xy-xx mas

so, christmas has come and gone, but morning sickness has stuck around. yep. this new year finds me pregnant again, and going by the name Preggy McPukerton. it sure was nice to have someone to comiserate with when home in dedham. katie elizabeth is in the same boat it seems, although she will be out of it soon enough (i pray for her sake!) the due date is 8-8-08 (lucky me since my lucky number is 8... although when that luck shows itself, i'll have to wait and let you know...) anyway, i'm repeating a lot of this, so back to the reason for the season- james and sean had a very wonderful christmas. they do so love their nonnie and grandfather, et all. good times were indeed had by all. hope you and yours had a merry christmas and a joyful new year.

james' 3rd birthday

i don't think i have to stress to many of you how truly DONE i am with cars!!!! i know way more than i ever imagined about different models, etc. james has certainly not tired of this phase yet (much to my and my living room's dismay. there is no more room!!!) anyway, the birthday boy got what he wanted, and i would do just about anything to see that guy smile. wish you could've all been there to see him light up EVERY time a new car was unwrapped!

winter's here

winter is here! with it has come all the good stuff- christmas trees, decorations, bundling up and hot chocolate! funniest thing about these pix of james is that he was SO enjoying his hot chocolate. he even said, "oh, mom! this is just delightful!" (i kid you not.) but the last picture in the slideshow is when he realized what his face actually looked like! he was horrified!

thanksgiving

so, thanksgiving has come and gone, and boy are we thankful! we are so blessed, a simple meal of thanks hardly seems adequate (although, mom cressy made sure it was no "simple" meal! what a feast! and forty people to feed, too! way to go, mom and dad cressy!) the annual bingo tradition was a great end to a great day. i was in charge of the prize bags and ordered geodes for adding to all the bags. i think people were a little confused after unrolling the tissue paper only to find... a rock. but I thought it would be a fun new tradition to head out to the driveway and hit rocks with hammers! who's with me?! apparently only lauren shared my enthusiasm. thanks, lauren. i ALWAYS wanted those dang crystals as a kid, and i finally got my chance! it was also a crazy night of every family trying to organize their own family christmas card photo shot. now THAT was entertainment! the next day aunt mary lou and uncle ray organized a family bowling night (hopefully another new tradition?) the night had a surprising favorite fan- james! that kid lost to kim by only a couple points! (sorry, kim, i had to brag...)

i'm also attaching a couple pix of james at the pet store. turns out he's also a fan of puppies... hint, hint, corey! james, sean, and i led the shop owner on as if we were really interested in purchasing a dog, and were allowed to go into a special room to play with said puppy. james definitely shared the little jack russell's enthusiasm! sean... well, he kinda just stood in the corner and freaked. but, james and i had a blast! ahhh... i can still smell that puppy smell...

play dates

chilly day at the park, fun night at "the bounce house," and some family pictures (including Kevin, Lupe and Jack on his 30th birthday!!!)

halloween

Halloween has come and gone. We had a wonderful time as a witch, a dad, a cowboy and yoda. We hit up the neighborhood dinner first and then James and I embarked on our own trick-or-treating. This was James' first experience with fear. I wonder how long that will last... On his most-fearful list were spiderman (?) and anyone with a scary ghost/grim reaper mask. At first he would cry and want dad to pick him up, but by the end of the night he would just cling to my leg and say, "it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. he's just pretending." while shaking slightly. He got quite a lot of loot and is STILL working on polishing it off. Sean was a good sport. While he could've cared less for the treats and other costumes, he took full advantage of being allowed to wander around on his own (he has recently tackled the art of walking and there's no turning back!) Hope you all had a spooky good halloween, too!

the boogey train

Here's some more misc. family shots.

The other weekend we went to a "haunted" train yard and rode the big and medium sized trains

(you should have seen the small!) It was a blast.

Naturally, James was in heaven and surrounded by many peers.

The last picture of Sean in the train was Corey and I realizing just what a little big man he's becoming...

the pumpkin patch

i had it all mapped out, or so i thought... we had set a date, a time, and we had a fixed window before the nd game. I was ACTUALLY getting to drive while jim sat shotgun, all three boys shared the middle seat and corey sat crammed in the WAYback. until i got lost and realized i had no idea where i was going at which point i did the girl thing and stopped to ask for directions, found out we were on the opposite side of town from where we wanted to be, and corey took over (with me humbly crawling into the trunk, tail between my legs.) but ALL was not lost, just us, and not for long (or TOO long... really.) we switched plans, with me now driving the guys to campus after we speed-shopped for a pumpkin, looked at farm animals, and even sped through the dirt cart course! i exagerate. we all had an absolute blast, and it was quite nice and laid-back once we arrived at the farm. we even had the hay ride all to ourselves. wish you could have all been there with us!

october photofest

Here's more family pix from our family this month so far. I know! I am a crazy photo snapping fanatic. But with faces this cute looking at me everyday, how can I not?!

ND vs BC

How lucky we were to at least get Clare for the weekend (even if it meant her bringing good luck to her eagles...) PLUS this was the reunion weekend for all of my and corey's roommates. SO we had a very full and fun house. It is always so great seeing everyone. Staying up late friday and saturday seems to be getting harder and harder with each passing year, but I AM trying!

The boys so enjoy meeting all of "mommy and daddy's friends" and the attention they bring. James had a plethera of people actually interested in playing cars with him. Andrew Duffy (a friend of Pat McGrath's) had a hilarious story of trying on James' fireman hat, only to have James immediately take it off of him saying, "no, that's mine." Then when Andrew made a sad face, James quickly asked, "Why are you sad?"

