A Christmas to Remember

I have to say that I don't think I can recall ever having a Christmas such as the one we have just experienced.

We spent a busy, but great week with Steve's parents, Sherry & Dennis, as we moved in and got our new house in order. We had an evening of 'Christmas' with them with the turkey dinner and gift opening as well. The boys have had a blast playing with their remote control cars, digital cameras and tools. The boys also opened gifts from Auntie Jie, which included mini Tonka Trucks with haulers, beautiful hoodies and t-shirts and a book called 'Three Stories of Three - Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Three Little Pigs'.

A few days later, Ronan, Suzanne, Isabelle and Catriona arrived from Boston for the O'Hagan Family Christmas of 2007. Keegan, Josh & Connolly had a great time catching up with their big cousin after 18 months, and meeting their newest cousin, Catriona, for the first time. We went to the Christmas Eve service at my parent's church and then had the very traditional Christmas Eve dinner of pizza and wine!!

Christmas Day was not too hectic. My mum came over early to get things cooking and by 5:30pm, we were all sitting down to a very yummy Christmas dinner with turkey, ham and all the trimmings. We did our gift exchanges before and after dinner. Before dinner, the boys exchanged gifts with Mama Tricia & Papa Se. Keegan, Josh & Connolly each got their own Tonka Truck, the ones big enough to sit on and ride. After dinner, the boys gave Isabelle and Catriona their gifts - a digital camera for Isabelle and an alphabet drum for Catriona - and the boys were given beautiful sweaters from Uncle Ronan, Auntie Suzanne and the girls.

Unfortunately, despite the fun times being had on Christmas Day, it was the beginning of the holidays to remember. Around Noon on Christmas Day, Catriona began throwing up and by 8:30pm, I was leading Ronan & Suzanne to the Alberta Children's Hospital to have Catriona checked out at Emergency. There is a GI bug going around Calgary right now and many of the children brought into the ACH in the past month have been there because of it. But it's not only affecting children.

Not only was Catriona sick on Christmas Day, but so was my mum. Then on Boxing Day, it was Suzanne and Connolly's turn. December 27th, Ronan and I decided we would get in on the 'fun' and finally, today, December 28th, Isabelle and Josh would have a go. Out of the 11 of us, only 3 have escaped...so far!! Fingers crossed Steve, Keegan and my dad won't have to be huddled up to the toilet for 24 hours!

The worst part about all of us being sick was that we had to cancel our much anticipated trip to West Edmonton Mall for Friday and Saturday. We were really looking forward to taking the kids to the amusement park and most especially, taking them skating for the first time, but it was not meant to be this Christmas.

Despite the disappointment, we don't plan on it getting us down too much. We're going to make the best of the few days we have left with Ronan, Suzanne, Isabelle and Catriona here and get in as many family activities as we can. I believe a trip to Banff to soak in the hot springs is in the cards for Saturday or Sunday.

And as far as I'm concerned, who cares if we're in Edmonton, in Banff, or hanging out at our house listening to music, snacking on some food and sipping on some good wine, as long as we are all together.

For the pictures of our wonderful Christmas holidays...check them out HERE.

UPDATE: Within an hour of writing the blog above, Keegan felt it was his turn to enter the realm of the GI bug and was sick all over our bed. We bathed him and gave him some tylenol, which perked him up immediately. He even came swimming with us when we went with Ronan, Suzanne, Isabelle and Catriona.

When it was bedtime, Keegan seemed perfectly fine, but alas, I was up in the wee hours of the morning tending to him just seconds after he woke me by shouting 'bath, bath'. I knew immediately he had been or was going to be sick, so I raced across the hall to get him. He made it to just outside the bathroom door and hit the carpet perfectly, not an ounce of throw-up on the easy-to-clean linolium!! LOL A quick change of pj's, a spoonful of tylenol, milk replaced with apple juice/water and he was back in bed to sleep until 8:00am.

At 10:00am, we were on our way to Banff for the day with Ronan, Suzanne and the girls. We spent some time soaking in the hot springs and then we went to mum & dad's (who were spending the day by themselves at home) favourite restaurant 'Melissa's' for a yummy lunch. It was a fun, but tiring day for all.

Don't forget to check the picutres from our Christmas 2007 (minus Banff pics, cause we didn't take any!!) - the link is in the original blog above...

It's Christmas time in our new house!

