Rocco's New Outfit

OK. This year we gave Owen & Oscar each a bit of cash to take with them when they went Xmas shopping with Grandma & Papa. We asked my parents to just let them buy whatever it was that they thought each of us would want. Then they wrapped them and we opened them on Xmas morning... Well, Oscar bought Rocco a new outfit that he was just soooo proud of. I wish I could have taken a picture of Oscar's face as he reminded us that he picked it out all by himself and pointed out that it has pretty pink butterflies on it! (Oscar loves butterflies!) Of course, the photos don't show the adorable pink bows on the cuffs... :)

Oscar was so beside himself with joy at what he had selected that there was no way we weren't going to put Rocco in it at least once or twice! Here are some pix... The second photo is probably how Rocco is going to feel when he looks at these pictures in fifteen years...

Whew- We Made It!

Photo (above): Oscar, Owen & Rocco in their Xmas Eve jammies

The holidays have been a crazy rush the past two weeks- lots of entertaining friends and family and trying to get gifts wrapped in time... Much harder this year with an infant in arms! But somehow I survived and all is well. If only we'd had a white Christmas... (My family in Denver is probably cursing me at that statement! As you surely know, they had a very white Christmas!)

Everyone here made out like bandits with gifts from Santa... Mrs. Claus even handmade some pants for the boys herself! (Thank you, Mrs. Claus!)... One of the jaw-dropping gifts I received: Skip is treating me to a long weekend in France this May so we can be part of the festivities at the Cannes Film Festival! How exciting! (Although I must admit I am already fretting about leaving Rocco for 5 days!! UGHHHH!) But I will try hard to overcome my angst about it by focusing more on what an awesome husband I have!

Photo (above): Skip & Rocco on Xmas morning

Right now our foyer contains a mound of crumpled wrapping paper and used gift boxes in which we could lose a child or two... I had better start sorting though it for recycling day tomorrow. When Rocco is awake again tomorrow morning (power of positive thinking, right? haha) I will post a photo of him in the absolutely awesome outfit that Oscar bought him for Xmas! In the meantime, I'm off to bed...

Photo (above): The boys & I on Christmas morning

Merry Christmas, Baby

Photo (above): Rocco, 3-1/2 mos

Wow. Where has my month gone? I was so excited and happy about the holidays arriving and then somewhere in there I feel like I lost a week and need more time!! Sure, we've got our gifts for giving, but there are still a couple decorations I'd like to put up around the house... and then there's the fact that we haven't really been able to slow down and just savor the fun of Rocco's First Christmas. *sigh* It will be here and gone before I can blink so I am feverishly trying to slow time over here. So far, it actually is working a little bit! (Bet you didn't know I was so scientifically advanced that I could manipulate time, right? haha)

Really though, I've found that instead of worrying about the fact that none of our presents are actually wrapped yet (!!??)... if I get on the floor and play with Rocco or walk around the house showing him the Xmas lights it does take up time but I somehow feel energized to do more with the time that I then have left. So that's the motto this week. Slow down and enjoy. And if you end up getting an unwrapped gift handed to you from us this season, now you'll know why. :)

Photo (above): Oscar & Owen sit on the lap of an old friend at the ALR Holiday Party

We've been counting down the days left... the big boys are very excited! Oscar has been busy helping me bake cookies lately- such a great helper! Owen has been a little, well, high-spirited for the past few weeks- really giving us a run for our money- but we are trying to believe what everyone keeps telling us: it's an official case of the holiday crazies. He really is a good boy and he loves both of his brothers so much. (In fact, that's something that we have to deal with a lot here: Owen will hug or kiss Oscar and then Oz will flip out because he didn't want a kiss... What fools!) Once the holidays are over the behavior is hopefully going to improve. Or else in January you will find Skip and I huddled in a snowy corner somewhere crying on each other's shoulders!

Photo (above): Oscar helping to bake cookies

Okay, these presents aren't wrapping themselves, so I'd better stop lollygagging (as Skip claims I am wont to do) and snap to it! Enjoy the photo of the tree with its star. (I think I miss the angel, though.) This is sure to be the last post before Christmas Day, so wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy the magic and don't forget to BELIEVE.

xoxo k.

