New Post
Search
HelpRe: Build-A-Family (All-in-one)
in reply to a message by Melissa
Sorry it got posted under yours, Melissa.
Round One!
Finally, after dating for two and a half years, my husband and I got married. His name is Conan Dougal (it means little wolf, dark stranger). It fits Conan pretty well. He's a bit rough around the edges and definitely is a dark stranger if you don't know him. In fact, when I first met Conan I thought he was a stalker! I'd seen him sort of following me around and trying to look inconspicuous for about a week. Finally, I took one of my friends to confront him. Turns out he was just trying to get up the nerve to ask me if I wanted to have lunch with him! After that, Conan and I immediately clicked. We both like a lot of the same things-rock climbing, swimming, reading science fiction books, and we both do horribly in math. Recently, we both graduated from college; me with a degree in child psycology and Conan with a degree in counseling. Fortunately, we were both offered jobs soon after graduation. I took at part time job at a school and Conan is going to work as a counselor for a number of the Group Homes in our area.
Our wedding ceremony took place on June 17th. It was a lovely outdoor affair with a relatively small amount of people, if you can say an attendance of 200 is small. We knew everybody there, having been to each other's family get togethers before. It was a beautiful day and it wasn't too hot or too cold. Conan and I were thankful for that. After the reception, we honeymooned by going on a Carribean cruise. Luckily neither of us is prone to seasickness, but I think Conan walked like he was on a ship for about two weeks after the cruise.
Now, we've been married for about four months. Conan and I recently purchased a three story townhouse. It has three bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. We love the layout of it--the kitchenette, dining room, and living room on the first floor, the master bedroom, a full bathroom, and a study/rec room/fourth bedroom on the second floor, and two bedrooms and a half-bathroom on the third floor. Good thing we bought the house when we did.
Conan and I just found out that we are expecting our first child! We are both very excited and are busy babyproofing the house (even though the baby isn't due for another five and a half months). I haven't experienced any ill effects from the pregnancy yet and I hope not to. Conan and I love going to the doctor and seeing the ultrasounds of our baby. There have only been two so far, but its so neat to look at that picture and know that one day that will be our baby-living and breathing in the outside world. We have decided already that we don't want to know the gender of the baby. Conan thinks it will be a boy, but I am holding out for a girl.
Round 2! (9 mo. later)
Conan and I are proud parents to a baby boy! His name is Brennan Marcas (prince, male-if you trace it all the way out). He was born on March 9th, only two days early. Brennan is almost four months old now and is a darling little boy with dark red hair like his Daddy and light blue eyes like his Mommy. Conan painted his room light green-sage, actually and after Brennan was born, we went out and bought some wall decals in the shape of trains, planes, and trucks.
About a month ago, Conan's parents came to see Brennan for the first time. Since they live rather far away, this was the earliest they could come. We had a great visit and 'Granny' and 'Pops' were so excited to hold and play with Brennan. Conan had a good time catching up with his parents.
Conan recently adopted a Miniature Australian Shepherd and we named him Cody. Cody is so adorable and very playful. He is curious about Brennan and likes to sniff him. In turn, Brennan likes to grab on to Cody's fur and we have to be careful because Cody will nip at Brennan. He's only a puppy, so we aren't too worried about this for the moment. We don't leave the pair alone together. Ever. Cody is mostly black, but has brown and white marking spattered on his underside and on the right side of his body. He is the perfect size for our townhouse and we love having a pet around.
Round 3! (1 1/2 yrs. later)
Conan and I are proud to announce the arrival of four new children! We adopted Maya Ritika (illusion, movement) from India shortly after Brennan's 1st birthday. Maya is four and looks like a typical Indian child. She has dark skin and beautiful black hair. Her brown eyes are very expressive and she likes to color and play with Cody. She is very curious to Brennan. He seems to like just looking at Maya, but has lately taken to stroking her hair gently. A week after Maya arrived, Conan and I found out that we were expecting another baby. We were in shock a few weeks later when an ultrasound revealed that we were expecting triplets!
A quick look around told us that our townhome was not big enough to support two adults, five children, and a rambunctious puppy. We quickly scouted out the options and found a great deal on a spacious home in the country that has six bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms as well as nine acres of backyard. Of course, it has its drawbacks-such as being an hour away from the city where we both work. Because of the pregnancy and already having two children at home, I decided to quit my job. Conan switched jobs and now works at a juvenile correction facility about fifteen miles from where we live.
Brennan is turning into an active child who never seems to tire. He was walking by the age of one and could talk just a few months later. Brennan speaks a mixture of English and Indian because Maya originally spoke only Indian. After many hours, she is starting to grasp English, but not before teaching us all key phrases in Indian.
