HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, GRACE CALLEIGH!!!

As hard as it is for us to believe, today our baby girl is one year old! It truly seems like yesterday that we welcomed her into the world. Our lives have been abundantly blessed since that wonderful day a year ago! We are incredibly thankful for our beautiful daughter :-)

Grace's First Haircut

Today Grace got her first haircut! She was not impressed. Here she is before the scissors even appeared:

She started crying the minute I put her in the car and cried through the entire experience. We even had to take a break so I could hold her for awhile. Then the woman who was cutting her hair finished the haircut with me holding her. Overall, Grace was not too impressed with this milestone, but she sure looks cute, and I bet she'll appreciate not having her hair in her eyes all the time.

We're wrapping up a nice weekend. We had a wonderful visit with our friends, Holly and Trent, on Friday. Grace liked them a lot. She was in such a trance watching Trent that she stood for about two minutes on her own, without realizing she wasn't holding on to me anymore. We were all so excited!

They spent the night here on Friday, along with our buddy, Matt, and we managed to stay up until 2 AM. We played a great game called "Pass the Pigs." I highly recommend it. It was good fun, and it was awesome catching up with our friends from my days in Phoenix.

On Saturday, I went to the ordination of five guys who became transitional deacons. They will become priests after a year of ministry as deacons. It was neat since I've never attended an ordination. In the afternoon, the three of us went to a friend's baby shower. Grace only lasted about 45 minutes there before she was grumpy and in desparate need of a nap. We headed home, and she got some zzzzzz's. We had a quiet evening at home, complete with playing, playing, and more playing. I even managed to get some reading done for grad school. I have a TON of work to do before heading to Minnesota for three weeks in mid-July.

Today has been a good day...the haircut was an adventure, and Grace entertained us with her antics as usual. Grace and I went to the mall together this afternoon, and she was such a good girl. Now she's in bed, and I'm ready for some sleep as well. Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite.

The Tale of the Tiny Diaper

It was a normal night in the Fogarty home. We fed Grace, ate dinner, and enjoyed each other's company. Grace was busy crawling and cruising (using the furniture to help her walk around the living room) and even testing out her ability to stand on her own. She tentatively let go of the couch and stood all by herself, then slowly sat down as if the standing had worn her out. Martin and I were engaging in our usual, "look at her" and "check out what she's doing now," as we do every evening. We are constantly in awe, as Grace learns new things, tests her limits, and explores the world around her.

In the midst of all this, we were also trying to clean the house since we have friends staying with us tomorrow night. As I was cleaning the dining room, I found Grace's travel diaper changer, which I keep in the basket under the jogging stroller. I haven't used it in ages and thought I should get it out for our trip to Philly next week. When I opened it, I got all teary when I found two newborn diapers inside. When I showed them to Martin, we both got pretty emotional as we remembered when Grace was small enough to fit into them.

In that moment, a flood of memories came back to me, and I remembered how big the newborn diapers were on Grace at the beginning. We actually had to get her premie diapers for the first few weeks! Now here we are...less than two weeks away from her first birthday, and she's wearing size 4 diapers, pulling up, and learning to stand on her own. This time is precious, and it is flying by right before our very eyes.

Our Little Irish Girl

Grace's Irish passport arrived today! We were SO excited to get it :-)

Our little Irish girl is the BEST!!!

I’m glad you were born!

Today I celebrate my own birthday! I’ve always loved having a May birthday, especially on a day that always falls on or close to Mother’s Day. Now that I’m a Mom myself, my own birthday is even more special. I’ve never been a huge birthday person, except when I was a kid and had awesome slumber parties with my best girl friends! For the last ten years or so, I’ve been rather anti-birthday. But this year my birthday has taken on a whole new meaning.

I’ve been thinking about how special birthdays are for parents. The day your child is born remains forever imprinted on your mind and in your heart. Grace’s birthday was the best day of my life, followed closely by the day I met my husband. So today I’m not as indifferent about getting a year older. I realize what a miracle every life is, and I’m thankful that my parents loved each other enough to bring me into the world.

