Jr is back!  Hello, all!  I hope you have been having a pleasant change of weather.  Now that we’re starting to see some real Fall weather I almost want Summer back… almost.

Can you believe we’re writing again so soon!?  We have some fun highlights to show you – the most memorable ones are our camping trip, our vacation and All Saints Day!  Let’s get started. "

We went camping for one night (we weren’t sure if Mom and Dad could handle us out in the “wild” for more than one night, hehe) a couple weeks before the particular camping site closed for the season.  It was the first time Dad has been camping since he was a teenager, and it was the first time ever for the rest of us except Mom, who used to go with her family when she was a lot younger. We camped right next to a little playground, which was great, because Bumblebee, Squeaker and I all took advantage of it many times, which gave Mom and Dad the chance to set up the tent, make the food, clean up messes, chase Cruz all over the place and so on. Here are some pics we took.

Dad and Cruz enjoying their bottles…

Dad cooking meat over the campfire – we had a tasty dinner!

Mom washing dishes by lantern-light, and the fire Dad built.

Here are the girls helping Dad set up beds in the huge tent we got, and Squeaker proudly pushing the stroller around to content Cruz for awhile (and keep him from eating the gravel – yuck!).

In between our camping trip and our vacation to Colorado, we had some quality time – I read to Squeaker and Bumblebee counts poker chips for Dad.  Cruz just hangs out waiting for a snack.

And now for some fun pics from our trip to Colorado.  It was a blast!

The first pic is the mountains on the horizon as we approached Denver.  Then there are a few of us kids enjoying the motionless “wildlife” in Winter Park, as we window-shopped and found some neat postcards.

Here are Mom and Dad (I think Dad has her in a choke hold) on the balcony/porch to our cabin with Snow Mountain in the background.  Then there is a picture of Bumblebee and I hiking up a mountain with Dad – we made it to the top!  So neat!

On the last full day of our trip Mom and Dad went on the waterfall hike – Mom, being 6 months pregnant at the time, wasn’t sure she’d make it, but she did. And even though it wasn’t THAT cold out, there was ice on the falls. It started raining on the way back down, but since it was only a light mist for the most part they didn’t get too wet.

Next are a few pictures of us when dad was having one of his photo-bug moments. Mom thought it would be fun to put our heads together for one shot. It sure was hard to keep Cruz from wandering away. Crazy boy is just so squirmy.

Here is a picture from the All Saints Day party. I was St. Patrick, Bumblebee was St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Squeaker was St. Rose of Viterbo.

The next picture was just a random sappy moment between Bumblebee and me, and then there’s a funny picture of me that mom couldn’t resist taking after I dressed myself as a… well, someone ready to work, at Grandma’s house.

Last but not least here’s Dad painting the very hard-to-reach places on the entryway ceiling just a couple days ago (the whole living room was done!). Mom says he’s her hero. There’s nothing like a clean, white ceiling to brighten up a room. The walls will be painted in the coming weeks – we’re so excited for a fresh, new look.

Well, that’s all for now.  Hope you enjoyed this post.  We’ll try to have some videos for next time.  God bless you all!

Greetings, friends and family!  Long time no… post.  Sorry about that.  Mom and Dad have been super busy (of course) with trying to keep us in line, get work projects done (Dad), run a household (Mom) and still have some down time (yeah, right!).

We have been  busy too, my siblings and I.  Jr., Bumblebee and Cruz are all pretty impressed with how I (Squeaker) have been talking so well, and not squeaking so much.  Everyone says I enunciate so well… whatever that means.  I think it’s a good thing, since they seem to have such wide eyes (and grins) when they’re talking about me.

The most exciting news we have to share, for those of you who don’t yet know, is that we’re going to have another new baby brother or sister in January.  Mom thinks it’s a girl, on account of her hairline wispies going a little crazy like they did when she had Bumblebee and me in her tummy.  Anyhow, the new baby will be born VERY close to Jr’s birthday, if not on the same day.  Jr. is very excited, of course.  He wants another birthday buddy – he already has a few, among our friends and acquaintances.

Anyway, down to the fun stuff.  We have a load of pictures and a few videos to share with you.  Since it’s been such a long time since the last post the first few pictures will seem a little old, but really they’re only from about 6 months ago (of course, that’s 1/5 of my life, so that’s kind of a long time for me).   Enjoy!

Here are a couple pictures of my second birthday… 6 months ago.  😛

You can hear me talking in the following video, which was taken around the same time as my birthday. Cruz is so cute!