The triplets were born on October 2nd. Cailin Siobhan (girl, God is gracious), Iarlaith Lochlann (lord, land of the lochs), and Eileen Niamh (bird, bright) are adorable, but demanding. Cailin is the oldest and is very domineering. Already, she cries if she isn't picked up first or fed first. It's odd, but the doctor said it should change as they all get older. Iarlaith (we call him "Loch") is the middle triplet. He is the quiet one and he likes to observe all that is going on. Eileen (we call her "Leah") is the youngest. She gets upset if you separate her from the other two and she gets really upset if someone other than Mommy or Daddy is holding her. Maya likes the triplets and talks to them in Indian all the time. She won't tell us what she's saying, however. Brennan is pretty jealous of the triplets and he throws a temper tantrum if we pay attention to them and not to him. Right now, life's a little crazy.
Round 4! (3 yrs. later)
Brennan is now 4, almost five. He has become quite articulate and rarely throws tantrums anymore. He and Maya get along very well and she plays with him a lot. Maya is seven years old. She is in first grade and fits in well with the other kids. Recently, their class did a unit on diversity and Maya told the teacher that even though she is from India, she likes her English family just fine. Conan and I were elated when we heard the teacher say that! It is just an outward sign that Maya feels like she belongs in our family. That is a very precious thing to us, especially because we don't always have time to spend one-on-one with her. Cailin, Loch, and Eileen are three. They have developed very different, distinct personalities. Cailin likes to be in charge. She is also very stubborn and it takes a great deal to convince her that her way isn't always best. Loch is still the quiet one. He watches and follows, but once in awhile he'll say something very funny. Eileen just likes to be around her brothers and sisters. She has a strong bond with all four of the other kids. She and Cailin sometimes clash, but Eileen usually gives in before Cailin does. Cody is now a five year old dog in his prime. He is very energetic and spends all day playing with the kids.
Conan and I have added two new members to our family. Conan's sister and her husband were killed in a freak restaurant fire. Their two sons, Evan Pryce (6), and Oliver Joseph (2 months) came to us since Conan has no other siblings. We were more than happy to have the boys and everyone seems to have accepted them. Evan is in the same class as Maya at school and Maya defends him strongly and is sort of a mother hen. Oliver is an object of curiousity to the triplets, who haven't seen a baby up close before. We have to be careful because if Cailin had her way, Oliver would be just another doll to drag around.
Evan was a little reclusive at first, not understanding where his parents were and why he was living with 'Aunt Erin' and 'Uncle Conan'. Conan and I told him the truth--that his Mommy and Daddy died in a fire and that they went to heaven. We were surprised that Evan accepted it without trouble and has been fine ever since. Before Evan and Oliver arrived, we told our kids what had happened. They were more than glad to have some more kids to play with. I think Maya is the only one who really understands what happened.
The funeral was just like all the other funerals--a sad affair. We took all of our children including Evan and Oliver. Evan wanted to go so he could say goodbye to his Mommy and Daddy. It was very touching and even Conan shed a few tears before the day was over. Now Evan calls us 'Mama' and 'Papa'. I don't know if he'll forget his mother and father as he gets older, but either way it doesn't matter to me-only that we love him and Oliver and raise them to the best of our ability.
Now that we have seven children instead of five, we are letting some of them share bedrooms. Maya has a room to herself. Evan and Brennan share with Loch and Cailin and Eileen share a room.
Round 5! (4 yrs. later)
Our kids are getting bigger by the day.
Maya is eleven now and in fifth grade. She is doing great, getting straight As. Her favorite subject is history and she recently did a report on India. She likes to rollerblade and ice skate. Maya has a lot of friends, but her best friend--Becky Morris, has been her friend since Maya's first day of school. Maya and Becky spend a lot of time together outside of school and Becky is practically family. She is an only child, so coming to our house is always an adventure. Her parents are in awe of the fact that we have so many (now eight!) children and still manage to maintain some kind of order in our household.
Evan is ten and also in fifth grade. The past two years, he and Maya have been in different classes. Evan seems to be faring well and he gets mostly Bs. He has three or four particular friends and beyond that just the kids you 'say hi to every day'. Evan's passion is spelling and vocabulary. He has the vocabulary of a high school student and has read many of the classic novels already. His other passion is skateboarding. At first Conan and I were worried that he would get hurt, but Evan is diligent in remembering to wear a helmet and wrist, elbow, and knee pads when he skates. We know for a fact that he has been teased about wearing all that safety equipment, but we also know that he responded with, "Yeah, I may be dorky, but I won't be the one on crutches for five months because I busted my knee cap." We're proud of the way Evan has learned to stick up for himself.
Brennan is turning nine next month. He is in third grade. Brennan gets satisfactory marks in everything, but he'd rather be outside playing. He doesn't excel at one area of his schooling, but definitely has the markings of a future sports star. He is the best soccer (American) player on his U12 team and he is a pretty good baseball player too. Brennan wants to go out for the football team, but I don't think Conan and I will let him. Brennan is a popular kid and has a lot of 'friends', but he only has one or two true buddies. One of them is Mark Holland, a soccer buddy and the other is Keenan Clark, a boy who lives down the block who has been friends with Brennan since they were five.
