As Dora Would Say....

WE DID IT!!!! WE DID IT!!! WE DID IT!!!

We arrived safe and sound in sunny Florida yesterday at noon time. Our original plan was to travel on Friday but due to the lovely winter weather our flight was cancelled and rescheduled for 7:30am Saturday morning.

So I am happy again to report that my boys all traveled like champs and were perfect and we are now enjoying our Christmas vacation in the warm weather while it looks like everyone else at home will be having a white Christmas!

Daddy Down!

So what I thought was going to be a very productive and fun weekend turned out to be not exactly that. Long story short.... Cookie sprained his ankle and has been on crutches since Saturday. I feel awaful for my husband and I wish that he could walk and be perfectly well but to be really honest I feel bad for myself. I now am the only one to who can do the laundry, the packing, the cleaning, and everything else that goes along with our trip to Florida. I know I will get it done but an extra set of hands would be nice. On top of it all I now will be traveling with a baby, a toddler, and a criple on Friday which I am sure will have it's fair share of stories to blog about. Say a prayer my husband has a miracle cure and suddenly can walk or at the very least that I do not kill him before we arrive at my parents house on Friday.

AWFUL SIMPLY AWFUL!!!!!

I can not get this out of my mind, poor sweet, polite, kind, & good hearted William got PUNCHED in the face today on the bus! Yeah "Jacob" who is a 4Th grader punched William in the face while he was talking to his friend Abby & took his hat. I bet everyone is wondering what William did....he simply told him that was his hat and took it back. I guess this boy Jacob has been screwing around with William all year on the bus and he usually just squishes him but two days ago he pushed him and took Williams seat and then today he punched him! William told Shannon he thinks it was just an accident, how can he (William) be so kind and good hearted? I am so angry & can only imagine how my sister feels. God help the first little kid to put their hands on my boys or even worse the first girl that breaks their heart, I swear I will kill them!

I hope that this little boy Jacob gets kicked off the bus and that Santa brings him nothing but coal for Christmas!!!! Oh & watch out everyone because Kiki is getting William karate lessons for Christmas and he will be a black belt before we know it!!

Well Worth The Wait...

TWO HOURS, we waited on Sunday to see Santa. Sunday morning we went and had the boys pictures done & while there we had this fantastic idea that we would also visit Santa. So, after we were done with our appointment we grabbed a drink and a quick snack and headed over to get in line to see Santa. I had been hyping Elijah up since Saturday in hopes that he "might" want to sit on his lap. Little did Cookie and I know that we should never have taken our leisurely time to get in line because there were already 60 people in front of us! Now mind you there was no sign of Santa yet since it was Sunday and he did not come on until noon time and it was 11:45am but at noon time on the dot the man in red come out of a secret door in the wall. Elijah's face lit up and was smiling ear to ear all and I have to admit that I am a corny mom and this brought a tear to my eye. Elijah followed Santa right up to his post and waved at him and watched as other boys and girls visited with him. He came back to tell me all about it and I asked if he wanted to sit on his lap and with great excitement and answered yes....so we waited and waited and waited till finally we were next. As soon as the kids in front of us got up Elijah ran right up and sat next to Santa and began rattling off his list, "I want play doh, lego, dinosaurs, books, and I share with my brother! PLEASE!!!" he repeated it several times & I know that Santa was listening. Samuel did not really know what to take of Santa and he just looked at him and tugged on his beard. I was just happy he did not cry & that we got a decent picture.

There are not many people I would wait 2 hours in line to meet but I am so happy that we waited 2 hours for Elijah to meet Santa because he has not stopped talking about him since. This is going to be a great Christmas!!!!

