Remembering...

A special thank you to all who have served or are serving their country. Thank you to both of my Grandpa's who served during WWII. Thank you to my dad and my uncles who have served in the military. Thank you to my cousin Mark who is currently serving in the Air Force and just recently returned from his year long deployment to Iraq. Thank you to friends who are also serving. Your sacrifices are greatly appreciated.

I can't say thanks to the above people without also saying thanks to those who "served" behind them. To my Grandma's, who loved their soldiers and kept the home fires burning. To my mom who put up with me and my sister while my dad was out to sea :) (mostly having to put up with my sister...love ya Shea!!!) To my aunts who sacrificed as well. To Mark's wife Theresa for being a "single mom" while Mark was away. To all the spouses/significant others and the families. Thanks for sharing your loved ones with us.

Remembering on this Memorial Day...

90 Years in the Making...

Today is a very special day for our family...

My Granny (my mom's mom) is celebrating her 90th birthday today!!!!!

She is such a special lady. She loves fiercely and is loved fiercely, without reservation. She worked hard all her life as a mom, wife, and factory worker. She makes (well, she doesn't make it anymore but used to) the BEST chili!

She also used to make the best fried chicken dinners on Sundays...(so the dog would know what day it was...HA!).

She delivered 9 children and raised 5 of them. The other 4 babies went home to be with God soon after birth (premature). She was married for 59 years to my Grandpa.

She was born to Irish parents (Kavanaugh) and raised a Catholic. She continues to be strong in her faith and prays daily for those in need.

Abby's middle name is Kavanaugh...after her great Granny.

Mary Kleeman is an amazing woman and I am proud to call her Granny :)

Happy Birthday Granny! I hope you have a wonderful day and I can't wait to see you next month!!!!!

It's All About the Boy...

Well now it's time for the much anticipated and now seriously belated birthday post!

Our first born, only son, first person to ever call me "mommy", turned 7 years old earlier this month. May 5th to be exact. Yes, he is our Cinco de Mayo baby and he loves the fact he has his birthday on that day. He has informed me that he has to like tacos more than anyone else in our family because of it...ahem...he pretty much eats more of them than anyone else in our family...but I digress.

On his special day I arranged for Abby to have a playdate with a friend from her class after school so I could take Max a special lunch at school. I also arranged for a sitter for Lucy and Ruby so I could have some special mommy-son time with my little (yeah right) guy.

His request for lunch was...of course...Taco Bell! He ordered...and ate...the following:

2 hard taco supremes, 2 chicken soft tacos, an order of nachos with cheese sauce, and cinnamon twists. I also figured I'd better bring him some fruit so I picked up some strawberries from the store and he had about 6 or 7.

For dinner he picked another favorite place of his to go to...Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries! I think he has picked that place for his birthday dinner for the past 3 years! Nana and Papa joined us again as well :) Max ate some peanuts while he waited then proceeded to polish off his bacon cheeseburger with mayo, lettuce, tomato, and pickles as well as his share of french fries dipped in malt vinegar. I don't know why we were shocked but my mouth about dropped to the floor when Max came up to us and requested ANOTHER BURGER!!!!! We got it thinking he wouldn't finish it and I'd put the rest in his lunchbox the next day...nope...ate.every.bite!

Then he came home and ate a cupcake :p

My boy must have hit a growth spurt on his birthday.

He went today for his 7 year checkup.

He measured 52 1/2 inches (4 feet 4 1/2 inches) tall.

He weighed 69 pounds (he was 8 lbs 13 ounces at birth).

His Dr. said he was in the 95th percentile for height and weight. The dr. also said Max has the height age of a 9 year old and the weight age of a 10 year old. Look at this kid...he may be a "big boy" but he looks like a string bean. He is all muscle and bone.

No wonder he's always moving (and eating!) ..his metabolism has a life of it's own :)

There is a "height predictor" calculator on the Baby Center website. I plugged in Max's info and it is predicting that at age 18 he will be 6 ft. 3 in. tall.

The website says that it is within 50% that he will be within .8 inches of that measurement and within 90% that he will be within 2.1 inches of that measurement.

We had his birthday party the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend...that';s another post coming soon.

Birthday Post...Coming Soon to a Blog Near You!

I have started a blog post about Max's birthday (my sweet firstborn/only son turned 7 on Wednesday!) His party is tomorrow and it's a whirlwind of activity around here getting ready for that, praying it doesn't rain so we don't have to have it here at the house, and I have to be away from the house today (unparty related). Hopefully I can get some good pics at the party and post about it on Sunday. One of these days I'll get my life/schedule untangled and get things running smoother again...HA!