The Martin's Minutes

Welcome to the family, Emmanuel!

2011-04-02T20:57:00.006-05:00

Emmanuel Philip Martin - Born March 21, 2011 - 7lbs, 11oz, 19 1/2in. long.

He's the sweetest baby!

Our very belated Christmas Letter...

2011-01-22T10:28:00.005-06:00

2010, Where To Begin?

To be honest, we weren’t going to do a Christmas letter this year. It seems that there is always some curveball that gets in the way, however, after reading some of your Christmas letters, we were inspired to share our crazy life with you again.

It indeed has been a wild year! Yes, we are at a new address (again!), but I’ll get to that shortly. Let’s see, Gregory turned five this year, learned to read and write and attends kindergarten. He loves it – and although it does come with more runny noses and some potty humor, his mom loves it too because some else can have a turn answering all his questions! The child really has a mind like a trap – for example, we were speaking about my aunt (his granddad’s sister) and we reminded him that he met her when we stopped to visit her on the way to New Orleans from Maryland. “Oh yeah” Gregory said and I thought he didn’t quite remember, but Pete asked, “what movie did we watch at her house?” (Who in the world would remember that? He was only 3!) “The cat one!” Gregory said…sure enough, Artistocats…it blows me away how much he remembers and he amazes us like that all the time. He is our treasure, our big helper, and our instigator of all things rascally!

Louis turned four this year, and has had quite a year. Finally diagnosed last year with Mastocytosis, we have been working hard to help fight the symptoms and the disease in order to allow him to live as much a normal life as possible. He and his mom even took a trip to Tucson, AZ for the Mastocytosis Society Conference and while there met with a renowned microbiologist/ nutritionalist. Long and short of it, we have to do a lot of monitoring of external and internal triggers to keep the symptoms at bay. We have a caring bridge site you can visit to learn all about his wonderful, tender, painful, and heroic little life: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/louisfm Also a fundraising site was launched by his uncle Paul (my sister Grace Marie’s husband) to support Louis: www.helpLouis.com

Leonardo is an amazing two year old. He can verbalize better than either of his brothers could at that age and he has such a sense of humor! It is such a blessing that he can speak so well, because we get a remarkable peek into the mind of a two year old. He is so carefree and lively! He doesn’t really seem to have any fear (not even of getting in trouble), but if we start the countdown he will usually obey (although reluctantly!). He also has an excellent memory and can keep right in step with his big brothers. He is joyful, rough, funny and lovable – delightfully surprising all he meets!

Theresa is full of life, literally! We are expecting baby #4 in late March – and yes, it is another BOY! We laugh at God’s humor and are delighted to help build up another man of God. Theresa also continues to have success in her Mary Kay business this past year, having earned her 3rd Mary Kay Career Car! She is a leader in the Mary Kay world and an inspiration to all the women she meets. She also created oil paintings, worked with Pete in marriage ministries, and continues to write on life (and has been a guest contributor to the Office of Life for The Courier, the Diocesan newspaper).

And lest we forget the pater familias! Peter completed his Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) in Studies of Marriage and Family at the John Paul II Institute in December of last year. He continued to work from home and together we did marriage ministry for our parish. To make a long story short, in September, Peter was offered a position as the Director of the Office of Life for the Diocese of Winona, MN. After refusing in the past to even consider it, something was different in September and we both truly felt this was God’s will for us. So, Pete boldly works on the front lines, carving a fresh, new and yet, faithful outreach to engaged and married couples, pro-life ministries, teaching true human freedom in dignity and sexuality, and directing the Safe Environment program protecting children. What a remarkable blessing indeed! We are humbled by God’s constant generosity towards us.

So, here we are in Winona, MN! Ready to start a new year and embrace whatever it is God has in store for us this year! Living for God can be confusing, trying, uncomfortable, unsettling and sometimes painful, but one thing about it is that it is never boring! And more than that, despite all the difficulties in doing so, placing yourself completely in God’s hands, you are supported, you are strengthened, you are loved…

May God bless you! And we pray you had the most Blessed Christmas and that you experience an amazing, adventurous New Year!

