Hectic is the word of the month!

Here is a quick picture update of what the St. Pete Tompkins have been up to! August was pretty much Vanessa's senior recital and graduation party. She looked and sounded absolutely beautiful! As always!

We were sitting behind Dad & Mom and thought this would be a sweet picture of them adoring their daughter!

Tummy time!

She rolled over and was so scared! We couldn't help but laugh because her eyes were squeezed shut - it was too cute!

Talking to her Godmother

Cousin time! They love each other!

Love this picture

Daddy will give her anything she wants with this kind of look!

Daddy has to do the mohawk :)

Yes Sofia was eating Isabella's head - beware Cecilia!!

4 generations

I could stare at her sleeping all day/night...

September has been pretty hectic. We had a closing date set for 9/30. Our mortgage broker was confident that we could close a couple weeks early. We needed to be out of our condo on the 18th, so closing earlier would be perfect. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that smoothly. Basically from 9/11 to 9/25 we were told we should be closing the next day, every day. Then we'd hear "we can't today but most likely tomorrow". It was so frustrating!! Finally we closed on the 25th! We have been staying with family since the 18th. We haven't moved into our home yet because we had to replace all the floors in our home. The new floors are almost down - so we'll move in this weekend!

This is what our condo looked like for a week. Packing isn't easy with a baby!

Here's Andrew ripping up the carpet. There was wall to wall carpet... literally. Including the kitchen and bathrooms! One bathroom had pink shag carpet. I'm so mad we didn't take before pictures. We meant to but, well you know how it goes...

Our house is really coming along! It's amazing how painting and replacing floors can drastically change a home.

Can't have enough sleeping baby pictures!

That's all folks! I'll post a blog with pictures of our home as soon as we're settled in. We hope everyone is doing well. We can't wait to see you! Ryan & Mary, you're in our prayers... such an exciting time! Love you all!

Ready to Rock 'n Roll...

...literally. :) Just a quick baby update: Ryan and I are all excited and prepared for Cecilia's arrival, which could be any day now! Of course it is our wishful thinking that she come early.. preferrably, let's say, next weekend, but she could very well arrive after 40 weeks instead of before. While that may turn out to be the case, we know that she is going to be so cute that we will not be able to be mad at her. :) We are ready for anything at this point, and are trying not to look at the calendar too much and instead focus on soaking up our last couple of weeks as just the two of us. Ryan, as you can see in the picture below, likes to try to show me up with how well he can balance on my "birth ball." He's quite the pro: He is very anxious to see Cecilia face to face, so he can tell her all of his great jokes..that is, the ones that I don't find funny. He is convinced that Cecilia will understand his comic genius. We both love to talk about all of the things we look forward to when she arrives; such as giving her baths, rocking her to sleep, showing her off to everyone, feeling her soft little hands and feet, and especially hugging and kissing her! Finally, here is the latest pregnant lady picture: 38 weeks. Now, because whenever these things are blogged about on the Suarez family blog, all my brothers and father usually gag, the following information is for women only (and I'm sorry in advance if it grosses anyone out): at my 37 weeks appointment I found out that I am 1 cm dilated, 60% effaced, and at 0 station. This confirms that the baby has definitely dropped, and explains why I have been getting increasingly uncomfortable these days. I also was glad to find out that the contractions I have been feeling are in fact having an effect, and getting my body ready for active labor. My next apt. is on Tuesday, and I'm hoping to find out that I have made some sort of progress since then. In the meantime, please pray that we have a smooth and safe delivery, whenever it turns out to be!

Destiny of Barney and Friends...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This week in Fantasy Football, the smash-mouth, hard-hitting, gruesome, kick-your-butt Legion of Heroes, is playing the lady-esque, liberal, co-existing, green loving Barney (Frank) and Friends (wonder which friends we're talking about). Below is a message from the coach of the Legion of Heroes.

"This is your destiny Barney and Friends..."

Star Wars

Star Wars

This sums up the Tompkins way of life...

Time sure does fly when you're having fun!

