A cold week in Massachsetts

To start off the week Nanni and Bampa went to Jamaica for vacation. I was not too thrilled with this considering she was not going to be home for my candle party or the famous night before Thanksgiving night out in Haverhill (For those of you who are not familiar with it.....it is the absolute biggest drinking and social night of the year for the downtown bars). I look forward to getting out that night to see many people that I haven't seen for years. So the parents are away....to my dislike....but the deserve a vacation too! Tyler, Nico and myself have talked to them everyday since they have been gone! Tyler is not big with talking on the phone, but Nicolas loves to put the phone up to his ear and walk around the house talking up a storm. He is 18 months old and talks like he is 3!! It is unbelievable!! He is a little short, chubby baby with short (I mean short) legs....he waddles around and talks and talks and talks. He repeats EVERYTHING you say from strawberry to Massachusetts! It is too cute! People are amazed where ever we go, they always ask how old he is and cant believe someone that small is talking that much! He is special. Not that Tyler isn't special too, I am just not used to a baby so young talking as much as Nicolas does! Tyler was a bit slower at that age. I think Nicolas just is dying to catch up to the speed his big brother it traveling on!

OK so back to this week......By the way I am loving this Blogger thing!! I just wish I could figure out how to upload pictures to the blogs to match the posts I write....Oh well that will come with time. For now its just going to have to be long novels!! LOL

On Monday, the 17th Nicolas turned 18 months.....and that was his last visit from Sheila Mullen from Pentucket Early Intervention. We are all going to miss her so much! She has been in our life since Tyler was 2 weeks old...so about 4 years now. Tyler had her as a physical therapist. She was appointed to him when he was born because he did not breath on his own for 8 minutes and was in the NICU at the hospital. One of his legs was turned out a bit more than the other and she stayed with us for over 1 year. When Nico was an infant he was showing signs of the same thing. One call to EI with the request of Sheila and she was back for another year. Nicolas and Tyler are both as fine as could be! Sheila did a fabulous job with both boys and has developed a great bond with them and myself! She is going to be missed, that's for sure!

After the doctor appointment that I spoke about in my last entry I took the boys to Amazement to play for a while. It has been so cold out that we have not been going outside as much as we like. They were so good for the doc that I felt they deserved a great treat and off we went! To my surprise Amazement got a face lift! They said it was almost a year since they remodeled. Then it dawned on me that the very last time we had been there was for a birthday party just days after I delivered Nicolas. WOW seems like a lifetime ago! Anyways, the kids had a blast, jumping and playing with everything. They did not leave one spot unturned. When it was time to go they did not put up a fight....thank God! They had a good couple hours of running around and it must have been enough for them too, to not put up a major fight when we have to leave someplace fun. Tyler was playing ski ball until my quarters ran out. He did awesome! He won 67 tickets all on his own. All the mothers and fathers that were near us could not believe how well he as doing in just that short time playing. The boys cant wait to go there again sometime soon. It was a very inexpensive way to get a ton of energy out before supper and bed time.

I think between this post and the last one I pretty much have the week covered except for a couple more things.......

Friday night I had my only Lia Sophia show at my godmother's house. It was a good show....a lot of people there. The lights went out during the show for about 1 1/2 hours. Would have been a good night for a candle party instead of a jewelry party! LOL The show ended that night being approximately $650 in sales. She is keeping it open for a week or so to get some more outside orders. It would be nice to get the show up close to $1000. That would be a nice paycheck to go towards x-mas gifts this year!

And yesterday (Sunday) was the annual Santa Parade in Haverhill. Something I have gone to my whole life....well as long as I can remember. This year I was really bummed out leading up to the parade because my parents were not going to be here for it, and my brother Casey and sister in law Kaytie were not going either. It was just not going to be the same without my family there. So yesterday was just like any other day at my house.....the boys are both usually up by 8:30 the VERY latest....teeth brushed...breakfast made.....poopy diapers changed......I am sure you catch my drift. Nico went for a nap till noon time. I got the boys and myself all bundled up and head out of the door. Headed over to the Early's on South Main Street and settled in on the street to watch the parade. We had hot chocolate, pizza, and a bunch of other yummy snack while we were there. The boys were so excited for the parade to start. The fire trucks came first! They love cars and truck....I think the beginning was their favorite. The sirens were so loud that it scared Ty a little but he was OK. Nico was a champ did not even flinch to any of the sounds! Tyler complained a little that his hands were cold....but that was it. The loved the parade so much....Tyler was especially happy to see Santa! He screamed that he has been a good boy this year! It was so cute! When the parade was over we headed inside to the house and went on the train in the Early's basement. Its a miniature train with 3 cars it goes around an oval track. Tyler and Nico were the first 2 kids down there.....but the other kids caught on quick.....soon all 3 cars were filled with kids. They all had so much fun! So that was our week. Thanks for stopping in to read our blog. I will be here again soon filling you in on our next adventures! TTYS :)

Pictures above are:

1) The boys and I at the Santa Parade 11/23/08

2) Tyler going down the slide at Amazement 11/19/08

3) Nicolas at Amazement 11/19/08

November so far.........

Hello all! November has been a super busy month for the boys and I, so far. We have had a ton going on.

