Precious Blessings

18 months

2012-02-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

Tadhg Conor

It's hard to believe you are 18 months old now!

In some ways you are still my baby boy but in others you are doing at well at keeping up with the other boys.

~pretty sure you now out-weigh Alannah ;-)

~you are in 18-24 months or 2T clothes & size 4 diaper

(tho I think you will be the first to go into size 5 before graduating out of diapers!)

~you are beginning to use more and more words, including your signs on your own

~some new ones lately are "me", "mine", "yes", "up"

~you are very expressive, often responding very excited or sad depending on the situation

~you are a wonderful helper... often the first one finding your shoes and jacket when we go to leave, often finding your siblings things and giving them to the proper person, the play vacuum is a favorite and you push it along side and behind and around me while I vacuum

~you love to eat ;-) yogurt, cheese, pasta and salmon are favorites but you will eat anything happily!

~you are officially down to one nap, it took a good 4 months to get you there, we would often do a short morning nap, or a morning nap every couple mornings and so on to get you to just one nap. You are now napping around 2 hours, a little earlier then we had been doing naps, in the 12:30/1 range till about 2:30/3.

It's working out nicely with Ailish's naps as well.

Alannah still naps with you and the big boys are rarely napping anymore.

~Bedtime is 7/7:30 and you are FINALLY consistently sleeping past 6 am as well ;-) You are usually up around 6:45 and past 7 is a special treat for mama

~You still love your tiger lovey, but are now showing a preference for one of them over the other (they are indentical loveys) you really like the one that the ear has torn open a little on and you play with the ear ;-)

Love you little man!

You still have quite the hairstyle - very fine blond/white hair - often sticks up crazy in the back due to 2 cowlicks, it's starting to get longer and will sometimes comb down okay. Still haven't had a first haircut ;-)

Ailish

2012-01-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

4 months

2012-01-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

Ailish Sinead

4 months

~you are babbling often and love to "talk", with babbles, smiles and eye contact

~you chew on your hands all the time.... perhaps you are teething?

~just the other night you laughed for the first time, very intentional - you were laughing at Caeden slurping up spaghetti noodles. See video below!

~you are into a nice routine of a long morning and afternoon nap - both 1 1/2 - 2 hours and a catnap of about an hour, then in bed from about 7-7 overnight, with a dream feed and a couple more feeds thru the night.

~just went thru your closet 'again' - you are pretty much out of anything smaller then 3 months and in 3-6 month clothes and some 6 months in just about everything

~you love your brothers and sister and they love you, you often give them smiles and they talk and play with you often

~We love you little A~

Alannah

2012-01-16T13:54:00.001-07:00

Brothers

2012-01-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

Love this picture!

Train up a child.......

2012-01-05T07:00:00.002-07:00

the kids decided to do the dishes for me the other night
Alannah was in charge of the soap
Caeden the washing
Colm the drying

yes, he's stacking the clean dishes on a very dirty cutting board & counter ;-)

She was very generous with the soap too!

I do have to say, this kept them occupied for a long while, the remaining mess not too terrible and the dishes were passably clean.....

Ailish & the Christmas bears

2012-01-03T06:59:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

May you all have a blessed new year!

love from all of us

Christmas card picture

2011-12-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

these were the top contenders for the Christmas card....

well not this one, it was just too cute not include ;-)
she really didn't want her picture taken!

and we ended up with a collage of the best of each kid...... ;-)

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

Greeting card created with Smilebox

3 months

2011-12-17T09:55:00.001-07:00

(she's smiling at Kieran in this picture)

little A..... how are you 3 months old already?

you have the cutest little smile, it's just precious

you love to coo and babble, I think you will be quite the little talker

you are napping great and sleeping at night nicely

you are in 3 mo & 3-6 mo clothes, in size 1 diaper

love you little girl, always and forever

Ailish

2011-12-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

I know, I might be biased, but I think she's such a beautiful girl!

Doesn't she look noble here..... her name means "noble" ;-)

the brothers three

2011-12-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

2011-12-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

Yeah, he loves his sister!

Do you know.....

2011-12-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

...how hard it is to get 5 kids looking AT you and smiling all at the same moment?

I attempted some pictures this morning for Christmas cards.... these are the ones that aren't going to make it to your homes, so you can enjoy them here!

This wasn't the pose I had originally planned on, but Tadhg wasn't going for the other one. So, I moved to the couch, it worked okay. I like outdoor pictures better, but today isn't exactly conducive to that seeing as I think we are still below freezing, though the snow has stopped!

Note to self - even if you intend to just get the tops you should probably make them put on pants without holes!

not great of anyone....really

uh, yeah, we're missing a kid here!

Alannah,smile nice.... Colm, don't blink....Ailish, put your hand down.... Caeden, look here please.... Hands out of your mouth Tadhg......

Uh, was anyone listening when I took the last picture?

well Tadhg and Alannah look nice, not sure where Caeden's looking and Colm is concentrating too much on Ailish's hand - but at least it's not blocking her face anymore!

Yep, we're done.....

Can't you just wait to see the one I really get?????

little a

2011-12-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

Just some new pictures of the baby girl....... she'll be 11 weeks tomorrow!

She's got the cutest smile..... I love it! Both corners of her mouth dimple up when she smiles.