Minnesota Living

2010-12-03T20:29:00.004-06:00

Well, we've been here over a month and a half and we just had our first big snow. It is beautiful here in Minnesota and the people are really nice. I (Pete) love my job and I am grateful to God for this opportunity.

Theresa is doing well... in case you haven't heard, we're having another boy and he's due March 21st. She continues to be super mom as she takes care of the boys and keeps up her Mary Kay business.

Gregory loves his new friends in Kindergarten and we all love his teacher... she is teaching him so many songs!

Louis and Leonardo enjoy being home together. Louis recently went with Mommy to Tucson, AZ for a Mastocytosis Conference... you can read more about it here.

Here are a number of photos and a couple of videos for your enjoyment! For the videos you will have to click on it to play it... there are three.

The Great Move North

2010-10-14T09:40:00.009-05:00

For those of you who haven't heard, we've moved! (Well, almost). I (Peter) got a job with the Diocese of Winona in Minnesota and we moved out of our house in Louisiana three weeks ago. We spent a week and a half with Theresa's family in Louisiana and took three days to travel. We took a day and a half off in Kansas where we spent time with Theresa's relatives and we got to see Uncle John and Aunt Kristen too! We arrived in Wisconsin about a week ago and we will move into our new home in Minnesota tomorrow!

I'm posting all the pictures I had from the last several months. We've not been real good about keeping up with the Blog, but we'll attempt to do much better.

Welcome Summertime 2010

2010-05-12T09:21:00.004-05:00

We just wanted to share with you a selection of pictures from the past few months. Enjoy! (You'll see a small icon in the bottom left if it is a video... clicking on that picture will start the video in another window.)

Have you met Leonardo?

2010-02-13T16:21:00.006-06:00

I've been meaning to do an exclusive blog just on Leonardo for the longest time... I always feel bad because we don't seem to take many pictures of him, yet he's so darn cute!

I hope you'll enjoy these pictures of Leonardo. He's such a precious boy and always so happy!

The videos are not the greatest quality because we have resorted to using our phones ever since our camera died, but they show some pretty cute moments of the little guy. I added some of when he was young just to show how he has grown. (Just click on the video to watch... I think there are 12 altogether.)

Belated Update

2009-12-12T16:44:00.003-06:00

Well folks, with the completion of my STL, I can finally get to some of these things that I have put off.

We haven't updated our blog in six months, so I basically just went through and added a collage of photos. Our digital camera broke sometime in the last 6 months, so we rely on our phones. There are quite a few photos (I think 75), so take your time and enjoy! (Too much has happened in the last six months to summarize here, so I'm hoping the pictures will tell the stories.)

God Bless you all was we await the celebration of Christ's Birth!

We're way behind

2009-06-20T22:02:00.009-05:00

Sorry for the long pause! Even though we will soon be seeing most of the family and friends who view this blog, here is a quick update via pictures and videos.

And two amazingly cute videos:

From My Videos

Our House (Part 2)

2009-04-05T06:59:00.002-05:00

There is only one more video of the house: the backyard. Not included in the videos is the ground-floor basement that is not finished. It is used for a work-out room and another play room for the boys. The apartment is the last part of the house. It is just a one-bedroom, but it is cute and perfect for Naomi, our nanny. It is an ideal situation. Again, God has tremendously blessed us.

And we found some bonus videos (they were on Theresa's phone):

In the first video Leonardo is only 3 months old.

He was 4 months old in these last two.

Actually, no, Louis did not shrink, that is just an incredibly large chair... you know, kids are so much bigger these days that they have to accommodate with an over-sized chair.

Isn't he such a sweetie?

This last video was just taken this morning. Louis actually started singing this song in bed before we let them out of their room. Gregory chimed in and they were actually singing in unison. We asked them to sing it again for the camera... The funny thing is, they've only seen that show once at their cousins and it was a while ago. I don't even know the name of the show, but they obviously liked the song!