The triplets are seven and as different as night and day. They are in first grade. Cailin is a take-charge kind of leader. We have also found that she is a perfectionist and gets mad when things don't turn out just right. She gets excellent marks. Cailin is popular, but we don't think she has any true friends who would do anything for her. Just the same, Loch, Eileen, and Oliver are devoted to her. Cailin started doing gymnastics this year and good at it. Loch is the quiet man who stays in the background, then cracks a joke at the most serious moment. You can't help but like the kid. He gets satisfactory marks as well, but would so much rather be drawing. Loch has too many friends to count and in a given week three different ones will be visiting. Since Loch isn't so into sports, we signed him up for art lessons. His teacher says that he has real talent and might be able to become an artist some day, if he so wished. Eileen is a family girl. She doesn't like school, but is very bright and has a mind for science. She likes to know things and we think she'd be a bit more curious and inquisitive if she were an only child. She does fine though and has started gymnastics with Cailin. She and a girl named Helaine have recently hung out together and they seem to get along well.
Oliver is four and we sent him to preschool this year. He has so much energy that Conan figured he needed a change of scenery once in awhile. He gets along great with the other kids in his class and demonstrates the ability to solve problems. Every once in awhile, I will arrange for Oliver to have a play date. He seems to enjoy those, but doesn't talk about one child in particular. Oliver loves to run around and will spend hours outside playing with Cody and Mel (see more about Mel below).
The newest member of the family, Brianna Kennedy "Bree" (noble, armoured head), is just a few weeks old. The pregnancy went well and Bree was born Febuary 10th right on schedule. All of her siblings adore her, though Oliver was a little out of sorts about the fact that he wasn't the youngest anymore. Bree seems to love all the attention she gets and isn't at all fazed by all the activity going on around her.
To keep Cody company, we adopted another dog from the pound-this one a foxhound named Mel. Cody and Mel get along well. Mel is a seven year old male who is tri-colored (black, brown, and white). Everyone says how well behaved he is. Cody and Mel don't get into too much trouble and they like playing with the steady stream of people in the house. They are friendly and we don't have any fears about them playing with the kids.
Round 6! (2 years later)
With so many kids, one is bound to get hurt sooner or later. Conan and I are surprised that it took this long for our kids for sustain an injury serious enough to scare us. Brennan, our little soccer star, was knocked unconscious during a game when he was hit in the head by a ball kicked only a few feet from him. When the coach and referee couldn't get him to wake up, he was rushed to the hospital. He regained consciousness about an hour later, but to this day cannot remember anything about the game. Indeed, he can't remember anything about that whole day. Not that a single day matters anyhow. We're just glad it wasn't more serious.
For the first time since before Bree was born, Conan and I took the family on vacation. It wasn't easy fitting ten people in two hotel rooms, but we managed all right. Besides, we were in Disneyland! The kids had a great time and its something all of them will remember for a long time. Bree is very funny. She keeps asking when we are going back to 'Isneyand'. We keep telling her that Disneyland was a special treat, but she doesn't seem to get it.
Maya is our first teenager. She's thirteen years old and in seventh grade. She still gets good grades, though now a few Bs are intermingled with the As. History and Geography are definitely her strong points. Maya enjoys studying history and learning about how people lived in the ancient times. Just a few weeks ago she did a report on the Ancient Egyptians that was very realistic. She borrowed a few of her siblings and managed to do a whole report with just them acting things out and her narrating. She got an A+, but the teacher said that siblings used don't count as extra credit. Evan is twelve, but also in seventh grade. He has a few classes with Maya, but not many. Evan has expressed his wish to become a pro skateboarder. We think he is good enough and if he is wearing his safety gear, we don't mind if he skateboards four hours a day as long as his homework is done. Brennan is ten. He rebounded from his soccer injury quite well and was back at practice four days later after doctors were assured he didn't have a concussion. Brennan is concentrating on soccer now and we don't think he wants to play any other sports. The triplets are nine. Cailin is still doing gymnastics, but is thinking about switching to ice skating like Maya. She still isn't sure yet, though. Loch is doing great with his drawings and is especially good at drawing buildings and people. He doesn't much like landscapes, though he's good at those too. Eileen is great at gymnastics. She's even better than Cailin, which Cailin doesn't like. Eileen has a lot of fun doing gymnastics and has made some friends through that. Oliver is six and started first grade this year. He loves playing with the dogs and he likes looking for lizards, snakes, and frogs in the backyard. He started playing soccer this year and is doing pretty good. He's a bit more coordinated than the other kids and can run faster and farther than most of them as well. He is a bit of a braggart, but we try not to encourage that. Bree is a toddler now, a two year old. Her twos aren't so terrible and her older siblings are very tolerant of her antics. Bree is a lot like Evan, Brennan, and Oliver--always on the go. She is in a phase where she likes to build with blocks, then knock them all down. Conan bought her some of those big cardboard blocks and she's having a great time with them. They're all over the house.
