Live like a Mulloy!

Golfing in the Backyard!

2012-01-25T09:53:00.000-08:00

This is Nana and Papas back yard. Not bad. Since the course is closed for winter, the kids could just go run around and go nuts. I caught Papa and Nana trying to teach Maggie to golf!

Papa and his littlest monkey:

Cali Visit

2012-01-25T09:47:00.000-08:00

We had a chance to fly out and visit the fam in Reno and north Cal
Here are the kids eating at Nana and Papa's new counter!

Messy faced Connor at the Village at Northstar
Bri with 2 big monkeys
With Cousins and Aunts and Uncles!
Maggie and Nana making spice cookies! Which Maggie didn't even like!!!

Outdated Xmas pics

2012-01-25T09:43:00.001-08:00

Mommy is falling farther and farther behind on the blog! Here are the kids in their turkey shirts at the squadron Xmas party. They loved meeting Santa

AND we finally got a tree up! Right next to the Kegerator! The Xmas skirt was from our house growing up...

Hike

2011-12-31T05:38:00.000-08:00

Mike, Papa and Daddy with 3 kids hiking in Colorado.

I found 2 kids hiding behind the chair!

Boofest 2011

2011-11-02T15:38:00.001-07:00

Once again, an awesome Halloween trick or treat experience for us! It was warm out and the kids thought it was beyond cool that people were giving them candy for free! Here are the 3 in a wagon. The dog was the only one that would stay in our planned method of transportation...

Yes, there was an Elvis sighting...
This was before the boys' party during the day. K was spidey and Connor, man I just have trouble getting him on film
It took 2 friends to get this shot- he actually barfed up the wrapper later.

Footbal Fun!

2011-10-27T13:31:00.001-07:00

One of the reasons we decided to up and move to Colorado was to be able to attend Air Force Football games! Sadly, this year Bri has been gone and so last weekend was his first game. His two best buds from freshman year at the Academy also flew out for the game. We lost, which sucked, but had a good time drinking beer and tailgating!

This picture is of the four of us that went through basic training together, and were adopted by Brian's sponsor family:
Add in Z who played football with Brian and helped us get into the Reserve unit at USAFA
With Nik and Jeannie in our cool lightening bolt hats! If you like 'em message me and I'll get you one!

The two of us half way up Stanley Canon, one of our favorite hikes.
With the Zemans on the hike! This year has been somewhat of an adventure and they have done so much to help us out while Brian has been gone! Note that Euchre got to come along for the hike!
Here's to hoping Air Force can beat New Mexico!

recents... again...

2011-10-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

Got to meet up with a favorite old friend, Linds recently. We live like 30 minutes a part and can only meet up I'd say 2 times a year!

Nana and Papa on their way outta town. So helpful to have them here while Bri was away!

Pops with his little monkeys. One of them outfitted in gear!

FIVE!

2011-10-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

Our little girl turned 5! We celebrated with a fairly non-standard watermelon cake and pizza, and then she got to get a mani-pedi and go to starbucks with some friends!
Her cool princess platemat and birthday plate from Grammie T!
She's got a thing for cupcake shirts.

Getting prettied up in her new dress from Dave and Molly!

Then here is the kid crowd from the Air Force Tailgate where we had the giant cupcake pinata. Fun times!

Recents:

2011-08-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

Maggie heading in to school. She loves Kindergarten. She's making tons of new friends and thinks "hot lunch" is the best thing in the world. Which I like because it means less lunches to have to make!

Keegan wants to go to school too. Each morning he says "I go to PreeeeeSchooooool. I ride the bus. To California". Yup, needless to say he's mildly confused but we just roll with it.
Third guy has become a monster. Love him, but man he's an animal. He keeps me on my toes and THEN some. He is a great sleeper though, as seen below.
We're on about week 8 of Daddy being gone for training. Hanging tough. Missing him though.
This guy is just such a little joker, but also SO adamant on what he will do. When we go to the gym, he will stand until someone else lets the door go so he can open it himself. It would be just so much easier to go places if he would let other people hold the door for him, but not the case. Mags is such a great big sister she's just learned to walk up to a door and stop until Keegan gets there to open it. He speaks extremely clearly and in complete sentences in the Queen's English. I don't know where he got it, but it's funny.
After 3 years of working for an aviation company out of Texas, I've stepped down and hopefully have more time to devote to these kids, and to this blog!

We're still Here!

2011-08-09T04:52:00.000-07:00

It's at 530 am that I write this. Wow, where has life gone? We have had so many changes since my last post in Easter. New jobs, new schools, (sadly) death of a loved one, news of pregnancies (no, not me), friends visit, and kids grow up a bit. Don't worry, I'll be back. As will our fun Mullloy blog. Here are a few shots from the last few months:

Three kids in the tub when Nana visited for Connor's bday:

With our college Bestie, Dan. Smiling though we were heading out to honor a father figure to us all:
The monster turned 1:
Uber fun 'camping trip' in the mountains.
Thanks for sticking with us. Like I said, we'll be back.

Easter Baskets

2011-05-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

This year the Easter Bunny got a little creative. Nana went and got some cool baskets and we filled them up with all the goodies the aunts/uncles/grandparents/cousins had mailed out. Maggie's was up on the ceiling fan, Keegan's was in the oven, and Connor's was in the microwave. It was fun. Here are these two after finding there baskets:

One of my favorite pictures growing up was of the three Thode kids with their giant baskets when lisa was probably only 10 months. I made sure to get one of our three munchkos and I can't wait to compare it!

All 3 smiling

2011-05-05T13:30:00.001-07:00

And there's not much more to say!

Out of date

2011-05-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

Lots going on- blog is last thing I remember!

nana came and TOTALLY helped out. First time solo with all three as Bri and I both had to go on work trips. I don't know if she wants to come back after that one!

K is becoming fun and articulate. More of a boy than a toddler. Love him.
We found time for a date or something? I can't remember so it must have been something cool. Oh, I know! Our new dinner club! First time with 5 couples and no kids. And awesome food!
All in green for st Pattys. We are Irish!

9 Months

2011-04-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

Yup!
He's been out as long as he's been in. Here are the stats:
21.3 lbs (61%)
30.5 inches (96%)
47 cm nugget (91%)
He's crawling like a maniac, pulls himself up and then rocks out like on drums on whatever surface he might be playing on. He's like a tornado in the tub- flipping around trying to stand up, trying to eat the toys. Bath time is certainly not relaxing and his time in the tub was down like 80% last night due to my new inability to just read US magazine while he splashes. That 20% should still get him fairly clean.

He 'sings' and blabs all the time. He'll sit forever in his high chair and loves to watch the other 2 monkeys. Solid sleeper- a full 12 hours a night and a super eater mastering all sorts of fruits, solids, breads, and loves to go for the dog food.

I've said this before, but Connor Boy is the sweetest, happiest baby I've ever known, and I know God sure knew I had a full plate when he surprised us with this little guy. Here he is:
Live shot with cousin Addie/Tom and mom and dad. The only shot I have where both parents are with him! How different than the gazillion shots we had with Maggie!

Maggie Art

2011-03-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

On weekends, Maggie doesn't nap when the other kids do (week days she doesn't nap because she's at preschool) so we need to keep her busy during nap time. Brian and I were working on taxes and she entertained herself by sketching these cool drawings of the entire family! She even put Connor in a crib and the far right blob is actually our dog Euch! I thought I was a blonde until I saw my long black hair. Oh well.

where to begin...

2011-03-06T18:42:00.000-08:00

I'm in a hotel room in Orlando just taking advantage of the quiet. And I think i'll post some pics, with minimal background info just because I've been so awful at posting recently. Here are some fav's:

Our 3. A pro got better shots. With Addie included. But we love this one too. Lisa calls it thumbs up cuz that's what Maggie is doing! (shirts off Etsy for those moms that want to know!)

Big K with his hands in his pockets or 'backpacks' as he calls them.
Monster C with a cheerio in tow. Cheerio, mate!
Could this be more classic? Tom and his favorite old pal Euch.
New one red cheek rockstar killer K. Love it. In Sam's shirt, TK!

13 years to 50.

2011-02-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

My uncle always points out how many years I have until I'm 50. I remember when it was 20. Now I'm down to 13. Let's make 'em fun! Irene and Jim set us up with a fun little get together, as you can tell the kids love her!

Here is a picture of my favorite birthday present, little guy Connor. Here he is all smiley in his blanket Grammie T made:

Bri took me out on Ground Hogs day for an adult fun dinner. Our bud Nik watched all the kids and we went out for beer and wings. Num
Then Brian got me this super special lemon log cake. Gosh, how can he always pick the dessert I'm in the mood for. (not) Kids liked it and it was an easy target for the candles. Once again, note Maggie picking for a prize. And Keegan holding his ball that he won't put down.

A visit from the Uncle Down Under

2011-02-01T13:20:00.000-08:00

These 2 are the newest additions to our family:

Uncle Dave, who in April married Molly, and then Connor, the new kid. Dave and Molly were kind enough to give up a weekend to visit. And while doing so had an awful travel experience with bumped flights and bad weather and we're worried they won't come back.

