Casa de Callaghan

Tommy and the dolphins!

2010-09-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the aquarium and we (Will and I), watched the coolest interaction between Tommy and the dolphins!! He's really into sharing his water with Will and decided this dolphin might like some. He held it out for him and the dophin kept circling and coming back to Tommy. The aquarium volunteer said the dolphins really like little kids-Tommy was making his "sipping" sounds and laughing-so funny!

And then this guy came over...right for him!

It was so cool! Had to share, still working on the other posts!

Under construction, new post(s) coming soon!

2010-09-15T06:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long!!

Michael days!

2010-06-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

Here are the boys on Dad-Dad's day morning enjoying breakfast-Will really liked the whip cream!

Tommy eyeing the photobook & wrapping paper he made his Dad-Dad.

Tommy was also really proud of the sticker card he made-so cute! Michael has been putting his pajamas on at night and they're really into the no matching jams.

Then we went to get Michael's favorite iced coffee in town-Will's already buzzing, Tommy always is!

The boys on the patio re-enacting our Christmas card.

Then we set up the exersaucer for Will. Love the look on his face. Tommy still thinks it's for him too, we're having a really hard time keeping him out of it.

He likes it!

Next was Michael's birthday. Callaghan family tradition is Bocconi for dessert. Tommy has been enjoying helping me cook...this was his first taste of the batter-loved it! He's pretty picky with sweets, so I didn't think he was going to like it...proved he's a Callaghan!

More please! Or MOW MOW MOW, as T says!

Very skilled with a spatula already!

MOW!

Birthday boy, notice how dark it is? We ate late, as usual and by ourselves :) Don't tell Tommy!

Summer is about to start! We're outta TX for the whole month of July to celebrate W's baptism, Tommy's 2nd birthday and have lots of fun!! Can't wait!!

A potty should look like a potty.

2010-06-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Race car potty out of the box

Being carried to the bathroom

Checking it out

Closer look

And it's off, never to be used as a potty again. It's a race car!

The end.

No thanks.

2010-06-08T19:40:00.000-07:00

Last friday night we thought we'd give Will a little treat for dinner and let him try rice cereal. We gave it to Tommy earlier than 5 months, so I was already feeling a little sad for him that he was behind in the game.

Here is is waiting patiently wondering what the heck is going on:

What was that?

HOLD UP! SICK.

Panic as he sees more is coming!

I think he's going to puke. Both hands are up in self defense:

Enough already!

The look of torture, anger, confusion.

The end of rice cereal for at least a week. Poor sweet boy. I think I made it too thick too. Sorry Will!

T in action this week.

2010-06-06T06:26:00.000-07:00

Water weekend!

2010-06-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

Look at these two gorgeous blue eyed boys! So lucky! Went for a quick dip in our neighbor's pool again Saturday-no snake! Yessss!

Maybe one of them will end up a soccer player?

T noodlin it at the pool up in San Antonio

Right in the middle of all the action, stomping on a sprinkler. He loved this resort, we only went for a night but it was so fun and worth all the packing!

T about to climb up the huge ladder to the slide (with a little help). We discovered (afterwards) that it a little too advanced-but he wanted to try it! Brave boy!

A much smaller slide, they had water running down it and he ended up going down backwards saying, "woa, woa, woa." So funny! I'll put the videos up soon!

Slip-n-slide or running/jumping straightaway to Tommy!

Love this picture! Just happy lounging!

B.F.F. Skeber!

Sooo cute!

What a great weekend, what beautiful boys!!

BB

2010-05-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

Last friday we walked down to our neighbor's house for a nice afternoon swim...turned out TX style. Just walkin...

Will and I followed (hat is looking a little girlie)

T stealing the neighbor's paper...again!

Swimmin, Boston style

Kickin it W style

SNAKE! In the pool, of course, it's Texas!

I don't care how small it is!

The next day Michael and Tommy put together his new bed. He finally figured out he could climb out the other side at around 4am Saturday. It's getting better everyday-at first it was taking an hour and a half to get him down for naps/bed time, but now were down to around 20-40. He hasn't gotten up in the middle of the night for the past two nights and hasn't fallen out of bed either since we put a body pillow on the open side.

T making sure it's sturdy enough

Helping move it into his room

First test

How he'll spend most of his time

"NIGH NIGHT" he says-to get us out of the room so he can start jumping up and playing

I'll take some pictures with all his pillows, it's pretty funny. I don't know why they don't make padded toddler beds-he's banged his head twice on the rails. But he is sleeping in it. Big boy chair at the table, big boy bed...two is coming up way too fast!

Blurrrrrrr

2010-05-15T07:43:00.001-07:00

These past few weeks have been a blurr, mostly due to lack of sleep. T caught another virus. In two weeks he's picked up two of them, going from never really being sick to fighting two nasty ones. Will is doing great, has luckily avoided catching them, not sure how considering how many kisses an hour he gets from Tommy. He had his 4 month appt and weighed just over 16 lbs (75th%) and measured 24.8 cm (50%). They also had the nerve to say to us that he has a big head. Biggest news with Will is that he started crawling-not across the room crawling, but crawled from the foot of our bed to the top and if he's on his tummy he's tucking his legs under him and moving. Craziness.

Will at 4 months

T playing in his first sprinkler

We went to the beach last Saturday-first time we really appreciated that you can drive your car on the beach-made a great little cabana for Will in the back of my car. Here's the boys enjoying a picnic lunch S. Texas style

Happy boy

Coming back to the cabana after playing

T went up a hat size, so got to try out his new red hat

Here's to a couple weeks of being healthy....please!!

24 hrs felt like 24 days.

2010-05-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 25. International Boat Show, 11:30am, watching the wakeboard competition.

Tommy trying his first snow cone-loved it. 12pm.

Monday, April 26th Driscoll's Children's Hospital. Post 2 Febrile Seizures. 3pm-ish. Tommy having a picnic lunch with toys in hospital crib.

T in his beautiful gown/kimono showing off his "bracelet" on his ankle that he loved!

Ready to get outta there!

I've been trying to get this post up for a couple weeks and haven't been able to. So it's going up the way it is. The most traumatic experience in our lives, too difficult to describe except for I don't know what I would have done if Michael wasn't there and we are blessed that Tommy is healthy and will eventually grow out of these (and may or may not ever have another).
Just another reminder of how fragile life is.

Shark and minnows

2010-04-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

That's Tommy splashing and kicking while everyone

else is calm during his first swim class.

Here's what we learned at swim class:

1. It takes Tommy a little bit of time to warm up .

2. Tommy loves to lay on his back and kick. No matter what everyone else is doing And he's

really good at it!

3. Tommy has a serious dislike for locker rooms!

Begging to get out!

Blowing bubbles, me that is.

And Will rolled from his back to tummy!! Busy boys, so much fun,

I'll post pics of W

later...onto house projects-goes on the market tomorrow!!

Update and all work no play.

2010-04-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

What an interesting couple of days! Monday afternoon after half an hour of putting Tommy back in the crib about 20 times while I was trying to get him to take a nap, he fell into the wall and I found him between the wall and his crib. After we checked him out, I put him back in and he fell asleep right away-soo exhausted (both of us!). Michael returned that evening and Tommy didn't try to climb out once. It was either because he remembered the outcome of the last attempt or it was because I finally smartened up and pushed the crib against the wall. Either way, it's working so far and has bought us a little more time. Michael picked up a toddler bed on his drive home from Houston, so we're all set for that battle when it comes up again.

My mom was here last week, it was a working week with not that many fun adventures. Our to do list has been enormous trying to get ready to put our house on the market next week and we couldn't have gotten any of it done without her! I told her next visit she just gets to be waited on hand and foot and it's going to be all play! She did a ton of playing with the boys though-the above picture is an afternoon of fun in the water turned mud!

Sweet doll baby! Getting so big I can hardly carry him in his car seat.

Tommy helping clean out the office closet-busted!

Will having playtime with Grandma.

Tommy is eating more and more like his Dad-pickles and he couldn't get enough of his reuben sandwich. He loves potato chips-barbeque, salt & vinegar and doesn't have much of a taste for sweets.

Grandma singing to Will. He just smiles constantly!

This was the start of the afternoon water=mud day-he got soaked, so we stripped him. The kid loves water! We start swim classes monday, can't wait to see how that goes...I'm hoping he'll want to stay in rather than climb the bleachers...we'll see!

Thanks Grandma!!

Our life has changed forever....

2010-04-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC3eRZBvtek

It happened during nap time. Michael and I were both gone, my mom was the lucky one to experience it.