Colm's picture

2011-11-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

yes, it's drawn on a scrap of paper left from cutting out "turkey hands".... but too precious not to save!

Colm's been really into drawing lately. I have many, many pictures of all sorts of things. He really likes drawing people and has just started paying attention to details such as pockets and teeth! The other day he was drawing at the table, I was sitting and nursing and I see him waving this page around above his head. I ask what he's doing, he says "she won't take it from my hand"... I say, "huh?".... he says "I drew this picture for great-grandma but she won't reach down from heaven and take it from me!" After explaining that this wasn't a possibility ;-) he said, "well, I guess I'll just take it and give it to her when I go to heaven then". But then he quickly amends his thought with "but if I die, just my skin dies, I will go live in heaven, I don't know how'll I'll carry it..."

Too precious how their little minds work!

the girl's curls at 3 years old.....

2011-11-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

3

2011-11-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Alannah Caileen ..... Sweet smiling girl

How is it that you are 3 years old today?

You bring such joy to our lives

Each and every day

the princess of the family

You are so loved!

Happy Birthday dear Alannah

At 3 you are:

~ weighing about 24 pounds (little lightweight, petite thing!)

~ wearing mostly 2T clothes, some 3/4T in dresses and shirts,

nothing bigger then 24 months or smaller 2T in bottoms!

~ wearing a size 6 shoe

~ sleeping about 10/10.5 hours at night

~ napping about an hour and a half each day

~ all potty-trained, (pretty much since about August!) and

can take of all things in the bathroom yourself

~ can dress yourself, top, bottoms, socks or tights and shoes all on your own

(even if they don't always match!)

~ Love coloring, though it's mostly still scribbles

~ know many of your letters and their sounds

irish princess

2011-11-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

I have pictures of all the kids in this outfit!

Can you see her dimple?

french braid

2011-11-19T14:18:00.001-07:00

Alannah's first french braid!

2 months

2011-11-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

Ailish Sinead

2 months

~you love to smile and a sweet smile it is

~you are starting to coo and respond to talking

~you love to be held, especially in the upright, against the chest position

~you are napping well, usually after being up for about an hour, maybe an hour and fifteen minutes and usually do a longer awake stretch in the evening, broken up by just a couple little naps

~you are sleeping so nicely for nights right now. I know it might not last ;-) but last night you did almost 7 hours and I slept for about 5 1/2 of those - oh so nice!

~you'll take the paci when you are sleepy but not when you are hungry

~you are now in size 1 diapers and mostly 0-3 months clothes, some still newborn

you look serious here, but really it's more just a very laid back and quiet look. You are a calm baby, I can often lay you down and you just look around for while

2011-11-12T15:17:00.000-07:00

8 weeks old today...... and I am using the last of the newborn diapers....

onto size 1 we go..... aww sweet baby where does the time go?

Ailish

2011-11-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

Ailish - 6 weeks

a smile for your morning.....

2011-11-04T08:35:00.000-06:00

Tadhg & his tiger

2011-11-02T10:38:00.001-06:00

The boy loves his tiger!

It's a good thing we have 2, he will take either one, just don't them away from him!

All of 'em - 1 month

2011-11-01T10:35:00.000-06:00

2011-10-31T08:32:00.002-06:00

6 weeks

2011-10-29T10:35:00.000-06:00

Ailish Sinead

6 weeks

Perfectly content

Sleeping peacefully

Beautiful eyes

Precious baby

Loved by all

ladybug girls

2011-10-19T09:40:00.000-06:00

1 month

2011-10-17T08:12:00.000-06:00

Sweet baby girl.... how are you already 1 month old?

You now fit in your "coming home" outfit perfectly, you are still wearing newborn sizes for the most part, with a couple 0-3 outfits mixed in.

You marked your 1-month mark by having to visit the doctor's office, again, and get an antibiotic shot since your culture they took last week came back with both strep and staf infections :-( - since it seems rather likely you got this from a sibling who have all had colds lately, we had everyone checked and everyone got "the shot" - everyone did wonderfully, considering the shot itself is rather painful

You are becoming more and more alert to activity around you, and laying on mama's chest is your favorite position to be held in

We love you little Ailish!

playground fun

2011-10-16T09:45:00.001-06:00

Fun at the playground the other day - both boys can now do the monkey bars really well. Tadhg has no fear and climbs everything and slides without hesitation. He was very proud of himself for climbing to the top of the steps in the last picture.

4 weeks

2011-10-15T09:40:00.000-06:00

Ailish Sinead

4 weeks

This week you got your first cold. Not fun. Especially in one so little.

We visited the dr on Wed and started you on breathing treatments at home.

You are seeming to be a bit better day by day, chest-y coughs and stuffy noses are just not fun when you are so little.

getting a breathing treatment

You are still nursing well and gaining weight, so that's good. You are sleeping good as well. Just today I got out the miracle blanket swaddler and you love it and I have put you down to sleep awake a couple times and you have drifted off on your own, I won't complain if you keep that up!

This week you weighed 8 pounds even at the dr's. It was the same day you got a new cousin, Ryan, who weighed in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces. So even with a 3 1/2 week head start, you are still smaller ;-)

3 weeks

2011-10-08T15:11:00.000-06:00

This week you weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces.

The dr was very impressed with your weight gain... you gained almost an ounce a day!

You continue to be loved by all and eat and sleep quite nicely.

