Bye Bye Choo Choo Wagon.

Bye Bye Choo Choo Wagon.

In addition to short walks up and down our street, you came with us to the zoo.


You even traveled to Falmouth with mommy and us to watch daddy run the Falmouth Road Race.


But now mommy & daddy tell us that we are too big so they are going to find a new home for you. We are not sure if your new riders will attract as much attention as we did, but hopefully your new owners will love you as much as we did.


Bye Bye Choo Choo Wagon.
Love, Allie, Anna and Emily.



Note: Shortly after we purchased our wagon, Step2 stopped selling them. As a result the wagons were in high demand. Step2 has since started selling a slightly different version of the wagon again.

Southie Reacts to Whitey's Capture.

The capture of Whitey Bulger on Wednesday is BIG news around here. With that, there are a ton of stories, interviews etc. on the news and websites. I watched a clip on boston.com, however which takes the cake. In the clip, staff from The Boston Globe (boston.com) ask South Boston (Southie) residents their opinion about Whitey being caught. I especially love one woman's comment that "...so what, he was a mobster...everyone has to have a job." Classic! Check out the
video.

Memorial Day Weekend in Virginia

I come from a BIG family. I have twelve siblings and twenty-something nephews and nieces. But, even with most of my immediate family residing in Massachusetts, Allie, Anna and Emily do not have cousins from my side of the family to play with since most of their cousins are much older than them (in their 20's and 30's).

My younger brother D and his wife A, however, have two boys closer in age to our girls(Clive will be two in September and Charlie is about six months) – this makes me happy! The fact that they don’t live in the area is not so great, though. They, like a few others in my immediate family, have found their way to northern Virginia. D made the move to Virginia over ten years ago and still resides there today. So…given we had yet to meet the newest member of D & A’s family, we decided to take a road trip down to see them over Memorial Day weekend.

Long story short is that we had a nice trip and it actually felt like a vacation, not just a trip. The weekend, among other things, included:

- A visit with a friend of Sarah’s (and their identical twin girls)!
- Some spray park and kiddy pool fun!
- A cookout!
- Playtime with Charlie and Clive!
- The National Zoo!

Here are some highlights:

A Gymnastics Show To Melt My Heart.

If you follow Sarah's blog (who doesn't, right?), you know our girls had their first "show" last weekend at a local gymnastics academy. Sarah did a great job as usual giving the low-down on that day - check out her post(s) here.

I will have to say that watching the girls perform in the show may have been one of the most emotional times for me since their birth. I have watched this video several times since the show and every time I put the video in motion, my eyes water.

They are all wearing pink leotards so...to spot Allie, look for a side ponytail. Emily has ponytails. And Anna, like Allie, had a side pony. Allie is lined up in the 1st row - far side, Emily is 2nd row - middle, and Anna is in the back row doing her thing!

One reason I get so emotional seeing the girls develop before my eyes is Anna's innocence. Anna gave 100% in the show, just like she does with everything else. Anna's HUGE heart is what makes me proud the most, though. Having a kind heart like Anna's (and Allie's and Emily's) is what is important to me, not so much how they "perform".



My sister, her husband and daughter attended the show also. Having other family members there (Grammy & Papa too) meant a lot to us as a family. You have to understand that my niece "J" had practiced gymnastics in the very same gym. "J" passed away due to complications from cystic fibrosis several years ago. She was only 13. This was the first time my sister and her family had visited the gym since their daughter had passed away. My sister told me they were all crying when they arrived at the gym and she also said they "saw J out there" during the show.

I am a man who believes life is about the moments. This day was a moment with strong emotions attached.

Abigail Ruth - June 4, 2006

Today is Abigail's birthday. Our daughter, our Angel, our Love. Words to describe my feelings have not come, and my heart is filled with longing.

As life moves forward, I think of ways in which I can "do something" about the fact that babies die all too often without an answer. Maybe I can be a voice for those babies and mothers who all too often sit on an island of emptiness for one day too many. Thankfully, stillbirths are slowly being recognized by states across the country. The news story below was forwarded to me from FirstCandle.

Bill creating certificate in stillbirth passes Pa. Senate

Posted: May 25, 2011 10:43 AM EDT
Updated: May 25, 2011 10:45 AM EDT
By Myles Snyder - emailHARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) - The state Senate has unanimously passed legislation that allows parents to request a "Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth" from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Senate Bill 326 would provide parents with documentation when a child is stillborn, according to Sen. Jake Corman, R-Bellefonte, who sponsored the measure.

"Stillbirths are a tragedy for parents, and often times they feel no sense of healing or closure because there is no documentation of their child's birth," Corman said in a news release.

Parents would have the option of having the name of the child, the names of the parents and birthplace included on the certificate. The cost would be covered by the parent and would be the same as a death certificate.

Corman said at least 20 other states have adopted similar legislation.

The bill now goes to the state House of Representatives for consideration.

End Stillbirth

Maybe I Do Have Something Left in the Tank.

Given what I would consider sub-par running performances in road races over the past several years, I was starting to believe that I had lost my edge as a runner. I will not bore you with life events of the past 10 -15 years, but suffice to say that, like most people, my life has taken many turns over that time. And those changes have affected my running. Being single and in my thirties allowed for opportunities to train and post some good times in road races. For example, “back in the day”, I could generally run a 5K at a sub-seven minute mile pace and I even had a PR in a 10K with a pace below 7 minutes per mile.

That, of course was before we renovated a 100+ year-old house, Sarah’s two pregnancies, and four years of keeping up with triplets!

With a shift in priorities came a drop in finishing times at several races. I was now in my forties and had less time for running so I reluctantly resigned to thinking my days of “fast” times were over.

That was until last night when I ran the 3.5 mile JP Morgan Corporate Challenge (Boston) in just under 27 minutes. I know that is not a fast time, but hey, all factors considered, I think it is pretty darn good!

So…maybe there is something left in my running tank after all.

End Stillbirth