Here I am trying on Daddy’s shoes… my mom says there is a picture of her just like this when she was about my age, except she had her daddy’s socks on, too.  Oh, and there’s a picture of me in a swing at a local park.  I LOVE the swings!

And now for a clip of Cruz when he started learning to scoot. We’re not sure why his scoot turned into a roll at one point, but now that it’s September he is working on his walking skills, so this is old news. 😉

Here are a couple pictures from early Summer of the 4 of us kiddos.  Aren’t we adorable!? hehe.

Mom says this next picture had to be nice and big so you could see the full disaster… Jr. and Bumblebee decided to have a dump fest. Jr. and Cruz’s room was the location, and Bumblebee looks at the mess as if it’s going to clean itself.  All I know is I was fast asleep. 🙂

There has been video of me in the past exhibiting my singing skills, but I’m getting a little better… take a look!

Cruz caught Mommy taking his picture, but he was a good sport about it.  He just loves pulling toys out of the toybox. These pictures were taken in June.

The 4 of us got caught by Daddy when he was camera-happy sometime in August… we weren’t exactly photogenic in terms of our clothes and hair – I was already in my pj’s and by this time of the evening Bumblebee and I had sufficiently messed our hair up to look like we had “bed-head”, but Daddy can’t resist putting us in poses and getting us to smile and laugh, ready or not!  It was a good time.

I love books – below are some pictures of Jr. and Bumblebee reading to me, then one of me reading to a puppy, and finally one of the three of us reading on Jr’s bed.

In the following recent video of Cruz he displays one of his newer skills – saying “hi.”

Now for some of Cruz’s first birthday (some were taken ON his birthday, others the weekend following, hence the different outfits and birthday desserts).

Cruz also got a haircut for his birthday – here are some before and after pictures.

And a portrait shot of each of us, taken early this month.

I hope you liked the post.  If you’re lucky you might see more by Thanksgiving.  Enjoy the cooler weather!  Happy Autumn!  🙂

Wow, what a busy Christmas we had!  It’s hard to remember everything we did, but our photos will help us remember some of the highlights.  I’m so much bigger and smarter than last year, now that I’m 4, and Bumblebee is super-excited to be 3 – you will probably get to see photos from her birthday as well as mine in the next blog post, but for now we’re going to look at some Christmas photos.

We got to help decorate the tree the week before Christmas.  It was a lot of fun.  Here we are being big tree-decorating helpers!

This was taken right after Christmas morning Mass, at Old St. Patrick’s Oratory downtown.  It is a beautiful church, and we really liked the nativity scene they set up (behind us in the photo).

Before going to Mass we got to see what was in our stockings.  We each got our own cord rosary and a little pouch for it, as well as a small stuffed animal, holy cards, balloons and some treats.  I got a pocket saint book, Bumblebee got a doll outfit and Squeaker got a pair of little gloves.  Cruz has a stocking, but mommy and daddy didn’t fill it because they said he didn’t need anything but hugs and kisses, and you can’t put those in a stocking.  Anyway, here are some pictures and videos of Christmas morning.

Later in the day we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for a big dinner in honor of Jesus’ birthday. Squeaker found an old clown wig with the toys and decided to try it on – the results were quite funny.

We opened more gifts in honor of Jesus’ birth at a larger family party on the Sunday after the 12th day of Christmas (Epiphany). Here are a few photos from that party.

Here is one more video of Squeaker singing her favorite song.  She had just woken up from her nap, so her hair and outfit were a little lacking, but she sure is cute anyway.

And finally, here are just a few of our pro Christmas photos, which were actually taken in November.

We hope you enjoyed looking at our pictures and videos.  Mom and Dad say they’ll get the birthday blog done soon… but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen until after Squeaker’s birthday at the end of this month.

We will leave you with a photo of a Gingerbread house that mommy let us help make.  It was a lot of fun, and thankfully not as messy as we thought it would be. The kit was from Grandma M.  Mom says maybe we’ll get lucky and receive another one next year.

Have a blessed and Holy Lent!

Love, Jr.

Dad and Mom said it was my turn to share some news.  Seeing as how I’m the oldest girl, and it was appointed to me to invoke the patron Saints of my newest little sibling, I get to tell about him.  My new little brother, Cruz, was born in the evening on Sept. 13th – 8:11 pm, to be exact.  He was bigger than Jr. and I were when we were born, but not quite as big as Squeaker.  Mom says he is the same as she was at birth – 8 lbs. 10 oz.  I guess labor was short, 5 hours total.  Well, 5 hours is a long time to me, especially when that’s how long I have to wait before dessert!  Oh, I almost forgot, Cruz was 22 1/8 inches long.  About the same as Squeaker.  We sure love him, and Mom says he’s a good baby.  I must agree – he lets me hold him without getting fussy, which is always a good thing. 

