Dear Keira

My dear, sweet, baby Keira,
You are 20 weeks old! In mommy talk that is 5 months, but I don't call you 5 months until the actual day that you were born. You have been such a blessing in our house and lives. You are quite possibly the most content, joyful baby we have had. You fill our hearts (yes EVEN your brothers!) with so much happiness and love that I could not even begin to describe it in words. You still have gorgeous blue eyes, but even as I write that, I know I should not use the color blue. They are more like a royal purple with a dash of blue. Your hair, although darker when you were born, has now, I noticed this morning, really started to come in a blonder color. It reminded me of the color of a bright summer sun, just setting in the evening. It is beautiful. You, like your brothers, have the same long lock of hair at the crown of your head. But you, in making sure you stand out, also have a long lock on the right side of your head, and you have kept your hair in the back, aside from a perfect line in the mid-back of your head. Your skin, you lucky little girl, is brown as can be. I like to tell your daddy that Buppa (Daddy's most admired and loved grandfather, your great grandfather) gave you a kiss and sent you down to us with his coloring as a gift. You now roll over both ways, and can push yourself up onto your hands, arms straight. You still love playing with your feet. Your brothers adore you. In fact, you have now become the center of a few arguments with them, mainly over who gets to kiss you first, or hold you first. Your brother Brody kisses you from sun up to sun down. He calls you Ra-Ra which has become a bit of a nickname. Your brothers also call you Kiki, so we'll have to see name wins out with them. You love watching them play, and I know it will be all too soon that you will be joining them.
Last night, after great debate, we decided to try to give you a little cereal. You have been back to keeping mommy up at night every two or three hours, so we thought maybe this would make you sleep. I surprised myself by getting very emotional about this. It's just that you are my baby, and my last baby, and it was like mourning the loss of your infancy. I know this sounds very silly, because you are so young, but it was a sign of you growing up, moving on, and it just made me sad. Maybe you sensed this because you were not a fan of eating. I should tell you this is one thing daddy loves. Not you not liking the food, but the feeding. He has been the first one to feed you all your first food, and he really enjoys getting to do that. He got you into your bumbo seat, put the tray on, and gently fed you your first bite. We thought you liked it at first, but you gagged the next few, and lost interest. I tried holding you and feeding you, and you chomped on the spoon a few times, but you wanted no part of actually eating. No, it didn't help you sleep longer either. Secretly I was happy you didn't want to eat. Next time maybe we both will be ready for it.
Keira you are everything we dreamed of and more. You have added a unique softness to your father and brothers that is fascinating for me to see. We are so lucky to have you. I hope you feel the same. We love you so much, my sweet baby girl.

Current Happenings

Hello!
First off I would like to again wish my dad a Happy Birthday! We all miss you!!! (And we miss you too Carla!)
I hope everyone's "end of summer" time is going well, and you are enjoying the inevitable onslaught of bbq's and pre school mania (or for some back to school mania.) Ty starts school this coming Wednesday and it is coming up very quickly on us! We are going to get everything ready this weekend, so we can enjoy the last two days, stress free. Nate does not start school until September 26th, so he has another month to go. I can not believe the summer, that I thought at points would never end, mostly that was during our month plus of straight rain, has finally come to an end.
We had an awesome visit with one of my dear friends, April this week. She is visiting the majority of the east coast, from where she is currently getting her PhD. at Stanford University in California. April is Ty's godmother, so he gets extra excited to see her. It was really nice being able to see her.
We have also spent two days at Breakheart this week with Nathan's sister Meryl, and her kids. The boys have all had so much fun together. Nate finally learned to swim underwater! He is so proud of himself! (And we are SO proud of him.) Who knew all it would take was eye goggles! (Not even the ones that cover your nose.) Keira and Brody enjoyed the water as well. I am just so grateful to have a place practically in my backyard that we can go for the day and enjoy the weather, stay cool, and have fun. It makes me excited for next year when Keira will be able to run around and learn to swim herself.
We have another packed weekend, but I'm trying to let go of the stress in the chaos, and try to fin the fun in the chaos. I'll let you know how that goes.

Laundry

This is the reason I keep a blog. Without this lovely little tool, I may not remember all the stories I will inevitably retell a million times to embarrass my children in the future.
Last night I put in a load of whites in the laundry. In our hustle and bustle of the evening routine (not to mentioned being stuck for a half hour in a torrential downpour at football with ALL of the kids) I forgot to put them in the dryer.
Wait, let me back up. Brody is my helper, and helps me load and unload the dishwasher, and also loves to put the clothes in the washing machine, and hand them to me to fold once they are done. He also like sweeping etc... okay back to the story.
I woke up this morning and remembered I needed to get the clothes put in the dryer, so I opened the washing machine and low and behold, my entire bottle of laundry detergent went for a wash too. The entire bottle was inside my washing machine. Apparently Brody decided to help me out again. Thankfully I wash things in cold water, or lord knows what could have happened if hot water melted the plastic of the bottle.
Ah, Brody... always helping.
He also is transitioning to a big boy bed. I'll let you know how that is going soon.

