I never was a morning person, but...

I have to say one of my favorite times of day is when I hear the little pitter patter of feet racing down the hallway to my bedroom in the morning (I especially enjoy them if it is after 8:00am!). Without fail, regardless of bed time the night before or how the night went, somewhere between 7:45 and 8:15 our first daughter wakes up. It usually is Maura. She usually busts into the room continuing some conversation we were having the night before when we put her to bed. The 11-12 hours of sleep has not gotten her off track, she is still ready to finish that puzzle... read that book... ask that question, whatever it was she was doing the night before.

Maggie is usually the next up. She comes in a little slower. She walks in chanting her mantra "MILK" that is usually followed by "Where's daddy? " Of course the best days are when he is indeed there, and not at work, and he (or I) have already gotten milks and brought them up. Bridget is usually the last to stir, and when you walk in her room she is beaming from ear to ear. Don't be fooled for too long though. That will last for about 4 minutes, then you better have a bottle.

this morning all 5 of us (and Jameson too) were cuddling in bed for about 45 minutes. I loved it. It really is then that I look around and remember how blessed I am.

Busy, busy, busy

Well, we have been busy to say the least, these last few days. They have been great days though. There have been so many potentials for disaster, and we have survived them all! On Friday, we headed to Philadelphia with the O'Reilly clan to visit Grandpa's office, see the light show at the Wanamaker building and tour the world's (well, our world) largest gingerbread house at the Ritz Carlton! It all started with one of the best parts... a train ride! The kids loved being on the train, and despite some cold wind and rain, did remarkably well.

We rushed home so I could drop the girls off with the babysitter to head to cheerleading practice. The ladies were not that happy. That was nothing compared to an hour later when I return from practice in a whirlwind, get dressed, and another babysitter shows up for the evening shift! Ugh. Now they really were not happy. They usually love Gwen, but tonight they wanted Mommy. I don't blame them. Bridget, of course was a star. She smiled and laughed all night. She was a joy for everyone to pass around. At the end of the night Mags collected everyone's purses and was carrying them around. It really was too cute. For being such a tomboy, she loves dress up and doll babies.

Saturday was Christmas at the O'Reillys. It started with church at 9:00am. We made it... on time too! The girls were adorable during church. We even got a few compliments on how well behaved the girls were (we were in the front row on display for everyone to see us slip up if we did). I sure am proud of the girls when they are on their best behavior. We try our best, but the best ain't always good enough!

We had breakfast then sat down to open the kids gifts. Once again, everyone was too generous and the girls got way too much. They really did love it. They especially loved sharing it with their cousins. They played so well together (There was one little slip up where Maura said Caitlin was no longer her cousin...ugh!). Other than that, the kids were fantastic. We packed up and came home to get ready to start all over the next day.

Today we headed to my p's for the day. We exchanged gifts there. Maggie say OOOHHH! very loudly when she opens up a gift. She even got excited about the clothes she got and wanted to try it on right away. Maura was not as thrilled by the clothes. Of course, the highlight was seeing their cousin Ryan. they always love seeing him and he is so good with them even though he is so much older. After a great afternoon there, we rushed out to stand in the back of the back of the lobby of church for Christmas mass. It was only 45 minutes long though... not bad, then over to the Smith's for our "annual" gift exchange with them. All the girls get along so well together. It really is a pleasure to visit with them. They go off and have so much fun. We are able to sit down and have adult conversation (with an occasional interruption here and there).

