Beary Cute

On Tuesday, our boys turned 7 months old! They are growing so quickly and it is so much fun to watch them interact with us and with each other. They were wearing some super cute pjs with bears on them for their 7 month pictures. You can't tell, but Jack's shirt says, "I'm not sleepy." That's perfect for him since he likes to stay up late, and he complains about going to bed.

Jack on the left, Ben on the right, as usual.

It is pretty much impossible to get one picture with both smiling, so we'll have to settle for two pictures with one smiling!

They look very serious in these pictures- they are actually very smiley babies!

Not do be outdone in the 'cute' department, Mairead had her hair in braided pigtails for the first time the other day (other than when I practiced!).

This cute dress used to belong to Rachael!

Of course, dresses are not always Mairead's style. Usually it's comfy clothes and her Red Sox cap. Well, Daddy's Red Sox cap. She even let Jack try it on!

I think she looks a lot like me in this one!

Oh, and as for the pepper, she saw it on the kitchen counter the other day and asked to see it. It suddenly became her most beloved possession. She played with it for the rest of the evening, and probably would have taken it to bed if we let her. Who knows what goes on in that little head?

Yesterday, Dave and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary. We have been so lucky in these past three years- if you had asked me on our wedding day, I NEVER would have thought we would already have three kids, have moved twice, I would be a stay at home mom, and Dave would have a new job. We have already faced our share of challenges with a health scare for our new baby girl, a difficult pregnancy with the boys, extended NICU time, selling the house, moving, etc, but I don't regret a moment of it. Marrying Dave was the best decision I ever made- he is an amazing husband and such an incredible dad. Here's hoping the next three years are just as happy, but not quite so eventful!

Happy Birthday, Connor!

Today is the 2nd birthday of Mairead's original BFF- Connor! Mairead has known Connor since he was literally less than 24 hours old! Yesterday, Connor's Mom and Dad had a birthday party for him, so we packed into the minivan and made the trip to Stoughton for the afternoon. We were really happy to see the Estees again, and Mairead had a blast at the party. The BEST part was that Jaime gave her her very own balloon to take home. She thought that was the best thing that ever happened to her. She told us about a thousand times, "It's a BLUE one!!!"


Mairead definitely remembered the Estee house, even though she hasn't been there in a few months. She played with the dog, Bailey, and made herself right at home in the playroom. When it was time for cake, she ran right over to the chair she always sat in when we visited the Estees. One bad thing about moving to Lowell is that we are now an hour away from them, so we don't get to see each other as much as we would like. But the kids pick up right where they left off!


The birthday boy!


Mmmmm.... cake!


Daddy and his boys.


Joey's dad asked Mairead, "Are you a mess?" And she yelled out, "Yes!" with a big smile on her face... along with lots of frosting and crumbs.

At this party, there was actually another set of twins! Jaime's friend, Jess, has a daughter, Layla, who is a little younger than Mairead, and then her own twin boys, Quincy and Brady-- just a funny coincidence that Jaime has two friends with toddler daughters and twin baby boys.

Are they a little magazine ad waiting to happen or what?

Our boys were dressed in their best for the occasion, so I had to get a few pictures before we went (Jack on the left, Ben on the right).

Thanks to Jaime and Joey for having us down for the party- we had a great time and it was fun to see the kids together again. Happy Birthday, Connor!!!

Our little Jackson Pollack

We have been trying to think of new activities for Mairead to do at home, and this week we tried painting. These paints are actually finger paints, but she didn't like having them on her hands, so I gave her a brush. She loved it! These are Color Wonder paints and paper and they are awesome- they only color on the paper and won't stain furniture, clothes, or little hands and faces. They are a little 'goopy,' but definitely a good investment. Mairead must have painted for an hour!


This is the finished product-- not bad for a 2 year old!


She takes her work very seriously.

She is learning new things all the time and she is so much fun. Some of my favorites right now are when she says, "God bless you" after someone sneezes. She also says, "C'mon" when she wants someone to come with her.

She is obsessed with Blues Clues so we have been coloring pictures of the characters, reading books with Blue, and singing the songs from the show. Mairead even has her own 'handy dandy' notebook. When she is up in her crib at night, she often talks about all of the characters and seems to be 'acting out' the show by talking to Blue, Tickety Tock, Shovel and Pail, etc. At the end, she claps for herself and the characters. I love our video monitor because we can enjoy her little 'show'!

Katie's Baby Shower

My sister, Katie, and her husband, Steve, are expecting their first baby (a girl!) in December, and this past weekend, Steve's sister hosted a baby shower at their house to celebrate their baby to be! We are SO excited for this new little cousin- Mairead will have another girl to play with, so that will be so fun. A lot of people put so much work into making a special day for Katie, and we were all so happy to be celebrating with her.

Katie's friend, Jenny, and some friends made this amazing cake and cupcake display... complete with little sugar butterflies, of course!