You are starting to take the pacifier a bit more, if left to yourself you tend to get your fingers quite easily ;-)

while making your birth announcement this week, I realized you and Alannah look more alike then I thought.

And you are both wearing the same outfits in your birth announcement photo!

I also attempted a group photo this week - this was the best one......

not the easiest group to get looking good at the same time!

2 weeks

2011-10-01T09:39:00.000-06:00

Sweet little girl, are you really 2 weeks old already?

You are settling into life nicely, quite a contented baby right now.

You nurse every 2-4 hours around the clock, usually doing one long stretch at night of at least 4 hours, though you've done closer to 6 more then once (but I won't get too used to that yet!)

You are sleeping well, I often wake you during the day after a 3 hour nap

You love to be swaddled

You don't really care for changing diapers or outfits

You are still in newborn sizes, though the couple preemie outfits I have didn't fit you at all

At 10 days you weighed 7 pounds, 6.4 ounces and 21 inches long and in perfect health according to the dr!

Your siblings all love you, even Tadhg is smiling and loving on you now, a week ago he was pretty much just not paying much attention at all.

Alannah is calling all her babies Ailish right now, and is often seen carrying a baby and a blanket around

We love you little girl!

2011-09-30T15:42:00.002-06:00

just a few pictures!

2011-09-28T10:23:00.002-06:00

2011-09-23T09:27:00.000-06:00

all 5 as newborns..........

loved

2011-09-22T09:27:00.000-06:00

Yes, the new little sister is well loved!

Tadhg's only real interest thus far has been in playing with her toes, which he thought were pretty cool, other then that he doesn't pay too much attention to her.

Ailish Sinead

2011-09-17T04:11:00.001-06:00

Ailish Sinead

September 17, 2011 at 4:11 a.m.

7 pounds, 10 ounces

20.5 inches

Ailish was born early Saturday morning, after a quick labor, for sure my shortest so far. My water broke a little after midnight, contractions started after that and began to pick up and get more regular. By about 2:30 they were about 5 minutes apart and strong enough we started getting ready to head to the hospital. We left for the hospital around 3:30. They clocked us into the labor and delivery floor at 3:53 a.m. and she was born at 4:11 a.m.! Both of us are doing well, Ailish is perfectly healthy and happy. The kids are all loving her, Caeden and Colm ask often to hold her, Caeden loves to talk to her and sing her songs. Colm is very intrigued by her umbilical cord stump. Alannah said "I love my sister" when she first saw her. She continues to be enthralled by her. Tadhg is pretty much oblivious to her, knows she's around but doesn't pay much attention to her. She is settling into life around here well, nursing and sleeping as expected. We are throughly loving and enjoying having her here.

2011-09-07T15:16:00.000-06:00

Dear Ailish,

You are now welcome to make your arrival anytime. I finished your blanket this week and washed all the baby clothes. Just thought maybe you were waiting to be sure you had "something to wear" and keep you warm...... though I know I have yet to have a baby arrive before their due date, there is always a first time, right? As the 5th child, there aren't many "firsts" for you, this would be a nice one for you to claim for your own! You are an active little girl, lots of kicks and wiggles and squirming going on. Alannah is very excited for a baby sister, she talks of you often and is thrilled to be able to now pass along her diapers (since she doesn't need them anymore!) and occasionally mentions you can have her pacis, but I don't know how serious she is about that one! I can't wait to let her met you, it will be fun. So, whenever little girl.... we're ready for you!

love, Mama

2011-08-30T10:53:00.003-06:00

(click the picture to see larger!)

2011-08-15T15:15:00.000-06:00

This made me smile.........

you know those little puzzle things where you take 3 pieces and put them together and you can make silly outfits with varying tops, middles and bottoms? Well, Colm went out to play the other day dressed like this. When the thought crossed my mind "he looks like one of those puzzles..." I had to smile and go take a picture.

His top is a construction hat and safety glasses, his middle is his Bears football outfit and his bottoms are cowboy boots.

Sprinklers

2011-08-05T14:42:00.000-06:00

Playing in the sprinklers with the cousins!

(this was Alannah's opinion of the sprinklers, she didn't even get wet!)

birthday pictures

2011-08-04T14:45:00.000-06:00

(um, yeah, don't need the plate Mom!)

1st birthday!

2011-08-02T14:42:00.000-06:00

Happy 1st Birthday Tadhg Conor!

at 1 year you are:

~WALKING!

(all over, all the time, you have moved from those first few steps here and there a month ago to standing back up when you fall and pretty much walking everywhere. You much prefer to walk on your own and not hold hands. You walk better in bare feet but are getting good with shoes on too!

~You love your da, often asking for him thru out the day and making a beeline when he gets home to him.

~You are still napping 2 times a day, usually around 90 minutes each time and sleeping around 11 hours a night. Still waking a little too early for mama's liking in the morning but oh well, those cute smiles you have when I get you up make up for it!

~You love bananas, peaches and peas. You usually eat what we are eating or some variation of it.

in loving memory.....

