Jack's First Swim Lessons

May 2012

 

I'm sure many of you have heard this story, but last summer when we took Jack to our neighborhood pool, a little boy about 5 or 6 almost drowned.  He was down at the bottom of the pool for who knows how long, turned blue,  and wasn't breathing.  It took several minutes of CPR to revive him and an ambulance was called to the pool.  Really scary stuff that really shook Tommy and I up more than we expected.  We decided then that our fearless little 2-year-old, who would run from the side into the pool without even thinking because Mommy or Daddy was always there to catch him, seriously needed swim lessons.

 

Unfortunately, as that swim season was nearing its end, he didn't get those lessons until the next summer.  One of the first things we did on our parental leave was to sign Jack up for summer lessons.  We considered the Frisco rec center, or private lessons with someone who left a flyer at Jack's daycare, but decided on Emler Swim School, an indoor swim school with weekly lessons, instead of every day for a few weeks.  The first lesson was a trial lesson and he absolutely loved it!  I think some of the pictures we took that first day belong in an advertisment for Emler:

He did really well in his 12 weeks of lessons with Miss Shakirah.  For most of the weeks, Jack and one other boy, Joshua, were the only ones in his class.  Except for one lesson when both boys decided they were scared of putting their heads under water and screamed for basically the whole half hour, both really enjoyed themselves and by the end of those lessons, Jack could jump in, climb out of the pool (elbow, elbow, tummy, knee, knee) and swim 5-6 feet on his own.  He's now halfway into his second set of lessons with Ms. Jen and his friend Kate, and his kicks are getting much stronger.  He's swimming 7-8 feet on his own, jumping in and turning around to grab the side and is much more comfortable on his back.  It's so much fun to listen to him sing the songs he's learned in class, and to take him to the pool and swim with him.  It's almost winter now, but I can't wait for next summer!

Cousin Lincoln Turns Three!

May 2012

When Olivia was just a little over 2 weeks old, it was time for her first party - Cousin Lincoln turned 3!!  The night before the big day, Nana and Papa got into town and Papa got to meet Olivia for the first time.

May 19th was a beautiful early summer day in DFW and we headed to Fort Worth for the big party.  When we got there, we were met in the driveway by a very excited Poppy who couldn't wait to cuddle his first granddaughter:

We didn't think that Poppy was ever going to give her up, but eventually, Gigi got her turn, too.

Lincoln's party had a Curious George theme.  Brandi planned a great party, complete with Pin-the-Tail-on-George, monkey masks and all sorts of Monkey treats.  This was Lincoln's adorable cake:

Uncle Ryan even dressed up as the Man in the Yellow Hat.  Happy Birthday, little guy!

I think this is our first really good family picture as a family of 4!

After the party, Poppy and Gigi came back to Frisco to spend a few days getting to know Miss Olivia.  While they were here, Olivia took her first trip to the neighborhood pool.  While Jack had fun swimming with Poppy and Dad:

the girls enjoyed a little sunbathing:

I'm still a few months behind in updating this blog, but reliving these days as I write about them makes me realize how blessed we are to have so many family members who love us and are so excited to share life's special moments with us!

Welcome Home, Olivia Grace!

May 2012

After 2 nights in the hospital, it was finally time for us to come home to Grandma, Grandpa and big brother Jack.  I can't believe we didn't do a better job of taking pictures when we brought her home - I guess that's one of the perils of being a second child :).  We did dress her up in an adorable strawberry onesie (Mama is a sucker for any clothes with strawberries on them!) and a cute (although a little large) pink hat.  Somehow, she wasn't too happy:

Poor thing - this was what she looked like when we got home.  I guess the hat was a little bigger than we thought.  Parents of the year, already.  At least the hat was breathable...

Of course, the first members of our greeting committee were Max and Albert.  Albert and Olivia are best friends already - he lays beside her when she plays on the ground and she pets him.  Max, our oldest child, just wonders why we had to bring another one home :)

Jack decided it was fun to climb inside the car seat.  Hard to believe that 2 1/2 years ago, we brought him home on a cold November day in Connecticut smaller than Olivia.  Time flies...