Round 7! (30 years later)
30 years is a long gap of time. Our kids are all grown up now and most of them are married and have kids of their own. Sadly, Conan died five years ago of lung cancer. We were all sort of lost for about a two month period. I am still active and try to stay involved with the kids and grandkids as much as possible. Eileen recently told me that her kids love coming to see 'Granny Erin' and that I tell good stories to them.
Maya is 43. She became an anthropologist and studies both ancient and modern cultures--her favorites of which are Egyptian and Indian. She married archaeologist Ken Griffin twenty-two years ago when she was first starting out. Maya and Ken have five children. Their oldest daughter, Kayley Daniela, is nineteen. Kayley has dark hair like Maya, but is fair skinned like Ken. She has a beautiful baby girl named Shawna Gracelyn (4 months), who looks just like Kayley. Maya and Ken's middle daughter is Erica Michelle and she is eighteen. Erica is going to school to become a nurse. She hopes to become a nurse and work in Africa at a children's clinic. Benjamin Kent "Ben" is Maya and Ken's oldest son. He is fifteen. Ben is interested in archaeology just like his father. Maya and Ken's youngest daughter is Charlotte Paige, or Carrie. Carrie is fifteen and is Ben's twin. Carrie is interested in India and wants to become a translator there. Zachary Jonathan "Zach" is Ken and Maya's youngest son. He is twelve, but is very precocious, already having completed the eighth grade. Zach wants to be a biochemical engineer.
Evan is 42. He became a pro skateboarder, just like he wanted. Now, he works at a skateboarding school as its head instructor. He still gives exhibitions sometimes, but is never without his safety gear. We instilled something good in Evan and he is continuing the tradition. Evan married Evelyn Grace two years ago. They are becoming foster care parents and have already adopted a fifteen year old girl named Sienna Anneliese. Sienna is a ballet dancer. She is tall and skinny and does a great job. She has dark brown hair and green eyes.
Brennan is 40. He's an old man now! After college, he didn't play much soccer anymore, but became a lawyer instead. He married Louise Penelope thirteen years ago. They have two sons named Jeffery Brennan, who is twelve and Conan Donovan, who is nine. Conan was named for my late husband. Jeffery and "Co" both like to play soccer and Brennan coaches Jeffery's travelling team.
Cailin is 39. She became a hotel receptionist. It isn't a glamourous job, but Cailin is happy enough. She and her husband, Ryan Roderick, divorced two months ago on the grounds that Ryan was unfaithful. They had no children.
Loch is 39. He became a very famous artist and now owns an art school in addition to still painting and drawing. He married a fellow artist, Wynona Lacey. Wynona also paints, but is experimenting with pottery. All of their three children are very artistically inclined. Rachel Erin is ten. She likes charcoal drawing and oil painting. Eric Iarlaith is nine. He is more into woodworking and carving. Anna Corrine is six. She likes to paint and draw like her Daddy.
Eileen is 39. She went to the Olympics three times and has accumulated five gold medals, two silver medals, and seven bronze medals. Now she is retired to raise her children, but she still sometimes will do a clinic or two. Her husband, Riley Grant, is a business executive who makes a lot of money. Eileen's family is very well off. Thomas Orion, Bryan Justice, Zoe Nicole, and Marina Hayley are their children. Tommy is eight. He is a very innocent little boy who doesn't seem to be very aware that the world is dangerous. Eileen and Riley constantly have to watch him. Bryan is six. He is a lot like Tommy, but is more aggressive and doesn't like to talk things out. Zoe is five. She was born with autism and Eileen spends a lot of her day trying to teach Zoe simple life tasks. Marina is three. She is a quiet little girl who understands a lot more than she lets on.
Oliver is 36. He became an environmental researcher. He is not married and enjoys being a bachelor. Of course, he owns four dogs; Rosy (a German Shepherd), Kleon (a Greyhound), Zipp (an Afghan Hound), and Charger (an Irish Wolfhound). He has a small house and a big yard.
Bree is 32. She is a nurse at one of the best children's hospitals in the nation. She loves working with kids and has two adopted children--Penny and Lucius. Her husband, Mark Garret, died in a car accident six years ago. Penny is nine. She is an outgoing girl who would make a great cheerleader. Lucius is seven. He is an on-the-go boy who has better things to do than sit around in school all day. What those things are, Bree isn't sure. She is currently in the process of adopting a 4 year old girl named Taylor Jenine, who comes from an abused environment. Bree is hoping to make things better for her.
