Trey Turns One (I can't believe it)!

My cute little nephew Trey turned one last weekend.  His first year definitely flew by!  I am really looking forward to his second year because he is starting to be able to play with his cousins which is fun for them and so cool to watch... It will be so fun for the 4 boy cousins to grow up together:)  Here are just a few pictures from a very fun party.  Trey was very funny with the cake and really didn't enjoy it all that much, but he did make an appropriate first birthday mess:)  N & J really enjoyed playing with all of Trey's new toys and they shared well (mostly).

More Pictures of Benjamin and His Big Brothers

This is a much more random post than usual, but we have had a really fun and laid back week this week.  Gabe is back at work and I am LOVING being at home.... it is really making me have very little motivation for the job search.  I was a bit scared about the transition to 3 kids at first b/c everyone kept telling us that the transition to 3 was the hardest, but I have not found this to be true at all.  One to two I had a way harder time with.  This time Ben just gets fit into our daily routine like he has been here all along.  The kids are doing much better with the adjustment than I had hoped.  Yes, at times it is overhwelming when everyone is crying and hungry at once, and my parenting standards for what they eat and how much tv they watch has once again decreased, but I remember the same thing happening when James was born... I am sure that will recover with time.  We are getting back into the routine and even getting out to stores just the 4 of us... good deals at Marden's last week that I just couldn't pass up;)   The coolest thing about this whole transition of another child is that Gabe and I both comment on often is how amazing it is how much each kid really grows up once the next one comes.  Noah has definitely taken on doing more for himself and his brothers and James now walks on his own, has become a better listener and overall seems more responsible than before... pretty neat:) Enjoy some of the random pictures from the last week, and some from Gabe's phone of Benjamin's birth. The sweet moments with the kids this week have definitely made up for the more chaotic and stressful times!

Benjamin's First Trip to Mount Desert Island:)

We try very hard each year to make at least one trip to Mount Desert Island.  In the 12 years we have been together, we have missed very few years.  So, this year Gabe's summer was just too busy and we ran out of time.  We were trying to go at the end of August, but the hotels were too expensive, and I was too pregnant to haul all of the camping stuff up there to camp (which is how we usually visit). Looking at the calendar we realized on Sunday that if we didn't go for Monday night there wouldn't be any other chance this year.  So, feeling energized at the time, we decided to go for the night.  It was a quick trip since we didn't get to leave Portland until 2pm on Monday, but we got to go and had a blast being there. On Monday evening we didn't arrive at our hotel until the kids bedtime, so we had just enough time to run downtown and get some Ben and Bill's ice cream and to see the shops.  The next morning we woke to fog.  The hotel had a surprisingly good continental breakfast, and since it was free we stocked up and let the kids eat as much as they could;)  It is interesting traveling with 3 kids as young as ours are because everyone definitely looks at you like you are crazy and almost everyone has some comment about it.  Thankfully all of the comments that they shared were nice and the kids were largely well behaved in the public setting.  After breakfast we drove to hike Bubble "Mountain". It is only 0.5 miles up and not at all strenuous, but has a great view, which is why we try to do it every year with kids.  Well this year it was pretty eerie because of the fog.  We did still get to see the balancing rock and Noah's fear of heights was largely non-existent given that he couldn't see how high up we were. I carried Benjamin, Gabe carried James after his 0.2 mile attempt, and Noah walked the whole way, which he didn't have a choice about, but I was very thankful none the less that he didn't ask to be carried or complain.  Next we drove up Cadillac Mountain for a picnic (the fog had cleared) and finished up the day with a drive around the rest of the island.  It was a quick trip, but really fun, and we survived our first overnight trip with 3 little ones in a hotel room;) 

Maine Wilderness Park/Rick Charette- 2011

On Saturday I was finally feeling better.  So, we took our first adventure out of the house as a family of 5.  We drove to the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray where they were having a Rick Charette concert that day as well.  We didn't see much of the park, but did get to see the deer, bobcats, lynx and some other small animals.  The kids loved it and were excited about the concert.  As you can see in the picture above with James, he lost interest after a while and started playing in the dirt with his cars.  Everyone did really well and Benjamin has now had his first Rick Charette concert:) This weekend also brought a visit from Aunt Amy and Trey for a sleepover on Saturday, and Grammy Civiello for a sleepover on Sunday (Daddy worked most of the weekend).  While we all had a fun time for both visits, I didn't get to take a single picture of either one... oh, well, they will just have to visit again!