Here they are with the whole gang. They brought out coolio outfits for the kids, and 2 mini fuzzy bugs which became the "must have" toy of the weekend in our house. Thanks guys for making the effort to come see us! Next up is when we bring the entire circus to your poor house!

Big K turns TWO!

2011-01-13T12:23:00.000-08:00

Our Baby Kong, who rolled into our lives 2 years ago with record-breaking size is now a funny little 2 year old. Although Maggie would make us laugh as a toddler, Keegan is truly a little comedian. He went from not talking much to BARKING orders. He'll shout out "UP HIGH" when he wants to sit on my grandma's stool, rather than a chair. "MY'S" is another command which means he wants to do it. He recently switched from calling Maggie "Mae Mae" to a full up "Maggie" with an emphasis on the G. He loves our friend's two boys Jack and Cooper (Pepper to Keegan) and will cry if he doesn't get to see them. Here he is with his birthday hat and a super excited sister.
He likes to share and if I get him a special treat he'll make sure I get one for Maggie too. He's got two super soft blankies that he'd do anything for. He goes down easily to sleep and pulls a solid 12 plus hours at night along with a good nap. He still won't drink milk but will go to town on some yogurt, especially Grandpa's favorite coffee yogurt. He's all about balls, and even sleeps with a ball in his bed. He loves to throw, kick, and catch. This usually entails knocking over a wine glass or too.
And not to brag, but this little boy is POLITE! He says "Tank You" and "Peas" every time. Like every time. If you bring him something, say his cereal and walk away he'll yell "TANK YOU" at you until acknowledged. Don't mention the word cookie around him, he won't stop yelling it until he gets one.

Here are Daddy and Keegan Skyping with cousin Addie and Uncle Tom and his godmother Lisa.
Keegan loves baths and will stay in there for an hour if allowed. He's not a huge eater, but when he wants to eat you'll know because he'll order to "EAT NACK" (snack) and then point to food and say "MOUTH" meaning he wants it in his mouth. And now. He loves Elmo, and Seasame Street is my unpaid sitter if I need an hour break from the blonde wrecking ball. He also loves "how to Train a Dragon" and asks for it by saying "Watch ROAR, watch ROAR"
To Keegan, if he has one sock and needs a second sock, that second sock is then a 'BLUE' sock. Say I give him one yogurt but he wants another flavor, he'll yell, "NO, BLUE yogurt"! We were at the gym and there was a baby there- he asked me "Connor?" and I said, "No, Keegan that's not Connor! That's another baby!" then he replied "Oh, Blue Connor". Interesting how his mind works. Keegan is also very obedient and if you tell him something he'll say "oh Tay!" and go with the flow. Poor guy got shirked on his birthday this year as it was the day of Connor's surgery... he still got to celebrate with a cupcake though

Stats: Um, gotta find them. We love you Boo Boo bear!

Under the Knife

2011-01-13T10:33:00.001-08:00

The big C has had an issue with an infection on his rump. After some failed antibiotics and an unsuccessful lancing attempt or two, the final decision was that he had to have surgery. And he was a CHAMP! Here is the cute kiddo pre-op. He was smiling away even though I had to wake him at 4am and he wasn't allowed to eat for about 10 hours straight!

We had an hour and a half from our pre-op until the actual surgery. He stayed entertained in the sink-

Here we are right before they put him under. Poor guy was smiling until the end. He was not however smiling upon wake up! It took him a good 30 minutes to get back to himself and then he took a super dooper long nap.

Smiling once again. They let us head home and he's been healing ever since. Post op is today, I'll keep you posted.

XMAS 2010 part two

2011-01-10T19:28:00.001-08:00

After a serious naptime we headed north (1 block) to the Zemans to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

Connor latched on to the cool kids- literally. Here he is with our favorite Cooper, Riley and Emily.

My Mom and Dad sent Connor this cute outfit this summer- luckily he still fit into it!
Here was the downstairs crowd. Maggie got a new camera from Aunt Molly and Uncle Dave which she proceeded to take over 400 pictures with. Like a real digital camera but it has more padding than a hockey goalie- so kids can drop it and it still works! Of the 400 pictures I had to go back and delete about 350!
Our little Connor just fitting in perfectly with Bree and Brian!

XMAS 2010

2011-01-10T19:18:00.000-08:00

Just a few pics to remember an awesome, crazy morning. 3 kids in PJs, happy as could be after opening only one present. For some reason they didn't understand that there were more!
Same kids, different angle:
The before picture. As usual, Connor and I were the only ones up at 5am. How about that one giant ornament in the middle of the tree?
So sad- the after picture. We did recycle, but it is a little upsetting the amount of cardboard and batteries that go into a Merry Christmas...
Our favorite present from 2010- the sweetest little boy around. Here he is happy as a lark on 25 dec and the poor guy had surgery on 28 Dec! Doing well!

'twas the nite before...

2011-01-04T12:27:00.000-08:00

Holidays make it tough to post! Here are our three cute little elves before heading out for Christmas service. I should say Christmas Mass, but this year we opted to try out a different religion. It was much quicker, they had candles for the kids to light (Keegan chucked his a few rows back and Maggie got some burn spots from spilled hot wax), they had home made cookies for after the service and it only lasted 45 minutes! Whew! Well it worked for us this year even if it means I don't get to go to Heaven anymore.

Here are the kids putting out 'reindeer food': oats and sprinkles. Musta worked cuz Santa came! We also put out cookies and milk and later Maggie told me that next year she wants to put out BEER for Santa. I guess she's figuring out who Santa really is. Um, red wine please and dark chocolate!

5 Mulloys on Xmas eve:

We got together with a group of friends and their kids and made it Mexican Food night for Xmas eve. Non-traditional, but super fun. All the kids got one present to open and it was jammies. So fun to see, from a 13 year old excited about her new jammies down to 6 month old Connor!

The pre-kid shot: (well, baby snuck in the picture but he doesn't really know what's going on)

Let the Chaos Begin!

The Forgotten 3rd Child

2010-12-15T12:50:00.000-08:00

Is now eating solids. Is now 6 months. Is now grabbing for things, chewing on them, and throwing them around. Our forgotten third child is becoming less and less of a baby each day. He's been just the easiest, SMILE-fest, happiest little guy we ever could have asked for. I can't tell you how many times Brian will say to me "did you put the baby down to sleep?" and I respond- no he's right there on the other side of the couch or something because he doesn't seem to complain or make a peep! Poor guy gets overlooked in a lot of ways. I took him to the Ped for his 6 months check up and she said "oh, he just has one tooth?" and I said "he DOES?"! Hadn't even noticed...

He sure mixes in with the other kiddos and makes our family complete. Above is the big guy himself with Papa on a birthday celebration.

Maggie got a detailed Baby Book. Keegan's is still empty but I documented it all in this blog. For Connor, I find his stat sheets and shot records mixed amongst my work paperwork and Maggie's drawings. So to make it official, here are the stats:

Stats at 2 months: 14.5 lbs (67th), 26 inches (99th)
4 months: 16.7 lbs (55th), 27.5 inches (98th)
6 months: 18.6 lbs (68th), 29 inches (99th)
Head 60th or so

It's hard to believe that at almost 19 lbs he's only in the 68th for weight. He wears 12-18 month clothing and his feet are already a size 2!

For entertainment I'll set him up on his belly and he likes to talk to that cute baby in the mirror.

We think he'll be a blondie like his older siblings but who knows. Eyes are still blue and he still reminds me of a little Irish elf. We love you little guy, happy half-year birthday!

Nanta Clause and Papa Came to Town!

2010-12-06T14:05:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we had a pretty mild day planned, then Nana went and made it super cool! She took Maggie to get her first 'real' haircut (which apparently took 2 minutes) and then went and did some super holiday shopping! Here are the kids in front of the tree:

Cute little elves- Nana picked out these hats. Maggie calls it her 'sleeping cap'

All the gifts were opened in about 5 minutes and immediately Keegan claimed "MINE" over each new toy. who knew a little boy would be so excited about Maggie's electric blender?
More to follow...

Connor Giggles, and the other two do too!

2010-12-01T07:10:00.000-08:00

Giggles, spits bubbles, reaches for things, and pretty much smiles all the time. We are so lucky.

And then these two are just always making us laugh. Here is Maggie making Keegan laugh

Mohr Thanks

2010-11-29T14:12:00.000-08:00

We headed to our friend's house- the Mohrs for Thanksgiving. Laid back, good food, and tons of outside space for the kids, and even Euchre to run around

3 Boy Mulloys and 2 bottles
We're always trying to get a shot of the 5 of us, and can never seem to make it happen
We have so much to be thankful for this year- and are thinking of my Dad above as this was such a special holiday with him (and he was the best cook ever!)
The next night we headed up to Denver for a sleepover with our old friends from North Carolina. The kids hung out with some other kiddos and got to watch a movie on the couch. Is Keegan a goofball or what?!

Trick or Treat with a Mullet

2010-11-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

It took a while, but I got all three kids into costumes for trick or treating. There was a little competition about who got to hold the Pepper and Poo was not very happy that Doggie got to hold Pepper.