So, without further ado, here he is!

If you think he looks like Daddy, well, you’re not the first.  Just wait, it gets better. 

How’s that for a line-up?  What a cutie, eh?  Mom calls him her little gorilla boy, because he has wide hands like Daddy’s, and he had more bulky looking limbs at birth than the rest of us kiddos.

Life just gets busier around here, which is why we are so late in getting the blog updated, but then you all are used to that by now, eh?  Anyway, here are a few more pictures of Cruz and some of the rest of us, too.  To start off, how about a couple of the kiddos with daddy?  That second one is something about hear no evil, speak no evil… I don’t get it myself, we just did as we were told.

And from the baptism, Cruz with his Godparents and then with mom and dad…

The big kids… pictures taken over the Summer. 

Don’t ask me what this next one is about… I guess Dad thought it was a Kodak moment, which makes no sense (Kodak makes something called film… what does that have to do with pictures?).  We went with him to the hardware store to help him find some things… we weren’t much help.  Then there’s a picture of Gerard looking a little, uh, forlorn.  I think that’s the word mommy used.

And some more of the new addition!

And one more each of the proud older siblings.  Yes, I was posing for that picture in the middle, but you have to admit, it’s pretty cute if I do say so myself. 

Thanks for visiting the blog.  Mommy says she will do her best to get a few more pictures and a couple videos up in the near future, but don’t count the days or you’ll get bored pretty fast.

Bumblebee signing off.  God bless you all!

It’s my turn, Junior… you always get the say.  Bumblebee here.  I promise to type better than I enunciate.

So Squeaker turned 1 on the last day of March, and while we didn’t have a birthday party at home, we had one for her and one of our cousins at the cousins’ house.  That worked out well, since they have even more toys (and more kids) than we do.

Here are some pictures of Squeaker’s first birthday. 

Squeaker wasn’t sure what to do with the candle. So she just sucked her thumb. What a silly girl, doesn’t she know the two middle fingers taste better? I’ll have to keep working on her.

She got a nice, pretty dress from Grandma and Grandpa M.

She sure liked the cake, though, as you can see in the next picture. Boy, if it had been chocolate she’d look like she was in need of a shave by this point.

The following pictures are from January, but Mom said we should stick them in here because they’re just so cute.  I happen to agree, though I think those pj’s looked better on me the previous Winter. 

The first picture she was caught off guard, but by the second picture Daddy made her laugh.

Here’s a video of Squeaker refusing to say “dada” and another of her after making a mess with the junk mail.  To be fair, Daddy left all the throw-away mail on the floor so Junior and I could throw it away for him, but Squeaker spread it out and crawled around in it before we could do our chore.

Here are some dress-up pictures we took at our friends’ house.  They have all sorts of fun outfits for kids to wear.  I was a cowgirl and Junior was a soldier.  Squeaker wanted to be a soldier too, but she only got as far as the hat before she giggled herself into goofiness.

Here’s a video of Junior and me reading together on the big chair, and Squeaker throwing a small fit.  Mom says she won’t be upset if you don’t watch all 4 minutes… but I think it’s worth your time.

Junior and I got a ride in Grandpa C’s wagon.  We LOVE to ride in his wagon!

And now for a picture of Moi!  I decided to try on Mr. Potato Head’s glasses at Grandma M’s.  They were a little snug.

And more of me… here I am eating a cupcake… or rather wearing a cupcake. 

And another video of Squeaker, walking with a push toy.  This was just a couple short weeks before she started walking on her own, which she did at the same age I was when I started walking – 14 months.

Here is an older picture, probably from January or February, followed by a picture of Squeaker from May.  Mom says that May picture looks just like one of her baby pictures.

And finally for Easter pictures.  We’re almost done with this post, which is good because I need to go brush my hair.

Here is Squeaker trying to take the large Easter basket Uncle Bill sent us.  Then there is the whole family on Easter Sunday… we kids weren’t cooperating for the picture, no surprise.

And lastly here is a video of our Easter Egg hunt, or part of it.

Well, thanks for paying attention to me – Junior is not always as considerate.  Maybe sometime we’ll let Squeaker be the emcee.  Mom says don’t expect another blog update (unless a miracle happens and she finds time to blog about our Summer by the end of August) until after baby #4 arrives, which will be most likely mid-September.  We’ll get back to you with cute baby pictures and videos, hopefully before October.  That’s all for now.  Bumblebee signing off.  Love you all!

