Smiling away....

So, I was able to get on the computer one more time before Christmas.....I am waiting for some new heath bars to bake in the oven, while I start another batch of cookies/fudge/or something else....I can't remember what is next on the list.

Hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas! I wish that we could be with all of you, but know that we are thinking of you.

Here is the newest photo of David, smiling!! : )

10 days until the BIG DAY!!

There are a few boys that are getting quite excited about Christmas in this house. This morning, after I told Paul that there were only 10 days until Christmas, he said, "That's not so long after all!! It is getting closer all the time!" Paul even told told Henry when he was being a bit of a stinker, that "Santa was watching him, and he better be good, or he wouldn't get any presents."

Here the boys are decorating the tree that we got a week ago, with an airplane decoration from Grandma Jane (who will be here in 2 weeks with Papa J too!!)

Here Paul is sitting with his gingerbread train that we made a few days ago. Henry helped us too, but would not pose for the picture. He just held up his hand at me when I tried to get him in the photo. I guess the H-man doesn't like the paparazzi. ; )

Merry Christmas!! Happy New Year.....(in case, I don't get on here again until 2009!!)

David at 6 weeks.....

David Carl is growing right before me eyes, I swear. It is amazing! He is chunking out and I love it!! Those legs are no longer, "bird-like". That milk must be doing it's work, all right. Here David is sleeping....one of his favorite things to do. Although, he is awake more and more during the day. He is doing very well at night (knock on wood), and I can't believe that 6 weeks have gone by already.

This weekend, we went to get our fresh Christmas tree at Farmer Whiting's, a local farmer located on Lake Auburn ( a beautiful spot). In this photo, you can see that the boys are clearly more excited about watching the cars pull into the parking lot, than looking at their dad, and smiling for the camera......We decorated the tree yesterday, and now are awaiting Mr. Claus in 16 days or so.

Hope that you all are on the "nice" list!!!

Oh what fun, a Christmas photo shoot can be!!

On Thanksgiving Day, we tried to take a Christmas card family photo, like we did last year, but as you can see, we had a few issues. Let's just say trying to wrangle 2 young boys was not easy. And Brian seems to think that we should take ANOTHER picture, because he doesn't like any of the ones that we took last week.

I found one that I like, and we may use that one. But you will all have to wait and see which one gets sent out in a few weeks.....that is, if I find enough time to do cards this year. I will do my best! Hope everyone survived Thanksgiving and is home safe and sound....It's officially the Christmas season! YIPPEE!!

David at 4 weeks old...

So, I don't think that I will be keeping up this pace of posting a picture of David every week. But I will do my best of posting now and then. We are doing well here in Maine, and getting excited about going to my mom's house for turkey dinner in 2 days. Both of my bros will be there too, which is awesome!! And one of my three sisters-in-law!! Should be a lot of fun!! Hope everyone gets to their Thanksgiving Day destination safely!

Grocery shopping is a tough job...

This is what the first trip to Shaw's Supermarkets did to David....
phew, wiped him right out! (me too!)



In trying to get ready to leave for the store, I had David all buckled in his car seat and ready to go, and was working on Henry's jacket (Paul was still at school). When all of a sudden, David decided he wanted me to change his current diaper with a clean one.....so, another 10 minutes later, we finally got on the road to the store. Then when we got to the store, they were out of those "car carts", so I had to use one hand to hold Henry's hand, and the other to steer the cart (with my list resting on David's lap in the car seat). Needless to say, it was a quick trip, because I had to get back home to meet Paul coming off the bus. But Brian was happy to know that I remembered the beer, soda, and tortilla chips!! I also remembered Paul's overnight diapers! Yippee!! All is well here, hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!!

David at 3 weeks....

So, David is officially 3 weeks old today. I think that he wanted to celebrate this fact, because he woke mommy up just about the time he was born last night (or this morning....), for a little snack. Things are going well, and we are adjusting to life in the crazy lane with three active boys. Wonder what it will be like in 10 years....yowza!! Let's take one step at a time, right?? I just want to make it through Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then, we'll talk.

FYI: this photo was taken of David right after a bath...love the hair!! And with no product. Jealous anyone??? just kidding....

Hope all is well with everyone! Miss and love you!!

David is 2 weeks old....