Somehow I got them all to smile for this one, well almost all smile:

Brian of course took out his yearly mullet and modified it for the Colorado weather. This wig just blends so well with his coloring that most people who meet him on Halloween have no idea he's himself if they meet him at a later date! We employed the wagon strategy to maximize our amount of Candy procured, and it worked great!
Here is Doggie at the Zemans taking more than the 2 pieces allowed per the sign. Heck, Doggies can't read!!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

Libby's Influence

2010-10-25T08:58:00.001-07:00

Libby and I met when we were 14 months old in the strollers together, and we've been life-long friends. She's been especially helpful to our family as my dad went through his cancer diagnosis. She and her friend Pete came down to visit and brought to life an expression my sister says about Keegan "Live like a Mulloy!" So we opted to change our blog title to this fun theme (um, Soon to be Four and Five of us was a little dated for our current status). While here with Libby and Pete we climbed Stanley Canon in a hail storm- pictures to follow when she passes them along!

Libby and Connor

Pete and Keegan

Pig and Pumpkins

2010-10-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend we hit the pumpkin patch. Here is Maggie carving her pumpkin into a 'happy' pumpkinWe met up with Maggie's friend Brynn and climbed the haystacks, took a train ride, and went to the petting zoo. Of course, we also picked out a pumpkin
The interesting thing about this pumpkin patch, is that it's really not a pumpkin patch! The pumpkins were getting off loaded from a big truck where they'd been bought at the grocery store! Good profits for these people! Next post: the jack-o-lanterns!
above is the 900 lb 'off leash' pig that (rumor has it) has very sharp teeth.

So I gave Julie a Ring....

2010-10-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

We have a pretty funny story about our engagement, which was 7 years ago this Columbus Day weekend (it's an easy way for me to remember it!) Brian had moved out to North Carolina and I was thinking maybe he'd pop the question. Then I left on a 6 month deployment to Iraq... no ring. What I didn't know is that the day he dropped me off for my outbound flight to the nasty desert he returned home to the FED EX guy finally delivering the ring he'd bought! So, upon my return from the war, Brian popped the question! Nothing fancy, but that's kind of how we work. My sister and his brother were both in town for the 3 day weekend. Brian went to tell his brother and said "So I gave Julie a ring this morning..." to which Mike responded "What kind of a ring?"

7 years later I'm so glad it was an engagement ring and not a mood ring!

Here we are around that time, when Bri had his buzz cut pre-deployment:

And a favorite picture of mine from my first apartment after graduation. We used to watch these 2 kids every once in a while, Cody and Megan. Now Cody is one of my best babysitters and Megan is playing division one soccer at the Academy! Sara is in the background- one of my truest and most dependable, and IN SHAPE friends

Should have known what I was getting into back then. Snowball to the face right as I was ready to smile for the camera.

Anyone know how to flip pictures? Oh, the old days where we both had great hair with no effort!

Love you Bri! Love the past 7 years!

In the Forest

2010-10-08T12:11:00.000-07:00

We headed up to a national park last Sunday. Packed a picnic and threw rocks into the lakes, and hiked around. Our lakeside picnic:

Upon arrival, Keegan did a giant poo poo in his pants which just made them not even wearable in camping conditions. He therefore took to this stylish look of diaper and camo hoodie for the day:

Dad and kids!

Little babies can hike anywhere in car seats!!

Heaven got a new smile...

2010-10-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

My Dad left us on Sept 15th, 2010.

This is one of the last pictures off Dad with Mom, Mike, Lisa and Addie in our family room at home.
My friend gave me this great description of death and what comes next:

In the bottom of an old pond lived some grubs who could not understand why none of their groups ever came back after crawling up the stems of the lilies to the top of the water. They promised each other that the next one who was called to make the upward climb would return and tell what happened to him. Soon one of them felt an urgent impluse to seek the surface; he rested himself on the top of a lily pad and went through a glorious transformation which made him a dragonfly with beautiful wings. In vain he tried to keep his promise. Flying back and forth over the pond, he peered down at his friends below. Then he realized that even if they could see him they would not recognize such a radiant creature as one of their number.

The fact that we cannot see our loved ones or communicate with them after the transformation, which we call death, is no proof they cease to exist.

Since she has sent me this I've seen more dragonflies than ever before!

We all went to Minnesota to celebrate my dad's life. The great part was that it did give us a chance to get all our kids together- something that had never happened before. Below are Bri and sister in law Claudia with a bunch of cousins:

Good friends helping us celebrate Ed with pizza and beer
Cutest cousins picture at the cemetary. Dad must have smiled from above for this one:
Our family:
Uncle Tom with Connor. Making him look even more orange with the orange shirt.

Sept 11th/Reunions

2010-09-24T13:54:00.001-07:00

The Air Force BYU game brought out a lot of reunions. The game was on Sept 11th and obviously had significant meaning to us as military members.

Here is a group of guys Brian played football with. We all got together and it was the usual trash talking. A couple of these guys even went on to the NFL! A few became pilots, some are still in the Air Force, one chemical engineer, and another running his own fitness business.

On the far left above is Gizz, who famously ran onto the field with the US flag on the first Mon Night Football game after Sept 11th. This picture always gives me chills.

Here is Maggie with my friend's little daughter Meeghan. She's got dibs on Keegan just cuz their names sound cool together
Keegan and Chloe. She has super hip skinny jeans on and a Pink Floyd shirt!
My dear friend Brooke giving Keegan back the stink eye.

SHE'S FOUR!

2010-09-24T13:40:00.001-07:00

Maggie is now four!! Her bday 'party' was at the first Air Force football game so there were planes flying over, stuffed birds jumping out of Airplanes, and a band and cadets! Here she is with her special plate from Grammie T!

So excited to open up a Tinkerbell puzzle with Nana!

A few kids came by for cake and ice cream
And more princess gear than you could imagine!

Mom, Dad, Mags, JimBob, Nana and Z :

When Good Friends Visit

2010-09-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend our good buds came to visit with their two girls. It was a weekend of naps and sippy cups and wine for the grown ups. These friends also have a new pro photographer skills... I'm just waiting for some pictures to upload.

Here are all the munchkies:

And the two babies!

Pro Fotos from Zitz

2010-09-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some great pictures a good friend of ours took during a recent reunion at the Academy. So nice to have friends with such great skills!

Wuv, True Wuv

2010-08-24T14:17:00.000-07:00

We headed out last week on a pretty big adventure. On the plane to San Diego we were informed we couldn't all sit in the same row, because there weren't enough Oxygen masks for our two lap children. That's when you wonder if maybe your kids are too close in age!

Regardless, we rolled in and this beauty of a bride and my new sister Jen was there with Mike to meet us. Check out that 2/3s of our kids are cashed in at this point:

So much fun and I have so many pics so these are just the highlights. Mike with his two nephews in their matching gear at the awesome rehersal lunch. Nummos pasta
Our three monkeys.
Wow, the first real shot of the 5 of us! Thanks Molly for taking!

And then, these two cutie squirts. Maggie felt SO special to be the flower girl. Because we were all in the wedding, I don't have many pics of the actual event!! It was awesome though and bride and groom were super classy. Check out Keegan's shoes- all the men in the wedding wore orange converse low tops. Too cool.

Cancer Sucks.

2010-08-10T18:41:00.000-07:00

This Ozzie look-alike below is my dad. He's pretty awesome. My sister and I stuck this wig on him and had a good laugh. He's 72. And just found out he's in the end stages of Melanoma. Cancer seriously sucks. There isn't much you can do at this point, and he's already in home hospice. My mom is his caretaker along with some awesome nurses.

Here we are a few years ago in front of our house in Minnesota. My dad is the best gardener. He's also a retired 0-6 from the Mn Air Guard and the most giving, smart, and loyal guy in the world.

My Mom and Dad came up from their place in Arizona twice this winter to hang out with our family. It was so awesome for Keegan and Maggie to get fun time with Grampie T. It was just a few months after this that he out of the blue got his diagnosis. Doesn't he look good here?

It's hard for me to even post these pictures because my dad just doesn't look like my dad. It was the beginning of May when we found out about Dad. Connor was named after his grandpa, they share the middle name Keating- an Irish name from my dad's side. Connor and I flew up to Minnesota for him to meet his grandpa last week. It was a tough week but a few times I saw my dad's eyes light up when he was holding, or in 'charge' of Connor. Here are my mom and dad with the latest offspring:
Dad can't walk anymore. He didn't want me to take any pictures of him in his wheelchair but I snuck this one. He was able to be in charge of this little 6 week old guy:
I can't even tell you how different my dad looks than just 2 months ago. He has no appetite, can't really dress himself, but still respectfully insists on wearing regular clothes each day. His body is a skeleton of what it used to be. I love that my dad was ALWAYS "on a diet" but sneaking sweets left and right. That's how I am. This is the first time I've known him to be beyond thin, and find no enjoyment from food.
You can see a little smile here in my Dad's face. I'm so glad he got to have a little bit of sunlight when he met Connor. Everyone, please wear your sunscreen. Cancer is one evil animal and it takes the best of us out of this world. Love you dad.

Mike's about to give the kids an AUNT!

2010-08-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

Uncle Mike swung a FED EX trip to end in Denver so he could come down and hang with the fam. He and Jen get married THIS WEEKEND and we are so stoked to a. fly on to San Diego and b. get a coooool new Aunt!

