A letter

Dear Lucy,

It has been brought to my attention at least once a night, if not two or three times, that you are still not sleeping through the night. Complaints are starting to roll in from members of the household. I've assured them that I would speak with you about this and that I was sure you would do your best to give it a go and change your ways.

Just because you are perhaps the sweetest little one I've ever met does not mean that I want to continue to wake up with you every single night. Yes, you are so cuddly, soft and warm and yes your eyes make my heart melt (see attached) but I can appreciate these things in the daytime just as much as in the nighttime. I will give you credit though for deciding to sleep in your crib instead of in bed with me.

Your big brother decided he could sleep through the night one day shy of his 4 month birthday. I will never forget that night, it was May 24th, 2006 in case you wanted to know. You can see how important that day was to me as I have not forgotten when it happened. So, on that note, I'm giving you a deadline, April 4th, 2009. You will be one day shy of 4 months old on this day. If Brady can do it, I'm sure you can too.

Please take these thoughts into your consideration. I appreciate you wanting to spend time with me but trust me little Lulu, I will be a much better Mama to you during the day if I can have my rest at night.

Sincerely (with lots of love and affection),

The Management

P.S. And Lulu, just so you know, I will really miss you at night when you decide you can do it. More than I care to admit.

Attachment:

Just because

Washington DC...again

Similarities and Differences

My little ones at just about the same age. Everyone keeps saying Lulu look JUST like Brady but these Mama eyes just don't see it. I definitely see a few similarities but many more differences. What do you think?

Happy St. Patty's Day

A Crazy Mama, a 3 year old and a 3 month old go to DC

Hi there! It's been awhile! We were on an adventure in Washington DC for a week! Packed the kiddos up in the mini and off we went.

Lucy was an ANGEL in the car. Of course. And as always she was sucking on her fingers.

Brady's self portrait while riding in the car.

We were staying at an Embassy Suites in downtown DC. It had several things that made my week there so easy: a housekeeper, a swimming pool, an elevator, waterfalls, koi fish that the kids could feed twice a day at 9am and 6pm, an amazing breakfast (free) and free drink and appetizers for two hours in the evening.

Swimming with Dada

Riding the elevator...one day we rode it up and down for 45 mins.

On Monday the weather was gorgeous! Mike's meeting started at 12noon so he rode the Metro with us to the Captial Building. And then I was own my own! So we headed to the Air and Space Museum which of course any little boy would love.

Then we ran around on the Mall lawn and rode the Carousel.
The picture above and below were taken by me so this is the best I could do!

Well that's it for now due to technical difficulties I'm experiencing with Blogger! And this wasn't even the end of Day 1! Oh well. More to come when my patience returns.

Four little monkeys....

....jumpin' on the bed, no one fell off and bumped their head. (thankfully)

3

A three year old

And a three month old (yep she's 3 months old today)

Best three years of my life.

Lovey

Lucy has started taking to her "Alkie" (what we call a blankie around here). Well actually Mama has forced her to start taking to her "alkie" because well I think every child needs some kind of lovey item. Brady has several but the "alkie's" are the go to lovey of choice. Alkie makes everything better and I hope alkie will make everything better for little Lulu. And I guess she can call it something else if she wants....

"Alkie" is in the right hand corner of this picture, she likes it close to her face, just like her big brother.

Where's Lulu?

I like to hold it, switch it from one hand to the other and suck my fingers.

And my Brady Bear at just over 10 months old, showing us his "alkies" that of course still accompany us everywhere we go.

Early December 2006

Ten on Tuesday

1. Wow, it is cold here. Goodness. 8 degrees right now at 7:39am Spring can't come soon enough.

2. Which reminds me, we have to "spring ahead" this weekend. ALREADY?? And just what a mother of an infant wants to think about, losing an hour of sleep. Awesome.

3. We, meaning all of us, are going to Washington D.C. on Sunday. Mike has a conference that starts on Monday so we are going to jump in the mini and head to our nation's Capital. I think I might be crazy to go stay in a hotel with 2 kiddos for 5 days when it is technically still winter but we'll figure it out and make the best of it. Mike booked a room at Embassy Suites so we'll have two rooms, a small kitchen, and a nice pool. That alone will keep my little fishy happy. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can venture out to some of the museums and monuments with them. Any suggestions on what a 3 year old would like in D.C.?

4. Here are some more pictures from our trip to Pittsburgh, specifically pictures from The McCarthy Family reunion/Grandma's 91st Bday Celebration

Grandma McCarthy and Lucy May. She is 91!

My beautiful Mom

Eating a lemon

Laura and Lulu

5. And some pictures from a suprise 30th birthday party we went to for my friend Trey. Hard to believe we all are turning 30 this year. 30 doesn't bother me much, what bother's me is thinking about where the last 12 years of my life went. I remember every little thing about being a senior in high school and then freshman year at Penn State like it happened yesterday.

Dana and I
Liza, Dana and I.
L-R Todd, Trey, Dana, Dan and I

6. I love Pandora. Do you know about Pandora? You should check it out if you haven't already.

7. I must get out today sometime to buy New Moon. I can't stop thinking about what is going to happen!!

8. I haven't given anything up for Lent yet.

9. We have 10 friends having babies between now and September. 2009 is turning into the year of the baby. What a joyous, fantastic thing to celebrate. And 6 of these couples are having their first baby, little do they know they are joining the best club around.

10. And speaking of babies, both of mine are awake now so it's time for me to put the computer away

Home Sweet Home

We made a trip to Pittsburgh this past weekend to reunite with some family and some old high school friends. Brady and Lucy were excellent travelers as usual and they both enjoyed lots of undivided attention from my parents and sister.

It was nice and warm (relatively speaking) so at Brady's request I hung the swing up.

Just some shots of Lucy I got while home.

Do you see how she's looking at him, she is always trying to get his attention. She adores him. Sometimes, the feeling is mutal, like on this day in their room at my parents. He had climbed from the bed into her crib.


Well this just turned into a shorter post than I intended as I am having lots of trouble uploading pictures right now onto blogger! So consider this post 1 of 2. I'll try again later!