4 years ago today I married my best friend.....

This Thanksgiving Mikey is most thankful for....

Most Thankful

It goes without saying that I am thankful EVERYDAY for Michael and Mikey and the life that we have together. This year, I want to reflect on another thing I am most thankful for......

The McDonagh Family.

This fabulous family took me in when my life was a little crazy and let me move into their Florida home to complete an internship at a nearby hospital. THEN they allowed me to crash even longer once I made the decision to re-locate and become a Florida resident!

The McDonaghs were always re-locating around the country---from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, and finally to Florida. Growing up, we spent quality time around the holidays with together but I never got to spend the amount of time that I did during the three years we lived together in West Palm.

Here are some of my favorite memories with the McDonaghs:

-Bonding over countless card games at the kitchen table: Phase 10 & Oh Hell were our favorites;

-Doing girly things with Aunt Diane that she never got to do with a "daughter"--manis and pedis, clothing and furniture shopping, going to the movies to watch "chick flicks" (or renting them and watching at home), sitting around and talking for hours;

-Uncle Tom converting me to a Red Sox fan & watching him check the paper each morning to see how many games ahead the Sox were of the Yankees;

-Fighting over the leftover chicken cutlets for lunch with Ryan (and the washing machine and the TV);

-Surviving 2 out of 3 hurricanes together (the third I spent working in the hospital)---sleeping in the laundry room with Ryan, sitting in the downstairs shower with Aunt Diane as we yelled at the boys for opening the window and watching the hurricane from upstairs;

-My weekly cup of ice cream from Baskin Robbins courtesy of Uncle Tom;

-Watching the Giants game at the bar with my uncle and "brothers";

-Our "family" vacation to Universal in Orlando;

-Bar hopping with my cousin...NOT my boyfriend!

-Watching "our" favorite TV shows--Friends and Sex and the City (even Uncle Tom!);

-All of our cocktails and family dinners together.

These memories and a million more will stick out in my head and I'm so grateful for the times we shared together. I love you all!

Happy 30th Birthday, Uncle Mark!

Happy Birthday to you! We hope you have a great day! We're looking forward to seeing you next week!

Love Michael, Allison and Mikey

Just another day at the farm.....

Sunday morning Mikey and I headed over to the farm to spend some time with Chloe and her awesome Mom, Lexie. Since Chloe had never been to Drumlin Farm before we had quite a lot to show her!

It was a gorgeous cool and sunny morning. First we checked out the sheep and the goats, caught a glimpse of a pony in the field and then Mikey spotted the hayride! That is BY FAR the biggest obsession these days----trucks, cars, trains, tractors, etc.

Here are some fun shots from our day:

The Big Red Barn and tractor

Chloe and Mikey saying "cheese" for the camera

Hugs on the Hayride

Mikey and Mommy playing on the old tractor we found

Sneak Peak.....

Mikey went for his Christmas pictures today. This is one job I would NEVER want to have---photographing a 20 month old (or any young child for that matter) in a strange place, with new and different objects--all while getting the "perfect" shot. I left exhausted and I wasn't the one working!

I don't want to give away any potential Christmas card shots so I'll include one that definitely WON'T be on the card.

Isn't it great?!?! They couldn't look more alike!

Now, no more talk about Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving! One holiday at a time.

What ARE we doing for Thanksgiving you ask?

Mikey will be going on his second plane ride as we will be traveling to Naples, Florida on Thanksgiving morning. We will be celebrating many milestones during our trip: Grandma's 80th birthday, Mark's 30th birthday, and our 4th wedding anniversary (on Thanksgiving!). We are looking forward to spending lots of quality time with our family!! 9 days and counting!

I wonder what you will be when you grow up......

A construction worker?

A race car driver?

An engineer?

It doesn't really matter what you'll grow up to be.....

because I'm always going to see you like this......

Happy Birthday, Grandma! We love you and can't wait to celebrate your birthday with you in a few weeks! Have a great day!

Love Always,

Michael, Allison and Mikey

20 Months....

and the little boy is FINALLY talking!

These are your most popular words of the moment:

• "GO!";
• "ma-min" (pumpkin);
• "CHOO-CHOO" (in a LOUD voice! You brought a train with us in the car to Norwell on Sunday and you "choo-choo"ed for 15 continuous minutes);
• "Hello" and "hi"---especially when holding the phone up to your ear;
• "More";
• You also attempted to say "Grandpa" (you said "pa-pa"), "Grandma" and "Auntie" this week!

Here's your 20 month picture. So handsome. Although I hate to admit it, I think it's time we snip those long locks in the back. I am no longer enjoying the comments by strangers such as "wow, his hair is getting long, huh?!?!" (which I translate as "When are you getting his haircut?").

Is it too early to start thinking about your birthday party? I guess I should wait until after the holidays, huh?

Happy Halloween!

On Sunday, we said goodbye to Mandy, Mikey took a mini-nap and then we headed down to Norwell to spend the day with the Perniolas and Lauren Hutchison. Little Ellie (3 months) was dressed as Princess Leia and Mikey went as an Ewok (from Star Wars). We headed out trick-or-treating about 5:00 and visited almost every house on Katie and Bob's dead end street. It was perfect!

Initially, Mikey was shy and reserved when the trick-or-treating began. As the night progressed, Mikey became more and more comfortable. People would hold their bowl of candy out and offer Mikey to pick something and by the end of the night he was taking candy out by the fistfull!

Here are some highlights:

Mommy, Daddy, an Ewok and Princess Leia ready to head out trick-or-treating!

Princess Leia and her Daddy, Bob

Ready to score some candy

Mikey and Mommy

Mikey eating his favorite treat--a candied apple on a stick!

Auntie comes to visit

Mikey and Mommy had a very nice visit with Auntie last week. She came last Thursday afternoon and stayed until Sunday morning. We were able to take Auntie to our music class as well as to the Drumlin Farm. Auntie also helped Mikey paint his first pumpkin ("ma-min" as Mikey pronounces it). Mikey just adored Mandy and enjoyed spending time with her.



Mommy lucked out last week as well. On Friday night, Auntie stayed home with a sleeping Mikey so that Michael and I could go to the movies. We saw "The Town" and LOVED it. On Saturday night, Michael stayed home with Mikey and Mommy and Auntie had a "sisters night out". We went for dinner and drinks and then saw the movie "Life As We Know It". This is definitely the first time in my life that I saw two movies in the theatre back-to-back! So much fun!



Thanks for making the trip, Auntie! We had so much fun! See you next weekend in New
Jersey!

PS: We missed you, Uncle Scott! Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday!

Auntie and Mikey in front of the cows at the farm

Getting ready to paint the pumpkin