Gillette Stadium

Pictures from Ty's scrimmage at Gillette Stadium. They played on the Patriots' Practice Field. Ty is number 18, wearing black socks.







Ty has the black socks on. He makes the tackle here.

Bullets

• Keira woke up at 5 am ready to party yesterday. It was tough, but I managed.
• We spent most of our morning at Gillette Stadium for Ty's scrimmage. THAT was very cool.
• I finished New Moon last night. Can't wait to start Eclipse. I'm hooked.
• Keira woke up at 3:30am this morning, squealing with joy, again ready to start her day. An hour later I came to grips with the fact that she wasn't going back to sleep. We came down and just when I got her back to sleep at 6:30, and started dozing, the boys woke up (6:45) and now I fear I may be back to zombie status.
• I need to not book weekends like this anymore. Even though all of our weekends are this busy through well, almost November. Please don't be mad at me if I say no, and understand I'm stretched thin.
  

New Vid and Pics

This is Keira's favorite song I sing to her. It is "Wouldn't it be Loverly" from My Fair Lady. It gets smiles and laughs every time, which I believe I mentioned a while back. My Fair Lady, incidentally seems to be her favorite soundtrack in general. I mean the girl gets giddy when the music comes on. Ah, a girl after my own heart. Sorry it's so dark... it was 630 in the morning. We had not evolved to turning on lights yet.



Here is a slideshow from our visit to my Aunt Jean's house on Long Beach.

Brody's Picture

Well I had to have Brody's done too!!!

Mini Vacation

We had such a great time on our mini vacation. The drive down was a little rough. We ended up in dead stopped traffic for about 40 minutes, when we were only 3 exits away from our exit. Yuck. But we got to the zoo , ate lunch right away (before we went in) and it was smooth sailing from then on. When we got there, we went to a bird show, and all of the boys got the hold a bird. We then made our way to the petting zoo, where Brody and I had goats surrounding us... and they wouldn't leave! It was a bit much, so we tried to distract them to go see some baby pigs. They were SO cute! We spent a long time with some monkeys, who were very interested in us as well. Any time someone talked, the monkey would turn it's head to that person. We had so much fun at the deer forest and everyone fed the deer. It was so peaceful there, and the boys really got a kick out of it. We watched the elephant show and then the boys got to ride the elephant. I told them I hope they know how lucky they are that they have gotten to ride a camel and an elephant in one summer! We all had so much fun, but it was hotter than Hades Sunday, so we called it a day (trust me we saw EVERYTHING at the zoo) and had dinner at the 99's. The kids all ate tons of food, and had enormous oreo cookie brownie things for dessert... and they ate those too. We then checked into our hotel, which was so nice, and changed into swimsuits and went to the pool. We were the only ones there, and it was nice to cool off. Keira LOVED the pool, and let me put her on her back in it and by the end, was on her belly, holding onto my hands with hers. Brody even came in the pool and did really well (much better than usual.) We got changed in pjs and then went to the drive in. G Force was cute, but I ended up walking around for a while to get Brody to go to sleep, so I missed a good amount. I guess if that is the price I had to pay for him not having a pacifier, it is a pretty minor one. Once he was asleep I felt like crashing, but somehow managed to stay awake and watch G.I. Joe. Nate fell asleep in the very beginning, and Ty fell asleep mid way through. I tried to convince Travis to go back to the hotel, but he was having no part of it. It was better than I thought it was going to be, the movie I mean.
We all passed out pretty quickly when we got back to the hotel, and had a great night's sleep. We woke up the next morning, ate breakfast at the hotel, and hit the pool again before heading home. All in all, we had such a great time and I am so thankful we got the chance to do it. It was nice to be home too. Vacations, even mini ones, are still lots of work! Man my legs and arms are sore!!!
We are taking a break from the heat today and getting some more cleaning done. I am taking Brody to get his pictures taken early this afternoon, before we have to come back and get ready for football. We even get to have a special visit from Auntie Kerrie tonight.
Tomorrow we are going to visit my Aunt Jean at her beach house in Rockport, a trip we always look forward to every year.
Stay cool!