Samuel's Six Month Check Up

Believe it or not Samuel had his 6 month check up yesterday. I can not even believe that 6 months have already come and gone so quickly. Then on the other hand I do not remember what it was like to only be the "3" of us, to come and go and not worry about feeding anyone, to sleep laying down, and to have personal space. I have to be honest I am surprised at how easily we have adjusted to having a second child, I myself thought it was going to be more challenging than it has been. Please, I am not complaining I am very happy with how it has turned out even though Samuel does not sleep for any amount of time unless pressed against my chest. As a matter of fact as I type this he is wrapped in my Moby wrap (thank you Sue) and sleeping soundly.

Anyways, Samuel's appointment went well he is 17lbs 11ounces and 27 1/2inches long perfect for his age! He has right on track and is sitting up perfect by himself. rolling all around the room, and has mastered crawling in reverse. He laughs all the time, loves music, loves to watch Pugsley (at least someone does), but most of all he loves anything and everything that involves his brother Elijah. A few things he does not like are peaches, having his diaper changed, and when a ball rolls away from him and he can not get it because he does not yet know how to crawl forward.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREAT GRANDMA!!!

Happy Birthday to Elijah & Samuel's Great Grandma! We are going over to celebrate tonight. Elijah has been practicing singing Happy Birthday and is very excited to have cake!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZIO LUIGI!!!

Happy Birthday to Samuel's Godfather Zio (uncle) Luigi!!! The boys and I had a lot of fun making homemade birthday cards for him. Elijah, thinks Luigi is the best playmate ever! He was very sad today when we were leaving to go get his hair cut & not going to Zio Luigi's birthday party. He was so upset that he had a complete meltdown and wanted me to call Michelle and ask her why there was no party.

Happy Birthday Luigi we hope you have a great day & a fantastic year ahead!

I am Thankful for....

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I will share some of what I am thankful for...

My husband and that he tolerates and enjoys my craziness!

My boys they have been the best gifts every given to me and make me look at life in an amazing way!

My family and that even though we do not live near each other it feels like they live next door!

My mother who always stresses the importance of family & loyalty!

My Michelle for always being there for me & my family whenever you are needed and for whatever you are needed for!

Unlimited long distance phone service, without this I would be BROKE!

"The Moms" without these women I would not of survived or enjoyed this journey of motherhood nearly as much as I have!

Our house, I love our house & even though it is not our dream house it truly has felt like home since we moved in!

My husbands job. In this difficult economy I am so happy he has a job and that I am able to stay home & raise the boys!

My faith & knowing that there is something bigger than us here and everything will always be OK!

My sense of humor, the ability to laugh at almost everything makes life much more manageable!

Finally, I am thankful to my Godmother who is having us to Thanksgiving dinner today!

These are only a few of the things that I am thankful for the list could go on and on. I hope everyone has a great holiday. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Happy Anniversary!!!!

Happy Anniversary to us! The weather was the same four years ago, crisp, chilly, and sunny. At this time I was about to get my hair done and was over the moon excited of the day that I had dreamed of & it was finally ahead of us. Four years later I am living a dream I didn't even know I had! Cookie thank you for being a wonderful husband, a supportive friend, a shoulder for me to always lean on, someone for me to laugh & cry with, and for being an amazing father!

I love you more today than the day I married you!

That Elijah makes me laugh....

Since the changing of the clocks Elijah has been getting up earlier and earlier everyday. I know I should not complain and that most children are awake and eating breakfast by the seven o'clock hour but when you have been up and down all night with a baby seven am is early. So last night when I put Elijah to bed I told him not to call for me until the sun was shinning and if he woke up before the sun to play in his room quietly. In his room there are only books & a puzzle so not that much he can really get into. Well....Samuel was up at 3 stuffy as can be & at 3:30am I hear Elijah across the hall talking I wait a few minutes and decide it is best if I go in and just tell him to get back to bed. I make it to his door and I can hear him LOUDLY singing and running around the room & I just laughed out loud to myself. I opened the door to find him dancing in the middle of his room. The first thing he says to me, "Mom No call you the sun not up yet, I playing in my room!" Yes he was correct but it was 3:30 and time to hit the sack! So, a clean diaper (he had pooped) and a quick story later he was back to bed and slept till 8am!

