Family, Festivities, and Firetrucks

This past week has been full of fun.  We loved having Valine and Paul come visit, and were lucky enough to be on Mom and Dad's way back home after their month long excursion in Canada.  Ira was able to settle his grandparent confusion once and for all.  By the end of the visit he seemed to understand how we were all connected.  He seems to recognize what incredible people his grandparents are.

The Portuguese Cultural Center is half a block away from us and on Sunday we thought the Memorial Day parade was starting a day early when we heard a booming band.  There was a mass of people in Sunday attire following a very ornate statue of Christ surrounded by flowers and robes.  They were celebrating Santa Cristo.  Anthony and I later got out for an evening stroll and poked our head into the center's parking lot where there happened to be a massive party going on with folk dancers and traditional food.  

Memorial Day started out with a breakfast at Cor's, a tiny little diner a couple blocks away.  We've been curious about it, and thought it just opened.  As it turns out a married couple has been running it for 38 years, and I don't think it's changed much since then.  It's very authentically retro, vintage, and quirky.  And their cheesecake pancakes are divine!  Mmmm.

From there we headed down to the parade.  I love that all of this is within a few blocks from our house by the way.  Danbury's is probably the best parade I've been too.  No crazy Macy's day floats or anything.  It was more Norman Rockwell-ish than that.  A ridiculous amount of girl scouts, and more firetrucks than I knew existed.  The entire parade was more than an hour and a half, and it felt like the last hour of it was all firetrucks....which certainly didn't make Ira complain. 

In the mix of it all there were several cultural groups represented: organizations based on Peru, Brazil, the Phillipines, Lebanon, Ireland, and Germany.  You name it.  Lots of bands and dancing.  

Yes, even the Department of Public Utilities was represented. 

 Several guns were shot throughout the parade, just in case anyone was falling asleep...Eliot?

 I'm glad this isn't a regular sight in our country.  The Military Museum of Southern New England is right down the road, so there was no lack of tanks and hummers.  I think most of the big wars with living veterans were represented.  This portion of the parade actually got me a little emotional.  Old weathered and wise men, proud in their uniforms, many of them marching and carrying full sized flags even though in any other context they would look frail.  As much as I hate war, I'm grateful for those brave enough to stand up when the time is right.  

We loved having the Thun's here.  I can't believe I didn't get more pictures.  But here's an attempt at a cousin's sleep over.  It lasted about as long as Shaun the Sheep did. Ira really misses the girls.

 We had been wanted an excuse to buy theses.  Mmmm. Sodasgusting. 

The rest of life is pretty good.  Eliot is nursing really inconsistently which is frustrating.  I don't know how he doesn't starve some days.  sigh...  But, he's smiling and holding up his head well, and really really kissable.  Anthony blessed him at church Sunday with the family in town.  It was beautiful.  

Ira has begun a new obsession with dinosaurs, as you can see from our last post.

Anthony's job search is still in progress.  Still waiting to find out where we'll end up.  Only time will tell.  

As for me?  I'm getting use to having two kids, questioning if we should invest in an air conditioner, and am just about to take a nap.  Life is good.  

Have a good weak all!

New York City

 Happy Late Memorial Day!

We had an action packed weekend with Anthony's parents visiting.  It was a blast.  After taking the first couple of days pretty easy, we decided to take a trip down to New York on Saturday. 

 If you weren't already grossed out by germs on the subway, here's proof of them being spread.  Ira's been having issues with nose picking lately.  Some guy in Time Square came right up to him and said, "Hey Boy! Stop digging up yo nose!"

The Thun's came down for a couple of days...also a blast.  The girls handled the city like pros!

 Anthony got lots of stares with Eliot in the wrap.

 The highlight of the trip for Ira at least was seeing dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History.  

He was in HEAVEN.  We'll have to make it back there sometime soon.

 We got some Pizza at Patsy's, but Ira preferred their amazing rolls.  Super crusty on the outside, soft and cloudy in the middle.

Their pizza wasn't what I'd say is typical New York style.  It was a healthy feeling, gourmet-ish version of the greasy stuff I'm use too. 

 Here's one of the Freedom Towers in progress. 

 The process of getting to the memorial at ground zero, felt almost exactly like the hassle of an airport.  The security is a little extreme, not surprisingly I suppose.  The memorial itself is breathtaking.  It feels more melancholy than most memorials I've seen.  It's vast and empty, gravity pulling everything around it down and disappearing.  It made me grateful for my knowledge of the Plan of Salvation.  Where we go after this life brings hope, no matter how tragic the death.  

You can't tell, but the Statue of Liberty is standing on Ant's fingertip.  We also hit Time Square, but it was a little too packed and crazy to pull out the camera.

I love New York.

Alright, I'm off to try and sqeeze in a nap.  Next post will include a more complete summary of the week.  Peace!

Hey Everyone!  

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

  Life has been generally really good.  Eliot had his one month check up.  He's 22 3/4 inches and 11 lbs 11 oz.  He managed his shots well, although we're pretty sure he had a bad reaction to them...or something else.  Anyway, it was definitely a reaction.  For about three days he went from nursing every 2 hours for 20 minutes, to nursing every 3-4 hours for a few seconds-a few minutes, and spitting up much more than usual.  I guess distress would be a good word for the state I was in.  sigh...  Now a week later, he's eating like a champ again.  Thank goodness!

 Our sleeping beauty.  We've moved him to his own room!...which means that at least Anthony is getting a better night's sleep.

 Ira is loving Eliot!  Though somedays I feel like I have to play the role of bodyguard.  A horrifying/hilarious example would be the other day, when Ira began composing an "Eliot Song."  In a monotone voice he started singing "Eyes, ears, mouth, hands..." When I turned around he was pointing to each appropriate lyric on Eliot, so I kept doing dishes.  Until Ira got stuck on the word, "body, body, body, body..." when I turned around again I found him repeatedly hitting Eliot in the diaper!  Not crotch punches!  Eliot wasn't responding at all, so I guess they were gentle punches?  Most of the time, Ira's been extremely gentle and kind to Eliot, with only a punch in the diaper here and there.

 It looks like Ira is kissing Eliot, but he's really roaring at him.

 Interesting.

 I think we got ourselves a smiler!

Since we set up Eliot's room with the pack-n-play, Ira's been spending more time in it that Eliot.  For some reason, he absolutely loves it.  Maybe for the same reason that autistic children, and cattle about to be slaughtered like small enclosed spaces?  Anyway, I heard Ira giggling and found he and Eliot "hiding."

 I think Ira must be socially deprived.  He woke up from his nap yesterday, and the first words out of his mouth were, "Friends coming over?"  A phrase we hear often these days is "Play with me!"  Here's Eliot trying.

The only way I'm getting a chance to write this post, is this awesome "Busy Box."  Thanks Hopkinsons!

We looked at cousin photos, so Ira knew who drew which picture.  He then hugged and carried them around the house for a while. He knows cousins are the best kind of friends.

This is my latest attempt at cake decorating when we took a couple of new(er) moms in the ward dinner.  Thanks for giving me the inspiring me Camille! I did it pretty hastily.  But I'm going to try the butterflies again this weekend allowing some more time. 

The job hunt is happening.  I guess it would be safe to say that options are beginning to present themselves.  We'll know where we're going to end up in a couple of weeks to a couple of months.  Eee!  I can't wait!  O.k.  I better take a shower while I still can!  Love you guys!