Wednesday, May 23

Hope

We're hopeful
 that one day
 everyone
 will get to 
 experience
 this.

The March for Babies was inspiring as always.  
With over $9,000 raised for Connor & Colby's Crew and with the most important people in our lives supporting us, we proudly walked in Memory of Connor and in Honor of Colby Sydney, and Zoe.

364 Days Old

These little girls?

They're one on Friday.

And I've enjoyed every step.

What we've been up to

I started this dayyyys ago!

I could just write that we have been SOOO busy and life has been SOOO crazy so I haven't had a spare minute, but that's not exactly true.

I haven't had a spare minute... but not because we're excessively busy or life is so crazy.  It's just... life.  With three kids.  :)

Yard Sale We spent last weekend hosting a March of Dimes: March for Babies yard sale.  We got donations from friends and family and held the yard sale on Saturday.  I've never been a yard sale-er so i didn't know what to expect.  I really thought that, just by adding the word "Charity" and explaining that it was for the March of Dimes then people would be eager to give a few extra dollars.  Oh, so not the case.  Charity or not.  Babies or not.  People still wanted to get something for basically nothing.  We were busy ALL day long for 6 hours and only 2 people gave us a few extra dollars.  I guess that's my yard sale lesson.  However, we made almost $500 which was pretty great.


March for Babies The walk is this Saturday and we're excited.  So far we have just under $6,000 raised for our family team.  It's not as good as past years at around $9,000 each year, but we still have a few more days and a few dollars is better than nothing.  This year was extra neat because my cousins in Virginia walked for our team in Richmond and my brother walked for our team in San Antonio, Texas.


Road Trip Speaking of my brother, next week Johnny & my brother Chris head to Texas.  They're meeting up with my brother Matt who is going to school there.  Then the three are loading up and making the trek from San Antonio to Boston that week.  They leave on Mother's Day evening and have to be back by the following weekend.  My brother Chris is getting married this summer in June so they're using the trip a a pseudo-Bachelor Party.  The only stop I really know of is a stop in New Orleans.


Work Work has been... work.  It's been an interesting year with an interesting class and I'm oh-so-ready to be out of school.  My head just wasn't in this year.  I know it was because I was on leave for much of the year, so I am looking forward to being back for the whole year next year-- my first year since I was pregnant with the boys!


Baby #5?  I am so ready for Baby #5 right now.  Johnny thinks I'm pretty crazy to be thinking that, but I am.  :)  Our place is not nearly big enough for the number of people we have now, never mind adding one more, so we have to move first.  We're not really in that place yet though-- we have to be here until August of this year so we don't have to repay the first time homebuyers credit we got back in '09.

Colby Colby is still such a riot.  I'm still eternally amazed and so thankful for how well he is doing.  His speech is phenomenal.  He's always talking.  The things he comes out with continually amaze me.  His new thing is to say things are "kind of like" other things.  Like we'll be going for a walk and I'll hear "That house is kind of like my house.  That car is kind of like Grammy's car.  That dog is kind of like Butchie." and on and on.  He also has this way of saying "What?" that cracks me up.  He's still obsessed with balls and cars and trucks and puddles and dirt.  You can bring him to the store and he'll get so excited to see any toy but if you ask him if he wants the toy he always answers no.  The only thing he ever wants you to buy him is a new ball- so now we have quite a collection of balls.  He loves to do projects- cutting, gluing, painting, drawing, playdough- you name it.  He fully potty trained himself- well, I guess we had a hand in it, but he did the hard work.  He's the best big brother to the girls.  He loves them and constantly tells me that he loves the babies.  He loves bubble baths and always insists that the babies come take the bath with him.  It makes for a crowded- but fun- tub.
He loves books and can sit for the longest time with is books.  He is always pointing out letters and numbers that he sees.  "Mama!  ABCDEFG's!"  He can say the alphabet and he can count to 13 with accuracy.  After 13 it's always 17-15-16-17-18 and so on.  For some reason 14 just isn't there for him.   He is just getting over his first ever ear infection.  It's been a rough year with this ear infection, stomach bug, various colds, pneumonia, and pink eye.  Despite the constant stream of illnesses, I can't help but realize how lucky we are to have him.  As we move toward his 3rd birthday I can't help but think back to just a few short years ago.  I never doubted that I would have a child, but there were definitely times that I sat there as a 23 year-old unable to have my own child on my own that I wondered and worried how long it would take.  With every failed cycle I saw my dreams of a young  large family slipping slowly away.  But now I sit here

And that's all I got to before being interrupted a few weeks ago.... 

Sunday, May 6

Life's a Beach!

An afternoon at the beach