2011-07-29T16:14:00.000-06:00

Miriam Griggs

aka Great-Grandma

February 15, 1924 - July 21, 2011

2011-07-18T15:43:00.000-06:00

a few pictures Aunt Erin took the other day

2011-07-16T09:34:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Grammie!

love from all of us

and some attempts at pictures from about a month ago I forgot to post ;-)

2011-07-14T14:54:00.000-06:00

Right now, it seems like I'll never forget. But since I know I will ;-) I thought I would jot down a few thoughts thus far on Alannah's potty training journey.
We started a little over a week ago 'officially'. She's been showing signs of being ready for a couple months, we've taken a few mornings here and there and attempted some training, but nothing worked in 3 hours ;-) and I didn't continue. I knew I needed to though, and wanted to - in the long run. Personally, I don't find potty training one of the more enjoyable aspects of mothering! But as the summer arrived, making it a prime season for training with the convenience of warm weather, dresses and such and the knowledge that if I didn't train her soon I was going to have 3 in diapers, we went for it.
We've been talking about it with her for awhile now and she knows that "Ailish needs her diapers, so now her diapers are for Ailish", I told her she was wearing panties now and we were learning to go pee in the toilet. Her first response? "I'm gonna cry". It was rather funny. But she didn't mind the idea, talked well of the proper procedures and all. But for the first 5 days didn't once get the pee in the proper location, despite me taking her and letting her sit and try frequently. The girl has a huge bladder and goes literally many hours at a time. I tried everything, special drinks, snacks, a bribe of chocolate upon success, new panties....... nothing, all I got were puddles in places puddles don't belong - and an adorable little curly headed girl saying "it was an accident, pee goes in the toilet next time". I was wondering if "next time" would ever arrive.
Finally, Sunday morning, I decided she had to have success and get in the toilet so we could move forward. I was concerned about #1- her length of time holding it all in and perhaps that not being overly healthy and #2- creating a habit of just holding it till she physically couldn't anymore vs realizing the need to go and going. So, we sat in the bathroom. For about an hour. It worked. She went. There was great praise all around and of course, chocolate. The last couple days have been hit and miss. We had a couple accidents that were probably more my fault then hers, just in not being home and dealing with other kids, but the last 24 hours we have had everything in the proper place and dry panties all around.
She has been consistently dry at naps and nighttime since we started. I can honestly say she trained her nights before her days, which I find a little odd, but I won't complain. I still watch her closely during the day, but she's been telling me on her own when she needs to go. She went at Grammie's yesterday, but today while we were out wasn't having success in the public bathrooms, despite a really cool special seat we have. So, since I had the flexibility today, we just came home and she did her business pretty quick. She's still holding it for quite awhile, but as long as she's going on her own I will probably just be happy with what seems to be a good size bladder, and is consistent with the boys too - they too can go quite some time especially when we are out.
So, I think we are making good progress. There's a light at the end of the tunnel and I think given another week, I will be pretty confident in her abilities to stay dry consistently during the day.

And just in case you were wondering, she's my "latest" potty trained thus far. Both boys were trained right about 2 1/2 and she's a good month past that. But they've all been right about this time.

4th of July - and a first!

2011-07-05T15:12:00.000-06:00

Look who's walking....... even on his own without the help of the mower!

Tadhg took his first steps on Independence Day.... rather fitting I think ;-)

And keeps with the record we have at the moment of all the kids walking on significant days - Caeden on Kieran's birthday (14 mo), Colm on Caeden's birthday (14 mo), Alannah on Christmas Day (13 mo) and Tadhg on Independence Day (11 mo)

I won't complain too much about the early walker.... since he's my heaviest baby for his age and I am 7+ months pregnant..... it's nice to put him down!

Caeden's breakfast - waffles with flag decor - cream cheese, strawberry jelly and blueberries!

"take a picture of me mama!"

Colm's been enjoying being a pirate lately ;-)

he was playing with Tadhg this morning!

2011-06-11T07:45:00.002-06:00

Happy 6th Birthday Caeden Sean!

Tadhg

2011-06-01T14:34:00.000-06:00

Tadhg Conor

almost 10 months

Alannah

2011-05-31T14:31:00.000-06:00

Alannah Caileen

2 1/2 yrs

just one of her curls........ just cause they are so cute

Mama-in-training

2011-05-30T14:57:00.000-06:00

This is a familiar sight with Alannah around, she is often carrying her baby, Molly, or another one of the dolls, or a stuffed animal of some sort, around with her. Just going about her everyday life, sometimes actually playing with them, but just as often playing something else. Like below, she and Charlotte are having fun in the dirt filling and dumping and whatever else little girls play in the dirt, but there's Alannah, playing and carrying her baby. Since I am often carrying a baby around while working around the house, I am guessing she figures it is part of life. I figure it's good training to know how to do things well with one hand or carrying a baby, so she might as well start early ;-)

Boys and trees

2011-05-28T14:52:00.000-06:00

The boys haven't had much tree climbing opportunity..... they discovered yesterday though they can climb this one in our front yard. They had fun going up and down and back up again. I guess climbing trees is part of life with boys and they're going to enjoy it! The first time Caeden went up he called me over and told me he was stuck, I told him "well, there's no way I am coming up after you, so you got up there, you can figure it out and get down!" Didn't take him too long to figure it out. Colm, on the other hand, is a bit more of a dare-devil then Caeden is and throughly enjoyed seeing how high he could get!