Our House (Part 1)

2009-04-04T11:12:00.005-05:00

Well, we're finally getting around to uploading videos of the house. Sorry it has taken us so long, but here you go! Our camera was full after doing this first group, so we'll post another blog with Part 2. Let me just say that we are incredibly blessed to have this house and are grateful to God for his continued generosity to us, his little ones. Enjoy! (It takes about 3 and a half minutes.)

Did you see poor little Louis trying to get in? You can even hear his faint call for mommy. Most of the time all he really has to do is push on the door, but he hasn't learned that yet.

Mardi Gras!

2009-02-25T09:21:00.001-06:00

Here's a little look at how the Martin's spent their Mardi Gras:

Finally Updated!

2009-02-18T13:11:00.016-06:00

Sorry for the long pause... here are the much awaited updated pictures of Leonardo. The poor little guy doesn't get his picture taken much, but alas, we can only do so much! Leonardo has been a very healthy little boy and has been cooing and smiling at us for some time now. He will finally be baptized on March 7th at our Parish here in Metairie.

Gregory and Louis have been getting along very nicely with each other and have been excellent big brothers to Leonardo. Here are a few pics of them... our camera hasn't gotten a whole lot of use these days as you can see!

Finally, here are a couple of short videos of Leonardo:

The video's a little dark, but it's cute to hear Gregory say Leonardo's name!

In this video Leonardo is getting a lesson from Daddy on how to laugh. Daddy's not so good at it considering the cough that he's had...

Finally, for those of you who would like to see videos of our new home... well, we're still unpacking. We've got pictures up in one room of the house, but it's still a work in progress. Thanks for visiting our blog!

God Bless,

Pete, Theresa, Gregory, Louis & Leonardo!

We're home... again

2008-12-08T22:27:00.003-06:00

Well, we made it safely to New Orleans... Praise God! Thank you all for your prayers! We had a lot more work packing the POD than we at first thought, so our departure time was delayed by five hours... we left at midnight and drove a total of 150 miles the first 5 hours! The fact that we had been moving boxes for 7 hours straight on top of the fact that we were both up late the night before made for some pretty rough driving conditions and we spent quite a bit of those hours parked at Rest Areas. It's funny because I decided to drive at one point in the wee hours of the morning and made it as far as the next rest stop! We didn't get to Atlanta until 3 or so the next afternoon.

I was able to get some sleep there and thanks to that and good strong coffee, was able to drive straight through the night to New Orleans. We were exhausted, but we are very glad to be home.

We slept a few hours that morning and then later that afternoon visited our new house:

It is a huge old house with a lot of charm. We look forward to moving in next week when our POD arrives.

We're home!

2008-11-09T20:23:00.007-06:00

There is so much excitement in our home! Little Leonardo is such a cutie and the boys just love him! He's doing just fine... we all had dinner together and Gregory and Louis are very excited and already want to know when he can start playing with them. Here are a couple of recent pictures:

Benvenuto Leonardo Benedetto!

2008-11-08T18:09:00.008-06:00

We are pleased to announce the arrival of the third Martin boy: Leonardo Bendetto. Leonardo arrived at 7:27am on November 7th, 2008. He weighed 7lbs, 3 oz. and had blond fuzz. Theresa labored for a very long time and gave birth to Leonardo naturally after only 2 pushes (she was amazing, much to the doctor's dismay who didn't have time to get his gloves on... they in fact told Theresa to stop pushing... yeah, right)!

Leonardo is named after Pete's maternal grandfather Leonard and Pope St. Leo the Great. Benedetto is Italian for Benedict, our current Pope. Leonardo has not "transitioned" well and has been in NICU. His breathing was fast and his blood sugar was low. Being that he was born 1 day before the 38th week, he is technically considered a premie, but all is well now. They just want to make sure that everything is perfect before allowing him into the room with Theresa (which should be soon).

We hope to have Theresa and Leonardo join us at home tomorrow (Sunday), but who knows. Theresa's mother Liz will visit on Monday and stay the week and then my parents will be in town on the 18th and stay for a week. We thank everyone for your prayers and will update this with more pictures when we have Leonardo closer to us!

