All you need is Love

That was the tag line on this picture for our Christmas card this year.

It's been a long, tiring, sad, fun, eye-opening, exciting, crazy year. 2012 came with it's good and it's bad... we had some celebrations and some devastation.

As you can see, we've got a lot to be thankful for.

So CHEERS 2013, here's to a new start!

What's new....

Wow, It's been awhile....Here's a little taste of the happenings in the Healey house.

Aidan has really taken off with his reading. He's also becoming slightly obsessed with a little game called Minecraft on the iPad. So in all my infinite wisdom (after several hours of arguments) I decided he's got to "earn" his time on the game. For every minute he reads, he gets a minute of game time. It took a week or so but it's finally sinking in. The kid who's arm you had to twist to open a book, is waking up in the morning and asking to read. Ah, another small victory for Mom. I might just be getting the hang of this parenting (bribery) thing.

Clare is just starting to read, so she constantly asks what things say and is sounding our everything. She has a new room now (the boys share) and she loves it! She has a little desk that she keeps very organized and she loves playing school with it. She recently went to the ballet with Aunt Patra (a little Christmas tradition) and she loved it. At least she didn't fall asleep this year! She's quite the social butterfly, always going to a friend's house after school. We gave in this year and got them both Advent calendars with the chocolates in them, Aidan eats his piece the second he wakes up in the morning, Clare gets a marker and circles the number each day. She doesn't like chocolate. So guess what Mommy is going to do on December 24th...yup I'm going to snuggle up on the couch and start peeling back little cardboard doors.

Finn is rolling and bouncing around! He loves to bounce in his little exersaucer. He laughs and smiles so much. He loves to be outside. The poor kid still has no personal space. We are all constantly in his bubble. But he's so daggone cute we can't help it.

Sean and I are slowly coming out of the newborn haze. He's been super busy at work, so with me being home now, at least we've been able to breathe a little easier. We finally had a night out (actually 2) and boy did we need it. It was nice to be together with no kids for a little while. This place is a bit chaotic at times but we're still laughing our way through it. Hey, it beats crying!

Brotherly Love

Little Finn has no personal space, his bubble is invaded at any given moment. Sometimes by me, sometimes by Sean, sometimes by others but mostly by his siblings. Sean and I have been cautious not to poo poo the big kids every time they get in Finn's face. It's sweet to see them loving all over him, but at times I do feel for him.

The other day Aidan told me, "Mom, when you first had Finn I didn't really like him, but now, I LOVE him!" And that pretty much sums it up!

Mellow Yellow

The first month of 1st grade (for Aidan) and Kindergarten (for Clare) is coming to an end. Everything is going GREAT! Now anyone who has a child in public school in the state of Maryland is aware of the behavioral chart they use. It's essentially based on a traffic light. Some schools add more colors but it's basically all the same concept.

Here at Mayo Elementary we use the standard tri-color light, kind of like the peppers in the grocery store. You know:

Green = GO (good behavior)
Yellow = SLOW (verbal warning)
Red = STOP (principal's office)

So far both of them have been on green everyday and then- bam! Within 4 days they each were on yellow once!

Clare's behavioral chart came home last Friday (which means I didn't look at it til Sunday) and it had a yellow check on it for that day. Under the check mark was a note that said, "Clare stuck her tongue out at the boy next to her because she didn't like what he was doing." After a nice little chuckle, I approached Clare about said yellow check mark. It went a little something like this, "Clare why did you get on yellow?" She immediately starts crying and says she's sorry! he he!

Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon, Aidan's chart comes home yellow. The 1st graders have to color in the daily box themselves. When asked WHY he was on yellow, he responded, "Oh I was fooling around with HF." UGH! "Great well now you miss the dance party on Friday." The 1st grade gets a dance party the last 5 minutes of school on Friday for everyone who stays green all week. His response, "That's okay, the dance party isn't that long anyway." (Great so now he's adopting the I don't care-i-tude."

At dinner that night I simply said, "Okay guys, you both know how the behavioral charts work right?! Well, you each got your one and only time on yellow. It won't happen again this year!"

"Okay Mom!"

And she's off...

to Kindergarten that is!

I can't believe it but Clare started Kindergarten this week. She jumped out of bed at 6:00 Thursday morning, did a little victory dance outside the bathroom door to the tune, "It's the first day, it's the first day!"

She ate breakfast right away and was dressed and ready by 6:32. She then proceeded to ask repeatedly when we could go to the bus stop until 7:12 when we finally gave in and went out. The bus comes at 7:20 so she had a few minutes for a photo op and some mingling with the other kids.

When that bus came rolling down the road, I snuck in a quick hug and kiss and before I knew it she was off running. She never looked back. Part of me was sad, but most of me was happy for her. She's been waiting a long time for this and she was totally ready.

I realized something this week, sending your kids off to school is a true test of your parenting. This is your chance to let them out into the world beyond your safety net to use the skills you've been working on with them for the last 5 years. As far as I'm concerned we've done a pretty darn good job with these kids and it's time to share them with the rest of the world. We are very proud of them both and the cool little people they've become. I honestly think being a parent to Aidan, Clare and Finn has made me a better person.

Avalon

Last week we went to Avalon, NJ with the whole McDonough crew.

