Obsessed much?

A picture Dominic did in school illustrating what a seed needs to grow....sun, water, soil and apparently, "angry birds".

More baptism pictures

Happy Baptism Day, Jonas Raphael!

Here is the newest baby Christian on the block! We traveled to Papa and Grandma's parish for this baptism. Uncle Steve and Aunt Lesley are Jonas' godparents, and Uncle Steve flew in from NYC for the event. While our "group" was much smaller this year since we had it out of town, the ceremony was lovely and we enjoyed a quiet family lunch out afterwards. For our family and friends who were praying and celebrating with us from afar, thank you, and we love you! This was also a special day as it was Bronius' father's birthday, so we will always hold this day dear.

Jonas, welcome to the faith! It is the most precious heritage we can pass on to you and we pray you will own it, cherish it, live and breathe it - every day of your life. May Jesus always walk beside you, may the life of St. Jonas inspire you and may St. Raphael always protect you!

More pictures to come!

Austin spring break trip

So for all the naysayers who talk of how the Austin zoo stinks...you were wrong! :) It was just perfect for little bitty kids. Walkable in about an hour (which after potty trips and lunch, that's all you need!) No crowds, plenty of shade, lots of picnic benches, clean bathrooms, and a very decent animal exhibit! They had lions, tigers and bears! And the price was unbeatable. I have a feeling if I took pictures with a real camera, I could make a trash can look magnificent. But, here are my mediocre shots, of my very extraordinary subjects :) The peacock was the most exquisite thing I have ever seen! Anyway - zoo gets two thumbs up from us.

We didn't have time to visit with all our friends, but we were lucky enough to be hosted by the Gutierrez family. Love you guys, thanks so much for the yummy lunch & hospitality!

And thank you to Senele who came along with us for the adventure, helped us with our crew, and financed much of our excursion including a very fancy dinner at a French restaurant in Georgetown. We love you!

First rodeo, and first loose tooth

We had some firsts this week for Dominic! He lost his first tooth today. One of his bottom 2 teeth has been wiggly for a few weeks and suddenly today it sort of rolled out. Excitement! The tooth fairy might end up bringing him a toothbrush, however, since nary a quarter can be found around here. Is that lame? I hope not.

He also had his first hoe-down, at school. It was so cute. A morning full of games and activities and then a bit of line dancing, of course. And get a load of that stick horse! Behold the first ever box-headed stick horse. My husband the creator! Luckily we raided the linen closet and found a little cowboy attire from his cowboy birthday a few years ago. Maybe by the time of Milo's first rodeo we'll have some boots as well.

Milo really wanted me to take a picture with him and Jonas the other day, so I obliged him. He hasn't been too into the "big brother" status like Dominic has been, but we're seeing little signs here and there. :) I know he loves him, he just misses being "the baby." He's handled the change so very well, we're so proud of him.

Spring break is around the corner! We're going to Austin for a few days for some fun and exploring. Hope everyone enjoys their time together!

Jonas live

Jonas is 3 months old

Look at our sweet baby, isn't he wonderful? :)

I know I haven't used the milestone signs before in pictures, but I love how my friend Cecilia has done them so I'm going to try! :) His pictures do not do him justice so I may post a video shortly :)

At 3 months Jonas is so alert and very smiley. He is just so sweet! Maybe it is the "third baby" phenomenon of which I've heard people speak. He's in a phase right now where he doesn't really like to be put down. Lots of drool happening, I think maybe we're getting ready to cut some teeth. He's not nursing as much as before, I'm noticing he's happy after feeding on one side often.

He can tolerate car rides much better now, sometimes we run an errand and I notice he hasn't cried at all! I love to wear him in my angel pack and sling, I'll only keep him in the car seat or stroller system now and then for walks, or brining him into church or a restaurant (or a situation when I'll need to use my hands) He takes several naps in the day, maybe about 6 or so - they might be 45 min-1 hr long. He sleeps in bed with us for half the night, and he usually sleeps 3 hrs, then 2 hrs and 2 hrs again (not too bad, except for when the other brothers wake up with bad dreams or growing pains!)

I'm trying not to get my hopes up that sleep improves in the 3rd month - but rather, trying to optimize the way I use my (little) free time so that I get the most rest possible. I'm a much happier Mom when I've had rest, so EVERYONE naps at naptime around here! :)

Life is good! Thank you Lord for our beautiful Jonas Raphael.

3 things that made me LOL this week

I was in a bad bad mood the other night, grumpy as all get out, and I told this to Dominic who was waiting for me to play UNO with him. My trusty problem-solver then said to me "Hmmm. Maybe you should eat some ice cream?"

I am always telling Milo "when you get bigger you can do x, y, z." So Milo was jumping up and down in the mirror as I was getting dressed in the morning, and he said to me "Mommy when you get smaller like me, you can jump and see yourself in the mirror!"

Milo is hiding in the mornings when he makes #2 in his diaper. He knows how to go in the potty, it's accessible to him, he knows what to do, it's just up to him at this point. I've been finding him hiding in the pantry in the mornings when he is doing this deed, under the computer desk, behind doors - quiet as a mouse. Today we were playing with a toy cucumber from the play kitchen and Milo "hid" it in my purse and told me it was making poo poo in my purse. NICE!

Jonas is sweet and adorable and THREE MONTHS OLD tomorrow! More to come on that. Still not sleeping better at night, but sometimes he'll do a four hour chunk. :) Right now he is in a "I'm not going to let Mommy put me down phase" - so - that explains why I don't blog. :)

More to come soon!