Round One!
Finally, after dating for two and a half years, my husband and I got married. His name is Conan Dougal (it means little wolf, dark stranger). It fits Conan pretty well. He's a bit rough around the edges and definitely is a dark stranger if you don't know him. In fact, when I first met Conan I thought he was a stalker! I'd seen him sort of following me around and trying to look inconspicuous for about a week. Finally, I took one of my friends to confront him. Turns out he was just trying to get up the nerve to ask me if I wanted to have lunch with him! After that, Conan and I immediately clicked. We both like a lot of the same things-rock climbing, swimming, reading science fiction books, and we both do horribly in math. Recently, we both graduated from college; me with a degree in child psycology and Conan with a degree in counseling. Fortunately, we were both offered jobs soon after graduation. I took at part time job at a school and Conan is going to work as a counselor for a number of the Group Homes in our area.
Our wedding ceremony took place on June 17th. It was a lovely outdoor affair with a relatively small amount of people, if you can say an attendance of 200 is small. We knew everybody there, having been to each other's family get togethers before. It was a beautiful day and it wasn't too hot or too cold. Conan and I were thankful for that. After the reception, we honeymooned by going on a Carribean cruise. Luckily neither of us is prone to seasickness, but I think Conan walked like he was on a ship for about two weeks after the cruise.
Now, we've been married for about four months. Conan and I recently purchased a three story townhouse. It has three bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. We love the layout of it--the kitchenette, dining room, and living room on the first floor, the master bedroom, a full bathroom, and a study/rec room/fourth bedroom on the second floor, and two bedrooms and a half-bathroom on the third floor. Good thing we bought the house when we did.
Conan and I just found out that we are expecting our first child! We are both very excited and are busy babyproofing the house (even though the baby isn't due for another five and a half months). I haven't experienced any ill effects from the pregnancy yet and I hope not to. Conan and I love going to the doctor and seeing the ultrasounds of our baby. There have only been two so far, but its so neat to look at that picture and know that one day that will be our baby-living and breathing in the outside world. We have decided already that we don't want to know the gender of the baby. Conan thinks it will be a boy, but I am holding out for a girl.
Round 2! (9 mo. later)
Conan and I are proud parents to a baby boy! His name is Brennan Marcas (prince, male-if you trace it all the way out). He was born on March 9th, only two days early. Brennan is almost four months old now and is a darling little boy with dark red hair like his Daddy and light blue eyes like his Mommy. Conan painted his room light green-sage, actually and after Brennan was born, we went out and bought some wall decals in the shape of trains, planes, and trucks.
About a month ago, Conan's parents came to see Brennan for the first time. Since they live rather far away, this was the earliest they could come. We had a great visit and 'Granny' and 'Pops' were so excited to hold and play with Brennan. Conan had a good time catching up with his parents.
Conan recently adopted a Miniature Australian Shepherd and we named him Cody. Cody is so adorable and very playful. He is curious about Brennan and likes to sniff him. In turn, Brennan likes to grab on to Cody's fur and we have to be careful because Cody will nip at Brennan. He's only a puppy, so we aren't too worried about this for the moment. We don't leave the pair alone together. Ever. Cody is mostly black, but has brown and white marking spattered on his underside and on the right side of his body. He is the perfect size for our townhouse and we love having a pet around.
Round 3! (1 1/2 yrs. later)
Conan and I are proud to announce the arrival of four new children! We adopted Maya Ritika (illusion, movement) from India shortly after Brennan's 1st birthday. Maya is four and looks like a typical Indian child. She has dark skin and beautiful black hair. Her brown eyes are very expressive and she likes to color and play with Cody. She is very curious to Brennan. He seems to like just looking at Maya, but has lately taken to stroking her hair gently. A week after Maya arrived, Conan and I found out that we were expecting another baby. We were in shock a few weeks later when an ultrasound revealed that we were expecting triplets!
A quick look around told us that our townhome was not big enough to support two adults, five children, and a rambunctious puppy. We quickly scouted out the options and found a great deal on a spacious home in the country that has six bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms as well as nine acres of backyard. Of course, it has its drawbacks-such as being an hour away from the city where we both work. Because of the pregnancy and already having two children at home, I decided to quit my job. Conan switched jobs and now works at a juvenile correction facility about fifteen miles from where we live.
Brennan is turning into an active child who never seems to tire. He was walking by the age of one and could talk just a few months later. Brennan speaks a mixture of English and Indian because Maya originally spoke only Indian. After many hours, she is starting to grasp English, but not before teaching us all key phrases in Indian.
