Men and their "toys"

**We are still alive! I promise I'll update what we've been doing lately! This sudden burst of summer weather here in Maine has us outside all day long and this mamma is tired at the end of the day! 


So, here's a "funny" for you in the meantime! 

It's not a surprise my husband has a hard time multi-tasking. When the girls are barking orders to him, he most often responds "daddy can only do one thing at a time!"

When the girls are barking orders at me, I most often respond "Mommy can only do several things at a time, and right now, I am at my quota!"

So, the other day we were getting back from the beach. We had forgot the girls swimsuits at the showers, so Kevin & Callum made their way back to the beach, which was just two miles away. While they were retrieving the swim suits, I was getting Clara to bed for a nap, and Mairead &  Lilah into the shower, and making a phone call to my girlfriend, Christina, who had just spent half of her day driving to see a rental home we were very interested in. Like I said, doing multiple things at a time.

Once Kevin returned home, he came quickly upstairs. I was still chatting away with my girlfriend. Then, at the corner of my eye, I see something. My naked husband. Now before you start to wonder where this is going, keep reading..........I continue chatting on the phone trying not to pay attention to my husband. He starts to try to "be a man" and say to me "honey. I am naked."

My response: "Uh huh" and continue chatting.

He walks closer.

I back up.

He continues acting like a horny teenager.

I continue my conversation trying not to pay attention. Oh. Did I mention I was naked, too? You see, I was just about to get into the shower with the girls when I remembered I had to call my girlfriend back to hear all about this fantastic home......but, I wasn't naked for the same reason he was. You know that.

Anyways, Kevin continues his antics. And I realize one thing.

Callum was not upstairs with us. So, I interrupt my friend and ask where Callum was.

Kevin's response......

"OH shit! He's still in the car!" 

He quickly gets dressed and retrieves our seven week old son in the car. By himself.

Like I said. Men have a hard time multi-tasking.

I am the future....

It is mind boggling to think that he is the future. He is one of millions of children who will someday be something. All of our sweet little babies are the future. I bought this outfit before Callum was born and when I saw it, I had to have it. It was so sweet...yet so true. He is the future.

Controlled Chaos

I've spent two weeks home alone with my crazy crew of four kids, just turned five and under.

It's been a bit crazy, but not quite as bad as I thought it would be. I am starting to think those people who said four isn't any worse than three are right? Though I could be jumping the gun a bit...

Clara sportin' her new pig tails

I've learned I can multi-task even better than before....like wiping a butt while breastfeeding Callum. Or breastfeeding while pan frying chicken.

Callum cries and I automatically think.....who's sitting on the little guy. Or who's trying to pick him up? Or who put a blanket over his face?

I won't admit if I've let Mairead "babysit" Callum while I go rock Clara for naps. He didn't want to be put down, and I don't let my babies cry, soo.....what other option did I have?

People look at me and laugh, then ask, "Are they all yours" - uh huh.....


I also won't tell you if I was that mom who forgot her 20 month old at her daughters preschool. Thankfully that insane mother with four small children realized she was missing her child before she drove away from the preschool. Obviously that child doesn't have any issues with separation anxiety.

When our big girls (Mairead & Lilah) went to my parents for the night on Saturday, I then realized just how quiet houses are only two children. It was like we didn't have children and when we took Clara & Callum out and about, people didn't look at us like we belong in a mental institution.

Hmmmm....should I torment the kid? Nah...I'll be nice!

Today, two of Mairead's friends from preschool came over. Six children, all five and under. No problem. What's a few more kids, I said to the parents as they dropped the girls off. No, really....my house is crazy without the friends, so why not add a little more craziness. Would you think I were sick if I said I had fun? Oh, and let's add some more craziness on a day that is rainy and the children cannot go outside!

Over the weekend, I bought my first bike since before high school probably. We also bought a Schwinn bike trailer for Clara and Callum. Now, Kevin just needs a bike and we'll be able to ride around our neighborhood with our crazy crew. Today, I strapped Callum & Clara into the trailer, got Mairead and Lilah on their bikes, and of course, was followed by our two dogs. Yeah, it was pretty ridiculous, almost like a parade. I feel like I have my own friggin' day care now, it's fabulous! Now, all we need is a freakin' bus to fit all the crap we are beginning to accumulate. Holy shit kids have a lot of crap.

Tonight, Kevin was giving the girls a bath - he gives them a bath all together on most nights. Tonight, I watched the girls and I thought, Yeah...there's room for one more, I think Kevin can bathe four children in that tub. Okay, maybe that wouldn't be wise choice, but it would make things easier?

