Happy Birthday- Part 1

Mairead's birthday was on Wednesday, July 29 and we had such a great day! Mairead shares her birthday with our cousin, Michelle; and our friends, Mark and Alysha, celebrate their wedding anniversary that day. My cousin, Katie, has a birthday the day after, and on August 2, Mairead's new friend Brielle was born. Today is my friend Jennifer's birthday, so it was a week of happy occasions!

One of the highlights of the day was when Mairead received a long distance birthday wish from her friend, Will. Will lives in California, but he and his mom called to say "Happy Day-Day" to Mairead. Will has excellent phone conversation skills. Thanks for the phone call- we loved it!

My mom took the boys for the day so that we could spend some time with our special girl. We took her to Davis Farmland in Sterling, MA, and we all LOVED it! I completely recommend it to you other moms and dads- it was a fantastic day! There were animals to pet, swings, play houses, ducks, and a sprayground. Mairead was never so happy in her life-- it was so much fun!

This is the little 'splash pad' at the spray ground and it is an area just for little ones. She had so much fun there.

We did eventually move over to the 'big kid' spray ground, but it's hard to take pictures when water is spraying everywhere! She had a great time running around with the other kids. Toward the end, she had so much water and chlorine in her eyes that she could barely see, but she still kept going!

She also loved the petting zoo area. You know how much she loves animals, so she was pretty much in heaven. Some animals are kept in pens or cages, but some are just roaming around! They were all very friendly. Whenever we walked by an animal, Maired would yell out the sound that they make. There were sheep all over the place, so she was yelling "BAA!" for a good part of the day. She ran right up to the pen where a bull was kept and reached in to touch his face. Seriously- this child has NO fear. One of the staffers was holding a snake that kids could touch. Mairead grabbed the snake and said, "Ssssss." We need to work on being gentle.

When she saw the goats, she just plopped herself down and talked to them. Hey goat... How you doin'? Say hi to your mother for me...

We had such a fun time there- we will definitely go again! I can't say enough about the place- I think we had as much fun as Mairead did!

She's TWO!

We have had a busy and exciting week since my last post- our baby girl is now a two year old! I have tons of pictures to post from our trip to Davis Farmland and from her birthday party. She is exhausted at this point and we are taking it easy today-- some blocks, some Little People, some coloring, etc. This kid has been busy! Today I also plan to write my birthday letter to her. I decided that each year on her birthday (and now the boys') I will write a letter to her so that she can read it when she is older. This year, I'll write about how much fun we are having with her and how beautiful and smart she is. I'll talk about how well she handled the new additions to our family, as well as all of the craziness of selling the house, living between here and Lowell, etc. She takes everything in stride and is the most amazing daughter that anyone could ask for.



Just an update on non-birthday items-- we got another offer on the house and these people seem much less crazy than the first buyers, so we are cautiously optimistic that we will be selling very soon. No matter what, the movers are coming on August 17 and we will officially be Lowell residents. We can't WAIT to live in one place and to get settled. This summer has been nuts- the house showings, baptisms, birthday parties, my oral surgery, a trip to NY, an offer that fell through, another offer, a new job for Dave, and eventually, a new home in Lowell. We have needed and received SO much help and support from all of you. We could not get through all of this stress without our family and friends!