Here are some highlights:

23 people in one house
Finn's first trip to the ocean
watching Aidan and Clare surf and boogie board
seeing multiple dolphin in the ocean
a shooting star
meeting Rory Smith
dinner on the deck watching the ocean
trip to the candy store
getting all 23 of those people in one picture

New Pics of the Bobbins

July 11, 2012

My little Clare Bear turned 5 YEARS OLD! She's grown up so much, especially now that she's a big sister.

These days she's into painting her nails, doing arts and crafts, writing new words, bossing my around, fashion, doing makeovers on her baby dolls and stuffed animals, playing barbies in the pool, riding her bike, having sleepovers at cousins houses, playdates with friends, ice cream cones with sprinkles and telling me she loves me as many times a day as she can. She can also swim across the whole pool by herself and about 3 months ago ate her first whole cupcake. (If it weren't for her looks I'd question if she was really mine- the kid doesn't really like sweets?!)

She's growing like a weed and gets more beautiful by the day! Happy Birthday Buggy!

3 Kids, a Queen and the Force Field

Sean was out of town for work one night, his Mom came up to stay with us since it was the first time since Finn was born. Which was nice because I got to have some adult company.

When it was time for bed Aidan asked if we could all sleep in the same bed, OF COURSE! You see when Sean goes out of town overnight I always put the kids in bed with me. It just feels better to me to have the as close as possible, plus I feel like when we're all together I can pull my force field over everyone at once. So that night we got into bed- Clare got on my side, Aidan got on Sean's side (we actually started Finn out in the playpen at the end of the bed) and I laid at the bottom of the bed so I could hear Finn better (and had more room).

By morning, Finn was laying in my arms at the bottom of the bed while Clare and Aidan resembled somewhat of a pretzel at the head. As I laid there in my old lumpy queen size bed surrounded by 3 of my favorite people I smiled thinking about how lucky I am.

Three Irish Bobbins

One week ago today....

I fell in love again! Finn Thomas Healey made his way into this world at 3:31 pm on Tuesday, June 26, 2012 (4 days early). He was 7 lbs 15 oz and 19.6 inches long. He's as sweet as our other two babies and we're all completely in love with him.

(picture to follow)

We're finally ready...

Ready as we'll ever be. This past weekend Sean and I moved Aidan and Clare into their "shared" bedroom. So far, so good. They both seem to be okay with the move, possibly even enjoying it.

Tonight they got sent to their room, together, for the first time. WHAT A JOKE! (The memories flooded back of being sent to my room with Maureen when we were little.) They went in, closed the door and were gabbing away with each other til we told them to come down. I love it!

Surprisingly, the room seems really cozy. Luckily we have the playroom in the basement to put all the toys in because there isn't much room to spare in the bedroom.

Father's Day

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to our Dad who makes up laugh everyday!

We love you!!!

SOCCER MOM

Saturday we did the split, Sean took Aidan with him to the dump while I took Clare to the grocery store. When we arrived I got my reusable bags out of the back of the van and waited for Clare to get out of her seat, push the automatic door closer button and jump out- just in the nick of time.

A few minutes after we got into the store we both had to go to the bathroom. As we made our way there, a man's voice came over the loud speaker. "Will the person driving a black or dark, SUV or minivan, license plate # blah, blah, blah, please come to the Customer Service Desk." I hear his announcement and think, well maybe it could be me but I mean come on who can mistake a minivan for an SUV? And who has their license plate memorized? Then he says the announcement again, but this time adds, "It has SOCCER written on the back of it." Oh, that's not mine. I don't have anything written on the back of my dark or black minivan.

We take our time perusing the isles of the store and picking out all the delicious treats our little hearts desire. As we head out the automatic doors and I look out to the parking lot at my car, there it is..... in perfect print, all caps, across my back window for all the world to see... SOCCER MOM. First, I laugh and curse one of the girls I work with who has threatened to find the biggest soccer ball magnet she can and put it on my van. Then I get to the car and check it out. Hum... nothing looks wrong to me. I figured I just left one of the doors open, cause sometimes I push a wrong button or two as I lock the doors, and that some kind soul just closed it for me.

Clare and I march back into the store to find out what went on with our precious vehicle while we were shopping. Of course, there is no one at the customer service desk and since I'm impatient and nothing seemed wrong we headed back out. As I was waiting for Clare to buckle up a nice woman came over to me and told me that she was the one who alerted customer service that someone hit my car and drove away. It was apparently an old lady, "too old to be driving" who could not get out of the spot and tapped the front of my van. She gave me the plate # but I didn't see any damage so I just left it alone.

The irony is that when I got home and told Sean he checked out the van and saw a spot where it looked like the waxy finish rubbed off. He says, "What's that?" I said, "Oh, that's from where I hit the cone yesterday." "Well HOW FAST WERE YOU GOING?" he asks. "Like 60 mph, I was on Muddy Creek Road." His response (as he shakes his head), "I thought you said you hit a cone." I said, "I did!" I just happened to leave out the fact that I hit it going 60 mph! DUH!

Summer is Here

This evening after dinner I took the kids with me while I walked around the neighborhood (Yes, you guessed it, with the slight hope that it may help #3 out). Clare rode her bike and Aidan his scooter. When we turned the corner, Aidan saw a friend from school. At the next corner, he ran into 2 more friends from his afterschool program. They both looked completely stunned as they smiled and said, "Hey AIDAN!" The first kid, says to them, "Yeah, he lives in the neighborhood." Clare and I continued down the street, leaving Aidan behind so he could hang out for a little bit. I was very excited for Aidan that he had another friend in the neighborhood.

