Christmas Eve

Christmas was great and full of love, sickies, family, Motrin and sheer kid delight. This was definitely our best year in the Christmas season because both Fin and Cole were totally head over heels in love with the magic of Christmas and everything was just amazing to them. To spare the length, I'll break the post down into two parts.

Christmas Eve dawned with Ms. Lilah having been sick for a week and a half with a fever and double ear infection. After resisting 2 antibiotics, I had to take her into the doctors office 3 days in a row for antibiotic shots, one of those days being Christmas Eve. Poor thing, Merry Christmas.
That morning we had the traditional Keegan Family Brunch which is my favorite thing we do all year. My dad generously takes us all out (this year was at Mimi's) and we all push tables around much to the waiters chagrin until we can all fit at one table. And they said it couldn't be done...



Lilah rose to the occasion and had a ball being passed around and baby chatting with her cousin Kate.


My dad always brings Santa hats for all the men...





Sick baby eyes...


Where it all began..





Cole was a literal Christmas Elf this year. He loved everything Santa and Frosty the Snowman and was thrilled to bits when it was FINALLY Christmas Day.


Christmas Eve night we gathered at Pat's parents house. RIGHT before we left, Finley felt warm to me and I took his temperature and he had a fever. Being in denial, b/c I was still dealing with a sick baby and getting NO sleep at night, we doped him up with Motrin and off we went. Little did we know...

As always, Denise made delicious food and spoiled all the kids with tons of presents. Here's Erin joining in the fun of getting pink highlights with the nieces :o) Cole may or may not have requested pink and blue highlights as well.


Fin was going downhill fast while we were out (hence the lack of pictures of him). He came home and crashed and got up off the couch only long enough to set out cookies for Santa and reindeer food. Cole took full advantage of this opportunity and started chomping away all of Santa's cookies until I had to cut him off so Santa would have some to eat. He also had a lengthy conversation with Eddy the Elf saying goodbye to him until next year. It was the cutest.


Putting the kids to bed, I noticed Cole had a fever too so we tucked them in with Motrin and water cups and set out Christmas for the next morning praying the kids would be well enough to enjoy it...

When Moms away...

So last night I ran out after dinner to get my haircut. This happens like twice a year people because I'm a "wear my hair like a birds nest on top of my head" person due to baby's tugging and lack of showers. Really, it's all the rage. So I left, had a glorious 50 minutes of no one talking to me except for the hair dresser who wanted to know my life story, and was home in time for the chaos that is bedtime.
After we got the kids down, Pat informed me that there was a moment of pure pandemonium while I was gone. He had just gotten Fin in the shower, and was changing Lilah when he heard a panicked shriek coming from Cole in the living room. Before we go any further, you need to know where our tree is located in our living room...



So Pat runs out as he hears Cole shrill screaming "HELP! I'm stuck!!" over and over again. We have a tiny living room but he could NOT find Cole and it sounded like it was coming from the direction of our Christmas tree. He said he kept saying, "Where are you??" but Cole would only answer back saying he was stuck. In the midst of this, Fin shot like a bat out of hell out of our shower b/c he had heard screams. Naked and dripping wet and starts yelling, "Dad! He's in the tree!! He's stuck in the tree!", so Pat's frantically searching through the tree trying to find Cole with Cole still crying. The common sense of how could a three year old hide inside a small Christmas tree apparently did not come into to play in this scenario :o)
Pat said he was really panicked until he noticed the cries coming actually from the couch. Our coach is pushed up against the wall but Cole had apparently wiggled his way behind it and got halfway across the back before his head got stuck pinned between the wall and the couch and he didn't think to move backwards :o)
Once Pat moved him and calmed him down, he said he was fine. But I was laughing SO hard at Pat telling me this story b/c I could just picture him and naked Fin searching through the Christmas tree branches for Cole. I mean seriously people, this is the type of situation three men get themselves in without the help of a woman...