To start the month off Tyler turned 4 of November 9th!! He is such a big boy now. I planned a birthday party for him on his birthday at the Checkered Flag Indoor Karting place in Ward Hill. There were about 15 children who came with their parents. Also in attendance were my mother (Nanni), father (Bampa), and Kevin's dad JK (Papa). The kids all had a great time racing on the mini go-karts, playing with the remote control race car track, playing loads of video games, decorating their helmets and eating pizza and cake! Tyler got a lot of fun toys and games he wanted. He was so trilled to open his presents when we got home later that afternoon. So needless to say he had a wonderful 4th birthday!! Nicolas got to ride the go kart too, with the assistance of one of the arena workers. It was so cute and he was so excited to be able to ride like the bigger kids. He also found a girlfriend there. One of Ty's school mates little sister Vanessa. They were hugging and kissing it was just the cutest thing, EVER!!!

We live right down the street from the Merrimack Valley Hospital. We are lucky to hear and sometimes see the med flight helicopters land and take off pretty much right outside out windows. Well, I was getting the boys dressed to head out for some errands and we heard the helicopter above...It was so loud. I rushed the boys and got them in the car. We headed over to the hospital and parked in Kennedy Circle parking lot to hurry up and wait for the helicopter to depart. While we were waiting I took the boys over to it and Tyler went inside to check it out! He loved it! Asked me if he could go for a ride!! LOL We went back to our car after the tour to wait for it to take off. About 30 minutes later the staff were loading a sick individual into the copter. Tyler, Nicolas and I waited with anticipation for the propeller's to start up. It was o loud and so windy! The boys LOVED it....but I am not sure if the loved it as much as me!! The leaves were flying around everywhere. It was amazing to see it so up close and personal! Tyler did not stop talking about it! We had to call everyone and send our video we took on my phone to everyone. We also went down one other time and Nanni met us there (same hospital, Same spot). The boys think its a ritual now....as soon as we hear a helicopter the grab there coats and say "come on mummy, let's go"!

We have done a lot this month as I said before. The boys cousins are having babies. Jessica and Kailey ( my nieces). Well they are Kevin's nieces but I consider them mine too! For all of you who are technical about that stuff!! Anyways, the boys and I attended their baby shower at Auntie Staci's house on the 2nd. All of the boys family were there. It was a great day. The girls got a lot of great things for their babies, and we got to take a nice picture for Papa of all the grand kids and great grand baby Julian (KK's son). And I attended Kailey's big shower a week later on the 7th at the VFW. This was a great night. It was nice to get out for once without the kids for an adult only night!! These days my conversations consist of Mickey Mouse and bed time stories!! Not that any of this is bad, I just love my far and few opportunities to venture out without the boys.

I also attended a benefit for my girlfriend Tara. She was involved in an act of violence which led her to a coma, a long time an a rehab facility and half of her skull removed. She is doing amazing considering the circumstance of the accident. So a few of her friends (myself included) helped put together and organize a benefit to raise money for her doctor bills and living expenses. This was on the 14th. It was a great turn out. Approximately 80-100 people came for the event. I had gotten several raffle items to raise more money for the event. It went off without a hitch! It was a great night for us who organized it and especially Tara and her family!

Sunday the 16th was another Birthday party for Tyler. I invited all of my family and all of Kevin's too. And some friends. It was Papa's (JK) actual Birthday that day. Tyler and Nicolas were so happy to have everyone here to celebrate Ty's 4 wonderful years. Tyler picked out a Spiderman cake. Him and his papa sat next to each other with their cakes in front of them and blew out their candles together. It was a great day. All though, I was extremely happy to see the weekend come to an end. It has been a long month, so far. And it is not even over, yet!

So.....I am writing this today.....November 21st! Last night I had all the girls over for a Party Lite Candle show. It was fun. A lot of the girls brought their kids to play with mine. It was like Romper Room in here! But it was all worth it! I love get together's....and so do the boys!

Tyler is enjoying school very much! He loves his teachers and are super close to them. He is attending school 2 days a week...which is plenty for him right now. It breaks up his week a bit and he gets a little break from mommy and brother. Nicolas is attending daycare 2 days a week as well. He loves it there. He has 2 great friends that he has met. Mary his daycare provider is AMAZING!! Where has she been all my life?? I totally lucked out finding her to take care of him!!! She does projects with the boys everyday....ready to them and cooks them home cooked breakfast and lunch everyday! That is what I call amazing!! Nico took a fall this week at Mary's house. My poor little man who's legs are way too short tripped over a toy and fell nose first on another!! His nose was pretty red and looked extremely sore. The next day it scabbed over and days later still tender and sore. Tyler had his 4 year check-up at the doctors this week too. He is doing great! Nice and healthy and strong. The took blood from his finger to measure for lead, did a hearing and sight test, took his weight and height, physical exam, and he got a flu shot (in which he did great)!! Nico also got his flu shot the same day. He wined fora couple seconds then was done. But, he unlike Ty got a little sick from the shot. He developed a bit of a cold....which is making his poor little nose a nightmare to wipe because of the fall earlier in the week. So now its Friday and I have my 1st Lia Sophia show all month tonight! I am super excited and hope to get some bookings from tonight's show!........We will see! I will fill you in for next time!! Take Care and Thanks for taking a look at Our NEW BLOG!!!
~Shannon, Tyler, and Nico :)

Pictures above are:

1) Tyler's home B-day party 11/16/08

2) Tara's benefit 11/14/08

3)Ty's Go-Kart Party 11/09/08

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5)Niece's baby shower 11/02/08

6)Kriten and I w/ babies 10/25/08

7)Ty and mommy Trick or Treat 10/25/08

8) Nico outside w/ neighbors dogs 11/05/08

9)Ty playing in the leaves 11/05/08