Beach vacay 2013

Another Amaaaaazing beach vacation with my family. Lot's of sun, lot's of sand, lot's of mini candybars, lot's of rocking on the porch watching the ocean. Bliss.

We thought the car ride down would be terrible based on the fact that we were literally loaded to the ceiling but the kids did awesome and we made it down with one nursing stop. Totally worth it too because we saw a 400 lb man in Mcdonalds wearing a giant shirt with tigers all over it and Pat whispered to me, "Excuse me sir, can I buy that magnificient shirt off of your back please?". So great.





We arrived, got settled and proceeded to live the beach life for the next 5 days.
Uncle Will introduced Fin to a Despicable Me game so basically he's the coolest uncle ever.


The first day was rainy so we went to the aquarium which was a huge hit. Next year we are def splitting up though b/c Pat and Fin literally like to examine every.single.fish. and Cole and I like to take the aquarium in at a running pace.





Coley climbing a giant frog. A two year olds dream...or nightmare.











Some favs from the beach were...
Pops' hotdogs


Icecream out with Kier.


Hanging with these loveys. Sarah gave us a test one night on how we think certain words are pronounced and it was hysterical. More specifically, Pat's answers were hysterical. How do you think Seamus is pronounced??


Baby lady with a beach romper on...doesn't get any cuter! She had sand in every roll this week. Doubled her bathtime :o)


Pat and I ate dinner at a waterfront restaurant one night which was just incredible.So relaxing and beautiful and every year we leave vowing we will live on the water one day.


With marathon sessions on the beach come sleepy boys at naptime. One of those boys was even 14 years old :o)





This year we found that minnows are the new crabby. This means while all other years Pat and Fin have obsessively tried to catch crabs, this year they were all about scooping the minnows. Pat even lost a bet to Will and ATE A LIVE FISH. Nastiness. This is what happens when I leave those boys down on the beach by themselves. I can trust the four year old. The 28 year old...not so much.


Fin's first catch.


View at lunch time.








Lilah and Kate got some good bonding time in. They solved world problems all from their bouncy seats and with limited neck control :o)


Loved this view every morning.


Lilah on July 4th. She was an ANGEL baby all week. Still so grateful for her easy going and sweet nature.


When my cousins' kids arrived, Fin was in heaven. He talks about playing with them all year long. Here they're playing, "steal the hat from each other".





We celebrated Kiers birthday with s'more brownies.


Pops' holding court with his infamous match trick. I'm 28 years old and I STILL can't figure it out. Pat knows, but he won't tell me.


Is there anything cuter then this? A giant hole at the beach was a big hit with the boys this year. Lots of jumping in a hole. Really, it's as exciting as it sounds...





Muscles McGee


Sunglasses club.


Love them so much.


Cole was still recovering from staying up late for fireworks the night before. He crawled up into Nanny's lap and snuggled in. I cherish this picture.



I was so SO grateful this year to have sweet time with my little and extended families. We needed this week to step away from Pat's crazy work and just be still and rest as a family. Counting down the days until next year...

Lilah at 3 months

What a sweet sweet joy you are to us baby girl. You are the easiest and most content baby ever. While you aren't much for napping during the day, it doesn't make you fussy and you are content to lay in your bouncy seat or stroller and look around at your little hanging toys, drifting off occasionally to take a 20-30 min power nap.



Your brothers loooove you. Fin kisses and kisses you until I tell him to give you some space. Every morning when you wake up, I coo and smile quietly to you in my bed until one of your brothers realize we're in there, then they both come bombarding into the room to kiss and talk to you. I think you love it but you do get a little tense when you hear their little footsteps coming :o)
Cole is getting more and more enamored with you. While there's been no jealousy, he does like me to "hold him like a baby" more since you've been here.


You are a big girl! At your two month 2 weeks, you were 16 lbs 4 oz. The doctor said you were a nine month old size in a 2 month olds body :o) We love love love your chubs and kissing your sweet cheeks. You are such a lovable little cuddler but you do love to face outwards, mostly I think so you don't miss a thing.