Well, I (I should say, "we") have made it through the first 2 weeks with David Carl. He is quite the baby! We already know so much about him, for example, the boy likes to eat!! He is pretty laid back and only gets upset when he is wet, dirty, or hungry. Pretty simple so far....although I am sure that things will get crazier as each day passes.

Today is my first day on my own, as Brian went back to school this morning. Luckily, he has the day off tomorrow, and will be able to play with the boys all day. They miss him...especially Henry. If Brian is gone for more than a few minutes, he starts saying, "Dada, dada, dada???" And tries to find him. Henry loves to play trains with Brian, and I am pretty sure that Brian doesn't mind setting the tracks up either. ; )

Hope all is well out there......more pics later.

my boys

Here are a couple of shots of the older boys with David. We had been waiting until Paul and Henry got over their colds to hold David, but then poor David got the runny nose, and we decided that the boys could hold him for the first time. It was a pretty special moment for all of us. I know that they are going to be great BIG brothers to David.

Happy Halloween!

On Friday, the boys went trick-or-treating for the very first time! They were quite excited, and Paul wanted to go again on Saturday night too. He was not too impressed when he found out that Halloween, like Christmas, was only once a year. We went to 5 houses around the neighborhood that we knew, and then headed home for dinner. After dinner, the boys help hand out candy to the kids that came to our door. I thought that it would be really busy but we only got about 40-50 kids....but the boys had a good time anyway.

Welcome to the world, David Carl Dimitri!!

So, here he is....in case you haven't met him yet. David Carl Dimitri, born Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 3:27 a.m. in the morning, after about 4-5 hours of labor. He weighed 9 pounds and 2 ounces (yikes, right??!) and was 20 and a half inches long. We are already SO in love with him, and just over the moon! Paul is an amazing big brother to little David, and Henry is quite smitten as well. Both of the older boys have colds, so I am trying my hardest to keep them away as much as I can, but they really want to love David as much as they can. So, we are kissing the top of head, or his toes at the moment, and hopefully the older boys will be better soon, and can kiss him more, and hold him too.

More pics to follow......hope you all are well!!

Fire Station Open House....We're there!

When I drove by one of Auburn's fire stations the other day, I saw that they were having an open house. But I decided that I shouldn't tell the boys until right before we left, just in case "3D" decided to come a few days early. So, since no baby yet....we went to the open house on Saturday. It was a LOT of fun and the boys had a blast. Henry did NOT want to come home and completely freaked out in the car....it could have been that he was very tired too, but he really enjoyed the fire engines, and kept making the siren noises the whole time that we were there. I think that the fire fighters thought that it was pretty amusing. Here are a few pictures to show you how much fun we had!

Here the boys in front of Engine #3...a relatively new engine (about 2-3 years old), that replaced one that was over 20 years old.....

Here Paul is sitting in the driver's seat of the Fire and Rescue truck. It is a little older, but had lots of cool things in it. The fire fighter told us that this truck was equipped with air bags contained on the side that could inflate to lift up a tractor trailer that might have tipped over....how crazy is that?? Also, that they make about 4,000 calls a year. They are the first to respond to the scene of an accident and always have an EMT on board, with full life support services inside the truck. It was really impressive....thank you to fire fighters across the country!!!

Here is Henry in Engine #3.....he loved it, and wanted to push ALL the buttons!! What a curious little monkey he is....love him! We will let you know when "3D" arrives, but until then, have a great week!!

Hear no evil, see no evil....

I couldn't have planned this picture if I tried....(even though Brian did take the picture). But still, pretty funny, eh?? Boys will be boys.

The boys are just being their usual selves, and fooling around. I think this was taken after dessert (a little extra sugar may have encouraged this picture!). Maybe we will have a third boy to complete this picture.....we will just have to wait and see. Still nothing, but I am due in 10 days, and will keep everyone posted. : )

Happy 4th Birthday Paulie!

Paul celebrated his 4th birthday (9/29) with a party on 9/27/08. Here he is enjoying the delicious frosting off the bottom of his candles....yum! Doesn't everyone do that?? I made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting, and Brian decorated it (with two military tanks firing, as Paul requested). (P.S. If you notice in the far left hand side of this picture, Henry is about to swipe some frosting for himself......)