Of course, with the new baby around, we had to make sure that Jack got lots of attention, too.  He and Grandpa became lifelong friends.  Here they are shaving together:

And Grandma got in lots of cuddle time with Olivia:

Of course, not too long after we got home, it was time for the dreaded first bath.  Olivia was definitely not a fan:

Aunt Brandi, Uncle Ryan and cousin Lincoln stopped after we had been home and settled in a few days.  Olivia still loves her Sophie the Giraffe teething squeaky toy - thanks, guys!

Jack was really excited to get to hang out with Cousin Lincoln for the afternoon:

Finally, Aunt Katy bought the kids matching big brother and little sister shirts, so we had to be sure to dress them up and take a picture.  I love how much Jack loves his sister and being a big brother.  I can't wait to take many more photos of these 2 as they grow up together!

She's Here!

May 1, 2012

Throughout my pregnancy, the due date had stayed pretty much the same - April 30, 2012.  My mom and dad arrived about a week before and my last official day of work was April 24th.  I really had a feeling she would be coming early.  We had a few last minute things to buy for her room, and some clothes to get, but by the time the next weekend rolled around and Kathryn arrived, everyone was ready and anxiously awaiting our new arrival.  Dad even made his famous eggplant parmesan in hopes of helping her to arrive on Grandma Dot's birthday on April 27th, but to no avail.  Below is a family photo on my due date.  This is the last picture of our family of three...:)

I must admit I was suprised as Tommy and I headed to bed the night of April 30th.  Jack had been born 2 days early and I always had the feeling that this baby was going to be early as well.  Well, I guess she was a little late - but not much.  At about 1 AM, I started feeling contractions pretty steadily.  Tommy quickly downloaded the handy contraction timer app on his phone and sure enough, they were only 5 minutes apart.  We woke up Mom, Dad and Kathryn and headed to the hospital (everyone except Dad who stayed home with sleeping big brother).  By the time we got to the hospital, contractions were only 3 1/2 minutes apart and starting to be pretty painful.  From that point on, it seemed like everything happened really fast.  I was 6 cm dialated the first time they checked, so we knew it wouldn't be long.  We woke up the anaesthesiologist and got the epidural as quick as we could, but not before quite a few really painful contractios - WAY worse than they had been with Jack.  Thank goodness for the epidural - I honestly don't know how I would have made it otherwise!  Things slowed down for a while after the epidural, I rested and Tommy even got in an hour or so of sleep.  The nurse came in, said that Dr. Harn was on his way, and asked me to try one practice push.  At that point, the nurse realized that Olivia was ready to make her arrival, whether Dr. Harn was there or not and decided that maybe it was best for me not to push until he arrived.  Fortunately, he did arrive shortly thereafter and, after 2 pushes, our baby girl was here!

Miss Olivia Grace Mhire entered the world at 7:15am on May 1, 2012 weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long.  She was absolutely perfectly pink with not the slightest newborn baby conehead and a great set of lungs!  That moment when your baby is born is always such a surreal moment of relief that everything is OK and pure joy at seeing this little person who you know will be such a huge part of your life from that moment forward and who already holds your heart in her tiny hand.

Here's one of the first pictures of Mom and her new daughter:

Just a few minutes old and already has Daddy wrapped around her little finger:

Dad in his scrubs with Olivia's tiny footprints

We were blessed that both Grandma and Nana could be present in the delivery room when she was born.  It was love at first sight when Grandma met her first granddaughter:

And for Nana, too:

Whenever I see this picture, it's hard to believe that she's just a few minutes old - her eyes are so bright:

Our wonderful nurse that helped with the delivery:

Dr. Harn was great throughout my pregnancy.  I feel really lucky to have found such a great doctor!

After dropping Jack off at daycare in the morning, Grandpa came by the hospital to meet his newest grandchild:

In the afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa picked up Jack from school and brought him to the hospital to meet his little sister.  He arrived with a beautiful potted rose for mom and a toy for Miss Olivia.  You can tell from the pictures that he is very excited to show it to her.  Here is our first picture as a family of 4:

Jack was very good with his little sister.  He was really gentle with her by 2-year-old standards and showered her with hugs and kisses.  While I know they won't always be the best of friends, I'm so excited to see them grow up and experience life together!

