Boy Wonder

Eric never ceases to amaze us. Today we were playing on the computer and not only did he take over using the touchpad mouse, he was able to navigate through the entire webpage and reached the highest level of the puzzle game he was playing. Then he amazed us even more by reading numbers like 752, 345, 621.. all of the scores in the game.

All 3 Sleeping

As a mom of 3 I don't have much time these days. Amazingly, all 3 are asleep, fed and bathed. I can finally have my tea and I feel accomplished having swept the floor, put the toys away, and set the coffee pot for tomorrow. Lots of caffeine these days. Having 3 kids is so rewarding and I really feel like James has been a perfect addition to our family. I was very scared and am still overwhelmed on an hourly basis but I actually do have peaceful times like now. Maybe I can squeeze in a shower before James wakes up... big maybe :)

Ellie's Typical Phone Call

Hi (Kate, Enrique, Nannie, Denise and Linda, Grandmom, etc)
I'm doing good.
My mom's doing good.
My dad's doing good.
Eric's doing good.
My baby named James is doing good.
Bye.

James Drew Gregory

On Monday, March 24, Andrew stayed home from work to help out with the kids. We took them to music class and the park and then spent the afternoon napping. At 4:30 I started having contractions 5 minutes apart. i called the hospital and they said to come in so Lindsay came over to take care of Eric and Ellie. We went to the hospital at 6pm.
When I got to the hospital I was dilated 4-5cm and was thrilled to hear we weren't going home! They guessed he would be born close to midnight. I did get an epidural and they broke my water. Dr. Terrazi was the doctor on call and he was great. After 4 hours I started pushing at 10:00 and James was born at 10:30. We spent most of my labor reading a baby name book and finally decided on James.
It was the first time I didn't have stitches or tears so I am having a much better recovery. Since James was born so late I stayed 3 nights. Andrew and I even got to have a "date" in the hospital, he brought us dinner and a movie.
James is an adorable baby with fine light brown hair and a cute dimple on one side. He barely ever cries and has been sleeping pretty much since birth. Eric and Ellie have adjusted great so far and can't get enough of him.
We are so happy with the new baby and how smoothly things have been. Can't give enough credit to Andrew, he really has taken on a lot of taking care of Eric and Ellie and the the house.

Eric Turns 4

We had Eric's party at the Blue Hills Trailside Museum which turned out great! The kids and I made a green snake cake with a bundt pan. Eric had a bunch of friends, some from school. They had time to look around the museum and then had a snake/turtle demonstration. The big hit of Eric's bday was the real turtle from Auntie Lindsay and Uncle Jon which he named "Mack" after the Cars movie.

Climber.... scary!

I still can't believe what eric did this morning... we let him go downstairs to play and he got a chair and put a stool on top of it to climb onto the hutch and get a pack of snakes for his bday party from the very top! we found out after the fact and he showed us exactly what he did... so no more solo play downstairs anymore!

The Big ?

So today Eric asked me "How do moms get babies in their tummies?" For now he was okay with "when they really want to have a baby they start to grow one in their tummy." Can't wait to see what he asks when his baby brother is actually here!

Our Names

Ellie calls us by our first names when she wants our attention. She calls me Anrew.

Contractions

Today I was having contractions so I went to the hospital. I was dehydrated from being sick so the IV stopped them. The baby is healthy and happy and kicking away. Now if only we could find a name for him. 8 more weeks but who's counting :)

Xylo-phone

Ellie loves musical instruments. She was playing with a xylophone and asked me "Is this a piano Mom?" I said "No that's a xylophone" so she said "Oh" and picked up the stick part of it and held it to her ear and said "Hello..Dad"

Christmas Vacation

We have had such a fun Christmas vacation. The week before Christmas we had 2 snowstorms so the kids finally got to make their first snowman. (Andrew's first too!) Andrew's mom was here for a week and it was awesome to have her here. We went to the Museum of Science and the Rainforest Cafe and did lots of Christmas shopping. Every morning they would come down the stairs and see if Grandmom was up. Luckily she's an early riser.
The kids were so excited on Christmas morning. The favorite gifts this year were clothes and a stroller for the Tricia dolls, cars for Eric, Tinkertoys, a Dora Lego house, and puzzles. Andrew and Eric have been puzzle addicts this vacation. They did 4 ocean puzzles (500 pieces each) that they are going to hang up in Eric's room.
We also went bowling with Dad and the kids. Ellie calls it "balling" and was more impressed with the snacks but Eric really got into it.
Andrew and I went away overnight and Auntie Lindsay and Uncle Jon took them to the Children's Museum and the mall.

I Like My New Bed Dad!

That's all Ellie keeps saying over and over. She is very excited because she just moved from a crib to a toddler bed and Eric is in a twin bed. They were so adorable, jumping up and down and arranging their new big beds.

Let it Snow

Today we had our first big snow of the season... about 8 inches. When I picked Eric up at school the first thing he did was to try to catch the snowflakes with his tongue. Ellie is very excited about her pink flowered snow pants, she was no problem to get geared up to go outside. Eric, the more cautious one, was not too happy about putting on snow pants but finally came outside with us. They both took turns shoveling and loved stomping in the snow. It is supposed to snow again this weekend so we'll have plenty of time for a snowman!

Personalities

i thought I would write about the kids' personalities so I can see down the line how much they stayed the same from 2 and 3 years old.

Eric at 3: very smart, amazing memory, loving, stubborn, huge vocabulary, talkative, comfortable with adults, rough on the playground, tentative about trying new things, lets Ellie take the lead, very good with numbers and letters
loves: singing, animals, vehicles, stories, building towers and pyramids, puzzles

Ellie at 2: very smart, talkative, loving, sweet, notices how people look (i. I like your shirt mommy), girly: loves purple, pink, bracelets, dresses, artisitic, go-getter, adventurous, has no fear, very friendly
loves: crayons, baby dolls, stories, dancing, building with blocks

The Pledge

I can't believe at 3 years old Eric has learned the Pledge of Allegiance. Andrew and I were shocked when he just started saying it one day.

It's A....

BOY!!!! I thought for sure we were having a girl because I have been so sick. But now it makes sense, all the meat and salt cravings. We had a 14 week ultrasound and the tech said "we usually can't tell the gender at this stage." And then all of a sudden at the same time we noticed that it was obviously a boy!
We told the kids and Eric said he wanted a girl and Ellie said she was having a sister.. sorry baby boy!

Cousin Mikey is Born!!!!

Baby Mikey was born on October 12, a little early! We are so excited about having a new baby in the family. Here is his own blog
mikeycsworld.blogspot.com

Potty Time Age 3 1/2

Today we were driving in the car and I let Eric look through one of my catalog of kids' stuff. He told us he really wanted the animals on the animal page. So Andrew said "If you poop on the potty, you can have them." Eric told us he would do it right when we got home. We laughed it off but sure enough, he did it! After months of trying everything, he did it all on his own. Andrew was off to buy those animals!!

Apple Picking

We took the kids to Honeypot Hill with Mom, Julie, Lindsay, Rachel, and Jon. They had a blast!!! They loved the hayride and got a kick out of Jon climbing the ladder into the trees. We caught Ellie biting every apple and putting them back into the bag. The highlight for Eric was feeding the goats.

First Day of School

Today was Eric's first day of school. He was very nervous and cried when we dropped him off but his teacher called after 20 min and said he was fine. He loves the trains and sitting on the carpet. He said even though he liked it, he's not sure if he's going back!