no sleep till brooklyn! addendum

this is the noise that was keeping us up... enjoy!

laughing declan

declan may be keeping us up, but at least he can laugh about it now!

no sleep till brooklyn!

We here at the McCool abode have not been getting a lot of sleep lately. Declan has been up, and we mean up, as in really, we promise, he didn't sleep. It was crazy and at about 3 in the morning Saturday we gave up getting him to sleep, at least I did, I think Marc took over, I don't remember. I finally fell asleep. But, do see below the noise he was making in his bed, having us consider perhaps moving him upstairs to sleep with his brother because Finn can sleep through everything.

It is cute, but to a point. then it isn't cute anymore, but now, it is cute again.

Finn and I had a photo shoot the other day. It was right after nap time. I love how he and his brother are getting along. I know that this will be the pleasant time, and it probaply wont last, but it is fun while it does!
Declan has been trying to sit up on his own. He also is losing alot of his hair right now and has a natural mohawk. We get a lot of comments from people who think that perhaps we shaved his head to look that way. Umm, for your information we did't, but Marc would like to think he did.



Finn is working on memorizing the wild rover. I am almost done with the song, but I don't know it by heart yet (half the time I do tune it out, I'll admit it. I am a bad parent.) He really likes the Dropkick Murphy's lately too. I can't blame him really, they are one of my favorite loud bands. So we listen to their version instead of The Pogues. On another cool note, Finn does recognize Shane McGowans voice when he is singing. Do you think we need to move on from The Pogues one of these days, I don't think so either.


oh, and for those of you who are interested - Finn's egg survived. The Lucy Deucy Special made it down safe and sound! He would like to thank Lucy the chicken and his dad for making it happen. We will post the pics as soon as we have some!

Holy Timelapse, Batman!!!

Wow! It's been over a month since our last posting, and please accept our collective apologies! Life on Montana Street has been somewhat hectic of late, what with the start of school for Finn, Kim starting a new job, and of couse the change that comes with the arrival of the wee man Declan (yes, I know that was in June, but really, it DOES take a while to hit your stride, especially with number 2).

Wait, what's that you say? Kim starting a new job? Why yes...Kim is the new executive assistant/office manager for the City Club of Portland. This is the organization that holds all the Friday Forums wherein citizens can become informed about pertinent issues of the day. Just this last Friday, for example, former Gov. Kitzhaber and ex-Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babitt met to discuss the removal of dams along the Snake River in Idaho to facilitate the return of salmon runs-and you know how much we Northwesterners love our salmon! I think we hug them almost as much as we do trees, or say, the spotted owl or the marbled murrelet. And speaking of hugs, Kim is proud to report a Babitt hugging occured on Friday. She has taken quite well to her new position, as it is convieniently located to shopping, cart lunches and happy hours.

Finn has begun his year as a first-grader, and he couldn't be happier. MLC gives its first graders WAY more autonomy than its kindergarteners. They get to walk to lunch all by themselves (this, for those of you who do not have grade school age kids, is HUGE)! Plus they get to choose electives- Finn is currently taking Super Science Club and Word Games and Puzzles.
( A side note about those electives...the signup process resembled a White Sale at Macy's taken straight from an old 50's flick, except that there were kids involved. Mothers trying to push their poor kids into line regardless of who or what might have been in their way!)














Declan continues to blossom all the time and capture the hearts of all that meet him. He has achieved the milestone of the back-to-front and front-to-back rollover, and we can tell he is just bursting at the seams to get this whole movement thing underway. Finn is forming an amazing relationship with his little brother! I think that he is one of Declan's favorite people, always getting some of the biggest smiles whenever he snuggles up with him.



















My adorable little granddaughter came to visit us from Idaho. Her name is Aubrianna, and she is 18 months old. Finn is still trying to get his head around the concept of being an uncle...his usual response is, " I'm still a kid!". During the visit I learned that I am to be a grandfather for the second time, this time a boy is on the way! So everyone please wish health and happiness to my daughter Heather and her family as they prepare for their new arrival-I believe he will be an early spring baby.













Well, I am sure that there is SO much more that I could write, but I must be up early tomorrow. We will strive to be less lackadaisical in keeping current, but BABY, has it been a busy month!