The Aftermath...

Well, the last couple days of vacation were spent visiting friends.  We visited Dennis' best friend Tasha on the 27th, up in Baltimore, and got to see her new baby Finley.  Who was ADORABLE!  I enjoyed getting my baby fix by feeding her a bottle and Colin was as eager to hold her as I was.  He had a huge grin on his face the whole time.  I have never seen a young boy who loves babies as much as he does!

Then Dennis took the boys to his friend Jeremy's house, for dinner, while I went out with my Mom and sisters.  We went to an amazing Italian restaurant in Georgetown and then to the Kennedy Center to see the musical Billy Elliot.  We had a really nice ladies night out and ate some of the best italian food I have ever eaten!

The drive back went well except that 10 1/2 hours is a long way for a 20 month old.  Logan cried a few times, but overall he was pretty good.  Evan has been very sweet to Logan lately.  One time when Logan was crying Evan said, "Is there anything I can do for you?".  Then later he said, "Do you want my blanket?  Do you want your lovey?  Do you want inner peace?"  He was a big help on the drive trying to distract Logan!

Then today we spent the whole day putting toys together, cleaning the house, putting toys away and doing mounds of laundry.  We always say we need a vacation from our vacation and that is pretty much how we felt today.  It is nice to get everything back in order and all the new toys are definitely keeping the boys busy.

Merry Christmas 2011!

Well, we had a wonderful Christmas this year.

It started off on Christmas Eve at Grandma and Robert Bridger's home.  The kids were spoiled as always with lots of gifts and they were really excited to finally get to open some after looking at presents under our tree for weeks.  I was extremely bummed to discover that I had left my camera battery in Indiana and therefor was unable to take any pictures this Christmas.  I did get some video footage, but unfortunately other than a few mobile photos Dennis took, we have no pictures.

  

Logan and I with our white elephant gifts...

After putting the kids to bed I ran out to Midnight mass and met my parents there.  It is so hard to stay up that late especially with traveling and all the running around we have to do.  Unfortunately, that is the only mass we can fit in to our schedule at this time.

Christmas morning the boys actually slept until almost 7, but were super excited when they came in to our room to open presents.  Colin was especially excited to open his Nintendo 3DS.  He didn't even ask for it, which made it even more special.  He opened it and said "Wow and 3DS, that's like 100 dollars!"    Evan got a cool ride on scooter which he was excited about, but mostly he loved his small Phineas and Ferb action figures.  Logan wasn't that in to opening presents.  He was just happy to walk around.

Julie and Holly's families then arrived (they brought their santa gifts to my Mom's to open together) and then we had a nice breakfast together.

The day continued at Meghan's house where we exchanged gifts with Miranda and Grandpa McLaughlin.  Evan was very excited to get a leap pad or his own "ipad" as he calls it.  Colin enjoyed putting a lego castle together while we were there.

Then we went to my extended family party at a hall.  There was probably 60 people or so there and we had a lot of fun playing games, eating LOTS of food and having a visit from Santa.  Logan didn't want anything to do with him and wouldn't sit on his lap, but Colin and Evan sat for awhile no problem.  The boys had a blast as always playing with their cousins and my cousins kids.

This year, Christmas was spread out even more because we spent the evening of the 26th also opening gifts.  We decided that since there was no time when my siblings and parents would all be together on the 25th (David was in South Carolina with Fanchon's family), we would celebrate on the 26th.  So, we went to Julie's for dinner and did our big gift exchange then.  It was nice to have my whole family together and it is crazy that there are now 24 of us!!!  And next year that number will be up to 26, since Julie announced on Christmas day that she is expecting in early August (and David and Fanchon are due end of June)!!!!!

It was a wonderful Christmas with lots of family and great memories!

Christmas Cookies

Well, we have been busy packing for our trip to Nova.  We leave bright and early tomorrow morning so we have to have the car all packed tonight.  I volunteered to bake cookies for my extended families Christmas celebration so I spent all day baking and then recruited some kids in the neighborhood to help decorate.  The kids had a lot of fun and I'm just hoping the cookies taste better than some of them look....

For the record, my boys did a pretty good job decorating, but I can see now how their artistic abilities are advanced for their ages.

Happy Hanukah!

Colin and Luke playing dradle

The boys closest friends in the neighborhood, Luke and Jake, had us over this evening to celebrate Hanukah with them.  They taught us about Hanukah and the traditions they have.  After a wonderful dinner of hamburgers and potato latkes, the boys played dradle and then lit the menorah.  It was a fun evening and we learned alot too.