Star Vs. Angel

This Sunday we brought home our Christmas tree... Which brought about an unexpected debate about our tree-topper: should the angel continue her reign? Or should we consider a challenger- the star? The star had high hopes of gracing a tree top when it was brought home last year. But it just didn't have enough experience and the angel won out in the end.

However, this year Oscar suggested we put the star up. (I could hear the angel gasping from her box in the basement. The angel has watched over the holiday festivities in our house since 1997...) I like the star, but I needed some time to think about letting the angel go- even if for only a year. We decided the only fair thing to do would be to have a family vote. So we all X'ed off our choices and when the votes were tallied it was unanimous- the star is getting its big chance! Oscar was so pleased- we'll be decorating tonight so I'll be sure to post a photo of the finished product. (These photos are of the actual vote.)

In other holiday news, Thanksgiving came and went without much fanfare at our house this year. It was wonderful, but we had no company for the first time in a loooong time. Usually we have friends over (those who either have no local family or want to avoid their local family at the holidays) but this year we celebrated with just the five of us. Owen didn't believe it would be Thanksgiving without company... I believe his words were, "If we don't have any friends over then it's just turkey dinner!" But in the end, everyone agreed that it was awesome. It was very mellow and I was able to halt kitchen proceedings without worry anytime Rocco needed to nurse. During dinner Oscar actually proclaimed, "This is the best Thanksgiving EVER!" (Thank you, Tiny Tim. haha) After dinner I had a nice nap with Rocco and then drove to the mall to meet Mom for the 1am opening of Black Friday shopping- "Rockin' Shoppin' Eve" they called it. It was fun and I actually did get some good holiday deals. By 5:30am I was back home in bed again as most other shoppers were just beginning to swarm. I'd do it again- anyone up for next year? :)

I am not sure when I'll be posting again- I am so inconsistent! Keep checking back because I will try to post at least a few photos even if I don't have much time to write. Happy Holidays to all of you with love...
xoxo k.

And Then There Was... Sleep!

Yes, it's happened. Last week there were two magical nights in a row that I actually slept at night instead of roaming the halls of our home in the dark. The first night I had put Rocco to bed around 11:45p and when he finally woke me at 6:51a (can you tell this was a momentous occasion? I know the exact minute it happened!) I thought I must have been reading the clock wrong! On the next night I got brave and put him down at 10p... he slept until 6a. Of course, he seemed to regress in the nights that followed, but it was too late- my spirit had already been lifted; since he did it a couple times I knew he could do it again! That shimmer of hope returned and renewed me! And it's paying off- last night Rocco went to bed at 11:30p and woke up at 7:10a. Aaahhhhhhhh. It's amazing what a little sleep will do for you!

So life is pretty awesome around here. Rocco & I are sleeping... Oscar has been inventing lots of new dance moves lately to entertain us (they involve lots of bum wiggling!)... Owen is doing great with his reading and school work (He's been learning about Native Americans the past two weeks and finds it very interesting)... We're up to Chapter 3 of the book we're reading together- Ramona Quimby, Age 8- That Ramona sure is funny!... Skip's ALR house remodel is nearing its successful end; the final walk- through will be later today, I think. He says it feels like this experience could have been on "Extreme Home Makeover!" Oh, and Lola will turn three the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Now we're just getting ready for Thanksgiving and a whole week of Owen being home from school! (eeks!) So, this week as I count my blessings, I am thankful that at least Oscar still has preschool a couple days next week. Amen.

Photo (above): Rocco, 8 wks, humors me by keeping on his cool baby legwarmers. Flashdance!!

(Below): Rocco, 8 wks, with one of his gloriously goofy smiles

Halloween Has Found Our Street

Photo (above): Owen & Oscar with their pumpkins

Has it really been over three weeks since my last post?? Eeks. Life has been a little busy lately, I guess. And, actually, I can't write much here since Rocco's smelly little bod is just begging for a bath. But I thought I'd at least post a couple Halloween photos here for everyone to enjoy until I get with the program. (this weekend I hope to have some time to devote here!)