Junior here.  We’re back with another update on Christmas and birthdays.  We hope all of you had a blessed Christmas.  Some of our professional Christmas photos are below, as well as some home shots, and a couple videos.  But first, the professional pics…

And now for the family shots.

We had a great Christmas.  Here are some pictures we took at home – we got some fun things for Jesus’ birthday. 

One of my favorite gifts was “Rocky” the rocking bull.  We play with him a lot!  Bumblebee got a baby doll and a stroller in which to push her.  Squeaker is upset because she wanted Bumblebee’s gifts.  Well, among other things she got a nice fleece blankie and some bibs.  She needs the bibs badly.  Of course Mom says we all need them, but I NEVER spill on myself… well, almost never.

And here’s a video of Squeaker being cute.  She’s always cute.  We love her so much!

Now for some pics of my birthday!  I had a great birthday – I got a car rug for my hotwheels and more new cars to drive on it as well as a car case to store my cars, a hotwheels “dealership,” a semi-truck that carries one or two cars, and a yummy firetruck-ice-cream cake… here is just a taste of the excitement.

And now for Bumblebee’s birthday pics.  She got a Leap Frog Fridge Phonics toy from our neighbors that we all like to play with, as you can see that I was fingering it before she even got to play with it at all.  She got some clothes and a book, a pretty pillow and an old-fashioned Fisher-Price record player, too.

And here are a couple more professional shots of the three of us kiddos (taken 12/10).

Well, that’s all for now.  We’ll be posting Squeaker’s first birthday and Easter pics next time. Thanks for visiting.

Well, here we are!  Junior here… sorry to have kept you in suspense for so long.  We’ve been quite busy, as usual.  We had a great Fall, and an exciting week of vacation, which was kind of a first for us as a family.  We’ll try to bring you up to date over the next couple of blog posts, but for now let’s work on October thru November.

This picture was taken before October, but since we’re just so cute we thought we’d put it in here.

For All Saints Day I dressed up as St. Edward the Confessor, and Bumblebee was St. Rose of Viterbo.  Mommy made my costume, which she said took hours, and Bumblebee’s costume is mine from last year (after spending all that time on my costume Mommy didn’t have time to make a new one for Bumblebee).  Anyway, here we are, all dressed up and ready to party!

For vacation we first went to see Squeaker’s Godparents in the Quad City area of Illinois and Iowa.  We had a blast there – we got to play with their kids, Clare and Peter.  Clare is my age, and Peter is Squeaker’s age.  Here are a couple pictures from our visit with them.

After leaving Clare’s house we were going to go to St. Louis to see Daddy’s sister and her family, but I got a nasty cold, so instead of sharing it with them we decided to go home for a couple days and hope the vitamins C and D would work quickly so we could still enjoy some of our vacation.  It turned out they did work, and I was over my cold in just 2 days, so we spent those two days back in Kansas City, seeing some things we haven’t bothered to see in our own area.  These pictures were taken at Liberty Memorial, the World War I museum in Kansas City.

We also visited the KC Zoo while we were home.  Here’s a picture of Mommy and the three of us kids, followed by one at Crown Center, where we visited Fritz’s for lunch, and the train brought us our food – sure wish we had a picture of that to share.

When we took off for Arkansas to see Mommy’s cousin and then on to Oklahoma, it was lots more driving, but Mommy and Daddy said we did a good job in the car, all things considered.  I guess this next picture proves it.  Well, you can only see so much road and trees before you get a little tired of it… literally.

Anyway, in Oklahoma we spent a couple nights at a really neat hunting lodge in the rolling hills of the northeast corner of the state.  Even though it rained that first night we still had a lot of fun.  The next few pictures show some of the fun things we saw there – including the pet deer that “attacked” Bumblebee… well, it was trying to play with her, but the deer didn’t know how to play gently, so he knocked her over and pawed at her, but she was okay, just a little spooked.  She still hasn’t forgotten it.  Anytime we mention “deer” she starts pointing to her shoulder, where the deer pawed at her.  I think it’s her badge of courage – she’s pretty proud of it anyway.

The hunting lodge was a log cabin that used to be someone’s house many years ago.  It was neat.  And here are Bumblebee and I running on the “moving” bridge.  At first we were scared, but then we had fun.

