between the two boys, we have managed to survive a stomach virus, strep throat, and a staph infection. (The fun never stops in the McAllister household.) Little baby McA is growing and moving and kung-fu fighting each day. The last sonogram clearly showed that he is perfectly formed (no cleft lip or palate!!!), and he is doing great! I, on the other hand, am the size of a house. A big house. I would like to think that he's just a large baby, but I think it more has to do with the fact that I'm always hungry. For ice cream. And cookies. And apple pie. I'm not too worried, though. I think chasing three boys around the house will help to take these pounds off in the long run. Michael is still working day and night at his office and on the house. The poor guy never sleeps. And Kaleigh is still Kaleigh- always looking for a rub on the belly or a piece of food. And she merely sulks when she gets neither one. I think that pretty much catches us up to date. I promise to try to get back in the habit of posting pictures weekly. We are heading to the family farm this weekend for a family reunion, so I should have lots of pictures to share next week!