Sleeping Handsomes

 On the weekend, things like this can happen...

 
 I mean, I just love these buddies!

And now you will see what happened when I accidentally woke Declan with my camera noises.  This baby literally wakes up this happy every single morning.

One minute, sleeping Declan.

 The next, smiling Declan!

 

This happy boy!! These sleeping handsome boys are enough to light up any morning.  And a little coffee never hurt anyone either. :)

Petah Pan!

A few weeks ago, we went to see our high school's production of Peter Pan. They had a breakfast the morning before for kids and families to come and meet the cast.  Now, we love Peter Pan in this house.  Reilly chose to be Wendy Darling for Halloween this past year, and Reagan went along as her Tink (while Mommy was a very pregnant Tiger Lilly!).  Besides the fact that one of their new favorite shows is Jake and the Neverland Pirates, a Peter Pan spin-off. Reagan calls it "Go-Go" because of the pirates always saying "Yo Ho!". Best thing ever.  Oh, and Reagan LOVES Captain Hook from this show as well. She doesn't exactly realize he is supposed to me mean.  Sweet girl. 

So, needless to say, our Peter Pan weekend was something of an event.  Daddy and I might have been most excited, as you would be to go to Disney World and see your children's reactions to their favorite things.   And let me tell you, this did not disappoint.  What an experience for these girls.  The smiles on their faces says it all...

As soon as we entered the school, the pointed us in the direction of the auditorium to get a picture with the cast.  Little did we know the ENTIRE cast, in full costume and character, would be arranged on stage waiting for each individual family to come up and meet them one on one, and get their picture taken.  Take a look at these girls meeting their idols...and obviously, we were dressed up... ;)

The girl who played Peter was so amazing and convincing, I was sure she was an adolescent boy by the end of the day.  

 

Reilly just loves that Wendy Darling.  And she was SO impressed that she "knew how to talk just like Wendy" (with an English accent).  

 

Reagan was completely stunned to be with Tink! :)

And our little Lost Boy even sat up on Smee's back!  I know, I could barely handle myself.  Good thing they took a professional picture because I was running around squealing and snapping blurry photos.

  

I couldn't even get the full cast in one shot!  It was amazing. 

 

Little Tink with her wings!  Reilly wanted to wear wings too, and the pirates were yelling "It's a little Wendy Bird!" the whole time.  So cute. 

These little Indian girls were running through the halls doing their Indian call the whole time.  The girls have their autograph books in hand. :)

 

And then there was face painting.  I know. The cuteness is overwhelming. 

 

Every single one of these talented kids stayed in their character the whole time.  It was unbelievable.  And they all had such amazing accents, I was listening and trying to hear them mess up, and they never did!

Wendy was the sweetest girl ever! She kept coming over to them saying, "Here are my number one fans!"

I'm telling you, this saved us a lot of money on airfare.  Those are Disney caliber smiles right there. :)  These girls were in heaven.

Peter spent about 6 solid minutes just talking to the girls, laying on the floor, telling them stories.  I am so grateful for these students for understanding how special this is for the little ones.  I was truly blown away.

Reagan was laying on a cafeteria floor, and I didn't even stop her because it was such an adorable moment as they listen to Peter's stories.

Look at their faces!  I think they were talking about Hook. :)

THE GIGGLES!  This makes a mommy's heart so full.

Daddy and some of his students. :)

Reilly was stalking out "the blue fairy" because she was so beautiful.  Then of course we needed to meet every fairy, and get their autographs.

Then we got to backstage!  And see a tour of the set and watch how they make Peter fly.  Here they are climbing on the ship, and giving me their best pirate "Arrrr!!"

Reilly was brave enough to pet the "Croc".  It really was quite frightening, how it moved all around!  I mean, if I were three...

Oh, hi I was there too! :)  My girls and I out front, and my little lost boy who stayed right on Mommy's hip the whole time.  What a magical day. 

The next day was the play, and we made it all 3 hours with all 3 kids!  I mean, these are accomplishments people.  Little victories. Exciting stuff for us new-parents-of-three.  Every event that we make it through with smiling faces, minimal tears, only a few items of clothing covered in bodily fluids...thumbs up, you know?