I’m the big 2-9 now…I embark on my final year of my twenties! It’s been one heckofa decade. I marvel at all that’s happened in my life during these years. The last three years have been the most wonderful…from meeting Martin on that fateful day, June 3, 2005, to now. When I take time to slow down and look back, all I can say is, “WOW!” I’ve found a level of happiness I never knew existed. I’m living my own fairytale.

During my time in Phoenix, I met one of the coolest chicks I know. Now when my birthday rolls around, I know I’ll hear from her, and she’ll say one of my favorite things. Today around lunchtime I got that call and heard, “I’m glad you were born.” And she followed it up with, “and I bet Martin and Grace are glad you were born too.” Today I rejoice because I was born. I AM glad I was born, and I’m glad my husband and beautiful daughter were born too. Happy Birthday to Me!!!

What a Day!

I'm wrapping up Mother's Day 2008 with a huge smile on my face! What a perfect day!

Martin and I began our day with Mass, complete with a special Mother's Day blessing. We then came home to have some serious playtime with Grace and make some family phone calls. Today is also Martin's Dad's birthday -- Happy Birthday, Dad! Wish we were there to celebrate with you, but we're there in spirit!

My one Mother's Day request was to have a picnic. I absolutely LOVE picnics, which I picked up from own Mom who has taken us on many a picnic over the years! So Martin, Grace, and I had a fantastic picnic in front of the Main Building at St. Ed's. You can see the Austin skyline perfectly from there, and the grass is nice and soft. Grace has never crawled in the grass before so it was fun watching her check it out. She even tasted some :-)

The weather was absolutely perfect and so was our picnic! What a gift it is to be a Mother! Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there :-) May God bless you on your special day!

Happy Mother's Day to My Mom!

Happy Mother's Day to Moms everywhere! What an awesome day to honor the women who gave us life and then proceed to give so much of themselves for their families!

To honor my own Mom, who is the most amazing woman I know, here's a top ten list of my favorite Mom moments:

1. The day she met Grace. I will never forget that first moment, sharing my own beautiful daughter with my Mom.

2. The first few weeks Mom spent with us after Grace was born. As a first time Mom, I was so thankful to have a pro with me during those early weeks of Grace's life. She took exceptional care of me when I had some post C-section sickness, all the while loving on her new grandbaby and making us both feel like the world revolved around us. Mom has a way of making everyone feel that way. It's a gift.

3. The sweet signs and cards she's made for Grace during the last year. She's not only the perfect Mom, she's also the perfect Nana. From the "Happy Birthday" signs for each month to the cards for every first holiday, Mom thinks of everything.

4. The notes Mom used to put in my lunch everyday. Mom was always famous among my friends for the wonderful lunches she always made for me. Her sandwiches are the BEST, and I got lots of trade offers, but never would give up Mom's yummy food! To add a special touch to every lunch, she always put a note in my lunchbox with her trademark smiley face :-) Those notes made my day, even during those brutal teenage years, when I caused my parents so many headaches!

5. When Mom helped me put on my pantyhose for Prom. I got my nails done for the first time, and being the tomboy that I was, I was helpless with those stupid nails. Mom helped me put on my pantyhose so I wouldn't tear them and only teased me a little bit about it later ;-)

6. Writing essays when my behavior warranted such a punishment. I know it's shocking, but I wasn't the easiest kid to raise, especially during my teenage years. But Mom loved me through it all and used her favorite punishment often. I wrote quite a few essays about lessons I learned the hard way. At the time, I hated writing those essays, but I realize now that those essays forced me to really think about what I'd done wrong, which is something I doubt I would have done with just traditional punishment like getting grounded.

7. Speaking of getting grounded...no wait, that's not on my top ten list of favorite Mom moments. That's a different list ;-) Seriously, #7 is those early years when Mom served as my Girl Scout Troop leader. We had a lot of good times, selling cookies, working toward badges, and singing silly songs! Mom was the best troop leader, and all the girls agreed!