Gregory and Louis love to visit and play in the room... they're anxious to meet Leonardo... they saw him from a distance, but since they've both had colds recently, they're not allowed into NICU.

Happy 2nd Birthday Louis!

2008-11-01T20:10:00.003-05:00

There has been a lot of excitement around this place! Louis turned two and has also turned into our mockingbird... he repeats everything!

We also celebrated All Saints Eve. The boys got a head start -- on Thursday Sarah, one of the interns at Pete's work, invited us over to the campus of Catholic University to Trick-or-Treat. Here is Buzz Lightyear and his little buddy, Woody... what a couple of cuties!

We've had some very good news lately... Pete was asked to continue his work "remotely" because they were unable to find someone to replace him. He is anxious to get his laptop so that he can work from home although I'm sure he'll really miss going in to work everyday! ;)

The new baby seems anxious to see what all the excitement is about as he continues to push on his mommy and make it uncomfortable (to say the least). The doctors have decided to induce early to help relieve mommy's pain which is great news for all of us as we are all anxious to meet "rocket baby".

With this news (we just found out yesterday)... we have decided to move down to New Orleans early! Pete is going to postpone the defense of his thesis, but will finish the semester of classes. His plan to take time off by calling in sick with a bad case of the "Gottawriteathesis" virus didn't really seem like such a good idea considering the fact that they were nice enough to keep him on! Anyway, he'll finish his thesis and defend it in the Spring.

It will be nice to be home again especially with three children! Please pray for us... we have found the cutest house that we would just love to move into on the first of the year, but we need your prayers to make it work! Thank you!

If you made it this far... here's a couple of treats for you!

Theresa's New Car!

2008-10-10T20:05:00.003-05:00

Most everyone has already seen Theresa's Car through e-mail, but I wanted to post the pictures here. In case you're unaware, Theresa earned this brand new 2009 Saturn Vue with her hard work as a Mary Kay Director. It's an amazing accomplishment! Way to go Theresa!

Oh and I added more pictures to Cute Louis' album... he turns two in just two weeks! He is just becoming such a cutie... don't get me wrong, he's always been cute, but he's only recently shown us his cute and unique personality.

Life

2008-09-07T11:27:00.003-05:00

Here are a few cute videos of the boys...

From Cute videos

Just having fun

2008-08-24T05:58:00.003-05:00

A special delivery arrived for Gregory just two days after his surgery and it was such a blessing because it was the first time he was able to laugh. He was so excited to receive both cookies and balloons! Here is a video of both he and Louis playing.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday's fun. With the new baby arriving in just 13 weeks, we were discussing the new sleeping arrangements. The boys came up with a unique solution:

Busy July

2008-08-08T09:08:00.002-05:00

July was a busy month for us. We celebrated the 4th of July with friends and also re-celebrated Gregory's birthday as well as my own (Pete).

We also attended John and Kristen's wedding in Pittsburgh. Yeah John and Kristen!! It was a great time:

Here's a cute video of Louis dancing... it's a little misshaped because the camera was turned, but it's still cute.

Now look at the video again and notice the boy behind Louis. That's his cousin Daniel Roy. Here's how he gets his groove on:

And then after that, we flew down to New Orleans where Gregory and Louis got to hang out with Nanna and Grandad and all the cousins while Mom and Dad flew to Dallas for the Annual Mary Kay Seminar:

"I think it's going to be a Louis"

2008-07-03T18:35:00.006-05:00

That is a direct quote from Gregory after being asked whether he's going to have a baby sister, or a baby brother. We found out that he's right, it's a boy! Below are some images of the 20 week old baby boy. Please pray that he continually grow strong and healthy.

Oh, by the way, Theresa did earn the car!!!

Gregory and Louis got an additional piece of furniture to go with their new BBQ. Daddy built them a picnic table which is just the right size for them.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Gregory!

2008-06-27T19:55:00.003-05:00

Gregory had a very exciting birthday and would love to share it with you:

Here's a video especially for Grandad and Nanna.