Photo (left): Owen supervises as Skip carves his pumpkin

We made our annual trip to Chipman Farms' Pumpkinland in October. The kids had a blast on the "Haunted Dayride-" and so did we! The next evening we carved our pumpkins- Owen drew his own face and Skip cut it out for him. Oscar simply directed me on what he wanted his to look like.

As far as costumes go, Oscar was certain he wanted to be a "skeleton with a sword" for Halloween. I guess the sword was just to be extra cool. Owen was a beetle of some sort, but he insisted that it was a fly, even though there were no wings. So this is the Halloween that Owen was a FLY. :) And little Rocco got the recycled monster costume from Oscar's first Halloween!

The day before Halloween we went trick-or-treating at Grandma Isherwood's work in Portland. That filled the boys' bags enough that we barely had to do any trick-or-treating around our own neighborhood the following night! The boys went to 4 houses, then came home satisfied and handed out candy for a while... and got to bed darned near on time! A successful evening all around.

Photo (below): The finished jack 'o lanterns- Owen's on the left, Oscar's on the right

Photo (above): Rocco Monster, 8 wks old

Photos (below): Oscar & Owen on Halloween Night

Photo (below): At Charlie & Misty's Halloween Party... Our friend Bill as a monk, Skip as a mechanic (you can't see his cool embroidered nametag in the pic), me as "spaghetti & meatballs" (you can't really see my colander hat,) Charlie as Dracula & Dearbhaile the cat

Friday the 13th (or, HOLY BABIES!!)

Photo (left): Koren & Rocco, 5 wks old, hanging out watching a Patriots game.

Well, fall is here- it's official. We're trying to sit back and relish the beautiful autumn foliage when we can. It won't be more than a week or so before it all falls to the ground and the boys will be making crispy brown piles of leaves in which to frolic! This morning was a beautiful morning for leaf-peeping... Bright and sunny... 53 degrees... In fact, this morning I was sitting at a window booth at Maine Bean Bakehouse with Rocco while he napped. (He has to store up energy so he can be awake all night, you know.) It was so nice to sip my coffee (a vanilla latte, if you were wondering) and watch the leaves floating their way to the ground. Yes, I know that I am sounding like a writer-wannabe here with my descriptions. But I have to clearly record it for myself so I can look back at this in another few weeks and know that I did occasionally have rare moments in my life that didn't involve diapers.

I desperately want to love Maine Bean. It's close by, has the perfect atmosphere, delicious desserts- and their breakfast sandwiches are pretty great, too... But I have to admit, that Starbucks does coffee better! I used to refuse to set foot into Starbucks just on principle. Then one day I caved and went in. Now I try to go at least weekly. I am so weak! In fact, in last year's Christmas stocking, Santa gave me a Starbucks card loaded with enough to cover my coffees for the whole year... oh, how I love Santa!

So, now that it's obvious that I am so sleep-deprived that my whole life revolves around coffee... Let me fill you in on my boys: ALR has been crazy-busy lately... Right now they have a house jacked up into the air so they can pour a slab under it where there wasn't one. It's really something to see! (Last week's torrential rain had Skip a little nervous, but it's all good.) Owen got his first report card for the year- the elementary school equivalent of A's and B's. And he is really getting into reading now; last night he was the one reading the bedtime stories! He is such a lovable little boy... Always giving us hugs and kisses. :) Oscar is loving Show & Tell at his preschool every Friday... So far he has brought in three different Lego minifigs (minifigures) to show. I'm not sure if everyone in his class has noticed that they've been different guys or if they just think he keeps bringing in the same Lego man! (He did "mix it up" and bring in his blankie once.)

Photo (above right): Owen & Oscar making friends with Sunday night's dinner.