Here he is with his Godson, Keegan:

Searching for a rotten fish under the bed with Maggie:
And holding our newest addition.
The whole crowd partying it up W.T. style!
Maggie checking out a rainbow in the backyard!
Congrats Mike and Jen! We're super excited for you guys!

Molly's VISIT! (aka the fairy godmother)

2010-07-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

Aunt Molly swung through town enroute to Chicago for a business trip. She's Maggie's Godmother and our friend's son Cooper kept calling asking where Maggie's Fairy Godmother was. Classic.

Thankfully, Molly took some good pictures of our entire crew! Here she is with her little brother (bri!):

One of Maggie cruising in a car intended for Keegan:

Keegan, our forgotten middle child with his white hair, blue eyes and ruby red lips:

And then the new guy Connor. Who truly sleeps, sleeps, eats, poops, then sleeps again. He's great to have around and I'm waiting for the day he learns to cry!

Here is a pic of Bri with our greatest investment- the Chariot 2 stroller/trailer. The kids pack into it and it allows us to get some exercise while 'watching' them!
We went on a fun hike with all kids and the Zemans and kids too. Jack asked Brian how Keegan would keep up on the hike and Brian said "we bring him in the backpack". Jack, a new 2nd grader of course thinks of the backpack he wears to school and asked: " you mean you zip him in there?" Here is Keegan at a break drinking up some yogurt while staying in the backpack, and it's a hiking backpack not a school supplies backpack.
The whole gang on the hike minus Molly the photographer. Baby Bjorn, Backpack and a hiking stroller is what we require to 'roll' these days. Man these kids slow us down!

Aunt Molly and me!
Molly and her 2 nephews. We miss you already!

First Movie

2010-07-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

We spend a lot of time these days hanging out and rotating kids through nap times. And watching the World Cup of course.

The new set of Mulloy Boys

3 kids:

Maggie at her FIRST movie ever! It was 3-D (not the best call) so she had to keep these glasses on. She and Brian went and she couldn't stop talking about how great it was. This morning she woke up and told me "I dreamed about going to the movie again!"

Bottle Time

2010-07-03T05:21:00.001-07:00

Getting our babies to take a bottle is pretty critical for us. I end up flying at weird times of the day and also going on a lot of trips for the other job, so I can't have the baby attached to me for food. Each time I wonder if maybe I'll get one of those babies that just won't take a bottle... but lucky enough Connor did great! He's taken pumped milk 2 times now from Brian and gone right back to taking it from Mom with no issues. I always try and introduce the bottle within the first 3 weeks, and almost forgot this round! Thanks to new Mama of 2 Andrea and sister Lisa for reminding me to do it! Here's a pic of the bottle giver and bottle taker:

3 Appts in 3 Days

2010-06-30T13:19:00.001-07:00

This week I headed off to 3 different kid appts at 3 different times. Logistics are new to me- with Keegan I can't just have him walk while I carry the baby car seat. So I had to come up with a different plan to get the Connor and Keegan to Keegan's 18 month check up:

Connor is doing great. His weight is 9lbs 4 oz and he is in the 75th percentile. His height is 21.3 inches and again 75th%. His head was 37.5 cms, measuring in the 50%. He eats every 2-4 hours, and loves to sleep. He sometimes takes the binky and is sleeping unswaddled, mainly due to the heat. Here is a shot of him just short of 2 weeks (onesie compliments of the Silva clan abroad!) :

Keegan, (aka yogurt boy) had his 18 month appt. He was 32 1/2 inches (65% for height) and 26 lbs (50%). Slim down since birth as he was our 135% weight baby! His nugget is in the 90% which is why he has to wear such big shirts. He doesn't eat much meat, which the doc said may be because it's too much work. Guess he wouldn't have made it far as a cave baby. He loves yogurt, apple juice, cherrios, and his brown fuzzy blankets. He also seems pretty fond of the new "Bee Bee" as he calls Connor. His final 4 fangs are almost all the way in. He's become a Daddy's boy and I love the space this creates for me. His eyes are the prettiest blue and he's a joker and snuggler.
Maggie did her 4 yr check up even though she's just 3 3/4s. Gotta schedule the preschool physicals early around here! She was 3 feet, 41/2 inches (80th %) and 34lbs (55%). She babbled away to the Doc about school, falling out of the truck recently (justifying her facial scrapes) and her new baby brother, to whom she is nearly addicted to. She still calls Connor "Next Baby" and he's fairly enamored with her. She likes playing outside with her two girlfriends named Olivia (apparently the hit name right now for 5 year olds), likes doing puzzles, watching Curious George or Dora, likes playing with Nana and giving bear hugs to Uncle Mike. She likes the pool- especially when Brian throws her up high. Favorite foods include bagels, string cheese, fruit, yogurt, and her new summer treat- nightly 'nilla ice cream if she is good during the day. She's my little helper.

Visitors and a new car

2010-06-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

We're getting used to having New Baby in the house. We all seem to forget his name a lot, but with time I think that will change. Maggie likes him the most so far. Loves holding him...
So far, impossible to get three monkeys to look at the camera at once
J Mo stopped by and brought us an awesome BBQ meal. When Connor finally woke up and he held him all Connor wanted to do was eat. I think there might have even been a latch that would make a lactation consultant proud from this hold!
Uncle Mike rolled through to meet his newwest nephew! thank god for Fed Ex and the Navy, between his two jobs with them we get to see him a few more times this summer!
Bree swung through on Father's day to get her mitts on him too!
Lastly, Keegan got to borrow a little girl's pink car at the park and loved it, so we got him one of his own

Who knew that these two gifted brothers would take a few hours (pitcher of beer) to be able to get the car ready for Keegan?!!!

The New Guy

2010-06-15T19:23:00.001-07:00

That's right. It's a BOY!!! Connor Keating Mulloy joined us late into the night after a fast & furious, exciting labor. He's got a wig of blonde-brown-reddish hair like we've never witnessed before and a calm disposition. He and I will be heading home tomorrow to the fort where Nana has been in charge, THANKFULLY!

Big sis LOVEs him, and loves holding him
So do we.

Really, soon to be FIVE of us

2010-06-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

Last couple of shots of us as a foursome. That's right, we're almost there. I'm betting today or tomorrow. We'll keep you posted.

Overdone.

2010-06-12T17:07:00.000-07:00

So I think my due date was June 10th, which has come and gone. I had another due date of June 12th, and one for June 3rd! Amazing how technology can kind of confuse you when they try to 'date' a baby. Regardless, I consider myself OVERDUE and OVERDONE. But enough about me- here is a fun picture of the kids playing in one of the new storage containers:

Next I got out some of the baby stuff and saw some immediate regression. Keegan right away cuddled up and stuck a binky in his mouth!

Then Maggie jumped in there too and after I took this picture I realized I got all 'three' of them in one shot- because my lint-filled belly is in full view!

Maybe a hospital trip tonight? Who am I kidding. This kid has NO desire to meet us!

The waiting is the hardest part...

2010-06-07T19:08:00.001-07:00

39 1/2 weeks. No baby.

But, Nana is in town, kids are LOVIN' her, kitchen is reorganized, maternity clothes are packed up for the 'next to be pregnant' recipient and I'm still feelin' good. Belly is rather large, but still measuring about right on, like I did with the other 2.

This is from today, and excuse the mess:

Different view:

Same shorts, other side, 2 days ago. It's a super dooper low belly. I think Brian and I both think it's a boy, but then sometimes I think girl. I'm kind of excited to hear the doc yell out what it is. Then I'm excited to call my sister and fake her out by telling her the wrong sex. Ha! now she won't believe me!!

And, it's hotter than heck here right now and we don't have A/C! Whew! I've been going to bed with an ice pack to cool down my 2 hearts and four legs. In case I forget, in the last few weeks Keegan has started talking a ton. Well not talking but saying words that go with things and sound kind of right. It happened out of the blue after only saying "Mo" for more "Daaah" for dog and then Da da and BAAALL. So remind me not to worry next round if this one isn't speaking a ton prior to 17 months. My baby is about to become the middle child, and will probably have to adjust pretty quickly!

Maggie asked tonight if she could jump on our bed. Brian said no, and then she asked me "why, is next baby in there now?" Oh, how I wish it were just that easy that they show up in the pack n play next to the bed.

We'll keep ya posted!

SuperStar Tom

2010-06-04T09:06:00.001-07:00

And a brief second to brag about our brother-in-law Tom. So Tom writes a paper for his masters and wins two like, as high up of awards as possible to win for the Air Force. Without intending to. And, then he just pinned on Lt Col! Here is my little sis along with their newbie and the new high Ranking Tom:

As Lisa pins on she now knows he outranks her and she has to give in to his commands:
Way to go Uncle Tom!