Jake, Colin, Luke and Evan lighting their menorahs

Let's Dress the Same and Loggie Update...

Even though I don't have twins, I still like when my boys all dress similar, they just look cute that way.  Anyway, I never thought they cared either way, but today I overheard Colin and Evan saying to each other...."lets dress the same, how about jeans and hokie shirts?"  Then Colin went to Evan's room to help him pick out clothes.  Colin and Evan drive us a little crazy sometimes with their brotherly wrestling, but they really are great friends too...

This is how they watch TV many times, I didn't pose them.

We spent a lot of the weekend playing the board game Sorry and again today Dennis played with the boys.  We really enjoy having game nights and it is great to get the kids away from "screen time" (ie. TV and video games).  The boys really enjoy it too, except we are still working on Evan not getting upset when he looses.

Today, Dennis worked from home so that we could all go to Logan's cardiologist appointment.  When the nurse called Logan's name he started crying immediately.  He cried the entire time we were trying to get his weight and height and I had to lay next to him on the table for the Echo cardiogram. Luckily, he calmed down (thanks to some balls and a car the technician gave him).  When we were all done, he was giddy though.  He was waving and saying "bye" to everyone we passed and he had all the nurses and receptionists watching him and commenting how cute he was.  He was walking with his little strut and flirting away.  And, that is pretty much how every doctors appointment goes with him these days...  Well, I am happy to report that his murmur is an innocent one and we don't need to do anything about it.  He should outgrow it, but if he doesn't it shouldn't effect him in any way.  His echo cardiogram was completely normal.

Logan is getting more talkative.  I used to pick him up from school and his teachers would have always marked "happy and quiet" on his take home sheet.  But, lately they have been marking "happy and chatty".  His favorite words right now are "No" and "Yeah".  He is also getting pretty good with some of his sign language (they teach him at school).  He says more, thanks, drink, and all done with his hand signals.  I never thought much of teaching babies sign language, but it really does help us know what he wants and helps him get his point across.  He is quickly starting to talk more and is probably saying about 20 words or so now...

Logan is also trying hard to keep up with his brothers.  When he sees them go potty he tries to, this means even pulling off his clothes and diaper.  Most of the pics I have of this are probably inappropriate for me to put on the Internet, so here is one seconds before the diaper came off....for the record he hasn't actually peed yet, but at least he wants to.  He just bends over and looks at his "pee pee", like "why isn't it working?"

Feeling Better...

Well, it has taken a few days, but looks like we have gotten Logan back to sleeping until 6:45-7am!  Thank goodness.  This morning he slept until 6:50 and I had to wake Colin up at 7:10.  When Logan sleeps better the whole house sleeps better.

Tuesday, I took Evan and Logan to the doctors because of a diaper rash that wouldn't go away.  Turns out Evan has a bacteria infection caused by strep and she suspects Logan could have the same thing, even though his isn't as bad.  So, they are on 14 days of antibiotics.  I'm not sure if that has contributed to the sleeping better, but whatever the reason, we will take it!

Tuesday evening Colin had another soccer game.  His team got "destroyed" as Evan was saying.  Surprisingly, they won against this team earlier in the season.  But, the other team was very good.  They have been together for many seasons and the parents all know each other.  Anyway, Colin didn't seem too bothered by it, he had fun as always.

Today, is Colin's last day of school before winter break starts.  That also means we have one more week before we head to Northern VA.  Dennis and I are feeling a bit overwhelmed with all that is going on.  Colin's January birthday doesn't help.  I'm having to plan that at the same time of all the holiday shopping, parties, etc, and I have to get invitations out before we leave for the holidays.  Too bad he wasn't born closer to his due date at the end of January so I could at least wait until after the holidays to get invitations out!

Anyways, our tree is starting to get filled up with gifts, though not a single gift under the tree is for anyone in our family (it is all extended family).  The boys keep checking to see if anything is for them and are disappointed each morning.  I'm not worried about it though, one thing these boys do not lack for at Christmas is gifts!  The positive (and negative) of having two large extended families is that they get  A LOT of gifts at Christmas!

Well, that is it, I am off to go make stuffed mushrooms for ladies night bunco tonight!

Grandpa McLaughlin Visits...

