Party Time!

Yesterday we had Abby's Fun-in-the-Sun birthday party and we had a great time! The weather held out which was nice and although it was hot it wasn't too unbearable. We had a couple of good size kiddie pools, a slip and slide, a mini jump castle, and a baby pool for the little ones. There were a few friends that were in Abby's class last year and cousins and other friends here to celebrate along with Nana and Papa and Shea-Shea and Mimi and Dustin. We had pizza and chips and juice and I made a castle cake that didn't quite match the picture I had in my head but Abby LOVED it and everybody else seemed to like it too. Abby had a great time at her 3rd birthday party and loved all the wonderful gifts she got! She was a happy little princess :)

The kids and I are heading to Shea's tomorrow for the week so I need to get some packing done and get some sleep. I will post pics from the party and more about our week in Cornelius when we get back.

Another Happy Birthday!

Abby Kavanaugh Bailey 7/22/05

Abby holding a sparkler 7/4/08

Tuesday was Abby's 3rd birthday. I can't believe my first baby girl is 3 years old already! Everytime I looked at the clock on Tuesday I could remember what was going on three years ago at that time. I had my first contraction at 6:08am. They were very sporadic throughout the day but were getting stronger. My doctor had told me not to call until they got 5 minutes apart for an hour. I kept writing down the times but they were never consistent. At about 10am they were getting painful enough that I'd have to stop what I was doing when I had one. Max started noticing and being only two at the time he started getting nervous so I called John and asked him to come home to distract him. I wasn't really thinking I was in labor at the time but I didn't want Max to be scared.

By the time John got off work and stopped to get us some lunch it was 1:00 when he got home. I had changed Max's bed and put him down for a nap so thankfully he was asleep. I ate lunch and as I sat at the table the contractions got strong enough where I was "white knuckling" whatever I was holding. Still being a good patient however I didn't call the doctor because the contractions weren't consistent. I went upstairs to lay down and John went to gas up the car. I had a contraction at 2:08, fell asleep and woke up at 2:38 with another contraction. At 3:00 the contractions started coming 6 minutes apart consistently so I started my "hour". At 3:15 I started feeling pressure and decided to go ahead and call to see what I should do. The doctor called me back at 3:30 and said to come to the hospital to get checked. We had to wait for my dad to get here from work to watch Max (we had called him earlier and put him on standby). As he drove up to our house at 4:00 John and I were waiting in the car in the garage (Max was still sleeping soundly) and pulled out as my dad walked up to the house.

Being Friday afternoon AND raining I was a little nervous as to how long the trip (normally about 30 minutes in good conditions) would take. About 7 minutes into the drive the contractions started coming on like gang busters! About 15 minutes in I told John to go into the median and pass the cars in front of us. Needless to say we rode the shoulder alot and had the flashers on. By the time we got to the hospital and in the room it was 4:39...I had enough time to get changed and get in the bed. Abby Kavanaugh Bailey was born after 3 pushes at 4:44pm. YIKES! She made it known...VERY LOUDLY...that she was not too happy about it either :) The past three years have been a roller coaster and a HUGE learning experience. Abby's personality is very much like her birth...LOUD, persistant, stubborn and very much loved.

Happy Birthday!

I wanted to say a very Happy Birthday to my sister Shea! Hope your day is/was great and we can't wait to see you this weekend. You are an awesome sister and I'm so glad that we are friends as well and we don't have slap fights anymore :) Thanks for being a sounding board. Love you Shea-Shea!

Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandmother's House We Go!

Abby and Molly hangin' with Papa

My little camera ham Max with Nana and aunt Sue

We Made It! On July 10th the kids and I traveled to Indiana with my parents (John flew in on Saturday) to visit my grandparents and various aunts, uncles, and cousins. We left my parents house crammed into my mom's Tahoe and hit the road at 6:30am. With various stops and little to NO sleep from the kids we made it to my Granny's house at 6:30pm. Not a record but not bad considering 3 kids in the car. When we got there my uncle Bud and aunt May were waiting outside with a U-haul truck that they used to bring over lots of big outside toys for the kids to play with YEAH! Thanks uncle Bud and aunt May...the kids had a blast :)

