Father's Day

Dear Billy,

You are patience and heart embodied. 

I believe you were meant to be a father.

You're the kind of person who never has a bad word to say about anyone...always looking for the best in all people and every situation.  It comes naturally to you.

Never one to seek approval from others to fill yourself up, our sons notice your quiet confidence. 

You hold doors, smile at strangers and jump at the chance to help another.  Your example is teaching our children how to interact with the world around them.  Your goodness is molding and shaping our boys into men who will go on to be good fathers themselves.  

What you do for all of us everyday is immeasurable.  From the biggest things to the smallest things they all add up to one very happy, very lucky little family.

I hope we made you feel loved on Father's Day.

Fully,

Me and your boys    

Photos of Father's Day weekend fun:

Instead of the traditional hand/foot prints...we did booty prints.  Their little bottoms are the cutest :)

Heineken's in honor of Grandpa McGarry Murray. 

Fletcher William | 7 Months

My darling, my heart.  7 months old now.
You have grown from a tiny infant into an active baby in what feels like a single breath.

Every day we find more reasons to love you.  

You eat well and sleep well.  You're calm and content. I'm not sure what I did to deserve a third "easy baby", but everyday I am thankful.  

You don't mind playing independently and are happy to sit at my feet while I make the big boys lunch or do the dishes.  Your patience actually stirs up feelings of guilt inside me.  You seem to know that I need a second set of arms, so you give me a break...like, "Mom, don't worry about me, I can wait." every time I need to set you down to juggle requests from your older brothers.  You rarely protest and that makes my job as momma so much easier.

Recently, your bottom teeth began working their way in and it's been taking a toll on you the past few days.  Getting smiles from you has been a struggle (as seen above!).  I can tell they're really bothering you and I'm hoping that means they're close to breaking through the surface so we can get this over with.  Seeing you not act like yourself makes my heart hurt.

You've been quite the wiggle worm too.  You spend most of your time trying to figure out how to get going.  Rolling, reaching, pushing up and kicking like a wild man.  I think you'll be mobile way before I'm ready.

Fletcher,
All of our lives are fuller with you in it.  You have added so much to our family.  The brothers remain enchanted.  As do your momma and dada.

Precious, perfect, loved. You can always be sure of these things, my sweet fox.

My whole heart,
Momma

Ireland from my iPhone.

I'm still dreaming of our week in the Irish countryside. I'm so happy to be back home with my kiddos (and I feel refreshed enough to truly enjoy them :), but I still keep coming back to these fuzzy photos on my phone. 

An afternoon spent laying in the sun reading and napping in intervals.  A pint of Guinness in an old, dark pub.  Incredible music and food.  Late night conversations with my oldest and dearest friends around a warm fire.  A beautiful wedding.

My heart is still beating for these moments. 

Dinner our first night.  We arrived a day earlier than the others so we could spend a night in one of our favorite little villages -- Bunratty.

On a blanket.

Late night conversations at the Manor house.  This was one of my favorite rooms.

 

Our first night in Bunratty before meeting up with the rest of the party.

Live music at our hotel.

I have another pic exactly like this from 8 years ago.  Unbelievable how much has changed since the last time I stood in that spot.

Bunratty Village

The hallway to our room at the manor house.

Many memories made in the pub the last time we were in Ireland.

Fancy Irish Coffee at the Ashford Castle.

Our bus for the trip to Cliffs of Moher.

A beautiful day at the cliffs.  Beats the last time we visited...cold and rainy.

At the manor house.  A view from the top of the stairs.

Rehearsal dinner.

Ashford Castle.

Hen/Stag party dinner at the Malt House in Galway.

The wedding.

The friends gift to the bride and groom - a surprise bagpiper.

Headed home.

Ready to see these faces. 

 Thanks to Lolli and Mimi who kept the pictures of our wee lads coming while we were away...I saved every single one on my phone :)

Adventure's with Sully

One of my favorite things about Sullivan is his adventurous spirit.  Whether it's a music class, toddler/momma yoga or ethnic food, he's happy to try new things, whereas Max has always been a bit more hesitant with new experiences.

On Wednesdays Sully is my sidekick because its the one day we have together when Max is in school and he stays home.  I love our time together because he's always enthusiastic about whatever I suggest.

Check out this little munchkin.  These are long lost pictures of us at classes we took last year during our days together.  He's changed so much...

This fall Sullivan will be going to school all three days, just like Max.  It's crazy that our free days together are coming to a close.  I'm going to miss my little mini-me.  

These are pics from our last adventure before school's out for the summer. We had lunch at a neighborhood restaurant that serves Pakistani and Indian food.  We had never been, but I knew he'd love it.  Sullivan and I have a lot in common...like our mutual love for craft stores...and eating food in new restaurants. 

 Sullivan chose a Mango-Mint Smoothie and I had a Rose Chi Tea.  He tried mine and said, "Tastes like flowers!"  I was surprised he picked up on the rose flavor...quite the distinguished palate he has :)

 He likes to tell me all about construction.

 Waiting, waiting for our food...

He ate each bite dramatically and with dedication :)

 He loved the spicy samosas and pakoras.

 Fletcher just snoozed away while Sully and I dined al fresco.

I guess he'll move up the ranks as my new sidekick :)

   I hope there's another adventurous spirit growing inside this little one.

15 Minutes of Fame

Last month the boys and I were asked to be in a commercial for their pediatric dentist.   I was hesitant.  They actually like the dentist and sit still for their cleanings/x-rays...but asking them to "act" was a whole other thing.  I had no idea if they would cooperate.  I finally agreed and then tried to explain to the boys what we would be doing.  

When the day of the shoot arrived I figured they'd flat out refuse to do what the producers asked.  Especially since they're both pretty shy when put on the spot.  And on top of that there were multiple lights and cameras and people around.  I was nervous.  They were counting on us and I thought we'd likely leave them nothing to work with.  

But, I was wrong.  The boys were surprisingly cooperative.  They smiled for the camera, performed their "lines" and didn't act nervous at all.  I couldn't believe it.

When we first arrived on set.  9am.

It was a long day.  We were shooting from 9am-5pm.  Which seems ridiculous for a 30 second spot.  Much of it was spent waiting.

We caught them on a good day because they even waited patiently for the next scenes.

Max's first scene.

The final take of the day was actually the first scene in the commercial.  All they had to do was jump up and down and yell "yay!!!".  That's when the exhaustion started to set in.  They had no nap and it was nearly 5pm when we got to that scene.  At one point Sully laid down on the floor and refused to stand up.  

Promises of Chik-fil-A revived him :)

It was a fun experience, but we're definitely not cut out for it.   It's kind of weird to be watching The Tonight Show and then see my kid's pop up on the screen during the commercial break.  

Here's the final result!