Split 'Em up Date night: Frozen edition

One of my favorite things we do as a family is intentional split em up date nights. I've blogged about several before but tonight was such a fun one.
Usually Pat will take Fin or Cole and I'll take the other two and we'll take them on individual errands or little fun dates to Barnes and Nobles to read books or something like that. I never do just the boys because let's be honest...a nursing babe and mom are not soon parted.
But for awhile I've been DYING to see the new Disney movie 'Frozen' because I have such sweet memories of going to see the new Disney movie every year as a kid with my parents. The Lion King...Little Mermaid...love them all.
Spur of the moment I bought tickets today for this afternoon to go see the movie with the boys and Aunt Banans. It was rainy and freezing today and I knew if we all stayed at home we would drive each other crazy. I nursed Lilah before we left and off we went.
True to tradition of growing up, when we met Anna there she immediately stuffed two bags of candy in my purse to sneak into the movie theater. We found our seats and Cole immediately folded in half in his and then either sat on the edge of his seat with a scared look or stood up for the next twenty minutes before he settled into Anna's lap for the movie.
The boys loooove going to the movies and are so tickled at everything but bless them, they CANNOT whisper to save their lives. Every comment of "WHEN IS THE MOVIE STARTING?" or "I DROPPED MY WATER CUP" is whispered at a loud roar which made Anna and I die laughing. After the first preview, Cole looked at me and said, "I liked that movie!". I think he thought that was it :o) He watched the whole move with no expression on his face, neither getting happy or scared and then at the end hopped out of Anna's lap and said, "I love that movie". Hilarious.
Fin felt every crescendo in music, intense moment, and hilarious jokes. He jumped from busting out laughing at the snowman to crawling in my lap at the scary parts to hopping into his chair when the bad guy got beaten. True to his classic old man outlook on life, when he left he said, "You know, I thought that movie was just going to be like "meh" but it was ah.may.ziiiing!". You always know where you stand with him.
The sweetest moments of the evening for me were when we got to the movie theater, Fin announced, "Before we get out of the car let's say, "Thank you mommy for taking us to the movies" on the count of three". Then when we were leaving the movie theater, Cole spontaneously said, "Frank you mom for that movie". Melt. My. Heart.
Had such a sweet time with my boys and Pat took Lilah girl to his parents where his mom could cook him dinner :o) He loved his time with her too and send me a pic of Grandma and Lilah who were coincidentally wearing matching Jammies when they showed up. So funny.

Fin and Cole-isms

The boys have been cracking me up lately and I wanted to record a few down before I forget...

We've been doing a "thankful" paper chain every morning where I made a paper chain and every link is something that we are thankful for and then every morning during morning devotions, the boys get to go tear one off and we pray and thank God for whatever is written on that chain. Regardless of what the chain says, Cole starts every one of his prayers by saying, "Frank you Jesus for this bootiful sunny day...". It doesn't matter if it's pouring rainy, he always says the same thing. I love it so much I hope he never learns to say "thank you" the right way :o)
Fin tore a chain off one morning and asked what it said. I said it said "brothers" and that we should thank God for our brothers. He looked at me skeptically and said, "Um, can I trade this chain in for another one, because Cole is kind of a knucklehead..". I laughed SO hard and told him no he could not trade it in. He is such a grumpy old man sometimes.

Every morning when I help Cole get dressed, I pull down his jammie pants and always exclaim "AH WEENIES!". (I know, really mature). I did this like normal and normally Cole giggles but when I did it one morning he knit his eyebrows together and said, "Ummmm Mom, please don't say "AH WEENIES" anymore b/c....Weenies are my friends". Understood.

Fin ran in from his basketball the other day and was So excited. He immediately said, "MOM...I Played SO good. Like SO SO good" and was so proud. I love his confidence. He thinks when he makes a basket that it's called dunking so he said, "I dunked like SO so many times". He tells other people how much he dunks too and they always look so confused :o)

When I went to pick up Cole from the Y this morning, his teacher said that during circle time Cole kept leaning over to the boy next to him (who is is friend from church) and kissing him on the cheek. Finally after 3 kisses, the teacher said, "Ok Cole,that's enough kisses" and he said Cole got SUCH a mad look on his face and said, "TEACHER, I have to kiss my friend!". We're hoping he either phases this stage out...or becomes a Quaker :o)

Pat was talking to Fin after his game the other day and said, "Fin there are three things I want to tell you... 1) You played your hardest and that makes me so proud of you. 2) You listened so well to your coach and that makes me very proud too. And 3).." And Fin interrupted him giggling so excited and said, "I LOVE number three...it's always the best one". Kind of threw Pat off and I'm pretty sure he forgot what number 3 was in the first place...


These boys always keep us on our toes. Heaven help us when Lilah starts talking...

Facts of Life

I thought it would be fun to write down some random facts about our family in this stage of life, to look back at one day and remember. Goodness knows it's all a diapers, water cups, naptime blur most days :o)




We live on a cash budget, but nothing makes me happier (and Pat too I suspect) then when he doesn't use our cash on the weekends when he goes and gets us Starbucks. It may sound silly but its like a forbidden splurge that we're not counting or acknowledging. Makes that peppermint mocha taste that much better...


My most frustrating time of the day is getting in the car to go somewhere. God bless my minivan, it has made things a lot easier, BUT for some reason it takes my boys 3 hours to walk 5 feet from the house to the van. There route will include circling the tree a few times, wandering around looking for rolly poley's, walking with one shoe on while the other is in their hand, and just general things to make me want to throw a toddler fit. I admit, I start out calm in the house telling each one directly to walk straight to the car, get in and buckle but it all usually ends with me saying, "SERIOUSLY you have three seconds to get in the car. We are LATE. Buckle yourself and you're not allowed to talk until your buckled and NO I will not help you with your shoe right now, we will just do it when we get there".


