Just pictures of the two boys

Here are some pics of the boys...if you double click a photo, it enlarges it for you.

And Nani said I was bad since I haven't had a picture with Jackson...so she took one yesterday of the two of us. Enjoy

Eban loves trains and fire trucks!

Nani and I went to the Trick or Treat Street at the Denver Children's Museum today and Eban just LOVED it. He played hard for about three hours while Jackson slept the entire time.

His favorite things to do were ride in the train (he threw an absolute fit when his trip was over and wanted to desperately get back on the train), pretend to drive the fire truck (another fit was thrown as I made him give up the driver's seat so another child could pretend to drive), and run around looking at all the interactive things...

We then went to the playground where he spent an hour running around and I fed Jackson. Check out the video of him riding the train...I can't believe a mom squeezed into one of those seats with her big son...maybe I should have thought of that??

We are officially without grandmas now!! Let's see how much weight we lose!

Well...to say that it's been helpful to have my mom and then Patti here is a drastic understatement. They were both incredibly helpful...cooking, cleaning, running quick errands, and the biggest thank you is for letting me nap in the morning or afternoon so I could attempt to catch up on some shut eye! So if either of you are reading this...thank you thank you thank you. We loved having you and are now looking at Nani to cook for us as we have been very spoiled by the two of you! Just kidding Nani!

And this week, Eban fell asleep for the first time in his high chair...I've heard almost all kids do this and it was so funny as he was eating one second and I looked down to put a spoonful of spaghetti on my fork for him and the next second, he was out...it was really cute!

Well...at lot has happened in our little world and it's hard to capture it on this little blog of ours.

1. Nani has her driver's permit

2. Eban is teething again and is drooling like a fool

3. Eban now loves to drink with straws so I have to get him drinks with straws

4. Jackson's baby acne has cleared up and he's looking more healthy than ever...he is also very alert so I think the smiles are about to come our way!

5. I made my first batch of pumpkin seeds and they turned out great...Worchestire Sauce is the key ingredient

Let's see about stories:

First I'd like to send a shout out to Ray and Mary Ellen Baum who gave Eban a Mummy t-shirt which reminded me of all the times I visited their house which had a "friendly" mummy in the basement. As a little girl, I can't believe I wouldn't notice that Ray would conveniently be missing as we'd creep down their basement stairs to call out for the mummy who would scare the living daylights out of me...I appreciate the great humor in the light-up t-shirt gift. I hope Eban gets to visit the mummy and be traumatized for life like me! HA!

Nani update:

Obviously, she obtained her driver's permit after the computers in the DMV went down twice on two different occasions while we were there. Just our luck..She starts school at CU tomorrow in an English as Second Language course. She's very excited. We will also temporarily have another au pair from Paraguay live with us as one of Nani's friends who lived family in Vail is now homeless and needs a loving family to take her in. I just can't imagine that a family decided they didn't need an au pair anymore and basically kicked her out. Little Ester is so scared as she's half a world away from her family and her best friend's host family doesn't want to take her in so we opened our arms and told her she was welcome with us. We'll see how this goes as Nani has to share a bedroom with her for the time being.

Last night we went to our first Halloween party and Nani was a hit as a 70s girl and Eban was a hit as a dinosaur! Ryan and I were party poopers and didn't dress up...

Eban loved the pinata and lived picking up the pieces of the candy that flew from the giant orange pumpkin. He also was very intrigued with a girl who showed off her traditional Paraguayan dance polka at the party. One of the videos below is a tradtional Paraguayan dance that represents the women who bring the Paraguayan soldiers water in the field...the young girl was very graceful and studied the art of Paraguayan dance...it was a total treat to see this.

Hoe-Down Day at School

Ryan, Nani, Eban, Jackson, Patti and I went his his hoe-down at school. We met two other parents of kids from his class but it was freezing so we left a tad early and didn't even have dinner. While we were there, Eban enjoyed watching the kids dunk for apples and he did the little kid things like sit on a bale of hay and sit on a saddle. Next Wednesday, we have a Halloween party at the school in his classroom at 3:15pm so I hope I can take photos of that and then share them with you.