As we walked around the block it made me a bit nostalgic for my own youth. Thinking back to riding my bike around the neighborhood, the sun getting lower in the sky and the humidity settling in for the night, the smell of charcoal and bbq chicken, the sounds of other kids in the near distance.

It was such a great trip down memory lane, all the while I'm watching my own kids riding through our neighborhood and realizing these will someday be their memories too.

Cover Girl

Clare gave Jeff's paddle board a try at Selby Beach over Memorial Day weekend. She's hooked! I think she could be on the cover of the next Athleta catalog.

The Graduate

Clare's Preschool Graduation!
The most beautiful grad on the stage! (If I do say so myself!)

Final Countdown

We're exactly:

4 days from Aidan's last day of kindergarten
less than 24 hours from Clare's preschool graduation
26 days away from #3's due date.

We are making the most of our time with the two "big" kids before baby arrives.
Here's the short list of summer fun so far:

Snowballs.
Rita's.
Swimming in the pool.
Swimming at the beach.
Cookouts.
Crabs.
Fireman's Carnival.
Playdates.
Catching fireflies.

SO FAR, SO FUN!

One happy Dad

Sean is a pretty die-hard Nationals Fan! Every stinkin night they play, the game is on in our living room. He gives me his own commentary on who's on first and what their strengths or weaknesses are. I have to admit, I do like baseball, when I go to the games! I find myself from time to time though being mesmorized by it, watching the TV and even asking questions. He LOVES watching the games, he enjoys when I sit with him and watch them.

However, if you ever want to see this guy's face light up like a Christmas tree in May, see how he reacts when Aidan or Clare comes in and sits on the couch to watch baseball with him. He gets so excited! It really is one of the sweetest things I get to see. His face lights up. He tells them all sorts of stats and explains who's who on the team. Clare calls them the "Nats" now because Sean does.

Tonight they both came in and watched with him and you would've thought the guy just won the lottery. In. His. Glory. (Even if the Nat's were losing to stupid Philly!)

The truth about me...

Through the eyes of my children.

In preschool, both Aidan and Clare made me books for Mother's Day that are all about ME. Well let me tell you, they nailed it. My achievements are great and my accomplishments many.

According to Aidan, "I'm very great and fun and cool." And Clare says, "I'm very grown up." Read between the lines people, that makes me a very well rounded individual. When asked what I dislike, Aidan said trout and Clare said cats. Both true, sort of. I don't actually know that I've ever tried trout but I definitely dislike cats. Both agree that I am 5 years old (pretty accurate at times), I like all foods (so I am good at hiding my disgust at some foods in their presence) and that my favorite color is green (totally).

Aidan says I'm funny when I "tickle him" and Clare says I am when I "call her chicken and when I'm silly about trees." Aidan's favorite thing to do with me is go to Sam's Market on his scooter and Clare's is painting and drawing and riding to school.

I love the books for so many reasons, mainly because they made them and are so proud of them. I also love them because they make me laugh and that's one thing we do well around here!

An ounce of defeat equals a mile of leg room

I am defeated!

For years, I have been able to pride myself on avoiding this very such thing!

As time has gone on and my ever growing belly gets bigger and bigger, I have learned to accept one very real fact...

My beloved Pathfinder is simply NOT practical anymore. Yes, there is a third row seat that folds up and down when necessary. However, I've realized lately that Aidan is actually too big to sit back there all the time and he's going to have to climb over the second row seat to get there once the baby is born. Now if you've seen the size of Aidan lately, you can imagine how many times Clare and #3 will have to take a size 3 foot to the head in order for him to get in said third row. Clare could easily climb over the seat with a little less effort, however, she cannot strap herself in her seat yet, since she's still in a harness. And for obvious reasons, #3 can't go back there either.

Lucky for me, my husband is not only an immediate gratification type personality, he also happens to be obsessed with Minivans! So I've given up and given in! I'm the proud new owner of a Dodge Caravan...with stow and go seating! I have to admit (after only driving it 3 times) I think I might be falling in love. It's very roomy, both the big kids are in the third row seat so if I turn up the radio just so, I can barely hear them. ha ha!

House of Pickles

Clare woke this morning, came to the stairs and said, "Mommy, guess what my dream was last night?"

"What?", I asked.

"Our house was made out of dill pickles and we were made out of bread and butter pickles."

Wow! I wonder what she ate and drank before bed last night.

WAR

Yesterday, Aidan learned how to play his first card game, WAR. I was so excited, Sean loves to play cards so I thought what a fun new thing to play with the kids. Sean found him a deck of cards last night when he got home. He's been bugging us to play ever since.

This morning as I was trying to steal a few more zzz's, Aidan was teaching Clare how to play WAR in his bedroom. He did a good job of explaining the rules to her. When they both put down the same card, Aidan explained how to do a WAR.


A: Put down 3 cards and say, I-DE-CLARE-WAR.
C: I-DE-CLARE-WAR!
A: That's it Clare, you won!
C: Oh yeah, I won! Go tell Mommy Aidan. I won this time! When you win you say, I-DE-AIDAN-WAR!


