A Beautiful Fall Day

Today brought us beautiful weather so we had to get outside and enjoy it! Today is also Mairead's BFF, Connor's first birthday-- Happy Birthday, Connor!

We spent some time in the yard and Mairead got a ride from her Daddy. We also played ball and pushed around her little walking toy. After that, we took a walk over to the soccer fields to see all of the kids. She loved it! The fields across from our house are full of people every Saturday and she just kept saying, "kids, kids" over and over. Someday, she'll be running around playing soccer, too!

The shirt she is wearing has a lion on it and says 'Leo' because that is her astrological sign. My grandfather's name was Leo, and he was a pretty amazing person, so I think it is very fitting that she has that sign.

The Irish sweater she has on was a gift from one of my students last year. Bridget asked her grandmother to make it for Mairead when the kids threw a baby shower for me. I have been waiting for her to get big enough to wear it- I love it and I thought it was so sweet of Bridget and her grandmother to do that for us.


We hope that all of you are enjoying a nice fall day, too!

Another New Word

This week, Mairead learned to say another new word, and the word is, 'clock.' It is kind of an odd word for a 14month old to choose to learn, but she has always been a girl of her own mind, and clock is what interested her, so clock is what she says.

I have the hardest time getting her to walk or talk on video because she is more interested in the camera than in doing what I want her to do, but today she was pretty cooperative. In this clip, she says, 'clock,' does her 'touchdown' pose, and is 'silly.'

In an unrelated update, we took her to the pediatrician yesterday for a pretty bad diaper rash, and learned that she is 26lbs. She is wearing mostly 24 month clothes, and is growing all the time!

I don't have any updates on the twins, so they are pretty much staus quo. We don't have another ultrasound until November 4, so it is going to be a long month of waiting to see them again! I am feeling pretty good. I still have some nausea and I am much more tired than I was with Mairead, but I suppose that is to be expected. The hardest part is that I am not supposed to lift anything, vacuum, carry laundry, etc. This may SEEM like a good thing, but it's very frustrating to want to do something and not be 'allowed.' But, I will do what I have to do to keep these little ones healthy. Thank God for my husband who has been amazing!

Just a couple of videos

I have realized that I don't take as many pictures of Mairead as I used to, and there are a few reasons for this. The first is that now that we are back in school, our afternoons together seem very short, and I would rather play with her than try to get her to pose for pictures. Another reason is that she really doesn't sit still at all!

I would love to have video of her walking or talking, but as soon as I get out the camera, she just tries to grab it and she won't walk or talk for me. Her walking is getting better- she is choosing to walk more and more often, and will take as many as 10 steps at a time. She seems to prefer crawling, though, because it is still her faster method of transportation.

As for talking, she is always trying to imitate us and to say new words. Lately, she is working on 'cheese' (which she loves), 'juice,' 'shoes,' and 'yuck.' I love that last one-- when I change her diaper, she tries to grab the dirty one, and I always say, "No, no. Yuck." So now she says "yuck" whenever I take the dirty diaper off of her. It is really cute!

This first video is a few weeks old. My parents sent us flowers when we found out about the twins, and the flowers came with two balloons. These were a great gift for Mairead! The second video is just a quick one. If I tell her to 'be silly,' she shakes her head and laughs. She is just so much fun right now and we are really enjoying her. We hope you do, too!

As for her younger siblings, they seem to be behaving themselves. We had a doctor's appointment this past week and the one heartbeat we could hear was very healthy and strong. The doctor told me not to expect to hear both until about 18-20 weeks because they are small and right on top of each other. I am not feeling as nauseous as I was for the first 12 weeks, so that is good news. I'm still exhausted, though. Thankfully, my husband is a saint and is picking up all of the slack at home.

That brings you up to date with us-- thanks for checking in!

