John's R&R

We missed the party but had a delicious (Yum yum yum yum yum delicioso!) Monihan Feast and got to spend some time together. Definitely a time to be thankful!

Corolla/Nags Head Vacation 2007

Our first Monihan beach trip to Corolla NC! (Maybe our last??) It was a gorgeous house with lots of room and right on the beach. The weather was gorgeous and we saw lots of dolphins and Shannon and Bob got to fly their kite. We also had our LobsterFest which was absolutely scrumptious!

On the flip side I got sick the day we got there with a fever and stomach issue. The boys then got sick and decided they would scream and scream and scream. Did I mention the screaming? Jim got sick, then Grandpa Gene got sick and then baby Lauren got sick. We're talking fevers, diarrhea and vomiting sick. Not so much fun for everyone. Did I mention the weather was great? We did get to spend a lot of time on the beach with the boys. Coop refused to touch the sand with his feet for the first few days. Once he got over that he was off and being Mr. Destructor. He just wanted to trample on other children's sand castles! Bear on the other hand felt like the ocean was his bath tub and if you turned your back he was running towards the water. Jim and I spent a lot of time in the water with them and they took lots of long naps on the beach. I don't think there is anything more peaceful than watching your children and husband sleeping on the beach while listening to the waves and enjoying the sun. It may not have been the perfect trip but man I will cherish the time we had on the beach forever.

July 2007 Adventure (Really Long)

After Sully Bear’s birthday party we were lucky enough to get to spend some time with the Grandparents, Aunt Kat, and the boy's cousin Lauren.
Coop loved Grandma's recliner. Sadly this was his las time in the chair as it's now broken and gone! (Below) Sully trying to get in trouble with the painter's ladder.

Aunt Kat got to snuggle with Bear as he was clear he preferred her nap for a lap!

We were so excited to be invited to stay with Emily for a few days while Jim went back to work. (Katie and Bruce’s) Katie was being thoughtful and didn’t want the boys to drive all the way back to Raleigh and then turn around on Wednesday and have to drive the 6+ hours to upper Maryland. Katie borrowed her dad’s mini-van and came all the way out to Haymarket to pick me and the boys up. (Thank you Katie I know that was a ton of driving!!) She also had to save me and figure out how to collapse Lauren’s pack-n-play. She didn’t realize how much work she had to do. Did I mention she had to install the car seats too because I’d never had to do it?

The first night was a bit more difficult then I had anticipated. Getting Bear and Coop to go to sleep at the same time not so easy in a new place. I think they stayed up till about 10 when they normally go down at 8 but they were just way too excited. The next day Katie and I had big plans to go to Burke Lake and take the kids on a train ride. We had to make a stop at Wal-Mart. With three kids, two mom’s and a mini-van it took a lot longer than you would have thought! Then we headed out to Burke Lake and no joke by the time we got there all three kids were dead asleep.

So we drove around Burke Lake with me joking Katie about how I thought us staying with her was supposed to eliminate time in the car! It all worked out though because as we drove in there was a big fat sign saying the train was out of order so we drove around and found a playground and waited for them to wake up. They must have felt us staring at them willing them to wake up because finally Coop and Emily woke up and we took them out to the playground where they shared the tunnel and went down the slide. Then Emmy wanted to go on a super secret path on a super secret mission to the lake so she lead the way with Katie and Coop in tow as I waited for Bear to wake up. Bear and I met them down by the lake where we threw sticks in the water and Coop kept saying, “Wow.” Then we took another super secret path while Katie and I sang the Backyardigan’s song “Secret Agent’. Yes, it was a clue that we may like that show more than the kids. Back at the house Katie had lots of fun games for the kids to play. They pulled out the parachute, blew bubbles, played video games and drove Emily's little car.

Later I got to watch all three kids by myself while Katie ran out for a minute. Katie had me all scared because Emmy had never really stayed with anyone but the grandparents without having a fit. She didn’t want to share her train at first but then she did and she was so proud! She came up to me and told me how she had shared her train and she was, "Very brave." Then we had to find her treasure for the pirate ship and that meant we had to find the map. I tore the place apart looking for this map. Not sure why I thought it was a good idea because I had no idea what it even looked like. Then I came across the treasure and Emmy was willing to pretend she had found the map to get to the treasure but I didn’t move on fast enough because then she decided she needed to have the map again. All the while the boys were playing and tearing apart the play room but I didn’t care as long as Emmy didn’t cry! Luckily Katie came home found the map (in the backpack where it was supposed to be- go figure) and saved the day. I realized that while I would love to have a girl (even have the name picked out) I can barely handle two kids let alone three!!