We had a total of 15 people here to play and laugh, and eat dinner, which is the most that I have ever hosted for dinner (I think??). That included 5 kids!! We did fine though, and Brian made awesome pizzas!! Thank you Brian!! I contributed with a garden salad, and of course we had cake and ice cream. The kids had a great time, as did the adults, I think. It was just the right amount of crazy, although we will slow it down a bit for the H-man's birthday on Oct 26th, because we may have another human being in this house by then.....who knows? Any bets on when 3D will make his/her appearance?? Hope everyone is doing well!

let's play catch-up.

Sorry for the vacation from the blogging. Not like I have been sitting around....you know how life can be sometimes. And it is just going to get CRAZIER any moment. My guess is October 17th. We will see when 3D wants to makes his/her debut. ANYWAY.....here Henry is devouring yet another Cortland apple. He LOVES them and will eat an entire apple. Usually, he likes them peeled, but here he is eating one with lunch.

Another new thing around here is "Chef Henry"! We found that this white bucket fits PERFECTLY onto Henry's head. And all of a sudden, he looked like a chef. Paul and I nicknamed him, "Chef Henry". Henry loves it, and as soon as you ask him where is Chef Henry, he runs to find the bucket and will whip a batch of whatever you want instantly. And want you to eat it right away. Quite cute!

Last week, we made a second trip to our favorite apple orchard, Wallingford's, to pick some more Cortland apples. But before we drove there, we stopped at Ricker Orchards just before Wallingford's and visited the animals with some friends of ours. They have an old tractor there, and of course Paul had to have a seat on it. He loved it!!

And then proceeded to check out the animals with the rest of us. They had goats, cows, chickens, rabbits, and turkeys (and a very cool sandbox!). Paul was especially fond of the turkeys, and found one that he liked the best. I watched him watching the turkey and all of a sudden he was playing peek-a-boo with the turkey, and the turkey was playing back. It was HILARIOUS!! Up and down, their heads went past this wooden plank in the chicken wire fence. It was truly a sight to see, and very funny! I think that they kept it up for about 5-10 minutes.

Breakfast of Champions....

Here Paul is eating breakfast before going to pre-K this week. I was trying to get a picture of Paul and Henry, but the "H-man" was too fast for me. He is all business at meal time. Eat and then he is off. Paul likes to have Honey Bunches of Oats with Kix mixed in and skim milk, with ½ a glass of OJ, and some cinnamon wheat toast. That is what he eats just about every morning. The cereal sometimes changes, but it is usually that kind or Cheerios, or corn chex. Of course on the weekend, Daddy makes "syrup breakfasts" on Saturdays, and eggs on Sunday!! Yum-o! TGIF…have a great weekend everyone! I think that we are going apple picking tomorrow. The first bunch of the season. Apple pie next week??

Yum...chocolate pudding!

So, I was feeling like a slacker mom in the dessert department lately, and decided that I should make something for my boys (all 3 of them....Brian included!). But because it has been so hot here lately (in the 80's all week!), I decided that baking was out of the question. That leaves only chocolate pudding, right?? Well, you would have thought that I had made the world's greatest dessert in the eyes of Paul and Henry! They were soooo excited and loved every last bite. Here are a couple of shots of them "enjoying" their pudding, all over their faces.

Can you say, "bath night"??!!

Happy weekend!!

Really the first day.....

Yesterday, Paul got on the school bus all by himself, and rode away to school, leaving Henry and Mommy all alone at home. I was ok, until we got inside and Henry started crying....that didn't help matters, let me tell you. But we made it, and Paul had a successful first day. He said that he is excited about going back today, for his second day, so that can only be a good thing. And he also mentioned last night that he missed his friends and running around outside. When Henry and I went to pick him up yesterday afternoon, he was quite sweaty, after just playing outside. Overall, I think that he is going to be ok, although he was pretty tired last night......that is for sure.

Above is a picture of Paul in his official first day of school outfit, that he picked himself. I wanted him to wear something else (a little dressier), but he said that he wanted to wear this, and that, "it looks fine, Mom." Oh boy.....Let's just say that I am GLAD that it is FRIDAY!!! If only it were payday too, but that is next Friday. At least, we have a 3-day weekend to recover from this week, or at least, I need some recovery time. ; )

This is the only picture that I could manage to take of Paul on the bus. I was holding Henry, and had to cross the street, etc....so here is Paul on the bus, going to school!!