Too tired to write anything more...he's still escaping. Michael and I have both tried to get him down, it's almost been an hour.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T20:37:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend. We did Tommy's first egg hunt at home Saturday-he loved it, we put raisins, cheerios in most of the eggs-he would find one, open it, eat it's contents and then move on. Two of the eggs had jelly beans (the only candy he will eat) and I think he was more excited about raisins. Sunday we went to mass at 10 and then did T's first major egg hunt. He was well prepared-good night sleep, good breakfast, lots of coaching, so he went home with a total of 5. Good stuff. Then I spent the afternoon cooking for our Easter dinner. Michael played with the boys and went to pick up my mom. Dinner was great, Uncle Chadd & Aunt Jilly came over and Jake, Marla & Avery joined us for dessert. I failed to take pictures past 12, bummer b/c there were a lot of fun moments, especially in the backyard after dinner.

But we did get this shot-one of my all time favorites. Hilarious.

I like this one too!

T was up first to find the baskets...

He wanted to color right away.

The boys, all with very different looks on their faces.

Cute...

T really happy sharing his chair...Will just dancing away...

Heading to the hunt, last minute snack for energy.

Lookin...

Found one!

Michael doing some sideline coaching. Needs to take it a little more seriously next year!

It's all over..T's pretty exhausted, "whoooo!"

Back at home, T was passing Michael a booger. Seriously. Fun new game. Check out Will's pants, too much candy I think.

Love this one. So silly, already!

The boys before dinner.

Hope you all had a great weekend! We're busy busy here-early spring cleaning & having fun with Grandma!

W

2010-04-01T18:22:00.000-07:00

Happy happy boy! He's the sweetest little guy!!

And he's strong too!! So lucky!

A weekend of firsts-for Will, that is!

2010-03-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon we drove over to Kingsville to check out the airshow....

We sat in the car because Tommy wouldn't wear his ear plugs and the jets were loud!!He did get out and run in between the F-16's and Blue Angels (notice the pink cheeks). We were right in front of the flight line, so it was perfect-I highly recommend trying it out at the next air show you attend!

Both boys loved watching the Blue Angels-they flew for over an hour...they were still flying as we drove away. The entire time Tommy said "wah wah" over and over and over...a break from "bahhhhbaaa."

Saturday we went on our first family run with the double BOB BOB. Michael pushed the first mile and a half and then Tommy and I got out and walked/ran up a ramp/played in a gazebo, until they came back to get us. It was fun, glad Michael pushed!

Saturday afternoon Will graduated from his plastic bath tub onto this lovely yellow giant spunge...Will loved it. Actually he's always liked his baths. He pretty much goes along with everything :)

And Sunday not only did Michael give him his first bottle, he took pictures while giving it to him! What a pro! I was at the hospital visiting the boys' newest friend, Keaton William, (congrats Megan!)and decided to leave one just in case. Michael says he guzzled it down and probably wanted more. Yesssss!

So he's just cruising along...getting a lot stronger too:

What a great weekend!!

Play time!

2010-03-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, these aren't even close! Will is a couple weeks older in his shot and Tommy was born with so much more hair. But thought it would be fun to re-enact anyways!

This one cracks me up...similar expressions.

So over it.

T is going for the camera, which he calls, "cheese."

Tommy used a fork for the first time a couple days ago, he did better with it than a spoon. And straight to the bath he went right after...such a mess on spagetti nights, I debate making it!

St. Patty's day shoot...it was interesting...full of kisses of course!

They're so onto us already-we switched shirts and they both knew we wanted some good shots, so it was pretty much over.

Will was up for a couple solo shots

Then it was tummy time for both!

And the first wrestling match caught on camera:

Don't worry, he's not putting any weight on him!

Reading and first road trip with 4!

2010-03-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

Here's the most adorable pictures ever of Michael reading to the boys the night before we left to head up to Austin...so sweet....

Listening very intently...

Will thinks that page is funny...

Has to end with a kiss of course!

Saturday morning we packed up the car to go see Auntie Keeks one last time before she moves from her apartment into a house. We learned some lessons about packing for four, especially with two under 2-no matter how tired you are, if you plan on leaving in the morning, pack the night before. We still got on the road by 9, but we had to work really hard! Tommy and Will did great, we made it 2 1/2 hrs before having to stop to feed Will. Here we are loaded and ready to go, the back seat is full!!

Someone fell asleep before we even left the garage:

Someone else did not:

Sunday we walked down to the lake/park to see the kite festival-here's just a small portion of the sky (we were by all the little ones):

Tommy sees one...

thinks it might be in this huge dirt pile:

tie-dye, must be his Oregon roots kicking in...

testing the wind...

lift off...

check it out!

Water break! Will is in front, not to be missed!

Dad displaying the importance of safety at all times, Tommy might have been throwing the tupperware.

Just kicking it at Auntie Keeks-this was the cutest apartment in a great location! It will be missed!!

Dancin...

Will was dancin too!

We came back monday, drive home took a little longer, but so worth it! Thanks again to Katie for letting us come visit and for being so much fun, Tommy really misses pulling you all over by your finger :)

2 months...and one week

2010-03-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

A little behind for Will's two month update...so here we go: He weighs 14lbs, 6.5 ounces (75th%) and is 23 inches (and something) long, (99th%). He's long past 0-3 size clothing and out of some 3 month stuff! Really into smiling and talking right now, it's the sweetest! His eyes are getting more blue everyday, hair still light (looks red sometimes) and he continues his daily blowouts (lots of laundry)! He also only woke up once saturday night, so we couldn't ask for more!! Here he is the day after he hit two months (memory card ran out).

Here's Tommy yesterday at our favorite park. We were supposed to be inside the church at Mass, but it was our first time trying it out and wasn't what we expected. But we know we love the park, so out we went. Michael's been sick the last couple days, so we're all just trying to stay healthy!

March is flying by...really want time to stop for just a little.

Eber & Skeber and other bits

2010-03-02T17:36:00.000-08:00

We had a photo shoot yesterday morning-the boys were in matching p.j.'s and they needed some pictures with their new friends, Eber & Skeber (from Mimi & Ma). So cute, so fun...the boys love them, Tommy takes Eber for drives in his little car and makes sure Will knows Skeber belongs to him. Tommy sat holding Will for at least 10 minutes in the chair, they were both happy and when I went to pick up Will, Tommy was not happy. He's such a good big brother!!

This is Tommy's cheese face, many of you have seen it before...so silly!

Sharing his monkey, the ultimate gesture from Tommy!

Daddy and Will, just talking and smiling.

Two months on Thursday!!

Tommy on the way home from the park...he wasn't mad or sad, just being Tommy!

Busted the boys in their hiding spot the other morning...

We broke down and gave Tommy his first McDonald's cheeseburger Saturday night...he ate maybe half, mostly bread. No fries.

Buenos noches!

Brothers

2010-02-26T08:24:00.000-08:00

Similar, but different...can you tell who's who?

Auntie Meow Meow and bits...

2010-02-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

We've been busy with Mimi & Ma and Auntie Keeks, so it's been awhile. Here's some pics from before their visit (I have to "steal" the pictures they took, before I can do a post from their visit).

Standard Auntie behavior, I was only allowed one shot before she left. We had a great visit, so nice of Wyatt to lend her for a couple days.

Here's Will giving her a goodbye kiss :

And here's our little mischievous Tommy :

And sometimes naughty Tommy :

It was way too quiet while I was making dinner...

And here's Will a week ago, not too happy with his too small onesie:

He's up to 13lbs 6oz! And usually happy :)

One month photo shoot in the BOB BOB.

2010-02-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

Michael put the car seat bar on the double BOB BOB today, so I thought we'd take Will's one month pictures in it before we went out for a walk in it (don't worry we did put will in his car seat, he just fit so perfectly sitting in it for the pictures). Here's the sequence of events...

T spots Will, must kiss the "baaaabaahhh"

Moment to himself..getting big, huh!

Everyone is loaded, Dad's getting out of the way.

T sees the "baaaabaaahhh."

Must kiss him...

Now T can shake the tray and say something really calmly :)

T decides he's making a break for it, it's been all of 20 seconds.

T showing W how to escape.

Love the looks exchanged, click on it to enlarge-so funny!

All in a matter of 30 seconds...so fun around here.

Aunties

2010-02-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

Auntie Sis and Auntie Keeks came down for the weekend and we managed to get two pictures just as they were leaving :)

We had a lot of fun with them, especially Tommy and Will. Tommy loved having them chase after him and showing them all of his favorite activities and Will was happy for another set of arms to hold him (oh wait, that was me). Sis came all the way from NY and it was her first trip, so we were so happy to finally have her here!

The boys will learn soon enough how lucky they are to have so many people that love them.

I forgot to put pictures of Will's first bath in last weeks post-he had a similar reaction to Tommy during his first bath-not really a fan...

Here's Tommy in his new favortie play spot-we tried for a couple days to keep him out of it, but finally surrendered-only when Will is not sleeping in it.

Tommy also discovered a new toy-the broom. Here he is helping Grandma clean up the day she left. We've since found him an appropriate sized broom so he's not swinging the full sized one around like a sword. So cute and he's so helpful!