Hi everyone! I just thought I'd do yet another picture post, so that we can officially rename the blog the Ryan and Mary Tompkins Family Blog. I think you all better start posting and posting fast... since Ryan and I are the moderators of the Blog, we do have the power to make it all about us! So be warned... if no one else posts, there will be consequences. :) I have a lot of pictures from the last two weeks and here are the highlights: The first weekend of September was very eventful for us; my mom and dad came down from Albany for Labor Day weekend. We celebrated my Dad's 57th birthday on Sept. 4th-- he was so happy to be surrounded by so many of his kids and grandkids! Here we are at the party:

On Saturday the whole family watched the first Notre Dame game of the season, and we enjoyed watching them score so many touchdowns without allowing any against them-- it looks like a promising season! My niece Catherine was so confident in the outcome of the game that she passed out asleep on Ryan's lap by halftime:Sunday was the baby shower, hosted by my sister Tabitha. All of you Tompkins ladies were definitely missed! Your presence would have been the icing on the cake. Speaking of which, my sister was so thoughtful and made sure to have all of my favorite foods there, including Cuban sandwiches! We also had delicious sparkling raspberry lemonade which I have since become obsessed with. Cecilia and I thoroughly enjoyed the spread of food :)
Here I am with my friend Emily, who is due with her first on February 11th. She makes me feel really short, even though I am almost 5'9"!
What was poor Ryan left to do while the baby shower was going on, you ask? He was having a party of his own with the Fantasy Football Live Draft.
Raquel helped me open presents.. Angela and Teresa, she (and my nieces Teresa, Mary, and Elisabeth) really missed you at the shower! They always ask about you guys, you know.
My sister-in-law Sarah convinced my brother Michael to make the trip down from NY so she could be at the shower... It was not too long ago that I was at the baby shower for her first baby, Maria! My how time flies.

Here's another of my favorites from the shower, with some more lovely ladies including my cousin Anna, sister-in-law Tricia, and little Maria (notice her "say cheese!" camera face):

Luke got permission to spend the weekend away from Mt. St. Mary's seminary so he could also visit with my parents while they were in town. He was also a big help with the food preparation for the shower:

Can you believe that soon he is going to be ordained a priest? I still can't get over it myself... it will be fun to have him baptize some of our kids in the future :) Here I am with my mom and dad after the long and eventful day:

This past weekend we had a little Ave Maria reunion at our place for the Ave alumni who live in the area. The only picture I managed to take during the party was this one, of Ryan and Pat with their beers:

It was so nice to see some old Ave friends again and it was a great time. Luckily after the party on Friday night we were able to relax and watch football for the rest of the weekend; including the Notre Dame game on Saturday and the Bucs vs. Cowboys on Sunday...but let's not talk about that. Instead, here is a picture of the crib that we got for baby Cecilia, thanks to Mom and Dad! We hope you approve:

And here is Ryan modeling our supply of diapers and wipes that we have purchased to be ready for when Cecilia arrives. I think Ryan is still in shock over how much these items cost.

Ryan is also still recovering from the shock of hearing that Cecilia has "dropped." Last time we were at the Kaza's house, my brother-in-law Babu arrived home from work, looked at me and promptly declared that I have definitely dropped. My sister Tabitha looked at my tummy and agreed with him.. they say I am definitely carrying her lower now, which means that she is getting into position for labor. Upon hearing this, all of the color drained from Ryan's face. He stayed far away from me the rest of the day for fear that he might put me into labor somehow. I asked him if he was doing alright and he said no, and that HE was having his own contractions at the thought that Cecilia could be coming any day now! Haha. Of course, since this is my first time, "dropping" can take place anywhere from a week to a month before the baby is actually born. At any rate, it's a sign that we are getting very close and it really hit Ryan that it's all real and approaching very quickly. After the intial shock wore off, Ryan is feelng confident that he is mentally prepared now for the baby's arrival, no matter how soon. Then again, I can't really tell if it's true that I have dropped. You can decide for yourself with my 36 weeks picture:

Personally, I am hoping that Cecilia arrives about 2 weekss early, on September 29th, because that is the feast day of Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, which would be a really cool day to be born. Also because Ryan and I are very impatient to meet her! Any predictions??

My parenting style...

Hello Everyone, with Cecilia on the way ...I wanted to give everyone a glimpse of my future parenting skills. (And no, I do not watch this show, ...I saw this clip and I thought I'd share an insight to my philosophy as a new Dad.)

Inspector Clouseau