Alannah

2011-05-25T14:23:00.000-06:00

These are Alannah's friends - aptly named Bear and Bunny. She loves to sleep with both, or either ;-) Unless she's in a grumpy mood she's usually happy with at least one. Though she's pretty good about keeping track of them and knowing where both are. Every now and again, she "has to have" one or the other. Bunny is most frequently found wandering with her. It's rather cute since she's had Bunny in her bed since she was just tiny, but until the last couple months was not overly attached to it. Bear she got for her first birthday and she attached to that pretty soon after and has been her sleeping companion consistently since then.

Not shown is her "best" friend, the paci ;-) She still takes it to sleep, or whenever she can sneak it. Though we work pretty hard to convince her to keep it in the crib, she often tells me mid-morning she wants to go sit in her crib for awhile...... just to have it.

2011-05-23T14:22:00.000-06:00

Yep, they love each other!

for posterity sake.....

2011-05-21T13:53:00.002-06:00

I keep remembering this story and not writing it down.... so for the sake of posterity... it is recorded!

A couple months ago we were driving somewhere and Colm - totally out of the blue - announced that he was going to change Tiny's name to Buck. For those that don't know, Tiny is his blue bear, the one sleeps with and is a best friend bear. Not sure how he came up with the name Tiny, but he named Tiny quite some time ago and he is quite the fixture in Colm's life.

Anyway, I guess he thought Tiny sounded a bit too... something.... and Buck would be a better name for him.He said Buck was a "tough" name. We told him that was fine and moved on. We maybe used Buck as his name a couple times and a few days later Kieran asked him when he asked for Tiny, or referred to him as Tiny, "I thought his name was Buck". Colm said "Oh, I changed my mind, I'm just calling him Tiny now". So, Tiny it is and I guess it will stay ;-)

Updated.....May 25, 2011.... it's been 3 nights now Colm has slept without Tiny. We had a garage sale this weekend and he "found" a stuffed moose I was getting rid of and he wanted it. Kieran told him he could keep it if he gave up Tiny in return. He agreed. That night he asked for Tiny back. I told him he wanted the moose and not Tiny. After confirming that we weren't SELLING Tiny, he went to sleep. I told him I put Tiny in a safe place to keep him always. He hasn't asked about him again. And though the moose is still in his bed, he's more attached now to a giraffe..... I think mama is more sad about Colm growing up then he is!

Updated again..... May 28, 2011..... Colm is back in possession of Tiny. After him being hidden for the week we pulled out all the garage sale stuff again yesterday and it prompted him asking about where he was. I told him I had put him away safe and I wasn't selling him. This morning he asked Kieran for him back again and Kieran asked me if I wanted to buy Tiny from Colm, he was asking $6 for him. I bought him for $6. Kieran then bought him from me for $7. Colm then asked to buy him back, Kieran had him pay him his original $6 and the moose ;-), Kieran then sold the moose to Caeden for a $1 so he at least broke even ;-) I told Colm when he doesn't need Tiny to sleep with anymore, I can put him up on a shelf in a safe place and we can keep him around.

9 months

2011-05-19T14:22:00.000-06:00

Tadhg Conor

9 months

~in the last 2 weeks you have cut 3 more teeth, the 2 top, either side of the center two and one of the top centers - I'm guessing the 4th top tooth will show up in the next couple weeks ;-)

~You now have 5 teeth, 2 bottoms and 3 tops

~You will gum/chew/eat just about anything we give you

~You love yogurt, veggies, rice & eggs - you often try whatever we are eating for dinner and throughly enjoy it - you've tried alot of new foods lately and done great with them

~I'm pretty good at "forgetting" that you need food too - I often cook up a little bowl of frozen veggies for you to eat.

~you are sleeping thru the night, still getting fed just before I go to bed and then nothing till morning

~Your definition of morning and mine are about an hour apart...... hoping you soon learn mama's right on this one!

~You are still napping 2 times a day, about 90 minutes each with an occasional longer nap here and there.

~I've started moving you in with Alannah while sleeping, at the moment just a rare nap or overnight after I feed you the last time. You are both doing great with the arrangements.

~You weaned completely about a week shy of 9 months, we were down to 1 feed a day, first thing in the morning, for about 2 weeks and then 2 mornings you refused to nurse, when you started playing and biting, I decided you weren't getting anything and stopped offering.

~You give yourself your bottle most of the time, it's rather cute and as we weaned to the bottle I found you usually took it better on your own then in my arms. Depending on the time of day and how hungry you are you are taking between 4-6 oz, sometimes closer to 8 oz in a feed.

~You are crawling everywhere - fast, Love climbing the stairs. Love pulling up and anything. You've just started pushing a little box or something around to walk with or walking along the edge of the couch or table.

~You weigh 19 pounds this month (not bad compared to Alannah's 21.5 pounds!)

~You love your Da, when he walks into the room you either fuss and pull to go to him or crawl as fast as you can to get there. If Da's around it's hard to keep you away from him!

Love you little fella!

(I love his "just about to cry" look here - he was laughing a few minutes later ;-))

a sister

2011-04-27T08:48:00.001-06:00

Introducing..........

Ailish Sinead

Ailish - means "noble, kind", it's a gaelic form of Alice or Elizabeth

Sinead - means "God is gracious", it's an Irish form of Jane

(go HERE and HERE to listen if you need help with pronunciation!)

At 19 weeks, 4 days, she is weighing about 11 ounces.

All body parts are present and accounted for.

