VACATION!!!

Jeff, Matthew, Luke and I are headed to Wells Beach tomorrow for our annual post Labor Day vacation and I can't wait!! No big plans, just relaxing and spending time with some family and friends. We'll be back Wednesday night to get Matthew ready for school Thursday morning! So no posts for a bit but look for some of his first day:)

Missing Heathy

Reality is starting to set in:( Matthew got a new truck today and couldn't wait to show Aunt Heather...it made me sad since that won't happen for another 7 weeks!!

My sister who had been living with us during her summer break from college, returned to school this past Sunday. It's only been 3 days and we miss her like crazy. I think she should change her career path and just be a Stay-At-Home Aunt!!

All kidding aside, Heather was a HUGE help to us this summer. The transition from 1 kiddo to 2 would not have been so smooth without her. I'm very lucky to have her for a sister!

Heath-There is a truck her that can't wait to meet you and 2 little boys that are counting down the days until your October break...oh and me too:)

Welcome Michael!

On Friday Jeff's cousin Eric, his wife Elaina and their daughter Emma welcomed Michael Wayne Schlumper into the world. He weighed in at 6 pounds 13 ounces and was 20 inches long. This is the 8th great grandchild for Jeff's grandmother...pretty amazing.

We are really looking forward to meeting Michael and had to post this picture of him with the cutest big sister out there(well, tied with Megan of course):) Congrats!

Weekend

We had a great weekend!

On Saturday, Matthew and I got to go to Andrew's 4th birthday party which was a blast...thanks for having us and the dinosaur stamp in the goodie bag was a big hit!

Today we headed up to Laconia. Spent the morning and lunchtime at Jeff's parent's house. We got to visit with them, Aunt Jamie and Renee, and Jeff's 2 grandmothers and grandfather. It was nice to see everyone and celebrate Grammy's birthday.

We left there and headed over to our friend's house...Bill, Michelle and their 2 boys, Christopher and Benjamin were nice enough to invite us over for a swim and dinner. We all had a fantastic time and it was great to see you guys...thanks again:):):):)

Here are some funny swimming pics;

Bill teaching Matthew how to REALLY use the noodle!Benjamin showing us what he learned to do this summer.Matthew navigating the pirate ship...these guys have the coolest toys!
The closest poor Luke got to the pool...maybe next year...

Ordiorne Point & Smiles...

First, Luke is starting to smile and can I just say it is SO adorable!! I've been having some trouble catching one on my camera but managed to get this one...not the biggest smile ever but definitely a preview of what we have to look forward to...

Second to that, on Monday we went to Ordiorne Point with the playgroup...when I was there I couldn't help but think to myself...why have we never come here before? So, I thought since Jeff had today off and the weather was so nice, maybe it would be fun to head over to Ordiorne after Matthew's nap, play on the playground and have a picnic supper. We had a blast...what a nice way to end the week:)

Trainride

For some time now Matthew has been wanting to take a ride on the Downeaster. Since we had to go over to Wells on Saturday to clean the cottage between rentals, I thought it might be a good time for him to go. Luke and I dropped Jeff and Matthew off in Durham to catch the train and then picked them back up at the station in Wells. He had a great time and Jeff really enjoyed spending some alone time with him.

Of course it was a gorgeous day at the beach...a big bummer that we only had time to clean and take a short walk. I'm SO happy this is the last 2 week block the house is rented and really looking forward to spending some time over there Labor Day weekend.

Better Than TV

Big excitement at our house this morning!

As anyone who has met Matthew knows he is a big, BIG, fan of trucks...out of nowhere this morning comes the sound of a truck...the sound of course stops Matthew dead in his tracks...what could it be...the fuel truck possibly? Nope...even better...our neighbors received a delivery of stone and since their driveway is long, narrow and dirt the flat bed was forced to park right, smack in front of our house!! On top of that, there was a forklift that took all the pallets off the truck and drove them up the their driveway.

Being the nice Mom I am, I let Matthew eat his breakfast in front of the window so he could ooh and ahh at the forklift and truck and we could still make it out of the house on time.

As much as I enjoyed watching Matthew be so excited and so into the truck, my heart just melted when he asked me if I thought Luke would like to see the truck too! Well, of course Luke would want to see the truck:) So, I put Luke in the bouncy seat so he could see too...
I couldn't help but laugh when I overheard Matthew telling Luke not to be afraid of the noise, it was "just a truck, it's really cool and won't hurt you"!!!! I love having two boys:)

Happy 21st!!

A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my "baby" sister Heather... she turns 21 today! I can't believe it!! It seems like just yesterday my mother was waking me up to say she was on her way to the hospital (one month early) to have the baby. Here we are 21 years later...wow. Heather was the best thing to have happened to me in my 11 years of life...it was like having a real life doll and I wanted to do EVERYTHING for the baby...guess it was good practice!

This is a picture of Heather and I on her 3rd birthday (8/9/90). Funny that she is the same age here as Matthew...makes me feel old that my own child is the age I so clearly remember Heather being...

Heather-you're the best sister anyone could ask for (except for me of course...hahahaha). Thank you for all your help this summer and for 21 years of making me smile. You are a fantastic Aunt and both of the boys are lucky to have you. Now go get us some Margaritas!!!!:)

Our Weekend in Lebanon...

We went up to Lebanon (my hometown) on Saturday to take the boys to the Shrine Parade. We took Matthew last year and he LOVED watching the little cars and trucks buzz around. The highlight this year was that Uncle Ryan was in the parade! He was the Medical Escort for the King and Queen of the parade...Matthew thought it was pretty cool that Uncle Ryan got to ride in a convertible! Ryan was also able to get us into the staging area before the parade started where Matthew got to see the cars and trucks up close as well as meet some clowns! As you can see from the pics, Luke wasn't bothered by the noise of the parade and chose to sleep through it!

We got to spend the rest of the weekend at Uncle Ryan and Aunt Jenn's house. Matthew loved picking berries in their yard (they sure have enough of them!) and Luke enjoyed napping with his favorite Uncle. Thanks for having us, we LOVE having you back:)

Last but not least, we were able to celebrate Aunt Heather's 21st birthday (a little early). Heather was a bit tired after attending the Springsteen concert in Foxboro the night before but humored us anyways:)

Matthew's big night out...

Matthew has really surprised us with how well he has adjusted from only child to oldest child...I was especially worried about how that was going to go. We are super fortunate that he loves "his baby" so much and isn't showing any signs of jealousy. We are at a definite advantage right now with my sister living here for the summer (while home from college) as it provides Luke with the best child care anyone could ask for so we can spend alone time with Matthew and I think that this is really helping him adjust. Hopefully this won't change in 3 weeks when Heather heads back to school:(

So as a special reward for being such a great Big Brother, Jeff and I took Matthew to his first Fisher Cats game on Wednesday night. We all had a blast and the best part was it was free foam finger night...I mean really, is there anything better than your 3 year old sticking a foam finger in your face all night?? While we had fun with just Matthew, we are definitely looking forward to taking both our boys in the future:)