8. When Mom would say she felt sorry for the other team after a big softball win for my team! I got my competitive nature from my Dad, but Mom taught me compassion and humility in victory. Back then I used to laugh at those statements, but I came to understand her point of view in times of defeat.

9. Sharing my birthday with Mom during many Mother's Day/Birthday weekend celebrations. I was born the day before Mother's Day, so Mom and I always share our special weekend. This year it means even more, as I celebrate Mother's Day with a daughter of my own.

10. The many life lessons Mom has taught me during the last (almost) 29 years. I learned more than my share of lessons the hard way, but Mom was always there to help me pick up the pieces and learn valuable lessons. I know that I'm able to be the Mother I am today because I've had the most fantastic example of motherhood from my own Mom. Not everyone is so lucky, and I realize how incredibly blessed I am. Of all the lessons I've learned from Mom, I know the most important is to be a woman of faith. Our faith has helped us both to weather many storms and to be thankful for all the good things in our lives. Life is good, and Mom has taught me to approach everyday with faith, hope, love, and a hearty sense of humor!

Here's to you, Mom! Thanks for everything :-) I love you so much!

Will the real Grace Calleigh please stand up?

It seems like every chance she gets, Grace is pulling herself up. She digs standing! She's testing her chubby little legs more and more everyday. I'm amazed at how brave she's getting, and I try to stay calm as she wobbles with the tile floor looming below her.

This morning as I was cleaning up the kitchen before leaving for the day, I cracked up when Grace crawled into the kitchen, pulled herself up, and began banging on the door of the refrigerator. It was like she was begging for some breakfast! She is certainly learning how to tell us what she wants, even without being able to talk.

Speaking of being able to talk, today Grace was all DADADADA! I took a few videos of her cute chit chat, which you can find on our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/amberfogarty2005. I've been trying to teach her some other words, but she just looks at me, smiles, and continues on with DADADADA!

It's been a long week! I'm glad tomorrow is Friday. I had to work Monday and Tuesday nights, which I always find tough. I hate missing out on my evenings with Grace. That is sacred time!

We're looking forward to heading to Waco tomorrow evening after work to celebrate Mother's Day with my Mom. Grace loves sleepovers at Nana and Pop-Pop's house! Only a little over an hour until I can truly say TGIF! I'll be asleep before then though...night night!!

Uncle Billy Graduated!!!

You know you're getting old when your baby brother graduates from college! Billy is seven years younger than me, and I'm feeling pretty nostalgic about his graduation. It's just hard to believe that he's all grown up.

It's been an awesome weekend! On Friday night, there was a Baccalaureate Mass for the St. Edward's Class of 2008. It was a beautiful Mass with a homily that I thought was incredible. We had a nice family evening at our house afterwards, complete with pizza and lots of laughs.

Yesterday morning was the graduation ceremony. I was pretty teary through a lot of it, especially when Billy walked across the stage to get his diploma. I'm so proud of him! You can see videos from the graduation ceremony on our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/amberfogarty2005. The ceremony lasted two and a half hours, and Grace was such a good girl through the whole thing. After graduation, we took a ton of pictures (as always, available online at http://picasaweb.google.com/amberfogarty), then headed home for a day of partying!

The party, in honor of Billy and his best friend, Shane, was a blast! It started around 2 and lasted until almost 10 PM. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, with great food, a drink or two, and the sharing of many memories that brought both smiles and tears. Billy and I made a slideshow that turned out AWESOME! It showed Billy and Shane through the years, including some great shots of them in gradeschool and high school. Their friendship has stood the test of time, and Shane has become part of our family over the years and Billy a part of Shane's family.

Today has been a day of R&R! We've been resting and relaxing with the best of 'em ;-)

Congratulations, Billy! Martin, Grace, and I love you and are VERY proud of you! We're so anxious to see what God has in store for you in the years to come.