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!

Special Blankets

When the boys were only a few months old, we lost a very special aunt of Dave's, Aunt Ellen. She was a warm and loving person who had a very big heart. She lost her battle to cancer and never had the chance to meet the boys. Shortly after she died, we found out from her daugher, Megan, that Aunt Ellen had knitted two blankets for our little guys as one of her last gifts, and Megan sent them to us for Jack and Ben to have. We were so touched by yet another act of kindess from Aunt Ellen, and we will always treasure the blankets she made for each of our children. Today, we used the blankets for the first time because it is getting chilly for our walks now. Don't the kids look nice and cozy, all bundled up? Thank you, Aunt Ellen! And thanks, Megan, for sending the blankets.



These little acorn hats were gifts from our friend, Alisa. When she gave them to us, the boys' entire bodies probably could have fit in them! But, they have grown into the hats just in time for cooler weather. They were actually happier than they looked in these pictures- it was just about nap time!

Jack


Ben


Ready for our walk! I have joked that I am going to make an exercise DVD and sell it to make millions. There are only three steps. 1- Have 3 babies. 2- Live on top of a huge hill. 3- Take the babies for walks in a triple stroller. What a workout!


When Mairead was born, there was no mistaking that she was Dave's daughter- she looked just like him. Now, though, I definitely see myself in her- both physically and in terms of personality.

Don't mind the cookie crumbs!

This is how we found Ben yesterday after being on the floor playing with Jack. We had to pick Jack up since Ben had rolled pretty much on top of him. Ben is dying to crawl. He gets up on his knees and elbows pretty well, actually, which is amazing for a 6 month old preemie! We are really happy with how they are growing and developing. Their personalities are SO defined already. Ben wants to move constantly, but he doesn't care where. He just twists and rolls aimlessly, winding up under furniture, on top of Jack, etc. Jack is so deliberate. He doesn't try to move until he makes up his mind to go after something specific. Funny how identical twins can be so different so early on!

And here's our daughter. With a bucket on her head.

She is SO much fun right now. She is learning so many new words and so many new ways to play. She likes to organize things-- toys, books, the spice drawer in the kitchen. I have no idea where she gets that from... She is also very sweet to the babies. When she gets up in the morning, she comes down and says, "Babies? Are you?" Then, when she finds them, she says, "Babies! One, two! One, two!" She also plays with them a little bit more. They LOVE watching her. And, of course, she loves the attention! We are SO lucky to have these amazing children!

The Readers

As teachers, it is very important to Dave and me that our kids develop a healthy love of reading. We figured we would start them really young. Here are Ben and Jack catching up on world events by reading the newspaper this evening.

Today, I took Mairead for her first visit to the library. This trip was very special to me because when I was young, my grandfather used to take me to the Pollard Memorial Library in Lowell all the time. I loved reading and I loved our special trips together. He always took me to lunch after at a place called Tatsios' that is no longer around. The owner, John Tatsios, used to give me a roll of Lifesavers if I ate all of my lunch (and even if I didn't). Those are some of my favorite memories and I wanted to share a little bit of that with my daughter.

There are some really big, really fun steps to climb on the way in to the library.

She LOVED the children's section. There were puzzles and blocks, and a million books that you could just take off the shelves and look at as much as you want. She picked out one at a time, looked at each page, and then tried to put it back in place before moving on to a new one. She did sit on my lap and 'read' one with me, which was a big deal because sitting still is not her favorite activity. We had a really nice trip together and I hope we can go back again soon. Thanks to Mairead's Nana for staying with the boys so we could have some Mother-Daughter time. The library is stroller friendly, so maybe the boys can come with us some time.

The other night, our neighbor, Connor, came to visit with his mom. Rick and Cheryl live next door and Connor is only 19 days older than the boys- though you would never know it by looking at them! The boys are growing so well, but they are still on the small side for their age. At birth, though, Connor weighed almost as much as Jack and Ben did put together! It will be great to have another little boy next door to play with!

Editor's note- there is a doll in the foreground- not a baby that wasn't getting any attention. :)

How Lucky to Have a Brother and a Big Sister

For example, when you don't feel like chewing on your own hand anymore, your brother will gladly offer you his to try.

True, sometimes you get poked in the eye, but no harm done.

That's Ben doing the chewing and Jack offering his hand.

Twins really are so much fun!

They are even better when they have such a helpful big sister! Yesterday, she fed them all by herself. You can see the end result on Jack's shirt.

She even opened her mouth wide to show them how to do it.

Jack was a little concerned when she stuck the spoon in his eye.

But she got the hang of it!

She was SO stinkin' cute. My mom was feeding them in the living room and the bowl was on the coffee table. While my mom got bibs or something, Mairead decided to start without her. She scooped up the cereal and carried it on the spoon over to each baby. She actually did a really good job! They were just happy to have food- they are like baby birds- they open their mouths five minutes before the food even gets there.

When she came down this morning the babies were in the den and she didn't immediately see them. So, she walked around yelling, "Babies? Are you?" So cute. That is my new favorite phrase of hers. When she can't find someone or something, she wanders around calling for it/them. The word 'where' gets left out, but that seems to make it cuter. When she is in her crib and wants me to come get her, I hear, "Mom? Are you?" over the monitor.

We are so lucky to have these amazing kids in our lives!

Happy Half Birthday!

Believe it or not, the twins are six months old today! I can't believe how time is flying- I want them to slow down a little bit! They are growing so well- already wearing 9 or 12 month clothes. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since Mairead has always been so tall. You would never believe that these kids were tiny little preemies who wouldn't eat!

We took some 'six month' pictures today on the bench that Uncle Brian made for Mairead. It was her birthday gift and it was the perfect seat for pictures today! Mairead did let the boys sit there, but there was definitely some jealousy there.

Isn't the bench gorgeous? I can't believe he made it by hand!

This picture just shows big sister doing one of her favorite things- coloring!

Thanks to Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Ry, Uncle Dave, and Rachael for coming to visit us this weekend- we had a great time!