The next leg of our trip was to head to Maryland (last exit before Delaware) to visit with Logan (Jamie and Andy). We got set up and enjoyed Logan’s awesome playground and pool. We thought the boys might be tired from our travels but they had a whole new room of toys to destroy and a train set. The boys were in heaven. The next day we had a wonderful pajama day where we got to play and relax and do some FreedomRocks work. Every time the dog, Max, would come in Bear would pull tufts of his hair out and just squeal in total delight. He was so excited about the dog it was really cute. (Luckily Andy came home and took the boys outside to play in the sandbox, they were going a little stir crazy by the afternoon.) I found the difference between the girls playing and the boys playing so fascinating. Logan was super helpful letting us know if the boys were getting into something they shouldn't be or if they needed help but he didn't care much if he had their attention or not. The independent play was so different then when it's with girls.

The next day we packed up again and made the trek to Gordonsville, VA to visit with Carly and Cason (Chris & Kevin). Again we thought man the boys are going to be so exhausted and annoyed with all the driving, but they showed up and saw a whole new playground and new toys to play with. Not only that but there were cats to chase. (Poor, poor cats.) Cooper learned to ride a little scooter, Sully enjoyed the trampoline and found a new favorite nap place in Cason’s swing on the porch. The next day the boys delighted in the pool. Cooper was brave and wanted to go down the slide. The first time he slid into Jim’s arms and happily went to do it again into my arms.

Unfortunately all thirty pounds of him came a little to fast for me and he went right into the water. (Oh my god- want to talk about guilt.) He was fine, not even a tear, but man I felt so bad! Carly and I got some good snuggle time in. She let me read her three books to her before bed even though I couldn’t sing I feel like I got an A for effort! Who else but a little 4 year old girl can get two grown men to play Barbie twister???

After all our traveling Jim wanted to wake up in our own bed on Sunday and have a day to get ready for the work week. So we packed up again and headed home Saturday afternoon.

We have the most amazing family and friends and were so blessed to be able to do a visit like we did. We have super amazing boys! They were so easy to travel with and it was just so wonderful to spend time with my dear girlfriends and to have our kids hang out.

We’ve decided to make that an annual trek!!

2006 Christmas at the Monihan's

Oh What A Week We're Having

Wow, it's been an eventful holiday season for us.

We spent Christmas in NoVA with my (Jim's) parents in Haymarket. We got there on Saturday evening and spent the next few days there, returning home on the 26th. As Abbie has pointed out, we see my dad more now than when we lived in NoVA. Go figure.

We spent Sunday the 24th with Katie and Bruce at their townhouse. It was so cute watching how Emily plays to the crowd and even with other babies around, she's still the center of attention. Cooper was crawling all over everything since it was all new to him. Sullivan simply did his cute thing without too much fuss (wish it was that way at home). We stayed for the first quarter of the Giants-Saints game where the Giants were handing it to the Saints. We think we were the good luck charm in that household of Giants fans because once we left, the Giants imploded upon themselves yet again. What happens this weekend when they play the Skins? Are we the Giants' good luck charm or the Skins? And what about Abbie's new favorite team, the Panthers? How are they going to do? She only likes them because Jake Delhomme makes funny commercials for Sprint down here.

Abbie got sick that night. Violently sick, I would say. She was vomiting like her life depended on it. And the runs she had, whoa, Nelly. Poor thing. It was an awful night for her. We never figured out what it was, either...although it rears its head later.

Gene and Kathy had a blast with the boys. Kathy hooked us up big time with wanting to hold Bear all the time. He may be young, but he's far from little...so always holding him gets tiring at his hefty 20lbs (and he's only seven months old...the little chunky butt). She just soaked his heftiness in and held him and hugged him and squeezed him all over. Cooper played a lot with Dad, and demonstrated to Grandpa how he could walk up and down stairs holding your hand.

Christmas dinner on the 25th was at Dad's house with the grandparents and John, Kat & little Lauren. Chris and Wanda came over also since they were in town for Wanda's doctor's appointments. It was very nice to have both sets of grandparents in one place, if even for one night. Chris did assimilate very well with my dysfunctional family...they even sucked him into the post-dinner booze and politics at the table whilst the women-folk went off and did what they do.