Most days, you are going to the Y for a little bit in the morning where the workers all fight over who gets to rock you. They call you the easiest baby in the nursery and you never cry. I think you like sitting in a new bouncy seat and watching the activity ;) In the afternoons you typically are at the pool where you lay on a towel staring at the trees or you hang out on my lap with your little toes in the water.



You and I are pals. Everywhere I go, you go. Mainly because youre a nursing babe who loves her milk, but also because I love your easy company and I love that everytime I catch your eye while you're in the stroller, you break out in the biggest smile.





Every night I put you down a little after 7pm and you typically sleep till between 4-5am, nurse, and then go back down until 7-8 am, which is amaaaaaazing. Glory, praise, hallelujah. Your brothers were still waking up every 2-3 hours at this point, and you've been doing this schedule since you were 4 weeks old. Mama is very grateful because our daytimes are busy busy.


Your daddy loves to howl, snuggle you, and make you dance to silly songs. He gets jealous if he hears me talking to you in the other room and will push me aside to try to steal smiles :o)


You are another joy in our family. You are so loved and we couldn't be more grateful to have you.

This guy...

This guy...


-works a minimum 12 hours everyday, comes home, throws down his stuff and can start a wrestling match with the boys within 5 seconds.
- plays "good cop" to my "bad cop" routine of corralling the kids into bed by sneaking them out of the back door to catch fireflies in a jar.
- most days takes one of the boys swimming at the pool when he goes to do his exercises at 6:30 am...and buys him a kids hot chocolate on the way home.
- sings and softly howls like a wolf to get his little girl to coo and smile at him.
- loves and cares for his family by working a difficult and wearisome job without complaining...day after day.
-takes it upon himself to teach his kids important things to be a well rounded person, like "guess what...chicken butt" jokes.
-often climbs into bed with the boys to tell them stories of when he was a little boy and would ride his bike to the pool.
-loves nothing more then to watch sports in his recliner with a sleeping babe on his chest.
-shows his boys by example how to treat and love a woman, and shows his girl how she should expect to be treated.
-gets fin up an hour after bedtime just to walk to the store with him to buy Apple Jacks cereal for the morning.
-takes the boys on random "man dates" so that Lilah and I can enjoy some peace and quiet.
-makes his two month old baby girl do hilarious booty dances and shimmies to the radio just because it looks so funny.
-cleans the babes in the tub way better then ever could.
-has a dance party with the kids to James Brown and the Black Keys every time he does the dishes.

This guy is the father to our children. And not a day goes by that I don't thank God for that.

Baby Kate

I became a Keegan aunt for the first time and let me tell you, it felt so weird to be on the other side of things! I'm used to doing the birthing, not the waiting... :)

Here's a snapshot of a convo between Me and Pat while Nicole was in labor.



After a long labor, Nicole was such a trooper and had to have a Csection. Finally we all got to meet beautiful Kate! I'm telling you, a labor/delivery unit is like crack to me. It's a good thing I already have a two month old otherwise I would have some serious baby fever just from visiting Kate. Poor Pat will turn pale just from reading this.


It is such a blessing to me to see Nicole and Rob as parents. They are already such an awesome team together.


First cousin pic. Lilah 11 wks, Kate 11 hours :)


So in love with this beautiful face and grateful that God has gifted Lilah with a sweet lifelong friend.

Summer so far...

We're at the park everyday. Enjoying the sunshine before the humidity suffocates us.





Uncle will's out of school and we have great plans for him for the summer. They may or may not include holding babies and chasing small boys around the playground.


We hit up good ol' KF for pops' birthday party. Where it all began... It is seriously comical to see old pool members faces when they see Pat and I again and we have our three small ones in tow.


We were at veterans park one morning and the boys channeled their inner Spider-Man's on the exercise equipment.


Miracle=both of them smiling in the same direction.


Cole felt the need to drop his trousers in nature and pee in a public pond. I had to feign shock but really I was relieved I didn't have to hike him back to the bathrooms. Just keepin' it real.


Pat, Sarah and I have decided to become foodies this summer. This may not go hand and hand with my other goal of toning up postpartum. O well, at least it's an achievable goal :)


The boys with their baby. They still adore her, and she is still the easiest little lovey. Time please freeze.