Declan at 5 months

Poor little Declan has his first cold.  It's always so sad to see them feeling poorly and not being able to do much about it!  I took him to the doctor yesterday because his cough was so bad that he was vomitting and they told me it was allergies.  Not so sure about that since he had a fever in the middle of the night last night.  They told me I could give him a tiny amount of Benadryl to dry him up and it seems to be working!  He's a lot more comfortable and he's even in the bouncer right now which he has refused to be in for 2 days. 
Otherwise Declan is doing great!  He's 17 pounds and sleeping 12 hours at night about half the time and waking up once the other half of the time.  Not so bad for such a big and active baby!  He's eating cereal, sweet potatoes, avocado and bananas and loving it all!  He even takes a bottle when he goes to hourly care once or twice a week for a few hours so he doesn't have to come to work with me.  He's on the verge of sitting up and pushes up on his hands when he's on his belly.  I think he'll be crawling in no time!!  He continues to be the sweetest baby on the planet and is super smiley to anyone and everyone who looks at him.  He is so much fun and the perfect final piece to our family!

Family Picture

I wanted to make sure we got a picture of everyone together before Brendan left.  Declan has been around for 5 months and we didn't have a picture with everyone - that's how you KNOW things have been crazy!  We used the timer and this was the first try - a miracle to say the least!!!

Bike Riding

 Today is the last Saturday that Brendan will be here for the next year.  This time next week he'll be on a plane and we'll be missing him! 
Today Aidan had his first reconciliation so we spent the first half of the day at church and then we went to the park in the afternoon.  Brendan is determined that Emmy will learn to ride her bike before he goes - so they practiced and practiced and practiced.  She is getting better but still doesn't have it.  I'm sure she will be riding by the end of the week!! Aidan is getting really good with his rollerblades - he's having so much fun with them!!

Rollerblades

 Aidan got rollerblades from his Godfather for his birthday and then Brendan got them for the girls as well.  They are having SO MUCH FUN with them!  They wear them constantly inside the house and we tried outside the other day.  They have gotten better since then but it was hysterical to watch them.  That being said - they are better than I would be!!!

Aidan's Birthday - part 2

 Instead of having a birthday party this year for Aidan we took his friend Cale to Nashville with us to have dinner, see a hockey game and stay over in a hotel.  We were trying to combine two outings since Brendan is leaving in two weeks.  We went to the Aquarium restaurant for dinner and then Declan, the girls and I dropped Brendan and the boys off at the arena for the Nashville Predators game and then they took a taxi to the hotel where we were already asleep!  The boys had a great time playing with iPads and we even ordered room service - cake!!  Declan had a tough night - he was cold I think so at about 4 am I moved him into bed with Brendan and me.  He finally fell asleep and although neither Brendan or I slept much after that it was much better!  We had breakfast at the hotel and then went swimming before packing up and coming home.  So much fun!!

Aidan's 8th Birthday

 Happy Birthday to Aidan!!  I can't believe he is 8 - incredible how time flies!!  We had a great day - the kids had the day off from school and so we had a nice relaxing morning with a lot of present opening!  I think this was the first birthday in a long time that Aoife didn't cry because it wasn't her birthday - she's growing up!!  After presents we went to an indoor play area called Kids 'n' Play here in town.  It wasn't crowded because Ft. Campbell schools were the only ones off from school!  It was great for Brendan and me but I think that the kids would have preferred it if there had been more kids to play with!  We ordered pizza for dinner - Aidan's choice - and finished up with chocolate birthday cake like always!!  Happy Birthday sweetheart!!

Aoife's Valentines Party

 Aoife is in both the Tuesday/Thursday class and the Monday/Wednesday/Friday class at school.  This means that when a holiday comes around she gets to go to TWO parties!  Brendan went to the Wednesday version and I went to the Thursday version.  I was really surprised that there was only one other mom - maybe the others have little ones that they can't bring.  Here is Aoife enjoying herself and then playing on the computer once she was done with her snack.  She has started writing her own nametag and it is adorable!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Afternoon at the Park with Daddy

 The deployment is really coming up quickly now and we are trying to spend as much time as possible together.  Yesterday we went to the park to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather before the rain hit today.  It was great to be outside and get some fresh air!!

Declan Rolling Over

Declan has been able to roll over for a while now but here is proof!!

Solid Food!

 Declan started on solid food and is doing great!! He's now up to rice cereal, bananas, avocado and white potato!  He seems to prefer the banana above all others but will never turn down food!!  He can even drink water out of a glass - so clever!!

Aoife and Declan

 Aoife is Declan's biggest fan!  We had a bit of a rocky start what with her trying to smother him and seeing just how far those little fingers could bend before he cried.  Things are much better now - he has grown quickly so as to protect himself and now I'm just a tiny bit less fearful of what she will do to him.  That being said - she LOVES him and could spend hours just sitting next to him singing and holding his hand.  It really is the cutest thing!

Mimi and Big Dan

 Mimi and Big Dan came to visit us this weekend!  We had a great time.  They stayed in a hotel with a pool and the first night Aidan stayed with them and the second night the girls stayed with them.  We all went in the afternoon the second day and swam and then went to dinner.  Fun times!!!

Here is a picture of Declan that I took over the weekend - he's 4 1/2  months already!!!  I can't believe how big he is getting - makes me happy and sad at the same time!

Baby Shower Cookies

I haven't been making cookies - or much of anything really - recently.  A teacher at Aidan and Emmy's school asked me to make cookies for a baby shower she was having - I think they turned out really cute!!

Fridays!

 We had a big evening tonight - popcorn and a movie after dinner!  It's so fun to be able to stay up a little later and get silly!!  The kids loved the popcorn and even Declan enjoyed himself down on his playmat!