From long, long ago...

Well, so much time has passed it feels a little strange, but we're still recovering from Aunt Katie's departure. This photo is from the morning she left - a little last minute story and cuddle before she had to get ready for the plane. It would have been even harder if we hadn't known that we'd see a lot of her again in August. We miss you Kate.

Mr. Finn

Happy Birthday, Finny. Your dad, brother and I have had so much fun years getting to know you in these last two quick years (and now MJ too).

What can I tell you about yourself on this milestone? You live large. You run, jump, fall, hug and kiss with all you've got. We don't often wonder how you're feeling - you wear it all on your sleeve. You sleep with tons of animals snuggled up around you in your bed. You want to use the potty - but you only want to stand up (this is a problem on lots of levels). You love to play pretend - and you've got a huge imagination which includes mixing animals, cars and people from different toys and coming up with some new pretend places. You sing quietly to yourself a lot. You don't say too much (your brother likes to talk for you and you don't seem to mind), but I know you're going to have a lot to say when you're ready. You love stories - right now your favorites are How I Became A Pirate, Richard Scary's Best Story Book Ever, and The Hug Book. You often fall asleep holding a story and laying on an animal.

Yesterday when you woke up, you crawled in bed with MJ and I and I had so much fun watching you with your sister. For all your energy, you held her tiny hands and rubbed her arms gently, just enjoying this quiet, special time. You and she are going to have a special relationship - I can see what a good big brother you are already. She's going to need someone special to look up to - and I have no doubt that it's going to be you. You'll be the one to make sure she knows how to wrestle, how to make mud pies, how to drag race her bike (into the fence). She'll learn how to stick up for herself because you'll show her how to be tough. And she'll actually be strong, because she'll know how much you love her (and that you'll be standing right behind her when times get tough).


You LOVE Seamus. I hope that through the years and all the ups and downs that siblings have with each other, you never lose your devotion to each other. You and Seamus really spend all your time playing together in the yard or in the sun room - sometimes there is bickering - but mostly you two just love to be together. In fact, I took you and MJ to a well visit at the doctor two weeks ago and we left Seamus with Aunt Katie to have a nap. When we got home and Seamus woke up from his nap, he came tearing downstairs asking very anxiously "Is Finny OK?" And no matter how much I assured him that you weren't sick, he just wanted to see for himself. He found you in the sunroom and Katie and I heard him say: "Finny are you OK? I'm glad you're OK." And although we didn't see it, I'm pretty sure that you had a little hug.



I don't know what you'll be like as you grown up - whether you'll be a professional biker, a pirate or a cowboy. But I do know that these two years have gone so fast - that somehow it never seemed like you were ever a baby. And I know that your arrival into our world (which was very wild and fast) has forever changed us for the better.

Aunt Katie goes to New Jersey tomorrow and you have been so blessed by this special trip with her. Yesterday, when she and I were getting ready for an adult outing, you kept finding her and bringing her outside. You just wanted her to be near - it made you feel good have you in your sights. I hope you have lots of memories of this time as you grow up - of reading stories and playing puppets - of our long walks and good night kisses.

This morning I got a wonderfully long cuddle when you got up and as my mother would say - it filled me up for the day. Someday, when you're old enough to read all these entries, I hope you can see the story of a family that loves being a family and loves you so very much. Happy Birthday, Mr. Finn. We're going to have a great day.

Andie & Connor

So last weekend was Andie and Connor's first flight together and of course, they handled it like pros. It was such a pleasure to have them here with us - watching them together is so much fun. There is no little boy who will be loved like Connor is - he is immediately the apple of every one's eye.

But I have to be honest, I couldn't help but feel sad as we were getting ready for them to arrive that this was a trip Tom should have been coming on - one of those family classics that we'd rehash for years. I can picture sitting at the kitchen table laughing about the boys and thinking about the years ahead - picturing what the kids might be like as they grew up. It was hard to stomach that he wasn't coming along. Seamus was also a little upset before they got here - maybe he's just in tune to my emotions and he had a little cry before naps on the 3rd. He asked me why God couldn't just make another Tom and I said because he's not gone, he's just in heaven watching over us all.

And then Andie and Connor arrived shining like they always do, and I suddenly felt better. Andie has a lovely grace about her that lets you know that it's going to be alright. We all talked about Tom (among lots of other things). We laughed a ton and we said an awful lot of "I Love Yous". We made new memories. Told a lot of stories. But really we just got to be together as siblings (and now as parents too). I am so grateful for Andie - for her openness, her strength, her sense of humor and her friendship. And Connor, Oh Man, is he going to be fun. The pictures don't do justice to how solid he is - he already is Andie's rock. Life is complicated - but it isn't anything at all if we don't have each other.

Cheating off my sister's blog

4th of July pictures - courtesy of Katie's blog



Cousins



Happy 4th!



Wisconsin Races

For those of you already reading all the Dougherty blogs - sorry for the duplication.

Who Are You? Grandma?

Action shot - on the way to Wisconsin - 4 car seats - 4 adults. One hour. Nice work.






Here are some photos from our trip to Community Homestead in Wisconsin. We've joined an organic farm that delivers to St. Paul - so far it's been a wonderful thing. The idea was to take more seriously what we eat and how we prepare it - and in the process we get to show the kids where food comes from before it gets to our table or even before it goes to the grocery store. It's one thing to see the beets and the fennel - an entirely different thing to see the cows...but I guess it's a sort of truth in advertising...

Anyway, we all got to see the cows being milked and feed the new born cows (the whole thing was a little odd for a new nursing mother). The boys loved it. Now Andie, Katie, James and I were all ready for a power soaking with some serious soap and water. Let's just say, I learned not to wear sandals to the farm...




I have so many stories from the last few weeks I hardly know where to start...A few minutes ago I told the boys to "get moving" we're going inside to have lunch. At which Seamus responded: "Who are you? Grandma?" Horror of Horror. Not yet, but pretty soon.

Speaking of Grandma, the LifeTime tri is this weekend and the crazy Schneeman's got written up in the St. Paul paper - see link: http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_6329759

Finn's newest phrase (if you can call it that) is YeeHAAA (really loud and then repeat). I'll add some video later.

Seamus also learned a new "sign off" from one of the neighbors. Maddie and Tommy stopped by to say hi this morning and as they were leaving Seamus yelled down the street: "See ya round like a donut..." The kids looks a little confused but I think it was his first intentional play on words.

Oh, there is so much more to get posted...

Dougherty Grandkids