And some more random pics (YOGURT themed)

2010-06-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

Maggie at Addie's house:

Found this pic in a folder, can't remember if I posted it. Fish, Killer and Bri and some offspring at Ho's wedding:

And then here is my 39 week belly. It's gotten lower. Ready to have a baby but also know it's pretty quiet on the inside. This one is a mover and a shaker. The doc said that means it will be a mover and shaker in life but I'm hoping he's wrong and it's a sleeper and a coooooer. If that's a word
Here is Mag's eating her coffee yogurt outside yesterday. This morning, as I'm at the end of my rope, I let her have a chocolate granola bar and fruit snacks for breakfast. She said "Mommy, you are being really nice, let's not tell Daddy". At least she knows when she's getting it good. She is our good little girl and I'm loving having full-up conversations with her these days. She likes to dance and sing to Idol or sanitized sections of Glee, is working on riding her bike and 'cooter' (she still drops her 's' sounds often) and loves playing with Keegan. She just got over a cold and the other morning told me her voice was Zebra. We clarified that it was actually 'hoarse' (horse to her)
Keegan two handin' the yogurt. With my dying tomato plant in the rear. K is just so fun we are enjoying this age with him- he's saying more and more words, however pretty much everything with for legs is a 'Daaaahg'. Well, 2 legs too because a pelican is a dog. He just had his first ear infection which I learned about because his eyes got all swollen. He likes to wear Maggie's pink bike helmet and can eat the life out of hummus and yogurt. He goes WACKO for popsicles and they are our ultimate prize for a meal well eaten. It takes him all of 10 seconds to go to sleep and he is far and above the easiest kid we've ever known. He's going to 'school' 2 days a week and enjoys the social interaction of 1-2 year olds instead of following around the big kids like he usually does at neighborhood parties. I've cut his hair a few times, but it's not showing the curls Maggie has. He's getting his last 4 vampire teeth. Teeth for him was MUCH rougher than what we experienced with maggie but a little Tylenol solves it all.

This one was taken from my laptop and he could see his 'reflection' so he was moving his arm to watch it in the computer screen
Mexican Spider Man

And spider girl.
We are truly soon to be 5 of us any day. We are very blessed in our lives and so happy with our kiddos, jobs, and new house. We'll keep you updated on our upcoming 5th wheel...

A lot of randoms..

2010-06-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

The time is near for "next Baby" to arrive and I haven't been so great at updating. So here is a hodge podge of some recent haps, in no order whatsoever.

Here is Keegan, and in the background in Red is the guy from Desperate Housewives! honest! I have closer up pictures but I had to pretend like I wasn't trying to get pictures of him. James Denton I think is his name? Anyway, I know he's from Minnesota and my mom sends articles about his wife and how they have a normal, wholesome family. Well sure enough he was flying from Denver to Minneapolis and took an interest in Keegan due to his cool shirt. So we talked for a while but I wanted to scream "I KNOW YOU'RE FAMOUS!" even though no one else at the Denver Airport made the connection. So the paparazzi that I am... I took some sneaky shots. Here is just one.

Move to Brian's soccer game. Kids got a little restless and kept trying to run on the field after Daddy so I put two goals together and they played in this 'fort' for a while. Um, or cage.

Wearing his big sister's puma soccer gear. Real men can wear pink, right?
The two of them get along really well these days. They'll go into their play room and 'play' (aka dump out every basket with little knick-knacks) happily for a while.
Oh, the 4 of us! Not for long though. Uncle Tom (birthday boy tomorrow) got this shot
Here is Brian with Uncle Rich and Craig who drove all the way from Minnesota in my parent's minivan to drop off and pick up some stuff! SO wish mom and dad could have come as planned, but some thing are beyond our control. Everyone throw a prayer out there for Ed any chance you get.
Maggie was practicing nursing with the boppy. I can't remember why this was her expression. Maybe she realized she had a bear instead of a baby? I have those kind of nightmares all the time. More often it's that I think I've lost a baby in the bed and poor Brian has to talk me back to reality at 3am.
Big Mama herself ready to pickle. Boy? Girl? Who knows. Behind me is an attempt at packing a hospital bag but the kids keep taking stuff out and adding other stuff. Who doesn't bring a pool noodle to L and D?

Cinco de Bri-yo

2010-05-08T04:52:00.000-07:00

Bri finally made it back from Cabo, and we turned right into his Birthday/Cinco de Mayo celebration! Here he is with Mags right before blowing out the candles...
Maggie with her own little cupcake:

The Zeman/Munger/Dozier crowd came over to help celebrate. Instead of cooking I opted to get burritos/enchiladas. Soooo much easier and sooo yummy!
Opening presents. Thanks Lisa and Tom for the cool beer glasses to go with the new kegerator! Keegan was disappointed in his Bud Light- aunt Jen said he wanted a microbrew!
The guys eating a cupcake. Happy 35th Bri!

Bye Bye to the High Chair!

2010-05-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

Keegan's new thing is throwing an absolute FIT when I try to put him in his high chair. This, in turn = not fun meal time or very incomplete meals. So Maggie headed down to the storage room and brought up the booster chair for me. Actually, she brought up two but I'll get to that in a second. Here was my first trial (I know, fairly unsafe on the middle of the island). However, he was very stoked and I opted to move forward.

So this morning, post bath (hadn't combed his hair down yet) he sat somewhat like a big boy at the table. When Maggie was this age we were using my grandma's special antique dining room table and I used to stress about every spill. This round we're on an old Craig's list purchase and I'm considering just tossing the placemats and cleaning off the surface after each meal. More food on the floor than the table is one issue...

The other issue is that my 35 week preggo body apparently is a little too much for the Craig's List chairs to handle! Right now I've got this one out of commission, the second one with Keegan's high chair still strapped on, and then two with booster seats on them (this is what happens when you have a 3 year old that loves booster seats and HAD to bring up the other one when she got one for Keegan). This leaves no where for me to sit, but with my track record with chairs these days that's maybe a good thing.

Final note: it's snowing again here (2 May!?) and Brian is deep sea fishing in Cabo with his dad and brothers (in-law-included). Trying to decide if I should toss this chair when the trash comes tomorrow or if Brian can repair it upon his return.

Stylin' at Soccer

2010-05-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

I think since she was around 12 months Maggie decided what she wanted to wear. So as we headed to her soccer game Sat she insisted on a Pink and Brown Leopard Dress, Multi-colored heart shorts, and then her jersey. At least her coach got her to tuck in the dress and shirt!

Here she is with Megan, my friend's daughter who I always tried to encourage in soccer. Megan is going to play D1 soccer next fall at USAFA! Maggie likes Megan because she gives her fruit snacks whenever we go to their house!

And, after I had 5 minutes of silence earlier today Maggie (bombshell?) walked up the stairs with THIS new tat all over her arm:

I asked her who did it and she just kept saying "I don't know!" then Keegan made his way up the stairs and I was able to figure it out. So much for 5 minutes of quiet, but thank God for washable markers!

Sometimes Chaos can be a little Fun

2010-04-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

Here is Keegan playing in a diaper box.

Here is Dad (in the middle) at work when things are going smoothly:
And here is Dad when things aren't quite going right!

Just having fun!

Hey, that's MY bed!

2010-04-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

Classic new Maggie scowl - she didn't like Keegan creepin' onto her pretend bed!

Now you see it, now you don't

2010-04-27T12:53:00.001-07:00

In case you didn't know, I have one of these stuck onto my midsection:

So when I woke up Friday morning to THIS:

And Brian on his last day of a trip to Toronto, I was not happy about having to shovel the driveway one more time with heavy Colorado spring snow! Then the garage door was stuck up throughout the entire storm because the sensors kept getting tricked by snowflakes crossing the safety- laser line!

We had our friends over for the snow day, Jack and Cooper, which meant Fruity Pebbles for breakfast for ALL the kids! (would you want cheerios if YOU were 16 months and the big kids had colorful sugar-laced crack cereal?!)

And then the next day- poof. It was almost all gone. We found some left over snowmen parts at a nearby park so Maggie took Daddy to prove it had truly been a blizzard the day before.

Then the kids played in the sand path in the yard, burying treasures (or rocks, depending on how you look at life)

This view we have of Pikes Peak always takes my breath away. Once I get this baby off my midsection I hope to run up and down it!

Sand like Sugar!

2010-04-22T13:15:00.001-07:00

When Lisa picked us up at the airport in Destin, she explained to Maggie that the sand there was like Snow. I tell you what, I have never seen my kids have such an AWESOME time ever and be so entertained as they were at the beaches right by Lisa's house. Maggie told me the snow was like SUGAR.

There was no chance for either of us to sit as all Keegan wanted to do was sprint to the water and would yell at the waves!

This was not a pose- but I think kinda cool

And, I can't believe I'm putting this one out there for the world to see, but there have been some requests to see the giant prego mama. Well, we always need a good before an after picture. I'll save this one for post P90x. And that was a joke...

Next winter my parents will be down in Destin too in order to escape the Minnesota Winter. I'm already game for some more time at these beaches!!!

GOOOOOOOAAAALL or, not so much

2010-04-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

So the time has finally come and Maggie got to have her first soccer game (indoors!) at the YMCA. She falls in the 3-4.5 age group and missed her first game but was really excited for this one.

Here she is with her game face on, pre-game graham cracker, her Puma warm up from Lisa and Tom, and her pink shin guards.