On our way over to the Smiths we saw three deer... I mean reindeer in the road. It was a great way to start off Christmas eve night. We told the girls they were out checking who was awake and who was asleep. M & M wanted to go to bed right then, but were easily swayed to visit the Smiths first. On the way home we talked about all the fun things we were going to do. The girls were so excited to cone home and sprinkle reindeer food on the front lawn, leave out cookies and carrots for Santa and his crew, read The Night Before Christmas, and finish breaking the pieces off the Christmas Countdown chain. Maura was so excited. As soon as Sean finished the story Mo said, okay lets go to sleep. I laid in bed with her for a while. About 5 minutes passed and we heard jingle bells ringing. There was no reaction from Maura for about 30 seconds. I thought she may have fallen asleep. She then jumped up, turned toward me and whispered, "Do you think that was Santa?" It was indeed. We decided he was on his way over but saw we were not asleep and kept going to Isabel and Chloe's house. Maura said, stop talking, we have got to go to sleep. Within 4 minutes she was sound asleep.

All the girls are asleep upstairs, Jameson is asleep on his couch, and Sean is asleep in his chair. It sure is nice and peaceful. As i enjoy this peace, I am also ready for the craziness of tomorrow. It really is getting more and more fun each year to celebrate the holidays. The eyes of a child are priceless!

Maggie IS funny.

I am not really sure how to describe it, she just is funny. Everything she says (except when she is screaming irrationally) is just really funny. She speaks so deliberately. She really tries so hard to communicate with you. (I probably understand 90% of what she says. I'd say most people can understand about 50%, on a good day.) She looks at you with these eyes, pleading with you to understand her. She will repeat things and turn her head to the side, like really, can't you understand me? Just listen one more time. She'll even say the word slower for you when she continues to repeat it.

Tonight Maura spent the night at Mimi and Papa's house, so Mags has the run of the house. B is here too, but run, she does not. Mags is sleeping in Mo's big girl bed and has used every excuse in the book to leave the room. This last time, she called from the top of the steps that she was poopy and needed to change her diaper. I told her to go get on the changing table. I continued to check email and a few other things and eventually made it upstairs. She was indeed patiently laying on the changing table with a poopy diaper. I know it doesn't seem funny, but for some reason, because it is Mags, it is.

Our little star

Today was Maura's first show at her school. Her class has been preparing all month for the Christmas Concert. Maura has been talking about it, and we have been making a pretty big deal out of it in our house. Daddy stayed home from work to go; Mimi came right over after Bible study; Oba drove all the way out here (even though she will be back tomorrow to babysit) to rush back to work; even Grandad left his busy work schedule to be there (of course Mom was there, but where else would I be?). I am pretty sure Maura's entourage was the largest there, not to mention the first there. We had to make sure we had front row seats. Well, as Sean so aptly said, maybe we should have practiced more at home.

I knew it was going to be bad when I did not see Maura walking in with her friends, rather sheepishly hiding behind one of her teachers. She took the stage nicely, full fist in mouth. The teacher started the first song, and bam... Maura did not move. Well, she may have swayed her hips a bit, but no movement from the mouth. In fact, her hand did not even leave her mouth. The next song came, more of the same, the next... the same. But when the grand finale came, Maura decided standing there with her hand in her mouth would not do. Instead, she walked off the stage and came and sat with her mom and dad! And lucky for us (and her later in life) we caught it all on tape.

When I asked her yesterday if she was going to sing quietly or loudly, she said neither. She was going to sing medium. So today after the show I asked her if she sang quietly or loudly and she started to answer, then thought more about it and said, "I did not sing at all." At least she realized it.

For some reason I feel a little guilty that everyone made the effort to come and Maura did not do anything. Like Sean said, should I have had her practice more at home? Did I not make a big enough deal out of it? Did I make too big of a deal about it? Just that mommy guilt at work.

Maggie had a great time though. She got to leave her class to come see the show. She enjoyed playing on the altar (doing somersaults and such... typical things for altar play, right?) before Maura's class got there. She walked right up and sat on Maura's teacher's lap for the show. She proudly announced to the teacehr that her sister Mar was up on stage. Maybe she'll be the one who gets on stage and belts out a number or two. I guess we'll have to wait and see next year.

