Merry Christmas! Click on image for more pics.

Click on above pic for more photos.

December 2006

Our two sons.

Justin's Birthday Party

Luke on December 4, 2006

November 4, 2006 - Luke's Baptism

Happy All Saints Day!

Happy All Hallows Eve!

The Sunday before All Saints (Hallows) Day two interesting things happen. First our parish invites children to dress up as Saints for Mass. Second Manchester, where mom-in-law lives, has trick or treating in the afternoon. So what does that mean for us? It meant that Justin dressed up as his favorite Saint, St. Michael the Archangel. Justin is very much into St. Michael and fighting the devil. Catherine put on some scrubs and dressed up as St. Gianna Molla (1922-1962), a physician, loving wife and mother.

Afterwards, Justin shed his wings and put on his cape, while Catherine lost the scrubs and dressed up as Strawberry Shortcake. Then it was off to see Grandma. And while Luke didn't dress up as a Saint this year, he did manage to get a Tigger costume on. The afternoon search for candy was great for taking pictures and video.

Tonight we will go out for some real Trick-or-Treating, and patiently wait for the great Feast of All Saints. It's still anyone's guess which super hero costume Justin will go for.

Luke... I'll be your Godfather

Circus Saturday!!!

Saturday we braved the animal rights activists and went to the circus. I actually had a pleasant conversation with two ladies handing out literature... neither had yet decided whether or not she was pro[human]-life. Nice girls but they got a little defensive towards the end of our discourse. It was hard to get a close up of Catherine because the instant she sees the camera she wants to get behind it to take a picture. Luke slept in his sling most of the time but he did manage to catch a little bit of the action. Catherine liked the tigers the best, and Justin asked if we could come
back after having experienced only 5 minutes.

Innocence

Sly Smiling

While he was in Emily's tummy Luke went every where she went, but today hospital policy forced Luke over to the Dark Side of the Force as he missed Mass for the first time ever. I took the big kids to Ste. Marie's and later Emily went to Mass at the hospital chapel (thank God for Catholic hospitals). Never fear, Luke came back to the Light Side as we watched Mommy receive our Eucharistic Lord on TV (the hospital broadcasts the chapel Mass).

Update: At 10 PM I figured out why he was slyly smiling at me earlier. It's because he had pegged me as his first target. I thought he was really sweaty...closer inspection revealed that he's getting too big for the hospital diapers.

Close Up

Big Siblings come to CMC

Big Brother and Sister came by to visit and were very happy to finally see Luke... then it was off to Chuck E. Cheese.

Luke... I am your father.

He's out! 10:30 AM and yes he's already had video taken.

Everyone's doing well, happy, and amazed at how fast everything happened.

As Emily said, "Next time we'll end up having the baby in the car!"

He weighs 8lbs. 6oz. but has not been measured yet because he was very hungry.
OK, the nurse says he's about 21.5 inches. That's my boy!

Contractions are coming

At 6 AM Emily woke me up to tell me that she had been having contractions for the last 90 minutes. A quick call to the doula, and now the contraction timing has begun, and water just broke, so off we go!

As of 10 AM Emily is doing great and it seems like Luke will be out this afternoon.

Waiting for Luke Xavier

Yesterday, October, 12 was the day our youngest son was due to leave his mother's womb. Justin and Catherine were each about 2 weeks early, so Luke is now the official tardy sibling. We'll just continue to wait patiently. The hospital bag has been ready (thanks to Emily) and the infant car seat is finally in the car (I got around to doing it last night).