Almost every evening ends with the kids in bed and then Fin sneaking out to tell us that Cole won't stop talking to him. We then go in and either spank or threaten to spank and then peace is restored. It's a sweet little family tradition we have ;o)


Pat gets up with Lilah when she wakes up at 6am and hangs with her for a half hour before he has to go to work. He said he turns the lamp on and she will just lay on his chest while he scratches her back. She will NEVER lay on me like this because she's always on the hunt for some nummies. I would be jealous but let's be honest, I'm in my sweet sweet warm bed while this is going down, so they can have their moment :o)


Most days the kids have "room time" while I get dinner ready. They go in their rooms (Lilah included) and can play whatever they want as long as they aren't leaping off the top bunk and they know they're cleaning it up later. I spread a line on the floor of the hall using a spongebob blanket and tell them they are not allowed to cross that line but can play anywhere up to that line. This includes no yelling tattles to me OVER the line. It's blissful and peaceful, but all hell breaks loose if Daddy walks in the door during that time. That line is quickly hurdled over in an effort for tackle hugs.

This fall weather has been so beautiful that we've been outside as much as possible trying to store away Vitamin D for the dreary months. The only way I can do a decent long walk with the kids is I load up Cole and Lilah in the double jogging stroller that has a half flat tire and then Fin drives ahead of us in his gator. It's kind of hilarious to see as we are our own parade, but that gator is awesome; we can do a 3 mile loop with. It's quite the workout for me between pushing the stroller and telling Fin when to stop and start when crossing the streets.

There's a million more random things I can think of but I think these tidbits pretty well sum up where we are at right now. I purposefully did not record stories of Poop-explosions and why on earth can boys not pee in a straight line. Your welcome, kids.

Daylight Devastation

These kids...they look so innocent. But there is a day once a year that is bound to throw them off their game for at least 2 weeks. It is not a holiday (although it once was one in my mind). It's Daylight Savings. While everyone without young children gain an hour, my kids are up an hour early in the new clock time. Which means breakfast at 6am new time...which means filling time 3 hours before church...which means Mama better start learning to like coffee because it is not acceptable to eat chocolate before the sun is up, so says Ms. Manners.
I thought I was prepared. I knew it would be bad but this is my 5th Daylight Savings with children...I'm no rookie. But no my friends, yesterday everything and everyone were gunning for us.
It started out pretty good, minus the boys protesting loudly from their room because they were awake but the time on their alarm was not letting them get up yet. We had waffles, we cuddled, and I even let Pat sleep 15 minutes later than usual on his morning to sleep in. Because I was in this generous "can't touch me" Daylight Savings spirit. But then Pat got dressed and looked for his wallet and the stuff hit the fan...
Wallet...gone. His Iphone...gone. And we were all over town the day before so he had no idea where he could have left it. He darted out the door at 7:30 am to try to retrack his steps and be home in time to leave for church at 8:30. I got the boys playing and told them I was putting Lilah down for her nap. Right as she falls asleep, Fin kicks in the door to tell me that Cole was gone and running around outside. People...this child does not go out by himself and it was a solid 45 degrees outside and...oh yea, he was running around neighborhood without a parent. I put a now fully awake and crying Lilah in her crib and flew outside with no bra, wearing XXL shirt of Pat's and my pink Santa pajama pants, O yes I did!
I see Cole at the stop sign with a grin on his face...DANCING...until he saw my face and hauled his little soon-to-be-spanked butt home. One spanking, several tears, and a napped Lilah later we were ready to leave for church. Except Pat still couldn't find his wallet that had a lot of valuable things in it. And his phone. And while we tried to figure out a game plan I swear my children multiplied from 3 to 76 because everyone was talking at once and I could.not. form a thought in my head. So I took the kids to church while he stayed behind to keep looking.
Just as I arrived at church, a thought popped into my head of where it could be. But I had no way of letting Pat know because he had no phone. So my saint of a sister Sarah took the kids into Sunday School while I raced 20 min back home to try to find Pat and let him know. I drove around and found him in the Target parking lot where I ripped open the top of the canopy on the stroller and....there was his wallet and phone. People...moments like these can make or break a marriage. Luckily we were both so relieved we hugged it out, I told him he owed me big time, and we rushed back to church before Sunday School let out. We even made it back in time for the end of the sermon.
Except...When I went to take Lilah out of her carseat I realized she had had a poop-explosion allllllll over herself. So we christened the new minivan by changing her in there. And we made it to pick up the kids on time just to hear from Fins Sunday School teachers that Fin came in and immediately announced, "My brother ran away and my mom is really overwhelmed". Thanks Fin, thanks :o)

We survived. We all apologized to each other from stressful reactions and we ate bagels and had a merry ol' time. But I've learned a lesson. You cannot beat Daylight Savings. It will always win. Don't get cocky...and for goodness sake, always lock the doors when putting the baby down for her nap.

O Fall

We just love you so much...












Yes Kids, Grandma is this limber at the age of 59. Yes, we were all impressed.




















Please stay forever.