Summer Lovin'

So today Katie and I were driving home with the kids and I asked Seamus if he knew what street we lived on and he said he didn't know. So I told him we lived at the corner of James and Finn - wasn't that funny. And he replied in a bit flustered tone "But I want to live at the middle of Seamus."

I wanted to say - "honey, sometimes it seems like we do..."

He's been working so hard to be good these last two days - he was crabby at bed time earlier this week and didn't get any stories. James tells he and Finn every morning that when he gets home he wants Mommy to say that the boys were a "Perfect 10" all day. When he does arrive home, he asks how they were and we usually cap out at about an 8 (you always have to leave room for improvement). Anyway, the night that Seamus didn't get a story, Finny decided he didn't need one either and promptly went to bed. But the next day, Seamus asked several times after being particularly good or brown nosing, "Is that acting like a 10, Mama?" Needless to say, sometimes we forget our own lessons that follow through is always worth it (especially when it's hardest) because bedtime has been a piece of cake ever since.

Finn has taken to sleeping in his toddler bed with an arsenal of stuffed animals - including, but not always limited to: Mr.Moo, Batman (Finn sized), Bear (from John and Maureen Dougherty), Dog (from Micheal and Elizabeth Dougherty - again not a small animal) as well as his star and moon "B". Trying to lay down and read to him is a little unsettling when you realize that you are rather low on the totem poll of bed mate accompaniment. The other night he woke up with a bad dream and after he went back to sleep I thinned out the stuffed animals so he wasn't so crowded. About 45 minutes later I hear him stumbling around his room and sure enough when I went in to check on him, all the animals were back in place. So funny.

Seamus has also been reading "adult" stories with Katie - so far they've knocked out the original versions of Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz and wait for it....Beowulf. They are currently reading Robin Hood and I've told her that after this one, we've got remove sword play from our reading materials for a while. She's bought Oliver Twist and Black Beauty...which I believe should cut down on the swashbuckling and still keep the literary interest. It's been such a fun thing watching the two of them together - Seamus has always loved books, but now he'd spend the entire day in Katie's lap reading anything and everything he can get his hands on if he could.

Back from Iraq

So some of you may not know that James went to Notre Dame on a ROTC scholarship - while he loved his ROTC experience, he ended up graduating without the military committment (long story - ask him someday if you don't already know). But what he did graduate with was many friends, several very close, who continued on with a military career. One of his senior year roommates, Scott, recently returned from Iraq after a year long tour, and came to Minnesota to visit his sister.

The last time James got to see him was at Scott's wedding just about two years ago - he was deployed not too long afterwards. There is a lot to be said about seeing Scott. First of all, he looks just like he did when we graduated, which is to say he's always looked old and crabby. But truthfully, it was one of those nights when I felt like I don't understand how 10 years have gone by - jobs, moves, marriages, war and new babies. I wonder what our 21-year-old selves would have to say about our lives now. His signature sacarasm and wide smile was a pleasure to be around again. We are so excited for this new chapter in his life. He and his wife are expecting a baby girl this fall and let's just say his first hands account of Iraq hardly resembled any of the pictures we seem to get in the media. His tour sounded a lot like a Joseph Heller novel - full of plenty of absurdity and sorrow. It was a pretty funny thing watching him scoop up MJ after he'd been in the house for just a few minutes. He was totally at ease with a baby girl in his arms - I think that bodes very well for Melissa (and also would have provided some snarky comments from Scott's 21-year-old self). All our love and blessing to their new family.

Sorry for the Limited Updates

Paula and Finn baking Rhubard cake!

June 10, 2006 - almost one year ago (above)





Katie and I have been having so much fun that I haven't been blogging (or calling anyone back) for the last week and a half. Here's what I can say about the kids so far this summer:

Seamus is all about swimming in the baby pool - we're hoping to make it to the real pool this week so he can get back into the real thing. He has been asking regularly to "skinny dip" which we've been able to prevent most days...Bridget took a little skinny dip one day last week so it may begin to look like we're hosting a nudist colony...

Finny is suddenly a real boy - most people can hardly tell the boys apart now that I've shaved their heads. It's wild how much they look a like right now - last night Finn was standing by my leg and my brother Eric started talking to "Seamus". He didn't believe me at first that it was Finn. But truth be told, I also confused the two boys last night. Finn was eating corn with Danny's girlfriend Kelly and I asked Katie if Finn had gotten anything to eat yet - she pointed out politely we were looking at Finn it was Seamus who hadn't eaten...

MJ is smiling and holding her head up. She's sleeping for at least 5 hours at a time at night - several night in the last two weeks she's slept until 5:30 without getting up. She is peaceful and beautiful and we are more grateful for her with each day. Her first smile was for her Auntie Katie - it took a few more days before I could actually say she was smiling AT me - verses at Katie while I was watching.

This time of year always gives me a strange sense of how fast time goes - watching the kids play in the yard - you can almost see them growing. The plants are starting to take off and I know that in no time at all we'll be raking leafs and talking about Halloween - so we enjoy every day, each sunny morning and breezy afternoon. I kiss the kids and think how precious every moment is, how fortunate we are for all these gifts. I put in a picture from June 10, 2006 so much changes and yet it also stays the same...

My Sister's blog rules....

Since Katie has just had two of the best posts ever about my kids - I direct you there.

Great Seamus Post - Super Seamus

Great Finn Post - Many Faces of Finn Dougherty

In the future, if any of you want to post great pictures and stories about our kids - it will almost guarantee you a spot on the doughertyclan blog. That's advertising you just can't buy!

Aunt Helen Turns 100!

Do I have pictures for YOU