The triplets were born on October 2nd. Cailin Siobhan (girl, God is gracious), Iarlaith Lochlann (lord, land of the lochs), and Eileen Niamh (bird, bright) are adorable, but demanding. Cailin is the oldest and is very domineering. Already, she cries if she isn't picked up first or fed first. It's odd, but the doctor said it should change as they all get older. Iarlaith (we call him "Loch") is the middle triplet. He is the quiet one and he likes to observe all that is going on. Eileen (we call her "Leah") is the youngest. She gets upset if you separate her from the other two and she gets really upset if someone other than Mommy or Daddy is holding her. Maya likes the triplets and talks to them in Indian all the time. She won't tell us what she's saying, however. Brennan is pretty jealous of the triplets and he throws a temper tantrum if we pay attention to them and not to him. Right now, life's a little crazy.
Round 4! (3 yrs. later)
Brennan is now 4, almost five. He has become quite articulate and rarely throws tantrums anymore. He and Maya get along very well and she plays with him a lot. Maya is seven years old. She is in first grade and fits in well with the other kids. Recently, their class did a unit on diversity and Maya told the teacher that even though she is from India, she likes her English family just fine. Conan and I were elated when we heard the teacher say that! It is just an outward sign that Maya feels like she belongs in our family. That is a very precious thing to us, especially because we don't always have time to spend one-on-one with her. Cailin, Loch, and Eileen are three. They have developed very different, distinct personalities. Cailin likes to be in charge. She is also very stubborn and it takes a great deal to convince her that her way isn't always best. Loch is still the quiet one. He watches and follows, but once in awhile he'll say something very funny. Eileen just likes to be around her brothers and sisters. She has a strong bond with all four of the other kids. She and Cailin sometimes clash, but Eileen usually gives in before Cailin does. Cody is now a five year old dog in his prime. He is very energetic and spends all day playing with the kids.
Conan and I have added two new members to our family. Conan's sister and her husband were killed in a freak restaurant fire. Their two sons, Evan Pryce (6), and Oliver Joseph (2 months) came to us since Conan has no other siblings. We were more than happy to have the boys and everyone seems to have accepted them. Evan is in the same class as Maya at school and Maya defends him strongly and is sort of a mother hen. Oliver is an object of curiousity to the triplets, who haven't seen a baby up close before. We have to be careful because if Cailin had her way, Oliver would be just another doll to drag around.
Evan was a little reclusive at first, not understanding where his parents were and why he was living with 'Aunt Erin' and 'Uncle Conan'. Conan and I told him the truth--that his Mommy and Daddy died in a fire and that they went to heaven. We were surprised that Evan accepted it without trouble and has been fine ever since. Before Evan and Oliver arrived, we told our kids what had happened. They were more than glad to have some more kids to play with. I think Maya is the only one who really understands what happened.
The funeral was just like all the other funerals--a sad affair. We took all of our children including Evan and Oliver. Evan wanted to go so he could say goodbye to his Mommy and Daddy. It was very touching and even Conan shed a few tears before the day was over. Now Evan calls us 'Mama' and 'Papa'. I don't know if he'll forget his mother and father as he gets older, but either way it doesn't matter to me-only that we love him and Oliver and raise them to the best of our ability.
Now that we have seven children instead of five, we are letting some of them share bedrooms. Maya has a room to herself. Evan and Brennan share with Loch and Cailin and Eileen share a room.
Round 5! (4 yrs. later)
Our kids are getting bigger by the day.
Maya is eleven now and in fifth grade. She is doing great, getting straight As. Her favorite subject is history and she recently did a report on India. She likes to rollerblade and ice skate. Maya has a lot of friends, but her best friend--Becky Morris, has been her friend since Maya's first day of school. Maya and Becky spend a lot of time together outside of school and Becky is practically family. She is an only child, so coming to our house is always an adventure. Her parents are in awe of the fact that we have so many (now eight!) children and still manage to maintain some kind of order in our household.
Evan is ten and also in fifth grade. The past two years, he and Maya have been in different classes. Evan seems to be faring well and he gets mostly Bs. He has three or four particular friends and beyond that just the kids you 'say hi to every day'. Evan's passion is spelling and vocabulary. He has the vocabulary of a high school student and has read many of the classic novels already. His other passion is skateboarding. At first Conan and I were worried that he would get hurt, but Evan is diligent in remembering to wear a helmet and wrist, elbow, and knee pads when he skates. We know for a fact that he has been teased about wearing all that safety equipment, but we also know that he responded with, "Yeah, I may be dorky, but I won't be the one on crutches for five months because I busted my knee cap." We're proud of the way Evan has learned to stick up for himself.
Brennan is turning nine next month. He is in third grade. Brennan gets satisfactory marks in everything, but he'd rather be outside playing. He doesn't excel at one area of his schooling, but definitely has the markings of a future sports star. He is the best soccer (American) player on his U12 team and he is a pretty good baseball player too. Brennan wants to go out for the football team, but I don't think Conan and I will let him. Brennan is a popular kid and has a lot of 'friends', but he only has one or two true buddies. One of them is Mark Holland, a soccer buddy and the other is Keenan Clark, a boy who lives down the block who has been friends with Brennan since they were five.