Samuel has a cold!

While I knew it was bound to happen eventually, Samuel has his first cold. The poor little guys just has tons of snots coming out of his nose and a cough when you lay him down. You can tell he does not feel great at all. Saturday we took him to the doctor because I thought he might of had an ear infection but they could not really tell because his inner ear if full of wax and eczema build up, so they put him on ear drops and said at his 6 month appt they will wash out his ears. I bet that will fun!!! Elijah went with me to bring him to the doctors and was such a big help. When Samuel started to cry he pulled the stool over and was stroking his face says, "it's ok brother, its ok, don't cry" & then he started to sing twinkle twinkle to him. It was a very proud and emotional moment for mommy! I am happy to say that even feeling as sick as I am sure he feel Samuel is as happy as ever!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE WORLDEST GREATEST PAPA!!!!!!!!!
Papa has a special knack with his grandchild and they all think he is amazing!!!! Hope you had a great day & we wish we were there to celebrate with you!
Sending all our love to you!
Happy Bithday Papa!!!!!

The Popotte Boys

It seems like most days are crazy and they tend to blend into the next especially when you have a baby who does not like to sleep EVER!!! But it seems the past few days the boys are just warming my heart & making me smile every minute that I am awake, which is a lot of minutes. Elijah has started to somewhat play with Samuel/ He really loves his brother and the feeling is mutual from Samuel the two of them just beam when the other enters the room...I hope it stays this way forever!

What a great way to start the week...

Monday morning Nancy dropped Annie off to play with Elijah & so she could get some work done. Nancy has started working at home and I can only imagine how challenging that must be with a 3 year old so in an effort to help another mother out I told her to drop her off on Monday morning, little does she know Monday morning was a breeze for me! Elijah was so happy to have a friend to play with and eat the donuts she brought.

Later that day Kathleen and Kate stopped over for lunch and a visit. It really was wonderful to spend the afternoon chatting with Kathleen and watching Samuel and Kate giggle and look at each other. The will be fast friends before we know it. Kate is beautiful and such a good baby....I could not be happier for the King Family!!!

Here are some photos of the day.....

A Britter Sweet Visit

Michelle, was in town this past weekend to visit her 96 year old Grandmother who had fallen and broken her hip, that is the bitter part. The sweet part was she stayed with us and really got some quality time with the boys. Elijah is head over heals in love with his Godmother and thinks she is the best playmate and car racer ever! He has asked for her every morning since she left in hopes that she will be here to play and hang out with him, she really has a knack with these kids I tell ya! An added bonus was also that Cookie and I got to go out to dinner, a sort of date if you will. Samuel was not as cooperative as we would of hoped but nothing a little rocking and loving from a patient and caring Godmother couldn't handle.

Happy Birthday Cookie!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COOKIE!!!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday to an amazing husband, wonderful friend, unbelievable father & simply a beautiful person. I thank God everyday that I have you in my life, the boys and I are so incredibly blessed! I hope that you have an awesome year ahead of you!!! We love you!!!!!

Grammie's favorite Veggie

Grammie's favorite veggies is peas & it seems to be Samuel's favorite also!

Welcome to the world.....

Jack Thomas!!!! Tanya gave birth to a healthy baby boy at 1:51pm weighing 6lbs 13oz & 19 1/2 inches long. Congrats to the entire family & especially to Lucy who is going to be an amazing big sister!!!

Sunday Dinner

Sunday, we had the Grand-mere, Grand-pere, Auntie Carolyn, & Mona over for dinner. My father in law (Grand-pere)is up from Florida for a visit so we had them over for a good old fashion Sunday family dinner. Elijah & Auntie Carolyn had a blast playing with the playdoh & then showing Grand-mere what he had made. Grand-pere is officially the baby whisper and got Samuel to sleep in a matter of minutes. It was a really nice time & I wish we could do it more often.

