Christmas

 We had a wonderful Christmas in Ithaca. We met the newest addition to the family, Seamus Michael, who was born on December 3rd.  He is a beautiful little baby!

 Jacob and Seamus.

 Theo is already over six months old. He had a great first Christmas. Aunt Maria also recently became engaged.  Congratulations Maria and Pano.

 Here is our family photo shoot prior to Christmas Eve mass.  Jacob had just been crying so he doesn't look his best.

 All the grandsons on one coach.

 Here are all the Keating girls and the boys!

 Doesn't Rebecca look awesome for just having had a baby?

 The proud grandparents.

 Our little family.

 This is Theo on Christmas morning. Jay was sporting his winter beard.

Opening gifts, gifts and more gifts.

We headed over to the Albanese side on Christmas morning.  The cutest little Santa Claus was waiting to see us....

I love this picture of everyone in the family room together.

 Beautiful Aunt Laura and Theo.

 Poppy once again made his delicious seven course meal.  This year it included:

Baked brie and marmalade wrapped in puff pastry

Mixed greens and arugula with goat cheese

Onion potato roquefort soup

Crab cakes and clams

Lemon sorbet (Mom and Laura made this and it was excellent!)

Roast lamb with rosemary sprigs

New York style cheesecake and Christmas cookies

 The soup, made by Jay!

 The delicious sorbet.

 The crown jewel of the night-lamb!

 Seamus and Theo, they are going to be best buddies.

 Holding a newborn is pure joy.

 Mom cooking while Theo plays and sits in his high chair.

A tired Theo and Aunt Kristen. We had a wonderful time catching up.

Happy New Year to all of you! We are so blest to have you in our lives.

Christmas in our home

 Here's a peak into our home with all of our Christmas decorations up. I love our nativity from Omi and Opa.  Eventually I'd like to purchase some more figurines to add to the collection.

 Dorthea made this gorgeous needlepoint for our family last year.  I keep it up year round.

 Here's our mini Christmas tree. This year it has a pink and gold theme.

 Soon all four of the candles will be lit on the Advent wreath.

 I love these ceramic Christmas trees. The tallest one was made by my great-grandma McCormick. The other two are from the Holy Family craft sale that we've attended in Rochester.

My mom's stocking from when she was a little girl.

 The crocheted stocking was made by my great-grandma Schuller. I miss her.

Each of the boys has their own ornament box. They each have quite a collection already! Do you like the $1.00 star that I picked up at Target?

 We met up with some great friends at Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Lewiston.  We found a shepherd and an angel while we were visiting!

 Our boys are all around the same ages. They enjoyed eating dinner together and running around looking at all of the outdoor lights.  They must have run around the outdoor rosary at least half a dozen times!

Kate and I tap danced together in Oneonta, NY. We've known each other since we were five.  She's a wonderful friend, mother and woman! This is our second time going to the shrine with Kate's family around Christmas time. It's becoming a tradition.

Advent-preparing the way

 We have been preparing ourselves for the coming of Christ's birth in many ways. We've been baking, reading Bible stories, opening our Advent calendar, talking about St. Nicholas and overall enjoying the feelings the this time of year brings.

 Baking gingerbread with the boys! Raphael really wanted to eat a gingerbread boy.

 Once a week we've been having movie night, which includes all you can eat popcorn. Here are the boys watching "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." This is a must see for any family with a dentist!

 We made reindeer hats and used Christmas cookie cutters with playdough.

 We have been playing with friends! Here is Theo with Marisol (7 1/2 months) and Elisa. Marisol is our god-daughter.

 Decorating the tree was lots of fun this year. The boys each have their own ornament box and love remembering who gave them what ornament. Oh the memories.

 Raphael needed some help putting the ornaments up.

 An attempt at some photos under the tree. Raphael kept running away.

 The finished tree.

Just being silly....Happy Gaudete Sunday!

Santa Claus is coming to Amherst!

We attended a pancake breakfast with Santa at Jacob's school. It was perfect, not too crowded, free crafts, cookies and all you could eat pancakes! All-in-all a fun morning.

Jay and Theo.

Jacob eating ALL of his pancakes!

Some of the girls working at the craft table asked if they could put a Santa's hat on Theo. He looked cute, although you wouldn't know it from this picture.

Waiting for Santa on the steps. They were super excited!

Raphael asked Santa Claus for trucks and Jacob asked for boxes and workbooks.  They were so excited waiting in line!

All three of our little men. 

Thanksgiving!

 Our own little Theo turkey. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. As usual my pictures were rather limited.  We spent Thanksgiving with both sets of grandparents, Aunt Laura, Uncle Chad, Gianna, Chad's parents and Uncle Dino. We missed Aunt Maria, Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Jim!  The menu included, turkey, Poppy's stuffing, Grandma's sweet potatoes, Scott's green beans, Uncle Dino's fruit salad, rolls, potatoes, apple pie and pumpkin pie made by yours truly.

 Gianna is almost 9 months old and Theo is getting close to being 6 months old! They are both so cute together. Theo was cracking up with laughter when he was looking at Gianna.

Poppa reading to the boys on Thanksgiving.

Uncle Dino and Poppy, cooking in the kitchen.

I love family so much!

 Playing with Aunt Laura!

 The weather was fabulous. The boys played outside with Grandma and climbed up in the tree!

 Some beautiful girls!

 Jacob and Jay made quite the lincoln log fort at Grandma and Poppa's house.  It lasted until Raphael knocked it over.

 Raphael playing in the leaves.

Here's a nice view of Raphael's missing tooth (it still makes me sad).

 We are now preparing for Advent and Christ's birth. Here is our Advent chain.

This year I made an Advent wreath at MOMS.  I added some pine cones, ribbon and silver stars. The boys love lighting the candle(s) every night!

To be thankful

It is during the month of November that we often take the time to look at what we are thankful for within our lives.  We have so much to thank God for in our lives. I am thankful for the air that we breathe, our Catholic faith that gives me strength and encouragement, our health, a warm house, our family and friends and the gift of each new day.  Mostly, I am so very grateful for the three little men in our lives.  They make each and every day a new adventure.

 Jacob is our inquisitive little boy who doesn't miss a trick. He insists he is child #3 (since this is his age).  He's curious about everything and is always ready for you to read him a book or two.

Raphael is quite the little man. He loves to eat, is constantly talking and runs everywhere he's going. 

 Theo is the perfect little baby. He's adorable (of course I'm bias), happy and content and a snugly little baby.

I am thankful for a caring husband and father to our children.  Jay is very creative with the boys and the boys just love spending time with him.

Personally, I am grateful for 30 years of life! It has been a wonderful, crazy, scary, exhilarating, unpredictable ride so far.  I enjoyed a great 30th birthday and I'm looking forward to going away for a night with Jay this weekend.  Where to you might ask...it's a surprise!