Report Cards, Nani's Birthday, Parties Now

Report Cards Eban did very well on Friday and Monday at school. He took his nap on his sleeping bag and played well with others. On Friday, his report card let us know that he was very good at washing his hands and face. He also didn't like to get dirty...they cut apples in half and painted things and then he tried to eat the apple with the paint on it. Miss Britney and Miss Emily said his facial expression was very "cute" when he realized it didn't taste good with paint on it! On Monday, they danced and his report card said he shook his hips VERY WELL. Please see the below video as a testament to that fact. I don't think he got his dancing skills from me, but now I'm dancing every day and night with Eban. Nani went to school with Eban for a half day on Monday and she told me that after the kid's snack, Eban went to two other kid's snacks and promptly finished them. I'm so proud of my healthy eater! This Friday, we have a Hoe-Down at school so we'll see how that goes.
Jackson Jackson gets up for two hours each night. Sometimes he just hangs out and grunts, and other times he cries. He currently has the little dipper of acne on his face. Check out the photo. Poor thing.
Nani's Birthday Nani went up to Vail this weekend and ate at McDonald's twice. Talk about nutrition!? And then she went shopping at Wal-Mart...she also got to see snow for the first time and loved it. We were happy to see her home safely as there was a snow weather warning for the mountains and the Denver area. Her birthday is today and she opened a gift this morning...a digital camera that also takes video. I know she'll love it as she's always taking pictures and videos with her camera which she can't download. At least now she can share all the quality images with us, her family and her friends. Tonight, Grandma Patti is making her a cake and some meat as she loves grilled meat on the BBQ.
Adult Parties Now? Last Saturday, Ryan and I went to our first party with the kids...I was a tad nervous leaving the house with two little ones. But it went surprisingly well. As we entered JD and Tawnya's house, we were greeted with "Would Eban like a big bowl of mac and cheese?" We knew the answer would be yes for Eban and then we watched the little ones play around for two hours. It's a drastic difference than last year's party without any kids! Eban also showed off his awesome dancing moves for everyone as there was a continual flow of music. Check out his moves below and watch the one-armed swing move...very swanky!

UPDATE: I had to change the video as the one-armed dancing machine video was too dark. Here are two others...hope there are halfway decent.

Every name but the right one

well...I'm officially a crazy mom. I always said I wouldn't turn into the type of mom that calls all her kids by the wrong name. I'm calling Eban Jackson and Jackson Eban...I'm calling my husband Seamus...I'm calling Seamus by yelling for Murphie - and she's been gone since August! I think I've lost my marbles!

Today, Eban started school. I'm sure I'll have a report sometime this weekend about his first day. We took these pictures outside the school this morning. It was really fun to see him with the other kids. And late this morning, mom and I drove by the school and we saw his "All Blacks" rugby fleece running along the fence in the play yard and you could tell he was having fun. God I loved seeing that!

Jackson has been a tad cranky in the morning and early afternoon. Is there such thing as a colicky baby at certain times of the day? Two nights ago, Ryan and I had a huge challenge as Eban woke up screaming bloody murder for two straight hours. I never knew he had such good lungs that could power such high volumn screams. Nothing worked to soothe him. Around 1:30am when he finally went to sleep, Jackson started to use his lungs for a hour...my goodness...thank god for Folgers in the morning. I love the quote in my coffee mug that says, "Instant Coffee Takes Too Long." After a night like that, there isn't a more truthful comment. I even had to wake up my mom at 5:00am and beg her to rock Jackson simply so I could get two continuous hours of sleep. I'm sure there will be more nights like this but man alive...am I happy to have help from people at this time! And thank goodness for Gripe Water...

Nani is off to Vail this weekend. I'm sure I'll report to you on Sunday about what she learned.

9 pounds, 2 ounces

Jackson is growing like a weed! He's already 9 pounds and two ounces and he was supposed to hit the 8 pound, 7 ounce marker today...so he surpassed his goal weight! I haven't seen him smile much more since the last post so I'm hoping he begins to respond more to us with his grins. He is more alert now and is following the sounds of our voices with his eyes. I don't think he can see us just yet, but I'm sure that's right around the corner! This weekend was crazy. Saturday, we were going to have Nani and a girlfriend over as well as Heather Magic. Well, three other nannies joined Nani and we also had Jen, Chris, Kelsi, Avery, Dennis, Chris's brother Jimmy and his wife, Laurie...we had roughly 18 people in the house and I had only given birth 10 days beforehand. Talk about a last minute party and Susan cooked for all of these people...what a champ!!! The nannies spent the night (and Eban loved every minute of being the apple of their eyes...check out the photo)...three in Nani's room (Brunella, Didi, and Nani) and two on the sofa (Gabby and Ester). It worked out tremendously well...even Seamus survived the craziness. The nannies called Seamus, "The Giant" in spanish. He was very afraid of them...and they were all the size of my pinkie... On Sunday, Susan and I ran out to Toys R Us and got a sleeping bag and school supplies for Eban. It was a fun little trip.