Ha ha! Pretty clever Buggy!

Darn you Safeway!

About a month ago I was in Safeway and saw the Nutella on sale. I grabbed a can to satisfy my sweet tooth for the moment. I paired it with a few strawberries a few nights later and I was HOOKED! I've never actually bought Nutella before. I guess I know why now! That stuff is like creamy crack. I've now put it on every kind of fruit you can imagine, graham crackers, animal crackers, the end of a knife, my finger. You name it, I love it. I just got Sean hooked too! This stuff is D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! I am going to have to give it up forever after the baby is born because then I'll be out of excuses to indulge in such a yummy treat!!!! But for the next 8 weeks, I'm all over it!

Fruit Salad

I get weekly emails from Babycenter.com telling me things to expect this week, how big the baby is, etc. They have come up with a great reference system to measure the size of your baby, a kind of fruit salad if you will, apple, orange, jicama, pineapple, you name it,

From poppy seed to pumpkin.

Well, as I'm sure most of you have heard by now, baby #3 is certainly not lacking in the size department. So this week's email says

31 weeks: baby weighs as much as four naval oranges

about 3.3 lbs. Ha! I just went for my sonogram today and this one is measuring 4.7 lbs, which is equivalent to a cantaloupe (34 weeks). All I can say is WOWZA!

Tonight at dinner Clare said, "So first you go to college than get married then you can get a baby in your belly?" We have been going over the process of how this whole thing works for most of my pregnancy. So I remind her she's missed a step. "No, first you graduate from college, get a job, get married and then you can get a baby in your belly." She says, "Oh that's right, then you get to kiss you husband and then God puts the baby in your belly." My response, "Yup, that's pretty much how it works."

I'm losing

Control. My mind. My waistline. All of the battles. Any sense of time. My exercise routine. My third meal of the day. My ability to make a decision. The ability to put on my shoes standing up. The ability to roll over in bed comfortably. I feel like my brain is mush and my stomach is squished. And this people, is the reason why some women birth more than one child because they secretly tuck all these little, yet very important, tidbits of information, in the back of their brains. The good news is, that sometime in the near future I'll gain it all back again. I just have to be patient! Just when I think all hope is gone, Aidan lets me know that he's undecided on what he wants to be when he grows up. It's a toss up between "an Army guy" and a "rapper". And Clare decided to rhyme potty words in the car all the way to school one morning. At least I haven't lost the ability to laugh, cause there's still a lot of that going on around here.

Irish Dance

This week Clare had her first Irish Dance class. She was in HEAVEN! She kept looking over at me during the practice smiling and waving as she skipped around the floor. It's a small school that meets once a week for the next 10 weeks. Perfect timing. We'll get in a quick starter course before #3 arrives and then start up for good in the Fall. (That way she'll be able to do some small competitions by next St. Paddys day.)

Oh yes, in the Fall when she starts kindergarten and wants to play soccer, Aidan wants to play soccer too and possibly football, and #3 will be about 3-4 months old bopping around in a stroller, bottle shoved in his/her mouth at any given field in Edgewater. But hey, I'm partially insane already, right!? I've seen lots of Moms do this. They have cars full of half eaten bowls of mac n' cheese, semi-dirty sport uniforms, random pairs of cleats and pads, half eaten apple cores, bags of snacks, and baby toys. I can do it. I'm up for the challenge, and honestly, I LOVE IT.

Things have been pretty easy thus far in the sport schedule world. Last Spring, Lacrosse was Monday and Wednesday and Dance was Saturday. In the Fall, they both played soccer at the same field at pretty much the same time. But, I should have known my luck would run out! I just found out next week we have our first scheduling conflict. Aidan plays Lax on Monday and Wednesday again this Spring and Clare dances on Thursdays, well Aidan has pictures for lacrosse this Thursday in one place and Clare has dance 15 minutes away at the same time! AH!!! Because of Sean's crazy schedule I can't rely on him until the last minute. Don't get me wrong he's willing to share the running around but he doesn't usually know his schedule until the day of. So I have to obsess about how I'll be in 2 places at once until he can confirm. I often would see my sister Kerry running her 4 kids to different places at the same time and think, "How does she do that??" She finally told me the secret, ask for help. So I guess I'm going to have to see if I can leave Aidan with a friend at pictures in order to not abandon Clare at dance.

SCORE!

Aidan got his first lacrosse goal tonight! It was so awesome! He scored and then turned around and looked right at us with a giant smile on his face! We are super proud of the lil' man! He's been hustling his butt off on the field this year and it's paying off.

The coach told Sean and I last week that he was going to be the team's savior this year. Did I mention their team nickname is "bad news bears." But hey, we'll take it. He loves doing the faceoffs too! He looks like a little tough guy in all his gear.

Spring Break

AH! I feel like I'm on Spring Break this week since Aidan is, no mad rush to catch the bus at 7:18am, no homework, no baths... well maybe a couple. He's having a great week and quite frankly, so am I.

Monday he came to the center with Clare and I, then had lacrosse practice. At practice Monday night he got invited to go on a picnic play date to the park Tuesday. So this morning he went to the beach/park with all of his friends and had a blast! They played tag, played on the playground, tossed the lacrosse ball around a little and ate lunch. Tonight the whole family got invited to his friends house for a campfire/outdoor movie. It was so much fun. The kids ran around and cooked smores on the campfire and we got to have some adult time.

