7.21.2009

And just to prove that we are all still here, I chased the kids through the house today until they agreed to pose for individual shots. Well, I didn't actually chase them, but there may have been minor bribery involved.....

Finn

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Sidhe

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Maija

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Ruari

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Micah

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Nuala

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Oscar

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And let's not forget little miss June8ug, who unfortunately is too little to pose in front of the grape vine but was a good sport nonetheless, check out how long she is getting!

Saoirse

7.21.2009

Today was my mom's birthday (happy birthday Sarah!) and so I'm thinking a birthday collage of all these beautiful faces is in order.

Still Here

In case you were wondering.....

We are still here.

We are still enjoying the simple pleasures of summertime.

We are still taking the playground by storm, frequenting the farmers market, splashing away at the water park and parading around the neighborhood in our fancy schmancy stroller.

We are still browsing the library and enjoying music at our nearby bandshell.

We are still grilling out and filling up the kiddie pools.

We are still here.

#9

I am proud to announce that we welcomed our ninth and final child earlier this week.

I know, I know, we said we were done, but who could resist this adorable little guy? When UPS dropped him off on our doorstep I couldn't just turn him away!

This dune buggy will make running errands with three little ones a breeze, or at least just physically possible. Since I am still wearing Saoirse in the baby carrier the twins are enjoying the stroller as a double.

We've only taken a few walks together so I don't have a lot of pavement history to base a decent review off of, but as for now I am still in love with #9.

Going Digital

Look. Look. Look.

LOOK!!!

One of Saoirse's first "real" smiles, and I captured it quite by accident, or simply sheer luck, on film. Well not exactly on film, but close enough. And I only had to take about 34 photos of her in the bathtub (again) to get this ONE, but that's the beauty of going digital, right?

Bath Time

Bath time is so much fun when you are a little one, especially when you get to splash around on the kitchen counter while your parents tell you over and over and over and over again just how cute you are.

Don't let the tongue fool you folks, this little girl LOVES bath time.

Sneaking a Peek

The twins have been very interested in their little sister since we brought her home. Nuala loves to talk about her and will shush you with one finger over her mouth when she thinks the baby is sleeping, or will tell you when she hears the baby.

"Baby cry. Baby cry. Baby cry", she'll say over and over again, as if there was any chance you didn't already hear the crying yourself. Here they are sneaking a peek....

Almost

We almost accomplished getting our family photo taken.

ALMOST.

Finn, Sidhe and Ruari left this morning for a vacation out east and so we decided that a quick photo shoot in the back yard was in order, unfortunately we forgot to factor in the need for a photographer which of course is why we still couldn't get a shot of all 10 of us together!

Heat Wave

The heat wave is finally here and so we have been coming up with creative ways to stay cool, although I suppose water and wading pools aren't really that creative.

Earlier this week I took 6 kids to the pool all by myself and it actually went very well. Saoirse slept the entire time we were there, the older kids were absolutely perfect and the twins, well, I did have to devote all of my energy chasing them around the shallow end, but since everyone else was so agreeable this was not a problem (and was actually a ton of fun). 

Yet even though I have passed the first test with flying colors, there are some days when it is too much to even think about loading everyone up for a day at the water park and so on these days the driveway will simply have to do!

The Jungle Gods

We keep talking about it (and trust me so do our neighbors) but so far this year we have actually done very little about it, and so for now we still have a gigantic thorny mess in the front yard.

Garden of the Jungle Gods......

Nuala really doesn't find much humor in any of it.

Oscar on the other hand has no problem digging in.

Down By The River

These pictures are actually from June 8th, 2009.

Brendan took off of work all last week (and is only working half days this week) and so we took a lot of field trips with Saoirse and the twins while the big kids finished up at school. Nuala and Oscar loved our hikes down by the river. Saoirse was pretty much happy to go wherever the Baby Bjorn took her.

Busted again: Socks with sandals.....poor kids!!!!