Everything measures nicely and is growing on schedule.

We are thrilled to be welcoming another girl. The boys are really excited. They've both been pretty convinced the whole pregnancy that it would be a girl, as was Kieran, so confirmation that they were "right" was fun.

I am always awed by the knowledge of our ultrasound tech, we've had the same one for the last 3 pregnancies and she's really good. She always points out what she's looking at, what things should be measuring and where we are. And though I must say I am pretty good at figuring out what is what in those "grainy black and white shots", I always pretty amazed when she says, "here's the bladder" and "I know, it's hard to see, you'll just have to take my word for it, but those are kidneys"....... wow, the things they can see!

sigh....

2011-04-23T09:47:00.000-06:00

He's becoming mobile much quicker then I anticipated.......

the stairs are now a breeze..... though he is not super stable and can't come down......

Hence we chase and grab this adorable boy numerous times thru the day..........

And try and convince to do something else........ like try and stand up against EVERYTHING ;-)

Pigtails

2011-04-21T09:45:00.000-06:00

It's barely long enough, but it sure is cute with the little curls and a nice way to make her hair more manageable since it gets rather flyaway quickly!

2011-04-19T09:45:00.002-06:00

Tadhg's opinion of a group photo............. ;-)

8 months

2011-04-04T15:19:00.001-06:00

Tadhg Conor - 8 months

alot of "firsts" for you in the last couple weeks........ you've been a busy little boy!

~You are now sitting well, (just past 7 months) and working on getting mobile

~As of just shy 8 months, you are crawling, took a day or two of tentative crawling and it's now full speed ahead, you love your new found freedom and it didn't take long for you to realize you get picked up every time you get to the top of the stairs ;-)

~ as of this morning, April 4, you have one little tooth coming in

~ you are napping well, a morning nap and an afternoon nap, bedtime by 7

~you are almost sleeping thru the night, we are doing it gradually and you are doing great.

~You are nursing 4-5 times a day, plus taking about 24 ounces in supplemental formula.

~You love your "solids", peas and sweet potatoes are favorites, you aren't fond of bananas or applesauce

~ You were 17 pounds at 7 1/2 months and 17 pounds, 8 ounces a week later......!

this was just too cute, Tadhg carrying his tiger around like this!

And as of April 10.......... tooth #2 is sitting right next to tooth #1!
Also this week we are having great success at sleeping thru the night - 9:30/10 till 6:30/7!

You have also accomplished the feat of not only finding the stairs, but pulling yourself standing on the stair and within a couple more days you are climbing up the stairs quite proficiently. You are quite proud of yourself and though you have no clue how to get down yet, you love going up.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T16:55:00.000-06:00

Tadhg is very proud of his new - and barely able - sitting ability, but he is getting better at it daily!
And just in case you were wondering........ he is now 17 pounds, and Alannah is at 21 pounds

This is what a little girl with a runny nose and cold looks like - poor thing, she's not very happy

Colm's birthday

2011-03-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

A chocolate cake with chocolate frosting!

Singing happy birthday

Opening presents

Tadhg had to be content with a carrot to chew on instead of chocolate cake!

Colm requested pasta for lunch, they had to get out ALL the pasta to choose which one they wanted!
Quite the choice!

Uncle Trevor and Colm with his new goggles

His new big brother book, with a surprise..........

Yep, a new little one is joining us in mid September! Baby is looking good, picture above is almost 12 weeks along and we could see both arms, both legs and a good heartbeat!

4

2011-03-05T10:35:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th Birthday

Colm Michael!

We are celebrating today with your choice of a chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting and blue writing that says "Colm's birthday", a square cake since that has 4 sides ;-) Grandma and Grandpa Claffey are in town, and Gramps and Grammie will come over. You were thrilled to get several birthday cards this week, you love opening mail! Have a wonderful birthday sweet boy!

Colm said

2011-02-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

The other day while I was making dinner Colm came up and asked me, "Can I have a pretzel please?", I said sure and handed him one. Not 10 seconds later, he came up and said, "Can I have a pretzel please? Before I could say, "Didn't I just give you one?" , he giggled and said, "That was a replay". I guess we've watched some football around here the last couple months ;-)

as heard from Alannah

2011-02-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

Me: Alannah, you are adorable

Alannah: No, ma - I not adorable, I A-na-na princess!

6 months

2011-02-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

Wow, Tadhg where did 6 months go already?

You are growing up so quickly!

At 6 months you are:

~not really sitting up, love to sit in your high chair and saucer and laps, but by yourself you still tip over rather quickly

~you are rolling well both directions and yes, often roll several feet or more across the room

~in the last week you dropped your catnap and are napping 2 times a day, usually 9-11 and 1-3, then bedtime by 6:30, maybe 7. It's improved your evenings alot and fingers crossed that our nights will continue to improve as well!

~you are nursing every 4 hours during the day and are taking great feeds

~no teeth yet, though you put everything in your mouth

~you are easily in 6 month or larger clothing, especially one piece outfits

~you love your Tiger-lovey, I just got you a second one this month in hopes that we can have a spare that is acceptable ;-) We usually try to leave one in the crib and the other one wherever else we are. So far you have not expressed an opinion in one over the other.

~you are still being swaddled to sleep and everytime I unwrap you, you always look around and grab your tiger which is normally close by. It's rather cute.