Tomorrow night we're having the boys back here after lax practice for a "night time" play date. And maybe a sleepover. I forgot how much fun Spring Break can be! Can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings. Oh, and we have a new swing set in the backyard, thanks to Sean and his Dad. So the kids are super psyched!

The one in the middle is the green kangaroo

That's a book from when I was little. I can't even remember anything else about it but the title. We always said Maureen was the middle child in my family because technically she is. Kerry and Me, then her, then Jenny and Mick. So yes, she is the middle of 5 but somewhere along the line, I think around the time someone declared there were more than 2 types of twins, that multiples "don't get included in birth order". So we'd always say the book title was about Maureen.

But I digress, I'm writing about my own "green kangaroo". For years I thought my little Buggie, Clare, was my baby. Now she's my big girl, my (soon to be) middle child. In fact, the poor girl has been given that roll a little early. With all this Aidan kindergarten talk and baby #3 talk, I feel like she doesn't get the spotlight as much as she deserves. Don't get me wrong, she and I spend a great deal of time together and I love it! She talks my ear off and I complain about it but really I LOVE it! I love how she's growing up so much, she makes up her own dances and songs now. She pulls up my shirt sometimes, to "give the baby a kiss." She's starting Irish Step Dancing next month and she can't wait! I just feel like I don't mention her as much lately- here anyway.

Clare is turning into such a beautiful girl, not just my little Buggie anymore. I love to kiss her cheek when she's sleeping because it's so soft and she always says good night back in a little sleepy voice. Her huge blue eyes make me smile. Last night she asked me to put her hair in a bun, when I told her she looked pretty with her hair pulled back she said, "I know cause I look just like you." She's my little buddy, my little sidekick. Secretly, there's a small part of me that would like this baby to be a boy because if it's a girl I won't get all the special time with Clare anymore, she'll spend it with her sister instead.

A budding Artist

Last Wednesday afternoon Aidan had a note in his take home folder from school stating that his artwork had been chosen (as one of two in his class) to be placed on display at the high school during the art exhibit.

When I read the note I was beaming! My little Aidan who hated to do art as a preschooler now has a piece on display at the art show! His picture was a mixed media depiction of Monet's Waterlilies. Sean and I both dabbled in Art History in College so as you can imagine that made it even more special to us.

In true form, we made a big deal of it. We went to the art show, then out to dinner and then out for dessert. Aidan was so proud that night, especially when we met his art teacher and she was bragging about him to us.

Slowing down

I remember when I got pregnant with Aidan, I was so excited. I thought, I'm going to be healthy and continue to exercise and eat right. Well after a first trimester in the middle of a scorching summer with a perpetual headache, by the time the second trimester came around I was semi-defeated. I started to feel a little better and kept up pretty good practices for the next 4 (or so) months. We ate out alot and I ate a fair amount of junk too. For the last 6 weeks I was so swollen and bloated I couldn't even wear real shoes, I was wearing slippers and flip flops in December and January. Luckily, once he was born the swelling went down and after all the "dust settled" I wasn't in as bad of shape as I originally thought.

During pregnancy #2, with Clare, things were a little different. Replace the exercise plan with chasing around a 9- 18 month old boy, the eating out with ice cream cones for dinner, (for both Aidan and me) but no swelling in the end. After she was born and all that "dust settled" again things were pretty much the same.

Fast forward 4 years to pregnancy #3, no longer in my "early 30's" but now in my "mid to late 30's". I started out this one with a bit of a different mindset. I've become slightly more active in the last couple of years so I was a little fearful of getting out of the swing of things with being pregnant and all.

So, I've been exercising this whole pregnancy, doing exactly the same regimen I had been before I found out I was prego. I've been eating well, with only the occasional pregnancy excuse to eat bad. I've been careful to take a day off if I'm feeling sluggish or just tired. I've read and read (which I don't usually do) about what I can and can't do and many of the articles say you may have to stop or slow down running once you get bigger. Well as I've said before this nugget is HUGE so I'm definitely "bigger" by now. Last weekend I felt great when I ran and thought "poo on you, I'm not slowing down at 23 weeks." I ran 2 more days during last week and felt pretty good too. Yesterday, however, was a totally different story. My legs felt like concrete and the baby had it's foot scratching my rib cage the whole time. I pretty much walked more than I ran. It made me think of my bff Lisa who recently posted on her blog (www.threeunderfiveandstillalive.blogspot.com) a post about running and feeling like your body won't do what you want it to do. I kept thinking if I could just use the whole "mind over matter" thing I could push through it. Well, I wanted to sit down and cry too Lis! I had to succumb to the defeat! I'll try again tomorrow and see what my body and the baby are willing to do.

16 weeks to go! We'll see what happens this time when the "dust settles!"

Party Time

Last night as we were eating dinner Aidan asked me if when he and Clare are in College, I mean High School, could they have a party while Sean and I are not home?" I said, "Sure, what kind of party? You know, like what will you have at the party?"

