Jamaica

We got back from Jamaica last Friday night very late! It was a wonderful trip! We had so much fun and it was very relaxing. Of course, we missed the kids so much. By day 3, we were ready to come home. Congrats to Toni and Andy on their wedding. Toni looked beautiful and Andy looked great too! Thanks so much mostly to my mom and Jim's mom for making it possible for us to go away. We couldn't have done it without them giving up a week of their life for us. Also thanks to my wonderful friend Dilla, my niece Janie, and to Alicia Milton (Janet's mom) for coming over for a few hours to give my mom and Lynn a break. We really appreciate it and love you guys!

We stayed at the Riu Ocho Rios. It was probably the nicest resort we've been to so far. The food was pretty good, rooms were nice, and a huge pool with swim up bar. We could have done without some of the rain. It rained every day we were there....sometimes just for a few minutes, but then it would still be cloudy after that. I was starting to get a little depressed that I didn't have a tan and it was almost time to go home, but finally on Fri (the day we left), the sun came out and I got some color. It rained all day on Thurs, which was the day of the wedding, so Toni and Andy didn't get to get married on the beach :( But they still tied the know, just in the lobby instead. It was still pretty though. Andy was making me tear up when I saw him wiping away tears when he saw Toni....Awwww! So sweet! There was a private party at the disco for 2 hrs that night.

Toni and Andy
Danielle and I
Me, Janet, and Danielle checking out the beach the first night
Don, Jim, Derek, Jamie, and Kyle
Jim and Janet
Front row - Janet, Danielle, Becky Back row - me, Tracie, Amy, and Kari
Kyle, Don, Jim, Dustin (back), Jamie, Derek, Nick, Kevin, Larry
Me and Toni
Shannon, Me, and Sandy
Andy and Jim
This was the tiniest elevator and it says it holds 13 persons....I don't think so! We were crammed in there!
Robby, Meghan, Toni, Jim, Jamie, Janet
Shannon, Me, Janet
Shannon, Me, Janet, Don, and Danielle
Always the bartender.....
Wedding Day! Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Swain
Dustin and Becky
Me and Sandy
Kevin and Tracie
Jim, Sheila, and Jamie
The thirsty groom couldn't wait for the bartender to get back

We also did an excursion to the Dunns River Falls. We took a boat ride over there, stopped to snorkel for about 30 mins, then climbed up the waterfall. It was pretty cool! We decided we should probably check it out since it was our third time in Jamaica and we typically don't even leave the resort. Pretty cool!

Larry and Kari
Last day there....finally getting some sun!
Time to go home.....love the background on this picture...almost looks fake

I didn't sleep well Friday night...I woke up probably every 45 mins. I was just hoping the kids were going to wake up so I could see them. I kept having dreams about them, etc. Saturday, Alli remembered that I told her I was going to take her to Bread Co, the pool, and to see the movie Up when I got home. Well, the movie wasn't playing yet, but we did go to Bread Co. and then to the pool twice that day. Sunday we just hung out with the kids all day, then me, Ann, and my mom went to the casino. Jim went to see the new Terminator movie that night. Monday we went over to Billy and Kelly's house for their Memorial Day BBQ. It was fun, but it rained all day, and the kids were outside getting muddy. They were sort of a handful that day, so I didn't have any time to take any pictures.

There are just pictures I took of the kids so I can look at them when I missed them on the trip.
Love that big, sweet smile!!!!

Tues was back to normal. Jim started his new position at work. I think he likes it so far. Hope so! Mom came over for an hour to watch the girls so I could take Jimmy for his 6 mos helmet check up. Everything was fine with that...I think it improved a little bit on its own since he stopped wearing the helmet also. So, we are done with all of that now! Wed I went back to work. It was good to see everyone and get back to the normal routine. That night, we had to go to a rehearsal for my friend Kelly's wedding. I'm doing the 1st reading. I'm sooooo nervous. I haven't read in church since 8th grade or something like that. I don't like being up in front of people. But, I thought I would suck it up and do it for her :) The dinners was at Hendel's Market Cafe and it was very good food. Last time I was there, years ago, I didn't care for it. Bad experience! But now I think I'll give it another try!

Thursday was car inspection so I can get my new plates before the end of the month. Sat home all day without a car....I hate not having a car. When Jim got home from work, I jogged up to Dobbs to pick it up, took Alli to Sacred Heart's picnic for a few rides, and then went to my laser appt.

Alli on the motorcycles
Alli on the airplanes
Courtney and Alli on the slide

We've been so busy lately. Even the weekend before we left, we had our parish picnic that Friday. Jim's parents picked up Aunt Cindy at the airport and they came up to the picnic with us. Jim worked the beer booth.....that always works out to our benefit :) We didn't stay long though b/c it stormed really bad. Then on that Saturday, I went with Sheila to the wineries for Kelly's bachelorette party. It was fun.