As you can imagine, Mairead was very happy to partake. Who could blame her? Those cupcakes were delicious!

The top of the cake featured a little sleeping baby- so cute!

Katie looks great as a mom-to-be!

The chair Katie is sitting in is a gift from my mom, me, Jen, and Nana. The chair actually already belonged to Katie. A friend of the family had given to her when she was little. Over the years, it took some abuse and was looking pretty rough around the edges, but we never got rid of it because Katie loved it so much. So, we had it re-upholstered for her shower gift. It really looks beautiful and Katie loved it!

Of course, a Paul Frank diaper bag is a 'must have' for Katie!

The mom and daddy to be!

Mairead was all dressed up for the occasion. When I tried the hat on her, she said, "Choo, choo!" because it apparently looks like a conductor's cap.

We are so excited for Katie and Steve and we know they will be amazing parents. We can't wait to meet your little girl!

It's a Jen!!!

One of the best things about living in Lowell is that we get to spend so much more time with our family. Mairead loves visitors, and is getting really good about knowing who everone is, and how to say their names. She says "It's a Brian" and "Hi Katie." She doesn't really say hi to Steve, but we think that is because she knows Steve is the guy on Blues Clues, not the guy who is married to Katie. She also knows Jen and Mike. So much so, that when Jen's car pulls up, Mairead yells, "It's a Jen!" She knows that when Jen comes over, it is time for fun! Once, Jen played with Mairead by playing music in the kitchen and dancing. Now, when Jen comes in, Mairead takes her hand and immediately leads her to the kitchen radio so that they can dance. Now by 'dance,' I mean spin around in circles with your eyes closed until you crash into a cabinet.

Another fun thing Jen does is play with the exercise ball. Mairead yells, "Ona Mahk, Gesset, Go!" and Jen falls off the ball. Hours of fun.


Notice that her eyes are closed. Probably not the best idea when you are spinning around at top speed.


This bucket of balls is really fun if someone dumps them over your head. Jen's boyfriend, Mike, did that once, so now he is expected to do that whenever he comes over. Mairead yells, "Mmmmmike!"

I'm so glad that Mairead has so much fun with her aunts and uncle. In just a few months, she'll have a new baby girl cousin to play with, too. Dave and I both grew up with lots of family around and we are hopeful that our kids will make the same great memories that we did.

Honey Pot Hill

Today, we took a trip to Honey Pot Hill Orchard. Our friends, Jaime and Connor, met us there. We had chosen this orchard because it was within reasonable distance from each of us, and we wanted to get the kids together again. We went to a pumpkin patch last year, too, and had a lot of fun. This year was even better because the kids can run around and explore on their own. She, of course, spent half of her time running around like a crazy person. She ran from animal to animal, announcing the name of each one. "It's a pig! Oink! It's a goat! Baaa! It's a bunny! Hi Bunny!" Dave and I took turns taking pictures and chasing her all over the place.

Mairead had a blast. She got to drive a tractor...


See a bunny...


Eat apple cider donuts and drink apple cider with Connor...


See a scarecrow (when she says it, it's more like 'care-coh' but it's really cute)...

And then there was the best part- there are hundreds of pumpkins around and you can just re-arrange them all you want! She spend a good twenty minutes picking up pumpkins and moving them to more appropriate spots. The farm staff members kept bringing out more pumpkins and putting them in rows. One of the men realized what she was doing, so he just kept putting out small piles and letting her put them in rows herself. It was so funny to watch. I guess she is her mother's daughter!

These pumpkins were the perfect size for a two year old!

There are more pictures in the slideshow to the right. It was such a beautiful day- perfect for being outside in New England. Next year, we'll bring the boys. Then we will really be busy chasing kids!

School Days

This afternoon, I took the kids to Daddy's school for the first time. Saugus High is very different than Brockton High. Their entire student body is just over 800 kids. At the last graduation I did, we graduated 908. I liked it there- it felt more like a 'regular' school than Brockton because it is so small. Giant high schools are all I know after attending Lowell High and working at BHS, so it was neat to see someplace totally different. Mairead LOVED it there.

First, we checked out Daddy's classroom and ate some chicken nuggets. She was sitting in the seat saying, "Numm, numm."


Then, she had to check out the books on the shelves.


She looks a little too old for me, here. I already feel like her first day of school is going to come too quickly!


Dave scooped her up after she was running through the hallways. The dismissal bell rang and suddenly the hallway was filled with kids. Instead of being intimidated by these tall, loud, unknown kids, she went running through the crowds of them yelling, "RUN!! RUN!!." I told her we had to go back and find Daddy and she started yelling, "Daddy? Are you???" She had a blast weaving her way through the kids and running up and down the halls.

Lest you think we are all about school and 'smart' stuff like that, here's a picture of Ben from dinner last night.

I promise, he didn't actually drink any beer. He liked that bottle, though!