Yummy Yummy Rice Cereal...

Finally, Samuel got his first taste of food. He loved every last bite of the rice cereal & was not happy when the bowl was empty. We are hoping that maybe now that we are introducing food that he might start to sleep better. Here are some pictures of Samuel's first meal.

Happy Halloween!!!

I love Halloween & always have, as far back as I can remember Halloween has been an exciting and BIG holiday. I have such wonderful memories of planning costumes and going trick or treating & I am hoping to pass the same down to my boys.

Cookie took the boys out trick or treating and I stayed home to give out the candy. Cookie went dressed as a doctor, Elijah was Diego, & Samuel was a cow. Everyone had a great time Elijah loved going door to door saying "trick or treat" and Samuel had a blast just being out. Elijah came how with so much candy I think it might last him till next year.

My Elijah...

I love being a mom & especially to Elijah! He makes me laugh everyday just by the simple things that come out of his mouth. For example today after getting up from his nap he informed me that he would like to go ride a yellow dinosaur not green mom yellow, as if I can make either a yellow or a green dinosaur happen. Later on I was calling him for dinner and he was not coming as quick as I would like so I yelled, "Elijah James Popotte, come to eat now!!!" he responded "I coming now Momma Popotte!"

So, although some days may be harder than others and he often likes to test me at least he always makes me laugh!!!

5 Months Already???

Samuel is 5 months old today & I can not believe it. In some aspect its seems as though he just joined our family but most days I can not remember days without him.

He is the happiest baby that I have ever met & this amazes me because he NEVER EVER EVER sleeps! I swear he has some super human power that gives him energy and makes it that he does not need to sleep. He only cat naps during the day, some much to the fact that I have started calling him the "cat nap king" and at night he is up ever 2 hours and if I don't nurse him he just streams bloody murder.....so I give in and I have learned how to sleep sitting up nursing very well.

He is really enjoys spending his days playing in his exersaucer and watching Elijah. He is rolling all over the place and is trying to scoot but I am not encouraging it at all since the thought of him crawling anytime soon makes me cringe! We started him on a cup and he really is enjoying it and this week we will give him his first taste of rice cereal.

So, that is it on sleepless smiling Sammy!!!!

Time really passes quickly....

While writing the out some monthly bills I noticed the date today October 20Th, paused and realized that 13 years ago a handsome 20 yr old student from BU asked a short 19 year old girl with big butt to dance and she said yes!!! Now 13 years later they have two sons, a dog, and a house! Wow it seems like only yesterday that I was giving my number to Cookie and hoping he would call!

I love you babe & thanks for asking me to dance!!!!

What an Honor!

Today I had the honor of doing the eulogy for my Aunt Helen, I have to admit it was challenging to write a eulogy for a women I have only been around for a 1/3 of her life but I did it and from what everyone said it was great. I am going to post it below since not all of our family was able to travel and attend services.

Good Morning & Thank you to everyone for being here to celebrate the long and wonderful life of my Great Grand Aunt Helen.

Strong, humble, funny, elegant, a lady, magnificent, pioneer, survivor, coiffed, fashionable, stylish, cute, & chocoholic...these are a few of the words that come to people's minds when they think about Aunt Helen.

Aunt Helen was a women a head of her time, in a time when women did not work she had a career. After working for more than 25 years at Polaroid with Dr. Land it was time for her to enjoy retirement with the love of her life her husband Joe.

She and Joe were an amazing couple and had a beautiful love story. They traveled the country together, went on European cruises and I have continually heard that they were amazing entertainers and always hosting a party for one holiday or another.

Helen was a beautiful person and everything she touched seemed to take on the same beauty. She loved to cook, she loved to shop, she loved jewelry to give it and of course receive it & I personally think that QVC is going to miss her as much as we will.

