Blessed.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Santa certainly made a stop at our house this year... Haley had an elf on the shelf and really got into the Holiday hype! She is especially interested in "baby Jesus" and all through Christmas Eve Mass was insistent upon seeing him. Luckily we went to a children's mass so she wasn't too much of a distraction. 

We spent Christmas Day at home this year. After recent national events we feel so blessed to just spend time as a family. I found myself thinking upon the families in Newtown, CT and often. I can't imagine how they are getting through this time of year.  Perspective.

Playing with Mommy's phone

Drawing a holiday scene on the chalkboard.

JJ @ 10 months

Who's this guy? Not amused.

Haley got a book of masks to color, everyday she's a new Jungle animal!

Vitamin C.

You can kind of see in this pic that someone has several teeth...

Fall Back...

Halloween. The Princess and the Pea.

A visit with Grandma and Papa B!

Haley went on a special Playdate.
All of the toddlers are former Preemies, altoghether at birth they added up to a 6 lb. baby at birth! Amazing.

Cute JJ.

It's exhausting being a quarterback.

The mild fall has led to some nice outside days.

We're in trouble. He loves watching sports already...

Haley, and her cousins Addy and Jadian. Jalen wasn't amused.

Big girl at the dentist.

The three amigos. Haley 3 1/2 , Addy almost 4 years old,  Jade age 6)

Busy family...Happy family...Growing Family (in size Not number)

There have been many exciting events in our family lately! With an infant and a toddler, there are so many exciting milestones to capture. JJ is crawling now. Haley seems more like a pre-schooler than a toddler these days. She is a sponge, she loves to learn new things. She especially loves showing her baby brother how to do things and he loves watching her try.

Haley went for her first dentist trip and next week is Jalen's 9 month check- up! We are looking forward to the holidays this year and plan on visiting family after staying local last year :)   

Hope you enjoyed  a few of our recent moments.

Waving bye-bye

After 10 months at home it is time that I return to my other love, school.  I feel so fortunate to have spent this time at home getting to know Jalen and watching Haley grow as a 3 year- old. This time has been precious and SO special for our family. Jalen will be joining his sister at Peggy's for the best daycare and at almost 7 months old he is ready to start exploring with new friends. We know this new socialization will help develop and before we know it he will be motoring around!

My goal for this year is to be PRESENT. When I am at school I want to focus on being there and supporting my students and when I am home, I hope to focus on our family and let go of my "teacher hat". I know this will be challenging.

This labor day weekend our family is going to eat up every moment of sunlight and maybe even a few moments of moonlight :)

I love my chair, someday my feet might touch the ground!!

I wish this stroller had a speedometer, curious how many miles we logged...

Occasionally Dunken gets some lovin' too!

We have possibly hit all the playgrounds in Rochester this summer!

Haley was a flower girl in her Aunt Pookie (Leanne's) wedding.

Congrats to Leanne and Mark!

Our cute ring bearer!

Hanging with Gramma B.

Someone should tell her she doesn't start school for two more years!!

Checking out the garden in Potter Park.

After a very long day/night!!

Summer Sun Somethings Begun...

Not sure how to recap all the fun we have been having these past few weeks, doesn't mean I won't attempt to in a picture montage to follow! The beautiful, almost bizarrely sunny & warm weather, has given us day after day of fun in the sun. I am proud to say Haley doesn't have a tan, so my morning ritual of slathering on the sunscreen has been successful. We have totally gotten into a lazy summer routine. Haley has even started sleeping in (on occasion) until 7 a.m.  It's going to be a rude awakening when school starts again. Jalen is really growing fast. He's not crawling yet, but he's rolling around like crazy! He has his 6 month check up on Aug. 13th and it's crazy that he is already that old! I feel like his "infant" months went so much faster than Haley but I suppose with her we had some bonus months ;)


Our travels this summer have included trips to family in Syracuse and Canton and to Sacandaga Lake last week (near Saratoga) to see friends. We also have our playground dates a few times a week with our Northside friends. We have been avid playground explorers, daily walkers, and occasional beach bums.


We plan to slow down a bit in August and suck up every last day together. Mike's sister Leanne will be getting married in a few weeks, so we will be taking an adventure to Long Island. With Haley being 1 of the 3 flower girls and Jalen the ring bearer it is sure to be just that!


Here's our JULY summary:

Kicking off the summer at the pool

Jalen with Gramma B.

Aunt KK cuddling

Mike's Aunt Michelle

Really, Mom? What are these?

The cousins! Addy- 3, Haley-3, Georgia-4, Jadian- 5, Jalen 5mths., and Ruby-3

Finally REAL FOOD!!

Poor Dunk!

The water table has gotten lots of use this summer!

Haley feeding Jalen

Jalen and Sylvie at Playgroup

Add caption

Yumm...plenty of this stuff this summer!!

Haley spent a day with her friends at Peggy's!

The backyard playground is complete :) Thanks DAD!!

4th of July!

Not a fan of fireworks this year.

Trip to Canton, 2 monkeys and a Papa

Haley playing on Mommy's old playground in Canton.

Jalen and Lexi's hangout

Haley with her friends Lily and Jack at ADK Animal Land!

A not so happy Safari Ride.

At Nama and Papa's watching a movie and having Popcorn 

Haley's first boat ride on Sacandaga Lake!

Lexi and Jalen lounging in the shade.

Lexi and Jalen

Mother like daughter

More at animal land with Lily. Good friends.