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Bocce Boyeeeees!

Shaun had to take a nap Sunday morning before our big family trip to The Walk in Atlantic City to get school shoes, so I took Evan and Noah to the playground in Avalon to burn off some energy. The bocce court was open, so we decided to play a few games.

Note that the boys adhered to the true Italian tradition of playing in your bare feet or in yellow socks.

Noah takes the first shot.

Uses a little body english...

And is happy with the result!

Next, it was Evan's turn. Noah is not so happy when it is not his turn. And Evan refused to play after this if I took any more pictures.

Just when the boys were losing interest in bocce, a guy shows up with a remote controlled airplane. They boys loved watching him fly it, and he was nice enough to land it so the boys could see it up close.

They finally went back to playing on the playground. We hit the beach right after this for a while, which was right across the street, to check out the local surf camp. We finished our morning by going on a doughnut hunt. We were successful!

Boardwalk Rides

Last Sunday, we did the Wildwood rides for the entire day. Here is a shot of the boys on the only ride they all went on together. If you look closely, you'll see Steph too!

Evan also loves the Ghost Ship...

Shaun does NOT love the Ghost Ship...

Shaunie's Birthday Extravaganza

Aw! Shaun Shaun on a cake!

Later in the evening... we suspect Uncle Larry.

The "smash cake" before.

The "smash cake" after.

Cake coma

A couple of thugs showed up.

Amelia looks EXACTLY like Becky as a kid here. It's freaky!

Shaun has a quiet moment of reflection. He's probably upset because Aunt Donna made fun of his yellow jeans.

I love Amelia's curly little pigtails. Shaun has little curls now too! Unfortunately, no pigtails for him... Unless Daddy's back is turned.

Shaun loves to play ball. He'll throw it to you (he's pretty good!) and you roll it back. He snatches it up and throws it back to you. He obviously doesn't have his mother's terrible athletic abilities.

Thank God for Grandmom and Aunt Ella. My mom had the big boys over her house and Aunt Ella took care of Shaun at our house while Mike and I prepared for the party. Shaun's still nursing so he can't go too far... He seriously is the polar opposite of Noah! However, I assure you that he won't be nursing as long as Evan did.

Shaun passes out from lack of his second nap. He feels so comfy in Aunt Genie's arms. I'm telling you, he naps like clockwork!

Amelia takes a bathy-bath and lets us take a picture of her in a hermit crab towel.

This is the next night after some baths. Evan usually takes a shower and Noah and Shaun share a bath. But this night they were all Rub-a-dub-dub. 3 Men in a Tub!

Happy 1st Birthday, Shaunie!

I'm a horrible mommy. I've neglected the blog and someday Shaun is going to throw it in my face. The fact that I've documented every step and milestone of his two older brothers and that I stopped his a half year in. Shaun, my little sweetheart, I love you so much. So much! And I'm so sorry. You're adorable, funny and you look just like me! My little mini me son.

Our Shaun is a late crawler. He didn't start until he was 10 months old. He's not walking yet. He'll hi-five you when you ask him. He says dada and mama and kitty. Kitty was actually his first word. When Court House was down and out and I was giving him meds and compresses on his belly and trying to keep him quarantined from Roxy and the kids, Courtie was obviously my main focus. Shaunie noticed and would try to crawl to him saying, "Kitty kitty kitty!" Shaun also loves cat food. He'll crawl over and try to sneak some in his mouth. I'll say, "Noooo! That's for the kitties!" and he'll yell back at me and crawl away angrily. Sometimes I have to dig out a chewed up kitty crunchie out of his mouth. I figure that the guy is probably hungry so I'll put him in the high chair and start feeding him and he'll yell at me and throw everything on the floor. I guess he just has a taste for cat food!

He's the most lovable baby ever. He hugs and snuggles and smiles all day. He's the easiest of my 3 put to down for naps and bedtime (Noah was obviously my hardest. I always had to crawl out of his room on my hands and knees and if the floor creaked he jolted up and started screeching. When he turned 2 he would just climb out of the crib and come downstairs). I nurse my Shaun Shaun, put him in his crib awake, he cries for a few minutes and then he's sound asleep.

Shaun also copies Noah and pushes little cars and trucks around the room while making car noises. He sings to himself too. He adores his brothers. He has always been fascinated with Noah and now that Evan isn't in school, he has really warmed up to him too. He's just too cute and so funny and we love him to pieces. I'm having trouble finding Shaun's birthday party pictures, they aren't showing up from my phone! Pooooop. I will post these tomorrow.

I love you, Shaun! I can't believe it has been a year already, my sweet little baby boy!

Noah is 3!

Our little Noah has hit a huge milestone... He's 3! It seemed just like yesterday Evan was 3 and Noah was Shaun's age. It's amazing. Now here's this little boy who picks up earthworms and puts them on the grass while saying, "Go home to your mommy and daddy!" The other day the 5 of us were outside and I was sitting alone at the picnic table. Noah saw me and came running up because he felt bad that I was sitting there alone. Today he had a timeout at school because he told his teacher, Miss Shelly to be quiet. He strips down naked every chance he gets and loves turning on the ipod and starts dancing. His song of choice is Ghostbusters. He is so silly and funny around family and then he's so shy and quiet around people he doesn't see all the time.

Here he is opening his dancing underwear card from Aunt Brittany.

Aunt Wanda came over to hang out and gave Noah this great Spiderman mask and gun!

Noah is opening presents from Mima and PoPo.

This is when the two of us walked around the neighborhood to drop off party invitations and stop at our financial planner's office. It's pretty great when you can walk to your financial planner, library, insurance agent, dentist and cpa. We just need the park and post office a little closer... maybe some more bars and restaurants. Court House the cat hangs out on our cpa's porch with his cat.

This was the first birthday that Noah was so excited about. He constantly asked about it weeks before. He kept asking about his present and I'd give him one hint... it's green. He asked me, "Does it have a face?" "Is it green and white?" "Does it have a Santa Claus face?" Nope! It was a green and black bike with training wheels! We had it outside in the driveway under a blanket. It wasn't quite a surprise because Evan saw it from their bedroom window and said "Hey Noah! Look you got a bike!" Here's the party moonbounce.

A few days before Noah had his hair cut.

Happy Birthday, NoNo!!!!

Noah gets tubes (again)

I had taken Noah to the ENT a month ago for his 6 month checkup only to find out the tubes had fallen out and his ears were clogged with fluid. He went through a round of antibiotics and ear drops, went back in 10 days and the fluid was still there. Rather than go through another round of meds, Dr. Diaz decided that he probably needed the tubes again.

So Noah and I left 5:30 am the first day of spring and drove 45 minutes away to the hospital from rain into snow. Noah's a little shellshocked here before the surgery.

Now he's in a little gown. He's commando under it. I forgot to bring underwear! Poor little Noah...

He was a brave little soldier, just like last time when he was 18 months. And just like last time he woke up from the anesthesia crying his eyes out. I ran in to find him swaddled up like a baby with a nurse rocking him in a rocking chair. He was crying so hard it would break your heart! He was almost asleep in the stroller when we got outside to find this...

He fell asleep in the car but perked up as soon as we got home. He was wrestling with his brother in record time. At one point during the day Mike and I walked by the bathroom while he was flushing the toilet while talking to himself. He was saying, "Wow! That's loud!" I guess the tubes are already working!