Cooper said "Papi" for the first time. Papi is French for grandfather and that's what we call Chris D'Addario. What? Not like we can call every grandfather "grandpa"...do you have any idea how many grandpa's these kids would have? Sheesh. (For the curious, that would be four...and yes, they have four grandmothers, too).

Our drive on the 26th took us over five hours. Usually only takes us 4 hours, but we decided to avoid the awful traffic in NoVA to get to I-95, so we took it out towards Culpeper and down Rte 3. It was actually a pleasant drive, and we had fun jamming out to Cooper and Sully's new Backyardigan DVD's. Yes, yes, Abbie and I like the music just as much as the boys. You would too if you sat down and watched the shows a few times. Very catchy tunes, quite frankly. "Boinga, boinga".

The next day, after I finished my half day at work, I came home not feeling very good. I had the chills and my stomach wasn't feeling very good. That night, I went to bed while Abbie stayed up to work on a Deltek project she's had on tap for some time. About an hour after I went to bed, I jumped up and ran to the bathroom to projectile vomit into the commode. The next day, I spent most of the day resting, with no appetite, and managed to steal a needed 3 hour nap in late afternoon. After going to bed for the night, I found myself jumping up and running to the bathroom yet again so that I could projectile vomit. It wasn't until Saturday that I finally regained my appetite. Very disconcerting to not want to eat anything for three days. Guess I caught what Abbie had.

And then yesterday, Cooper started giving signs that he was getting sick. Today, he got it bad. Throwing up everywhere. Barely eating anything. And the diahrrea...DAD TIP: don't take your child out of the house if there's the potential for the runs and those runs have a distinct potential for leaking out of the diaper. If you do, bring at least three pairs of pants, and an entire package of baby wipes. Oooh, it was a mess.

BIG NEWS ALERT! Abbie has completed her tenure with Deltek. That project she was working on was her last, and she got it completed after long nights of working. I'm going to leave it to Abbie to detail this period of transition of her's for y'all. Needless to say, for me, it's nice to have her not have to worry about Deltek, although, the extra income will be missed. Abbie is going to take up the banner for our FreedomRocks business and has been preparing for her kick off point. $1M in 2 years is our goal and we know we can do it. Deltek chapter...closed.

BIG NEWS ALERT! I've officially stopped being a real estate agent in Virginia. I got notice today from my old broker, Help-U-Sell Patriot Realty, that my subscription with the MLS was terminated and that my license had been sent back to the Commonwealth of VA. It was a bit sad, but the only thing I truly liked about real estate (other than the potential for big bucks) was the flexibility in scheduling. Virginia real estate salesperson chapter...closed.

Cooper had his birthday on Friday the 29th. Finally two years old. He got a little activity table with which to play at. He took to it immediately, and has demonstrated that he definitely knows its his and what to do with it. We'll post pics of this past week soon.

Our anniversary is tomorrow, and it will be yet another quiet evening at home thanks to the chillins. I look forward to the day that we can start attending New Year's Eve like regular people...Raleigh got one of those First Night celebrations that look like fun for the whole family. Of course, we're going to plan some kewl shindigs on New Year's in the future that we hope y'all will come to.

Whatever y'all are doing for New Year's Eve, please be safe, and have a prosperous New Year. Cheers.

Lobster Fest 2006

Sully and Lauren showing us their
cabbage patch doll impersonations!


Grandpa & Cooper
enjoying some of the
ol' bubbly.



Cooper was obviously smitten
with baby Lauren and wanted
to tell her he loved her.


Gene showing his boys how
to open oysters. With hot
sauce they really weren't
that bad!


Jim showing off his dinner.
Yummmmmmmmmmy


This years Lobsterfest was a blast as usual. The lobster, scallops, clams and oysters were delectable and no splashing butter to burn everyone so we were all very happy. (Already making room for next year!) My camera battery died after only a few pictures but you would have seen Cooper jumping in everyone's lap and still refusing to call me mom but Abbie to show off. Sully and Lauren were pretty quiet just biding their time and giving Cooper his last chance to hog all the attention. You would not have seen a picture of Shannon or Bob holding the babies. I think they both ran as soon as it looked like Sully might be coming in their direction. Seriously I think I saw skid marks from their car when they left. :-) Grandpa and Grandma sure can throw a party!!!