Johnnie turned 2 1/2

It's hard for me to believe sometimes but then he will Grunt at me or tell me No or say Don't Touch Me & then I remember that YES he is fully ensconced in that beautiful age of 2. As sassy as he sometimes is he is also loving, full of energy, funny & just wonderful. He is always very concerned about his brothers & their whereabouts. He surprises us daily with all the new words, phrases & sentences he knows. When I point the camera toward him he will now say cheese & smile sometimes. He fed Joey for the 1st time this week. It was really very cute & he was so proud of himself. I can't wait to see what these next 6 months have in store for our boy. I wish I could slow time down but since I can't, I look forward to seeing him evolve even more into a little boy instead of our first little baby.

He went & did it

Jimmy turned 1 month old but like my friend Katie pointed out, he's really only 4 weeks old since February was a short month. Have to look on the bright side, right? He did really well during his well check this morning. He is now 11 pounds 6 ounces (90%) & 22 1/2 inches long (80%). Holding up his head & looking around like a champ. Doing tummy time daily, looking around when he hears noises, reading books with mama everyday & I hope enjoying all the love & attention being showered on him by his parents & of course both his brothers. Jimmy is a very good baby. He rarely cries & when he does it's because he's overtired, hungry or COLD. These tears are short lived because he calms down quickly. He is now eating every 3 hours during the day & every 3-4 hours at night. He still does most of his sleeping during the day & stays awake a lot of the night. I love our new life with our baby boy & can't wait to see how much he will change this next month. During his photo shoot today he was very tired so he cried a lot. I did manage to get an adorable photo of him but am saving that one to mail out to his relatives. Here is a photo of him sleeping once he had calmed down. (My favorite body part of course). Then today Auntie Kayci came over & took some photos of me with my littlest boy who I believe is actually smiling here. And I got this idea from my friend. It basically shows how big Jimmy's feet are compared to my hands. It was a hard shot to get because he kept kicking his feet around, but I love it.

Our Boys

have some wonderful facial expressions. With just one look at them my day can go from blah to happy just like that. I don't always have my camera out ready to go but when I do & am lucky enough to capture these faces I'm thrilled.

10 on Tuesday

1. Happy St. Patrick's Day! Just another day in my world. The only difference is that my boys wore green tee shirts to school. And Jimmy's name is very Irish being that it's James Patrick but no green for him to wear. Here's Johnnie in his tee shirt that says NOT LUCKY JUST CUTE & the hat he made in school today. And Joey wore a shirt that said I'D RATHER BE LUCKY THAN GOOD, but you can't see it because he's been feeling so under the weather & just wants to lay down on daddy. 2. Last week Jimmy & Lorelei had another date at the ripe old age of 2 weeks (him) & 3 weeks (her). My sister thinks they look a little drugged here, but I just see two adorable babies. 3. And it looks like those drugs have made them both a little sleepy.4. It has now been 3 weeks since I gave birth & I have lost 19 pounds & have 23 to go. It seems like a very daunting task but I look forward to the challenge.

5. Last Friday Joey stayed home sick from daycare so I took the opportunity to get some photos of him with Jimmy. He only stayed interested for a few minutes & then he pushed him off his lap.6. Joey is now enjoying trying to eat at the big boy table & when I pointed the camera toward him & said Say cheese this is the look he gave me. Stop growing already.7. Naptime sometimes doesn't come fast enough especially when you have an almost 2 1/2 year old in your house. On this particular day I knew it was time when I looked over at Johnnie from my office & he was in the laundry basket resting. When asked about taking a nap this is the look I got. Almost like he was thinking "Oh god mom. Go Away already."8. The Vuoso boys gave my boys the Thomas the Train movie at Christmas & when it's on they both just stand in front of the tv mesmerized. Maybe I could just run it on a 24 hour loop & get some peace & quiet this way.9. As soon as Rick comes home in the evening I have Jimmy lay with him so he can get some quality time in with him while I play with, bathe, feed & get my time in with Johnnie & Joey.10. Jimmy is now 3 weeks old. Only 6 days until he's 1 month old. I love that he is starting to focus more & even recognize me (in my mind) but I want him to slow down. I love these baby days & can't stand the thought of him growing too quickly.