The triplets are seven and as different as night and day. They are in first grade. Cailin is a take-charge kind of leader. We have also found that she is a perfectionist and gets mad when things don't turn out just right. She gets excellent marks. Cailin is popular, but we don't think she has any true friends who would do anything for her. Just the same, Loch, Eileen, and Oliver are devoted to her. Cailin started doing gymnastics this year and good at it. Loch is the quiet man who stays in the background, then cracks a joke at the most serious moment. You can't help but like the kid. He gets satisfactory marks as well, but would so much rather be drawing. Loch has too many friends to count and in a given week three different ones will be visiting. Since Loch isn't so into sports, we signed him up for art lessons. His teacher says that he has real talent and might be able to become an artist some day, if he so wished. Eileen is a family girl. She doesn't like school, but is very bright and has a mind for science. She likes to know things and we think she'd be a bit more curious and inquisitive if she were an only child. She does fine though and has started gymnastics with Cailin. She and a girl named Helaine have recently hung out together and they seem to get along well.
Oliver is four and we sent him to preschool this year. He has so much energy that Conan figured he needed a change of scenery once in awhile. He gets along great with the other kids in his class and demonstrates the ability to solve problems. Every once in awhile, I will arrange for Oliver to have a play date. He seems to enjoy those, but doesn't talk about one child in particular. Oliver loves to run around and will spend hours outside playing with Cody and Mel (see more about Mel below).
The newest member of the family, Brianna Kennedy "Bree" (noble, armoured head), is just a few weeks old. The pregnancy went well and Bree was born Febuary 10th right on schedule. All of her siblings adore her, though Oliver was a little out of sorts about the fact that he wasn't the youngest anymore. Bree seems to love all the attention she gets and isn't at all fazed by all the activity going on around her.
To keep Cody company, we adopted another dog from the pound-this one a foxhound named Mel. Cody and Mel get along well. Mel is a seven year old male who is tri-colored (black, brown, and white). Everyone says how well behaved he is. Cody and Mel don't get into too much trouble and they like playing with the steady stream of people in the house. They are friendly and we don't have any fears about them playing with the kids.
Round 6! (2 years later)
With so many kids, one is bound to get hurt sooner or later. Conan and I are surprised that it took this long for our kids for sustain an injury serious enough to scare us. Brennan, our little soccer star, was knocked unconscious during a game when he was hit in the head by a ball kicked only a few feet from him. When the coach and referee couldn't get him to wake up, he was rushed to the hospital. He regained consciousness about an hour later, but to this day cannot remember anything about the game. Indeed, he can't remember anything about that whole day. Not that a single day matters anyhow. We're just glad it wasn't more serious.
For the first time since before Bree was born, Conan and I took the family on vacation. It wasn't easy fitting ten people in two hotel rooms, but we managed all right. Besides, we were in Disneyland! The kids had a great time and its something all of them will remember for a long time. Bree is very funny. She keeps asking when we are going back to 'Isneyand'. We keep telling her that Disneyland was a special treat, but she doesn't seem to get it.
Maya is our first teenager. She's thirteen years old and in seventh grade. She still gets good grades, though now a few Bs are intermingled with the As. History and Geography are definitely her strong points. Maya enjoys studying history and learning about how people lived in the ancient times. Just a few weeks ago she did a report on the Ancient Egyptians that was very realistic. She borrowed a few of her siblings and managed to do a whole report with just them acting things out and her narrating. She got an A+, but the teacher said that siblings used don't count as extra credit. Evan is twelve, but also in seventh grade. He has a few classes with Maya, but not many. Evan has expressed his wish to become a pro skateboarder. We think he is good enough and if he is wearing his safety gear, we don't mind if he skateboards four hours a day as long as his homework is done. Brennan is ten. He rebounded from his soccer injury quite well and was back at practice four days later after doctors were assured he didn't have a concussion. Brennan is concentrating on soccer now and we don't think he wants to play any other sports. The triplets are nine. Cailin is still doing gymnastics, but is thinking about switching to ice skating like Maya. She still isn't sure yet, though. Loch is doing great with his drawings and is especially good at drawing buildings and people. He doesn't much like landscapes, though he's good at those too. Eileen is great at gymnastics. She's even better than Cailin, which Cailin doesn't like. Eileen has a lot of fun doing gymnastics and has made some friends through that. Oliver is six and started first grade this year. He loves playing with the dogs and he likes looking for lizards, snakes, and frogs in the backyard. He started playing soccer this year and is doing pretty good. He's a bit more coordinated than the other kids and can run faster and farther than most of them as well. He is a bit of a braggart, but we try not to encourage that. Bree is a toddler now, a two year old. Her twos aren't so terrible and her older siblings are very tolerant of her antics. Bree is a lot like Evan, Brennan, and Oliver--always on the go. She is in a phase where she likes to build with blocks, then knock them all down. Conan bought her some of those big cardboard blocks and she's having a great time with them. They're all over the house.