And one last cute brother shot-Tommy is still loving all over Will...so sweet!

Double digits

2010-01-27T12:22:00.000-08:00

Will turned 3 weeks old Monday! At his dr. appt he weighed in at 10lbs 3.5 ozs (70th%) and measured 22 1/2 in long (90th%). She said he is doing wonderfully and of course we agree! Here's a look back at last week:

Will at 3 wks

Will smiling at Grandma because he's so happy in the blanket she made him!

We found a great new park and Tommy went on his first teeter-totter ride!

Attempted photo shoot, didn't go according to plan, someone isn't so into photo shoots yet :)

This is how Tommy spent one of his "naps"-he reached out and pulled the tent from the corner of the room into his crib! Nap over because we were laughing so hard!

More kisses for his "baaaaabaaaaahhhhyyy" brother

And we threw Michael a "Superman" dinner party last week (more to come on that later); but basically it was to show him how much we love him and believe in him.

Grandma leaves in 2 days, we'll MISS her and will never be able to thank her enough for all she has done!! But luckily Grandpa Martin, Auntie Sis & Auntie Keeks arrive the next day-yipppeeeee!!!

Brotherly love!!

2010-01-21T07:25:00.000-08:00

Someone is a natural big brother! This morning he just wanted to shower him with kisses-sooo cute!

He was probably kissing him for 5 minutes and saying "baaaaahhhhbbbyyy."

And he also likes to push him in his swing...usually starts out slow and then picks up way too much speed.

But Will doesn't seem to mind...yet.

He likes to push Will in the stroller...

And he's teaching him songs at storytime.

So fun!!! And we feel VERY lucky!!

Two Weeks!

2010-01-19T11:43:00.000-08:00

Time of course is flying by! Here we are at Hester's -Tommy (with Grandma) after my dr's appt that finally cleared me to pick up Tommy and drive! Freedom!

We took Will to his first Mass at St. Pius (again - Tommy, he was sleeping at home, thanks again Grandma!!).

Grandpa arrived for a couple days and had a lot of fun playing with Tommy and meeting Will

They took him to storytime last tuesday while Will and I rested.

We also took Will on his first outing last week-lunch at Small Planet Deli, also the place of T's first outing as a baby-Will is in front of me, the guy that took the picture didn't know that he was the whole key to the picture, oops!

Tommy watched a little girl on the bars at the park and wanted right up too-he did 3 pull ups!! So impressive-the pull ups and Grandma lifting him the whole time!

The first time Tommy really asked to hold his brother-so sweet!! He's been so good with him, says "baaaaaaby" over and over and hasn't shown any jealousy/insecurities...just wants to climb in his swing & bouncer.

T playing in the rain with Grandpa & Grandma-love this shot!

And little doll baby Will, a couple days ago. He goes in Thur for his 2 wk appt and we'll update you with his "stats." Advanced, I'm sure :)

One week old already!!

2010-01-11T06:44:00.000-08:00

We can't believe Will was born a week ago! Here's a look at the past week, I uploaded a new "editor" in hopes of solving the video upload issues, but it's even worse, so the pictures are not in order..sorry!

Here's Will yesterday giving a shout out that he's #2:

He got his first sponge bath yesterday, was fine until we washed his hair and then got a little cold. He rarely cries, such a good mellow baby!

Just a cute shot, already in his bouncer, chillin.

Here's Tommy and Will at the exact time he turned one week...looks really cute right? Tommy started violently shaking the bouncer about three seconds later :)

Tommy took a bath while Will got his, all clean. Will already gives me kisses :)

Will taking a nap over the weekend

Tommy saying hi to Will, this was the first time he really acknowledged him and a lot had to do with the fact that Michael was holding him...Tommy and Michael have been inseparable this past week.

Grandma getting Will some sun. The pediatrician was a little concerned about his bilirubin score, he's been right on the border, so we sunned him all weekend and go back today to get him checked again. At Thursday's appointment Will was just about back to his birth weight and amazingly grew an inch! (ha, we knew the hospital was wrong, so he was really 21 1/2 in long when he was born!)

Will and Daddy resting...a rare shot, Tommy must have been down for the night.

Tommy in his "big brother" present-a tunnel ball pit, it's been quite a hit!

Grandpa arrives today and we're hoping Tommy can finally ditch this cold so we can get him outside more. Off to feed Will :)

Introducing William Michael Callaghan...

2010-01-07T06:43:00.000-08:00

William (Will) was born monday morning at 7:59am. He weighed 8lbs, 12 ozs and they measured him at 20 1.2in, though Michael says he is 21 in long. He was in breech position, so shocked the dr by mooning her :) He's a beautiful mellow baby who rarely cries, but here's a video right after he was born :

Big brother and Grandma came to see us, unfortunately has a really bad cold...

Family of four! Love to all!

Boys...cars...baby!

2010-01-03T14:40:00.000-08:00

Michael and his new truck, "Truck." Love it!

Tommy wanted in on this post too, so here's T with his favorite truck, "Tkkknnnonkkkaa"

Tomorrow is the big day! Can't believe we'll have a new picture similar to this one and we'll be a family of four! And I'll be completely outnumbered...

Merry Christmas

2009-12-27T03:14:00.000-08:00

Here's Tommy's picture with Santa. We went to the mall and used a "fast pass" so we wouldn't have to wait in line. This was our third attempt in the past week, we finally caved to the fast pass and it worked perfectly-cut at least 30 people. They were going to try to get a perfect smiling picture and I knew this was exactly what was going to happen, so we were in & out in less than 5 minutes with a priceless shot!

The boys on Christmas Eve.

Such a handsome little boy!

Tommy opening his one present on Christmas Eve, new pajamas of course!

Proud Dad after completing Tommy's train table/set.

Tommy playing with his favorite toy of Christmas morning-it's in his hand-the Elmo toothbrush!

Relaxing Christmas morning (and showing off his cheesy smile).

Laying and playing.

Michael opening his new iced coffee maker.

Tommy with his new bobblehead, Ellsbury, also holding Dad's mini Miller Lite mints.

My mom sent me an Euberskuberweiss, or something like that, so we made them Christmas morning.

I made the basic vanilla ones with strawberries and whip cream.

T approved!

Here's the video of when he first got up

Trying to get T into his stocking, took a while.

I've been trying to upload the video of when he first sees his train set, but of course it's not happening. Maybe I'll try later in the week. We've had a great weekend, relaxing and getting bits done. Oh, there aren't pictures past early morning because I dropped our camera and broke it...new one on the way with my mom who arrives tomorrow to help get ready for #2!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas tree hunting

2009-12-06T18:16:00.000-08:00

Sunday we went to get our tree. We're not sure how many decorations we'll be putting on it, but were determined as always to find the perfect one. Tommy had other activities in mind...

the boys walking in (love these shots I get of them when they are stride for stride-so cute)!

T finding his first (of many) puddles...luckily he was wearing his new pair of leather shoes as opposed to all his others that are canvas.

He found one!

We found one on the other side (he doesn't know we didn't pick his, too busy puddle jumping-see video below).

T going home in an old family tradition style- mine, I used to get so muddy every year, they made me ride in the back with the tree-T was soaked, so we stripped him.

Here's what Tommy thinks finding the perfect tree is all about...

Ooops, been trying for 24 hrs to get video up, I give up for now...will try tomorrow!!

Basket Head & 4 wheelin

2009-12-01T16:42:00.000-08:00

Tommy woke up this morning and about 10 minutes later we heard a pitter patter as he came running out of the office and through our house with this garbage basket on his head. Such a clever boy, we've never shown him this :)

Uncle Chadd and Aunt Jilly gave Tommy this battery operated 4 wheeler for his birthday. We finally felt he might be able to handle the power, so this is from the day after Thanksgiving-hardcore! I think he spent more time pushing it himself than sitting on it, but he loves it! Sooo cool!

Playing and pooping, take 2.

2009-10-15T18:14:00.000-07:00

Luckily this time we weren't in the bathtub! We took a privacy/half time break so he could finish his business...he resumed funny faces so I recorded some more.

We were hoping we could get a video of him saying "Mimi" in honor of her birthday today, but he's waiting to say it to her in person :)

Bath time fun!

2009-09-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

Here's my boys last night...right after I stopped recording we noticed T was laughing so hard he had pooped in the tub. Sick. But it was soo funny. This was the tail end of 5 minutes of serious laughter!

Sharing

2009-09-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

I came home from the gym and interrupted an important life lesson Michael was trying to teach Tommy...sharing his snacks with his future baby brother, whom I fear is going to be nick-named "Teddy" because that's what Michael calls his baby doll. Such a cute moment, I had to grab the camera.