So after we left the hunting lodge we headed home.  It was a good vacation, and we hope to go back to the hunting lodge when the weather is warmer so we can enjoy the outdoors even more.  But not sure if it will happen this year, as this will be the first Summer that mommy will have a big pregnant belly!  That’s right, we’re going to have a new baby brother or sister in September!  We just found out a few weeks ago.  Anyway, we will try to blog again very soon and catch you up on Christmas and birthdays (I’m 3 now, and Bumblebee is 2).  Until then, God bless you all!

Alright, so you’ve had a look at Spring, now let’s see how our Summer has been going – other than fast!  I have been trying to be a good helper to Mom, putting my toys and books away when she asks me to, and living up to all 33 months old I am now.  Squeaker is getting bigger  all the time (6 months old now!), and I love her so much!  She will be sitting up soon, and is already trying to scoot around like an inchworm on the floor!  Sometimes I play with her and talk to her if she’s a little fussy when Mom is trying to cook or clean.  Bumblebee (20 months) is not as excited about her, but she’s getting to like her more now that Mom doesn’t have to hold the baby so much.  Bumblebee is also getting bigger, and finally talking more – I can’t wait till we can have a decent conversation.  She used to always reply “uh-UH” to everything, now sometimes she says, “uh-HUH” and she also likes to point at the rest of us and call us by name “Mama, Dada, Dar, Baby!”  Well, she still has to work on my name, but she’s getting there.  Anyway, this Summer has been busy and fun.  Take a look below!

Here’s our midwife, holding Squeaker when she was just a few days old.  She was almost an April Fool’s Day baby!  Whew!  Boy are Mom and Dad glad they missed that one!

Wanna see Squeaker making little squeaks when she was only about 2 months old?  Click on this link and see her try to talk!

Squeaker squeaks… sort of

Here are a couple more pictures of Squeaker (one with Daddy), as she got a little bigger and cuter!

Following this paragraph is a link to a video of Bumblebee, before she was talking much, and about 2 weeks after she finally learned to walk at 14 months (within days of when Squeaker was born).  I beat her on that one!  I was 12 months when I walked for the first time… Mommy says she walked at 10 months.  Hmmm… maybe Squeaker will walk that early.  Anyway, Bumblebee had just finished a bath and….

Bumblebee all clean and showing off

Here are a couple pictures from our visit to a fun restaurant that hands out masks, raisins and crayons with paper for kids- we like going there!  Bumblebee was a piggy and I got to be a tiger.

Here is a longer video… of ME!  (Got a few minutes?)  Back in June Mommy decided to record me while I was reading my favorite book – “My Shoes Take Me Where I Want to Go.”  Only problem is that in the video I start in the middle of the book, and when I get to the end I go back to the beginning and read what I missed.  hehehe

Jr. Reads the Shoe Book

Here are some pictures of Bumblebee from this Summer, with 3 of the many expressions she likes to make.  She sure is fun to have around.  We love to play together, but sometimes we fight over toys.  I just wish she wouldn’t try to take my trucks and cars!

Don’t laugh… I just have this habit of putting on my head anything that looks like it will fit (remember the bucket from a few posts back?) – like the swim trunks below.  Then you can see me sitting on Daddy’s lap, spread-eagle.  I like to be like my Daddy.  🙂

Okay, three more pictures, and then I gotta scoot!  Here are 1) Bumblebee and I riding a zebra on a carousel, 2) The three of us sitting on the couch at home, being cute (of course!), and 3) Squeaker taking a nap and sucking on that beloved thumb!

Well, I hope you enjoyed looking at our blog.  If you’re lucky we might actually update again before Christmas!  Hope you all are well, and God bless you all!

Love, Jr. (and family)

We know, the same old long delay in posting… Mom and Dad apologize for that.  Many of you already know that three little ones keeps parents busy – after all, for the first time, the parents are outnumbered!  Mom and Dad are learning the ropes of keeping us all corralled while trying not to stifle our childhood.  And when the oldest of 3 is only 2 1/2, it makes for even busier times!  But I’m a good helper and carry the diaper bag for Mom sometimes.  🙂

This post is about our trip out East to see our friends in St. Louis.  We had a good time.  Mr. J and Dad flew out to CA to drive back a moving truck with a bunch of estate stuff, and Mrs. J and her kiddos, PJ and SJ, and Mom, Bumblebee, Squeaker and I all got to stay at the J’s house and play.  The first four pictures are from our outing to the St. Louis Zoo.  PJ and I are walking together in the second picture, and in the third and fourth Bumblebee is walking with our cousin and our Aunt, who live in St. Louis.  The last picture is of the St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis – beautiful church!