3 years...

Ralphy is 3!

Ralphy has a fire in him that Ralph is so proud of and a sweet, loving side that I am fond of. He is smart and inquistive, always wanting to know how and why things work and happen the way they do.

And I guess I don't have to mention that he's very handsome, too...

Happy Birthday, buddy!

5 years...

5 years have gone by in a hurry...the little baby who made us parents is growing up...

our elliana is a strong, smart, beautiful, funny 5-year-old and we love her so much!

happy birthday, elli lou!

looking back...

sal is 4 months old today...he looks so much like elli at this age to us (but bigger!)...here are pictures of all three kids at 4 months old...

elliana

ralphy

(the hair...i know...i take fully responsibility for that...sorry, buddy!)

sal

summer

here are some pictures from the last few weeks:

sal's baptism with his godparents, uncle nick and aunt jessi...

on the tractor ride during our annual peach-and-blackberry-picking-day with gram:

sal will be ready for peaches and blackberries next year!
sunflower field:

little fish
king sal

wild man!

at the river...

well...sal has a new look...that buzz cut that he was sporting was getting long and patchy because the dark hair is falling out, so ralph fixed it...short...really short...it took me a few days to get used to it - at first he looked like he was a completely different baby...but he's still sweet sal and we're pretty sure he's going to be blond like his sister...he looks so much like her at this age...


elli and ralphy are great...they are wild and crazy and a whole lot of fun...they wear us out on a daily basis...we've been doing lots of fun things as a family...summer is great...

sal's first haircut!

a couple of days after my last post, sal got his first haircut! i know it sounds crazy for a 6 1/2-week-old baby to have a haircut, but if you've seen our little guy, you know that it was needed! the hair on the top of his head stands straight up...so he went from mohawk to buzz cut in a matter of seconds - no products required!

here are a few "before" pictures:



and here he is after:
and here are some of us goofing around...ralphy is now wearing big boy underpants during the day! he's growing up so much!
elli would spend all of her time in the water if she could...when she isn't swimming with grandma & grandpa g at their neighborhood pool, she's sittting in our inflatable pool on the driveway...

sal in the exer-saucer for the first time (he's 9 weeks now):