All about Raphael

Excuse the red eyes please!

In case you think I forgot about Raphael here is a post completely dedicated to him! On the 9th of September he turned 3 months old (happy birthday Grandma). It is hard to believe that three months have already flown by! Wow!

He has more hair than me!

Raphael is discovering his hands! He loves to put his entire fist in his mouth and watch his hand intently while he's sitting in his chair.

Poppy and Raph

He still hasn't lost any of his amazing hair! In fact it is getting quite long and our baby shampoo supply is quickly dwindling (just joking). Raphael loves to make eye contact with us and when he does he flashes us his amazing smile. He is very content, most of the time, and enjoys watching Jacob play and run around all day long. Soon, very soon, he'll be joining in with his brother's daily festivities!

He is truly a little angel and we can't imagine our family without him!

The Cottage: 2009

At the far corner of this picture my Dad is doing his daily swimming laps! Go Dad!

This year, unfortunately, Jay was unable to go the cottage. However, my sister was gracious enough to assist me with driving the boys over the border to the Bass Lake cottage. This year celebrated the 40th year that the cottage has been in the Keating family! I was a little worried about crossing the border, since I didn't have a birth certificate for Raphael. We did get pulled over, but it took less then five minutes for our paperwork to go through! Poppa is Jacob's best friend!

Acting tough, but really only looking tired!

Aunt R. and Raphael sleeping in!

Jacob wearing his Jamaica t-shirt from "ecca"
The weather was gorgeous when we first arrived! It was sunny and in the 80's. Rebecca and I thought the electricity went out...this is a long and funny story. We ended up talking to the neighbor who had the electric company come out only to show us how to properly turn it on!! Needless to say we felt a littlestupid since we were sure that the electricity had been knocked out (we were only pushing up the wrong lever the entire time). The boys slept really well every night and we enjoyed swimming every day! I love the cottage and can't wait to go back next summer!

All about Jacob

Jacob is a little spit-fire! Each day he wakes up full of energy and ready to take on the world! He doesn't require a lot of sleep (which has been evident since day one) and is constantly on the go. He is learning a new word virtually everyday and isn't afraid to tell you what is on his mind. However, he can be very polite since he's learning how to say please, thank you and sorry. He also likes to cuddle, pray to Jesus and give hugs and kisses. Lately he has been asserting what he'd like to wear, eat, etc. As soon as he wakes up he puts on his shoes and usually picks out a hat. The past couple of days he's insisted on wearing a baby bib as well! He's trying to eat his dinner with chopsticks, since this is what Mommy was doing! He also had to keep his hood up on his sweater ALL day long!

Making a tower with blocks!

Anniversary Party

Jay and his siblings hosted a 30th wedding anniversary party for his parents. The party took place at the Six Mile Creek Winery in Ithaca.Jacob enjoyed playing bocce ball and dancing. Raphael was held the entire day by different family members! I hope in 30 years Jay and I can celebrate with all of our family and friends! The day was beautiful and lots of fun was had by
all! Uncle Rick, Uncle Mike, Dad and Aunt Val
I had to include this adorable picture of little Raphael!

Raphael's baptism

Raphael was baptized in a little church in Trumansburg, NY, the day after Rebecca's wedding. My grandfather, who is a Deacon, baptized Raphael. Welcome to the faith little man!

Ed and Aunt Maria: the godparents.

Here is Raphael with his proud grandparents (an excellent example of what it means to be a Catholic)

Rebecca and Jim's wedding

The beautiful Ithaca waterfalls were the backdrop for many of these photos.


My gorgeous little sister is now married! She joined the wonderful Donovan family on August 1st. It was the perfect idyllic summer day. The mass was beautiful (and emotional) and the reception included seasonal cuisine and lots of dancing. We are all very happy for Rebecca and Jim!


I love my sisters! (this is taken by Cayuga Lake, which surrounds Ithaca)

These gorgeous photos were taken by Pano K. (Aunt Maria's boyfriend). At the wedding, there was a wedding crasher who got really drunk and left a present from the dollar store. He proudly told everyone that he didn't know the bride or groom. He told one of Jim's relatives that he thought the bride was hot and that he was at the wedding to meet girls. He also was quite rude to me at the end of the night since he kept insisting that he could help me throw out garbage bags, which I explained to him were full of dirty linens and NOT trash. He insisted a couple of times and thought I was being rude when I said they couldn't be thrown away. Needless to say he was a little out of it...looking back it was pretty funny and will be one of the memories to laugh about!

Congratulations Rebecca and Jim we love you both!

2 months old and counting!

Great-Uncle Mike and Raphael

Raphael is perfect! He is easy going and loves to smile and coo! He takes long naps and is very calm. He doesn't mind having his hair pulled by his big brother and he loves being held and rocked! We love you baby boy!

Maid of the Mist

We decided to spend Friday afternoon in Niagara Falls (the U.S. side which isn't as crazy as the Canadian side). Our good friends, the Hassells, went the other week with their two young kiddos, so we decided to make the 30 minute trek and enjoy the beautiful weather! We were adventurous and went on the Maid of the Mist. We received quite a few stares and comments. Everyone loves Raphael's hair!! It is the number one comment that we receive on a daily basis (that and do we spike his hair using gel). One man asked us where we were from and then said you aren't planning on going to any restaurants with those two kids are you?! Maybe he was afraid we were going to ruin his peaceful dinner...? We did go out to dinner, but we went to a restaurant in Buffalo, so he didn't need to worry at all!
Jacob and Mom at the Niagara Falls State Park
The spectacular view from the U.S. side.
Raphael slept the entire time we were on the boat!

Jacob kept saying wet and boat! He was very serious the entire ride.

Who knows if we'll be in WNY next summer so we decided we need to take advantage of all the sites while we still have time!

Matt's graduation party

Here are some belated pictures from Matt's graduation party (thank you Pano)! Coconut and Aunt R.
Mommy and Aunt M.

Water please!

Omi and Raphael

Opa

Great cousin R. and Raphael

Our little boys

Raphael turned five weeks old this week!! The summer is flying by and in two weeks Aunt R. is getting married!!

Raphael's onesie from Omi and Opa

Jacob is finally realizing that Raphael is here to stay. He loves giving him kisses ("mawah"), holding him, giving him his sippy cup of milk and swinging him in his new swing.

Last week Grandma K. visited and we went shopping, checked out the park and watched the Old Homes Day parade. Jacob loved it!!

Jacob loves playing with "doo doo" (play dough)! Dad made him a breathe right strip!