We've Been Busy

As you all know football season is upon us, and I think I underestimated how draining it is just to find the routine that is going to work... we still, 2 weeks in, have yet to do that. Maybe I'll figure it out before the season is over.
Friday night we saw my brother, Travis's debut in the Backyard Broadway Theater's performance of Beauty and the Beast. Travis had the role of Gaston, and he did great. We hung out by the back so if the babies got loud, I got sneak out. They actually did great. Brody was a bit loud towards the end, but he was trying to sing along and howl like the wolves in the play, so it was kind of funny.
We didn't get home until 930 or so, and got the kids in bed and Nathan and I watched "I Love You, Man." It was SO funny. We had to get up bright and early yesterday morning to get ready for Nathan's family's annual softball game in Northboro. It was a hot one, but we had a lot of fun with all of Nathan's family. After the game, we went back to his uncle's house and the kids swam in the pool and everyone played and ate and hung out. I think Nathan and I were walking zombies by the time we got home. It was only 630, but we were both ready for bed. The kids, who had napped on the car ride home, were not. I gave Brody and Keira a bath and got them dressed and took them with me to the grocery store. We attempted to get the kids in bed by 8, but Brody, who is now 5 days without the pacifier, would not stop climbing out of his crib and was having no part of bed time. After our 26.2 miles we accumulated climbing up and down the stairs, Nathan and I gave up, and decided we were going to bed, and let Brody fall asleep with us before moving him into his crib. I should have mentioned while Brody was doing his training for his future job as an escape artist, Keira was screaming from gas pains, so Nathan and I were literally handing her off, while the other brought Brody back to bed, then switching again. Quite fun after a long day in the sun. Jealous yet?
I am now up early getting things ready for our trip to Southwick's Zoo for the day. We rented a hotel for the night, so after the zoo we are going to check in, let the kids swim in the pool, eat dinner and get in pjs before going to the drive0in movie theater. On this subject I have to say... bring back drive-ins! For $20 for the whole car load of us we get to see TWO movies, bring our own snacks, relax, let the ones who fall asleep, do that, there are just so many benefits! In this economy, a cheap family outing is a gold mine! We are seeing G Force for the first movie, and G.I. Joe for the second. Monday before we check out we will let the kids swim some more before our long ride home and football practice. And yes, we have another jam packed week and weekend this coming week. One more thing to add, Keira has now rolled from her back to her belly. FINALLY! She would get herself stuck on her side forever. I'll upload pictures as soon as I can. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!!!

Ok, I Shopped Around

I found a deal over $100 cheaper than what we were paying and we are just going to switch providers. C'mon... admit it... you were a little sad you weren't going to have these updates and ramblings for a while...

Pics are in

Brody's Milestone/Keira's 4 Month Checkup

Brody is no longer a paci-addict!!! Pacifiers, for those who don't know, are sneaky little devils that vanish into thin air. Then, when you have searched high and low and finally go out at midnight to buy more, you magically find 8,571 stashed in the oddest of places. I mean why would you check in the food processor or bread maker? And I can't believe you didn't think to look in the mailbox...
Anyway, we were down to three that disappeared and reappeared in turn, and then we were down to one and well, Brody bit a teeny tiny hole in it. Yup, a hole. When he was rapidly shaking his head saying "uh-uh" (no) to it, I realized the problem. But, as stated the other 8,569 are hibernating so we were stuck. He was without it all day yesterday, and didn't use it last night. He hasn't had it all day today either. I made a Babies R Us run today, and considered buying him a new package "just in case", you know in case his head suddenly does 360's and he levitates in his crib and projectile vomits at me because he wants his god damn paci. Like I said, I considered it, with good reason, but I held off, decided he's done fine for 24 hours, hasn't tried to steal Keira's, so let's not feed the habit. Yay Brody!!!
Keira had her 4 month check up yesterday. She weighed in at 14lbs 7 oz and 24 inches. She was in the 50th, or right around the 50th percentile for everything. The dr we saw (not her normal one) said she was almost as active as a 6 month old. No kidding. She said she would be surprised if she wasn't crawling by 6 months. Gee, thanks Lady. Keira drank her rotovirus vaccine with no problem, and didn't even flinch at her first shot, and cried for all of ten seconds after her second. Put it this way, she was smiling and cooing at the nurse who gave the shots before the lady left the room. Thank God this girl's tough!!!

SIDE NOTE:
Did great last night too! Woo-hoo Brody boy!!!

