Vegas Baby!

For Easter my mom's entire family (7 brothers and sisters, kids, grandkids, etc) gathered in Las Vegas for the McLoughlin Family Reunion 2011- being the good catholics that we are there was no better place to celebrate Easter than sin city- I am sure Grandpa was quite pleased- ha ha. Ellie and Tripp had an amazing time will of their cousins and this trip once again reminded me (not that I really needed reminding) about what an incredible family the McLoughlin family is and I am so lucky to be a part of such an amazing group of people. My grandparents, Grandpa and Grandma, to me define what success is- they have a family that they created in which they instilled the importance of family and God that even after my grandpa is no longer with us we recognize how special our family is and how important it is for us to continue to gather together- and we did- all of us were present for a grandtotal of 50! It was a fabulous trip and I am so happy that my children have such wonderful examples to look up to! enjoy the pics.

I Am Blessed!

Lately I have been reminded (far to many times it seems) how precious life is and how blessed me and my small family really are. It seems I am constantly hearing stories of unexpected/tragic loss, sick babies (the worst) and just reminders that we can never take any day for granted. I look at my own life and am just overwhelmed with how happy we are and I just want to press the pause button so that this happiness never passes. Not to say we do not have our normal children "challenges" for instance Tripp has been teething nonstop for 2 weeks which means many a sleepless night for mommy but just the other night when I was feeding him at 1 am I was confronted with the "sad" fact that I will not always have to wake up with him in the middle of the night. Many of you wonder how can she be sad about this but I know in my heart that there will be a day I will get plenty of sleep and I will miss having my little boy curled up in my arms in the middle of the night with me being the only person in the world that can comfort him. Being a mommy is hard but it is by far the most rewarding job ever- even on the tough days. My children provide me joy at some point everyday and all I pray is that we stay healthy and safe together as a family- as all the rest is just details! I also pray that even in those trying moments I can take a deep breath and remember that such challenges are so miniscule in comparison to other's struggles and I am one lucky mommy.

Pictures of the Cutest Kids Ever (and I am not biased)

Fun Stories from this Weekend (pictures to follow)

There are certain work days that i miss my kids more than others (I always miss them terribly but some days I am not sure I will make it through without crying and today is one of those mondays) So I thought I would share some stories from our great weekend eventhough I can not post pics until I get home. We had one of the best weekends we have had in a long time- it was the most beautiful weather and we got to hang out with friends plus tons of family time- all around perfection.

Friday is my day with the kids and I just love it. Ellie has gymnastics on friday mornings and tripp tags along and sits in his car seat watching his sister attempt all the stunts. At first, Ellie was pretty timid but as her teacher said this weeke she has become quite the daredevil. We always start class with a warm dance and I don't think I stop laughing the whole time- ellie dances her little heart out and tries to mimic everything the teachers do. The way the gym is organized there are about 5 classes in there at a time and we all have separate stations that we rotate- but the warm up is everyone together in a circle and ellie tries to keep up with the bigger kids- it is hilarious to see my little tiny child jumping and shaking her hips with the best of them. now that she is adventurous she tries everything- she swings from the trapeze, goes down all the slides, swings, jumps on the trampolene, bungee jumps- I can not tell you how proud I am of her and how far we have come from our first class. Every Friday morning she jumps out of bed and immediately runs to get her leotard to get ready for gymnastics- then I just have to try and come up with inventive ways to entertain her for 4 hours since gymnastics does not start until 1030!

Saturday we went to our best friend- the Allens- little girl Amanda's birthday party at the zoo- It was so fun but bitter sweet as we just found out the Allens are moving this summer. Alas that is part of navy life but they are just so special to us Oklahoma will not be the same without them. But the party was a blast and ellie once again was hilarious running after the older kids yelling- "wait for me guys!!!" she is a constant comedian.

Sunday we went to church, did yard work and watched the masters. Tripp is crawling all over and keeps us on our toes and ellie is hilarious- example- sunday afternoon right before bath ellie is crawling all over me eventhough I have repeatedly asked her to sit still- right when I am about to lose it she says "mommy, I just want to give you a kiss" and gives me a big kiss on the check- mike and I just looked at each other and shook our heads- a manipulator at age 2- we are in for it when this one hits her teenage years!!

I miss my babies everyday I am at work but am so thankful for all the wonderful moments I have with them which are too numerous to recount them all!

New Pics

Every night after dinner we have play time on mommy and daddy's bed before bathtime- we put on music and bounce- it is by far the highlight of my day. Tripp squeals with laughter and Ellie is just so sweet to him. My definition of a "party" has definitely changed from my college days but I think it has only gotten better.

As you can see Tripp has also taken a major liking to Brimley- I am afraid Brimley is going to receive alot of taunting from this little guy in the near future but at the same time I know Tripp will love his dog.

enjoy the pics- I think they are pretty adorable.

Watch out World- Tripp is Mobile

No pics- sorry but I have to post when I have time which is only when I can spare a minute at work because I need a break from the legal nonsense. Tripp is officially mobile!! and boy do we have our hands full. He is defintely going to be alot more trouble than ellie was. He has been trying for some time to crawl and usually could get where he wanted to by rolling, etc. But this weekend he started military crawling (taking after his dad I guess) and just gets quicker by the day. And this morning he was going straight for the outlets and cords- great (sarcasm). We were so spoiled by Ellie who we barely had to even childproof for since she was so cautious but I am pretty sure Tripp will not be the same. It is pretty evident the difference already between boys and girls- Ellie is my drama queen (and I am not exaggertaing when I say is is DRAMA) and Tripp is going to be my adventerous trouble maker. They are both changing so fast and I just want to slow it down. I never believed people when they said your kids grow so fast especially when I was only geting 2 hours a sleep at night and dealing with Ellie's colic- but now I know what they mean. My kids learn new things everyday and in three months tripp will already be a year!!!! I am just so grateful for my angels and can honestly say I enjoy each day I have- even the exhausting nights when mike is gone- I am happy I am the one that does not have to leave them for deployments. Even with the drama and the childproofing they are the two best kids I could have ever asked/dreamed of. And I am not prejudice at all (smile).

Cabin Fever

Well we have not left the house since Monday and we are starting to get a little cabin fever. That is the problem with Oklahoma although we get at least one big snow/ice storm each year (and usually more) they are never prepared so the entire city shuts down for a week or longer and we are literally trapped in our house. Mike has had to take my car to work because his could not get out of the neighborhood due to the ice and my office was closed. anyways, I have had to get creative with activities to keep ellie and I from going crazy- ellie is in a big dora phase right now so yesterday we drew maps and had our own dora adventures. she was fully prepared with her backpack and her plastic backpack just like doras- it provided a least an hour of entertainment which was good in my book. the one good thing about being trapped is my kids are hilarious so they do provide me with much entertainment while i am home. plus i try (and sometimes fail but at least I am trying) as I was saying I try to appreciate all the time I have with them as I often miss these moments at work. We are supposed to get more snow next week and I am just hoping that I can get out of the house because as much as I love my kids I need to work to keep them fed- ha ha.