Andrew: Cause you took my hat.

James: No, it's okay. It's mine.

Andrew: (making a sad face again)

James: Why are you sad?

Andrew: Cause I want to wear the hat.

James: No. It's okay- it's mine.

Andrew: (making a sad face again)

James: Why are you sad?

And as you can guess, this went on for an insane amount of time, before we had to leave to tailgate. It is truly amazing how kids never seem to tire of certain things, or allow themselves to believe certain realities. Anyway, the quote of the weekend quickly became, "no, it's okay, it's mine."

We were so proud to actually be hosting our very own tailgate this year with our gang. It was so inspiring- complete with Dr. King's homeade desserts, Mar's catered sandwiches and veggies with dip. There was even good beer available! SEE?! We ARE getting old! Good thing I was there to keep it real with peer pressure on all my chicitas to do the unmentionable college things I do find so fun and dumb...

Can't wait till next year!!!!

a picnic @ the park (and more...)

the good weather continues here in the midwest, and we are taking full advantage of it, spending as much time outdoors as possible.

sean just had his 1 year checkup where he got 4 shots and even had to go to the lab to get blood drawn! yikes. what a trooper, though, he was back to his silly self in no time. literally. unfortunately. i was hoping to at least get a good recovery nap out of it! he's basically in the 75th percentile in all things (other than the obvious off-the-charts cressy head... although it does appear to be more closely approaching normal...)

james is still doing great in school. in fact, this past weekend he and i ran in the annual fall frolic fundraiser fun run at his school. i wouldn't say we were in it to win it, but we did finish! and looked good in the process, naturally, which is really all that matters, right?! we got lapped by sydney anzlec... what a hustler!

there are a few pix of james in sean's legwarmers. they are THE most practical, awesome, fashionable accessory i have at my disposal and i am a HUGE fan of them. however, corey feared for his son's manliness and forbade me to send him to school wearing them! now tell me his is not an adorable stud... he MAKES THEM WORK!

apple picking

here's our annual trip photos of lemon creek winery's apple orchards. this year was a bit different than last- last year we went september 22, the day before sean was born, it was a GORGEOUS fall day. this year felt more like summer with the temps in the high 80s! james and i even got a ride on the owner's 4x4 (see the link for video coverage!)

cressy life

this blog wouldn't be a true representation of the cressy life if there weren't pix of the boys and their baby einstein! there's also a cute video of play time, so be sure to double click on the link to see it on picasa's website.

sean's first birthday

that same sunday as the reunion brunch coincided with sean's big day, so we combined friends and family and food and had a 2-in-1 celebration! unfortunately, since james has started school, the notorious germs came home with him and sean was a bit under the weather. he was still a good sport, just had no patience though for the beautiful car cake i slaved over (that's a joke. it was obvioulsy a purchase.) we pushed his hands in it, shoved them then in his mouth, meanwhile he screamed bloody murder. we quickly realized it was HIS big day after all, and whoever said kids NEED to get crazy yummy messy on their birthday after all?! thanks so much to all who called with warm wishes, and all who came up to celebrate with us. it was fun... but exhausting. what a long, action-packed, sleepless weekend!

R.5

this past weekend was my architecture class 5 year reunion here in south bend. we had a tailgate, a fun night at diamond lake, and a brunch there the following morning. such fun.

biciclete practice

okay, so i am still learning about posting these pix. now, if you double click on the slideshow below, you should be able to open it up bigger in picasa (in a separate window.) also, once you've done this you should be able to view the movie clips (which DO exist- the last two images in this album are videos...) good luck! and leave me a comment if you are having trouble.

Twins turn 6!

So, Bridget and Sydney are now 6 years old.

Where does the time go?! We enjoyed some Chinese food and cake, and good company, obviously. It's so cool to get all the kids together- what a great dynamic. The Anzelcs take such good care of our little guys.

Godboy Isa's Baptism

Last weekend was our godboy, Isa's, big day.

He was a saint (pun intended.) No tears were shed as he got splashed and smeared with holy goodness, no peeps made. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for Sean, whose favorite place to be during all this was climbing the altar's marble stairs... It was an experience since both Corey and I were up on the altar with the man of the hour, meanwhile, our own two boys have absolutely no adult supervision essentially! James, luckily, quickly made new friends with Gabe and Jonah Davey and cousin Timbo!

Claudia's Baptism

Our little Claudbuster officially joined the good side. It was a lovely day, church, sermon. Fr. Dan and many friends and family were there to be witnesses. We wish we could've stayed longer in chi-town for the post-festivities, but alas, boys will be boys (especially when they are babies.) Even Nonni's quick thinking (and shopping) to satiate James' car fixation couldn't cure the hot, sleepy (but not sleep-ing), screaming "Seany boy" (James' name for him.) Claud did amazing though, even with a bursted eardrum! What a little peanut. She only had eyes for Grandfather, though. Try as I might, my godgirl would only stare at me, but for grandfather it was giggle after giggle... We'll have to work on that, chicita!

here we go...

Okay. So, as you all know, I send out way too many links to photos. And peer pressure is telling me that blogs are, in fact, the way to go (not to mention now I can finally share video clips!) This way, those who want to keep a watchful eye on us and our lives can do so on their own time, at their own pace. So, enjoy. I shall try and keep this thing alive and growing (hard to keep up with the pace my boys are moving!)