Bolgers 2007 update

Well, this post is for family members and friends just receiving the birth announcement who are curious as to actual details of our lives. We'll call this "the Bolgers - May 2006 thru May 2007"...

Brian is still self employed (doing everything that is construction related), and it continues to go well. The jobs keep on coming, so you can't ask for much more than that! We (mostly this falls on Brian) teach the jr high sunday school class at our church. We really enjoy that a lot! Some highlights -in random order - the Rangers made the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. That was a great source of joy, and then sorrow when they got eliminated. He grew his hair all year long without a cut (from Feb 06 to Apr 07), then he trimmed it up a bit, but it is still practically a record length:-) In December 06, while working on a jobsite, scaffolding collapsed while he was up on it, and he obviously fell, and hit his head pretty hard. CT scan revealed that he was completely fine (other than some sore muscles). We praise the Lord continually for his protection over us. In April he bought a "new" Ford F150 from a friend, which worked out great for us (his Ford Ranger was kaput). He took a job near Lynchburg in April 07, which is about 3.5 hrs from us, so it was a weekly commute, leaving Kenna and I (and then Brooks) missing him. He is finished on that job now but may go back up for a few weeks late in the summer to help with a few things.

I am thrilled not to be pregnant anymore! I had been working (Kenna came with me) as a bookkeeper for a small company, but I finished up with that towards the end of April. I am thrilled with all my 'free time' now...haha. Some days I really do go almost crazy...but most days we all get along quite well. It forces me to think ahead and plan instead of my usual 'fly by the seat of my pants' mode. I think I am managing acceptably (maybe you have to ask Bri!) I have fun anyway, so that must count for something. I am also currently doing bookkeeping for some more small companies on the side (from home), which gives me something to keep my mind busy. I am also starting on some things I never had time for when I was working... scrapbooking, getting all my recipes on the computer, thrift store shopping and garage-saling (is that a word?). I also want to get our bedroom painted, it's about time since we have been here for 2.5 years!

Kenna is such an adorable kid! She is so friendly and sweet...but also has a real defiant streak in her too. She looks so much like Brian's side of the family, but she has a lot of my personality. She is a scaredy cat like I am too! She starting walking at 10 months old, has survived Roseola and 1 ear infection, and only has 4 teeth so far. We traveled to Alberta twice to visit the family, and once to Ontario, and she did wonderfully on all the flights. She can sign a few things, "more" is her fave, and she can say most of the basic one year old words and animal sounds. Her new 'trick' is to say Amen (loudly and excitedly) when you pray. Thankfully she has not done this in church yet! She has done extremely well with Brooks, and only displayed some jealousy in the first week or so (they are 13 and a half months apart). We practiced being gentle and giving nice pat-pats to her dolls before he came along, and she seems delighted to be able to do it to a real baby doll. She loves to point out (usually not so gently) his nose, eyes and ears. She loves music and has a real sense of beat. She can clap her hands, twirl around, and dances some very unusual dances! She is a Daddy's girl all the way, and Daddy is just as crazy about her too!

Brooks is a cuddle bug! Kenna preferred to be left alone, and he prefers to be held. Not much else to report on him, since he's so young still. He looks like me! (and the Kennedy side). People comment that he and Kenna look so similar, and they do have certain similarities, but definitely he looks like me. I am happy about that...I think I would make a decent looking boy. Lol:-) I hope he will have an easy going personality like Kenna, but so far he is pretty cranky...he is very gassy which makes him fussy after eating. He does pretty well at night though, sleeping anywhere from 5 to 7 hours. He is not consistent with that yet, but I think he should be in another couple weeks (he is 5 weeks old at the time of this post). We really can't wait until he gets a bit older and starts interacting with Kenna. She already plays peekaboo and stuff with him when his eyes are open, and she laughs and laughs...it will be a little more fun when he is responsive to her.

Some general news - On May 30th, we welcomed new renters (we still rent out our upstairs, it's about 800sq ft, full kitchen, 2bdrms, 1 bath)...Lauren (Brian's sister) and Crystal (her roommate). They needed a place to move to, and our old renter was leaving ending of May, so it worked out perfectly. Both Lauren and Crystal are nurses, and we are very glad to have them so close! The Bolgers came down from New York at the end of May and helped us paint and clean, which was a huge help since Brian has been out of town with work. My cousin Jordan is getting married this August, and having a destination wedding in Myrtle Beach. We are excited that it is so close to us. Makes it easy to get there with the kids! And that is about all there is to say I guess...I can always add another post later if something was forgotten.

Things we like to do:
Watch Brian play softball on the church team
Play strategy games with our friends (all versions of Catan, Railroad Tycoon, Risk etc.)
Stay for lunch and fellowship after church
Hang out at friends houses until all hours (and they are probably wondering why don't we ever GO HOME!;-)
Eat Cookie Dough ice cream
Go out for Thai Food, or try to make it ourselves
Kenna LOVES to play with (and watch) all her friends. She learns a lot from the older kids!
Wednesday night bible study and prayer at church
Going to the beach. Brian loves the water, Darla is scared of it! Brian also loves to fly his kite when the wind is right.
There are also a bunch of things we don't like doing...laundry, for example, but maybe we won't post those here!

We love you all and miss those that are far. To all my friends and family back home, I think of you often. Unfortunately I am not great with writing, but email (and blogs) make that a bit easier I suppose. I do love Virginia, and we have been so blessed here, but there is definitely no place like home, and I wish we were closer. I know Brian feels the same about New York too. Please look us up if ever traveling our way! - Darla (for Brian, Kenna and Brooks)