And, Rocco... it's been an exciting week for Rocco! He's now six weeks old and he SMILED this week for the first time! It is the most rewarding, goofy, gummy smile you've ever seen! It always amazes me how a smile can change a face completely! It's so cute. He is a little stingy right now with the smiles- we are only getting one or two each day, but they are wonderful!! And we now get real tears when poor, neglected Rocco has to sit by himself for more than five seconds... (In case you didn't know, babies don't cry actual tears when they are born- that comes as they get older.) I think Rocco likes the guilt that finds me when I see him with tears streaming down his cheek!

Photo (above left): Rocco, five weeks old, mid-yawn.

For those of you looking for a Lola update, she is doing awesome! Her battle wounds from a dog fight (over- what else??- a ball) at doggie daycare have healed up nicely now. But we're thinking about doing an intervention to help her through her ball addiction. I'll keep you posted. :)

Lastly, in late-breaking news (added to my post after its original publication, since I was almost asleep for the night when the first call came into "the newsroom")... the boys have a new cousin! Keall's labor was induced at 8am this morning and at 9:25pm my newest niece was reluctantly born. I don't have a photo of the cutie yet... (a symptom of having my own newborn to contend with when we visited the hospital!) but I think she looks almost exactly like her big brother Callahan did when he was born- like a little Eskimo! She's very sweet! We're hoping that she learns to like cars and trucks; otherwise she won't be having much fun at family gatherings!

PENELOPE LILY FRY

13 October 2006

9:25pm

7 lbs, 2 oz

20.5"

And yet another new baby... (Careful when you drink the water on the eastern seaboard!) Our Connecticut friends Mike & Sarah Carr just had their second baby!! We think she looks just like Mike! But cuter.

PIPER ALDEN CARR

15 October 2006

8:42am

7 lbs, 14 oz

20"

Well, that's enough excitement for me for one week... Now I must pick up my crying-real-tears-since-he-doesn't-care-about-blogs baby. Over and out.

Cumberland County Fair

Owen & Oscar at the 2006 fair

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This Thursday we ventured to the fair with all the boys. We dusted the cobwebs off the infant stroller (it literally had cobwebs- it's been stored in the garage for four years!) and headed out! Rocco is still a little bit too small to not get lost in his sling, so the stroller was a necessity.

As usual, the fair was like a social gathering! We ran into lots of friends; Owen & Oscar let us mingle a little bit before dragging us off to the midway for rides... Oscar was disappointed that he couldn't get on the Flying Bobs due to the height restriction, but a trip on the Scrambler fixed that!

Photo: Owen & Oscar on the kiddie coaster (they're wearing red)

After enjoying some fatty, fried, fair food (say that three times fast) for dinner, the kids wanted to play one of the carnival games where they each won a cheesy toy... Oscar chose a plastic sword (naturally) while Owen picked a set of plastic cars. Then Owen got upset that he didn't pick a sword, too; so Skip took him back and talked the game attendant into letting Owen trade in the cars for a sword. Then Owen decided he actually wanted cars after all. Argh- this kid! The sad part is that the exact same thing happened at last year's fair! (Except that last year we didn't let Owen go back to try to switch prizes. Instead he just sulked about it for a day or two... until Oscar's sword broke!) Even still, we all had a great time at the fair this year! We may even try to get to the Fryeburg Fair, too!

Photo (right): Skip, Oscar & Owen- with their chintzy carnival toys

The fair was actually so fun- 3 kids and all!- that we decided to go to the movies on Saturday. We saw the animated "Open Season" and everyone really enjoyed that. It was Rocco's first time at the movies- he slept through the entire thing. :)

Speaking of Rocco, he turned one month old on Saturday! We can't believe that he's already a month old! Time is whizzing by!

Photo (left): Koren & Rocco- on his first ferris wheel ride

Photo (right): Rocco, one month old, posing with Al the Alligator

Photo (below): Rocco in his Rock Star outfit, one month old

Life with Three Boys

Photo: Koren with Rocco at 3wks

Okay. We've survived a month as of this Saturday. (It's exciting to be reminded that I can live on very few hours of sleep each night. I don't always do it gracefully, but the point is that I can.) Rocco is not allowing a lot of peaceful resting at night; but he will happily let us nap if we do so while holding him! He's so in love with us that he simply can't stand to be put down. Which makes things like going to the bathroom or eating our dinners somewhat more difficult. However, we know there are worse fates than being "forced" to snuggle our baby for hours on end! It really is a joy... We just aren't getting much else done around here!

