Boston

I am sitting in the Boston airport Admirals Club about to fly home from my very last business trip before the baby comes. It is a relief and also makes the upcoming birth feel even closer. 54 days until my due date! I feel excited, but also pressure to do all the things that need to get done in the next month and a half.

This baby has very clear periods of activity and quiet. When the baby is quiet, it is easy to momentarily forget I am even pregnant. When the baby is moving it is crazy! The baby will kick my bladder and I have to run to the bathroom, kick my ribs and I have to push the baby back down and my stomach will shift all around and jiggle the baby is so active.

I am getting those nesting urges which this time around are directed at all 3 babies! I want to get Cadie's room situated so she has more room to play, I want to get Jack Rangers new room setup and get him transitioned to a big boy bed and also potty trained and then get the baby's room ready with at least the essentials like diapers and a few washed jammies. I also need to find a new nanny, get the kids all ready for their schools to begin right after the baby is born and try to find a few moments for myself before I have a baby attached to me (on the outside) for the next year. whewwww

Most people are still consistently guessing that it is a girl. I feel like it is a girl and am still having girl dreams, Anna (our cleaning lady) swung a necklace above my belly and based on the direction the necklace ended up swinging she also thinks it is a girl and I have had one only family/friend/coworker guess a boy (that is Dariana Wong from PepsiCo). We'll know soon when that sweet little life comes into this world!!

I have been working this week on the MIT campus and am hoping some of the smartness in the air will help boost the babys IQ.

Had a fun time seeing the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays at Fenway Park.

Destin, Florida

We got home yesterday from a wonderful week in Destin, Florida - it was even better than I expected! Grant originally planned the trip to meet for a few days with his Culhane Meadows founding partners, but then we decided to expand the trip, bring the kids and make it a vacation/Grant-work trip. One of his partner's, Heather Haughian, and her husband Shane had planned the trip to celebrate their 10-year wedding anniversary and they were gracious to invite us to the events and also to sacrifice some of their vacation time for the partners meeting.

We arrived on Monday and Grant worked Tuesday and Wednesday with his partners which left the kids and I with two blissful days of swimming, napping and evenings on the beach. The kids were really behaved for me - I think they sensed Mom couldn't handle too much craziness. We never left the resort and just had a good time being together whether it was on the beach or playing dominos in the condo.

Then on Thursday Grant wrapped up his meetings and DD and Big John arrived and we picked up the pace! Thursday when DD and Big John arrived we planned to go to the Dolphin cruise and then meet with friends for dinner. This was my only pregnancy crisis on the trip, but when we arrived at the boat for the cruise there was zero shade on the boat and at 3:30 in the afternoon the sun was beating down on us! I sat down for about 2 mins. and then announced, "We are getting off this boat!" The kids were sad because they wanted to go on the boat and see the dolphins and the other adults were probably a little annoyed (although they were nice about it) because we had scrambled to get there on time, but I could not sit in the sun and bake for and hour and a half. We had to kill some time before our dinner but DD and Big John helped by taking the kids on a long walk after we had gotten some ice cream. The dinner at the Crazy Lobster was good and then we wandered around more waiting for the 9pm fireworks show over the ocean.

On Friday we went to Big Kahuna's water park and the kids loved the slides and we even went around the lazy river a few times together as a family. On Friday night Grant and I went to an adults dinner at Dewey Destin's while DD and Big John took the kids for a Dolphin cruise do-over.

On Saturday, Grant and I attended the vow renewal ceremony/party on Crab Island for Heather and Shane while DD and Big John had a beach day with the kids. Grant and I got back to the hotel around 5pm and were able to play on the beach and watch a final sunset together. The beaches and water are so beautiful in Destin and I definitely want to go back. Our condo was convenient with a full kitchen, washer/dryer, nice balcony and even room to spread out. It wasn't fancy or luxurious, but it was great for our needs. There was even enough room for Jack Ranger to sleep in his pack and play in our closet! He loved it and because we stayed up late at night and it was dark in the closet the kids slept until at least 8:30am every day and a few days past 9am. So nice.

Great dinner during the first founders' conference--joined by Shane Haughian and Erin Walsh!— with founding partners Heather Clauson Haughian, Kelly Culhane Rittenberry, , Jim Meadows and Grant Walsh.

DD and Cadie on the boardwalk waiting for fireworks. Cadie liked playing with the lobster tentacle from Big John's dinner.

DD is the best at entertaining the kids! She doesn't need any gear, just imagination and whatever is within reach.

At dinner we sat next to a family and the kids and I talked and played with the little girl. Turns out the Dad owned the water trampolines and they gave us a good deal to go jump!

Big John made sand castles for both kids and got the cheap Little Mermaid kite higher than I thought it would go!

