Home from the Holidays

We had a wonderful Christmas up "north" seeing as many family and friends as we could--We did use the video camera more this year (watching Will open every present under the tree, whether or not it belonged to him, was quite entertaining), but the pictures below are some of the few I took... Remarkably, both boys did great with all the driving, which was the best gift they could've given us :)

Catherine is due in less than 2 weeks...Can't wait to meet little Carson!

Can you tell Will doesn't like to sit still for long?!

Feliz Navidad!

We're headed to VA this evening and I doubt I'll update the blog from there... but I wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and fun-filled time with friends and family!

Nothing too new here...Thomas is 6 weeks old today and is doing great (though not sleeping much at night yet)...Will is going through a naked phase and also considers it amusing to remove his diaper at inopportune times...He also seems a little confused about the Christmas story and has named his favorite teddy "Jesus," and he gets very upset when we neglect to refer to the bear as such. I guess it's a common name in Latin America--granted, pronounced differently--right?...I am happy but very tired--the lack of sleep is catching up with me, as is the utter lack of "me-time" during the day--it'll be good to have family around to love on the boys this next week! And Colin is of course eager for some time away from that awful pager. I'm sure we'll have more stories when we return... Until next week, take care!

And, most importantly,
Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Words: Isaac Watts, 1719
Music: Lowell Mason, 1848

Happy Birthday, Will!

December 15, 2005


December 15, 2007

(The following 3 pictures were taken tonight at Chuck E Cheese... Let's just say the birthday boy should sleep well tonight...)





We love you, William Christopher! Happy Day to our favorite 2 year old!

Our Week in Pictures (With a few musings from Libby)

It's been cold, but I dragged Will outside a couple of days ago. I even convinced him to wear his hat by fibbing that Daddy called and said he needed to put it on. Colin is definitely the preferred parent at the moment, seeing as he doesn't have a baby affixed to his breast when Will most needs a tricycle-pusher or Lego-builder. Will is getting much more accustomed to having Thomas around, and he's sometimes even helpful. Besides announcing "PU" when he smells a stinky diaper, he's getting quite adept at inserting the paci back in his screaming brother's mouth. That's a start.



When Opi was in town last weekend, we tried to get a good Christmas card photo. I think these are much more amusing than the couple that were halfway decent. Here you go folks--our attempts in getting a family of 4 to smile for the camera. This is real life.



Our boys...



Please excuse T's obscene gesture (see left hand...) This is the only picture of him semi-smiling (gas-induced though it may be)...taken today, his 4 week birthday.

Elfed

I just spent 15 minutes of precious both-boys-asleep time to do this, so please check it out!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1162805046

It's TOO funny.

Here is the one my sister created, if you are interested: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1127727921
That one in the middle is one fine dancer.

Home

Colin has been at the hospital nonstop these last several days, and since I'm still too much of a weenie to drag both boys out on my own, we're still at home. I love our house, but I think we all feel a tad imprisoned. It's suddenly gotten cold too, so even Will does not want to venture outdoors to get the fresh air he desperately needs. So we've been living in our playroom, moving to the living room when we need a dose of Barney or Little Einsteins (3 times today, sadly) or to the kitchen for PB&J or grilled cheese. Play dough, stickers, crayons, blocks, puzzles, books, trucks, trains, disneychannel.com--we've done it all. And we're bored. And the problem is, once one kid stops screaming, the other starts. And if one goes to sleep, the other wakes. I'm guessing this is our new "normal." Thomas continues to be a pretty "easy" baby--he has no desire to sleep at night and wants to be held all the time, but that's to be expected right now (I think?). Will is even more accustomed to having him around, though generally he shows his affection by sticking his foot in Thomas' face or poking him while he's sleeping. Such brotherly love. Also, when I smell a stinky diaper (all the time now), our firstborn accuses "bubba" (his interpretation of "brother," of course) of bearing the poop. Back and forth between laughing and wanting to cry--such is motherhood. Despite my sleep-deprived and husband-at-work induced complaints, my life is so blessed. Exhausting and at times really frustrating, sure. But truly blessed. Just look at these guys :)



Pulling the stinky foot maneuver again...poor, poor Thomas...

Just the 3 of us

I was really fortunate to have Colin around so much last week, but now it's back to work full-time for him...leaving me responsible for the care of our two children. It still blows my mind sometimes, that we are parents of two precious boys. So far, the day has gone well, though you can see that Thomas has discovered the joy of a paci for the first time and Will is still wearing his PJ's at lunch. Whatever keeps us sane :)



Putting the firstborn to work...