Thank you everyone who made this a great day for Gregory!

Celebration Time!

2008-06-22T14:31:00.012-05:00

Excitement is in the air at the Martin household. Theresa and I celebrate 7 wonderful years together today, Gregory turns 3 on Friday, someone else turns 31 the following week and John Slattery is getting married to Kristen next month! The new baby is growing strong and healthy (we'll do the 20 week ultrasound soon). And Theresa's business continues to grow strong. She's going to earn her first new car soon! (See the Saturn Vue below) We're all looking forward to that and we constantly are amazed by the good work she has done!

Louis has become the little entertainer. Check out these next two videos to see a glimpse at how our household has changed now that Louis has discovered "his own voice."

--WARNING-- this first video contains children screaming. We would advise that you turn the volume down (or off) and if there are small children watching who may have a tendency to copy what they see, you may not want them to watch.

--FURTHER WARNING-- the following video was too funny for Gregory to handle on a full stomach and hence was cut short because his father had to clean up the mess. Again, if there are small children watching, we would advise that they not watch this while eating or drinking.

So, while Louis is busy entertaining in his own way, Gregory has been learning all sorts of new songs that both he and Louis love to sing. Here's Gregory singing "Three little monkeys." Much thanks goes to our wonderful babysitter who has taught the boys many of these songs!

Theresa loves the way Gregory says "Doctor". Since you're probably going to play the video again now, Gregory worked really hard at learning how to make the telephone... the sheep in the middle of the song comes from Louis who's playing with a farm ... and don't you just love how Gregory finishes his songs?

Finally, a special thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for visiting... we always love to see you!

Viva il Papa!

2008-05-18T14:07:00.007-05:00

As promised, here are the photos of the Papal Mass:

Gregory and Louis wanted to do something special for their cousins, Nate and Zach who turn 5 today:

Pete meets the Pope!

2008-04-30T11:44:00.003-05:00

There will be more pictures of the Pope's visit (especially since we got to go to the Mass as a family), but I wanted to show off this one right away. I just received it this morning from the Vatican (their photographer took this photo).

So, what the photo doesn't reveal is that I actually shook the Pope's left hand (since the fellow in front of me was kissing his ring.)!! What did you say to him, you ask? Well it was the man's birthday, what do you think I said? "Happy Birthday", of course! What an amazing experience and how blessed I am to have met both JP II and now Pope Benedict!

Gregory has some news for you!!

2008-04-09T16:09:00.002-05:00

This video was made on St. Patrick's Day, but the news is still very current!

He is Risen!

2008-03-29T22:34:00.006-05:00

Happy Easter everybody! We have so much to be grateful for! Theresa is doing very well in her business and I (Pete) am finally getting started on my thesis! I have a wonderful director who is willing to help me throughout the summer to complete it in time so that I can finish with everything in December. Here are some cute videos of the boys who never cease to make us proud.

This first video is an example of how Louis adores Gregory.

This next video is part of the Martin morning routine. If laughter is the best medicine, then we're pretty healthy here.

Have we mentioned recently how adorable Louis is?

A great imagination and an expanding vocabulary go well together:

Easter Pictures

New videos!

2008-02-20T19:14:00.003-06:00

OK, so I still succumb to peer pressure... everyone else had their blog updated, so I had to do something. For those of you wondering what we've been doing, here's a few videos showing how we spend our time:

Thanks to Uncle John for the Veggie Tales CD... we love to listen to our favorite characters singing!

It may look a little weird because I held the camera sideways, but I wanted to catch the footwork! Louis loves dancing... and cookies!

You know how they say that kids enjoy the packaging as much as (or more than) the toy? Well, that was the philosophy behind this creation. It's a nice little castle, but it gets pretty crowded when they both try to get in.

Just a quick update. Everyone is doing well. It's back to school for me (Pete) and Theresa is working hard and doing very well with her MaryKay Business. We're supposed to get some snow tonight, so we hope to use the new sled Nana got the boys for Christmas...