So yeah. Our life is crazy. But life was crazy before we had four kids. It's just a tad crazier now!

All they want to do is dance....

This past weekend was pretty busy!

Kevin's parents flew up from Florida on Thursday to visit and meet our sweet little Callum. That evening they were able to watch the big girls at swim lessons and Friday was spent enjoying the day outside. It was a beautiful day, so we just played and spent time together. It was nice! That evening we grilled out and then Kevin "started" a fire...and we roasted marshmallows for S'Mores. The girls were so excited to have a fire in our new fire pit!

On Saturday, it was a big day for the big girls! It was their recital for their ballet class. Mairead did dance class last year so she knew just how fun a recital was, but Lilah was a rookie, and she has been waiting for her moment on stage for a long, long, long time! She couldn't wait to get dressed in her "very own costume" and dance on stage. Mairead was excited to put on make up and have her hair all "twirled".

The girls looked so beautiful in their costumes and I think their teacher picked beautiful costumes. They were dancing to 'Butterfly Kisses' - how sweet and appropriate for our sweet girls. Their class only had three girls in it, two of which were our girls, and the other was a classmate of Maireads, so it was a really special performance for us!

From where we were sitting, the girls looked so tiny and sweet. They danced beautifully and I couldn't help but have tears in my eyes as I watched our beautiful girls twirl around on stage. I was so proud of our girls as they danced in front of so many people on such a huge stage without any problem and a smile on their faces.

When I went to pick up the girls back stage they were so proud of themselves. I brought them back to their seats and they watched the others perform, which they loved every second of.

The rest of the weekend was fun, too. It was rainy, so unfortunately we remained inside. We did some shopping, went to lunch, the girls painted their toes and fingers - literally with Kevin's parents, and we just relaxed. Callum had his very first shower with his mamma and sisters! He loved it - went into the shower asleep and came out of the shower....asleep!

Overall, it was a fun weekend!

We won't be 'Parents of the Year' in 2011

Well, it's official. Kevin and I will not be getting Parents of the Year award for 2011.

Once again, Lilah never ceases to amaze us with her vocabulary.

For instance:

Tonight. I come out of the shower. Naked.

Lilah says to me: "Is your boo-boo all gone?"

Me: "What boo-boo?"

Lilah: "The boo-boo on your ass"

Right then. She had me. I knew what she said, but I just couldn't believe what I was hearing!

Me: "Huh?????? On my what?!?!" You know....I had to ask her to repeat herself

Lilah: "The boo-boo on your ASS. You know, your butt!?!?!"

And I may or may not have asked her to repeat herself more than twice just to hear her say ass.....and maybe one other time to be sure Kevin heard her say it, too. You know, just for confirmation.

And I may or may not laughed right in her face because she was just so damn funny.

You know, sometimes there just isn't time for discipline, especially when you are trying to cross your legs to keep from peeing yourself.......my bladder control isn't quite what it used to be, especially 5 weeks after having a baby! I hate accidents!

Missing a post?

Anyone know what happened to Mairead's birthday post????

FIVE. FIVE YEARS OLD......

Mairead as a newborn

Our sweet baby Mairead is five today. Five seems so old to me.  Mairead made me a mamma and she is the leader of our crazy crew. She is a leader, an independent one who certainly has a mind of her own. She may only be five in years, but I am pretty sure she is an old soul. I think back to her watching Callum's birth, at not even five years old, she carried the maturity of a much older child. The smile and excitement on her face during the delivery is something I will never forget. She sat right next to me and was just amazing. When you ask her what the best part of the birth was, she will tell you "when his head was coming out" - who says that, more importantly, what 4 year old says that? She is awesome, and just watching her in that environment told me just how special Mairead is. I am so glad Mairead was able to have that experience, and hope it is one she will never forget.

Mairead & Lilah lovin' on each other...

I think back to the last year and am just amazed at how much our sweet little girl has matured. I mean, she's always been "mature", but she's just grown up so much. She hasn't changed a lot in photos, but her personality and personal growth has been tremendous. I can't believe our little girl is supposed to start Kindergarten in the fall. Amazing. Today I had a "conference" with her teachers and I am just so proud of her, everything they said was positive and I couldn't be happier with our little girl.

Me, Mairead & Callum celebrating Mairead's birthday at Flatbread

Me and my awesomely crazy crew

Daddy and his birthday princess

This morning when she awoke, I went into her room and sang 'Happy Birthday' to her. She had a huge smile on her face. Last night I made her a cake to bring to school with her so everyone could celebrate with her, so when I showed her the cake this morning, she lit up! She was so excited to wear her birthday dress again, wear her birthday badge and get to school. She loves school!

