Easter

Dear Nanna & Poppie,

Thank you SO MUCH for the Easter surprise! We loved all of the books and candy!

We love you and miss you like crazy,

Jax and Issy

Could it be an early Spring?

We took advantage of the little sun we had today by taking the kids out the park. We were determined to get Issy riding her bike today. A little progress was made, but it's definitely going to take a few more trips to the park before she decides she is ready.

She fell one time, and it's all it took for her to shut down.

She decided the battery powered toddler four wheeler was "less wabolly" and safer.

Jax gave her a try and then decided that the four wheeler was his ride.

Oh the joys....

My little Issy Busy!

I wish I could remember everything about what I was like as a child. I see the way Issy is now, what she talks about, and how she thinks... and I wonder if my parents thought I was just as smart, as I believe my daughter to be. She knows what she likes, what she doesnt like and she is so confient. I admire that about her so much. I remember being 19 and holding her as an infant in my arms wondering how on earth we were going raise her. we were so young... It was so frigtening. Now that we look back at everything, I am able to realize that even though have, and still make so many mistakes, at some point we have done enough right that she has become this incredible girl. I see her, and my heart swells up with Joy. I am so proud of her. Last month she asked me if would take her to get her bangs cut. Her sudden request suprised me, but I told her that she would have to think about it for a month, and at the end of the month if she still wanted to get her bangs cut, then we would talk about it. The month came and went and if you know Issy, then you know she does not forget things easily. And she asked again. For some reason, I was still so hesitant to say yes. I know its not a big deal, hair is hair and it will grow back. It's the idea that, today it is hair, later is a belly ring etc. She is growing up so stinkin' fast. Its so sad. In case you are wondering...Yes...I did give in to the bangs. She was patient, and most importantly she did not throw a fit when I didnt give her an answer right away or told her to wait a month so we can talk about it again. I figured that a month for a seven year old kid is a long enouh time. If she didnt really want the bangs, she would have forgotten about it and she didnt. Plus, I knew that at the end of the day, she didnt have this unreasonable request. She is simply finding herself. My heart swells. I will post a good picture of her new hairstyle later on.

Our little Hercules!

One drawback about moving to Mass this past year is loosing our incredible pediatrician. The office was new , the staff was always so super nice. Our doctor was always available when we needed to schedule an appointment. We had an after hours nurse care line. I could go on and on. Here in Mass (okay maybe not the whole state but at least the town and the ones within a 10 mile radius) has been a completely different story. Not only does someone need to have their childs entire medical records readily available before they will pencil you in for an appointmen, but the wait time for appointments are ridiculous. Often a month out or two for a get well. The process of getting a doctor has been exausting and frustrating specially becuase through the process of getting an doctor the kids were almost 6 months past due on their 2 year and 7 year old appointments. Long story short, we found a awesome pediatrician in RI and the kids finally had their appointments this week. I had been there before with Jackson for a sick visit, but this was the appointment where they check them out from head to toe. I am happy to report that our little tank, Jackson is now 37 lbs (of pure muscle I am sure). And 37 inches tall. This means that he is in the 90th percentile for both weight and height. What a SOLID little dude! I would have liked to have been there for this appointment, but I was not able to be there so Brandon filled in for me. This is the very first time I have been not been to a doctor's appointment so I was really upset about not being able to be there. The last time Jax and I were there, he gave the nurses a really hard time getting the weight and height measurements. What we did is let the nurse leave the room for a minute while I put him on the scale to get his weight. As long as the nurse was not there, he was happy to stand on the scale. Well, I forgot to pass on my secret to Brandon. Not only did Jackson scream and cry the whole time, but in order to get the Jackson weight the nurse made Bran weight himself first, so that later he could hold Jax in his arms and subtract his weight. How friggin horrible would that be? I can't imagine going through that. Bran said he was so embarrased. Oh! I owe him big for that one. Everything else looks normal- which is wonderful news! At this point he is speaking very well. He recognizes everyone in our family, including himself. When you ask what his name is he says "Jack", not Jax or Jackson, however we still call him Jax and that is the name he answers. For some reason I find this really funny. And, when he is not trying to ride Sandy like a horse, he tries to give her commands. She only listens when he is going to sneak her a snack. Smart dog. He is still sleeping in his crib, but we are planning on getting rid of that here shortly. Lastly, we are going to try to start the potty training very soon. Right now, he hates being wet or dirty, but aparently not enough to actually sit on the potty. Maybe I am glorifying the whole experience with Issy, but I just remember her being so much easier to train. Not just easier, but her traning came a lot sooner. I am not sure if it was just becuase girls are EASIER, or becuase all of our attention was focused on only her at the time. Her mildstones were OUR mildstones and all of us were going through them as the first time. With Jackson...well, I just feel like he is not quite there yet. I dont want to make the mistake of being too pushy, just becuase someone else "had their kid completely potty trained by this age" and making his fear of the potty worse. He and Issy are still best "friendenemies". Isabel has so much patience for him. She is the first one scream at him if they fight, but also the first to comfort him when we are not around. He is learning to love books from her love of reading. When we are home and the house gets too quiet that I rush in the room in a panic, I can often find them sitting on her bed reading a story together. How stinkin' sweet is that?

