Introducing...Cullen Patrick Mulcrone

We are so excited to announce the birth of Cullen Patrick Mulcrone on Friday, August 13th at 9:52 pm. He weighed 7 lb 15 oz and was 20" long.
When I went to the doctor that morning for my weekly visit he said I was only measuring at 37 weeks so he did a quick ultrasound to find out that my fluids were getting low so I needed to be induced. I headed home to get my things - and Pat and then headed to the hospital. Lucky for me my dad was watching the girls for my appointment so he just took them home with him.
Induction and labor went smooth and easy and we were thrilled when Cullen was born. We didn't know if he was a boy or girl (I was convinced he was a girl) but it is exciting to have a son.
Cullen is a great baby - he eats well and is very content. Cries only for food, clean diaper and for a quick nap.
We are now 4 weeks into being a family of 5 and we love every moment of it. The girls are great with him and its so nice they have each other to play with when I can't play with them.
We have been blessed by family and friends who have visited, brought us meals, took the girls for a while and taking good care of us.
We can't wait for Cullen to meet all his family and friends - he is one lucky boy!

A very medical summer...

Being pregnant I knew I would be spending a lot of time at the doctor this summer, what I didn't know is how much time our family would be spending at the doctor!
In addition to seeing my OB on a very regular basis, I also had to see my eye doctor to keep a check on my eye pressure for glaucoma. Praise God - my pressure has been 17 and under and I have not had to be on my drops throughout my pregnancy!
I made the goal of having all of Reagan's appointments for kindergarten done before the end of June. Thought that would be one visit to the dentist and one to the eye doctor. It was only one visit to the eye doctor, but 3 to the dentist. She had 4 cavities in her molars so we had to go back to get them filled and she even had a 'baby root canal'.
We got through that and thought we were good to go! Boy was I wrong...
At the end of July we had back-to-back graduation parties on my dad's side of the family (that's what happens when you are 1 of 16 grandchildren). At the first party Nola got her fingers slammed in the door. Thought we might be heading to the ER, but she calmed down (thanks to the Noreen and the dog) and she was ok.
The next day we went to Blaire's party and the girls were having a great time in the jumper and playing with cousins. That evening Reagan got a large piece of wood stuck in the ball of her foot from the deck. (remember the jumper...she was not wearing shoes) Jacqui got out her first aid kit and we thought the slivers were all out.
The next day she said it still hurt but I sent her to zoo camp anyway - thinking it was just her drama. That night Pat soaked her foot in salt water and a little piece of wood came out. Thought that was it...wrong again.
On Thursday when Johanna (our neighbor who is a nurse) stopped by she looked at it and thought I should have a doctor look at it. Off to the pediatrician we went. She couldn't see anything so got us set up to see a podiatrist/orthopaedic the next day.
Oh, and keep in mind, I kept sending her to zoo camp the whole week - the poor thing was walking on her heel.
That night Nola was up in the night coughing and having trouble breathing - sounded like croup. Luckily my mom was here for a sleepover so she took one for the team and slept with Nola.
Friday morning I was off to my doctor's appointment. While I was waiting I had to call our pediatrician again to get Nola in. She ended up with a 3:30 appointment - same time I had to have Reagan at her doctor. So thankful my mom and dad were able to take Nola and I took Reagan. Nola did have croup and was put on steroids.
From Reagan's appointment we went to the hospital to have an ultrasound of her foot - sure enough, there was a 2 cm piece of wood still in her foot!
Monday morning came and the surgeon called to tell us Reagan would have surgery at 2:00 to have it out...yes, a sliver can lead to surgery!!
Reagan was a trooper through it all - she was very excited that they put a hot pink cast on her foot after surgery to keep her foot safe. She had a rough time coming out of the anaesthesia but once she fell back asleep she was much better.
5 days later the cast came off and now she is in a walking boot. Still can't swim, but it has to be cooler than the cast.
Nola got a little better but was still coughing - back to the pediatrician. The cough had turned into bronchitis - luckily the z-pack worked and she is 100%.
Now we just need a healthy baby and we'll be all set...

Bonfire!!

We finally got our act together and hosted a bonfire last week. The girls have been asking since last year's bonfire with the Erb's.
This year the Erbs, Goys and Williams joined us for quite a fun night.
Cassidy had brought us the largest marshmallows I have ever seen so that added to the fun!
The kids just had a great time playing with one another and signing Reagan's cast. Pat & Dave worked hard to get a great fire going and soon we were roasting away.
The marshmallows were so big - it was even hard to keep them on the graham cracker.
We have plenty of leftovers so I think another bonfire may be in our not-to-distant future!

Zoo Camp!!

After such a great experience last year, Reagan was very excited to be going to zoo camp again this year. And to add to the excitement - Cassidy went too! They both had a great week - and came home tired out each day. Her counselor, Annie, was great and kept them busy all morning.
On Friday we were able to go see the Zoo Camp show. Reagan & Cassidy's group performed 'Barnyard Dance' on the outside stage and did such a great job.
We then watched the other groups do their songs and puppet show before Zoo Camp came to an end.
What a great week - and I can't wait to hear all the tidbits that Reagan learned. Funny how she can't remember anything when I pick her up but weeks later she is telling me about a nocternal animal she saw there when it was cloudy.
She is well on her way to her goal of becoming a veterinarian!!

