Reminiscing - Babies and Blessings

Here is baby Jonah in the hospital. February 2004! Born in Worcester, MA.
Jonah's Blessing Day. April 2004. We were so happy to have Mom & Dad (Burton) and Tim (Alli's bro) & Kathryn visiting us! Earlier that week we'd driven down to see Tim graduate from college & be commissioned into the US Army in Virginia. Then we all drove back up to Mass. for Jonah's blessing. What a long but very cool week!!
This is Baby Merrik at home. March 2006. He always was a good sleeper. Born in Hartford, CT.
And Merrik's blessing day. April 2006. Left to right we have George & Claudia Burton (Alli's parents), Jared holding Merrik, Alli holding Jonah, Bill & Dolores Cowden (Jared's dad & step-mom), Paul (Jared's bro) in back, Kattie (J's sis) & Michelle (sis-in-law) in front of Paul, and on the right is Dick & Beverly Williams (Jared's grandparents). This was at the Springfield (MA) Ward chapel.

And baby makes 4! Our first family photo with the four of us.

Jonah (2), Alli, Jared, Merrik (1 month ... and sound asleep, of course!) April 2006 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Disney on Ice!!

Jared's brother gave us tickets to Disney on Ice for Christmas. What a great present - we had a great time!!! This was at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

(I'd asked the girl sitting in front of us - who I obviously didn't know - to take our pic while Jared had gone to get snacks... This is Jonah being shy because a cute teenage female stranger was looking at him - LOL! And Merrik apparently didn't want to give her the satisfaction of getting a smile out of him.)

Not a great pic, but here is Mickey, Minnie, Jiminey Cricket and I think Donald Duck on the ice.

I think this was part of the "It's a Small, Small World" finale. They had costumed skaters representing about 20 countries, along w/ all the Disney characters together on the ice. That's Goofy there in the spot light and Donald to his right.

Jared, Jonah, Alli & Merrik. Merrik spent the whole time on my lap, munching popcorn. I never knew a 2 year old could consume so much popcorn, but hey, whatever keeps him happy!

It was a fun trip! And Jared & I enjoyed it just as much as the kids! (THANKS PAUL!)

Christmas!

Christmas morning at home... Alli & Merrik. He's holding the favorite gift of the year - toy rifles - one for each of the boys - from Uncle Paul & Auntie Michelle. Oh yay...

(and I should probably clarify that that's a toy baby doll on my lap next to M)

Jonah & Jared playing with the Batman car. Look at all the surrounding aftermath. Love it!
Merrik & Jonah at Grandma & Grandpa Cowden's house later that day. The boys had about 4 "Christmases" what with visiting all the family members around here... the poor dears. :)

CHEESEballs. Merrik (2&3/4) and Jonah (4&3/4) in front of G'ma & G'pa Cowden's teeny weeny Christmas tree.

Kattie & the boys! (Jared's lil' sis)

Halloween (albeit a little late!)

"Trick or treat!" at Uncle Paul & Auntie Michelle's house in Connecticut! (Paul had to work)

Red Spidey Merrik, Black Spidey Jakey (cousin) & "S.W.A.T. guy" Jonah, (as he called himself)! We did our usual trick or treat run in Grandma & Grandpa Cowden's neighborhood in Oxford.

On the way home ... need I say more?!?
Yes, even a "S.W.A.T. guy" can only take so much. And they both slept a record 12 hours straight that night!! (almost typical for Merrik, but a small miracle for Jonah) Almost makes me wish Halloween came around more often!

Jonah's First Day of School!!

Even a rainy day still couldn't damper his spirits as Jonah started his first day of preschool! This was November 13th. PreK was full when we moved here in May so Jonah got put on the waiting list. They ended up calling to say they had a spot so ... TA-DA! We're all very excited.
What a cutie pie! He LOVES school!

Ramdom family photos (aka killing time indoors!)

Jonah is bustin' a serious move here. Dancing is a favorite indoor activity!
And Merrik has his own moves, too, of course!

Merrik riding the "horsey"!

Jonah's play-doh dinosaur. OK, I helped a little. (play-doh ... another fan favorite)

And the whole family - "say cheddar cheese!"

Jack-O-Lantern Time!

Better (posted) late than never, right?! This is the first year we carved pumpkins with the boys. And when I say "we" I mean Jared! The boys picked out the designs. He did a pirate skull and cross bones thing (on the left) and a witch's head/face. They looked really cool. (and they should've b/c it took forever)

Autumn in Virginia

During October's trip to Virginia (to visit Rach & her family) we visited this pumpkin farm and MAN was it cold! We were there almost exactly a year ago and what a different story. One year ago during this trip, we were wearing t-shirts and sweating to death. But it's still a good idea to get the boys outside so they can run! (AJ was in school - I have no idea who that other little boy is there on the left)
Jonah & Merrik in front of the hay teepee.
Miss ya, Rach!!!

COUSINS!! Jonah (4), Merrik (2-squished there in the middle) and AJ (5)

One last Autumn visit to Old Sturbridge Village

Our favorite summer spot. We got to watch these cows "grow up" in the past 6 months. Very cute.
Jonah's there on the right side of the fence. (ha ha) He loved these smelly pigs. Ugh.

Jonah & Merrik perched on top of the stone wall in front of one of the village houses. I love the colors of the trees in the back. (and yes, this was shortly after the haircut incident, as you can see from Merrik's shiny head - see post below)

These two oxen are in the village playground. There's toy "freight" to put into and move around inside the wagon behind these oxen, like barrells, firewood and other timely pieces. We miss OSV now that winter is upon us!! It really is the coolest place. (it is open all year round and we've been there in the snow recently but it's just not the same!)

Haircut - LOL

So just as Merrik's hair was growing out, all cute and long, THIS is the view I saw as I came out of the bathroom. Shame on me for thinking I could take a shower with a 2- and a 4-year old running around the house. ...I can laugh about it now! (this was in late October) I heard the two of them giggling once I turned the shower off. I knew right away that couldn't be a good thing because usually one of them is screaming, running for me just moments after I leave the room. Well, it was seconds later that I saw Jonah, clippers in hand, laughing, and Merrik said, "Look Mommy! Jonah gave me a haircut!" Yes ... yes he did. The looks on their faces says it all!

This was after I took the scissors to it and cut as much as I dared, to even things out a bit. Notice the nick right down to the scalp there on the top. Nice.

And here's the final result once Jared got home to "fix" everything. Yep, just buzzed it right off. When all else fails, start from scratch, eh?!?