1 Week Old

Thomas loves his Omi...


This was certainly not Will's idea, but he tolerated having his brother so close for a few seconds...


Our first trip as a family of four--to the park this morning... Will needed to release some energy, & Thomas just snoozed...

Playtime

Here is little Thomas playing with his big brother's playmat... I sent Colin and Will out to pick up a few items, so I finally have a few moments alone with our newest addition. He truly is a sweet baby and is pretty easy to soothe. His hobbies are eating, pooping, spitting up, and watching late night football with his daddy. We love you, Thomas! (Even Will does, who currently is pretending to ignore you :)

Happy birthday to our new baby boy!

Thomas Ashton Gallahan

Born November 9, 2007 at 6:32 pm

8 pounds, 9 ounces
22 inches

More pictures & updates to come!

Big Belly

Halloween

Since Colin worked late on Halloween, I dressed Will up yesterday for his annual photo op. I don't think he knew the difference. I think he did wonder though why certain neighborhood children were ringing our doorbell and receiving candy while he was in his PJ's being prepped for bed... Maybe next year. This was the costume found in his size at a recent kiddie consignment sale, so Will was a leopard (I think? It does have spots...) this year. He actually loved wearing it-even the headpiece--which surprised me to no end. So here you go...Will's 2nd Halloween:



He LOVES pushing his stroller everywhere--practicing for the baby? Hopefully he won't ram it into trees, fences, and other barriers with such force with baby brother in tow.



Practicing his phone skills with the ladies... Colin also taught him to wink, as to better pick up the chicks, though Will's version is more of a "I've got something in my eyes" blink.


In other news, baby G #2 is due in less than 2 weeks and may even be induced out of his mom earlier than that... We'll keep you updated!

Happy Faces

Still Here

Sorry, no new pictures to share or thrilling news to impart. I keep promising myself that I will snap photos of our little family and my enormous belly, but I'm having some issues with follow-through. Maybe tomorrow...or Tuesday...or when the baby comes :)

We are doing well though. I have 4 weeks left, unless this next one decides to arrive early, though strangers seem to think I'm ready to deliver at any moment. I'm carrying this child directly in front, so I have an oddly gigantic tummy--I can't imagine how it's going to balloon more in the coming days. I must admit, I'm not a fan of the end of pregnancy. I'm really uncomfortable and dealing with all the joys (miseries?) that go with the 9th month, & I'm finding this pregnancy to be a lot harder physically than the first one. Yet I know it'll be over so soon, & then the real craziness starts again. I can't wait to meet this child, though my emotional, hormonal pregnant self is having a hard time with the reality that Will will no longer be our "littlest baby." I can tell already I'm going to have a rough time sending that kid off on a school bus one day :) We haven't done much to prepare for baby 2, besides purchasing another crib, more bedding, & a little diaper bag--I guess I've realized this time around that I can actually make it out to Target post-birth to pick up necessities. With Will, our house was so stocked with everything from diapers to toilet paper to peanut butter that we could've been homebound for months. We do have a name chosen, but we're going to keep it from the public for another few weeks :) And this time around, it should actually be a surprise when the baby makes his entrance...We had an elective induction with Will (so Type-A of us), so I'm curious as to how a "natural" labor goes (as in naturally commencing--NOT as in no drugs! Thank God for epidurals!) OK, that's enough with the pregnancy update...

We're staying really busy & continue to love our new home. Except when he's on call and gets paged nonstop on stupid matters, Colin is enjoying his job. He just got called in to complete some silly task when he'd rather be watching football highlights, so at the moment he might not be so enthusiastic. He's doing great though, and Will & I continue to love seeing so much more of him this year. We are getting involved in a fantastic church in town, and we're feeling very blessed to have already made some friends and begun to feel a part of things there. Will and I take part in some of the hospital spouse playgroup events, and there are some great people there too. And one thing I love about this town is that you tend to run into the same people everywhere (at least mommy people)...I take Will to the park & meet another mom, then chance upon her again at the children's museum, or Chik-fil-a, or the train table at Barnes & Noble...I guess there aren't but so many places to take children on a weekday :) I like that feeling--it's like we've lived here much longer than 4 months.

It's bedtime for me, but I figured I shouldn't give up on the blog just because I'm too forgetful/tired/lazy to take pictures. We're here & we're not going anywhere 'til we meet this other little boy. Happy beginning of your weeks, all!