Two weekends ago we flew the five of us up to Allentown, Pennsylvania for the wedding of previous TPOD guest stars Kim Tachovsky Choquette (!) and Matt Choquette. Over eleven years ago, Jeanine's cousin Kim was a bridesmaid in our wedding -- we certainly couldn't have predicted her returning the favor and having our sons as ring bearers in hers all these years later.

We had a complete blast at the wedding. Luke and Silas continue to talk about how they just want to go back to Pennsylvania. I think they now assume that the state plays host to a weekend-long party year-round. Thank you so much, Matt and Kim; the wedding was amazing!

Posted by Beau at 12:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

When I look at the date I started this post (July 27, 2009), I cringe. Some of these things are developmental and/or fleeting, and the kids passed these milestones a ways back. But I just can't not post them. For now, a journey back in time...

• Watching Faith light up when the boys pay attention to her
• How Silas will sometimes fall asleep with his head in his hands while watching TV
• How the boys sit on either side of me on the arm of the chair in their room when I read them a book, and sometimes Faith sits in my lap. Pure heaven.
• How Faith will try to stay up as late as she can, but when you pick her up and cradle her, she immediately conks out
• How Silas crosses his legs when playing a video game, watching TV, or sitting in his carseat
• How Luke always prays that "dinner will be good"
• How Faith tries to sit straight up when she's lying down on her back, looking like she's doing little baby crunches, and...
• How when you put Faith's arms through the straps in her carseat, she thinks you're trying to help her practice sitting up {yep, I realize she's walking now! :) }
• Watching the boys copy the choreography on "So You Think You Can Dance"
• How when Faith gets playfully tossed in the air, she puts her arms straight up, making it almost impossible to catch her (read: NOT. A. FAN.)
• How the boys have already started the countdowns to their birthdays {granted, it's a lot closer now...at the time, their birthdays were 10-12 months away}
• How Faith opens her eyes so wide when you turn the lights out and it all of a sudden gets dark
• Listening to Silas say "Bellacino's" (one of our favorite family restaurants) with an Italian accent
• How Faith falls asleep easiest when you kiss the side of her face
• How when my hair falls in her face, Faith closes her eyes, smiles, and laughs
• How Luke calls his big toe his "thumb toe"
• How Faith pulls down her bumper pad to peek if someone's coming in to get her up from a nap
• The boys' favorite nickname for Faith: "Baby Cuteface", as opposed to "Miss Wagglebottom" as they used to call her (christened when she would "waggle" her bottom during standing practice before she could stand on her own)
• How if I don't get Faith up immediately after her nap, she'll turn on her glowworm to entertain herself
• How the boys unite together and plead for Silas to not take a nap every day
• Faith's mastery of the fake laugh
• How when the boys are really serious about something, they always add "for real" ("Mommy, Silas just jumped across the whole rug - for real!"
• How the boys think they hear Faith's first words: "Mommy! I just heard Faith say 'chariot'!"
• Seeing the boys play with their sister, complete with high "baby voice" and doing all kinds of tricks to make her smile/laugh

Posted by Jeanine at 9:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Six! I can hardly believe it, and if I allow myself to think too hard, I'll burst into tears thinking of how big you've gotten in so many ways. You've grown into such a mature kid and constantly amaze me with the thoughtful and insightful comments you make about life. You love your siblings to pieces, and they adore you in return. The past six years have been such a blessing to us! Happy birthday!!

Posted by Jeanine at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)