Keegan, Josh & Connolly are loving the space in their new house and despite some initial hesitation, they also love having their own bedrooms. We think it makes them appreciate their play-time during the days/evenings a lot more now that they are not together 24/7.

It took Connolly only one day of having his own room to figure out how to open doors, so we had to race out and get the child-proof door handles to make sure the boys don't get into rooms they shouldn't and out of their own rooms at night-time should they feel the desire to wander. Every morning when the boys wake up, they say 'goodbye Josh's blue room, goodbye Connolly's red room, goodbye Keegan's yellow room' and then they each close their own door before venturing downstairs for breakfast and play time.

We have had a fun week getting the house organized with the help of Mama Sherry & Papa Dennis who came for early Christmas celebrations. Mama Tricia & Papa Se helped in getting the old house ready for the new owner and in the beginning stages of organizing the new house. The boys were also lucky enough to have a few hours with both sets of Mamas & Papas.

The boys have received some wonderful gifts so far from family and friends. It's definitely a 'boy' house with all the cars, trucks and tools in their playroom. And there are, no doubt, more boy toys to come. It's going to be hard to decide which things to play with first. To make it easier, Mama Sherry and I cleared out all the old toys the boys don't play with anymore and made room for the new stuff.

Lynn, our nanny, who is expecting a baby, a little girl, of her own in February, has obliged us by accepting several of the non-gender specific toys and clothes we had for the boys, and that has helped in down-sizing wardrobes and toy boxes in our house!

And now for all the pictures. Rather than posting the many pictures we have taken of our new house and of our holiday season so far, I am providing a link to those pictures HERE.

Fun in the Final weeks of 2007 and 177

It's hard to believe that the end of 2007 is just around the corner and that we will soon be gearing up for Keegan, Josh & Connolly's 3rd birthday. We've obviously been having lots of fun since the day the boys were born, cause time has completely flown by.

Here are some more pictures of the fun the boys have been having as we enter the final month of 2007 and our final 2 weeks in #177.

Train time...

Trying to send some good vibes to the Calgary Flames...
Waving at Daddy as he goes to work in the morning...
Playing with the tire in the back yard...
Eating snow...don't worry, it wasn't yellow!!...


Josh practices falling down to block the puck...
Then he practices his goalie stance...
Connolly's close-up...
Lynn...

Lynn plays trains with Josh...

Connolly gives Lynn a hug before she goes home for the weekend...

Keegan sneaks in for a kiss & hug...

Connolly gives Lynn another hug on behalf of Josh who was being shy...Hmmm, which train piece should I add next?...
Keegan and his best pal, Puppy...

Josh hangs with Daddy on our bed watching hockey...

Pizza time...


More trains after supper...
Keegan helps put some dishes in the sink...
Josh climbs on Mum for a piggy back ride...
Keegan...
Connolly...

These are a few of our Favourite things

Don't worry, Keegan, Josh and Connolly are still avid 'Wiggles' fans (especially Connolly), but as they are getting older, there are more things that are attracting their attention. For the past week or so, almost every day Connolly has asked to phone someone and has talked to both sets of Mama's and Papa's several times in the last little while. Connolly doesn't like to hand the phone over, but Keegan and Josh usually get a minute or two to talk to whoever is on the phone too. If the phone gets hung up by accident, we are always asked 'Mama and Papa again?', so a second phone call is made. The boys language is improving every day and talking on the phone has really helped them too.

The Wiggles' dvd's have taken a back-seat lately to the boys' new favourite movies - Cars and Monsters Inc. Especially Cars!!! They even have Cars doodle books which they draw on every day. Dare I say there might be a Cars-themed birthday party in their future.

And speaking of Cars, like any little boys, Keegan, Josh & Connolly are intensely into playing with their cars and their train set. Most mornings with Lynn, they lay the train tracks out on the kitchen table and play, or they play with the car garage on the rug in the living room. Josh could play with cars all day long if so desired.

Here are some pictures we've taken of the boys in the last little while doing a few of their favourite things, and some other random pics as well...

During Grey Cup Week, the boys show which team they support...



Reading & Drawing in their 'Cars' books...


Time to play with cars and trains...
Outside with Lynn...making snow angels...



Watching themselves on video...
Connolly in the pool....
Josh has a bath...



When the boys made their appearance on the 'Live with Regis & Kelly - Beautiful Baby Contest (2006)...'

Having lunch in their high chairs...
Dancing along with the music in the video...