A Letter To Anna and Dex On The Plane

As Bill and I headed to Hawaii for our 10-year anniversary trip, I couldn't help but think of my two babies.  Below is a letter I wrote to Anna and Dex:

Anna and Declan –

I’m on a flight right now on my way to Hawaii.  It’s Mommy and Daddy’s 10-year anniversary trip and I’m so excited to spend a week in beautiful weather in a breathtaking location.  But I can’t help of think of both of you every minute. 

First of all, I want you both to know how much I deeply, desperately love both of you.  You both are the truest loves of my life.  You are the sunshine and the moonlight of my day.  You are all of my reasons for everything…for waking up each morning, try a little harder each day and look forward to each night so I can lay with each of you and smell/feel you.

Daddy and I are going on this trip to celebrate the love we have for each other.  It’s true love…something that I could feel and knew would last forever since I was just 19 years old.  We’ve been through a lot together, but our greatest, most fulfilling adventure was having you both.  We already had the love – a great, enduring love – but you gave so much more meaning and purpose to that love. 

We created you – the greatest accomplishment of our lives.  We look at both of you each day with such pride, such satisfaction, and of course, unconditional love. 

We hope that you’re happy, that as you grow, you continue to feel our passionate love.  I hope it gives you strength, light and hope (through the inevitable difficult times you’ll experience).  I hope we’ve done right by both of you and that some day, long from now, you’ll be proud of us too. 

Our 10-year anniversary is a special event for us, but it wouldn’t mean hardly anything without our beautiful babies.  You are our greatest life’s work.

We love you with all of our hearts.

The Holidays 2013

Thanksgiving and Christmas were both a blast this year...especially for the kids.  As always, it was certainly a whirlwind and crazy, but lots of great family time and good food.

Gaga and Bapa hosted Thanksgiving, but Maggie and I did the cooking.  Mags made a killer turkey and the kiddos played like crazy (typical...they didn't like the Thanksgiving dinner).

Anna's been very interested in the pilgrims and learning about the history of Thanksgiving.  I love teaching her and Gaga loves it even more.

Maggie and I took Anna on her annual trip to see The Nutcracker.  She loved it and LOVES ballet in general.  Each year, the experience gets better because she gets into it more and more.  I also took Anna to see Frozen - the new Disney Princess movie.  It was a wonderful movie and has since become an obsession in our house.  Every time we step into our car, the soundtrack goes on.  Elsa and Anna took over our house and the Whelan Christmas!

Did I mention that she went to go see it three more times before Christmas?  Yes, she did.

--------

This year, since we have the new house, we were finally able to host the Whelan Family Christmas.  We had around 35 people - aunts, uncles, cousins, oh my!  As usual, it was craziness.  We did our traditional white elephant gift giving, but this year was especially fun because Anna was finally old enough to get in on the kids white elephant.  She loved it and got a great sled out of it.

Declan loved every minute of it as well...he got a lot of attention and his very own VACUUM!!!  Uncle Mike (Dex's godfather) got him a little red vacuum that looks exactly like the real thing and he walked around the house all night long vacuuming he house.  If only it worked...he's like our own personal Roomba.  I love that he likes to help me "clean" - I'm raising a good husband, right? :)

As far as Christmas goes, we also hosted, but this time, Katie, Steve and baby Claire joined us.  It also was a great time.  I did the cooking and the kiddos opened a lot of gifts.  Gaga and Bapa got Anna her Frozen castle (she loved it).  Dex got a bunch of trucks, cars, a tricycle and his first Power Wheels (bus).  That boy loves anything on wheels and his wish was certainly granted this Christmas (and that was before Santa even showed up).

Katie dressed Claire up in an adorable little Santa outfit...we loved it!  Claire was an absolute doll and such a good girl.  We were all really happy that she was able to spend her first Christmas at our house with her entire family...especially her cousins!

----------

Christmas morning with THE BEST this year!  Anna and Dex were both old enough to be excited about Santa and his deliveries.  Anna woke up super early, saw the presents immediately and ran down stairs to count them.  She woke Bill and I up and declared there were 13 presents for her.  She was beyond excited.  We immediately took the kids downstairs and the unwrapping began.

After that, we went on to church and back to Gaga and Bapa's house for another family dinner.  Such a wonderful Christmas with great family memories.  The pictures prove it all...

California Girl

Billy loves his girl...that's for sure.  So, what do you do when you and your daughter are inseparable? Take her to California with you to visit some friends and go to Disneyland (for a long weekend).  And, that is exactly what he did.

Bill was planning on visiting our friends KC and Jen in LA, but instead of doing what most men would do - go to LA to party with his childless college friends for the weekend - he brought the love-of-his-life (not me) with him.  They had an amazing time and Anna got to swim in the Pacific Ocean, see the princesses at Disneyland and get as much ice cream as she wanted...not a bad weekend for a 5-year-old.

While the cat's away, the mice will play!  And Dex and I did just that.  It was the first weekend I had alone with my little boy and we had so much fun just playing around.  We went on bike rides, walks, snuggled, loved and laughed, just as mommies and sons should do.  He is such a joy and growing so fast.  I love this time in his life when everything is new and interesting and fun.  And, with Dex, EVERYTHING needs to be discovered.

Well, little guy, I love discovering them with you.

Claire's Baptism at Notre Dame

Baby Claire got baptised!  But, not just anywhere.  She got baptised at the Notre Dame basilica where Katie and Steve got married.

In addition to Claire's baptism, Katie and Steve also hosted a tailgate for the ND/Navy game.  It was great to hang outside in the crisp fall air with the Dorns, Fiamingos and all the kids.  Dex and Anna loved it and ran all over, playing football, eating, etc.  Anna was also able to go to the game...her very first Notre Dame football game.  Bapa was in heaven having here there and she actually loved it.  My little football fan!

Halloween 2013

We're obsessed with Halloween in our house.  I mean, it could be bigger than Christmas.  And, for Anna - It's definitely "the most wonderful time of the year."  For a family that loves cozy nights, scary stuff, dressing up, eating candy and general crazy behavior, Halloween is the perfect holiday for the Whelans.

We had a great time this year getting ready for Halloween and then celebrating it with family and friends.  Anna chose to be Merida from the movie Brave and Dex's costume was a last minute change from a Bear to Mike Wisowski from Monsters Inc.  It ended up being the perfect choice as he had everyone dying with laughter...too cute.

It was pouring rain on Halloween, but we managed to get a good hour of trick-or-treating in with Aunt Maggie and my Mom.  It was our first Halloween in our new house and in Wheaton.  While I did happen to miss the block party that occurred every year at Wellington Park in the city, we still had completely enjoyed the day.

Happy Halloween!

Fall Photo Shoot