Andrew is 5!!!

Happy Birthday Andrew! I can't believe he is 5 years old! He's a whole hand! Andrew has really matured in the past couple of months. He is an amazing big brother. He is so sweet to Molly and loves playing with her and "taking care of her". He and Matthew are typical brothers but most of the time Andrew is very sweet...only pushing Matthew's buttons occasionally. It's rough tolerating a 2 year old all of the time. Andrew still continues to have an amazing imagination and sometimes seems mature beyond his years. But then we have a reality check when he is tired or hungry:)

We had a great day yesterday on his actual birthday. The day started off by going to his favorite bakery by our old house, Breadsmith. He wanted a cinnamon claw with icing. Then we met the Bormann's who were visiting from Tulsa at the Magic House. After the Magic House we met dad at Daily Bread for lunch. Then it was home for naps. Since it was his birthday I didn't push the nap so he hung out with me during that time. Then my mom and dad brought Chick fil A for dinner and he got a bike from them and a couple of Playmobil trucks from us. It was a special day and we were exhausted by the end! He also got lots of phone calls which he thought was so cool. Thanks to everyone who called.







We will be having his friend party on Saturday. The theme is Phineas and Ferb...stay tuned:)

Molly 8 Months

While we were on vacation, Molly turned 8 months old. She continues to be the sweetest baby. She did start a trend on our trip of waking up around 4 and then going back down until about 7. Not what I was expecting on vacation but I'm hoping she'll get out of this funk quickly! She is now a speed crawler, has mastered the stairs, and pulls up on everything. Last week she stood on her own for about 5 seconds before falling. She is still a very picky eater and will not drink out of a bottle or sippy cup. I keep telling myself I'll miss the days of being her source of nutrition. Trying to stay positive:) The only solids she will eat are carbs that she can feed herself. She'll eat Puffs, Mum Mums, pretzels, bread...yep, not a very balanced diet. She waved for the first time at the beach and is still pretty hit or miss but boy is it cute when she does it. She is also starting to do "So BIG". She has her two bottom teeth, little chicklets, so cute. I can't believe she is already 8 months old. I was holding her tonight looking in the mirror and am amazed at how big and grown up she is. Sometimes I wish I could just hit a pause button!

The Beach

Wow, I am so behind, where do I begin? Last week we were on vacation. My mom's side of the family met at the Indiana Dunes (right on Lake Michigan) for a family reunion. This is the first time we had seen everyone since my grandmother passed away. Here are some highlights:

*We stopped at the Lego store on the way up, to break up the trip and for a birthday treat for Andrew

*We had a nice little house all to ourselves with 3 bedrooms. The boys each had a room and Molly slept in our room. The house was the perfect beach house. Decorated very 70s but we really didn't have to worry about he kids ruining anything. It had a nice sun room and a huge deck off the back. It was on the beach side which was a huge added bonus.

*Saturday night was our first night there. We went to Doey and Susy's place for dinner. My mom had shirts made for everyone which was awesome. We had dinner and then headed down to the beach. The boys were in heaven...making sand angels. Quite a change for Matthew from last year. He was not a fan of the sand for the first couple of days but this year was awesome.

*Sunday morning we went to an outdoor mass. It was a great concept but the fact that there was no music made it virtually impossible for the McLaughlin's to go under the radar:) Drew had to leave mass with Matthew because he was AWFUL. Everyone was exhausted from staying up super late and not sleeping well our first night of vacation. I decided to let Drew go back to the house and nap with Molly while the boys and I visited some family.

*Sunday night we had dinner at my parent's beach house, "Richie's Retreat". I think "Richie" did his fair share of 70s style partying...if you know what I mean. We had some good laughs and played a few rounds of 25 words or less.

*Monday Drew played golf so I took the boys to my dad's sister Missy's house since my mom's family didn't get started until a few hours after the McLaughlins. Then we met the family at the beach for a little bit before lunch and naps.

*Tuesday we went on a LONG family walk where Matthew fell asleep in Drew's arms and Molly fell asleep in my arms. Talk about the waves putting you to sleep...it was 8am:) Andrew was a trooper because he HAD to walk. Then we did a little outlet shopping. I had some beach time with Andrew and Molly then we had Mexican night at Andy's house.

*Wednesday Drew played golf again. I took the boys to hang with my mom while Molly and I shopped for Andrew's birthday party at our place that night. We made LEGO birthday cakes once Drew got home from golf and I made a few more trips to the store but it was a really fun party. Pete's family joined us for their first night there. Some great memories of Andrew and Kiersten on the beach that night. Everyone was very generous giving Andrew great LEGO gifts. Since it was our dinner night, we ordered pizza...delicious and easy

*Thursday Molly continued her "vacation routine" of getting up at 4 and then again at 6 or 7. I was able to sneak away for an hour and do some shopping on my own...oh how nice it was! Then we met Pete's family at the beach with a very crabby Matthew but it was fun. THEN Drew planned a surprise party for me that night for my 30th since a lot of the family wouldn't be able to be with me on my big day in September...WHAT A SWEET HUSBAND!!