He says, "Oh well like lots of sodas, chips, cookies, candy." So I asked him, "Will it just be regular soda or "soda" which is really beer?" He says, "Ewww, why would we serve beer, we're not allowed to drink that?" I said, "Oh well if that's the case, of course you can have a party when you're in High School and serve soda." He said, "Are you really going to remember that you said this." My response was, "Oh, I will remember this conversation. In fact, I'm going to be reminding you of it in about a decade."

Road Trip

Friday night, Sean went out for a little bit and when he got home I was watching my favorite channel, Food Network. Diners, Drive-ins and Dives was on. They were featuring their usual 3 different spots, one of which was here in Maryland.

The food looked totally delicious, of course, it made the show didn't it? So naturally, Sean googled the place and announced, "We're going there on Sunday afternoon!"

It's a Mexican take out place, located where else but a gas station! Yup, that's right, this place is a tiny little corner of a gas station convenience store, cordoned off by some plexiglass that separates the rest of the place. The menu is handwritten on looseleaf paper and taped up to the wall. The food is as good as it looked on tv. We got these things called hurraches- kind of like a large taco with this yummy chicken, cheese, mexican creme, super hot sauce and fresh avocado.

It was well worth the trip to Elkridge, MD to R & R Taqueria (www.rrtaqueria.com) in the Shell station on the corner of Rte. 1. DELICIOUS!!

A new "table" and some "hazel"

Two cute comments from last night:

Aidan handed me a Lego guy body and two arms. I had my hands full so he rest them on my big ole baby belly. He said, "Wow your belly is so fat now you use if for a table."

Clare was looking through this cooking magazine I have and showed me a picture of a pasta dish. She says, "mom, doesn't this look yummy with the sauce and those yummy leaves. Is that leaves or hazel (basil), you know like we get from the farm?"
Oh and Clare calls "glazed" donuts "blazed" donuts.

Today I love them for their honestly and for making me smile!

Hey Jealousy!

As some of you may know I'm 5 1/2 months pregnant with #3- looking like I swallowed a basketball whole, I might add. So I met Maureen at a party last Saturday night. When I walked in she met me at the door. She takes one look at me and says, "Your purse is so cute! I'm so jealous!!" I quickly give her skinny little tush a once over and respond, "I'm wearing elastic waistband jeans and you're jealous of me?!

McPlayground

I'll admit it, and I'm not ashamed to, that I take my kids to McDonald's every so often and we all LOVE it. I mean what's not to love, famous fries with unlimited ketchup, free refills at the soda station, a little toy and a newly remodeled indoor playground.

One day I'm going to write a book all about my experiences at the McDonald's playground. I've met some serious characters at my local Mickey D's playground.

Like the lady who told me all about her husband's severe ADHD, what a hard time she had getting pregnant with her only daughter named Autumn (yup, I remember the kids name- occupational hazard) and that they live in Annapolis about a mile past the mall.

Another time I sat next to a grandma, who was there with her grand-daughter, who told me all about how her husband's company lost a lot of his business (snow removal and landscaping) because of "those Mexicans."

The Dad who spilled an entire chocolate milk on himself, flipped out and yelled out loud, "Oh shit!" It probably happened because he was totally ignoring his 18 month old son who just sat and watched his Dad as he played with his blackberry.

The parents or grandparents who tell other people's "big" kids that they need to be careful of their "little" kids or the parents who climb into the playground with their kids for fear the child will be scared or worse stuck in the playground.

The best part is the hand sanitizer dispenser in the playground room, cause ya know since your child just finished a well-balanced meal and their feet aren't sticking to the floor, hand sanitizer is the thing that will save the day! Or the Moms I saw once that brought in their reusable nalgene's filled with water to go with their happy meals.

The Dad behind me today who's perfectly behaved child ate all his apples (which now come standard in a happy meal). Then the kid asks, "When it's time to go will it be naptime?" This kid didn't even whine or ask to go on the germy jungle gym.

Then there's me. I'll pretty much engage anyone in a conversation at the Golden Arches. My kids are usually those kids in the playground screaming, running and playing, laughing- you know pretty much doing what you'd expect kids to do in an indoor, fast food restaurant playground. I do occasionally call them back to the table and reprimand them. "Stop yelling so loud! SLOW down!" I do chase them if they climb up the slide, cause I hate that. Slides weren't named slides because you can climb on them. All the while I sit at the table continually refill my soda and hot mustard dipping sauce and polish off not only my extra value meal but whatever is left of the happy meals I ordered. They. really just want the stinkin toy!

So all in all, I'd highly recommend a trip to the local McDonald's playground it's fun for the whole family!

Tooth Fairy

We had our first "legit" visit from the Tooth Fairy last night. She's been here once before because Aidan had a tooth pulled last year. Well, this time, he had his first loose tooth. He pointed it out last week and showed Sean and I. Sean tried to pull it out then but it was NOT ready. I walked into the bathroom and Sean has a bunch of floss wrapped around his two fingers, getting ready to wrap it around the tooth and give it a quick tug.

Lucky for Aidan the tooth was stubborn and not ready to get out yet. So on Sunday I checked the tooth because Sean told me to keep an eye on it because he could "swallow it in his sleep." I told him if it didn't fall out by dinner time on Monday I'd help him get it out. Monday afternoon rolled around and Aidan came up to me and said, "I'm ready for you to pull my tooth out."

All it took was one little twist and it was out. SO exciting! Clare found a little velvet bag to put it in under his pillow. He got $3! WOW! I guess this so called "bad economy" isn't affecting the Tooth Fairy.

