Happy St. Patrick's Day - 2012

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Waiting for baths - J, A, G

Wow, how things change in a year. Around this time last year, the boys were tiny little newborns who were completely dependent on me for EVERYTHING! This year, Graham is walking, no make that running, everywhere. Anthony is inches away from walking. He will take 2-3 steps and then fall forward while he cackles. It is hilarious to watch and listen. Jack is making progress every day. He is engaging in the ‘rough housing’ that Jason does with all the boys whereas a few short weeks ago he would have just sat on the sideline and watched from my lap. His PT sessions are going great and he is more mobile than ever before and is gaining confidence with every movement. Oh, and did I mention that Anthony and Graham like to play on top of the train table now?

Anthony standing while Graham tried to sneak off without being caught!

 

Of course, I would be remiss not to mention Chase and what he is up to. His teachers at Preschool sing his praises. They tell me on a regular basis that he has the best manner of a child his age they have ever seen (which makes my heart sing because that is something I personally believe is sorely lacking in many people today). He still loves school and the triplets and I spend the ride home being showered with the letter of the day, number of the day or story that was shared that day. I love listening to him talk with such excitement about what he is learning and the little ones are just as enthralled.

Now that the recap is over, back to the reason for my post today, St. Patrick’s Day. Most of you are aware of the fact that I spent most of my childhood in Savannah, Georgia and am an Irish Catholic girl. A minor detail that some might not know about that city is that there is a HUGE Irish-Catholic population so St. Patrick’s Day is kind of a big deal down there, as in school is cancelled because the city gets inundated with visitors from all over! Since I went to high school along the parade route downtown and we parked around the city squares, we literally couldn’t park to get to class so we get days off. Depending on the day of the week, we sometimes even got a half day on the 16^th in preparation for all the craziness. With that in mind, you may not be surprised to know that since I have left Savannah, I have had a hard time finding the proper way to continue my celebrations. This year however, I had a built-in idea.

Many of you remember the picture below. It was taken at the Old Well at UNC campus after Jason, my Mom, all the boys – the triplets were about 6 weeks old at the time – and myself finished the ZTA Franklin 5K. Well, we enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided to sign up again this year. It was scheduled for today so off we went. However, before I share the pictures and stories from today, I need to make sure that you know a tiny fact about the night before.

March 2011

 My mom and I drove to Greensboro (a little over an hour away) to watch the Notre Dame men’s basketball team play in the NCAA tournament. Ironically, the game prior to ours was Duke – NOT my school of choice. ND had the late game which meant a tip around 9:45 pm (just before my normal bedtime). Mom and I left after getting the boys and Jason some dinner and settled upstairs for the night – Jason is cast free and offered (read that to mean was asked by me) to watch the boys so Mom and I could take this little journey. We arrived at the coliseum and got to watch Duke lose to Lehigh – definite highlight of the night since ND didn’t even tip until 10:16 pm and ended up losing a very close game. Mom and I arrived home close to 2:00 AM.

We woke up bright and early today, loaded all the boys in the car and headed to Chapel Hill for the 5K. 

Pre-race

Since it was St. Patty’s Day, we had to wear our green. Our AWESOME shirts were made for us by Aunt Lindsey and I cannot tell you the number of compliments we got on them! All the boys were stars of the show. I don't have a good shot of Chase's because he NEVER stays still long enough for me to get a picture of him.

Anthony

Graham

Jack

Jason took Chase and Anthony in one stroller and I took Graham and Jack in the other. Chase ran part of the race with Jason and when he needed a break, he hopped back in the stroller for a quick rest. As the finish line approached, Jason relayed the following to me:

            "There was a gap in the crowd before and after us so I got Chase out of the stroller

about 100 yards or so away from the finish line and asked if he wanted to run to the finish line himself. Running? Of course he said yes. As he made his way closer to the finish, he gave Ramses (UNC’s mascot) a high five and made the final turn." As he did, Jason said that the crowd just erupted! You have to know Chase and his running for the true mental image. He really is fast for his age and he gets this serious look on his face and the combination of the two makes for great racing! Needless to say, the crowd continued to go wild until he actually crossed the finish line and then they erupted again when he jumped out of the crowd to cross it with my Mom, Jack, Graham and myself.

We were joined at the 5K by our friends Tre` and Laura and their two girls, Evie and Lily who Chase adores. 

The Morgans

Lily, Evie and Chase - stopping just long enough for a picture and then they were off again!

 I had brought post-race snacks and some balls and blankets so that we could hang on campus for a while. We headed to the quad for some good outdoor fun and to just enjoy the beautiful day. 

Jack in front, Anthony behind

Graham

Lily enjoying some 'quiet' time

The view of my world today - I wouldn't have traded it for anything! Jason and Tre` playing soccer with Chase and Evie while Lily and Graham play trucks and Anthony pushes the stroller himself.

We also had to take our yearly "Family photo at the Old Well". The kids played until it was time for lunch and then we headed home. I think we wore them out, how about you?

J, G, A and Chase - finally got a good shot of his awesome shirt in this one!

Before lunch

DONE!

Graham and Jack - enough is enough

Anthony even gave up!

 I have to say that this day has been hard for me to really enjoy in the past because it was always such a big day for my Dad but this year had a different feel. I still missed him like crazy but I had a sense of peace. I don’t know, maybe it was the perfect Carolina-blue sky, maybe it was seeing how much fun the boys had, maybe it was being able to spend some girl-time with my mom that was kid-free. I can’t put my finger on it. All I know is that this is the first one in a long time that has felt right. As the boys grabbed at my Irish necklace charm that my Dad gave me, it made my heart loosen just a bit and a smile spread across my face. Happy St. Patrick’s Day Dad!