*Friday...our last day...TEAR. We had donuts at Missy's house then hit a few more stores at the mall. I went down to the beach while the kids napped and it was so windy that the sand was painful when it hit my body. I'm so glad we didn't plan on taking the kids there because they would have been miserable. Our last dinner was at Pete and Jill's beach house and a great storm rolled in. It was a wonderful way to end a great vacation.

*It poured all Friday night into Saturday so it was the perfect way to leave the beach. ALL 3 kids were sound asleep once we were on the road for 30 minutes at 10am!!! Talk about worn out! The ride home went well and then it was back to reality.

Day one Pictures:

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4515873007/a=28308882_28308882/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Beach Pictures:
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4528729007/a=28308882_28308882/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Days 2,3,4
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4536245007/a=28308882_28308882/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Birthdays and Last Day:
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4567327007/a=28308882_28308882/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Catch Up

I feel like that's all I do these days, try to catch up. I like being busy though so I'm not complaining. I do need to backtrack a few weeks since it's been a while. The week before the 4th we had the Pacifico's over for a play date. It was tons of fun. We played in the basement in the bounce house and with the trains. Then we went outside and played in the garbage truck and I attempted to do a 4th of July art project with the boys. I'd say it went ok. Then Andrew and Blake got a game of t-ball going with Allison while Matthew, Chase, and Molly played with some trucks (Mia was being a good girl and taking a nap). Then we came in and had a nice PBJ lunch. Unfortunately I hadn't made it to the store yet and we were pretty low on food but we managed and no one seemed to care.

Friday we went to John and Christina's for Dewey's! We were so excited to have Dewey's pizza. We haven't had it since we moved. The kids played in Josie's baby pool while she had a little nap then we had pizza and played soccer with John, the superstar. We all had a blast!




Saturday, I got up early and met Allison for a run. The weather was beautiful and we ran at a good pace. Then I went home and got the fam ready for some swimming. Drew helped me get the kids settled and then he went to play golf. After golf, we had the Pacificos over to my parent's for dinner (Nacho Mamma's) and lots of playing. We all headed home early in anticipation of the 4th the next day.



After church on the 4th we laid low and had naps. Then we headed out to Lake St. Louis to Allison's dad's house for some lake fun and fireworks. The kids did awesome and had so much fun. Drew's dream of being in the lake with his boys came true. The only thing missing was the wakeboarding boat and wakeboard....one day dear. Molly and Mia went down at their normal bedtime and the boys got to stay up for the fireworks over the lake. They did awesome and LOVED every second of it. Allison thought of every last detail so putting Molly down and keeping the boys happy was a breeze.








Unfortunately, Matthew woke up in the middle of the night with a fever. Poor guy. Since Monday was a holiday I couldn't get Matthew into the doctor so we just laid low and recovered from our busy weekend. I was SO thankful that Drew didn't have work because Molly and Matthew were VERY needy and I'm not sure I would have been in one piece had I been alone with all 3.

Tuesday, I was convinced that Matthew had hand, foot, and mouth after my online research. I called the doctor and told them my diagnosis and they basically laughed at me (rightfully so). They told me to bring him in so they could check him out. The doctor looked at his throat and was pretty sure he had strep b/c of the types of sores in his mouth. The test ended up being negative so once again, it was a virus that he had to get over. He was a trooper. Note to self: Don't pretend like I'm a pediatrician and try to diagnose my children.

Thursday Drew had to work late so I took the boys to see a great construction site in Blake and Chase's neighborhood. It was heaven for them! We ended up staying for dinner and it made my long day much more bearable. Thanks Allison and John for adding 4 more to your already full house for dinner.



Friday was an interesting day for my little Matthew. Being a 2 year old got the best of him and all I can say is WOW! Everything led to a tantrum. At one point I was trying to feed Molly and he was kicking me and crying so hysterically that he couldn't catch his breath. I finally decided to try calling Drew to see if he could calm him down but he didn't answer so I called my mom. She finally got him to stop crying and asked him what she could do to help. He said, "Come to my house grandma," In his most pathetic voice possible. Of course she was on her way immediately...what a good grandma! Thanks for the distraction mom!

If you are still reading, wow, I'm impressed:) Today we decided to have a garage sale in hopes of clearing out our garage and having a better organized basement. I'd say it was a success. We didn't really have any BIG ticket items but we had enough that we didn't just want to take it all to Goodwill. We ended up only taking a small load to Goodwill and it felt so good to purge! The kids were great and Andrew loved being left "in charge";)