And, here she is with a little more spunk:
It was cold and rainy out and Dad carried in both kids. We didn't realize what a challenge it would be to keep Keegan AWAY from the soccer balls, and get Maggie to want to go TOWARD the soccer ball
Here is an action shot of the coach dealing with the 2 girls on the team. The one on her right cried through the whole game, and Maggie just stood around. At this play the ball is in the opposite corner. Not really seeing that natural talent yet...
So, both girls were benched. Maggie was kicking her feet and having a great time. When I asked her after the game what her favorite part of her soccer game she said "Sitting on the side, waiting for my turn". Doesn't really sound like a Thode or a Mulloy, but she's our Mags and we love her.
At night Bri asked her again if she had fun at soccer. She said "yeah, but no one was sharing with me!". Hmmm, parental advice, warn them ahead of time that sharing isn't part of the game! We'll see next Saturday if anything changes. Maybe we should strap the pink shin guards on Keegan since he can't WAIT to get out there on the field!

And the other reason we were there...

2010-04-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

Was to support one of our favorite guys of all time, Matt. Matt and Brian were sponsor brothers at the Academy. Here they are with Killer, formerly the tallest basketball player in the room at anytime and now awesome dad to 3 girls:
And Danny the other sponsor brother who made it out with Jorie and 4 month old Hank in tow too!
Bri and maggie snuck down for a beach walk during the reception
Keegan got loaded on kiddie cocktails.
The whole fam was outfitted in a one-stop-shop from Target after US Airways lost our luggage for 7 days. The trip was only 3 days but I had a biz trip stuck on the backside and finally got the luggage while I was in Orlando. Seriously US Airways, seriously?
Such a great trip and although Bri flew back solo with the 2 kids and swore he'd never do it again (my reply: yeah, you'll do it with THREE kids next time!) we got to see family and friends. What more could you want?

FLA pics

2010-04-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

We took the Mulloy circus on the road in order to visit THIS little girl:

Over Easter! Addie was so sweet and although she was in the eat- sleep-poop stage it was fun to see Lisa and Tom in action as new parents! Tom got all the equipment to keep our crazy, noisy kids happy including eggs for the chocolate monster pictured below:

And here they are live with their own Easter bunny Addie Marie!
How happy is Maggie finding her basket in the shower aka beer brewing storage area?
And, Brian took this picture of the beached whale at sunset. Maggie had so much fun at the wedding just playing in the sand!

This is why I haven't been posting...

2010-04-12T05:08:00.000-07:00

More to follow, but we went on an awesome 'vacation' here:

To visit family, and these friends:

And while there, the airlines lost our luggage, which (I know, so so wrong) my computer was in!

Finally back home and will catch up later!

Iphone Pics

2010-03-27T18:38:00.001-07:00

Thank God for the Iphone. With Brian gone, I seem to find so many things he's missing out on, so I just quickly take a low-res shot and send it off to him in a matter of seconds. That way he doesn't feel like he misses out on all the cool (um, or mostly not cool) stuff going on back here.

I caught Keegan breaking into the fridge. He's also now becoming a climber, and I've found him rocking away on Brian's grandpa's rocking chair, or sitting perched up high on my grandma, Gonny's two-step stool.

Today we woke up to 40 knot winds and blowing snow. It was AWFUL out and honestly once again Euchre didn't even want to go outside, he'd just turn and go back to his bed if I opened up the door and the blowing snow came in. So, I pulled out some of the old baby toys and "Wah-La!" major hit. The kids played for over an hour in this contraption for which I'm sure Maggie was well over the weight limit. Hey, anything to distract them long enough for me to read the most recent People Magazine!
Lastly, after some marathon naps from both kids, and a life-changing nap for me (I, for those who don't know me, am not a napper. If I do nap, it's sometimes 2-5 minutes. This one was 40 minutes and now I get what all you other people talk about why you want to take naps on the weekends). So, at wake-up we went to a car wash and I actually vacuumed out the car for Brian's return tomorrow. He doesn't approve of crackers and raisins in the car but I find driving time a great time to feed a kid, and therefore grow mold and crumbs all over the floormats. Then we headed to ChickFila so Maggie and Keegan could play in the indoor playground there. It was a semi-hit and burned a good hour plus off our day, and eliminated my need to clean up the kitchen. However, I was the only adult in the kids playground area and some caught some 8 year old telling the other kids that "the only way girls can go down the slide is if they get naked". Sweet. Super classy. Here's Keegan filling up on waffle fries. He's got about 5 foods he'll eat right now so I was excited to find a new one, even though it's obviously not a good habit for life. He also totally dug the ketchup.
Bri should be back tomorrow night! We've survived!

How we get by....

2010-03-23T10:19:00.001-07:00

So, as we approach the end of week two of single-mom-hood here are some of the changes around the house. Keegan gets to sit up on the counter. Here he is in Cooper's 4T shirt. No, he's not that big, I think the shirt has shrunk. Kind of like all my maternity tanks (or maybe my belly is growing).

And of course when Maggie sees Keegan on the counter she's gotta be up there too. She is suddenly into dresses and tights which is A-OK with me as we have about 200 in her closet hand-me-downs from her extended cousins Maggie and Emelia.

Keegan has been waking up first (Mags stays up later and now pulls this "I'm not tiiiirrreeeddd" stint which is about to put me in the looney bin). So, when he gets up in an effort to keep the noise level down so she'll keep sleeping he gets to eat Cheerios and watch Toons or Fox News til the sun comes up. No, I don't approve of kids watching TV until their 2, but you do what ya gotta do to survive.

So this bribe took about 4 days for Maggie to actually get in her room. A nice lamp (from Target, one of our favorite Minnesota-based companies) that she and I picked out. I told her she had to be good ALLLL day to get this one so we could read books in her room instead of on the couch. Can you tell how much she likes it?

Lastly, a throw back to Maggie in her early toddlerhood taken by Aunt Molly and found in an odd work folder on my desktop. So sweet...

Next up: more snow! Odd Colorado weather that I love- sunny and 70 one day and snowy the next. This time I'm not falling for that shoveling bit, I know it'll melt soon enough!

While He's doing THIS... I'm dealing with THIS...

2010-03-20T19:25:00.001-07:00

Hmmm, Spring Break 2010. So, while he's off doing this:

HERE: (Cocoa Beach for 3 weeks)

I'm dealing with THIS here:

And this guy who konked his head for another Mulloy battle wound (2nd bath to wash off poop):

And, he's decided he will ONLY FEED himself. And that's my yogurt (fiber one), the pregnant lady's. I don't want this kid to poop any more, as we've seen in the picture above what can happen.

Needless to say, Bri is gone and of course it totally snows, so although I love the weather, 7 months preggers and shoveling is starting get to me. I usually say "hey, what did the cave women do!" Apparently on kid three I've figured out some of them waited around for the cavemen to bring back the meat. I also just got a chest cough so bad I've lost my voice, and just when I had 2 kids happily in the bath the $hit hit the fan. Or the tub. And I gotta vent.

But I still love him. Both the mad pooper and the mad jumper. Oh, and Mags too. And tomorrow in the afternoon I have a sitter and I'm heading to the salon, saloon, and some shopping with my favorite old pal. Hence, the smile below.

Baby in a Bucket

2010-03-15T18:32:00.000-07:00

So I bought this bucket for cleaning purposes and Keegan insisted on being inside of it. It was actually pretty funny. He sat like this for about 5 minutes, and I'm glad I got my camera!

Excited about their new Cousin!

2010-03-12T17:45:00.000-08:00

These two just got their first little girl cousin!! Addie Marie Seymour! My lil' sis is a MOMMY!!! And she did great!!

Molly and Nana..

2010-03-06T13:44:00.001-08:00

Came to the house of chaos! It was great to have them but too short. here are a couple of pics for proof:

Molly and her goddaughter:
A rare pic of ME with the kids. Of course one of them = not happy
Nana and Mags:
And getting a little more funky!:

Sledfest!

2010-02-21T15:27:00.001-08:00

Nana came out to visit and since she's arrived there has been NOTHING but giant snowflakes! She doesn't even believe us we have mountain views because you can't even see them!

Keegan with his huge gloves on:

Nana supervising:
Maggie dragging Keegan up and down the street!
Maybe getting a little cold?
But still lovin' it! Mags today taught herself to carry her sled up the hill, do the proper pumpin' to get the momentum started, and then cruise down the hill! FUN WEEKEND!

Birthday Part 2

2010-02-13T06:46:00.001-08:00

Part 2 involved my parents driving up from their snow-bird zone of Arizona to bring the birthday party to us! Here I am blowing out the candles once again:

The whole raggamuffin family together for a shot. Each time we tried one of us had our eyes closed:

Grampy and baby Kong:
Grampy with the two crazy kiddos. Both Grammie T and Grampy were great help and are sorely missed! They are now inbound to help my sis as she's about to pickle and her hubs is re-qualing in the F16 2 time zones away!

My birthday, round 1

2010-02-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

I just had another birthday and our friends (ok, pretty much family) the Mungers came over and cooked an entire meal and put together a great, birthday party for a family with 2 small kids!

Here I am with Maggie and the super yummy cake:

Maggie and (her crush) Jack, along with Grandma Irene the miracle chef:

The whole crowd minus photographer Nikki and of course Mike who was off on a SWA trip. Thanks everyone for putting together such a fun meal!

