Christmas Week

Our Christmas week was a busy one!  On Monday my in-laws, who drove up from Virginia came over for the day with Kevin's grandmother and his sister Renee, who flew in from Texas.  We had dinner here with them, and then Renee spent the night here.  The next day we went to New Bedford to spend the rest of the week with Kevin's family.  

Here are the kids as we are getting ready for Christmas Eve mass and the great Gagnier Christmas Eve party.  I think you have to be there to totally understand the scope of the party. It is most of the Gagnier extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, grandkids, great-grandkids, grandparents, great-grandparents, and although some of those folks overlap in their family duties, it is a household full of family, good food, caroling, gifts, and an every popular Yankee swap.  

So Christmas morning we opened presents all together as a family.  The kids got a lot of good toys and we got a GPS system, so hopefully we won't get lost in Boston ever again.  There were a lot of musical instruments in the mix, so the house will be filled with a joyful noise in the months to come.  

Above are the siblings, Ryan, Renee, and Kevin enjoying a hot ball moment. And below we have Kristin and me, we are both due within four weeks of each other, and it was nice having another pregnant lady around.  We also went shopping the day after Christmas, and the deals in the malls were amazing.  I think that will become one of my holiday traditions in the next few years to come.

It was a good holiday, and today we are recovering from all busy times.  This week Kevin only has a three day work week, and we are keeping things low key for the New Year.  I can hardly believe the year is almost over, and thank you to all the friends and family for the gifts, cards, well wishes, and good times!

Wild Weather

After the ice storm last week, we got hit by two snow storms this weekend. Welcome Winter. I don't mind it too much, but my car is the one that is better in snow, that Kevin needs to take to work, so I will quickly learn how to enjoy being close to home for a little while. I bought a ball pit for some indoor entertainment, and I think it will work for the next few months to keep them occupied. Daniel looks like he has a good shoveling technique.



Early this past week I was one of those folks frantically searching for a generator for the home in NH, the power was out up there for a few days, and I was blessed to pick one up at home depot, along with many other concerned home owners. Some people in this area haven't had power for the whole week. Another great thing that happened this week was Daniel moved into a twin size bed, and we have all been getting great sleep! We also visited Kevin at work and found ourselves at the grocery store on Friday where it took us twice as long to check out as it did to shop for the food. The stores were packed with people preparing for the weekend storms, which was wise looking out the window today.

Here we are visiting Kevin at work, I think I see Daniel trying to do some cost estimating in the background. Rachel just wants to find Daddy's stash of candy.
This morning we decided to celebrate Christmas a little early with the kids, and we went with my family's tradition of giving three gifts, like the wise men offering three gifts to Jesus. Daniel was very excited to open his presents, and he had to wake his father and sister up before we could open anything. We are heading down to New Bedford on Tuesday night and celebrating with Kevin's family for the rest of the week, it will be good to have everyone together.

The last thing I wanted to add was Kevin and Daniel braved the weather to go to church, and Daniel was in a kid Christmas play. I stayed home with Rachel, she is fighting a cold and needed the rest, but Kevin got a little video of him. He came home and told me he went to church and danced. I remember when our church had the children's plays when we were kids, and it is fun to think back to those times, and now watch Daniel experience them.




We hope you all have a happy and safe holiday season, enjoy the moments with friends and family!

A little bit of everything this week

I feel like this past week just flew by. Kevin worked a little bit longer every day as it is the beginning of his new job, and it makes my week feel longer. I had my first Dr's appointment for the pregnancy, and it was uneventful. I think the scale at the Dr's office is higher than mine at home, I have to check the calibration at home. I did actually order a nicely used but quality french horn off of e-bay...I need to stay away from e-bay, and that came in this week, and at the end of the week was a ice storm that mildly affected us. I think Rachel grew some this week, she seems longer and Daniel is fighting a cold. We also are working on getting a twin bed for Daniel, and it has been a harder project than I thought it would be. Do we get bunk beds, a loft, a cheaper twin bed and just wait and see what we are having next, are we going to try to fit all three kids in the room at the same time? So we settled on a cheaper twin off of Craigslist but with a nicer mattress, because that will last for a while.

So this tree was blocking the only entrance and exit to our townhouse on Friday, making Kevin was a little later leaving for work. I went to three grocery stores this weekend because the first two didn't have power. The house in Barrington NH is out of power, and they say it may be a week or so until they get power back, so it was quite the storm.