~you don't mind being with other people, I have left you a couple times with Aunts and Grammie and you have done wonderfully!

We love you little boy!

Are we almost done now Ma..... I think I see something more interesting......

thoughts from Caeden

2011-01-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

Caeden loves to hold Tadhg and often asks to sit and hold him. Yesterday, they were on the couch and I was putting away laundry. As I was walking back I hear Caeden say to Tadhg, "no way, I wouldn't sell you, never, not even for a hundred dollars!"

While driving this morning Caeden tells me, rather out of the blue since we hadn't been discussing football, horses or seen either recently, that "Mom, I think it would be really hard to play football while you were riding a horse. It'd be a little dangerous to tackle someone, you could get quite the injury (yes, that was his word), But if you were going to play football and ride a horse, you'd have to practice your balance, that would take alot of balance I think."

2011-01-24T14:58:00.001-07:00

brothers

2011-01-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

I find it rather ironic these pictures were all taken of the boys in December.....

so that means, Caeden was just 6 months, Colm was 9 months and Tadhg was 4 1/2 months,

Tadhg is for sure my big baby!

Just for comparison:

Tadhg was 15 pounds a week ago at just 5 months. And 26 inches long

Caeden was hit that same size and weight between 6 and 9 months

Colm was 12 1/2 pounds & 25" at 5 months

and Alannah..... well she hit 15 pounds, 3 ounces at 10 months!

And just for posterity sake so I can refer back here when I update baby books ;-)

in early January 2011:

Caeden - 39 pounds

Colm - 33 pounds

Alannah - 22 pounds

Tadhg - 15 pounds

and yes, I'm guessing Tadhg will catch Alannah in weight within the year ;-)

from the backseat

2011-01-08T22:21:00.000-07:00

You can hear interesting things discussed when you have a 5 and 3 1/2 year old in the backseat...... here's a couple recent conversations.

Caeden: Mom, I know what I want for my birthday.
Me: what's that?
Caeden: a puppy, a real live puppy
Me: oh my, that would be fun, but I don't think we are going to get a puppy for awhile. We need a house with some land around it before we get any puppies.
Caeden: well, before we would get a puppy we'd have to get him some food, and that would cost money. And we'd have to have a place for him to sleep..... and play..... puppies are alot of work.
Me: that's right, (slightly relieved he seems to have talked him self out of a puppy.....!) but someday we can get one, it'll just be a bit down the road.
......... several minutes of silence then:
Caeden: mom, how much work is a worm?
Me: (seriously trying incredibly hard to laugh myself silly didn't reply)

Colm: Mom, when I get to heaven I'm going to find Gedaliah and see where he sleeps and I'm going to take my nap with him.
Me: okay, that would be nice
Caeden: No, you won't..... when we get to heaven we won't take naps.... we will get new bodies and we won't have to take naps anymore

Caeden: (after hearing the word Indian in some context) - Are there any bad indians around anymore?
Me: No, I think all the Indians around are nice ones (figured this was a safe answer just in case we were to see a real Indian at the store - I didn't want to have to be answering then in response to a loud "is that a bad indian?")
Caeden: yeah, I guess Davy Crockett killed the rest of the bad Indians.
Me: that's a good possibility............
Caeden: when did Davy Crockett die?
Me: a long time ago
Caeden: like before I was born or right after God finished making everybody? (gotta love the kid's sense of time!)
Me: Uh, I guess somewhere in between that
Caeden: well, were YOU alive?
Me: no, it was before I was born too, you know Great-Grandma..... it was even before SHE was born.
Caeden: (in awe of how long ago THAT was) well, I think we should call Grammie and ask her if she knows. And if she doesn't know then we'll call Great-Grandma and I know she'd remember
(We did, and of course, Grammie knew all sorts of nice details for the wondering mind, just for the record I did have it in the right century myself - and in case you didn't know, he was born while George Washington was president and died in 1836)

Don't you wish you could drive around with us?

Coldest day of the year.... seriously

2010-12-31T19:23:00.000-07:00

If it wasn't the coldest, it certainly ranked in the top 5! The sun was out most of the day but the temperature didn't get much above the single digits - the kids wanted to go out in the snow, I tried to convince them it was too cold, but they had to try. They spent about 5 minutes out there and came in.

Making a snow angel

Alannah found it hard to walk in the snow and her boots!

Figured I might as well start the new year with clean kids!

2010-12-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

the girl likes fudge :-)

2010-12-28T21:22:00.000-07:00

4 stockings...... yes, I finished Tadhg's on Christmas Eve Day........ ;-)

the boys were thrilled with their football outfits

2010-12-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

Tadhg enjoying the Christmas tree when mama needed her hands free for a couple minutes

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T07:14:00.002-07:00

Merry Christmas

from our house to yours!

Love from,

Kieran, Jen, Caeden, Colm, Alannah & Tadhg

Caeden - 5 yrs

Colm - 3 1/2 yrs

Alannah - 2 yrs

Tadhg - 4 months

yes, these are the best 4 pictures I got!

2010-12-21T07:14:00.001-07:00

so strong

2010-12-19T15:41:00.002-07:00

Tadhg pulls himself up like this all. the. time...... he must have an incredible core. He holds it there too - for amazing lengths of time...... one day I think I am gonna turn around and he'll be sitting up!

