Summer Birthdays

Summer 2008

My 3 Handsome Boys

Liam Michael - Age 7


Benjamin Geza - Age 5


Nicholas Ronon - 6 weeks

It's pretty convenient to have the boys' birthdays in the summer. It's nice to have so much time to spend with them on their birthdays and it's the perfect distance from Christmas (6 months) so that we have a big gap between huge gift-giving occasions. It is also a great time to have their pictures taken. I got the older boys' hair cut last week so they would look a little less shaggy for their pictures. It wasn't until I was loading the pictures and compared them to last year's that I realized just how much they had both grown. It just reminds me to enjoy every stage that Nicholas is going to go through as well as those that Liam and Ben have yet to begin.

Settling Into Summer

We've officially settled into summer here at the Carr house. Liam and Ben have both finished with school for the year, Kevin is getting a chance to catch up on some long-neglected personal projects, and I'm enjoying spending time with all of my boys. Nicholas is now 5 weeks old and we're enjoying every minute of having a baby in the house again.

Nicholas is all set for Memorial Day.

Liam and Ben decided to wear their Hawaiian shirts this day, and I happened to have one for Nicholas too. It was a little big for him, but he didn't seem to mind.

Liam turned 7 on Friday and we celebrated by going to Chuck E. Cheese. I realized that it's kind of become a tradition to go there on, or almost on, his birthday to celebrate both his and Ben's birthday since we have a combined family birthday party somewhere between both birthdays. Ben will turn 5 on Tuesday and since their birthdays are only 4 days apart, it's just easier to schedule one party for them to share.

Liam and Ben caught up with Chuck E. Cheese after he finished the rounds at a birthday party.

I am also feeling pretty pleased with how things are going with Nicholas. He is truly a wonderful baby. He hasn't quite reached the point where he is responsive or expressive, but he is such a sweetie. We've finally gotten him to the point where he spends more time awake during the day instead of at night, which is where we were the first 2-3 weeks of his life. He is a total snuggle bug and everybody loves to spend time just holding him. This is especially true of Liam, who just about pouts if he goes for more than a few hours without having time to hold his baby brother. I am additionally privileged because for the last five nights, Nicholas has slept through the night. The first four nights was between 6-9 hours, but last night he slept for 13 hours!! Go little man!! I can't tell you how surprised I was to get up and discover that he was still sleeping.

Liam enjoys snuggling with his little brother.

So, now that I'm not totally exhausted anymore, I can begin to appreciate the joys of summer. With our newly purchased minivan, we have some mini-trips as well as our "big trip" planned, heading to the Bunny Park (a neighborhood park with some waterworks) with friends, signing up for the summer reading program at the library, spending some time at the pool, and Friday Family Movie Nights. Let the fun begin!!

Ben (in the blue trunks in front) splashes in the spray at the Bunny Park.

Nicholas snoozes in his stroller at the Bunny Park.

Liam runs through the fountains. It was a perfect day to just play in the water. It was 90+ degrees out and it was so refreshing. Unfortunately the sunscreen didn't hold up as well as the boys did and we all ended up with sunburned shoulders.