I could take pictures of the kids like this all day. They look the happiest together and are the most peaceful when they are on their couch watching a show off the computer. Don't they look so content and focused?
This last video shows that although I try to be a cool mom, I am a glutton for punishment. The package I received this week came with a whole box of white packaging popcorn. I am still debating on keeping the horn, I have 7 days to decide so I left the box out for a little, and wouldn't it be fun for the kids to pay in the popcorn? Maybe they will help me clean it up. Right. The cleaning took me a whole lot longer then their attention span, but I guess it was a good memory for me.

A little about me

So a few weeks ago I got called out on a friends' blog to share seven things about me.  I haven't forgotten, just been busy, reluctant, and thinking about seven things you may or may not know.  So here it goes:

1.  I love to braid.  I taught myself how to french braid at a young age, and will braid anything in sight.  I used to get in trouble in school for braiding my hair because it looked like I wasn't paying attention, but when I am braiding, sometimes it is even absent minded, and I am paying attention.  

2.  I love sparkling things.  I will buy something just because it sparkles, and the sparkly the better.   Although it is more of an accessory sparkly love, like shoes, purses, and jewelry.  I feel like a kid even saying that.

3.  And talking about child-like obsessions, I really enjoy rainbow sprinkles.  I don't know if this falls under the sparkly thing, but on cookies and vanilla ice cream, I just think it adds flavor and fun.  I have to be honest, when I was in college I bought a "Mr. Sprinkles" rainbow sprinkles dispenser and would keep it in my bag in case I ever needed it.  When I am back in NY the only way to buy ice cream is a "small soft vanilla with rainbow sprinkles", and Byrne Dairy stores are the best place for it.  And they are not jimmies...I think it is just confusing to call them that.  They look more like sprinkles that what a jimmy would look like.  

4. Don't tell me I can't do something, it makes me even more resolve to do it.  Maybe it is something I have to mature out of, but I learned how to play the bass guitar just because someone said I couldn't pick it up.  

5.  I love music.  I actually recently bought a new (well used) french horn to get back into playing again, I played for 8 years until I went to college (sorry I didn't want to be a part of the Highty Tighty's).  I love the music in soundtracks, and could listen to classical music almost all day. That and children's music, I think it is catchy.  

6.  I like feet, and touching feet.  And for that matter I do enjoy giving people back rubs.  I don't think we have enough positive touches in one day.  

7.  I am a morning person.  I love the freshness of the day, the smell in the air, the expectation of something special for that day.  By noon the best of the day is done.  Jogging in the morning is the best, I do enjoy exercise.  Lately I haven't been able to wake up half as early as I would like, I am just really tired, but the hope that in the future I will have that time back again.   

Now that I get on seven, I feel that there is a lot more to share, but I think I hit the big parts.  I am not very good at doing these types of surveys, so this is the only time I will probably do this.  But it is fun to think about what you do and enjoy that make you unique.  So if you haven't thought of seven things, try it.  Maybe I will get Kevin to post some things....

It's No-ing!

Daniel was the most excited about the snow when we woke up this morning.  He can actually tell you what color it is and that it is coming down from the sky.  He does have a tendency to drop letters when he talks, but it is fun to have a conversation with him and to understand things like the food is in his tummy, and his new cars are in the basement, and that Rachel is sleeping.  

Here is a picture out our back window this morning, and Rachel is looking at our friend the squirrel.  I am beginning to feed the wildlife in our back yard and it is fun to watch the kids get excited to see the birds and squirrels.  Rachel seems to have a special love for animals, we saw a dog going on a walk this morning, and I think she was personally offended the dog didn't want her to pet it.  

We put our Christmas decorations up yesterday, during the Virginia Tech/BC football game, and it was fun to see the decorations, and fun that VT won.  There isn't a Christmas tree in our home, space is limited and the kids seem to try to tear apart all the Christmas trees we see out and about, so we have this display, and it has become our own tradition.  It is child-proof, displays all the ornaments, pretty, and I don't have to be in the room at all times when the kids are there.  I think it is interesting that some traditions grow from necessity, as in this case for us.  
We are on the look out for a bunk bed for the kids.  Daniel is getting big for his toddler bed, and so we are rethinking the sleeping arrangements.  I also have my first Dr's appointment this week, and Kevin begins his new job as a government employee.  He even has his own office, for the time being.  