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2008-01-06T20:10:00.000-06:00

For Christmas we went to New Orleans to stay with the Slatterys. What a wonderful time and how blessed we were to spend our Christmas vacation with them. The boys truly enjoyed being at Grandad and Nana's and Gregory always asks when we're going back.

Here are some pictures of the past month's activities:

Thanksgiving!

2008-01-06T18:48:00.000-06:00

OK, so it's been awhile and obviously we're a little behind, but regardless, we still feel it necessary to post some of these pictures. We were blessed to be able to visit the Martin's for Thanksgiving which is always a good time, but is unfortunately too infrequent. It is so nice to be able to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa and all the cousins. Getting back to the farm is nice too, although it was a bit cold to do much outside. Enjoy the cute video of Louis dancing and the photos!

Happy All Saints Eve!

2007-11-01T20:43:00.000-05:00

We took the boys out "Trick-or-Treating" for just a little bit this year. We went to Pete's workplace and showed off their costumes (see pictures). We then went to visit Pete's school and after that stopped by some of the neighbors'.

Louis has officially decided that walking is the way to get around. He still gets pushed down, but that no longer stops him from getting back up and waddling around.

Theresa earned this piano from Mary Kay (hence it's pink)... the boys both love it.

Happy Birthday Louis!!

2007-10-27T07:39:00.000-05:00

Louis' Birthday present... both Gregory and Louis enjoy the new "house".

Louis celebrated his birthday with a little cake and a lot of cuteness!

This is just an adorable video of our two motorcyclists... Louis' even dressed for the occasion!

Walking, talking, happy Louis!!

2007-10-10T18:43:00.000-05:00

Maybe this is not a good sign, but one of Louis' first feats was to say "No".

OK, so this is not a shot of his first steps, but close. He doesn't care for walking much, but I suppose if a bigger guy (i.e. Gregory) was there to push us down all the time, we may stick to crawling too!

If you look behind Louis you will see his crib "boxed" up. This was the only way to keep Gregory from crawling into the crib. He found all sorts of ways of getting in, so now Louis sleeps in his little castle. The cardboard doubles as a great surface to put stickers on and to color on.

Here's a cute shot of Louis saying "Mama".

Finally, here's a shot of our happy little guy praising life...

Gregory the Great

2007-09-20T21:08:00.001-05:00

Gregory is definitely two... he gets into all sorts of mischief:

But, he's so cute, it's hard to stay upset with him for long. Here's a minute-long video of an unscheduled and unplugged concert that Gregory put on for us in the living room. Enjoy!

Louis!

2007-09-20T20:25:00.000-05:00

Many of you want to see more of Louis. This post is dedicated to the cute little guy (who's not so little...) Here he is "winking" at the camera. He only does it twice in this video, but he can bring tears to the eyes of those behind us in Church with his cuteness!

We still have to get a video of him walking, but here he is showing us how big he is:

Congratulations Theresa!!

2007-09-18T11:42:00.001-05:00

This is Theresa's Professional photo as a New Independent Sales Director.

Many of you know that Theresa became an Independent Sales Director this summer. This is the culmination of much hard work and dedication on her part and a little baby-sitting and patience on mine. We celebrated her Directorship this weekend both with other Mary Kay Directors and Consultants and with our friends here in the DC Area. We had a wonderful day for a BBQ and many of the parishioners from our Church came to congratulate Theresa and to enjoy our back yard. The many children who joined us were a joy for Gregory as he was able to show them around his stomping ground. It was a good time had by all.

Gregory's Song

2007-08-19T19:07:00.000-05:00

Gregory has a song that he wrote for his uncle John and Kristen:

Summer Vacation with the Slatterys

2007-08-04T10:12:00.000-05:00

Sorry that it has been two months since we have updated this. We took two trips to Texas this summer. One to San Antonio where we vacationed with the Slatterys and another when we went to Dallas for the Mary Kay Seminar. Both trips were very enjoyable. We've added two videos of our time in San Antonio. More on the Mary Kay Seminar next time!

God Bless,

Pete & Theresa

"He wants to Rock!"

New Toys!!