Mallory came on Friday with Shea and John and their 4 kids all packed into Shea's Suburban. No, our family does not allow a seat to go empty! It's our contribution to conserving fuel (and $). Anywho, since my Granny had surgery a few weeks ago and has been recuperating at my aunt and uncle's place, all 14 of us stayed at her house and it was a tight fit :) We usually hang out in the kitchen when we are there which probably isn't the best thing since we always say that we seem to eat too much when we are there...but hey...it's vacation right?! Saturday night we went to the a surprise anniversary party for my Uncle Bob and Aunt Sue. We had a great time :) Sunday afternoon we headed to my Grandpa's house (my dad's dad) and the kids really enjoyed playing outside on the farm. It was a beautiful day and we had a nice breeze which made it easy to keep the kids outside. Unfortunately the blackberries were not ripe yet much to Max's disappointment. He talks about eating Papa Joe's blackberries all year long. We had some yummy food prepared my three of my dad's sisters (thanks aunt Connie, aunt Shelly and aunt Mary Jo) and had a great time visiting. Oh yeah, my mom struck it rich when she found a rock in the driveway with "gold" in it! My grandpa's been holding out on us :) Sunday night we went to my uncle Bob and aunt Sue's house for a family "picnic" where my aunt Sue outdid herself with cooking some wonderful food! The kids had a blast and may have worn out some more of their great aunts and uncles :) Thanks uncle Bob and aunt Sue!

John got to do some golfing with my uncle Bob and cousin Missy and her boyfriend Mike on Monday. Monday night we headed to Celestine where my aunt Nina had gotten a catered dinner and we went to a park where the kids had a great time playing! Thanks aunt Nina and uncle John!

On Tuesday I was supposed to take John to the airport to fly home but my dad had a slight emergency so John stayed and that night we headed back to my grandpa's farm to eat dinner and visit with my aunts and uncle Benjy (my dad's brother). Six out of the seven kids were there which is rare. It was great to see them and we once again had some great food (and lots of it!). Uncle John found some fishing poles so he and Jack and Max and John walked down to the lake to see wahat was biting. Not a whole lot but Max and Jack found a baby frog and thought they'd take it back to Granny. The poor little guy had died by the time we got it up the road to Papa Joe's house (it had been dropped a couple of times in the rocks and grass). The boys lovingly got a tupperware bowl and put water in it and rocks and sticks and grass so the frog would have a good home. on the walk back to the house I overheard Max tell Jack that "this little frog is going to have so much fun with me he'll never want to go back home!"

On Wednesday we loaded up the Tahoe again and set out for home. It was a VERY long ride and not a whole lot of sleeping happened. We made it home about 10:30pm and were grateful to fall asleep comfortably in our own beds. The time we spent in Indiana seemed to fly by as it always does and now we begin to prepare for the new school year.
*** Check out my sister Shea's blog for more pictures from Indiana***

Our Happy 4th

I hope you all had a happy 4th of July! We had a wonderful time. On Thursday, John's mom and dad came into town to see Max's ballgame that night. He did really well by the way. After the game, John went with some of the dad's for "guys night out". He had a really good time. I, however, spent a couple of hours up with Abby because of some premature fireworks being enjoyed by our neighbors. FREAKED HER OUT! UGH! Friday we had John's parents, my parents, and my sister Mallory and her boyfriend over for a cookout. We had lots of food then had fun with sparklers and those little popper things that you just throw at the ground and they pop. That's about all my kids can handle at this point. I got smart and decided to NOT put Abby down for a nap (well maybe not SMART, but here's why...). I figured if she didn't have a nap and we put her to bed on time then she would be sound asleep by the time the "show" started. Well, we didn't get her to bed on time but she was so tired she did fall asleep right away and about 20 minutes later the fireworks started. I cringed everytime I heard one thinking she would start screaming but not a peep :)

Saturday and Sunday we just kind of hung around. I got to go do some shopping with my mom WITHOUT ANY KIDS! The only reason for this is because John's parents were at the house visiting so John knew he had help :) Thanks Charlotte! Sunday afternoon I took the kids to my parents house to visit for awhile since Mallory and Dustin were still in town. We enjoyed the visit and Max loved playing the Wii with Dustin! Abby played the Wii for the first time and she bowled a 107...you go girl :)

We are getting ready this week to head off to Indiana for our annual trip to visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Praying for a safe trip.