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!

Last Day of Summer

Labor Day marks the official end of summer for us, so we had to spend our last day of vacation playing outside with Mairead. We have loved every second of our time with her and we know that we were so lucky to have it. This summer, Mairead enjoyed a lot of 'firsts': Her first trip to the beach, first time playing outside at the farm, first trip to the zoo and to the aquarium, first birthday, and first steps! She is up to about 4 steps at a time now, so any day now, she'll have us running after her!

These pictures are from our lazy afternoon out in the yard. Mairead's Nana and Grampy bought her this fun little house to play in, and Brian delivered it (not without incident) to us safe and sound.

Tomorrow, Dave and I have our first day of classes as we begin another school year. This year marks 10 for me in Brockton, and 8 for Dave (plus his years in NY). It will be hard to leave our little girl, but at least we know that she loves playing with the kids at Ms. Pat's house. Happy September, everyone-- enjoy the beautiful fall weather!

I know, I have been slacking...

I have really been remiss about taking pictures this week-- can you believe that I don't have ANY new ones? We have been really busy this week and school starts Tuesday, so we are pretty much just hiding in our denial that summer is really over! So, in lieu of new pictures, how about an old one? The picture above is from just about a year ago at this time. I can't believe how different she looks! One thing hasn't changed, though; right from the beginning, she has always loved her daddy. Dave's birthday was yesterday and Mairead gave him a photo album full of pictures of the two of them. They are so cute together!

I don't have pictures, but I can tell you that Mairead is just doing great! She is on the verge of walking, and yesterday she took three steps before deciding that walking is just too slow. I think she could do it if she really wanted to, but she knows that crawling is faster. And, since she is not known for her patience, crawling it is!

We have just loved being home with her all summer and we will be sad to drop her off at daycare on Tuesday. We know that she loves it there and has so much fun with the kids, but after 2 months of being spoiled in our time with her, it won't be easy on us!

I promise that I will take more pictures, especially when it gets cooler outside and Mairead can wear all sorts of new 'back to school clothes' that look so cute on her!