Laundry Lesson #46

This has been quite a week so far and it's only Tuesday night. It all started Sunday night upon our return home from a super bowl party. Clare barfed all over herself and me, then spiked a fever of 103. It's all down hill from there.

I get up at 5:30 Monday morning with my right eye glued shut. Yup, that's right at the ripe old age of 36, after being in the child care field for almost 8 years I got my first case of pink eye in over 3 decades. U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E! I went to the minute clinic and got drops, so we're good to go. I'm not contagious after 1:30 today so I striped all the beds this morning, because I sleep in all of them, and piled the sheet mound high in the hallway to sit tight and wait til I get home. Sean put the sheets in the wash for me this afternoon. I changed them to the dryer when I got home and when I went down to retrieve them later I was greeted by a large ball of intertwined sheets.

I carried it up to the living room and handed it to Sean. "This is what happens when you don't button a duvet cover when you put it in the dryer." His response, "Now I know." We all laughed about the giant sheet ball that took Sean about 10 minutes to unravel!

Kindergarten/CCD update

Sometimes I feel like I'm back in elementary school. What with all the paperwork we need to fill out daily, homework we have to monitor, family projects, checks we write to school, programs we need to make sure we're involved in, and on and on! It can be a bit daunting, especially after a long day.

Aidan's class does these class projects: a pumpkin based on a character in a book, a large decorated turkey, an animal diorama and now a class presentation on what he wants to be when he grows up. When we first discussed it Aidan wanted to be an Army guy. Easy enough, I thought. We can go down to the local Army recruiting office and chat up some of the guys there. Contact some family members or friends who are in the army and get some info from them. Well that went out the window quickly when Sean mentioned he should do it on being a cameraman. Just like his dear old Dad. (My response to that was, your idea, your project Daddy-o.) So just to reiterate, I asked Aidan the other night, "We're doing your class career project on being a cameraman right?" Aidan's response was (get a load of this) "No, I want to the be the guy who counts the penguins after they are attacked by a seal or killer whale to see how many are still alive." "WHAT?!"

Turns out he saw some information on the "smart board" at school about this particular scientist position and now it's his future career choice. Interesting, YES, easy to research, NOT REALLY! Needless to say, I've been googling all day today in an effort to figure out how to do this presentation. Luckily, he's been watching these you tube videos with me, otherwise I might be bitter about the whole thing.

In other news, tomorrow is the 100th day of school. The Kindergarten classes are making a trail mix with each child's 100 pieces of some snack contribution. Aidan (of course) picked peanut butter m & m's. So he sat at the table and dutifully made 10 lines of 10 m & m's. As I was putting them in the bag I had to recount them to make sure that my kid wasn't the one who showed up with 99. (My fear was he shoved one in his mouth when I wasn't looking) Well let me tell you what, I should go back to school! It took me 3 tries to count out 100 m & m's, the same ones that Aidan had already counted out- correctly I might add.

A funny side note, the first line on the instruction sent home for the trail mix was "With clean hands, count out 100 pieces." I made Aidan wash his hands but can't remember if I washed mine!

This morning after mass we got the following reports on what the kids did in CCD class. Clare couldn't wait to tell us how she and the other girl in class had to go potty and they got to go in without the teacher! And Aidan showed me how he made fart noises under his armpit in class- "But Mom, all the kids were showing the teachers how they make funny noises with their body parts." GREAT!

Are we Holy or what???

79th percentile

Who knew that they could measure percentiles in utero. Well my friends, they can! When I was prego with Aidan and Clare my only concern was how big I was getting, not how big the baby was getting. You see, with Aidan I didn't have a clue, so I didn't know to worry about how big of a baby I would potentially have to birth one day, and with Clare I'd already done it once so I knew I could. The only thing I did worry about was how big my butt was getting and how big it would end up being after all the dust settled and the extreme exhaustion of having a newborn set in!

Well, this little Healey who's cooking away in there is a tad on the "larger" side. A bit concerning to my docs I guess, since two of them have mentioned it. At 19 weeks, a normal size baby weighs in at about 5.5 oz, well #3 is already weighing in at a whopping 9 oz. The kicker is that this baby makes me crave more healthy food than junk, I have kept to my normal exercise regimen and this is the thanks I get. The recurring question to this Mommy to be is not "When are you due?" it's "Are you having twins?"

The good news though, this little nugget seems to be healthy and happy floating around in there! Now the only question is if it's a girl or a boy???? (That my friends won't be answered until June.)

Wise beyond his years

Happy 6th Birthday to Aidan! If you would have asked me 6 years ago tonight what Aidan would be like when he turned 6, I probably would have replied, "I can't even imagine him 6 months from now!"

Well, let me tell you a little story about my little man. Last Friday night we went out to dinner. Sean and I were tired, the kids were off the wall. Needless to say, it was not a stellar moment for this Healey crew. Sean and I spent the entire meal reprimanding the kids in the restaurant and then screamed at them when we got home. I had a total freak out on Aidan when he came into the bathroom and peed all over the place.

A little while later, I was sitting on the couch between Aidan and Clare, wallowing in my own guilt. Aidan put his hand on me and said, "Mom, you can lay your head on me." (which I did) I turned to him and told him how much I love him.