Tommy served himself breakfast this morning

2009-09-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

He had just finished eating some Cheerios in his chair and I let him down with the box. He snuck around the corner into our bedroom while I was doing some dishes. I could hear how much fun he was having and this image flashed through my mind, so I went to check it out...guess he was still hungry! He was having so much fun! I'm glad our carpets are clean b/c I let him take some handfuls. I love his explanation and his little silly laugh at what he did-he's talking non-stop now!

Sooo proud of himself!!

Favorite corner in the world!

2009-09-13T17:29:00.001-07:00

How cool is this? It's in Osseo, WI about two minutes from where the Callaghan family business sits. We stopped by on our drive from Eau Claire to Milwaukee, after an amazing Callaghan family reunion in August (trying to catch up some summer posts). Sorry Grandpa Martin, someone must have switched the signs since you last saw them :)

Michael and Tommy in front of the house Marty (Michael's Dad) grew up in along with his 10 other brothers and sisters. It's the most beautiful house off of Lake drive in Milwaukee. It was such a treat to stay there and Michael was thrilled to show Tommy because he was Tommy's age when they lived there for a little while.

You can almost see the whole house now-they needed every inch with 13 people inside!

Massa & Dadzo, the two responsible for it all-I hadn't seen them since our wedding and we were so happy to introduce them to Tommy.

This is my one photo from Menasha, WI the first half of our trip. That's Mike G's dad, Don, on the right showing off one of his racing pigeons-soo cool, he set them free and they just flew in circles above us until he called them back in...never seen anything like it. Tommy loved the birds. We had a great time meeting all of the Griesbach clan-great people!

Schools out, bananas.

2009-09-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

We decided to take Tommy out of school...too hard on me! I dreaded tuesdays/thursdays and loved the days I kept him home. I know we didn't give it a fair shot (he was only with them one full day and one half day out of the first two weeks), but I'm so happy to have him all to myself! He seems pretty happy too...this video was at dinner last night, bananas.

Tommy's first day of "school" (Mommy's Day Out)

2009-09-01T10:11:00.001-07:00

Getting ready to go...sure seems excited!!

This is one of his new smiles-so funny!!

Getting ready to go...check out the back pack-so cute, but doll size (another victory for Pottery Barn)! Unfortunately can't hold the stuff he needs for school, so it stayed home.

He's in the "Bunnies" room-9 one yr olds and two teachers. It's tue/thur 9:30-2:30.

Handed him over to his two teachers...he was ok until she turned and took him inside, then the crying started. Tommy and me. So tough. I've been to the gym, vacuumed our couch, blinds, living room, uploaded some pictures, cleaned the kitchen and it's been three hours...#2 wants his brother back so this mad woman will calm down. Hopefully when I go to get him at 2:30 he'll be ok!

All in about 5 minutes...

2009-08-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

Tommy is busy. Tommy is advanced :) Here he is climbing all over his play house and then blowing a whistle and driving his car. I am amazed at his whistle blowing abilities because he was introduced to it this afternoon. Never a dull day here...

#2's debut...

2009-08-24T05:55:00.001-07:00

We're moving forward! If there's anything to get me to do a new post it's the first pictures of our second little boy on the way! We found out last friday that Tommy's going to have a little brother! I was finally right :) Michael was convinced it was a girl because I've had a reaction to my wedding rings this time. Tommy never sat with us long enough to cast his vote. Here he is:

He's weighing in at 14oz, that's in the 5oth percentile and fine with us :) They said everything is looking good!

And here's the proof :

Later that evening we decided to take the first belly shots, poor #2, Tommy had about 20 at this point. So I put on this shirt that I bought when we found out Tommy was a boy, came around the corner and it was so funny-Tommy just came running and reaching out to touch the little baby-so cute!

First shot for #2's book :) Tommy will fill in for Loki who was in all of his tummy shots.

More posts to come soon, summers over, my favorite time FALL is here...time to be busy!

Bloggers block

2009-08-02T18:49:00.000-07:00

I've got it bad...so many big life moments going on and I can't get started, so I'm stuck. We just got back from a weekend trip up to Austin (love Auntie Keeks!) and we leave tuesday for WI. So much to do tomorrow I know I'm not going to be able to update the blog or get pictures up, so I'll leave you with this sweet picture of Tommy on his first birthday. What a great day, what a great trip, surrounded by family celebrating the most fabulous little boy on earth!

Silly sunday breakfast

2009-06-28T17:38:00.001-07:00

A mellow sunday morning breakfast of blueberry banana pancakes while enjoying nice conversation:

We'll work on not spitting out our food later...we were having too much fun today to worry about it.

Father's Day & Michael's Birffftttthhday

2009-06-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was fabulous. We went up to Austin to see Aunt Katie and celebrate Michael's first Father's Day. We even went out on a date Saturday night while Auntie Keeks kicked it with Tommy (thank you!!). I could go on and on about Michael as a Dad, but I'll keep it short...I am the luckiest person to have him as my husband and Tommy is the luckiest boy in the world to have him as his Dad. I thanked Michael for making another one of my dreams come true-for being the type of Dad we all deserve, only better than we could ever imagine.

Here they are at our second choice for brunch (#1 had a line of at least 50 people waiting..no joke)! We were trying to get a cute Father's day shot, but Tommy had other squirmy plans.

Really squirming.

Handsome boy.

Showing off his Father's Day shirt.

Then monday was Michael's birrfffftthhhday! Here's Tommy waiting for him to come home so we can get the party started. Please click on this picture so you can read his cute t-shirt Auntie Sierra gave him-he finally fits into it!

Opening the card from Tommy, "Happy Birffthday to the man...from the little man."

I didn't torture him with 33 candles, I did 9, 3 x 3 = 9 and it's the best #.

Ending the day with a birthday hug...so sweet.

Life is good!

New summer toys

2009-06-15T11:52:00.001-07:00

Grandpa and Grandma's 1st birthday gift came early for Tommy. He's been enjoying it inside for now. The back patio is full of the pool (see below) and he's not completely walking yet so I'm not ready to have him crawling in the grass jungle that's full of spiders/ants.

He figured it all out very quickly, crawling under...

opening and closing the door (which is one of his favorite things to do all day long throughout the house)...

and even up the slide ( very scary!).

Here we are blowing up the pool, he's loving it already...

Notice the old, plain pool in the back, I bought 200 plastic balls to fill it with and bring it inside..haven't done it yet b/c I'll be picking up plastic balls all day long.

Love the dolphin spray.

Summer's going well so far...no mosquitoes yet and the temperatures hanging in the 90's :)

Someone is WALKING....

2009-06-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

On the day he turned 11 months, he started stringing steps together! We took this video after 6, so it was getting close to bedtime (which is why he's got his monkey blanket and thumb in mouth). He probably took 5 -6 good "walks" today-two in the morning and the rest after Michael got home so he was able to see it too. He had taken 1-2 steps for awhile now and could stand on his own, so I was wondering when it's official...he made it clear!! Yeaaaa!!! The funny thing is he started crawling on the day he turned 6 months and now walking on the day he turned 11 months...very interrrresting :)

Here's some funny bits that he's been doing:

Torro torro!

2009-06-07T06:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning we were just playing in the office. I looked out the window and across the street in the field there was the largest bull I have ever seen. As a child I had many nightmares about bulls, probably from the bike trips through the fields of cows in Black Butte. Later that afternoon we were back in the office playing and I decided to test Tommy's fear of bulls...I don't think he'll share my fear :

That's our favorite deep giggle he does, so funny. Here's a picture of the bull. It does not do it justice as the bull was larger than the truck. I have no idea what they were doing and I was not comfortable that only a small canal and the street separated us from this beast!

Just another day in south Texas.

Beach trip and "Dah"

2009-05-31T17:25:00.000-07:00

On Sunday of Memorial Day weekend we went to the beach. We found a spot that was closed off from cars, so that was nice (if you haven't heard, everyone drives their cars on the beaches down here, just picks their spot, turns the car off and lays their towel down-so strange). Tommy loved jumping in the waves and crawling off of the blanket/shade and into the sand/seaweed. It was fun, definitely a more "active" beach experience than Michael and I had sitting in our chairs in San Diego...but wouldn't want to change a thing....here's Tommy putting his feet in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time:

The boys-the water was great, perfect temperature.

Checking out his new beach toys.

He stayed on the blanket/in the shade for maybe 10 seconds, headed straight for the seaweed.

I made my first craigslist purchase, Tommy's new pony "Dah." He likes to climb around it more than sit and go for a ride, but he still has fun with it.

He's holding onto a piece of plastic that brought him more joy than his new pony-sometimes I wonder why we even get him toys, it's all about plastic & paper.

He loves "Dah's" ears and eyes.

Happy end of May! June is going to be a busy month and it means we'll be one month away from Tommy's first birthday-cannot believe it!!

