Carrying on the O'Neill Name

We are so thrilled that we will be welcoming a baby BOY to our family! Since about 12 weeks I started having very strong thoughts that this baby was going to be a boy. I had little signs along the way but the higher heart rate kept throwing me off. (There goes that wives tale!) Finding out halfway through the pregnancy was such new territory for us, it seemed so strange that we were going to know who was kicking us in there! We wanted to do something special to find out the gender, so with a little brainstorming with our good friend Jennifer Saville, take a look at the photos below...

We got a pair of pink baby shoes and a pair of blue baby shoes and identical boxes. In the morning, Marguerite selected which bow went on which box and wrote it on a card. At our appointment they told us which color bow to open. So, we waited all day until Tim got home to find out the big news! Traffic was horrible, so of course it took him forever to get home!

The anticipation of opening the box was killer! We were super excited! We had the sono tech circle the gender just to have back-up confirmation!


Time to Skype with the families! I held up both pairs of shoes and dropped the pink one's to reveal it was a boy!
Whitney holding her baby brother's shoes!
Lots of cheers!!
Excited Big Sister!

Halloween

This year Halloween was a whole new experience. Whitney was beyond excited as we had been building up this day for weeks! A huge thanks to Grandma/Sue for making the cutest Minnie costume out there! I will let the pictures tell the story...

Helping me organize the candy. I know it sounds crazy, but the kids love seeing what they get to choose from!First treat of the night. A KitKat we shared.
Formal shot. Haven't gotten into carving yet, stickers will do!

Walking to her first house of the night!
Eagerly knocked on the door...a duty she quickly passed off to me.
Auntie Ann's of course!
Very uncertain of these strange characters, but not too uncertain to grab some candy!
Family photo in front of the best house in the neighborhood.

Warming up between houses...and giving her head a break.
Whitney's dramatic approach on insisting that we go to the door with her.
Time to see what she got!
Yummm...Skittles was her first choice!
She liked handing out candy just as much as collecting it!

The question is...do I have enough will power not to eat all her candy!

Sunday was a Fun Day!

This past Sunday we took Whitney to her first play. I have been looking forward to this day ever since I knew I was becoming a mom. Theatre has impacted my life in so many ways and I couldn't wait to pass my love for it onto my children. The official day had finally arrived. Now of course Whitney and I sing and dance around the house just about everyday, but going to see a play is a totally different experience. When I started looking around I came across a title that stood out to me and soon realized we had been given the book as a gift. "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse". To top it off one of my actor friends was playing Lilly. We had shared the stage a few years back in "The Araboolies of Liberty Street". To prepare for the weekend we read the book everyday. A long book for an almost 2 1/2 year old, but Whitney was zoned into every page. Seeing her face while watching the play brought me such joy. I look forward to seeing many more plays with my little lady.

Since it was Halloween they invited all the kids to wear their costumes.

Meeting Felicia who played Lilly. Though she looks a little nervous she loved it!

To finish off our fun Sunday, we traveled up to Hagerstown to celebrate the 6th birthday of two special friends, Sophia and Damian. They are so sweet to Whitney and Whitney loves playing with them. On Monday I swear she was talking more...that's what big kids will do!

Nature is her Catwalk

Getting Whitney to pose for a picture is pretty tricky. Whenever she is wearing a cute outfit I try to snap one, but lately she has been saying, "No".

Sometimes if we are going for a long walk outside I bring my camera and capture fun pictures in nature. Well, this week was a different kind of walk...Whitney's Catwalk. We have a great wooded hiking hill behind our house that we venture out into most of the year. This particular walk inspired Whitney to strike a pose. I was just randomly snapping pictures and before I knew it this girl was posing with everything!

She loves our neighbors decorated yard!
Dramatic pose.

This is from another day, but too cute not post!

The Clock

This clock most definitely deserves a post. Whitney would perfectly sleep until 7am everyday until she turned 1 yr old and then it turned to the dreaded 6am. I know that seems normal for any toddler, however, Tim and I are not morning people and it was not fun. Sometimes 6am would even turn into 5:45am. I couldn't figure out how to get her to sleep longer. Even when she dropped her morning nap around 18 months, she would still wake up early, but would be incredible cranky around mid-morning. Going to bed a little later, shorter afternoon naps, nothing! Then I read an article about Heidi Klum. She talked about this clock and how all four of her kids slept till 7am. Why I didn't jump on it immediately I don't know, but finally in August I made the purchase. After about a week of training her with the new clock, we have had the luxury of sleeping in everyday until 7am. Sometimes later! You will see in the picture the section where the cow is sleeping is lit up, you set your desired wake up time and the light switches to the cow awake. Whitney is proud to say everyday that she gets to get up because the cow is up. Thank you, Heidi!

Perfect Fall Weekend Part 3 of 3

Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday we went to Ticonderoga Farm with our good friends the Swearingens. It was the perfect Fall day, no lines and the kids had a blast. I will also mention that I do believe that soon to be 4 year old Timmy is Whitney's first crush. She loves to hold his hand and laughs at everything he says or does. We finished the night off at the Swearingens with pizza and a delicious apple cobbler that Maggie made. Timmy did a good job wearing Whitney out by chasing her around the house tickling her (which she loved). With a busy afternoon and a late bedtime, Whitney slept in till 7:30 the next morning!

Off to the Patch!
We weren't sure if she would like it, but she kept saying "More Papa"!
She loved the huge bouncing bubble!

Timmy, you are so funny!
Not too pleased that this one wasn't running anymore:(
But the big tractor will do!
She tried with all her might to pick this one up!
Break time!
Happy with our final three!

Perfect Fall Weekend Part 2 of 3

Art Project

My good friend, Kelly, is very creative and is also a teacher, so she is always doing fun art projects with her girls. She definitely gets me inspired, though our art projects are few and far between. We do color on a regular basis and ventured into finger painting this summer. Whitney also took an Art class that she loved. She loved working with a paint brush. So, what more perfect Fall activity than to collect leaves and to glue them on a piece of paper. Whitney had a blast and I have a feeling we will be doing it again very soon!

I think the berries made a perfect added touch!
Thanks to our neighborhood working on the grass, hay made the project complete!


So excited to get started!