Photo (right): Rocco, 4wks, sneering at me from his moses basket, as if to say, "You actually think I will nap?"

Rocco is doing great, according to both the visiting nurse and the pediatrician's office. At his last weigh-in (two weeks after his birth) he was 7 pounds- that's one pound more than when he left the hospital. I credit this weight gain to him eating ALL the time. He's also gained half an inch in length. The nurse did notice that the right side of his head is getting a little flat since he always wants to lay on that side... She gave us a few ways to remedy that, none of which are working so far. He insists on being on that side no matter how hard we've tried to prevent it. So when you notice that Rocco grows up with a lopsided head, be kind and don't mention it to him. ;)

Oscar started at his new preschool a couple weeks ago and he loves it there! How things have changed- at Ozzie's old school he was once in a class where he was the sole boy in a room of girls. Now his class this year is all boys! He's having so much fun. And last weekend Oscar got the distinct honor of bringing Traveling Teddy (the class stuffed bear) home for the weekend to have an adventure with us. Oscar was absolutely giddy about it! Teddy had fun here and we wrote in his journal about all the fun things we did with him so that Oscar could share with his class on Monday morning. It was really cute!

Owen is still doing awesome at school and loving it all. One of his favorite things seems to be having hot lunch at school... He's eating all kinds of things there that he wouldn't try if we had served it at home. The most exciting thing, though, is that Owen is learning to read!! He has been reading us stories for the past two weeks without much trouble at all. We're so proud of him!! He's also been learning math; he's getting pretty good at addition and subtraction now. It's just so cool to watch someone learning this kind of stuff! (And the fact that he loves it is even cooler. The smile he gets when he finishes reading a sentence just melts me!!)

Skip & I are pretty darned happy, too. We sound so boring (like grownups!?!) these days... But we have truly been enjoying the simple weekday routine of putting the kids to bed, then getting into jammies and watching TV! Skip has been really busy at ALR and I've been really busy managing the boys, so evening "veg out" sessions have been just what we need these days. We'll be taking the kids to the Cumberland County Fair this week... And we may even venture out to a movie with everyone, too... We'll see how brave we get! But, so far, we think life with three boys is pretty great!

Now here are some miscellaneous photos from the past few weeks... Including (by request!) some photos of Lola:

Rocco, upset about some perceived injustice (3 wks old)

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Lola standing watch over Rocco (3 wks old)

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Lola & Rocco smooching

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Rocco- not enjoying his tummy time (though he usually likes it)

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Rocco- binky dependent!

Much to our dismay, Rocco is very fond of the binky. I gave it to him in a moment of weakness and he LOVES it. But I plan to break him of it again soon... just as soon as I am getting enough sleep to not care if he is screaming for his binky.

Sweet Baby Rocco

Rocco, eight days old

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Our teensy little pumpkin is here. And we're all completely smitten with him! The boys adore him: Oscar is constantly wanting to hold hands with him and Owen wants to lavish him with kisses on top of his delicious, baby-scented head. Lola enjoys kissing him all over- usually when he's sleeping in his bouncy seat on the floor. He handles it like a pro... often he doesn't even wake up to her rough tongue on his face! (It grosses me out, but I think it's more important that she feel like she's part of his family, too, than for him to remain germ-free.)

Owen and Oscar are such good helpers around the house- never seeming to mind fetching me a water or a diaper from upstairs... And Skip is cooking for me every day- thankfully! If it weren't for him making sure I have dinner and that there are leftovers in the fridge for lunch, I'm sure I would just forget to eat at all! It doesn't hurt, either, that the food has been delicious!