Connor's House

Yesterday, the Hickok family spent the afternoon with the Estee family. Dave brought his favorite new toy (a pole saw, thanks Ry and Dave!) over to help Joey cut down some branches, so Jaime and I got to hang out and play with the kids. They are at such a fun age and they are really so cute together. Mairead is a little dangerous, though, because she loves to share (such a sweet kid), but when she tried to give this Elmo to Connor, she nearly clocked him in the head with it.


It was so nice out that we were able to get the kids out on the deck for some fresh air. Don't worry, their dads and the pole saw were on the other side of the house.


After a delicious dinner (Thanks, Jaime!), we headed downstairs to play. They had a great time climbing all over each other, and over Dave. Bailey (Jaime and Joey's pug) was chasing the kids all over and being such a great sport while they 'pet' him. All in all, it was a great afternoon!

Nana's Party

This past weekend, the family got together for Nana's 80th birthday party. Happy Birthday, Nana! Obviously, this is My Nana, and not Mairead's Nana. Mairead LOVED the party; and why wouldn't she? Lots of open space to explore and lots of people to pay attention to her-- sounds good to me!

She had a great time crawling all over the place, and even walking a little. She can do as many as 10 steps at a time now; but I never seem to have my camera out when she does it! She seems to prefer walking with someone, though, because she can get around much faster that way. The videos at the bottom of the post show her walking with her dad and then with Jessica.

The party was a huge success and it was great to spend time with everyone!

She loved playing with the Larocque kids, and they gave her a 'cape' to wear.

She also loves playing with her Aunt Jen pretty much any time or anywhere.

Mairead has an Announcement to Make...

And, it's a big one! She is going to be a big sister! She is ready to take on this new responsibility and she is even dressed for it.


And, this announcement is twice as big, because we are expecting identical twins! This picture is our ultrasound from last week-- I am just amazed by it!



We told our families and a few friends already, but we are ready to share our big news with everyone. I am just about 11 weeks and the babies are due on April 8. So far, they look active and healthy on the ultrasounds.

We found out that I was pregnant on the day after Mairead's birthday party, but we wanted to wait to tell everyone until we saw or heard a healthy heartbeat. Boy, were we shocked to see two! We went for an ultrasound at 8 weeks just to check on everything. Normally, doctors don't order ultrasounds so early, but because of Mairead's health issues, they want to be extra careful this time. The technician started to move the wand around and she said, "Are you ready?.... There's two!" I literally yelled, "Shut up!" at her, and she laughed. Dave said something that shall not be repeated on our family friendly site. :)

We are absolutely thrilled, anxious, overwhelmed, blessed, lucky, scared, and just about every other emotion there is. We are just hoping that we come through this pregnancy with two happy and healthy babies.

To answer some questions, no, twins don't run in my family. No, there is no scientific explanation for why identical twins happen. Yes, we will be finding out the gender (November 4, as of now). Yes, we are going to start playing the lottery!

We are so excited to be able to share this news with everyone. We appreciate any support, prayers, and well wishes you might offer-- we will keep you posted on how things are going with our two little miracles... and, of course, with our first miracle who is getting bigger every day! I think she is going to make a great big sister-- don't you?

So many new things to do!

I have to say that this whole 'job' thing really gets in the way of my blogging! Sorry for the delay! This past weekend, Mairead had a sleepover at Nana and Grampy's house. Now that she is a little older, there are so many fun, new things to try! Nana gave her a dollhouse with little 'kids' inside, and she spent quite a while playing with that.



She still needs her 'down time,' though, so she grabbed a drink, a stuffed animal, and sat in her favorite chair to watch 'Hi-5.' She loves the kids on that show and she dances along with them!




In the afternoon, of course, it was tea time. She loved playing with the dishes and putting the covers on them. She let Pooh sit with her, but she really didn't like him taking her dishes, so she kept those to herself.





She is really becoming such a little girl and she is trying new things all the time. Last week she was taking about seven steps at a time and is becoming much more confident. All in all, it was a pretty fun weekend! Thanks, Nana and Grampy!