Grandma's visit

2009-05-31T06:43:00.001-07:00

Sorry, I'm a little behind on posts...hope to catch up today! Two weeks ago my mom/Grandma flew in for the week (before her Alaska cruise!) to get her "Tommy fix." It was the first Mother's Day in a while that I was able to be with her, so that was a treat. I did not have my camera out very much, so the pictures are limited, but we had a relaxing week (went in the pool almost every day, lots of playtime and it was nice to have her to spend the days with). Friday there was a change of command ceremony for Michael's squadron, so that was fun to take her to-here she is with Tommy post ceremony (he discovered this week that he would rather push the BOB, not ride in it).

Michael's in the back row, one of the few Marines (in what I call his Wendy's hat) in a sea of Navy boys, waiting for the ceremony to start

Tommy trying out his new raft-he had so much fun swimming and Grandma got a nice little tan to bring back to OR.

Dad and T after the ceremony

Thanks for the visit Mom, so glad you're retired! Oh, she also taught Tommy all about light switches, so we spend at least 5 min every hour in the hall way switching the light off/on-he gets so excited...so funny :) And it's the first thing he wants to do everytime he wakes up, he points towards the hallway and starts yelling, "Dah. Dah." That means, "let's go play with the light switch" as well as 10 other things right now :)

Like my new shirt??

2009-05-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

We made it to show our Moms/Grandmas on Mother's Day (we did a video chat with the East coast half and we picked up my Mom with him in it)...50% figured it out right away...sometime anywhere from mid December-early January Tommy will be a big brother!! We have our first ultra-sound a week from wednesday and we'll have a better idea of the due date then :)

So far Tommy's really excited and so are we!!

First Swim!!

2009-05-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

I'm kitty/house sitting for our neighbor that has a great pool that they said we could use, so we took Tommy down for his first swim. So fun, he loved it...stood on the step first and then eased in and he laughed and floated around for about half an hour after that.

First moments in...just checking it out...

Still thinking about it...

He's in! A little colder than bath water...

Happy boy (like my parted bangs-so over them!)

We loved splashing and posing :)

Here's a video of his first moments in...do you hear his little laugh?

Swimmin with Momma

Grandma's here this week! We went swimming again today and he just floated on his back in my arms for about 10 min, so relaxed...I want a pool!!

Airshow, Mimi & Ma's visit & Austin!

2009-05-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

Tommy's all set with his ear plugs...they stayed in for about 5 minutes and were not necessary, but we were prepared just in case :)

Here's Michael...they did a fly by at the beginning of the show and it almost didn't happen b/c the weather was so poor. It was really funny, the announcer both days repeated "Michael Callaghan...guess where he's from...BOSTON!" (in his Irish accent)

Coming in for a landing-he's in the far seat (so he says)...

Ok, so I did see him get out of the plane, here he is with the other pilot, Capt. Yaws.

Ma, Mimi, Tommy and the beautiful Blue Angels

Tommy and Ma putting together his wagon

Love this one-Daddy making T laugh, as usual

Mimi says this is a photo contest winner...

We went up to Austin thursday night and ate at a great bbq place, went running the next day, more eating, lots of fun at Auntie Keeks! Here they are on one of the best trail running paths in the country along Town Lake.

This is at the bbq place, the Salt Lick....soooo good!!

Thanks again for coming to visit Mimi & Ma-we always have the best time!! Eat a little too much, but soo fun!!!

Videos are addicting!!

2009-04-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

Tommy just started "high" crawling yesterday. We thought he would do the army crawl until he was up and running...pretty cute b/c his little legs move so fast he gets off balance and almost falls forward, but so far he's caught himself.

Our little dancer boy dancing to Taylor Swift "Love story"-we've been playing the instrumental YouTube video going around "Love story meets Viva La Vida" (here's the link:( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3d6SFcDys ) but this time I had the regular Taylor Swift song on and he really enjoyed it :) We can't come into the office now without playing the YouTube version for him, he gets so excited!

Can you believe all of those teeth coming in on top? Wow. He started doing this fake/real laugh so funny...and isn't he a persistent little guy? Just bounces right back, trying to get the hanging camera lenz cover.

Still shots are no more, there's way too much action going on :)

Pushing the wagon and "buh bye"

2009-04-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

Here's Tommy this morning with his new Radio Flyer wagon we got last week-works perfectly, he pushes it all over and loves carting his toys around too. I thought it would be much safer than pushing his walker around like he has been the last month. He is also waving and saying "buh bye" now-squeals with excitement as he does it-so funny! What else...his Mimi taught him "SO BIG" and stretches his hands above his head...it seems like every other day he's picking up something new. So fun!

Coming soon-a post from Mimi/Ma's visit, the airshow, and our trip up to Austin to see Auntie Keeks!

My Baptism/Confirmation & Easter

2009-04-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

What a weekend!! Saturday was a big day for our family-Michael learned how to tie a tie for the first time all by himself (by watching a video online) and I was baptised & confirmed into the Catholic faith.

Here we are at home before going to a dinner party before the Easter Vigil Mass.

Auntie Keeks came down from Austin (still makes me smile that she's so close now) to stand in as my sponser/godparent (for Barb/Mimi) during the ceremony.

The Mass started at 7pm, which happens to be Tommy's bedtime and it lasted 3 hours!! Of course Tommy did great-he sang at the appropriate times and fought off sleep until we had about 15 minutes left.

I think Michael did a good job on his first tie!

It was a little unusual having to lean over while the priest poured the water over the backs of our head...I was the last one (there was three of us and then 4 kids followed), but I couldn't help but laugh-water was running everywhere and it was cold!!

Father McKenzie annointing me with oil (for protection against spiritual harm). I was most worried about this step because when Tommy was baptised, Father Dennis poured it over his head and it was in his hair for days...but we just had it signed over our forehead.

Here we are after the mass has ended with Tim, (one of our teachers and a really incredible person-his father is the other teacher), Ali & Tommalynn who I took the classes with. Ali is also our neighbor, good friend, her and her husband went to U of O and her husband is also a Marine pilot (small world).

One last family shot before taking Tommy home for bed (he passed out in the car-we have never seen him so tired!)

Easter morning-basket in sight, he's almost there...

Got it!

Reading his new book and playing with his new bits.

Easter dinner table almost set-the "joke" place setting was a project Ali told me Wyatt did at school-a little nest with a peep in it...pretty funny using a 4 yr old's project for our table, but it was fun :)

Tommy borrowed Avery's ears for lunch ( he just happened to take the longest nap of his life-2 1/2 hrs, guess he was still tired from yesterday).

Tommy telling Avery how pretty she looks in her first Easter dress and Avery asking Tommy why he is still in his pajamas at 4pm.

Avery is such a little doll-very dainty and so calm and nice...Tommy was just talking and waving at her, she just took it all in .

We had a great weekend, filled with a lot of excitement and joy. Big day tomorrow too-Tommy has his 9 month check up!

Tommy Marty

2009-04-10T12:44:00.001-07:00

I am NINE months old today!!

I am such a happy boy!!

I like to stand on my chair now.

I had puffs for the first time this week...

and they are yummy!

I still like to sit on my Dad's shoulders and pull his hair.

I love herding my cow around the house!

And I love play dates (with Josh McLaughlin)!

Happy Easter weekend everyone!

Spring Break 09

2009-04-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

We're not too old to let go of spring break...or we're starting Tommy early! We went to Portland for a wedding and some family/friends time. It was the first time that Tommy and I traveled alone because we were going to stay a couple days longer than Michael. Luckily Tommy is an amazing traveler- to make a really long story short, on the way there we sat on a runway for 4 hours (everyone around us was saying he wins "baby of the year award") and then had a 6 hour layover at the Houston airport waiting for the next flight to Portland. We did a LOT of walking and singing and I only had to ask one strange family if they had an extra diaper.

Family shot before the wedding

Michael and Tommy practicing hiking in the living room

Wyatt, Tommy, Grandma & Jackson-Wyatt is not tormenting Tommy, he's trying to cheer him up

Tommy in his reading cubby-he's loving climbing under things right now

Wyatt pulling Tommy around the deck-in a rare moment of sunshine

Tommy looking almost as big as Grandma

Caity, Grandpa Sherman & Tommy at a breakfast party at my sister's

Wyatt showing off his "racing face" and bike riding skills

Heading out the door to mass at St. Mary's Cathedral and to show Tommy where we got married

Enjoying his first laundry basket ride during some down time

I had to take this shot-so cute!

Another Callaghan boys shot at Mcmenamins (Portland tradition!)

We had a playdate with the Carmichael boys (my friend Jami's boys) this is Jackson (4 years old TODAY!) and Tommy crawling through one of their many great toys!

Here's Cole, he'll be one next month

We got home wednesday and then friday we all drove up to Austin to meet Mimi and Aunt Katie at her new place in Austin. They had just arrived after driving down from Chicago-so excited to have her back in TX! Here's Aunt Katie and Tommy enjoying a liquid breakfast at Kerby Lane Cafe (soo yummy!)