Mama's girl

Both Maura and Maggie said "Dada" first. It wasn't that big of a deal. Babies really don't know what they are saying anyway, right? Well B does. She very accurately and decisively says "Ma-ma." It really is adorable. Along with this skill, she has mastered the ability to stick her tongue out, very cute; hold on to toys hanging over her head, near genius; and every once in a while roll over from back to front, an athletic feat. She is just really growing so fast now. Yesterday was her five month birthday. She is so close to sitting up it is scary. I have been putting off feeding her cereal, but I think it is time. I have the box on the counter, maybe we will try it later today.

We had a relaxing day at home yesterday. Sean got up early and made chili, which served as both lunch and dinner. We headed to church and BJ's, then spent the rest of the day at home. I got some wrapping done and found in my bag a movie I had bought for the girls (Beauty and the Beast: An Enchanted Christmas tale). I figured it would be silly to give it to them on Christmas to start watching, so I had Santa drop an early gift under the tree for eating such a good dinner. Well, don't you know the DVD was messed up, and it kept skipping. How could Santa do that to us? Luckily, I guess Santa was watching us because he called the house to inform us that he had left another movie on the front step. Maura and Mags both ran excitedly to the door to find another wrapped movie, this time "The Little Mermaid." All was good then. Maura said Santa must have put the movie in his DVD player and saw it wasn't working, so he sent us a new one. How nice of Santa. Hopefully the store owner is just as nice when I try to prove to him that it was messed up before we even unwrapped it!

Isms

Well dinner was a success. Ruby's Diner is a thrill for the children. The girls loved their dinners (helped that I starved them all day) and enjoyed the ice cream cone even more.

After dinner, Maura and I were using the potty and she said "Mom, you need to throw your wiper towel (paper towel) in the trash can. I thought, I need to get that down. I need to record all the funny things the girls think they are saying.

When Maura was first talking she called her friend Isabel "Raura" You could ask her to repeat any word and she would, accurately. Then you would say, say Isabel. "Raura" she would confidently repeat.

Can I sit on the Calendar? (counter)

Maggie just does a biting motion for pacifier. If you ask her to say it, she'll say rrr-rrr Kind of what a jaw opening and closing might sound like.

The TV popped! (stopped... at the end of a tivoed show)

Girls' Day Out

Maura and I had a girls' day out today. We started with a trip to the mall where Maura got her ears pierced. I tried to convince her she wanted sapphire earrings because it was her birthstone. She said "No Mommy, I want diamonds." Can you blame her? She then proceeded to pick out a way-too-big pair of "diamond" earrings. We ended up going with a pair more proportional to her little head. She was very brave, not even a flinch. We then had lunch and headed over to Aronomink for a gingerbread house making workshop. I tried to make one with her a few weeks ago and did not prep the house properly ahead of time, and it turned out a *bit* frustrating. I thought Aronomink would have it together. They didn't, but somehow we did come home with a decent looking house. Now convincing Maura she does not want to eat it yet will be fun.

Maggie, Bridget, and Sean spent the morning shopping at Joseph A Bank and then met Papa for lunch at Piece of Pizza. I think everyone had a little fun with their one on one (well kind of for Mags) time this morning.

Bridget's afternoon was not too good as her three days of not pooping caught up to her. Nothing a warm bath and a little help from mom couldn't cure. Sure didn't know I signed up for that when I first had a baby.

Sean is at the library working on his final, then we are meeting for dinner out tonight. Sounds like fun, but it always does before you get there. Hopefully what started as a good day, will end on the same note.

Playgroup Polyanna

Yesterday was our annual playgroup Christmas party. We usually have it with the dads, but for some reason it was early this year, and, well, most of the dads work. So it really was just a regular playgroup, but the kids exchanged gifts at the end (and thanks to the hostess, Sarah, we also had some mimosas... not a regular occurrence at playgroup, although I think it should be). It was a good time for all, and the girls enjoyed their presents. I also did a little craft with the kids which involved ice cream cones, icing, and lots of candy... what could be better? I did the craft with Maura's class earlier in the week and had lots left over, so brought it with me to playgroup. There is talk now of making me the official craft organizer for playgroup. Is that an impressive title or what?