Happy Birhtday, Finn!!

I can't think of a better way to celebrate Finn's birthday than to join him, his family and friends at the Planetarium! I don't know if I had ever been there before - possibly on a field trip in school, but I can't remember.
After Reagan learned all about space in school she was very excited to be exploring the Planetarium.
They have a great kids exploration area and the girls couldn't get enough of it. They were able to put on astronaut clothes, so how astronauts sleep standing up, walk through a very black room - resembling space, and use a computer to launch a rocket.
One of the coolest things was they had rovers on a platform and the kids (or parents) could control them from a computer and the other kids could go under the platform and stick their heads through domes - very fun!
We were able to see the Big Bird show 'Big Sky'. It was fun and very comfortable seats!
We had lunch together and enjoyed delicious chocolate cake! It was such a beautiful day to be in the city - and such fun to celebrate as Finn turned 3!

And the rain came tumblin' down...

And right into our basement. We have not only had a very hot summer, we have had a very rainy summer. We got a little water on the day there was a tornado in our neighborhood but Pat was able to clean it up.
The Friday night storm didn't leave us so lucky. We woke up to puddles on our carpet so we knew it was time to tear it out. Pat and my dad worked so hard and got the carpet out quickly so the smell went out with it!
We are blessed that we didn't get as much water as other people - praying others are able to get their houses back in order soon.
We now have new carpet and a new set up downstairs - amazing how a little water can get you to clean your basement!!

Zoo Days

We are so lucky to live to close to Brookfield Zoo - and the girls love going there. Nola wanted to go for weeks - but as we drove past and saw the lines and lines of buses I couldn't bring myself to brave all of the field trips. And with it being such a hot summer it hasn't been our #1 destination.
A few weeks ago we did venture there with Michelle & Ella and Katie, Thomas & Andrew. It was fun to see animals early - before the heat really set in. The girls played in the splash pad before heading to their favorite place - Hammil Play Zoo.
They were veterinarians, birds and got their faces painted before heading home.
I am sure we will get there again soon - once its not 90 degrees and humid!!

Happy Birthday, Papa

For Papa's birthday we went out to dinner with the whole Mulcrone family (minus Dan who had diving). We had a great dinner and the girls were very excited to be celebrating with all of their family.
We went back to Grandma and Papa's house for dessert and more fun times. The girls did some great drawings with sidewalk chalk and loved their time with Bridget and Shannon.

Fun with Friends

We were lucky enough to have Shadia, Ray and Sophia visit us for a weekend this summer. Shadia and I have been friends since before we started school and it is always great to spend time with her and her family.
The girls were thrilled to have them over and even more excited that Charlie, the dog, came with them. He was a great dog and the girls couldn't get enough of playing with him.
It was fun to see how much Sophia has grown since we saw her in November. She is definitely Shadia's daughter - friendly from the moment she arrived.
The girls were also excited to try out the slip and slide that Sophia brought to them. We have used it many times - and the girls have figured out how to lounge in the end.
We had a great weekend and can't wait for our next visit!

Sears Tower...finally!!!

Since we went downtown last summer for the walk for Nikki, Reagan has been asking to go up in the Sears Tower. After much putting it off and busy schedules, we finally got there on July 5th.
We were going to take the train, but found out they were on the holiday schedule so that wouldn't work. We drove and I felt like my brother - we got great parking on the street for only $2.50/hour. Knowing him, he would have parked in Greek Town and walked to save $0.25/hour, but since I am 8 months pregnant we spent the money :)
It was great timing to arrive since there was no line. We got in pretty quick and Reagan was excited to sit down and hear the story of how the building was built - definitely Pat's girl!
When we got to the top she couldn't believe how many windows there were - she told us she thought there was only one window to look out of. She spent the first 15-20 minutes just staring out the south-facing windows - not much to see but she was amazed.
It was great because Reagan loved it and Nola really enjoyed herself. For being young and not really getting the whole idea of being 103 stories in the air, she had fun.
When we got to the ledges that stick out Nola just ran out there to see what she could. We told her we had to wait for the rest of the people to get out so we could have a turn. And when it was our turn they layed down and looked straight down with no problems.
After about an hour we headed back down and headed to the water taxi. We thought it would be fun to take the kids on a short boat ride on the river to Michigan Ave. They loved the boat and Nola was excited to see the kayaks in the river - Nola was looking for her Uncle Sean!
By the time we got off the boat we were all really hot - nothing like 90 degree weather in Chicago. We headed to Walgreens with hopes of finding some cool air and silly bands. We didn't find the cool air but got the girls their first packages of silly bands.
Luckily we found good air conditioning at the Nordstrom mall just down the street. We had great lunch at Nordstrom Cafe and then got into taxi to get back to our van. The girls loved that part of our adventure as well. Just riding with no car seats was exciting enough for them!
Such a fun family day filled with great memories and fun pictures. What will be our next adventure in Chicago?!?!