Here's to many more Spring Breaks!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

2009-03-17T09:41:00.001-07:00

We had our boiled dinner Sunday night, it was the first time I had attempted it...turned out pretty good. I think the soda bread was my favorite.

My cute Irish boys.

Tommy enjoying a good Irish meal...ok, it's bananas.

Tommy dressed in all of his green clothes (thanks to Michael)

We're off to Portland tomorrow, very excited!! Tommy and I fly off first by ourselves, then Michael's coming on Thursday. Looking forward to seeing everyone there, but not the rain/50 degree highs.

Laughing video finally uploaded!

2009-03-14T18:54:00.000-07:00

Make sure your volume is up-cutest squeal/giggle!!

8 months old today!!

2009-03-10T13:44:00.001-07:00

Close up of the handsome boy!!

Here's one of his favorite toys-it's been a great help for practicing standing.

He just started to walk his walker, though it's quite a challenge for me b/c of our tile floor!

Little cowboy escaping from the office/playroom into living room.

Playing with his kitty sister, who actually lets him grab her...for anyone that knows Loki, that's unbelievable. But we're right there and most of the time make her leave, so then he chases her.

8 months sure is fun!

Lessons learned...

2009-03-04T07:12:00.000-08:00

I love Easter baskets. So of course I wanted Tommy to have a really cool one for his first Easter and one that would last him forever:) but I think "overkill" would be the perfect word for the one I ordered. It didn't look LARGE in the picture, but I learned never to buy anything "large" again (especially since I can't return the liner or the basket b/c it would cost almost as much to ship it back as it was to purchase it).

Tommy doesn't seem to mind...he likes it better than his bumbo.

Just kickin it...looking pretty cool

Small basket, LARGE basket

I guess we'll take the liner out and call it his new play yard.

While I was trying to do this post, I was acting out a scene from "Super Nanny" going in and out of Tommy's room laying him back down in his crib for his nap b/c he has been climbing up in it to a standing position and gnawing on the top rail, squealing with delight. This past week we moved his play yard into his room and he slept in that b/c he was hitting his head too many times discovering his new trick-couldn't take it! I decided today was the day we would get him back into his crib. I only had to go in/out for an hour. Not bad! He's pulling himself up on everything and has gained a lot of strength and is a lot more steady now, so hopefully he won't flail in the crib anymore. Why did they put wood slats in cribs anyways?? I'm all for mesh walls in cribs now...

Grandpa Martin's visit

2009-02-23T12:19:00.001-08:00

Marty was here this weekend for a visit; he has business in Austin this week, so flew in early to drive down to Corpus and hangout. Tommy was happy to show off his new tricks to Grandpa, the latest is pulling himself to his knees/feet on just about everything-including his crib-we're in such trouble! We had dropped it last week to the middle level and thought that was going to last a while...wrong! I'm trying to post two videos Marty took, but I'm getting some crazy error message... hopefully I'll get it figured out soon!

Happy guys...

Callaghan boys

Just laughing on the couch

What a fun visit, thanks Marty!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-13T14:09:00.001-08:00

Sending lots of love your way from our little "heart breaker."

Finally!! Where do I even begin...

2009-02-09T16:59:00.001-08:00

Anyone there??? It's been so sad not being able to post/share pictures!! But we made a trip up to San Antonio last weekend and finally bought our new Apple computer. Wow, it's amazing! I don't think I'll ever use it the way it's intended, there's so many cool features, but I'm going to try. So far using the video chat has been my favorite-will we ever use a phone with the grandparents again? I'm excited to be able to blog again, well not so much "blog" but to share pictures and highlights of what's going on down here-A LOT!! Here we go...I'll try to go in order, but of course had to be selective at this point, so here's some highlights from Christmas, Tommy's baptism, our trip to San Diego and some recent shots.

Here's Tommy on Santa's lap-he was a great Santa and I love the suprised look on his face

Here's the Boston cousins all lined up behind their Santa sacks before "Santa's workshop on Christmas Eve. (John, Julia, Jack, Lilly & Tommy).

Highlight of Christmas Eve-Lilly & Tommy-they giggled for at least 10 minutes straight-so cute!

Tommy being entertained by Grand Mimi, she's 95 and I was amazed at how well she could hold him up and she wanted to hold him the whole time.

Marty made the trip for Tommy's baptism, here's three generations of Callaghans relaxing.
Here's the cake Barb had for the party after his baptism-it was beautiful, too special to eat, but we did and it was sooo good. (I'm going to post some more from the baptism, we just have to round them up). It was such a special day, I think of it often!
Here we are early Christmas morning...isn't the lake beautiful in the background??
Fast forward to January 16, in San Diego. Marty and Marla let us stay at their condo and it was that weekend that Tommy started crawling. This is the day before he actually made the move!
This is the entrance to the loop at Torrey Pines where we got engaged. I love January in San Diego, it's the best weather of the year and it was again this year-record highs, close to 80 everyday and it made it that much harder to leave again. We almost have the pictures back from the photographer of our shots taken here, can't wait to see them.
Oops, out of order...here's Tommy at home after the trip getting set up in his new car seat. I love it, he loves it b/c he can see a lot more (still faces backwards), but his Dad wasn't such an easy sell on the pattern. So cute....
(Back in San Diego) Here's Tommy on his first CH-46 "ride" We went to a change of command ceremony at Michael's old squadron at Miramar-165 White Knights. It was a great reunion for him and Tommy really enjoyed playing around the old helicopter and meeting everyone!

Back home on his Christmas present from Auntie Ali that he gets to ride around on now-sooo funny! He really likes playing with the horns on his own and I can't wait until he can scoot around on it himself-but we're going to have to get him a helmet with our tiled floor!
He's loving his exer-saucer, jumping in it now. We tried him in his Johnny jump up and he just spun around and around...so funny! But he's squealing and loves jumping in this one. We also put his walker together tonight and hopefully will get some video of him in it up-he knew just what to do and within two minutes was in our kitchen playing with the dishwasher. We're in such trouble.
Happy boy...still doing photo shoots, he's just a little squirmier. We're well into solid foods now, he's been through most of the vegetables and he's had apples and bananas. He has pretty much liked it all, though last night he let me know he had had enough of green beans for awhile :)

So hopefully some of you still check this out and I'll really be keeping up now...this Mac world is amazing!!!

Pictures from San Diego

2009-01-22T06:13:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone!! Our new computer has been ordered, so I'll catch up as soon as it's up and running. This past week we were in San Diego and had some pictures taken at Torrey Pines with a really cool lady named Carol...here's the link to her blog where you can see a couple :

http://www.carolhebelphotography.blogspot.com/

All I want for Christmas is a new computer...

2008-12-19T06:42:00.001-08:00

Because our old laptop crashed!! What sad timing, I have so many cute pictures with Santa, his first homemade stocking (thanks Grandma!), pictures with Santa on a C-12, etc...not sure when I'll be able to get them up...bummer!

Merry Christmas!!!

Tree hunting in south Texas

2008-12-09T06:38:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we decided to get our tree, unfortunately there aren't any tree farms like the ones were used to going to in Oregon or Boston, so I decided to share with ya'all one way to get a tree down here...

Dress Tommy up in his cute new furry warm bear suit and have a little photo shoot...

Head outside only to realize it's not low 50's and windy, but mid 60's, so change him into the other new holiday outfit that's a little less furry...
Arrive at the local nursery less than a 5 minute drive...

Spend less than 10 minutes wandering down the four rows of neatly propped trees to find our "perfect" tree...

and then decorate Sunday night...

Done! Tommy enjoyed helping in the bjorn...
This is going to be a wonderful Christmas season, something about having a child helps you remember what it's really all about. Family. And I find myself thinking everyday how lucky we are.

2008-12-03T07:05:00.000-08:00

We had a fun visit from my sister, Wyatt (3) and my parents over Thanksgiving week. Wyatt thinks every airplane flies to Texas and he was so excited to be here and so much fun to be around. Constant energy, always happy (except when Ali wants him to take a nap) and Tommy loved watching him!

Cute cousins

Spiderman, spiderman...

Wyatt, Grandma & Grandpa playing with the "basketball" men (they're really Red Sox/Yankee chess figures, but Wyatt is on a basketball team right now, so that's what he said they were. Endless fun for him, still finding them in random spots all over our house!)
All aboard! Wyatt was flying us to the beach! I'm not sure who enjoyed getting on the plane more, Wyatt or Wink (note hat backwards...someone felt like a kid again!)
CIVIL WAR GAME DAY...WHAT A GREAT DAY!
Camo DUCK boys!!
Here's a link to lots more pictures from Thanksgiving week! We were so thankful for their visit during a time when travel isn't so easy!!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=5cslxsd.53089dex&x=0&y=vbqvbs&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

Let us give thanks...