Sean came home from his Christmas party pretty tired, so we all just kind of passed out where we landed, including the girls. Maura slept with me, Sean slept half the night on the couch, the other in Maura's bed. We bailed on the Santa -visits -the- neighborhood- on -his- firetruck this year. I felt guilty for a moment or two, but after one glass of red wine in my cozy family room, the guilt lessened.



While we were laying in bed Maura was telling me how big she is getting every day. Then she added, "Don't worry mommy. I will always be your baby. I'll just be taller than the house and break the roof. " Is she sweet or what?

My first entry... where to begin?

So I am new to this whole blogging thing. I am not doing it to make friends or join a special bloggers' world (is there one?). I am just doing it to get some memories down before my little girls all grow up, and I say "Gosh, it went too fast."

I have three girls. At one point I could say I have three girls under three. When Bridget was born this summer, my oldest, Maura Bryn, was just 33 months. Maggie, the "middle child" was 20 months. So, now I have three girls 3 and under. It is pretty crazy around here, but I really do not know any differently. There are days I want to pull my hair out, but then one of the girls will walk up to me and say something sweet like "Mommy, I like spending time with you" (Maura) or "Danks Mum" (Maggie) or just give me a gummy smile (Bridget) and I think, this is why I do it. Well, truthfully, I do it, because there is no turning back now. But I guess, this is why I love it. This is why I don't think we are done having children. This is why all the chaos just seems right in my world. Don't get me wrong, more times in the day am I almost pulling my hair out then pondering the deep meaning of motherhood. But I am here; I am doing it, and nine times out of ten, I am loving it.

So I guess in the posts that follow I will write down little tidbits about each of the girls and the funny, cute, crazy things they do. Maura is my little mommy. She likes to keep the other two in order. She likes to remind Maggie about the rules (rules she often does not follow herself). Every once in a while, well, more recently, every day, Maura will say something like "I wish I had only one sister. Can we send Maggie back?" Even as I explain to her how blessed she is to have a sister, mommy never had one but always wanted one, when she grows up she will appreciate her, etc. I can't help but feel a little sorry for her. She was 13 months when Mags came along. She never really got to be an only child. She didn't really get to be the baby for too long. Even when she still was the only child, I was pregnant and with Mags it was not that pleasant of a pregnancy, so my attention was not 100%. I remember putting her in the excersaucer next to the bathroom door while I sat on the floor in front of the toilet... good times. Luckily, Maura was such a good baby that I could do this (that is also probably part of the reason we thought it was okay to get pregnant so fast). So I can't help but want to baby her every once in a while.

Maggie on the other hand was a little tougher as a baby. She liked to be held. Heck, she still likes to be held. She likes Mommy to pour her milk, pick up her blanket, sit here, stand up, color with that crayon. She likes things her way. If things do not work out for her, she can go from 0 to 60 in three seconds. I always say she is so lucky she is so cute, not to mention absolutely hysterical, because when she gets on her rants, well, pulling my hair out seems like a good option.

Bridget is a sweetie. She may in fact be the best baby I have ever heard of. I say this in a totally non-biased, matter-of-fact way. No seriously. She really is a good baby. She slept through the night the first day we brought her home from the hospital [Maura and Maggie were fast too (3 weeks and 7 weeks) but nothing like her]. She smiles at everyone (anyone who will pay her any attention, poor thing) and loves to laugh. She rarely cries. I thank goodness for her easy personality. One night she was up crying for about an hour (still not sure why) I was a total bear to M&M the next day. Momma needs her sleep.

I am looking forward to writing down some memories, so when the girls are older and can read, and I am older and can't remember a thing, we can sit down and reminisce, laugh, and maybe even cry a little.