We celebrated with dinner at a yummy burger place and shakes for dessert.  It was an unseasonably warm day, at almost 80 degrees, so we followed Reagan's lead as she danced in the parking lot to the church bells.  Can't make this stuff up.  And we had some over-tired-toddler tears on the way home, but that couldn't wipe the smiles off Mommy and Daddy's faces after a weekend so full of fun. :)

Happy Easter!

 From these 3 little bunnies. :)

 I love Declan's little tongue out face!

And these two little princesses.

Sidenotes:  Reagan first touched the bunny, and then backed away and said "Mommy, I scared!".  She eventually warmed up to the stuffed animal. ;)

Reilly hasn't put those dolls down in 36 hours. Not even to sleep.  Which means searching every store across 3 states for the past 3 months is TOTALLY worth it! Easter Bunny score!

Daddy - For the Win!

The other night, we were driving home from a busy-awesome-fun filled-sunny-active-Sunday activity.  Which means the husband and I were on an early Spring weekend high...and the kids were in full out-haven't napped in two days-playing and running outside all weekend-meltdown mode.  We were on our way in the car, laughing, sharing a Reese's peanut butter cup thick shake that neither of us could finish because I insisted we order a side of french fries.  We were laughing at the children (the older 2) because they were yelling about which song we listen to.  Reilly insisted were listen to "#2" on the current princess CD that was playing (which had been on repeat for days).  Reagan, like the rest of us, was sick of this song and kept screaming "NNOOOOO NUMBAH TWOOOO!!"  They were so clearly exhausted that were chuckled.  And suddenly Daddy shut off the music and yelled:

Daddy: HEY!  If you can't agree on a song to listen to...then Mommy and Daddy will sick. MOCK!
Mommy: YEAH!
Daddy: ING!
Mommy:  YEAH!
Daddy: BIRD!
Mommy: YEAH!



If you are familiar with Dumb and Dumber, you know the scene we are recreating.  I had never heard of this movie before meeting my husband...and today, here we are.  I've seen it/lived with him so many times now that this scene is committed to my memory.  And we belted that song as loud as we could while the girls yelled in protest.  Until they yelled so loudly that they started hysterical laughing.  In true exhausted-toddler fashion, but of course.


Today, a few days later, I am having one of THOSE days.  Where every room I walk into that I JUST CLEANED is covered in toys again, the plates from lunch have been spilled all over the floor, the laundry that needs folding is in the living room, more is in the washer, and all the hampers are still over flowing (REALLY?), and the baby just pooped on his clothes and is subsequently naked.  On the new rug.  Please don't pee. Because your sisters are in the bathroom together and I just heard Reilly say, "Okay, Reagan, let me take off your diaper and you can go poopy on the potty like me!"

















Yes. One of those days.

And so I texted Hubby something completely positive and lovely.
To which he responded:  "It's okay, honey.  Pour yourself some wine. I'll be home soon."

Which, husbands, take note, is EXACTLY the thing to say to your wife when she texts you incoherently in a mommy-frenzy.
He has definitely been taking Husband lessons, no?  I mean, Hubby wins the week for sure. ;)

Our Neighbors

 Most of the year, we don't have many neighbors.   Except these guys and gals.  They pass our house every day, on the same path.  They walk down to the lake, I'm guessing. This was from a few weeks ago when we were still snow-covered.

 

 I'm so happy for the deer that the snow melted and they have food now!

 

 They have an audience in our house.  And now we can go outside and play beside them!

Yay Spring!  Yay for baby spotted deer coming!

Friday Nights

 A recent Friday night, these guys were watching Peter Pan an I couldn't handle it. Peter (or Pee-tah if you want to say it like Wendy Darling does...that's what he's called around our house) is a fan favorite right now.  They all love it, including Daddy.  Reilly insisted that she hold Declan.  And Reagan insists on going everywhere holding Buddy, Minnies Mouse and Mickeys Mouse.  She has quite the arm-full, especially while trying to keep a thumb in her mouth.  ;)

Notice Declan - riveted.
Notice Reilly's ring - on her "marrying finger" of course.