2008-11-28T08:17:00.001-08:00

for first bites of rice cereal on Thanksgiving...

for little pilgrims...

and for little indians!!

Much much more to come, I just wanted to get a couple pictures up!! Having a great visit with Auntie Ali-cat, cousin Wyatt and Grandpa & Grandma! Hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving, we all have a lot to be thankful for :)

"Just Katie" and shhh..Grandpa Martin's suprise visit!!

2008-11-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Aunt "Just Katie" flew down from Chicago to meet Tommy, get her Texas fix, (she used to live in Austin and loved it), and as a suprise to her, Grandpa Martin flew in too. Just Katie flew in first and it was tough trying to keep quiet for about 24 hours until Marty flew in, but we did it and Tommy didn't tell either....

Here's Just Katie and Tommy posing...Katie is so great with kids and we were really excited to see her and for Tommy to meet her.

Getting ready to head out for our first "big night" out...

Grandpa Marty hanging with Tommy watching football. You can see and feel the love/admiration Marty has for Tommy, he won't put him down or take his eyes off of him-they had so much fun reading and walking and just hanging out. It was really nice to have so much time with Marty, we all really enjoyed it.

Last shot before Katie flew home with a suitcase full of Texas salsa and tortilla chips!!

Here's a link to the rest of the pictures. We're so lucky to have such amazing people in our family and that are willing to come down to south Texas to see us :)

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=5cslxsd.2dgrvstt&x=0&y=-7rzn8s&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

Happy Halloween!!

2008-11-01T07:21:00.001-07:00

A little piggy in a blanket...

Topped with moostard and brown (?) ketchup!!

Ketchup, Piggy,Hermione (Jill), Harry (Chadd), Magic Eight Ball (Marla), Cowboy-Sheriff- Jake (rounding up his guns to protect his little girl arriving sometime next month from all the little boys that wil be chasing after her).

Unfortunately those are all of the pictures I took...so fun to have friends who love dressing up! We had a fun time at the McLaughlin's house for a Halloween/Jack-Jack 2nd birthday party.

the little green monsta

2008-10-24T06:25:00.001-07:00

HAPPY LITTLE GREEN MONSTA

CURIOUS
EXCITED

HE SPITS MILK, NOT FIRE
p.s. that isn't his Halloween costume, just for fun :)

Kevin's first post/Mary, John & Julia's visit :)

2008-10-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a great visit from Aunt Mary and her two kids, John (7) and Julia (6), and Uncle Kevin. We're really hoping Uncle Kevin will finally visit our blog...he stays away from it and says he just doesn't get it...kinda like how I feel about Myspace (though I have been spying more on Facebook); but I think he's really missing out! So I had to start this post with him:

Here is is sitting on the toilet of a C-12, the plane Michael is flying/instructing on. Yes, that's right, the toilet-right at the top of the entrance...it doesn't get much use, thank goodness! Sick. These planes look a lot fancier from the outside.

Here's Michael in front of the C-12, there's plenty of seats for all of us, wish we could have gone somewhere!

John & Julia were given their first flight lesson and were ready to go!

Mary, J&J returning from their weekend jaunt to Nantucket (we all wish!), I mean flight lesson.

Michael and Kevin early the first morning enjoying coffee and costumes...I took out my "costume" box of Halloween bits and fun jewelry for everyone (Julia) to enjoy. Julia made sure we all had at least one item on.
Here's princess chef Julia and the hunchback of Notre Boston chef John with "Penguini" (one of the many toys they brought Tommy) cooking breakfast. We all learned that everything is more fun in costume!

Tommy smiling and talking with his Auntie early morningUncle Kevin talking to Tommy about the Red Sox and Tommy begging Uncle Kevin to visit his blog.
The cousins...I've heard a lot of people say there's a lot of similarities between Johnny & Tommy
Here's everyone at the end of a frisbee golf round..a little windy and hot, but it was still a lot of fun!
We're so happy that they made the trip down. It was great for all of them to meet Tommy, see our house and just hang out. We cooked a lot of great meals, decorated glitter pumpkins (we're still finding glitter all over, even Tommy!), made caramel apples, went to the aquarium, and of course went to the beach and checked out all of the debris from Ike. Here's a link to see more pics from their visit:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=5cslxsd.aom0ukut&Uy=-twc52v&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=78370803502_338521799605&localeid=en_US

Best Birthday present ever...

2008-10-01T13:55:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a smiling Tommy!! Maybe getting older isn't so bad....
The blueberry pancakes Michael made and the walk on the beach helped too!!

Life is pretty good, even as I get further into my thirties :)

Where do I even begin...first trip!!

2008-09-27T18:27:00.001-07:00

I've been delaying this post trying to figure out how I was going to squeeze it all on here...so many "big" moments, so many important people that saw Tommy for the first time, so much fun packed into the week!! But I had to get it going, so here are some highlights and I'm including a link at the end with the rest of the pictures.

Wednesday we flew into Portland and we were there for just one night before heading into WA for my friend Allyssa's wedding. Tommy, of course, is a natural at air travel-slept pretty much the whole time. Some passengers around us commented on what a good traveler he was...luckily we had our own row on both legs-we flew Southwest and who wants to sit near an infant?!

We stayed Thursday night in Tacoma with my cousin Janet, her husband Drew and their two daughters, Olivia and Claire. It was the greatest-we had pizza with my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Ben, then as is customary to the Lowen household, we had smores in the backyard!! It's their second home,and their second home with a fire pit or wood burning stove in the back for smores-their little girls are going to be very suprised when they figure out that not everyone has it this good. Then we woke up to the biggest breakfast I've ever seen and we were treated to a show by the girls. They're such a close nit family with good values it's refreshing...here's a picture of them at their house with Tommy. (Oh and they're all georgeous too)!!

The next morning we drove over the Tacoma narrows bridge onto Bainbridge Island-wish I would have taken pictures of the bridge...huge!! I was glad we had Friday to help Allyssa set up for the reception at her parent's house-it's a beautiful home on beautiful land, unfortunately it rained...but the dancing went on. We were so grateful to have my parents there, for their company and help with Tommy (the music was a little too loud for him in the tent, so Grandpa Wink decided they better head back to the hotel). Here's a picture of us at the reception-check out my eye lashes-fake!! All the girls in the wedding had them put on by the makeup artist-it was my first time wearing them, we only had two on each corner, but wow are they effective!! Funny stuff!
We left Sunday morning, to head back to Portland to meet Grandpa Martin, Tommy's namesake and Marla (Michael says Marla is Tommy's Nene???). What a moment that was...Tommy just started talking to him right away, it was so sweet. Grandpa Martin held him almost the entire time...here they are below when Tommy was talking to him:
Monday, we hung out at my parents almost the whole day and the cousins came over to visit. Wyatt, on the right and Jackson on the left are both three (separated by one month) and love hanging out together. They were both excited to meet "baby cousin Tommy," but Jackson was much more into Tommy-he wanted to hold him the whole time and was so interested in what he was all about (he's going to be a great big brother to his brother or sister arriving in October). Wyatt on the other hand was very busy asking "why" about everything over and over-hilarious!! Tommy pretty much slept through it all...
I love this shot at dinner Monday, Grandma with her grandsons....blue eyed beauties!!Three generations of Callaghans
And finally, at the airport (very early) waiting to head home...with T in his favorite hat!

Please check out the rest of the pictures....great trip, but kinda glad to be done traveling for a little bit. Really wish we didn't have to travel to see family and friends :)

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If you put lipstick on Ike...it's still Ike

2008-09-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

The "locals" say that part of living in this southern Texas paradise is dealing with hurricanes...I'm still waiting on the paradise part. So Wednesday, for the first time since we've lived here, we had our first real hurricane scare. I knew it was serious when our realtor (also neighbor) and our neighbors on both sides (who all have lived here their entire lives), let us know that they were boarding up and planning on evacuating-some for the first time ever! Luckily Dolly had pushed us to do some of the preparations, so we were a little ahead of the game. But we had never looked at the boards for our windows, didn't know what order they went in and weren't sure how this was all going to play out. So...many many hours later and with the help of several friends, our boards were up at around 9:30 pm Wednesday night. Thanks Jake, Chadd & Jill for all your help!! Here's what it looks like :

A lot of people have the metal kind that the screws are in place and you slide the pieces in...
Also on Wednesday, Michael made a run to the store for us while I got Tommy his last vaccination. I told him that we needed food for the car for our drive to San Antonio where we were going to evacuate. It's usually a two hour drive, but I've heard horror stories of it taking 6-8 hours when everyone is evacuating. I suggested pb&j, granola bars, fruit, things that didn't need to be refrigerated...below is what he found...so funny! He forgot fruit but picked up sour patch kids and also one of my favorite cookies instead! I guess next time we'll make a list.
Tommy was not scared at all...or maybe he was and just deals with adversity by sleeping. Note the headlines..."Seek high ground or leave!"
Luckily, we were not affected by Ike at all and didn't end up leaving. We didn't see a drop of rain and there was barely any winds. Saturday morning I went for a walk and the weather was so nice, Michael took the boards down, which was much easier and the Ducks won! We were also very lucky that Michael didn't have to fly a plane out, as they evacuated all of their aircraft and once again he was on "standby" when everyone else flew out.