It occurred to me as I sat in Mass on Sunday morning, (praying hard for patience,as I always do) that my little Aidan is like a Labrador retriever puppy. Although we scream and yell and lose our patience with them, our kids know we will always love them, first and foremost, we will always take care of them, we will always keep them safe. So in the words of my dear friend Lisa, Aidan is an old soul.

Happy 6th Buddy! Thanks for helping me be the best Mom I can be.

the gift of peace

And quiet that is!

Sean took Aidan and Clare into DC on Monday to go see the Spy Museum. It was MLK day, so we were all home. I wasn't feeling too great that morning when I woke up so Sean said he'd take them in to the city and I could stay home and rest.

It was so nice (I have to admit) to just sit on the couch and watch all the cooking shows and diy shows my little heart desired.

Thanks Sean for a peacefully quiet morning. You're the best!

What's in your wallet?

Or in my case PURSE! I don't think good ole Capital One would really want to know the answer to that question. Maureen and I gave my Mom a gift card for Christmas because she wanted to buy herself a new purse. She emailed us last night to tell us (brag)she got a new fancy black leather purse. (To which I was jealous!)

I began to take stock in what's really in my purse. First of all I dream of the day that I'll be able to carry a smaller purse, maybe even a pretty semi over priced, designer one at that. But for now I tote around any random ginormous size bag I can get my hands on, sometimes even two.

Inside the bag, well that's a whole other story. The one I'm currently carrying (a green cord messenger bag with my monogram on the bottom corner) has at least 7 crumpled up napkins from the latest "to go" restaurant or coffee shop I've been to with the 2 wee bobbins. It also houses a ziploc bag full of broken and semi used crayons collected from several restaurants, one Hello Kitty and one Zooble, both from Happy Meals. A really pretty, kind of expensive J.Crew bracelet that Sean gave me for Christmas 2 years ago and a fake diamond necklace. An empty gum pack, 2 chocolate ball wrappers from Christmas Eve Mass (bribery for Aidan), a pair of eye glasses I think I'm supposed to wear, sunglasses that I always wear, a pair of Clare's underwear - just in case, 2 granola bars too. I did have a wireless mouse in the there from Sean that I gave to his Dad just the other day. Oh and there's a pouch in it (that matches the purse) that I carry around with my check book, pens, flossers, and 2 tampons - which I won't need or use in the next 7 months or so. There's a strange sand-like substance that gets mixed in with the change in the bottom- not quite sure where it comes from or what it is.

All in all I tote around a whole purse full o' crap on a daily basis. The kicker is it's only going to get more crap added to it come June when #3 arrives. Maybe I'll just start carrying an additional bag for baby. Who knows, I used to squeeze an entire change of clothes for each kid and a pull up in this current bag and zip it in the pocket.

No wonder my back hurts sometimes!!!!!

A Shout Out

I have a special shout out tonight to a wonderfully handsome, extremely talented sports fanatic. My incredibly smart, studious, hard working husband just smoked his older brother in his FANTASY FOOTBALL SUPER BOWL! In the league that wouldn't deem him worthy for several years, he's now on top people. There's even a trophy too!!!

(photo to follow)

*disclaimer*
I am not, and never claimed to be a fan of fantasy football. This blog post is a simple act of love and kindness for a great guy who puts up with a lot of "stuff" from me!

Spring has Sprung

Well, not exactly! I mean come on it's the coldest day of the season so far and I'm signing up Aidan for lacrosse already. I got an email today "the season begins right around the corner." REALLY?! I think that's a bit extreme, I mean as far as I know there is some sort of rule that the season can't officially begin until March or something. Now don't get me wrong, I'm super, duper psyched for lacrosse to begin. Aidan played last year and although he couldn't really follow what was going on (on or off the field) he had a great time and looked totally adorable in the gear! It was great being at the fields a couple of nights a week, watching the weather change and the days get longer. So I am actually really happy I signed him up on this frigid January night, it will give me some hope that the weather will get warmer.

Now, here is my latest conundrum, Clare wants to do ballet again. She got a cd player for Christmas (yup kickin it old school) for her room and she goes in there, dresses up and dances around. It's great to watch. She is so cute when she dances and I know she loves it. We have been down this ballerina road before. She loved, loved, loved it. But we hit a bump in the road when she was told she had to wear makeup for the recital. That's when Dad and I pulled the plug on the whole operation.

So here's my question to all of you, WHY can't I just find a little park and rec ballet program that lasts for like 3 months (ya know- a season) and that's it. I mean come on people why do I have to commit myself, let alone a 4 year old, to an entire school year of ballet. That's a long time and in my opinion not necessary for all. She really enjoyed soccer this fall so if I can't find a little dance program I'm going to offer up another soccer season instead and hope she bites.


All in all, I think it will be a great Spring. Both kids running around on some freshly cut grass field, with another group of (kind of clueless) kids playing the team sport of choice. All the while, I'm waddling back and forth to the car imagining how I'll do this in 5 years with an 11 year old, 10 year old and 5 year old. I don't know if there are enough days in a week to spread over 3 kids sports. This will be my first season of different sports on different days, or even worse, different sports, same days, different fields.

Another test of my Mom super powers, I'm sure I'll pass with flying colors!!!
(wink, wink, nod, nod)