1 year Stats

2010-01-23T06:39:00.001-08:00

Yes, I'm running a little behind. And I'll remind you that for this second little kiddo, he doesn't even get a baby book, this is it! So here are his stats: He is 22lbs, 15 oz (50th percentile) and 32 inches long (97th percentile). He's already wearing a size 6 in shoes, which is killing me, because he never got to wear the cute puma, nike, and robeez shoes that would fit most kids under 2!

Keegan you are so much fun to have around! Recently you will just 'chill' and sit on the couch with Dad and maybe even 'read' a book. You have maybe 3 words? Doe (door) A Dah (a dog) and now Bawoo (balloon), although you can make a lot of other noises I'm not going to associate them with anyone or thing (that's me included). You clap, high five, and do a cool finger poke. You are a huge eater but not a good drinker (unlike your parents) and do not like milk but can eat the hell outta some yogurt. You sleep soundly at night for 12 hours and take 2 good naps during the day, keeping your mom sane. You are a pooping machine and I can not keep enough diapers around for you! You love your big sister, Euchre, and any sort of a Ball. I never quite taught Euchre to fetch but you will entertain yourself playing fetch for 20 minutes at a time. You cry when I leave you with a sitter, but when I come home you are so excited you actually try to bite my face. You are the perfect addition to our family and have taught us what an easy going, low mx kid can be like!

Here you are taking some of your first steps on your birthday wearing the worst pants possible (total tripping hazard)

Here is what you were WALKING toward. FYI, Maggie first crawled to a BUD LIGHT so we are seeing a trend here:

You and your favorite bud and favorite blankie that I just got a second version of up at the Munger's condo in the mnts:

1 big Year Old! And Walking!

2010-01-01T14:33:00.000-08:00

A year ago, this bowling ball of a baby rolled out at 10'7 and almost 24 inches long. And now he's just a regular old one year old who loves to smile, throw things off his high chair, pet the dog, and pull his sister's pigtails. He doesn't say many real words, but we kind of get the gist of his "doooo, daaaah, maa maa, daaaa and Oooohs and AAAHs". Here's the little guy playing with his sister's new guitar:

And, eating his cool red cupcake at his mild celebration:

My Mom and Dad were able to trek up from Arizona and rolled in for our 6th year anniversary. The next morning, (Keegan's bday) he decided to reward them for their long drive and took his first steps! He kind of looks like Frankenstein the way he wobbles with his arms out, but he's now an official walker and has realized it's cooler (though slower) than crawling.

Much thanks to the Grampies for coming up, staying with us and watching the kiddos on New Years eve (and many more times!) Soon to follow some pics of all the cool presents sent along from out-of-state family! Dinner shot:

Here's our rocker baby during a live walking shot. Probably cooler on video but I haven't uploaded yet.

Six Awesome Years

2009-12-27T05:15:00.001-08:00

Six Years ago today was our big day! I still can't believe it's been that long. And for those of you that know us well, it's really been a lot longer than that. We first met in 1993 I think, in basic training at the Air Force Academy. I had the most awful awful hair at the time- a spiral perm of long locks that some Academy barber butchered into a fuzzy bowl cut. Regardless, when I first saw Brian I had eyes for him like no other.

It took a lot of years, moves, assignments, aircraft and deployments later for us to get it right and realize that as a couple we have the Right Stuff. Here is a picture from the day Brian proposed, back at our first house in North Carolina with our then puppy, Euchre:

Now, 6 years later, we've just moved once again and have a crazy fuzzy headed 3 year old, a one-year old (tomorrow!) and another little one on the way.

My mom gave me something once which was titled the 'Secrets to Happiness'. The first secret was "Marry the Right Person. This is the one single event that controls your life and Happiness".

I am so happy that I know, and I really know, that I married the right person. I go to bed at night and the first thing I do is thank God for my husband. And I don't even think about it, it just pops into my head. And that's how you know you've married the right person folks!

Xmas Eve!!!

2009-12-24T11:01:00.001-08:00

It's a little rough getting everything going for Christmas this year. With all the boxes to go through, it was nearly the last one that we finally found our stockings. Which can't really go on our mantel at this new house! Regardless, we got a tree up, got the ornaments we could find on it, and just enjoyed the Charlie Brown aspect of imperfection since we have a nearly 1 year old trying to grab and eat them!

Here are Brian and Keegan working together. Note: nasty beard=gone

Maggie dressed up in her shades to decorate the tree:

Even the little guy doing everything he can to help out:

And, making Xmas cookies on Xmas Eve for Santa tonight! A year ago I was very ripe and one day from my due date. !

The last month....

2009-12-18T08:32:00.000-08:00

or two have been kind of chaos. We've lived in like 4 different places and traveled across state and country lines. But now we're settled. We think! This past month we got to spend Thanksgiving with our new nephew Brennan along with a handful of family. Then we hit the road for our official Colorado move.

Maggie is really missing Papa and Nana. Here she is talking with Papa on the phone while we were in Park City:

Brian had 70 days of use or lose leave. Through that time I swear his age varied by 10 years if he opted for the clean shave, the old grey man beard, or the ugly giant mustache. Here he is with Nana showing off the winning Mulloy family beard. It wasn't tough competition to beat Papa and Mike and their adolescent scruff:

Lastly our 2 monkeys helping unpack. Maggie's scar is starting to heal but always draws questions from teachers and neighbors. She loves explaining that she hit her head and got 'Titches' from the doctor.
Oh, and as for the Blog background picture, Brian tried to wear an Ugly Xmas sweater to our squadron party. However, most people thought it was for real. No, it's a joke from Goodwill. His taste isn't that bad (Nikki!!!)!

We made it!

2009-12-13T12:08:00.001-08:00

Blog has been ignored as boxes have been unpacked! Just found the camera cord and will post about the last month or so of chaos and fun! Happily settled!

The Winner of Mustache 'Mo-vember' is....

2009-11-27T05:45:00.000-08:00

MAGGIE!!!!

Luckily we got a healthy amount of snow to entertain the kids the last few days in Truckee. Maggie also got a 50 cent mustache at Safeway to make her fit in with fuzzy faced Dad while he's still on his Terminal leave. Those two previous pictures make me laugh out loud anytime I see them! When Brian shaved his mustache before we went to Mexico Maggie cried! I know I didn't cry!

Here are some snow shots. Maggie enjoyed it a lot more than Keegan did!

Life in the Cold Mountains

2009-11-21T10:34:00.000-08:00

As part of our transition from California to Colorado, we decided to try a few weeks up in the mountains. Yesterday we got a pretty decent dumping of snow!

Maggie vacuuming with her cool french braid

The cleaning lady and our poor son that wears a lot of pink just because sometimes it's all I can find!

Our friends the Walsh Family opted to drive into their first California snow storm last night. After being on the road way too long they stopped in half way to their destination for diaper changes and a quick meal.

911- we had an emergency.

2009-11-21T10:21:00.000-08:00

So leaving our kids was tough. And it took a village, from friends, sisters, godfathers, nanas and papas to great aunts to make our trip happen. But when you've got a village, someone got to be the Village Chief, and my little, pregnant with no kids sister, Lisa stepped up to this role. That meant no breaks for her, for 7 days of 2 little kids. It also meant she had to be the one to break the news to us upon landing that Maggie was in the hospital getting stitches! She was a super trooper and (from what I hear) everyone at the hospital loved her.

Lisa and Mags pre-stitches

Maggie getting 5 star treatment at the Truckee Tahoe Hospital

5 days later and the possibility of a modeling career still alive...

Our little ham: she'd walk up to anyone at the hospital and say "I HURT MY FOOOOOORE HEAD!"

So we went on this Honeymoon...

2009-11-21T10:13:00.000-08:00

and except for a fading tan and some leftover pesos, I don't have much to show for it! I just downloaded my pictures and apparently I didn't bring my camera along to much that we did. Maybe that's because we spent the majority of the time honestly just relaxing, not talking about naps, not trying to get kids to eat their veggies, and not exhausted at the end of the day!

So here is one shot of us out on our balcony... I'm relying on Nikki for some other shots hopefully!

And here's the gang on night one. First round of Modelo Lights, prior to even a mention of Mexican Train, Edgar, and pepper grinders. Honestly it was the best trip ever and it couldn't have gone more perfectly. Thanks to the Z's!

Cuatro Cervezas, por favor!

2009-11-13T06:34:00.000-08:00

We are on day six of our delayed honeymoon/vacation in Mexico! SO MUCH FUN and so weird to have all this time to talk to each OTHER and not worry about naps, kids meals, etc!

Here we are with the Zemans at sunset- way too much fun!

The two guys who just KEEP making me laugh this whole trip:

My life partner! Congrats on almost 6 years of marriage!

Major shout out to Lisa, Tom, Grandma K, Nancy, Dennis, Catherine and everyone who helped make this happen! We love you guys and although we miss our kids this experience is priceless!

Moving on

2009-10-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

Let's see, I went on my first date with my future hubby maybe 13 years ago? In this very truck. Which has now left us and gone on to somebody's high school kid. It was a perfect truck for many years, but we couldn't put any kids in it and it became my vehicle to commute 2 hours in 100 degree temperature so it was time to say goodbye!

Next round of goodbyes is for our awesome house in which we've become a family in during the past four years! Bye Bye Lake Wildwood and all our good friends here in Grass Valley! The packers/movers are here and we're realizing how different it is to move with KIDS, and how much crap we've accumulated in the past 4 years!