Is it November yet?? Ready for hurricane season to be over!!

Weighing in at 13.7 lbs......!!!!!

2008-09-08T05:50:00.000-07:00

First bottle, first bloom, first overnight trip!!

2008-09-02T07:31:00.001-07:00

Big, big, day yesterday for us-we attempted the first bottle...here's the progression:

Michael sets bottle in mouth, Tommy is not so happy about it.

Tommy starts to taste something, so he's thinking about it...
And finally...he likes it. But the 2.5ozs was not enough!! It feels great to have the first one out of the way. I feel empowered now to be able to get back to the gym, head out the door for some runs (haven't attempted running yet, but soon!), or even run errands and know that Michael can be home with him and have all the tools he needs :)
I can't believe it, but as of this wednesday we've lived in Texas one year!! It's really gone by fast and it's been one of those years that so much has happened we're living an entirely different life!! This bird of paradise took a full year for it's first bloom-we've been waiting, watching, adding plant food and FINALLY!! So pretty!! We really took them for granted living in San Diego, I guess one year is how long it usually takes for a young plant to have it's first bloom. It's no suprise b/c they're so unique and beautiful! We'll see how long it lasts in this 100 degree heat!
Over the weekend we took Tommy on his first overnight road trip to San Antonio. It's a two hour drive and he slept the whole way there! We went to escape Corpus, for a change of scene and to do some serious shopping!! I should have taken a picture of the metal cage/crib the hotel gave us for him-it was horrible! It was so deep thatMichael had to get him in and out of it all night long and bring him to me-I felt spoiled, but poor Michael was up every two hours too! Here he is taking a nap after day one of shopping. At 7 1/2 weeks, Tommy has learned to read and loves the new personalized picture book from Mimi and Ma. He really likes reading it!

I had to share this one...he slept all day monday and this is after we changed his outfit and put a hat on him before heading out to walk over to our friends house. Nothing would wake him up or keep him up-so funny!!

T.J.'s become so vocal in the past few days it's amazing! Our next blog will hopefully have some video on it so you all can hear him-it's really cool!!
He has his 8 week appointment on friday-excited about seeing what his weight is, not excited about his shots!!

Photo shoots are fun...go Sox!!

2008-08-24T14:20:00.001-07:00

I used to make fun of my sister for sending me several e-mails everyday at work after she had Wyatt of him in different outfits-she used to do the same to her cat :) and here I am loving themed photo shoots! So fun...we had serious thunderstorms this afternoon, so I was looking for something to cover his feet up and as soon as I saw this outfit it turned into photo shoot #2. Luckily we were well stocked up on props...but we did leave out the bobbleheads. This one is my favorite:

In this one he looks pretty small...but he is sitting up on his own!
Not so small in this one...kinda looks like Big Poppie (designated hitter for those of you who aren't Red Sox fans)
Here is he Saturday night all dressed up in his first pair of jeans for our dinner date.
Ready to go...he is a happy boy, smiling a ton!!
Fun weekend!!

6 Weeks old and ready for college football season!!

2008-08-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Tommy's six weeks old and time is flying by...especially when you're spending your mornings having photos shoots. Yesterday morning we decided to show how excited (the duck) and serious (Tommy) we are about the upcoming Oregon football season. Michael has promised many Saturdays in front of the t.v. watching games, so we thought we better get the duck out and let him and Tommy start bonding. Luckily Anna gave us a three pack of Oregon onesies b/c the grey one got peed on, the white one he projectile vomited on and the green one is ok so far...I think he was so excited and that was his only way to show it :)

We spend time everyday on his playmat and he's really enjoying it-he listens to motzart and looks up at all of the animals and colors. It's fun to see him entertaining himself!
This is a shot of Tommy looking at his first play friend, she's a crazy colored peacock that he cannot get enough of! We put her by him while we're changing him and put her on the playmat and he just cannot stop starring! I should have taken a picture of her front, her backside is definitely not as exciting. It's really cute to see him so taken by something already.
I just loved this shot b/c he's just chillin in his "bop" and it really shows how much he's grown!! Approaching the weight limit for this swing!! We should definitely be buckling him in now...oops!
And of course there's still a lot of napping going on around here!!

That's pretty much all we're up to!!

Mimi & Ma's visit!!

2008-08-13T06:08:00.000-07:00

We had a great visit with Michael's mom, Barb and stepdad, Mike, known as Mimi & Ma to Tommy (the term "Ma" was created for Mike by Tommy's older cousin John when he was learning to talk, and he's stuck with it from now on).

Tommy enjoyed every minute of their visit, this picture was taken within the first hour and it's no accident that it's also his first smile caught on picture! He loved listening to Mimi talk to him-we heard more cooing from him when she was holding him and he really was smiling more than we've ever seen!

Every morning Ma stood outside our door
asking, "can Tommy come out and play,
can Tommy come out and play?" He loved his play dates and especially liked showing off his strong neck muscles for Ma. During their visit we really noticed a change in his alertness, noticing his surroundings and taking interest in his toys. And of course, he's gaining so much strength, especially in his neck and legs-so strong!!

This is a shot of overcoming our
first major parental mental obstacle. Michael and I were both very reluctant to give Tommy a pacifier, binky, or "chupe" as we're going to call it. But after some gentle nudging and observing his strong desire to suck on his hands, we tried it and he's hooked. It helps him settle down at night and gets him through those times when he thinks he wants to eat again even though he just did half an hour ago. I'm sure it's just one of the many firsts we'll find ourselves suprised by something we thought we weren't going to do and end up doing it!

Here's a picture of us on Tommy's one month birthday after mass at St. Patrick's. Tommy was snatched by the "baby snatchers" and slept the whole time, even through his first blessing.

A big thank you to Barb & Mike for their trip to Texas! We have a beautiful weed free, freshly mowed front yard with a new "bonsai tree," thanks to Mike; we were able to get almost all of the announcements completed thanks to Barb, a task that I would have been working on for months; we had a lot of nice outings and when we stayed in, the meals were even better; but most of all, Tommy got to spend time with his Mimi and Ma!!

Weight update: On tuesday we went to the pediatrician to have his congestion checked out as well as a little rash on his face, both turned out to be fine, and found out he's up to 11lbs 2 ozs!!!

Here's a link to some more pictures from the week:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=5cslxsd.408vdsp1&Uy=-59ikle&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=282088990498_981839197605&localeid=en_US

Yipeee our own blog!!

2008-08-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

Hey All-

I've been thinking of doing a blog for at least 2 years, I obsessively check our family & friend's blogs and finally have a reason to get ours up and running. I like the idea of sending out the link and letting you all check it when you want, rather than sending out a kodak gallery every other day :)

Hopefully I'll be good about updating it regularly...we'll see!!

So here we go....here's some shots from the past 3 weeks and 4 days, "AT" as we call it, "after Tommy." We hardly remember what our life was like before he arrived!

Thomas Martin Callaghan arrived on July 10, 2008 at 10:18 pm (our 4th anniversary!). He weighed in at 7 lbs. 15 ozs., 22 in. long (much less than our dr. was estimating of around 9 lbs!).

Proud Dad on day 2 or 3 in the hospital, it's all kind of a blurrrr. I'll take this opportunity to brag about Michael, he was more support than I could ever ask for during the 18+ hours of labor/delivery/c-section and I didn't change one diaper until after we had been home for 2 days, so he took on the task for the first 5 days of Tommy's life!

Grandma Joyce to the rescue!! We were lucky she retired the first week of July, so she was able to stay July 11-30 with us, holding Tommy, helping us get extra sleep, cooking, cleaning, lots of laundry, experience some first outings and teach us a few baby skills!! Thanks Momma!

Grandpa Wink arrives and within minutes, Tommy marked his territory on his shorts! Thanks to Grandpa for helping clean, getting us prepared for Dolly, negotiating lawn care and for doing laps with Tommy keeping him warm and happy!

Tommy sleeping through his one week old birthday party, he loves his boppy swing!

T.J. just past two weeks already weighing in at 9lbs. 2.5 ozs.!!! Could that be a record??

Three weeks old and loving his first "real" bath, much better than the cold sponge ones!

Most recent shot-napping on a sunday afternoon in his new favorite spot!! That's also his favorite pose-"my name is chubby."

Next up-a vist from Mimi and Ma (Michael's mom, Barb and stepdad, Mike), can't wait!!!!