Ten on Tuesday

A few of the finer moments in the Genovese home with a pregnant mommy!

1. Easter weekend, I went to a baby shower for the daughter of a good family friend (herself also a good friend). After a long time of trying to get pregnant, she finally did and sometime late this Spring, early this Summer, she will bring home not one, not two, but three bundles of joy-- two boys and one girl! We are so excited and ready to support the new mommy and daddy with whatever they need! This picture was taken at the shower-- it features the seven mommies-to-be in attendance!
2. Four months pregnant, over a month ago. Needless to say, I am bigger nowadays!

3. Early on in the pregnancy before we knew our new addition was a boy, people asked Tyler what he was going to name our baby. He always said Tigger for a boy and Piglet for a girl. His choice nowadays for a boy? Conor.

4. One night after dinner, Tyler wanted me to go downstairs to the playroom and help him find something. I was a little slow getting up (hey! It was a long day!) and Tyler said, "Come on Big Jenny, get your butt moving and bring Tigger!"

5. This past weekend Frank and I had date night. As a reward for my new position, I bought tickets to Straight No Chaser, who were performing 2 shows in Northampton, MA. During the show, baby Geno kicked away! Apparently he has good taste in music. After the show, we bought their new CD, had it autographed by all the guys and I plan on using it for nighttime listening in the nursery.

6. Over the past two weeks, I have spent a lot of time sorting out all the baby gear and clothes that I kept from when Tyler was small. Tyler had tons of questions about what everything was for, when did he wear it, and will his brother use it as well. He washed some of the bottles and sippys and even took a liking to an old winter hat and bib. It's been a week now and I can't get any of them back!

7. The other night, Tyler told me that he wanted to be pregnant. I was a bit shocked and asked him why. He said "Because you get to have a big belly and drink fake beer." Huh?

8. After I arrived home from work one night, I had some mail waiting for me. It was from Green Valley Preschool. What was inside? A letter, from my son. What happened? It made me cry. Why? See below:

What does it say? "Dear Mommy, I am so excited about having a baby brother. Love, Tyler"

9. Now that you have read the above, feed on this. Shortly after we found out that we were having another boy, Tyler came over to me, put his head down, and started crying. When I asked him what was wrong, he said he really wanted a sister. Break. My. Heart. Ouch. However, time has passed and he is so excited to have his brother watch him play hockey, show him all Star Wars stuff, and teach him everything he knows!

10. Last but not least, indecision is the name of the game. Shortly after I had Tyler, I decided that I really liked the name Brayden. Yeah, not so sure about it anymore. The other night, we went out to buy paint for the nursery. What color did we get? None. Now only if we could have that Baby fairy Godmother pay us a visit and take care of these things.... hmmmmm

Kitchen Hockey

If I were to ever get rid of my white tiled kitchen floor, only one person in this house would be really upset. After all, white is the color of ice and makes for a great backdrop to an activity that occurs more often than cooking in my kitchen.

I wish I could accurately show the dents in the kitchen cabinets and the fact that the grate on the bottom of the fridge is taped on. But to see the happy grin on Tyler's face, whether it be as goalie, a player taking shots, or someone sitting in the "penalty box" (the lower cabinet), it is well worth all the tape and dents!

"The Trip"

At Green Valley Preschool this month, the kids have been learning about Ezra Jack Keats, "The Trip" and each child took a night of homework home. The assignment? To draw a picture in the class book about a favorite trip that you have taken. After much discussion, Tyler chose our Florida trip in 2008. The great part? He was excited to get to work and did a fantastic job!

Beside the class book in the homework bag there were markers, stickers, the book, and a camera. We read the book together and I learned that it was about a little boy who moved away from all his friends, not an actual trip (you learn something new every day)! The camera was to take one picture of our project in process (Tyler made sure to remind me of the one picture rule!). After we established the rules, Tyler went right to work.
In his picture? The pool (with him swimming in it), the house with Conor, Skylar, Tyler, Frank and myself, and a sandcastle. He also included a picture of the airplane we took to get there.

He did a great job and was so proud while he was working and when he finished. I could not believe the concentration and can only hope that homework is this easy next year!

Happy Easter

For Easter this year, we crammed everything in that would possibly fit! Easter eggs, art projects, and a visit with the Easter Bunny were all on tap.

The weekend before, we colored Easter eggs, and they turned out great! After many years of doing this, I have finally mastered the art of neat Easter egg coloring. The secret? Dark clothes, newspaper, and plenty of supervision!

The finished product:

For Easter weekend, we traveled to New York. After a quick trip (thank goodness!) and 18 "Are we there yets?" from the back seat, we arrived to our destination. Tyler had not seen his cousins since Christmas and they were all so excited to be together again!

On Easter morning, Tyler woke nice and early (ugh). He was the first one downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny left behind. Once again, the Easter Bunny was really nice to Tyler. He brought new Islander hockey guys, playdoh, lots of candy, and some workbooks. He was estatic!

Soon after Tyler went through his basket, Conor and Skylar made their way downstairs. For awhile, the kids were entertained by what was in their baskets. Soon they were asking where the eggs were hidden! The Easter Bunny was smart and left the eggs for all the mommies and daddies to hide when they were well caffinated! (Thank goodness for that since Tyler was up and 6:00A.M.!)

Soon the coffee was made and the eggs were hidden and the kids went to town! There were plenty for them to find and Grandma Genovese even brought the eggs the Easter Bunny hid at her house for the kids to find.

Tyler did really well and had a keen eye for the well hidden eggs, sometimes leaving the more onvious ones for his cousins to claim!

Tyler and Skylar:

Soon all the eggs were open and the sugar started setting in. But what comes up, must go down:

Skylar and Laurette:

The three amigos:

After breakfast (you keeping track? Baskets, eggs, then breakfast?) we all started to get ready for the day. Thankfully, it was a gorgoeus day out and the kids were able to run around while the adults cooked and prepped for lunch.

Not wanting to waste the opprotunity for photo ops, we all headed outside for some quick pictures after we dressed and showered. Someone in our family was not very happy, but he shall remain nameless ;).

After a late lunch and a long fun weekend, it was time to hit the road. We had a great weekend and can't wait for our next trip!