Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Merry Christmas!

With Love
from Martin, Colin, Santa, Grace, & Amber

Grace taught Colin to scream...LOUD!

Grace and Colin have so much fun together! This whole scene cracked us up. They literally did this for an hour. We adore these kiddos :-)

Grace's 1st Dance Performance

Grace had her first dance performance today! She started taking a ballet & tap class in September and LOVES it. Today her dance studio hosted a Holiday Open House, and her 3/4 year old class performed to "Here Comes Susie Snowflake." It was literally the sweetest thing I've ever seen. As I'm sure you can imagine, I cried as I watched our big girl dancing.

Grace, we are so proud of you! Mommy & Daddy love you SO MUCH! You continue to bring such joy to our lives. We will always be in the audience supporting you, whether you're dancing, acting, playing sports, or singing! Your first dance performance was AWESOME!

Grace's Quote of the Day

I'm always thinking ahead. Grace loves playing with Colin's toys. When we're in his room, she loves rummaging through his toy box and checking out his stuff. In preparation for the future when neither of them will want to share anything with each other, I've been having Grace ask Colin to borrow any of his toys she wants to play with. She's very sweet about it. "Brother, may I borrow this frog?" I always answer and tell her that Colin is happy to share his toys with her (knowing full well that someday in the not too distant future, this won't be the case).

This morning Grace had a new request:

"Mom, can I borrow Brother's whole room?"

I couldn't help but laugh. What a smart little girl! She figured out that if she just borrowed his whole room, she wouldn't have to keep asking for the various toys that are in the room. Yep, sometimes Grace is too clever for her own good. She likes to try to outsmart Mommy and Daddy...and from time to time, she succeeds.

Who's that handsome little devil?

It's hard to believe that our handsome little guy is 5 months old! Where has the time gone? He's growing up so fast. In fact, I took Colin to the doctor last week for a follow-up visit from his sinus infection and ear infection he had in early June. From June 7th to June 24th, he gained an entired pound! He is now 15 lbs, 12.8 ounces. It's hard to believe how quickly they can put the pounds on. I guess the cereal, which Colin is LOVING, is doing the trick!

Colin loves to smile and wants to touch everything! He always needs to have a toy in his hands, otherwise hair is fair game. He's gotten my hair and Grace's into a death grip...needless to say, Mommy handles this better than Grace. She is not impressed when Colin grabs her hair. Other than that, she loves her little brother and is constantly looking out for him. She makes sure he was his toys to play with and gives him plenty of kisses. I love listening to her talk to him. She uses the sweetest, most loving voice, and when she touches him, she's so gentle. My heart melts whenever they interact with each other. Colin watches Grace's every move and is clearly in awe of his big sister :-)

Happy Father's Day!

Today we celebrate fathers. To all the Dads out there, Happy Father's Day! Thank you for the role you play in your families and for being there for your kids. It makes such a huge difference in their lives.

To Martin, the love of my life and father of my two beautiful children: I love you with all my heart. I love being your wife and being Mommy to our kiddos. Nothing brings me greater joy than raising our family together. Even in the midst of chaos and sleepless nights, I realize how blessed I am that our paths crossed 5 years ago and that I get to spend the rest of my life with you.

You are such an incredible Dad! I love watching you play with the kids, especially when you're making them laugh. The laughter in our home is one of the things I value most in my life. You always know how to make me and the kids smile! Thank you for all that you are, Martin...you complete me.

To my Dad, a.k.a. Daddy-O: Thank you for providing us with such a positive example of what it means to be a parent. If I am half the parent that you and Mom have been to us, then I will have succeeded in raising my kids well. I love you and am so grateful for all the ways you've made a difference in my life. In your professional life, you've always worked to "develop leaders that make a difference" and you've succeeded in doing the same at home, raising four leaders who are making the world a better place, each in our own unique way. We love you so much!

Colin's First Baseball Game

Last night we took Colin to his first baseball game to see our local minor league team, the Round Rock Express. As you can tell, he thoroughly enjoyed himself. It doesn't get much cuter than that. Such a smiley little boy :-)

It was a wonderful evening with dear friends. We introduced Colin to the awesome game of baseball surrounded by people we love dearly. Grace had a blast as well, playing on the playground and dancing to the music in between innings. She was decked out in her Phillies shirt (thanks Kate and Shawn!) and made the experience authentic by whacking down an entire hot dog. Grace and Uncle Billy had fun hanging out, as we you can see from the adorable picture!

Grace wasn't a fan of the post-game fireworks, but Colin was totally intrigued by them. He watched in awe, while Grace cuddled into her Mommy. Grace kept asking me when the fireworks would be over and telling me that they were too loud!

A good time was had by all, and hopefully we'll make it back to the ballpark at least once more this summer. Family outings to baseball games rarely disappoint...I have wonderful memories of going to see baseball games when I was a kid, especially the Reading Phillies with my Pop-Pop, brother, and cousins. I want Grace and Colin to grow up with special memories. And hopefully this blog will help to commemorate the best times we've had as a family!

Introducing Colin James Fogarty!

We are thrilled to introduce the newest member of our family...our son, Colin James Fogarty!!!

Colin arrived this morning at 7:38 am and is a perfect little miracle :-)

Happy Birthday, Colin James!!
January 31, 2010
8 lbs, 14 oz
20.5 inches

Stay tuned for more on our bundle of joy and his awesome big sister, Grace!!!