Upon moving to the cape a new chapter in her life began. Aunt Helen took a painting class that ended up being a talent that she had and loved. She and Joe attended mass every morning and were founding members of the Corpis Christi Parish. It was moving to the cape that they also made new friends. Aunt Helen, a lover of family and friends she also considered many friends her family and always spoke kindly, warmly, and lovingly of the Scott and McCann families that she celebrated many many holidays with.

There are a few memories of Aunt Helen that I would like to share. I notice that over this past week when I asked my mother and my aunts to share their memories of Aunt Helen they all shared the same one "the bar". The bar was in the basement of Aunt Helen and Uncle Joe's home and it was set up exactly like a bar with glass, cherries, soda, nuts, and swizzle sticks. They each took turns playing the roles of customer, bar tender, and waitress and loved every minute and would play for hours. It was here at Aunt Helen's bar that they had their first sip of soda! Another memory that they all shared and that I have also always heard about was Aunt Helen's poodles, she treated her poodles as if they were here children and dresses them for holidays and celebrated their birthdays before it was the "in" things to do....again being a women before her time! My sisters and I share the found memories of having an actually tea party at Aunt Helen's, when we would visit we would be served tea in a tea cup with a saucer accompanied by cubes of sugar and always some type of chocolate sweet.

Take today to celebrate my Aunt Helen and her life! I know that if I live have the life she lived and I live up to be half the person she was then my life will be fantastic!!! And in the words of my sister Shannon, "Aunt Helen ROCKS!"

Sad News....

My Aunt Helen passed away Saturday morning. She is one of the most amazing women I have ever know in my life and has been more of a grandmother figure to me and my siblings than an aunt. She will be greatly missed by our entire family but I am happy that she was able to pass away knowing she was surrounded by her family that loved her and wanted all the best for her. Please keep us in your thoughts this week while arrangements are made and services are had.

Family

The last week has been a tough week for my family... Ellen my forty year old aunt had a heart attack last Saturday and ended up with two stints put in & is now on the mend and healing well thank God, My Great Grand Aunt Helen (she is my Grandfather's aunt) who is 93 has had hospice called in and is now in what looks like her final days, and my grandfather's health is not the best and we are waiting on a few labs to tell us more. With all of these difficult things that have happened in a period of a week it brings family together! I am so proud to be from a family that no matter what we are there for each other. Please keep us all in your prayers, especially my Aunt Helen that she be comfortable and feel all the love that is around her. OK, well off to get the boys ready for the day and back to the Cape to help out and see my sister & niece who flew in last night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY.....

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY AUNTIE CAROLYN!!!!!! WE HOPE THAT YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY AND AN AMAZING YEAR TO COME!

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY TO MY COUSIN STEVEN! I CAN STILL REMEMBER THE DAY YOU WERE BORN. HAVE FUN CELBERATING!!!

Samuel's Baptism

Samuel's baptism was today and it went perfect! We had him baptized at Christ the King Church in Brockton which is now our new parish. It was such an honor for us to make Michelle and Luigi Samuel's Godparents, Cookie and I both know that we made a great choice in selecting them and know that they will do a fantastic job!!! Samuel's baptism was a bit different then Elijah's and every other Catholic baptism I have seen....he was naked! Yup, this parish has gone back to basics and they have a baptism pool that they dip the baby's backside in instead of pouring the water of their head. Cookie and I were both a bit weary of this but I have to say it was really nice. After his baptismal dip by the priest we put him in his gown. The baptism gown was the same one that Elijah wore which is actually my wedding dress and we had it made in to a gown for our family. Secretly I hope that one day I will have a daughter in-law that is nice enough to use it for my grandchildren and continue to pass it down, fingers crossed the boys each meet a woman as nice as their mother.

After the church we had family and close friends back to the house for lunch and dessert. I think everyone had a nice time, I know that we did! Thank you to everyone who came to share in Samuel's special day it was an honor to have you all there!