E-I-E-I-O

um, Merry Christmas?!

I was reminded this weekend that it has been over a month since I updated the blog. Plus, I am feeling the added pressure that getting scituated has been updated twice since our last update (competitive much?)

I promise to try and better over the coming months so that my mother-in-law can check in on her grandchildren while she is in Florida.

See that bow in his hand? Christmas Eve was all about pulling the bows off of the presents.


Yes, that is a Jumbone. Braden got into Bella's stocking.


Then he got into Papa's stocking...




Then he found his own stocking.

Bad Blogger!

I have been a very bad blogger. So much has happened since the last post. We had an official 1st birthday party for the boys, Jack and Braden celebrated their first Thanksgiving at home with us, Jack is walking and probably most importantly - Jack got great news from his cardiologist. He wore a holter monitor over Thanksgiving and it showed no SVT episodes. This is such a positive step for him. Because he still has abnormal EKG's we know the pathway is still there, but because he can go 24 hours (at least) with no SVT episodes it appears his body is learning how to work around it. We will go back to the cardiologist in a year.

In the meantime, we have two little boys walking around the house. Braden is far more steady on his feet than Jack. If he thinks you are chasing him, he will almost run! Jack is just getting steady enough to walk across the room, if he thinks you are chasing him he breaks into this crawl that is as fast as any "run" Braden can do.

The birthday party was a huge success! Brian and I spent the night before making the cake. Brian spent a lot more than just the night before preparing for this party though. He cooked meatballs, sausage, sauce, lasagna, eggplant parmesean, salad and garlic bread. He went to the boat club early the day of the party to set up and finish cooking (thanks to Bill & Deb for helping with the decorations). Brian worked hard and it payed off, everyone had a lot of fun, especially the boys!

We also had a wonderful photographer, Christina Houser, come to the house and take pictures of the boys for their birthday. We were so thrilled with the pictures. Christina is such a wonderful photographer and she was so patient with the boys. Her website is www.christinahouserphotography.com.

Here are some photos Deb took at the party.











Mrs. J - We love our birthday present! We are a little too scared to crawl through it, but we will keep trying!

Happy Birthday!

It is so hard to believe that an entire year has gone by. Despite everyone warning how quickly this day would come I just can't believe it is here.

When this journey began a year ago it was rocky. Leaving the boys in the hospital was the single hardest day of my life. It would have been impossible to know then how much joy these two little boys would bring to our life. It is amazing how time seemed to stand still those five weeks they were away from us. But, on December 15th both boys were home and it is then the days started to drift together. I guess we have proved the adage true; time truly does fly when you are having fun.

Happy, happy birthday my sweet boys! Your mommy and daddy love you so much.





















A video from Jack & Braden's first year

Happy Halloween!

The Super Mario Brothers!

We went trick-or-treating at Grandma's and ran into a princess and a police man!


Then we went trick-or-treating at Mrs. J's house!


We ended the night at Ron & Sharon's!

Pumpkin Picking!

Grandma, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Robyn, Hailey and Matthew went pumpkin picking with us yesterday afternoon. We had a great time! Matthew wasn't there 3 minutes when he spotted a John Deere tractor with the hay ride attached.

In other news, Braden is officially walking. He will be standing at one toy and decide he wants to go somewhere else and for the first time earlier this week he turned and walked to it! Brian and I were lucky enough to be sitting close by.

Here is a quick video




While everyone went on the ride we took some pictures of the boys!
Jack is in the grey sweatshirt and Braden in blue

Play Date!

The boys had a play date the weekend before last with Auntie Brooke, Uncle Jamie and her kiddos. They had such a great time. Catherine, Brooke's oldest daughter, made the boys the most adorable envelopes to hold their toys. I don't think she like the idea of just throwing them in a bag. Brian and I played in the Italian Open, we had a lot of fun. Thanks again Auntie Brooke and Uncle Jamie!!
Here are some pictures Brooke took.

Brooke's kids waited for the boys to arrive before eating breakfast so that they could all eat together.


Cara took the boys for a wagon ride!








I think (I hope ) everyone had a great day!