Friday Firsts

Our baby boy had his 1st haircut this past Sunday. We put it off as long as we could because we knew that as soon as that 1st professional haircut was done our baby would look like a little boy. Well after weeks of pushing Joey's bangs out of his face, we decided it was time. So off to FIRST CUT SALON we went. Jojo sat in the airplane chair & Miss Jenny started cutting away. Rick only had to get involved once to make sure he didn't climb out of the chair. He was excited to point out the car on the tv screen across the room while he was having the hair removed from his clothes. Miss Jenny didn't cut his hair too short so we could maintain that baby look for just a little while longer. No tears so overall it wasn't too traumatic for the parents or the baby boy. Johnnie & Jimmy were there too. Johnnie had his hair cut too & Jimmy just tagged along for the ride. And as a treat we got a milkshake for the boys to share. Jojo loved it. He clenched his teeth down on the straw so we couldn't pull it away but we did get it away. So the next time we let him have a sip he put both his hands under the cup so we COULDN'T take the cup away. Such a cutie & so smart too.

2 Weeks Old

Two weeks old. Already gained a pound & grew 1 1/4" by his 11 day check up. Jaundice is gone. Umbilical cord gone. Starting to stay up for a little longer during the daylight hours. Makes a lot of noise while he sleeps. Gets hiccups EVERYDAY. Makes his daddy very happy. Keeps his blue eyes open for photos. (And I realize it's only a matter of time before these eyes turn brown too.) No longer being swaddled to sleep. Had his 1st bottle with daddy yesterday & drank 3 oz without taking a breath. And he held daddy's fingers the whole time. Already cuddles his lovey & his brother Johnnie ALWAYS makes sure it's laying right on top of him. We put the aquarium part of the bouncer on & ALL of the boys loved it. And today during his 2 week photo shoot I decided to take his announcement photos & this is what he thought of it. Not really. He cried because it was cold & then he calmed down for his photos.

FIRSTS

When we had our 1st baby EVERYTHING was a big deal. The 1st time he opened his eyes, the 1st time he pooped, that 1st bath, getting excited about an umbilical cord falling off, that 1st haircut, crawl, word, step and so on. Then with the addition of a new baby we still got excited over these things but to a slightly lesser degree. Now that we have 3 boys under the age of 2 1/2 years old, life is about getting through each day with some sense of our sanity in place. For people who don't know me I am the type of person who likes to document everything from the biggest details like 1st steps to the smallest details such as what day they each noticed the kitty cats. So even though I'm very busy I don't want to forget the little things so here are some photos of FIRSTS.

Cookie Bouquet that my best friend Heather sent to celebrate Jimmy's arrival.1st Spongebath (Johnnie was a big help)1st bath with all 3 boysI love photos of baby's bottoms but never really post them. But I thought this one was too cute not to share. Jimmy's 1st time in the swing. He loves it & ALWAYS falls asleep in it.1st time in your carseat1st time on your playmat. You weren't interested until the music turned on.1st nap in the cribCute little body parts

Our 1st Week with Jimmy

I wanted to catch up on posting photos from our very 1st week with Jimmy (formerly known as baby J). The 2nd day in the hospital I was able to get up & move around a little but not for very long so I found myself trying to get some photos with his eyes open. No easy feat since he spends most of the day either sleeping or closing his eyes every time I come near him with my camera. But I finally got one & then snapped a photo of my favorite baby body part. His cute little feet. Here is my view of my darling baby. We spend a lot of time in this position. As soon as he is done nursing he tends to curl around my belly & snooze for a bit. I need to enjoy it now because he won't want to be in this position for too much longer. The last night I spent in the hospital, daddy spent a lot of time just cuddling with his new little guy. After a restless night in the hospital it was finally time to go home on Friday afternoon. We took our last pictures in the hospital trying to enjoy those last few moments of peace & quiet & then it was time to go home. The car was all packed with my belongings that had accumulated over the week along with the many flowers, cards & yummy biscotti (thanks again Sara) & we were on our way. I don't know why I felt a little nervous at the thought of introducing a new baby in to the house but I did. Would Joey even notice the baby? Would Johnnie understand that this baby isn't another Jojo. Best way to find out... walk through the front door. Right when we came in, both boys came running over to me saying "mama." As soon as they both noticed the baby they forgot I was there. Johnnie immediately started saying Jimmy & touching him. Joey just kept pointing to him & looking up at me. He even stood in a picture with me & Jimmy, but Johnnie wouldn't. All the nerves were for nothing. Both boys loved him immediately. Johnnie starts off each day asking "Where is Jimmy?"And he enjoys holding him & giving him kisses. And Joey just keeps putting blankets, diapers, whatever he can grab on him. I love my new world, my house full of boys & all the crazy that comes with it. Our baby is 1 week old. Sleeping about 15 hours a day most of it before 10pm at night. Cries when he's cold or hungry. Gets the hiccups every night. Already fitting in & making our world so much happier.