Next up, our cute little Doggie, who loves wearing her costume!

And, a HAPPY HAPPY birthday to Maggie's Godmother, Aunt Molly! Celebrate well in Hong Kong and we can't wait to see you this winter!

Next post will be from a new location!

Final 'Fini Flight' in the 38!

2009-10-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

Monday Brian had his last flight in the '38 and on Active Duty. Kind of unreal for us, but we're really excited for what adventure is next. Here he is taxing back:

Showing Mags the cockpit:

Trying to entertain both kids while on a major taxiway! :

And another failed shot of everyone looking at the camera and smiling!

Next up is Colorado Springs, where hopefully we will be for a long long while. Cheers to over 1000 hours of doing loop de loops over Tahoe!

How many married couples can taxi a B1 together?

2009-10-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

Honest. This was legal.

But still pretty cool.

Back then, dating for however many years, but not yet engaged, we didn't have a plan at all. Now, we picked a path, and with our family of 4, Colorado, here we come!

High Flight

2009-10-04T19:16:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow is a big day for us. Brian has his last Active Duty flight. M, K and I will drive down, squirt him with champagne, and celebrate the many years, with many, many flights with some In and Out burger on the way home. Brian flew up super dooper high in a space suit last week with his bud Bam Bam. Here are a few shots from that cool flight.

Is that the moon in the background? Or Saturn? how high are you??

NINER

2009-09-28T18:27:00.000-07:00

Keegan is 9 months old. Which means we only have 3 months until Xmas! This kid, man we just love him so much and he's such a cool little guy. He loves to stand up, and turn around and smile. He still only has 2 teeth, but we swear weekly that more are coming in. The only thing he says is "DAH DAH DAH" and no real affiliation to Daddy. He will wave bye bye, but again, we think it's just luck that he does it when we say Bye Bye. (Interruption- Brian just walked in and said "What's on your face?" to which I looked in the mirror and saw Destin on my my cheek and forehead. The job of Mom just never ends)

Keegan is a carb baby, happy with Cheerios, crackers, and any sort of 'snacks'. Yogurt is also a hit! Still on the bottle, not a fan of the sippy, although the straw version we can get a hit or two. He crawls up on all fours, and sometimes stands alone for like 5 seconds. He is really so easy, we just sit and smile at how great the little guy is. Again, his grin is so wide, and he laughs like an old man. His hair is sparse, but what's there is super blonde like his big sis. He loves it when his Nana watches him and likes to listen Papa play guitar. Knock on wood but he's been super healthy with no ear infections. Boo Boo bear, we are so happy that you turned us into a family of Four. We love you!

Another Bday party

2009-09-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

Maggie had a semi- 'real' bday party at this huge old gym nearby, 21 kids and then their associated parents showed up:

1/2 the kids just liked making Bri sprint around and they chased him!

Even the Mulloy side made it out for the event. Mike flew up for both this and his 20 year reunion and one of the parties gave him a hang over, guess which one?!

Sweet Mags had to wait until AFTER her nap to open all these! Then WE had to write the thank yous! Next party, year four! (fyi, those are not my toes...)

A pic of Mom for once

2009-09-21T19:43:00.001-07:00

So for once Brian had the camera so there is proof I do really exist. Mom and two kiddos, Mom, Mags and crazy Elmo cake, and then just a mom and Mags shot all posted below. Enjoy!

SHE'S THREE!

2009-09-09T15:39:00.001-07:00

We officially have a three year old in the house! And she knows it! Magpie is full of questions, still takes good naps, prefers fruit to any other food, loves playing and smushing her little brother, sleeps in a big girl bed, loves going on walks with her Nana, and wrestling with dad, and likes unloading the dishwasher with Mom. Her favorite color is pink (uggg) favorite THING is Dora, and her favorite buddy is of course Sadie. She'll be the oldest cousin on dad's side, and will soon be getting two new cousins from Kiki and Lisa (who, by the way she can't really tell apart, and the fact that they are both pregnant with curly brown hair and freckles makes it even harder for a 3 year old). She's our favorite little monkey and we had such a great Labor Day birthday with her!

Mags started off the day with a new apron!

Next was cooking whole wheat blueberry pancakes with Uncle Billy, Mike, Dad, and Kiki

Opening gifts from Mike and Jen before they headed back to San Diego for Jen's new school year and Mike's cancelled Fed Ex trip!

Showing off her new puma track suit from Lisa and Tom. She said "It has kitty cats on the back!!!"

Heading down to the village for some birthday bouncing and ice cream with the gang: (check out Kiki's 30 week belly!)

Bouncing on the super tramp contraption for a whole 5 minutes! (worth every dime to see her catch on!)

Special day = her OWN bottle of Gatoraid and a matching orange mustachio

Blowing out the candle. Her shirt says Life Is Good and aint that the truth! Thanks Nana and Pops for hosting us! More pics to follow!

The Widest Grinned 8 month old

2009-09-03T20:37:00.001-07:00

Keegan, Baby Kong, Big K, Boo Boo Bear, Buddo, our little guy... whatever we might call him, is officially 8 months! This guy is so chill and fun to have around, and he really has just the widest grin ever, as you can see in these pictures.

He loves Cheerios, Stars, cheese, some days a bottle, and other days not. Baby K happily sits up, moves around a little, but no official crawling. His favorite position is to be standing but he's not very good at it. His favorite toy is far and above his big sister Maggie, and he lights up any time Euchre walks in the room- here's a shot where he's NOT smiling:
I think he's just too cute! Of course, I'm just his mom...

She Jumps!

2009-08-24T14:08:00.001-07:00

Aunt Barbara caught this awesome pic of Maggie jumping in to Bri. Thanks for sending along the pictures, makes me feel like I'm not really a 20 hour plane ride away!

Missing the gang from Down Under

2009-08-22T20:35:00.001-07:00

Thursday I left the family and started my trip to Australia. I think it's been a few days but some how I made it down here and am enjoying the cool weather, cafes, and views of the Indian Ocean. But, I miss these guys:

My conference officially starts tonight, and I think I've slowly adjusted to the 14 odd hour time change. I've learned that everyone down here wears skinny jeans tucked into cool leather tight boots, and I stand out in my boot cut jeans and Dansko clogs. I ordered crepes thinking I would get the yummy thin things from Europe and was bummed to get some regular old Waffle House style pancakes.

I'm off to take a long walk along the ocean to burn off my crepe induced carbs. Ending with this pic taken yesterday of Maggie and gang kayaking up North. You think she'd miss me but while video conferencing she just gave me a quick "Hi Mom" and then went back to playing with her cousin. Keegan however gave a good cry when he realized the computer version of Mommy couldn't hold him.

I promised Maggie a Kangaroo, but this Rock Wallaby was cuter. I don't think she'll know the difference!

At the lake!

2009-08-16T10:14:00.001-07:00

We pretty much spend any free time at the lake. Molly caught these pics when she was out visiting from Hong Kong. It's so fun to see Maggie jump in and go under!

And cute baby K of course too!

County Fair Baby!

2009-08-13T20:11:00.001-07:00

So up here in Northern California, the 'Fair' is a big deal. We've lived here almost 4 years, and I always manage to skip it. Thanks to my good friend Kels, I was talked into going this year. I just hate large groups of people, it reminds me of Walmart in Oklahoma in my 20s... which is usually what you come across at a fair-like-environment! It ended up being super fun, and I had some world famous corn-dog which kept me full all the way through cocktail hour!

Here we are at the get go: Keegan in Maggie's old backpack for the first time. Waiting for Kelsey, Sadie and Josie to hit the fairgrounds:

After checking out 9 piglets eating dinner off a big 'ole mama pig, seeing sheep (smooth and fuzzy alike) goats, cows, and chickens, we hit my personal highlight. I used to favor myself as a Bud girl in my college days, and the only cheap beer in our fridge is Bud Light, so it was fun to see the official Budweiser Clydesdales! And the polka dot doggie too, from the super-bowl commercials! Here are the girls, unaware that they are with the Thunderbirds of horses!
Next was the racing cars. Maggie kept saying to Sadie "Sadie, it's bumpy!"
Then we went on the Dumbo ride. Kelsey has the pictures on her camera, since I had to ride with the girls because they were under 42 inches. Then the little ones hopped on this Australian Kangaroo adventure ride. They were so sweet and honestly happy!
So 3 hours past morning nap time, baby Kong melted into my backpack. Not bad.
More pictures to follow. A fun day with great friends.

They play together now!

2009-08-07T19:50:00.001-07:00

So tonight I caught on tape the 2 munchkies playing together. First off is Mags feeding big K. She's my helper, especially when Bri is gone.

The second video got cut short. Maggie did this move like 30 times but my camera ran out of memory. I'm surprised they didn't head bonk!

With Papa

2009-08-07T13:08:00.001-07:00

This week Nana was nice enough to come down and help with Maggie while I worked, because Maggie's day care was closed. I guess we were pretty busy because the only proof I have of the week is of Papa and baby Kong right before their departure!

Saying Blah blah Blah

2009-08-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

Keegan loves to chatter- Lisa caught it on tape this weekend: