When Good Friends Visit

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

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

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.

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!

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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.