Here is a video with the kids playing with a stroller Rachel got for her birthday.  Rachel even at this age loves her baby dolls, and Daniel likes to help take care of it too.  Hopefully a great sign for the future addition to the family.  

A Virginia Thanksgiving

We drove back from Virginia yesterday and with all the driving behind us, it was a great Thanksgiving time.  We were able to celebrate our anniversary, see family and old college friends, go to the zoo with the kids, go to story time with Diane (my mother in law) leading it, see a great football game, walk around the campus, it was just a good time all around.

Here we are at the VT/UVA game, and got to sit down where the Corps of Cadets usually sit.  We were able to call folks who were in the area and meet up with them there.  Some we have kept up with regularly thanks to facebook and blogs, and some we haven't seen in years.  We kept warm with the clothes we borrowed from Kevin's parents, and bought some more Hokie gear while we were there.  We met up with some other people after the game at Kevin's favorite place, El Rodeo. The campus has changed, but all the memories are still there.  I have a lot more pictures, I will just try to get Kevin to post them on his facebook page soon.  

Here is Rachel pointing out some animals at the zoo.  The finger was working over time at the zoo she love the animals.  She especially enjoyed the dogs that her uncle Ryan brought.  
Here is our attempt at a family picture on Thanksgiving.  I guess it turned out alright!
There was a lot of lounging on Pepere's lap.  They have cable and we were able to watch some shows that we don't usually get to see.  Kevin's parents also showed us the advantage of a DVR and recording shows, I think the record for watching a show was 15 min for a normally hour long show.  What a time saver.  
Here are the guys working on a project.  Kevin's dad is great at woodworking, and we got to watch them put together a wooden box.  Daniel wanted to be a part of the action.  
So as I mentioned briefly before we are pregnant again, but wanted to wait to share it with Kevin's family in person.  I am only a few weeks behind my sister in law, and it will be fun to have the cousins so close in age.  We always wanted to have three, and although they will be close in age, we are excited about the new one.  There are a lot of changes that need to be made, like a bigger car, but a wise friend once told me you have nine months to get prepared, and so we will take it one step at a time.  Right now I am just a little more tired, and the other two keep me so busy.  

So it is good to be home, but we are think into the holiday season, and will be seeing family again in a few weeks.  But for this week, I think we all are going to be resting and getting back to the routine.  

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary, and tomorrow we will be celebrating it. We are now in VA with Kevin's family, and looking forward to the week with family, and friends, and good food.

I just have to say that every month on the 23rd Kevin and I have this little game we play. We wish eachother happy monthaversary, just in preparation for the big day, but you win if you remember and say it first. Now I have to admit, it usually a game that I win. I am usually up with the kids, or up before him, or just remember first, and I have the ability to pride in the fact that I won that month. But this morning, the day that it really counts, he won. So happy anniversary Kevin, thank you for the wonderful past 6 years, the three moves, two kids (with one more on the way, that is something else to blog about soon), and for being my best friend. I look forward to the rest of our lives together, it is so great being married to you.

The Butterfly place

It is Thursday, usually I go out on Friday's and I clean on Thursday, but I didn't want to do that today.  Partially because it has been so cold out this week it is hard to do anything outside, and I will clean tomorrow in preparation for our Thanksgiving trip coming up.  So on a cold day, I thought this place called the Butterfly Palace located just 15 or so min away would be perfect.  It is indoors, warm, and relaxing.  Well, relatively relaxing with two kids. So we headed out.

We were the only ones there for a majority of our visit, and there were butterflies everywhere.  They also have little birds that Rachel couldn't point out quick enough.  It was fun to watch them explore and look around.  One butterfly tried to land on Rachel, but she was moving too much and looked annoyed that a bug was bothering her.  But, I can't share my outings without sharing a mortified moment.  There are signs all around saying don't touch the butterflies or try to get them to land on your hand.  So I did with Daniel to the best of my ability.  There was a moment or two where Daniel got out of my reach, and there was a big beautiful butterfly that had landed on the walkway.  All of a sudden, STOMP, Daniel crushed it with his foot!  Right in the middle of the pathway near the entrance, so it couldn't be hidden.  I gasped and almost cried.  I debated just running out of there, but the guide had know it was just us there, so I mentioned it to him, and he said it was alright, that things like that happened.  Boys will be boys....right?!