This picture was taken in the hospital the next morning.  Still not the best picture of me, but at least my hair is brushed and contacts in this time.  I love the way Jack is looking at Olivia in this one.

The day before we left the hospital, the photographers made their way to our room to take a few pictures of Olivia.  They did the same thing when Jack was born, and all of the pictures were absolutely horrible, so I didn't count on liking any of them, but to my surprise, I liked every one!  Maybe it was the crazy pregnancy hormones, but I even teared up when they showed them to me in the hospital room (set to cheesy music and everything).  And yes, we bought the disc with all the pictures on it.  They got us, but aren't they cute?!

We stayed in the hospital 2 nights and even got a yummy steak and lobster dinner on the last night, but I was so ready to head home and begin our life as a family of four.  Stay tuned!!

Everyday Life as a Family of Three

My last entry was for Easter - mid-April 2012 - which meant we were only a few weeks away from the anxiously awaited arrival of our baby girl.  Exciting, right?!  Before I get to that, I wanted to take a few minutes to remember life as a family of three.  We use the nice camera for special occasions, when we know there will be photo opportunities, but looking through the photos Tommy and I took with our phones, you really start to get a sense of our everyday life.  Of course, all of the pictures are of Jack, but really, Tommy and I are not that exciting.  So what exactly does the everyday life of Jack Mhire, the 2 year old look like.  Well, other than hanging out with his friends at daycare on a regular basis during the week:

He watches TV.  He hadn't yet learned the wonders of Netflix on the iPad, but Jack was definitely developing a fondness for watching TV and movies.  Occasionally.  As much as Mom and Dad would allow.  Here he is intently watching Cars on the big screen in the media center:

Already mastered Dad's lounging pose:

Of course, he played.  Like every good 2 year-old should.  Here's the little guy in his Superman PJs playing with his fancy car from Momom and Popop:

Even things that aren't toys are fun - cup tower in the kitchen!!

What a big boy - pulling his wagon all by himself!

Of course, when we were home, we ate.  Some nights were cleaner than others.  On this night, he decided to make soup with his water and spaghetti.  He's always cute, but unfortunately not always well behaved :)

 

Whatever this was, I guess it was good...

Cavatappi and meat sauce - one of his favorites!

Yum - Pizza!!

Getting older - learning to eat with his silverware:

He also ate out at restaurants - usually manners were a little better in public.  At Chick-fil-a:

Coloring the kiddie menu at Fireside Pies:

Blue Goose - my first meal out after a VERY long busy season!

After school - Jack liked to pretend to drive Daddy's car.  We're so in trouble...

Jack also had fun after hours at daycare.  For a while, his favorite phrase was "That's not very nice."  Each day after school he would have a story about someone not sharing, biting, kicking or some other toddler no-no.  The story was always followed by "That's not very nice, right Mommy?"  Sweet boy.

One Friday night, we took advantage of Parent's Night Out at daycare and caught a movie.  We got back to daycare around 10pm or so to find Jack, Jacob and Tigger all hanging out under the table:

They also had a spring carnival at daycare in April.  Unfortunately, we didn't take many pictures.  They had painting on a giant mural hung on the back fence, bounce houses, bubbles, craft projects and even a petting zoo!  We spent a fair amount of time in the petting zoo with the chicks, bunnies and goats, even though Jack was not too fond of the goats.  To this day, he still talks about the goat that ate Mommy's hair "just a little bit."  Here are Daddy and Jack feeding the animals:

More often than not, our little guy acted like the 2 year-old he was, saying and doing things that made us laugh hysterically, even when we shouldn't, being a goofball and generally making the Mhire house a better place.  First birthday hat and dino nose cover from the nebulizer...ok....

Hanging out in the dog bed.  Sorry Max and Albert.

Cool dude in Daddy's horribly tacky sunglasses.

And finally, a picture he will hate me for when he gets older.  Helping to clean up a dog accident, in only Mommy's high heels and a diaper.  Love you, Jack!