2007-05-28T18:17:00.000-05:00

Gregory shows off his new toys in these two short videos:

Our Sweet Boys

2007-05-19T17:10:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since we've put anything on here... the boys have grown up so much! For your enjoyment, we have a video of sweet little Louis smiling and an impressive display of our child prodigy (who turns two at the end of June) counting to 10... Ok, so he has a little help...

Gregory's new ride.

2007-04-25T19:02:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Theresa and I were coming home from Mass when I noticed this red wagon sitting at the curb waiting to be thrown out... I grabbed it, threw it in the trunk and took it home. A week later, some elbow grease, new paint and a little love, and Gregory has himself a brand new ride!

It was the perfect situation, really. The price was right, it kept me out of trouble for a week, and Gregory (and Louis) have a new wagon! The weather has changed here in DC, so we've already put some miles on it... the big tires help us to go anywhere!

Here's a video of Gregory's first ride... he wasn't too sure what it was all about. As it is with everything, Gregory had to warm up to it first.

Bath Time!

2007-04-15T22:05:00.000-05:00

Bath time for the boys! This post is one of three recent ones. We also updated Our Photos Page with a folder of more recent photos.

Peek a boo, Louis!

2007-04-15T21:59:00.000-05:00

Even though the video is a little dark, it is still cute! Our little laughing Louis is not so little these days... he's 22lbs! (at only five months!)

Free Ride

2007-04-15T21:50:00.000-05:00

Here's a cute video (in three parts) of Gregory giving Louis a ride... this video is a little over one minute, but we felt that we had to include the wardrobe malfunction.

Make sure you visit Our Photos Page, or you might miss out on more cool pictures of this rock star:

Louis and Gregory Updates

2007-03-05T19:56:00.000-06:00

We felt that we should first show you the little blessings that make our new house so wonderful!

Our new home!

2007-03-04T20:29:00.000-06:00

The following is a series of videos of our new house! Enjoy!

First, Theresa walks you through the entrance and the living room:

Then you can see the bathroom and our unique bedroom:

Gregory's room:

The lovely kitchen and dining room...

The play room/ laundry room... Gregory enjoys going "down"; he'll love it even more when his little brother can join him!

Theresa's work space includes a nice little bathroom for her clients:

We are very excited that Theresa gets her own work space. She has done so much to make this place look good!

OK, this might be Pete's favorite room, even though he hides his enthusiasm.

Finally, the sunroom. This would have looked better in the day time, but we just wanted to get these videos uploaded so that you could see our new home, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Sledding

2007-02-20T09:38:00.000-06:00

A lot of people ask me, now that I'm unemployed:
"What the heck do you do all day?"....

Yes, that is our back yard. We were sledding on a cookie sheet which worked pretty well... it rained after the snow; making it fun to go down, but very difficult getting back up! Due to the added extracurricular activities, videos of the rest of the house are experiencing delays.

Below are pictures looking out of our bedroom window. Gregory spotted the squirrel rummaging for nuts on top of the sunroom.

Louis laughing

2007-02-20T09:31:00.000-06:00

Gregory in the snow

2007-02-20T09:27:00.000-06:00

Peek-a-boo

2007-02-20T09:04:00.000-06:00

Just a Quick Note

2007-01-25T11:52:00.000-06:00

We were finally able to upload some new photos on our Photos Page. Take a look if you wish... the newest album is the last (33- December, 2006 - January, 2007)

Some new videos from Christmas Vacation

2007-01-06T09:21:00.000-06:00

Gregory enjoyed playing Guitar with his Uncle John (who has two albums available at JohnSlattery.com).

Gregory learned how to climb up on the step stool and take whatever he wanted from the kitchen counters. He was truly intrigued by the water dispenser in the refridgerator, but luckily we got to him before he got things too messy!

Gregory shows his love to Jesus... we received the crucifix as a gift for Christmas.

Gregory's first Christmas gifts!

2006-12-18T17:46:00.000-06:00

Gregory opened his Christmas gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Martin before going to New Orleans. This next video doesn't really have anything to do with Christmas... it shows how much Gregory loves books, though! He climbed up into this cabinet which for many months blocked the bookshelf from any little hands...

Finally!! Videos of Louis!

2006-12-14T22:44:00.000-06:00

His first ever video!!! Isn't he so cute? Daddy couldn't concentrate on the camera!

Such a happy baby!! Obviously Gregory wanted to be a part of that one too!

Don't forget to visit our Photos Page to see photos of the little guy!

Gregory learns new words...

2006-12-14T22:24:00.000-06:00

Some more fun videos

2006-11-24T13:10:00.000-06:00

And he can dance, too!!

Will he one day be a priest?

Mary Kay Mom

2006-10-07T20:16:00.000-05:00

Here's Theresa just a week away from her due date... doesn't she look GREAT?!!

Weekend Warrior

2006-09-24T11:45:00.000-05:00

This weekend I finished the two projects I was working on. I had always wanted to put a screen up on the balcony so that we didn't get eaten by those pesky mosquitoes... my only problem was justifying the cost of the lumber needed. Well, Providence came through last weekend. Someone was throwing away a futon that had just the right amount of lumber on it for me to do both projects! The second project was a problem-solver: how do we let Gregory look out at the birds, etc. without having to hold him all of the time? You can see by the pictures below how it all worked out:

Gregory gets quizzed by Mom

2006-09-21T08:02:00.000-05:00

Gregory's day at the park

2006-09-21T07:57:00.000-05:00

Head vs. Stove

2006-09-14T16:44:00.000-05:00

Initially, this was a lot of fun for Gregory... by the time I got the camera, it wasn't so much fun anymore.

Gregory does the Housekeeping

2006-09-14T16:43:00.000-05:00

Gregory enjoys doing the vacuuming...

Gregory learns to read

2006-09-14T08:04:00.000-05:00

Gregory thinks that everything he reads is funny... here's a quick video:

Gregory's workbench

2006-09-01T12:22:00.000-05:00

I built Gregory a workbench for his tools yesterday... it's not much, but he likes it. Here are a couple of pictures:

Here's a video of Gregory going off to work with his toolbox. I wanted to take a video of him because he was standing at the door trying to get out when I first saw him... whenever he sees the camera, however, he forgets everything.

Bouncy Ball

2006-09-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

Up, please!!

2006-09-01T11:50:00.000-05:00

I'm in the Washington Post!

2006-08-05T08:16:00.000-05:00

The Washington Post came to the Franciscan Monastery where I work the other day and took the temperature down in the catacombs that we have. They were doing a story on where people can go to stay cool. Anyway, you can view the article here. You just have to go to the third page to find my coverage. Here's the picture they put in there of me... second page of the Metro section:

Gregory's Balloon

2006-08-05T07:55:00.000-05:00

Gregory tries to say balloon and then when he drops it, he asks for help. He only does the "me" part of "help me" in sign language. I'm not sure if he's actually doing the please sign or not, but he got the help he needed nevertheless.

The Car Ride

2006-07-29T16:08:00.000-05:00

Gregory dances and says "I love you" to Mom on the way to the airport.

Recent Gregory Videos

2006-07-09T13:55:00.000-05:00

Gregory likes chocolate pudding. He also likes to wear it.

Sometimes he just gets in a bad mood... I guess he's not perfect after all:)

Gregory's Fourth of July Videos

2006-07-09T12:55:00.001-05:00

Though it was hot we still tried to enjoy the parade on Constitution Avenue...

Aunt Judy Deegan wanted to take a picture, but this cute little video turned out instead... it's a great example of patriotism.

Gregory's Birthday!

2006-07-01T08:43:00.000-05:00

Gregory opens his gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Martin.

Remembering Nana on his birthday

2006-07-01T07:58:00.000-05:00

We just caught the tail end of his excitement, but he had been yelling about these bottles of Diet Coke and bouncing up and down all night!

Hello, Hello!

2006-07-01T07:47:00.000-05:00

A cute video of Gregory learning to feed himself yogurt.