Currently, I'm listening to Eban hum the tune of A-B-C (the Alphabet Song) in his crib even though he's supposed to be napping. I love listening to him amuse himself with songs. It's the best! And another great thing...I'm back into my pre-pregnancy jeans...whoo-hoo!

These are both Videos - Press the play button ...

Check out the video of Eban tapping Jackson's head

Well...our attack cat killed a mouse and left it for us on the side of our house in some red wood chips. How thoughtful of her!? Now I need to go out and check for dead rodents prior to my son finding them and tasting them...I love this job!

We found a school for Eban to attend two days a week for a full day so he can have some interaction with other kids his age, so he can have a structured educational setting and we can hopefully meet other parents in the area. I just love the Goddard School and I'm sure I'll have updates for you after Eban starts next Friday. Nani and I visited another school in Lafayette, Colorado and I was completely unimpressed by the staff and the facility. The Goddard School exceeded my expectations and Eban even joined them for some dance time and snack time. Nani told me he was quite friendly with the other kids and promptly stole someone's milk and said hi to both the kids next to him at the snack table.

This weekend, Nani and some of her girlfriends from Paraguay will come over and spend the night. I think we are going to go to a Pumpkin Patch so we can all carve pumpkins. I'm sure Eban will love this activity as well!

Jack is hanging in there...he is still eating and pooping all the time. I can't wait to see what his little personality will be like when he starts developing!

Nani had her first driving lesson and didn't crash!

On Monday, Nani went out with Kurt and drove around the northern suburbs of Denver for 2 hours. He said she did well and he's coming again to take her out today for two hours. Next week, he'll come and they'll go out at night to see how she does with those elements!

Eban has been great with Jackson. He continues to say hiya everyday to him and is very curious about his hands and his feet. He's gentle thus far but gets agitated when we remove him from Jackson if we think he's going to do something. He always gets angry with us when we move him and try to redirect his attention elsewhere.

Last night, I saw my first two "gas" smiles from Jackson. It just made me smile as it's so cute to see the first smile!! It was around midnight so I didn't bother to wake up Ryan and share the news.

Grammy is looking into houses around the area. We are keeping our fingers crossed that all goes well with this endeavor! It's not definite, but simply a possibility.

We just got the news last night, that Caitlin, Deirdre and Conor (Ryan's siblings) will be joining us for Thanksgiving. We are stoked to have them come visit us in Colorado!! I'm a tad nervous as we've never hosted Thanksgiving before and to cook all that food for the first time is a tad nerve-wracking...plus, I know Thanksgiving is Ryan's favorite holiday so I better not screw up too many items (which I'm known for)! I'm sure Ryan will play a very heavy part in the production of the dinner...

My brother Steve will come out for Christmas...that will be exciting as Eban will be aware of what's going on!

Our first weekend with two boys

Eban is still very curious about Jackson and greets him every day with a "Hiya"! He has only poked him once in the eye and that's because Jackson was on daddy's watch . :)

Ryan put together the tricycle that the Rainen's got him for his birthday and Eban has been enamoured with it! It keeps his attention longer than any other toy at this point. He does love the truck that Chris Vetrano got him as it has legos on it and he's very good at stacking them.

Nani has been great with the new baby and her first driving lesson is tomorrow...I should say professional driving lesson! I'm sure I'll have an update for you after we hear how that goes.


Grammy swooz has loved being a grammy...I'm not too sure if she loves all the cooking she's doing though. She took Eban out for a walk yesterday and with every airplane he hears, he happily looks up and points and says "hiya" to the plane and waves! I'm sure the pilot and the passengers are appreciative of his congeniality. He also took the time to wave to every car and truck that passed them.

As for other news, Ryan has to go back to work tomorrow. He's not too happy about it as he loves being with the family. He also got a summons from Arapahoe County to testify about the incident that occurred at our house awhile back...click on the link to remind yourselves of the story! That will be interesting to hear how that plays out. I forget when he has to show up at court, but I'll update you once I remember.

Over and out for now!