A Sign of the Times

Hello readers
As most of you know Nathan has worked as an electrician for over ten years, but almost two years ago, he was laid off from his job (two weeks before Christmas to be exact.) He worked on side jobs here and there, but because no one is remodeling, or looking to build new construction, etc., no one is hiring, and there are just little to zero jobs out there for an electrician. Nathan is very fortunate that he was able to be hired by his father to work at his father's company, AOTCO, in the quality control dept. and he really loves his job. He is very good at what he does, and like I said in this economy, we are so lucky that he has this to do.
Unfortunately, there is just not as much money coming in as there was, and for me to work, it would cost more than one week's paycheck to get the kids in day care, and there just needs to be two parents here in the evening, when there are sports and soon homework and when the children tend to be crankier. We have, as a result had to take a long hard look at our spending and budget, and had to break things down from necessity to luxury. It was in doing this that we decided that we are going to do away with cable/internet for a while. We have Nate's birthday and Brody's birthday, and quite a few family birthdays, as well as the holidays to prepare for, and we just can't see how we will be able to do it all without making some sacrifices. I will tell you, I had a very difficult time with this at first. It sounds so petty to whine about having tv or the internet when I should be grateful we will have money for diapers and gifts for the kids, but there is a little, ok great sting of selfishness that comes along with it. We told the kids last night, and I felt incredibly guilty when their reactions were much more understanding. Ty was of course immediately concerned with the Red Sox games, but then said "It will be hard at first but that's okay, I'll get over it." and Nate, (because we explained this means we'll be playing lots of games together at night) jumped for joy and just said "We can play Uno Attack and Go Fish EVERY night!) Yes, my children showed me up. Just goes to show, there is a lot you can learn from your kids.
I will stay connected as much as possible, but here's the kicker... you may actually need to pick up a phone to get a hold of me if you want a response quickly. Shocking in these times, where emails and texting replace actual person to person conversations. I will try to do weekly updates if possible. (We do have internet access on Nathan's cell phone, which we may make my cell phone, and I know, that seems like a luxury to cut out, but that phone won't work without the internet on it, so it has to stay.)
We have not decided a time table as to when we will turn everything back on. We will no longer have it as of this weekend. We do know this will be long enough for us to feel like we have breathing room. Whenever that may be...

Keira is 17 Weeks Old

Zoo, Painting, Etc

New Videos

Yay

Our "new" castle. Thank you GMa!!!

And So It Begins

Football season has begun. It was oddly familiar and comforting this year. I knew where his team met, I knew many people. It was fun to see how so many of the boys have grown in the past year. It was sad to not be on the same "team" as some of our favorite players and parents, but we can look forward to rejoining them next year. Everyone was excited to meet Keira, who we found out about last year during football season. It made me realize just how fast time goes by. It was interesting to see all the "new player" or "first year" parents and players. Their nervousness was palpable, and one woman who stood next to me as the boys were starting some drills, laughed nervously and kept saying she was worried her son wasn't cut out for this (he had a VERY difficult time catching the ball.) I wanted to give her a hug and tell her I understood where she was coming from. I wanted to tell her that my eyes teared when Ty played his first scrimmage because the boy across from him looked like he could eat him, or how I was in physical pain when I saw Ty get hit at not only games, but practices too. I was afraid she may think I was crazy though, so instead I settled for reassuring words about how fantastic our coaches are and how much they will learn in the next two weeks alone.
Ty, as a second year player will get even more playing time than last year (yes politics are big in football) and found out last night that they have decided to keep the second year players on the same "teams" as last year, which means we will be with all of the same players and parents that we bonded with last season who have not moved on. Ty will remain on the E Red Team, or E1. He had been told last season that he would be the main running back for this year, but when he had his quarterback and center drills last night, he impressed the coach, and now is up for that spot. Needless to say he is thrilled beyond belief, and I am now more nervous because he would be the prime target of some very heavy hitting.
We will see though. They are very quick to divide up positions on the teams so the kids can start running plays. We will be happy no matter what, and just hope for a healthy, injury free season.
On the plus side, they have changed practices to 530-8 (shaving off a half hour) throughout August, and only TWO nights a week once school starts. Amazing!!! Weigh in (which we have nothing to worry about... weight limit is 90lbs, Ty is barely 63.) is September 12th, and their first game is September 13th. We have 4 home games, 4 away games. We always welcome more cheering company from the stands!!!

My Brother's 11th Birthday

We had my brother, Travis's 11th birthday party Sunday. I still can't believe he's 11!
We had a bit of a rough morning before we left, Ty and Nate were having a bit of a fight, and Ty ended up whacking his face when getting up from under the train table. We held ice on it for a while, but he has what I can only describe as a "mad looking" V shaped mark smack in between his eye brows/on the bridge of his nose. I told him he looks like a mad Bert, (Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street.)Best Buds, Travis and TyBrody playing hockey.Uncle Travis and KeiraG Ma and KeiraGreat Grandma Hughes and KeiraNate was playing hide and seekBrody the Bull with boxing gloves
Keira and my mom playing