First day of pre-K!

Paul started his school career this morning with a bus and class orientation day (not the usual full 3 hours). I was able to go with him on the bus and to class. We met with his other classmates, his teachers, and saw his classroom. We also played outside on the playground and then rode the bus back home again. It was an action-packed 2 hours, let me tell you. Of course, it is always exciting when the bus breaks down (fortunately, before we got on it), but it didn't pick us up until almost 9 am, when we had been waiting outside for the bus since 8:15 am. Oh, well. Paul was very patient and we read a couple of stories, listened to the woodpecker next door, and watched the cars drive by on the street while we waited to get picked up.

Here Paul is sitting on the bus (Brian took the picture....he got to stay home with Henry, and then went to school when we got home).

Tomorrow is Paul's first day riding on the bus by himself, and going to a full (1/2) day of school. I will update again tomorrow or Friday!! Stay tuned fans.....same bat time, same bat channel!!

Go Sox!

The Sox were off last night, but play the Yanks tonight and the next couple of days (as you probably know), in the Bronx. Hopefully, we will pick up a couple of games in the wild card race. The only race that I think that we can win this year, but we will see. It is tough when your team doesn't feel like they are fighting for it enough. Oh, well.

Here Paul is showing off his new Red Sox cap that mommy bought at TJ Maxx on clearance!! Gotta love that!! Paul is getting excited about his school bus/class orientation day tomorrow with mommy. And then a real day of school on Thursday. I can't wait to hear all about it Thursday afternoon!! I know that it is just pre-K, but where has the time gone??!! They say that they grow up fast, but come on.......

More to come at the end of this week, after Paul has experienced a couple of days in school, and Brian has met and greeted his students. Hope all is well......Happy Labor Day weekend (soon)!!

Camping, anyone?

Brian told Paul that they could "camp" in the living room sometime this summer, and this week, the time came. Paul was more than excited about the whole event, and I was included at the beginning of the evening (then, it was boys only!!). Paul, Brian and I watched the Curious George movie, and ate homemade popcorn (that the boys made together) and a little candy. It was a lot of fun, and the movie was cute too. Paul really enjoyed the movie, and couldn't believe that we were letting him stay up late, eat popcorn AND candy!!! AND sleep downstairs. The kid was PSYCHED!! It was fun! Oh yeah, Hoosier slept with them too. : )

Here Henry is eating is breakfast. Although, is that Henry, or SPIDERMAN!! He is slinging his web at you....look out, evil-doers!!

Here the boys are enjoying Daddy's chocolate malts on a summer evening. YUM-O!!! Complete with whipped cream on top, and a straw! Delicious!! Can you feel the excitement!?

Hope everyone is enjoying the last days of summer. We go back to school on Monday, and things are winding down here. We have had a perfect summer and are sad to see it end. But, are getting really excited for the birth of "3D" in approximately 9 weeks!! And have that to look forward to, and of course, another beautiful Maine fall, complete with football weekends, chili and cornbread, apple picking and apple pie, and the gorgeous fall foliage! Can't wait!!

More summer fun

Maine is blueberry country, right?! So, of course we went blueberry picking last week (our annual trip to Goss Berry Farms). Although the fields were extremely wet with all of the rain from this month, it did not dampen our spirits. We had a wonderful time, and the boys loved eating a berry here and there. I walked with Paul, and Brian was with Henry. Brian said that Henry would pick a few berries, put them in his cup holder in his stroller, and then promptly eat them all! Henry loved the berries, but Paul thought that they "were a bit tart"....his words.

The next couple shots are from the beach on the Atlantic Ocean in Scarborough, Maine. What a beautiful day it was! And we were SOOOO excited just to see the sun, never mind go swimming and play in the sand. It was a great day. We ended our little trip with lunch at Ken's Seafood restaurant. We had clam cakes and french fries, and the boys had chicken nuggets with fries. YUM!

Paul LOVED the water and we had a hard time getting him out. We drew the line when he was shivering. He and Henry really did have a great time though, and we are planning another trip to the same beach tomorrow (with an early start time!). We want to spend the whole day there this time, since the boys had so much fun on Wednesday. We are packing a lunch and lots of drinks so we can stay the day!! Paul informed us that he can "sleep in the car on the way home", and not to worry about them taking naps at home for a day.