Lucky kids, I let them borrow Daddy as a cuddler for this night. This is how we all are on Fridays, so excited for Daddy to be home for the weekend that we don't let go of him. :)

Friday nights change drastically when the kiddos come. But this is the kind of Friday nights I always dreamed of.

A Princess at Rest

Reilly has dropped her nap a bit lately, but some days she really does need that rest time in the day.  Luckily, we can both usually tell when these days are, and she will nap willingly when she knows she needs extra rest.  Today, she stayed up from nap. Then at 3:30 she was getting agitated about something and I told her to go rest on my bed for a few minutes to cool off.  After a few minutes, she was very quiet.  I went in my room, to find this:



A true princess.  Tulle surrounding her entire being, and her gloved hands folded carefully under her head.  After she gets home from school, she immediately goes into her room and changes into one of several princess gowns.  She insists she is "cold" if she doesn't have her elbow-length gloves on.  Usually there is a crown on her head, which she always remembers to remove before nap and bedtime.  She slept for a few hours like this before coming out telling us she felt "so refreshed".

She is such a little princess, this Belle!

Hey, Dad?

"Do we get to be best buddies?  Is that what we're gunna be?" asked Declan.

"You bet we do, little guy. You and me." replied Daddy.

"That's good, Dad.  I always thought having a best buddy sounded fun. I'm glad you're mine."  said Declan.

"Me too, Bruiser. Me too."

4 Months!

 This little guy is 4 months old!  He is at such a fun age right now.  He started belly laughing, responds to being tickled, and kicks up a storm.  He started screeching this high-pitched joyful scream whenever he wants our attention, or sees one of his sisters run by. 

 He is currently in 12 month clothes, and is growing like a beanstalk!  He weighs about 18-19 pounds I think, but I will know for sure at his doctor appointment coming up.  I'm so excited, I love the well visits!  He is the hungriest, happiest, healthiest little guy.  Well, his belly is rarely empty actually..which is probably why he is so happy all the time. :)

 See what I mean?  That little grin!

We are going to break out the jumperoo very soon, which will thrill him!  Oh, I can't wait.  He has been kicking up a storm, so those legs are ready.  He is going to LOVE being able to jump around like his big sisters. 

He goes to bed right around 7 with the girls, and has been waking  up once in the night.  He is very content to lay in his crib and listen to his music as he is falling to sleep.  He has lately started looking like he wants to sit up while he is laying down, bending at the waist and lifting his head.  He loves when I prop him up to look at the room, and his favorite thing is sitting propped on my bed while I get dressed. 

 

He is drooling up a storm, and always has a bib on.  He is always trying to chew on things, and Reilly is always checking to see if there are any teeth. :)  He is such a little thumb sucker!  While we were driving today, I had Reagan and Declan both silently in the back seat sleeping, and all I heard were there intermittent suck-suck-suck-sucks of their thumbs. It was so sweet.

 Declan, at this age, all we have to do is look at you and smile and you start laughing back at us with your big gummy smile.  I can't even handle your cuteness most days.  I also can't handle how often you grow out of clothes.  I mean, just stay put for a little while, will ya buddy?  I don't want you to have to be naked all summer. ;)

Easygoing is not even the word for you.  You will eat whenever I can feed you, go where I go with no complaint, sit in the stroller/your carseat/my carrier without making a peep, and sit in restaurants like a little champ.  You are so happy to be whereever we are, and are such a joy to our family.

Everywhere we go, people comment on how much you look like your sisters.  Most say a mix between Reilly and Reagan, and just how evident it is that you are all siblings.  I see so much of Reilly in you, but in a rounder, handsome little face.  I think you are Reilly share your eyes.

I recently looked up facts about the name Declan..and it means "Full of Goodness" and "Man of Prayer".  Seriously the most perfect description.  Well, I don't know if he prays yet, but he is definitely full of goodness. :)  Also, there was a St. Declan in Ireland, who brought God's word to the Irish people even before St. Patrick did!  For real, look it up.  Crazy, right?  We are definitely going to tell him that every St. Patrick's Day...this should be YOUR day dude.

Happy 4 Months little munchkin lovie nugget mister mans!  I want to eat you!