Here is Daniel trying to touch some of the butterflies....

Here is Rachel with her little finger pointing out a butterfly.  That little finger was pointing all over the place today.  

I hope you all have an enjoyable Thanksgiving and we will have lots to talk about when we get back.  There is so much to be thankful for!

A shorter work week

I am trying to recall what happened this week, but with Kevin having Monday and Tuesday off, it was a short work week for all of us, and went quickly.  On Wednesday we were able to watch Caleb, one of Daniel's friends, in the morning.  I got some good pictures of the three of them on one of our chairs.  Daniel couldn't wait for Caleb to come over, and I need to be careful not telling him too early if someone is coming, because he gets so excited now.  

We also got Daniel's hair cut at a "professional"  Barber shop today.  I know Kevin can do a good job, I just thought we could get some tips on how to do it.  The key is quickness. And a TV and some lollipops.  Daniel ended up sitting on Kevin's lap the whole time, but it turned out pretty good.

Here is Daniel all happy afterwards.  

Kevin was deciding this week between two jobs at work, a government position and his contracting job, and eventually decided to go with a government job that was offered to him.  It was a harder decision than we originally thought it was going to be, but in the end I think it was the best decision.  He is working at the same place and it doesn't change most of the people he works with.  So that is the next new thing happening with us.  We are getting ready to go to VA next weekend, and we are excited about the trip, it will be fun to see family and friends.  But until then, we have to put up with the cooling temperatures, some planning and packing, and my prayers are that Daniel isn't loosing his afternoon naps just quite yet.  

The kid's kitchen

A few weekends ago we freed up space in the kids room, and I put Rachel's kitchen set in there, with the kid's table.  We go up to their room so Daniel can make me some breakfast, any time of the day, and I usually throw in some really food for them to snack on.  

I think this is cute, because Rachel does make the "mmmm" sound as she pretends to eat, she enjoys all food, real or imaginary.  
Here are both kids eating at the table.  I do have to help Rachel up, but she enjoys eating with Daniel, and we are working on the sharing of the food.  Daniel kept on filling the plates with goldfish this morning.  

Here is a little outfit Rachel got for her birthday, and for a while it was big on her, but now it fits. I think for me it is always a surprise when my kids grow out of an into clothes that I have been waiting for them to wear.  I also just bought her some kid sneakers, and she was getting used to walking with shoes that have a flat bottom.  It was cute to watch her work it out.   

Kevin has a four day weekend this weekend, so I am blessed to have him around a few more days.  We always have a long list of things to do over these extended weekends, and we have already done a few things already, so I am looking forward to more family fun.  We bought a DVD player for the car, for our long trip to VA coming up, and I got a new pan to cook on, my other ones have been in long need of replacement.  Have a good week everyone!

Two Little Monkeys

The mall in Burlington now has a little toddler play place. The kids and I love it.  I will be visiting that mall more often once winter is here!


Two little monkeys walking in the mall, I keep them on a leash, so they don't run away at all!  So now that both my kids are mobile, I have resorted to leashes, on both!  I get chuck and occasional comment, but I am happier.  And yes, I brought my camera to the mall just to be sure I had something to blog about!

On Friday night we did go around with the kids dressed up and get them some candy. Our neighbors gave the kids special candy when we visited, and here they are sampling them.  

Daniel is beginning to cheese for the camera!  It makes taking pictures of him so much easier.  

Yesterday we went up to our house in NH for maybe the last time.  We met the new tenant and got a rent check from her.  She seemed pretty happy with the house and began moving in immediately.  I was able to say good bye to the home, and we had a small Gagnier celebration last night to praise God for bringing us though this time of life.  I have some more pictures to post with that, but it will be more of a mid week post. 

Just a video

To follow up from my last blog, I completed the half marathon quicker than I thought I would.  That is why I don't have any pictures of the event, Kevin showed up with the kids all bundled up after I finished, but it was still a good run.  