Cadie enjoyed throwing sand snowballs. We just wished we threw more of them in the ocean and fewer at us.

Sand angel!

JR and Big John jumping the waves!

Cadie and Big John jumping the waves!

Grant trying to convince JR to let him bury him in the sand - JR wasn't too interested in being buried, but they had a fun time digging the hole.

There was lots of serious hole digging.

After all that sun and sand, a few books read by DD were just what the kiddos needed.

Little Terror

Jack Ranger's number one favorite activity is still playing with cars, but in a close second these days is terrorizing Cadence. She builds a tower, he knocks it over. She draws a picture, he rips it up. She sets up a Calico Critters wedding, he plows through it. She makes a playdough bird nest, he smashes it. I could go on, but you get the picture. Despite diligent discipline, Jack Ranger is not yet slowing down his reign of terror. This has meant poor Cadence has retreated to her room more often. We are considering rearranging her room to give her more play space since the need to escape may increase with a new baby coming and Ranger on the war path.

This weekend she had retreated to her room after the landscaping stone that she and I were working on decorating outside got smashed to bits while Cadie and I stepped inside for a brief moment to empty the dishwasher. There was quite a lot of commotion coming from her room so I poked my head in and said:

Erin: "Cadence, is everyone ok?"
Cadence: "No mom"
Erin: "What's going on?"
Cadence: "Hello Kitty called The Little Mermaid trash and there is a lot of drama about it."
Erin: "Is everything going to be ok?"
Cadence: "I don't know"

I haven't checked back to see if Hello Kitty and The Little Mermaid reconciled or not, but I did laugh for the rest of the evening about the drama taking place in the room of Miss Cadence. Drama inside her room and drama outside her room... wondering if maybe there is a contant I should more closely consider.

Here are just a modge podge of photos from our recent adventures.

It is already hot! Cadence and JR made quite the slippery slide with water on our swingset slide.

Avery, Shauna, Cadence and I recently on our annual outing to Disney Princesses on Ice.

Cadence and Dad went on a date to Reunion Tower. Quite the stunning couple!

Aunt CJ taking a snooze in the toddler bed with JR.

Uncle Rhino taking Cadence in the JumpStreet big kid jumping pit for the first time.

Jack Ranger roaming the house in his cars slippers.

Hiding in the toy cabinet.

Avery and Cadence - we really miss the Gray's now that we live further apart.

Culhane Meadows

Grant has started his own law firm! Grant and three other amazing partners have come together and last Thursday, May 30th they launched Culhane Meadows. They have been busting their tails for the past 5 weeks and I know this is going to be an amazing law firm. They are a great team and have a solid vision. Grant really enjoys working with his new partners and we are both excited about the future of this new opportunity.

They have all been flying around the country for the past week and already have 11 attorneys with the firm and I know they are going to grow quickly. Grant has an amazing ability to stay focused, calm under pressure and to remain optimistic and I am proud of his contribution to create this firm. All that being said, I also hope I get to see him sometime soon because he has been MIA lately! I love you Grant!

The four founding partners: Grant Walsh, Kelly Rittenberry Culhane, Heather Clauson Haughian and Jim Meadows.

Cozumel: Scuba Diving

This is my last Cozumel post! It has taken me awhile to get them all done! We leave for Florida next week and I hope I get those posts up faster than I did our Cozumel trip.

Grant couldn't go to Cozumel and not scuba dive, but since his dive partner is prego, Mary had to step in. She did her checkout dives and then they were able to do a few dives together. This was Mary's first time diving and she loved it! They even got to go on a night dive. The kids and I had a great time hanging out at the pool and napping while Grant and Mary swam with the fishes.

Cozumel: So much sun and fun

During Day 1, Hour 1 Jack Range plunged headfirst into the ocean. Mary jumped in to rescue him!

Our first evening we went to The Lobser House for dinner. They have the most amazing lobster and it is one of Grant's and I's favorite restaurants.

JR isn't quite sure what to think of picking out the lobsters.

Our server was really nice and brought out some lobster toys for the kids to play with during dinner.

Mary wasn't sure about The Lobster House at first, but we all agreed the ambiance gets better as it gets darker.

We aren't sure why they had crazy hats, but we went with it :)

Dance party back at the resort!

Family circle dance

Erin and Cadie bust a move.

The kids were so cute dancing together.

Trying on hats outside the MEGA

Dropping off Grant...

Jack Ranger loving his new hat and his fresh churro in the town square.

There was a group of teenage guy dancing in the gazebo in the town square and Cadie and Jack Ranger had a great time watching.

Just relaxing in the town square.

Cadence could not get enough of the pool! Jack Ranger liked playing in the sand on the beach better.

Naps every afternoon for JR, Cadie and Mom! Awesome!

Mary watched the kids one evening and Grant and I were able to have a date night.