Mairead helping out with the cake

Mairead chose a butterfly cake this year - so that's what we made together! 

Mairead showing off her masterpiece

This evening she chose to go to Flatbread for pizza for her special birthday dinner. We got to sit in the "couch" section of the restaurant and the girls were able to look at the boats. The girls played, laughed, smiled and Kevin and I just watched. How lucky are we? Many of the female waitstaff watched us and commented on our girls, and of course, our crazy crew. The waitress, whom we've had several times, brought over a brownie sundae and sang "Happy Birthday' to Mairead once again - I think that makes three times, if not more today. What a lucky little girl!

The last few days Mairead has been so very excited about her birthday and it is just awesome to watch the excitement in her - you can see it in her eyes! She had so much fun at her birthday party! I hope the next year brings more joy and more laughter with our sweet Mairead!

A lot to celebrate...

Today is Mother's Day.

I remember my first Mother's day like it was yesterday - hard to believe it was five years ago, it really just seems like it was yesterday. We had just brought our sweet little Mairead home from the hospital just two days before. Mairead was the one who made me a mother. I remember learning all about Mairead, how to nurse her and adjusting to being a mother. It was the most amazing feeling. Ever.

Today, just five years later, I look at what I have and am in disbelief. I have so much love in my life. Four beautiful children and I am in amazement at what they have taught me about so many things. I have been a mother for five years and I think I have learned more in five years than I have in my entire life - it is amazing what children can teach you about life and love, and they don't even realize they're teaching you.

Not only was today Mother's day, but it was the day we would celebrate our sweet Mairead's 5th birthday. Our sweet baby girl is five years old (officially on Tuesday). What an amazing little girl she is! (I'll have an entire blog dedicated to her on Tuesday) This year she wanted a piñata party and that was it. Easy! We originally had her party scheduled for yesterday but when rain was forecasted for the afternoon we were able to reschedule it to today - Mother's Day. I didn't think twice about having her party on Mother's Day - after all, she was the one who made me a mother...and I have always celebrated my day along with her birthday, for me, they go hand-in-hand.

Her party went awesome and the weather was perfect, too! We had a BBQ and invited all of her friends, their family and siblings. The kids played and played while the adults had fun, too! We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends here in Maine. The piñata was a hit, too! The big kids were so good about sharing with the little kids who didn't get as much candy as they did. Lilah was soooo funny! She was swinging the bat like her life depended on it! She had everyone laughing - what a comedian she is!!!

So, we celebrated Mother's day, Mairead's birthday.........and of course, we couldn't forget our little prince, Callum. Today, we celebrated his one month birthday. How could it be that our little boy is one month old already? It feels as though his sweetness has been a part of our family for so much longer, I am finding it harder and harder to imagine our life without Callum. Like I had mentioned above, our children have taught me so much about life, love and living, and Callum is a perfect example of this. He is only weeks old yet has taught both Kevin and I so much about ourselves, our relationship, our family, our life.....and the love we all have for each other. It really is amazing that something so small can teach such huge lessons in life. What an amazingly strong little boy he is...and how lucky we are to have him in our life.

Today was such a special day with so many special things happening. I am so glad we were amongst our family and friends celebrating with us. Even though I was up in the night nursing a newborn, and spending my day decorating Mairead's birthday cake, cleaning up the house, and countless other things, it reminds me that this is what Mother's day is about - being with my kids. This is my life and I love it so very, very much. There are days where I wish I were working or wish I could use a big break, but there are more days than not that I truly love my life, and Mother's day is just another day to celebrate it.

Amnesia

Kevin: I don't remember any of the girls being quite like this. 


Me: Oh. They were. You just have amnesia.

This was part of the conversation Kevin and I had over dinner last night. It was a broken up conversation as Clara tried climbing on the table, or trying to escape or attempting to climb into the mini coi pond.....did I mention we were at a restaurant during all of this?

Well. We were.

We were at a Chinese restaurant celebrating Cinco de Mayo Asian style, and thankfully because of this, the restaurant was pretty quiet or else we would have been that family with those four children and that one child who just wouldn't sit still. Yeah. That was us. Thankfully Mairead and Lilah were on their best behavior and because of this, other patrons looked at us with hope rather than concern.