This was a busy week for us, but I think my camera was low on battery power so I didn't get a chance to capture much of it, except for the pudding as shown above.  We went to the mall, went to the library story time, visited friends, went to the movies, and enjoyed a bunch of walks outside.  I will clarify going to the movies, on Thursdays the local theatre shows Nick Jr. shows, and we were able to enjoy Dora the Explorer.  My kids love Dora, Daniel breaks into song, and Rachel begins to dance as I play the same episodes over, and over, and over.  Swiper, will you stop swiping!  

In other news, we got rid of the futon in the kids room, and now there is so much more space.  Daniel seemed pretty excited to have a new layout, and it is another room to play in once winter hits.  They have really been enjoying the basement and the train table, so it is a good variety.  

So as the weather fluctuates, and October draws to a close, my goal it to enjoy the outside as much as possible.  We are also signed paperwork for  our home, and the buyer is going to be moving in on Saturday.  We are excited about this next step, and are praying for wisdom as we have a tennant/buyer and going into a new season of life.  

Baby Pictures

I have been wanting to post this comparison for a while, and needed to wait until we got Rachel's pictures taken.  We got them taken on Friday, and they turned out so great.  But here are pictures of Rachel and of me as a baby:

I thought that was fun to see.  I am going to rest the remainder of the evening, I am running the Lowell 1/2 marathon tomorrow. I think it is going to be a fine event. Kevin was so blessed to be able to go to the Virginia Tech-Boston College game tonight, go Hokies!!

Fall Funness

The Fall has been so beautiful lately, and the weather has been very pleasant.  Kevin had Monday off so we made it a fun fall day.  We played in the leaves, picked some pumpkins, and carved the pumpkins.  It was fun for all of us, and Daniel says good-bye to the pumpkins on our front steps when we leave the home.  Rachel just enjoyed putting anything in her mouth, the leaves, the pumpkins, the pumpkin seeds, anything was good enough for her.  So here are some photos from Monday, enjoy!

Rachel is One!

Yesterday was Rachel's First birthday, but like the birthday's in this family, we have been celebrating all week.  On Wednesday we had a little party with some families from my mom's group, we have been getting cards and presents all week, and yesterday we went to New Bedford to celebrate with Kevin's family and grandmother, who shares the same birthday.  

Here are two of the girls at the party, Olivia and Sophia.  Sophia loves Rachel and treats her like her little baby, because she Rachel is her favorite name.  It if fun watching them all interact.  

Here Rachel is eating her pumpkin muffin, I went with the pumpkin theme with this time of year.  I now have a pretty good recipe for pumpkin scones if anyone is interested!
I went to a children's consignment shop and found this little bike for Rachel.  Daniel has one like it but a little bigger, and they love riding them together.
Here Daniel is birthday morning eating some chocolate chip pancakes.  I don't think he quite has the concept of birthday since he was looking for it outside one afternoon, but loves to sing happy birthday and blow out the candles.  
Here are kids with Kevin's grandmother (or grand-memere).  
What an amazing year it has been with Rachel, and we are so blessed to have her in our family.  She is such a happy girl who goes with the flow pretty easy and likes anything he brother does.  I am learning to savor these moments with the kids, because the do go too quickly!

Back from Disney World

Hello everyone, we are back from sunny Florida to the beautiful fall here in NE.  It is funny how the season seems to change so quickly.  Well, we had a great time in Disney World.  Daniel can now say Mickey Mouse at the drop of a hat, and ask him if you saw Mickey and he will say yes.  I didn't realize how much energy Daniel has, and how long Rachel can stay up when there is a lot going on around her.  Daniel loved seeing the characters, but Rachel was another story.  She got scared of the critters, and we had to shield her if we went to a character meal.  

Here is my dad and Michael and Daniel looking at some water, sometimes I didn't know who was more excited.

Ok, so we did get caught up in dressing up the kids, but don't they look so cute!  Daniel was a perfect Peter Pan, and Rachel was a ballerina/princess/whatever girly thing. 

Daniel's cousin Michael was buzz lightyear, and would run around saying to Infinity and Beyond...well in his own words and as well as an almost 3 year old could.  
Here is Daniel giving some love to Piglet.  
We had some cake as a early celebration of Rachel's birthday coming up.  She loved it and dove right in.  There are more festivities for her to come.
We also received some great news while we were away, there is a potential buyer for our home in NH.  Things are still tentative, but it is encouraging.   I think God is showing me how He works things out even while I am on vacation.  Well, it is time to catch up on house stuff, we are definitely back from vacation now.