Sheila, Kelly, and myself
Tonight I'm sitting here finally going to publish this post. Sorry for the delay. Jim took Alli to Pawnee to hang out and spend the night. Hopefully they get back pretty early because I have Kelly and Bobby's wedding tomorrow. What to wear, what to wear.......? Okay, enjoy all the pics! They get bigger if click on them....

So, I guess I should have made two post out of this, but I already uploaded all the pictures, so keep reading, darnit ;)

Jenna, Jimmy, and Cassie turned 18 mos yesterday. They have been so good lately and so much fun. They are really starting to say some words now. Mostly 'B' words. Cassie is catching on the most, but they are all playing off each other. They are saying bye-bye, book, ball, baby (bey-bey), big butt, tickle-tickle-tickle. They understand EVERYTHING! We ask Jenna if she wants to spank her own butt and she starts hitting her butt. So cute!

One thing I don't like is when they get frustrated, they hit themselves in the head. Then I tell them NO and they bang their head against anything they can find (the couch, wall, my knee) and if they can't find anything, they hit it on the ground. The past few days though, they have just been going straight to the hitting their heads against something and haven't been slapping themselves. Hopefully they might be getting over it!

They all love Allison. She is the greatest big sister ever. She is sooooo good with them. I love it in the morning when they see Alli and when she sees the. They all get so excited. She plays with them so well and she is a BIG helper!

Alli feeding Jenna her oatmeal - they wouldn't eat it when I was trying to feed them, but they did for her
I think this one is funny b/c Alli looks like she is multi-tasking
Feeding Jimmy
Feeding Cassie
Just playing around in Alli's tent - Jenna was having so much fun
They love to get up on the couch, but refuse to sit!
Always in the toybox

Cassie with her messy head! She just makes me laugh
Always getting into something!
Poor Jimmy...only boy....he actually wanted me to put this in his hair...he brought it to me! He's so sweet!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was a wonderful day! I woke up, Alli and I went to 9am mass, then came home and got the babies ready. The whole family (minus Jackie and crew) went to Jack in the Box for lunch. Some may laugh, but our family is over 30 people and lots of kids, so its usually easier and quicker to do this. We thought about having a BBQ or going to someone's house, but we all wanted to do our own stuff with our own families, too. However, Jack in the Box obviously wasn't prepared for our big family. We were pretty much the only people there, but it took AT LEAST 45 mins to get our food. We weren't too thrilled about that b/c its hard to keep the kids calm the whole time. So it got a little hectic, but it was still fun. We came home and put all the kids down for a nap. Jim gave me some of my gifts....gift cards to Old Navy and Gap. Finished opening later on and got some clothes and costume jewelry. He is doing so good with the gifts lately :) I always want new clothes for my gifts and he doesn't know what to get me, so its easier that way. I don't care if its not 'personal' or whatever. So, I went shopping by myself for about 2 hrs, but I didn't get much. That part was no fun....I hate when I actually have money to spend and alone time to shop, and then I can't find anything I like or that looks good. Came home, kids woke up and I just spent the rest of the night with them. So thankful to God for all four of my wonderful, healthy, and happy kiddos (and my mom too!)! They are all so sweet and I think they knew it was MY day today b/c they were soooo good. And I don't say that very often ;) Now Jim is dorking out with Tim....they went to see the new Star Trek or Star Wars movie...same thing, right??? ;)

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms and Moms-to-be!!!!!

I'll add the group picture when Jane sends it to me.

Saturday, I loaded up all the kids and did the MDA Stride and Ride at the Mills Mall. It's a great fundraiser and I think Elizabeth raised somewhere over $2300 for the MDA! Thanks to everyone who donated! It's always a lot of fun too! Great breakfast and lots of stuff for the kids (face paint, balloons, coloring).

Alli getting her face painted
Alli and Me
All the kids (front to back - Cassie, Jenna, Jimmy)
Liz, Jackie, Mom (Mike & Matt with mom), Lexi, Billy, Henry, Marissa, and my 3 babies
They had a cool band playing as we walked. They were very nice and let the kids play some of the instruments.

Saturday night, I went out with some of my girlfriends for some drinks. We went to The Vine Bar, down on Main St (St. Charles). It was a lot of fun, very low-key, but we had a lot of laughs. We were out celebrating Amanda's new job at a different law firm. Congrats Amanda!

Amanda, Beth, Brenda, Janet, Me, Dawn
Friday night, just went to Kohls with Ann and Alli for almost 3 hrs. We got a lot of stuff though :)

Here are a few pictures of the kids eating with a spoon! This is a big accomplishment for them (or us?). A lot of dr's, therapists, people in general, get on us a lot about the kids not using utensils yet. Its already a mess to clean up when they are done eating, so I never even attempt to let them try for themselves. So, I guess you can say I'm holding up my kids development for selfish reasons....I never want to have to clean up the mess, give them baths again, etc. But, I let them try it yesterday with mashed potatoes. They did pretty good! And Jimmy just looks so darn cute in these pictures :) And like such a big boy! I also just noticed that I use a lot of !!!!! and ...... (oooops)


And Alli is just always so sweet