Grandpa McLaughlin has been visiting since Thursday and will be here until Tuesday.  The boys are enjoying playing with him.  Dennis and I enjoyed having a "babysitter" so we could go out to dinner Saturday and se a movie (Breaking Dawn if you were wondering).  We even managed to pick up a couple Christmas gifts while we were out.

Another big highlight on Saturday was going to the Children's Museum.  For winter they have a slide you go down while sitting on a rag.  Colin and Evan really enjoyed this and I even went with Logan.  Logan was nervous about it, but then when I bonked his head while getting on, he really started crying.  I think he actually did kind of like it, but me hurting him did not put him in a good mood.

Dennis and I are becoming pros at the Children's Museum.  We have learned to pack the kids lunch and that way, while Dennis is getting the adults food I can get them set up with theirs at the table.  This saves us from trying to negotiate a food court with 3 little ones and also saves a lot of money.  It worked out really well.

By the way, I am sure I will have a lot of posts where I mentioned we went to the Children's Museum.   Most people here say that they are there every other weekend or so!  And since many of the exhibits change regularly, there is always something new to discover.  Besides, after two trips the membership pays for itself, making it a very cheap thing to do with the kids.

The boys have been a little out of sorts the last few days.  Logan seems to have a slight cold, and congestion doesn't go well with being a thumb sucker.  So, he has been waking up very early which then wakes up everyone else.  Colin especially does not do well on little sleep, so he has been kind of cranky.

Today, Evan is off to see a movie with Grandpa (Happy Feet 2).  Colin wasn't interested in the movie and decided he would rather stay home.  Dennis is getting ready to plant himself on the couch for football for the rest of the day and I am debating between staying home and being lazy or Christmas shopping...the Christmas season would be so much easier if I actually enjoyed to shop!

I forgot to mention...on Friday Evan had Grandparents day at his school (which is why Grandpa McLaughlin is here, we figured he might want to use that as a reason to come visit for the weekend).  Anyway, they got to make a gingerbread house together.  I hear Evan was very excited to see his Grandpa come to school and gave him a big hug!

Evan's class is also so excited to see Evan each time.  Supposedly, one of the kids was crying on Monday because Evan didn't come to school (a slight stomach bug attacked the kids earlier in the week)!  That boy is popular!

Deck The Halls...

This weekend was all about Christmas.  My favorite time of the year!

Saturday morning started off at the boys daycare where they had "breakfast with Santa".  They had one room set up for breakfast and then the boys got to see Santa.  Logan went running up to him (he heard the word candy and saw the "candy cane" Santa was giving out).  Since he was so excited I thought he would sit on Santa's lap no problem, however he started screaming as soon as I put him in Santa's arms.  So, instead I had to hold him and we got a group shot.  Colin and Evan were both kind of quiet and couldn't think of what they wanted for Christmas.  I will say, I am glad my boys aren't so greedy that they can automatically spill out a whole list of things they want.  They are really pretty easy to please and will be happy with whatever they get.

After Santa, the older boys had fun doing some Christmas crafts.

Colin has been asking to gell his hair into a mohawk for weeks now.

Then, the daycare had "Parents Day Out".  For a small fee, we were able to leave all 3 boys there from 10-2 while Dennis and I went out for some Christmas shopping.  Evan and Colin were in the same class and had fun doing crafts, watching a Christmas show and eating lunch.  Logan was in a separate class with the little ones.  When we picked him up he was laying down in his cot for nap time.  It was cute to see all the little toddlers sleeping.


Dennis and I had a great time doing some Christmas shopping and then enjoying a sushi lunch out.  We also managed to squeeze in a haircut for Dennis.  I am so grateful for a good daycare that does fun events like this!

That evening we got our sitter to come and enjoyed dinner out at Maggiano's with two of Dennis' coworkers and their wives.  We had a blast laughing the whole evening, and it was a great way to end a fun day!

Sunday was a bit more lazy.  We stayed home most the day decorating for Christmas.  The boys had fun pulling out all the ornaments and seeing the stockings.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get the outside lights up because of rain (it has been raining a lot the last few weeks).  But the inside of our house is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

I almost forgot...Saturday we finally got a brief break from all the rain and I was able to take a few pictures for our Christmas cards.  I am being lazy this year and not going to a studio.  I just really didn't feel like waiting at a busy picture studio with a 20 month old.  Anyway, as expected it was extremely hard to get a picture with all of them looking in the same direction.  Logan would not stay still for us to get a picture....here are some of the ones that didn't make the cut....