Clara is at a tough age of almost 20 months. She is not one but not quite two. She still acts like a baby at times but wants to be treated like a big girl - just like her sisters. She babbles all damn day and knows exactly what she is saying - but we don't. She gets frustrated because she can't express herself in a way that mommy and daddy understand what she wants so she acts out instead. She wants to sit in a booster seat like her big sisters (who really don't need one but like to sit in one anyways) but she doesn't quite know how to keep her big butt in the booster seat! She thinks it is okay to try to climb on the tables at the restaurant or try to climb into the Coi pond (I closed my eyes and prayed she didn't fall in)........thankfully, she didn't.

Kevin has continually mentioned about how he doesn't remember the other girls acting as crazy and difficult to manage as Clara, but I do, pretty clearly. I think he has a case of amnesia and he claims that if he didn't have this so-called amnesia then he strongly doubts he'd be the father of four beautiful children. Clara definitely has Kevins number and dials it frequently.....she definitely gets under his skin! It is almost funny :)

Both Mairead and Lilah (especially Lilah) have gone through periods, especially during this age, where they want to be BIG but can't quite handle being BIG quite yet. I try to remind Kevin they all go through it and before we know it, she will be over it...............and Callum will be beginning!

It's a tough period but someday soon, and I hope soon, She will start to really mature and figure things out! In the meantime, we will just look at those people staring at us and smile.

Every day is a new stage. Some stages are awesome. Some stages you just hope you develop amnesia.

40 Weeks

Today would have been my due date with Callum.

It's hard to believe he has been with us for just over three weeks.

I think back to the time he has been with us and it is filled with so much joy and sadness.

I am so thankful that he is finally home with us strong and healthy. He has taught me and Kevin so much about ourselves, our relationship, our family, our friends and what is important in life.

Callum is such an amazingly strong yet sweet and calm little boy. He reminds me so much of his sister Lilah when she was a newborn. He is just so content. Cries to eat and is happy and content in between, rarely hearing from him. He loves to sleep. He loves to cuddle. He loves to nurse. We are so very lucky to have him here with us and doing so well. I hope it continues...

A surprise trip!

While Callum was in the NICU Kevin and I constantly felt guilty for "ignoring" the girls. We promised ourselves when things settled down we would spoil the girls and do fun things with them. We hated feeling like we were giving Callum all of our attention, and while that wasn't the case, we felt a lot of the times like it was or we were constantly thinking about him. I especially hated not being able to spend the majority of my time with the girls and hated to have to choose between being with Callum and with the girls - I wanted to be with all four of them together. 

The girls in the jacuzzi tub in our room

So, when things settled down and we knew Callum was gaining weight and doing well, we thought it may be fun to surprise the girls with an overnight trip. Last summer we took the girls to North Conway for a few days and we had such a great time, so we looked at hotels and got a great deal at the same hotel we stayed at in August. While Storyland and Santa's Village wasn't open yet, we thought it would be fun to just get away and have fun together. We booked the hotel on Thursday, packed up after the girls went to sleep so when we woke up on Friday we would be ready to go.

When the girls awoke on Friday we told them we were taking them on a mystery ride. The girls were immediately ecstatic and couldn't stop talking about where we were going. They didn't know we would be spending the night (since we packed the car the night before) so their guesses were things like the beach, the park and other "simple" places like that. After we had breakfast and got dressed, we put everyone in the car and headed on our Mystery ride to North Conway. Multiple times throughout our drive, the girls would ask where we were going - we'd just laugh and say "you'll see!" - As we got closer and could see mountains, Mairead says "This reminds of me North Conway!" - what a smart girl, but she still didn't have a clue as to where we were going!

This is what Callum did on his first "vacation"

When we arrived to the hotel, Mairead got excited! She knew exactly where we were and when we told them we would be spending the night the look on Maireads face was priceless. Seriously, I wish I had a photograph. The smiles on the girls faces were ginormous and almost made me cry. They were SO happy. We got a room with a jacuzzi, so that was even more icing on the cake for them!

Mairead mastered the monkey bars!

We swam.......and swam........ate pizza. Shopped. Played on the playground. Went out to dinner. Went out to lunch. And swam some more. Shopped some more. Played some more. The big girls did amazing with swimming - they are fishes! Clara did awesome in the pool, too! She was jumping in and Kevin would dunk her under water and she loved it! Callum, of course, did amazing. He slept. Really, he's so good. He'd wake to nurse, and then go back to sleep. It was great because we were able to spend a lot of quality time with the girls.

I can't believe how "Big" Clara looks here!!! 

It was a much needed quick trip to spend with the girls. It was great to get away and just have fun. Even though we were gone for just one night, it was the perfect trip to decompress a bit. Watching the girls smile, laugh and just have fun was awesome.