We're having such a great time reading all the cards and e-mails that have been pouring in for us and Rocco... And all the flowers that we've received both in the hospital and here at home have made me feel like Miss America! Thank you to everyone for the happy thoughts and wishes!

Rocco, bundled in his car seat for the ride home from the hospital on Saturday

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Well, even the best-laid plans get trampled from time to time. Here's the story:

We were scheduled for a cesarean section on Friday, Sept 1. However, around 2:30a Wednesday morning (aug 30) I woke up with contractions. This went on- with the contractions exactly ten minutes apart- until about 5:30a. I finally admitted to myself that I had to call the doctor. After speaking with the on-call midwife, who then spoke with my doctor, it was decided that I should go to the hospital to be checked, and that I should bring my suitcase since it was very possible that I might be staying once I arrived.

So I got dressed and finished tossing a couple things in the kids' overnight bags, Skip put Owen on the bus and we headed into Portland with Oscar. With school in Windham just having started the day before, you knew we had to get stuck behind a school bus on the way into the hospital! I thought I was going to die... Or maybe just have the baby in the car behind that bus. Neither sounded appealing. My contractions were pretty strong at this point; Skip just kept reaching over to hold my hand as he drove us there... Oscar was his usual chatterbox self in the backseat- asking why I was breathing so funny, etc. Finally the bus turned off and we continued in toward the hospital thru the commuter traffic- Skip making phone calls much of the way there to reschedule meetings he was supposed to be having that day. We finally arrived at the hospital around 8:30a, where my mom met us to take Oscar to work with her where he happily helped sort the day's mail at Diversified Communications.

Skip & I walked into the maternity ward and, as soon as they saw me they suggested I go straight into my room. (I was in the middle of a contraction at the time and I guess I looked a little less collected than I thought!) My doctor was there to meet us; she checked me right away and announced that my cervix was completely thinned out so we were going to be having a baby that day! She left to scrub in and they immediately started prepping me for surgery. During all this I was still having contractions and then my water broke, too. Wow, was this all fun. :) Everyone in the room would stop what they were doing while I had my contractions... When my breathing returned to normal and the monitor stopped beeping away, all activity would resume. It was so odd!

Lots of people have been asking why I didn't give birth "the regular way" since I was already that far along. But I'd already had two C-sections before due to Owen and Oscar- my breech babies; therefore, the odds of my uterus rupturing along those old scar lines during the pushing required for a "normal" delivery were greatly increased. No thanks! Everyone (including me) was much more comfortable with a repeat cesarean.

Anyway, after a couple of mishaps- including a failed spinal (don't worry- they re-did it!)- Rocco was born at 10:15a! Skip took a picture in the operating room just after Dr. Parsons had delivered our little guy. He's under those gloved hands somewhere as the nurses gave him the once over:

Rocco Cash Sullivan

August 30, 2006

10:15a

6 lbs, 4 oz

18.5"

Another oft-asked question: the name!! Skip & I were engaged in Morocco. It was the first and best vacation we've ever had together. We shortened "Morocco" to get Rocco's name. And Cash is in honor of one of our favorite musicians: Johnny Cash. There you have it. Now we have Rocco Cash, Oscar Dylan (for Bob Dylan), and Owen Marley (for Bob Marley, mon!)

Rocco is a pretty dreamy baby so far... He's pretty mellow and he likes to just look around and snuggle with us. He already sucks his thumb (just like Oscar!)... And last night he slept four hours straight- giving me just the energy boost I needed after a week of being up every hour or two! And, actually, I suspect it's about time for him to wake and demand a feeding... Rocco eats a LOT. At his one-week weight check up today he weighed in at a whopping 6lbs, 9 oz! Yes, that's still very tiny, but considering he left the hospital weighing a scant 6 lbs... a nine-ounce weight gain in less than a week is mighty impressive!

I'd better wrap this up. Enough of my chatter... I know you really just want pictures! Here you go:

Brothers Meeting for the First Time

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Adoring my new babe on his birthday

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Grandma holds Rocco while Owen & Oscar look on

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Rocco in the hospital, 2 days old

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Skip & Rocco Napping Together- one week old