Mairead's Birthday Party

On August 1, we had a birthday party for Mairead and we lucked out with a totally beautiful day-- much better than last year when we had torrential downpours and backyard flooding! We were very thankful for the weather since we had a pool party planned. Thanks to everyone who could come and to our family for doing so much to make it a great day. The slideshow to the right includes more pictures if you have time to check it out.

My sister, Katie, made an awesome cake for our 'fish' themed party. Mairead loves fish (blub, blub, blub) and when we settle into our new place, we want to get her a little fish tank. Katie had some great ideas for the cake-- how cute are the little fish and bubbles?


When I was little, I had this cute little house and little 'boys,' as I called them, to go with it. I loved my house and my boys (very foretelling) and spent hours playing with them. My mom found the house and the boys, and she decorated the house to look like our own house in Weymouth. Mairead loved her gift and I loved it, too. She won't remember living in Weymouth, so it was such a great idea to make a little house to look like her first home. Thanks, Mom (aka, Nana).



Brian MADE Mairead a little wooden bench and in the back of it, carved a Celtic knot very similar to the ones on our wedding invitations- how amazing is that? I was SO impressed- what a great gift from her godfather! Jack tried to get some of his uncle's beer, but he is not old enough. You should be at least 10-12 months old before having some beer.



Mairead was a little confused by all of the singing and attention, but don't worry, she loved both! She kept repeating, 'birthday' after people said it to her. Very cute.


I love this one of Katie and her godson, Ben. We can't wait for Katie and Steve's little girl to join our family, too!

My mom found this outfit in St. Thomas-- it has little fish embroidered on it- perfect for the theme of the day!

Again- thanks so much to everyone who came to the party. And thanks for the generous gifts- I will get out thank you notes after the dust settles for us. Thanks to our family for the cooking, cleaning, babysitting, etc, that went into getting ready for the party, too. And thanks to Mairead for being such an amazing birthday girl!

Blog slacker

I know, I know... birthday party pictures still have yet to be posted. I have to apologize for not updating very often. Our life is CRAZY right now since we are living half in Weymouth and half in Lowell. We have a lot of work to do in Lowell to move furniture, paint, put in carpet, etc, and our house is Weymouth is FAR from packed. The movers are coming one week from tomorrow, so things need to get done one way or another!!! I promise to be better at updating once we live in only one house.

Some quick updates--
We spent Wednesday and Thursday in Maine with the Estees and had a GREAT time. Mairead loved the beach- she spent half the time chasing seagulls and telling them to 'shoo.'

The boys turned five months old the other day-- where does the time go?

The home inspection appears to have gone well-- here's hoping the P&S is signed early this week.

The bedrooms in Lowell are primed and waiting for paint- we are getting there!

Mairead had a blood draw as part of her two year physical (of course, she hated it). She kept saying, "No, no! No thank you!" How cute and sad is that?

It is going to be a tough week for us since the kids will spend their last night in our home in Weymouth in the next few days. While I am happy to be moving, I am going to be a mess when we put Mairead to bed there for the last time. Not to mention, one of my BFFs (Jenn) is moving to DC next weekend, and I am still trying to find a home for my cat. Lots of goodbyes this week.

Mairead has decided that Ben's name is 'Buddy.' She says, "Hi Jack," but not 'Hi Ben." I think it's because we very often say (to either baby), "Hi buddy!". So, she thinks they are Jack and Buddy, and has said 'buddy' a few times.

Our family is doing SO much to help us and we are so appreciative. I don't know what we would do without them!

Thanks for checking in with us- I will post pictures when I have a chance-- and when I find the cord that connects my camera to the computer...