2012

2012 was a year of wonderful and big changes!  Brendan came home from his 3rd deployment in January and we found out that we were expecting baby #4!  Aidan turned 7 in February and we had a really short winter.  In March we went to Gatlinburg for a little weekend getaway and everyone ended up with the stomach flu!  In April Aidan started baseball and Aoife turned 3.  In May school ended and we found out that we were going to have a boy!!  In June Emmy turned 5 and we drove up to Massachusetts to visit the grandparents.  In July we spent lots of time at the beach and drove back to Ft. Campbell.  In August Aidan started 2nd grade and Emmy started Kindergarten.  In September, Declan was born and we visited the treehouses at Cheekwood.  In October, we celebrated Halloween and Aidan and Emmy went on a field trip to the farm.  In November, Declan started sleeping through the night and we celebrated Thanksgiving all together.  In December, Emmy was in the school play and we were all together for Christmas!
2013 is stacking up to be another big year of adjustments and changes.  Brendan is leaving again in a few weeks for another year in Afghanistan.  The kids are all two years older than when he left last time and surprisingly, Emmy and Aoife don't even remember that he was gone before.  It is going to be a very different experience this time with four children - and one a baby!  We will make it through just fine and I know there will be lots of fun along the way!
Happy New Year!

Declan at 3 months

 Declan is such an easy and wonderful baby!  He smiles and laughs all the time, loves his brother and sisters and is growing like a weed!!  He's over 100 percentile in length and about 85 percentile in weight.  He can roll from front to back and hold his head up really well!  He was sleeping through the night but has taken a step back and is waking up once during the night.  Oh well - that won't last forever!  Aidan loves having a brother and can't wait until Declan is old enough to play with him.  Aoife loves Declan just the way he is and can't get enough of him - she is always sitting next to him holding his hand (or poking him in the eye!).  We love Declan so much and can barely remember a time when he wasn't here!!

Merry Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas!!!  We had such a fantastic day!  Santa was really wonderful - brought so many nice presents and left a really sweet note to the kids!  Declan was up for part of the day but he can only stay awake for about an hour at a time so he slept a lot!  He rolled over for the first time on Christmas!  So awesome!!  We had turkey for dinner and Christmas cookies for dessert.  

Aidan's favorite present was a microscope and slides.  Emmy and Aoife love their vanity from Mimi and Declan loves a stuffed giraffe that he can chew on!