Can't wait to go tomorrow!!

Great Falls Balloon Fest

I know that it has been a while, but I guess that we have been busy. I am also away from my inlaws lightening fast computer hook up. ; )

So, this morning, we woke up the boys up at 5:15 am to watch the hot air balloons launch down by the Androscoggin River in Auburn. We had talked about it the night before with the boys, and Paul was getting very excited about it. When we got down there, it was really foggy, and after sitting for a while we were wondering if they were going to launch at all. (the boys were very patient, we had to wait about 75 minutes or so before any of them starting launching!).

Finally they starting launching and the balloons were going up 2, 3 and 4 at a time. It was really cool! Needless to say, they are tired now, and I am pretty sure that we will have a early naptime today!!

More pictures and stories to come, I promise. It's just that I have a previous date with 3 boys in the sandbox outside. : )

A night at Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary Helen's....

As part of our stay in Indiana, we always are treated to a most wonderful dinner at Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary Helen's beautiful home in Chesterton, Indiana. We were lucky to visit with Bri's cousin Lisa Dimitri (Jim's daughter) from the DC area, along with 2 neighbors and the rest of the Dimitri clan. We had a wonderful time, and were fed the most amazing food (as always!!).

Here Henry is with his godparents (minus Uncle John).

He is lucky enough to have TWO godfathers!!

Lisa Dimitri (Bri's cousin) and Jeff Dimitri (Bri's middle bro).

Here is a shot of some of the Dimitri men.

Ben (the youngest bro of Bri), Paul, Brian, Henry, Jeff, and Jon Dimitri, the patriarch.

Here Henry is showing one of Uncle Jim's cats, Molly, a singing birthday card that they received recently. The card sings "meow, meow, meow.....". Molly and Henry loved it!!

Well, we have one day left (church tomorrow morning, then packing....) and then we head to Bloomington for 24 hours or so. I can't wait!! Our old stomping grounds! Should be a lot of fun. Only it may be a bit different with a 3 and 1 yr old, and a dog??? What do you think??

Papa's chocolate malts.....YUMMY!

Papa made a chocolate malt for Paul after a hot afternoon in the Indiana sun....with whipped cream too!!

Here Henry is playing in the water on the shores of Lake Michigan.

This was taken when we visited with the Tonkovich family in South Bend, IN last Monday. Zach, 5, Emily, 8, Paul and Henry actually sat down on the steps for 15 seconds. Just long enough for me to take one picture of them.

This is a shot of one of Jane's gorgeous lilies in the backyard. Artsy shot.....I know, but had to take it.

We are sweating like mad out here in this Indiana heat, and thank goodness for the AC!! Uncle Ben and Aunt Katie are here now from Nashville, and Uncle Jeff and Aunt Melissa will be here this weekend! Jane will have all of her "chicks" under one roof and we will all go to church on Sunday. What a happy lady she will be!!

The Lake 2008

It has been a little while, but things are going well with the Dimitri clan. Since we are now here in Valapariso, and my in laws have DSL, I am taking full advantage and posting a ton of pictures.

We were in NY for a little over a week, at Lake Ontario, and then continued on to IN at the end of last week. We will be here for about 10 days, and then we head back East to NY for a day or two, and then all the way back to Auburn!!

The picture above was taken the day that we left for IN. It was SO wavy that day, that I had to take a bunch of pictures and some video too. It was amazing, and too wavy to do anything but look at the beautiful scenery.

Here Paul is helping make another bonfire for that night. We had one the 4th of July, and decided that we would keep the center pole, and just add some more wood.

Here Henry is peeking out of the famous "Nana G" with Daddy kneeing down behind him. That boat has been around for generations and it is truly amazing that it still floats considering all that it has been through. Henry really enjoyed the boats and the water....Paul, not so much.

Yet another beautiful Lake Ontario sunset. I never tire of them. This is taken right out our front door. How lucky am I? I know......very lucky!

Here Paul and Brian are fishing out in front of the cottage. Paul picked it up really quickly and I think that he will be ready to do some real fishing next summer (with worms and everything!).