St. Patty's 2011 - Boston

This year we celebrated St. Patty's Day in what has become our new back yard-Boston. The South Boston parade is home to the second largest Celebration of Irish Herritage in the country. As you can imagine the parade path was a complete zoo, people were loud, proud and rowdy. I personally loved every second of it! Since we were able to meet up with our new friends (with kids the same age of ours) Issy had a pal to cheer and collect candy with. She came home with a pocket full of loot and hopefully another memory to look back on.

We're Back!

Hello friends:

I know. I know. I have been MIA for a while! We've had a lot going on lately. I while can't say that I havent' had the time to sit in front of the computer, the last thing I have wanted to do is sleepily put my thoughts together for the blog. So I havent.

I am back now, but I still can't promise that I will go back to doing daily posting. What I will do is try to post onece a week to at least give you a run down of what we have been up to.

For now, it is safe to say that the 30 day challenge is going to be put on hold. Towards the end the challenge I felt like I lost focus, and all of my post were about me, and not about the our family- which is what this blog is really intended to be. I may come back to finish it, but it wont be for a while.

for now I leave you with these two pictures of my sweet kids. To me these pictures not only capture a cute little brother/big sister moment, but they also capture the moment where perhaps two siblings are becoming best friends. When my kids grow up, one of the things I want is for them to be close and love each other as much as I love my sisters. As a Mother, there is no greater joy than rare moments like these.

30 Day Blog Challenge -Day 23

30 Day Blog Challenge -Day 23-15 facts about you...

1. One of my favorite lines from Grease is "when I hear music, I just can't make my be behave".  That's totally me!  I love music that makes me want to dance, wiggle, jump and just be silly!  

2. I have never been a fan of the water, water actives, pools, or any water sports.   I freak out the second someone mentions (even jokingly) that anyone is going to be thrown into a pool against their will.  it's happened to me, and I have almost drowned.   I will go into full blow panic attack mode.  I've taken swim lessons, but I've never been able to get over my fear of water.  

3. I love trying out new recipes.   In my opinion the best cookbooks ever made have been created by the Pioneer Woman.  All I have to say is I'm making a Ree Drummond recipe and my family starts salivating.  I really love that!   (HUGE GRIN!)

4. I have chewed my nails for as long as I can remember, but I am deterred to stop.   

5. I love the color Red and it's my favorite color!   Purple is my second favorite color. Followed closely by green and orange....I don't know why I added that last part...lol.  

6. I am addicted to crafty blogs. MADE is one of my favorite blogs because it inspires me to learn and try new sewing projects and techniques!  

7. I don't like to check my voicemails.  I only started checking them after I got the iPhone and it's super easy to listen to one message at a time.   

8. I love kickboxing classes. I love the way my sore muscles feel the next day almost as much as the workout. Booya!

9. I really hate matching and "folding" clean socks. I buy mismatched socks for kids on purpose so I don't really have spend so much time finding the pairs in the basket.  

10. I hate driving anywhere new.  Mostly because I don't like to get lost.  Who does right?


11. I love the fourth of July!  I love sitting next to my blue eyed honey watching fireworks lighting up the sky!  Call me cheesy, but I honestly think it's super romantic!  


12.  I love ice-cream!  If I had been a smarted teenager, I'm sure would have worked at one of those cute ice-cream shop instead of the grease bucket I worked at ONE summer!  


13. I'm obsessed with Fruit Ninja!  It's the first App I purchased on my phone and almost a year later, I still love playing it!


14.  I'm sad to say that I have a black thumb. Year after year I buy plants and year after year, each one of those plants dies.   I've given up. 


15. I love to read. I didn't when I was younger, but that changed after I had Issy.   I started to read in front of her just to set a good example, eventually both of us got bitten by the book worm!  

30 Day Blog Challenge -Day 22

30 Day Blog Challenge -Day 22 - A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.

This post is going to be pretty boring because I seriously do not feel like I have been hurt by someone recently enough to remember the incident and then write about it.

What did I say? Boring.

30 Day Blog Challenge -Day 21

30 Day Blog Challenge -Day 21 - Post a picture of something that makes you happy.

Reading makes me happy. I love getting lost in the words and emotions of a good book. Sharing my love of books with the kids is a gift I hope I can pass on to my kids.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 20

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 20-- The meaning behind your blog name.

I can't say that there is a lot of mystery to the blog name. When I was creating our family blog, I often worried about who would be reading it, and what they thought about MY family. I've never been one to really obsess over what people think about me, but when you are putting it all out there, it does make you think twice. Before publishing my first entry, the words "it's who we are" kept nagging at me. And I was right. This is who. we. are. - I feel like no matter how much we evolve, the name will always make sense.