Grammy Rocks!

A bazillion rounds of thanks must go out to Grammy, who unfortunately left us early this morning. Over the last two weeks, she has entertained Katie and Michael (to the extreme), made meals, cleaned up after meals, done the laundry, held the baby, and even cleaned out the fridge (double-snap!). We don't know how we would have gotten through these first few weeks without her. Our kids are so bummed that she's gone, but we hope to see her soon for Neve's baptism. Love you, Grammy!

Never a Dull Moment...

We were all starting to get a little stir-crazy in our tiny condo, so we decided to take a little excursion today. We drove up to the Maryland-Virginia border to show Grammy the gorgeous Great Falls of the Potomac River. We've mentioned them several times on our blog, but these falls are basically our area's equivalent to Niagara Falls. The kids had a blast running around the open fields, checking out the magnificent falls, and horsing around a bit in the Visitors' Center. (Check out Katie doing her best impression of Rudolph!)

Of course, we can't take our resident EMT/nurse (Grammy) anywhere without some kind of excitement added to the mix. While we were checking out the falls, we saw a crazy guy stranded on a rock out in the middle of the gushing water. According to bystanders, he had tried to kayak the falls with no success. Unfortunately for the guy, the weather was way too windy to attempt a helicopter rescue. We watched several other guys try to kayak and/or jump in (!) to try to rescue him, to no avail. We left before anything was resolved, but we sure hope he is OK. He may have been an idiot for trying to kayak those falls, but we wouldn't want to wish harm on even the biggest of idiots. Of course, Grammy and the kids were absolutely riveted by all of the action...

Thank You, Eastah Bunny!

We hope everybody had a Happy Easter today! Our day started out bright and early at 5:30AM, when Katie came into our room asking whether the Easter Bunny had visited. (What does she think this is...Christmas?) She was promptly sent back to bed; but, as she sheepishly admitted later, she actually went downstairs to investigate and scope out toy/egg hiding spots. She returned to our room at 6:45AM and was tortured with the "you must wait until everybody wakes up" mandate.

At around 7:30AM, the Great Hunt finally began! When Mike has a little more time this week, he is going to edit the video we took of Katie's and Michael's escapades in searching for their Easter eggs and gifts from the Easter bunny. It was quite entertaining for all involved. The kids made out like gangbusters, with baskets full of chocolate and jelly beans, new musical instruments, and sticker books. When all the excitement died down, Mike and the "bigs" finally got ready for Mass, to celebrate the real meaning of Easter...

After a DELICIOUS home-cooked Easter lunch (thanks, Grammy) and some well-deserved naps, we finally settled in for some new-toy play and Easter cake. All in all, we enjoyed some crazy pandemonium and many laughs and smiles. Thank you, Eastah Bunny....bock, bock!

Major Easter Prep

Thank goodness for Grammy... While Mom and Dad slog around in an endless, sleepless stupor, Grammy is stepping up to the plate to make sure that the kids have their usual, super-fun Easter holiday. The kids and Grammy started off the day coloring Easter eggs (with Daddy's help, too!). We didn't know how things would go with Michael's assistance, but he was actually way more gentle with the eggs than he ever has been with Neve. In fact, by the time egg coloring was over, he managed to only smash two of the 18 eggs!!

Later, post-Michael's nap, the kids helped Grammy to decorate a bunny-shaped Easter cake. (Mike and Traci contend that it is shaped more like a dog bone, but that is another matter.) The kids had a ton of fun putting way too much frosting and jelly beans on the cake, but it should be a yummy Easter treat tomorrow.

Finally, now that the kids are down to bed, Mike and Traci are finally going to do their jobs and prep/hide the kids' Easter baskets and gifts. Katie loves looking for things, so she has been eager for this egg/gift hunt for awhile. We'll try to capture some of it on tape tomorrow. Until then, Happy Easter, everybody!

Bonding

Maybe it's because I never had a sister, but I can't get enough of Katie's interest in Neve. Unfortunately for Big Sis, Little Sis is hardly ever awake during the day. (If she really wanted to play with her, she should be up from approximately midnight to 2AM...) But, when she does get the rare opportunity to "play" with her, she is enthralled. Hopefully these two will stay close friends forever...at least there are enough years between them that they shouldn't be fighting over clothes and boys!

Late Nights Paying Off

While the older kids stayed home with Grammy (phew), Traci took Neve in for her two-week check-up today. Happily, Neve was a perfect, little patient!! (She is usually a pretty content kid, as long as she gets her long naps and occasional feedings.) She calmly put up with all of the poking, prodding, lights and instruments and passed all of the little examinations with flying colors. She was also weighed and measured, and she put on just about a pound since we left the hospital...HOORAY! (Makes Traci feel better about all of the cluster feeding in the middle of the night.) She now weighs in at a healthy 8 lbs, 15 oz.! Luckily, she was spared any shots...we'll just have to deal with that in May when Traci will inevitably have to drag the other kids along for the ride, too.

Anew

After a whirlwind of emotions last month, it was nice to turn the page on a crazy March and celebrate a new month of promise and, of course, my birthday with my favorite girls and boy. Yesterday, they spoiled me with a 2-hr nap (does it count as a nap if it's that long?), great presents (e.g., a new briefcase, Detroit Lions sweatshirt, a drawing and special card from Katie), a Red Robin dinner, and, of course, cupcakes! Here is a picture of me, rather bewildered, after my kids already blew out my candles before I had even looked down in front of me.

Thanks to everybody for the emails, texts, Facebook messages, and voicemails. After a birthday like that and, this, my last day of paternity leave, I feel truly blessed with this new Family 5 that I've somehow created along with my amazing wife. Love you, Traci!