Round 7! (30 years later)
30 years is a long gap of time. Our kids are all grown up now and most of them are married and have kids of their own. Sadly, Conan died five years ago of lung cancer. We were all sort of lost for about a two month period. I am still active and try to stay involved with the kids and grandkids as much as possible. Eileen recently told me that her kids love coming to see 'Granny Erin' and that I tell good stories to them.
Maya is 43. She became an anthropologist and studies both ancient and modern cultures--her favorites of which are Egyptian and Indian. She married archaeologist Ken Griffin twenty-two years ago when she was first starting out. Maya and Ken have five children. Their oldest daughter, Kayley Daniela, is nineteen. Kayley has dark hair like Maya, but is fair skinned like Ken. She has a beautiful baby girl named Shawna Gracelyn (4 months), who looks just like Kayley. Maya and Ken's middle daughter is Erica Michelle and she is eighteen. Erica is going to school to become a nurse. She hopes to become a nurse and work in Africa at a children's clinic. Benjamin Kent "Ben" is Maya and Ken's oldest son. He is fifteen. Ben is interested in archaeology just like his father. Maya and Ken's youngest daughter is Charlotte Paige, or Carrie. Carrie is fifteen and is Ben's twin. Carrie is interested in India and wants to become a translator there. Zachary Jonathan "Zach" is Ken and Maya's youngest son. He is twelve, but is very precocious, already having completed the eighth grade. Zach wants to be a biochemical engineer.
Evan is 42. He became a pro skateboarder, just like he wanted. Now, he works at a skateboarding school as its head instructor. He still gives exhibitions sometimes, but is never without his safety gear. We instilled something good in Evan and he is continuing the tradition. Evan married Evelyn Grace two years ago. They are becoming foster care parents and have already adopted a fifteen year old girl named Sienna Anneliese. Sienna is a ballet dancer. She is tall and skinny and does a great job. She has dark brown hair and green eyes.
Brennan is 40. He's an old man now! After college, he didn't play much soccer anymore, but became a lawyer instead. He married Louise Penelope thirteen years ago. They have two sons named Jeffery Brennan, who is twelve and Conan Donovan, who is nine. Conan was named for my late husband. Jeffery and "Co" both like to play soccer and Brennan coaches Jeffery's travelling team.
Cailin is 39. She became a hotel receptionist. It isn't a glamourous job, but Cailin is happy enough. She and her husband, Ryan Roderick, divorced two months ago on the grounds that Ryan was unfaithful. They had no children.
Loch is 39. He became a very famous artist and now owns an art school in addition to still painting and drawing. He married a fellow artist, Wynona Lacey. Wynona also paints, but is experimenting with pottery. All of their three children are very artistically inclined. Rachel Erin is ten. She likes charcoal drawing and oil painting. Eric Iarlaith is nine. He is more into woodworking and carving. Anna Corrine is six. She likes to paint and draw like her Daddy.
Eileen is 39. She went to the Olympics three times and has accumulated five gold medals, two silver medals, and seven bronze medals. Now she is retired to raise her children, but she still sometimes will do a clinic or two. Her husband, Riley Grant, is a business executive who makes a lot of money. Eileen's family is very well off. Thomas Orion, Bryan Justice, Zoe Nicole, and Marina Hayley are their children. Tommy is eight. He is a very innocent little boy who doesn't seem to be very aware that the world is dangerous. Eileen and Riley constantly have to watch him. Bryan is six. He is a lot like Tommy, but is more aggressive and doesn't like to talk things out. Zoe is five. She was born with autism and Eileen spends a lot of her day trying to teach Zoe simple life tasks. Marina is three. She is a quiet little girl who understands a lot more than she lets on.
Oliver is 36. He became an environmental researcher. He is not married and enjoys being a bachelor. Of course, he owns four dogs; Rosy (a German Shepherd), Kleon (a Greyhound), Zipp (an Afghan Hound), and Charger (an Irish Wolfhound). He has a small house and a big yard.
Bree is 32. She is a nurse at one of the best children's hospitals in the nation. She loves working with kids and has two adopted children--Penny and Lucius. Her husband, Mark Garret, died in a car accident six years ago. Penny is nine. She is an outgoing girl who would make a great cheerleader. Lucius is seven. He is an on-the-go boy who has better things to do than sit around in school all day. What those things are, Bree isn't sure. She is currently in the process of adopting a 4 year old girl named Taylor Jenine, who comes from an abused environment. Bree is hoping to make things better for her.
This message was edited 2/9/2006, 3:04 PM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
1