He also loves his new found ability to turn over

Life is kinda fun on your belly!

such a lovable boy

Superhero

2010-12-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

Don't you love the boys idea of dressing up as superheroes?

They are too cute - in case you cannot see it.... that's underwear OVER the pants, rubber rain boots on their feet, bandit mask on Caeden and robes tied around their necks..........

Cousins & Christmas

2010-12-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

The Cousins

Grace, Sam, Dean, Grace, Ella, Madelyn & Caeden holding Tadhg

Abi, Colm, Jack, Alannah

We had a little Christmas party with the Fisk side of the family - well as little as a Fisk gathering is - there were 18 adults and 12 kids in one house. We helped the kids put together a play of the Christmas story - below are some pictures.

Personalize a scrapbook

Caeden - as a wise man - following the star

Colm & Grace as Mary & Joseph

Alannah snacking on cookies

aren't those little hands so cute?

2010-12-15T16:05:00.000-07:00

I know, I am probably a bit biased, but isn't she the cutest girl ever?

take 5......6.......7.....

2010-12-11T15:04:00.000-07:00

aren't you all getting excited to see the final - and pretty good, I must say, Christmas photo of 2010?

4 months (and 1 week!)

2010-12-09T15:03:00.000-07:00

Tadhg Conor

4 months

~you weigh 13 pounds, 15 ounces

~you don't have any teeth, but I think you are maybe working on some

~you take 3-4 naps a day, usually 2 morning naps, an afternoon nap and a catnap

~you are pretty consistent at an hour and a half of awake time between naps, and on a good day your naps are an hour and a half in length as well - though most days only ONE of the naps is an hour and half to 2 hours and the others are all around an hour.

~don't ask about your night sleeping right now...... it's rather rough and needs some improvement ;-)

~you giggle, smile, coo and make fun baby sounds

~you LOVE your saucer

~you have great head and body control, hold yourself up well and love to sit/stand in the saucer

At just past 4 months, - 4 month and 4 days to be exact

~you rolled over- back to front

rather funny moment..... he's been working on rolling for a couple weeks and I had often thought he was close, but Monday morning I had him on the floor in the bathroom (on his blanket and the mat) while I took a shower. He plays quite nicely and stays safe while I shower this way. When I stepped out of the shower I was surprised to see him playing quite nicely where I left him, but on his belly not his back. He was rather proud of himself.

I loved this picture because he is always chewing his hands and fingers

curls

2010-12-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

the little girl's curls at 2 years old

I know, it's kinda a silly smile, but she was posing and asked for me to take her picture

take 2...3.... and 4.......

2010-12-02T09:58:00.000-07:00

I think some of these "bad" ones are almost as cute as a good one.....

worth hanging onto for a day years down the road ;-)

take 1.....

2010-11-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

no, no really...... give me your worst faces..... I'm not really trying to get a decent picture of all 4 of you......
(if I start trying now maybe you all will get a nice picture by Christmas!)

2 years

2010-11-26T05:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Alannah!

We love you sweet princess girl!

sweet baby

2010-11-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures of Tadhg in the carrier...... I love carrying him :-)

2010-11-16T15:07:00.001-07:00

Can you tell who is who?

answer is in the comments!

brothers

2010-11-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

2010-11-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

She sure is cute..........

last of fall

2010-11-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

Enjoying the last leaves of fall!

(last week at Gramps and Grammie's house)

Caeden loves raking!

Colm likes raking too, but he poses so nicely!

All 4

Alannah - looking cute

3 months

2010-11-02T15:35:00.000-06:00

Tadhg Conor

3 months

~ you smile all the time

~ you still dislike traveling in the car, letting us know by crying without ceasing a good 90% of the time we are in the car

~ you sleep very well at night, consistently a good 6 hour stretch, often an 8 hour stretch

~ your naps.... we're working on. :-) You do nap okay as long as I hit your sleep window nicely, we need to work on knowing where that window is so I can get you sleeping in it and going to sleep on your own better

~ you love to lay on your back and wiggle and squirm turing yourself around in circles

~ you get yourself over onto your side often, I think you'll be rolling soon

~ you have graduated into size 2 diapers as of last week

~ you are in 3 month- 3/6 month clothing across the board- I do think you are the "largest" of the kids at this point :-)

~ you are great at making talking sounds, babbling and cooing

~ you like chewing, playing with your hands and are not overly into the pacifier at this time

We love you little boy!

And Happy Birthday to Uncle Trevor!

fall pictures

2010-10-20T14:24:00.000-06:00

thought I better get the fall pictures posted before we get any snow!

10 weeks

2010-10-11T15:23:00.000-06:00

Tadhg Conor - 10 weeks

He is such a smiley boy!

This 3 month size sleeper is none too big..... he's getting so tall!

10

2010-10-10T12:18:00.001-06:00

10 pictures..... for 10-10-10......

Helping put the engine back in the Suburban :-)

Caeden and Colm

Tadhg

Caeden

Caeden in his hunting outfit

She looked so cute, bummer she didn't really want her picture taken!

Caeden posed and took this picture of Colm

Colm loves playing with Tadhg

How long before Tadhg catches up to Alannah? He is wearing a size 3 month sleeper, she is wearing a size 12 month sleeper...... don't you just love her flyaway curls?

doesn't he have the cutest sad face?