Monday, November 28, 2011

Happy 2 Months Lucy

Dear Lucy,

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    Today you are two months old. I cannot believe how much you have changed in this last month. You seem so much older than two months old. You have gotten so big and are so strong! Very soon after you turned one month old you started smiling at us and have not stopped. We thought your brother was a smiley baby but you have nothing on him, you are such a happy girl.

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goodness can you tell this was right after she turned a month old, she has filled out a lot since then

    You started liking your swing this month and usually take your evening nap/fall asleep for bedtime in it with the white noise on. You love looking outside and at contrasting colors (like the dark green mirror against the light tan walls in the living room and the black and white baby book we have). You still love bath time. But most of all you love to eat! Gosh girl I feel like that is all you have done this month! You are growing like a weed! You love being under the jungle activity mat and your brother loves to show you all the animals. Would it be surprising if I told you you loved to shop, I sure hope this continues, Mama needs a shopping buddy. You are not a big fan of going on walks, I sure hope you have a change of heart come spring time, Grandma is my favorite walking buddy!

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You are wearing 3 month clothes (which are already short in the arms) and size 1 diapers. You weigh (appointment tomorrow) and are (inches) long. For the last three nights you have slept 11-6, can I get an amen! The funny part is you started sleeping well almost to the day when your brother did. You take a short nap in the morning, a long afternoon nap, and sometimes a short can nap in the evening. The car is your kryptonite and puts you to sleep almost immediately.

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This month you celebrated your first Halloween (you were a pumpkin) and your first Thanksgiving (we wore matching skinny jeans).

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You are sometimes a fan of your paci but love sucking on your hands more, I am pretty sure once you get the hang of putting your fingers in your mouth you will be a thumb/finger sucker instead of paci.

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Sweet girl we fall in love with you more each day. I can’t wait to see what the next month brings.

Love,

Mama

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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Meet our Elf Edgar

Last night we watched The Elf on the Shelf movie with Liam and he woke up to an Elf welcome breakfast this morning.

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I set up a little table in our family room and made it very special for him.

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Liam was a little shy to the Elf, I am pretty sure he remembered the story from the night before.

 

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Waiting on breakfast and playing with cars.

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Eating his cinnamon roll cake for our special breakfast.

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Tonight our little Elf will be busy building a small block tower.

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Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving 2011

This was the first Thanksgiving in a few years that we have celebrated in Pennsylvania, it was nice to be back and get to see celebrate with everyone.

One of the things you give  up when becoming a parent is getting to “lick the beaters” because your kiddo takes them both. Liam has mad skill at cleaning a beater! He is almost as good as the dish washer. The evidence….

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This morning when he got up he ran over to the island and yelled “ OOOOOhhhh coook (cookie) Mmmmmmmm”

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Liam and I watched the parade together this morning. This is the first year he has sat with me to watch it and he loved it. He liked the balloons and all the singing and dancing. He lasted over an hour until he started requesting Caillou …… oh Caillou how I have grown to …..  be very annoyed by you, your parents, your sister, your cat…your theme song…. (this Mama is Caillou’d out!)

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Our first dinner of the day with at my parents house. My brother was in from North Carolina and we were all so excited to have him home for a few days. Liam was so excited to see “Unc”.

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Liam and Evan getting ready to eat.

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My Mom, Sister, Lucy and I! Love this one

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Our first Thanksgiving as a family of four! This was at our next dinner at Alex’s parents house with his parents, grandmother, aunt and uncle.

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Lucy and I , we had matching skinny  jeans Smile 

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Lucy’s first Thanksgiving, oooh how this man melts me with his little girl! So sweet!8fd6196e16eb11e1abb01231381b65e3_7

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Who WE ARE….

May no act of ours bring shame
To one heart that loves thy name,
May our lives but swell thy fame,
Dear old State, dear old State
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Undoubtedly it was been a hard week to say I am a Nittany Lion with pride. For the first time in nine years (almost to they day when I got my acceptance letter in the mail) I did not choose to put on a PSU t-shirt at the end of the day. I am saddened that we will be known as “the school with the sex scandal” and not for all of the amazing good that our school has done. I am saddened for a legend who made a moral mistake and after 61 years will leave like this and be known for his wrong instead of all of his right. And most of all it goes without saying that I am extremely saddened and heartbroken for the victims of these acts. I pray for these children and their family's for their healing and strength. I pray that justice is served to the real monster behind all this.

"Penn State Football doesn't define us. WE ARE so much more than that. WE ARE the number one most-recruited, sought-after graduates for major corporations and Fortune 500 companies in the country. We are a leading research institution accredited by the National Science Foundation. WE ARE over 94,000 students across campuses, with alumni in every state and 87 foreign countries. We are the creators of the number one student-run philanthropy in the world, raising over $78 million for the Four Diamonds Fund since THON's creation in 1977. Don't forget how incredible this university is, and don't allow irresponsible oversight to destroy our reputation. WE ARE...going to get through this together, always acting "For The Glory" and remaining true to who WE ARE and what we stand for in the name of our alma mater. WE ARE....PENN STATE, forever."

It was hard to find the words to express how I was feeling being an alumni to a school going through so much. I had a lot of frustration yesterday reading many non-Penn Staters comments on social media sites about the posts my fellow alum were making on their feelings of the situation. But these folks just didn’t get it. Some one on facebook said “If you loved your alma mater as much as I love mine you would understand” and that is the truth. There is something that you leave Penn State with that is like no other. You leave with an immense amount of pride and enter into a very large, very passionate community. There is nothing like it! I read this this morning and could not have put it any better myself. This OSU fan (can’t believe that one) gets it, they get where we are going from, they get what we are feeling.

“Dear Penn State Fan/Alumni,

You don’t know me.  Sure, we may have seen each other once or twice at a road game or a tailgate, but aside from a passing glance, and an occasional hello, we are strangers.  Heck, we’re actually more like enemies.  After all, I’m a fan of The Ohio State University – tOSU, or O$U as you might call it.  Since you guys joined the Big Ten Conference in the early-90s we’ve built a pretty spirited rivalry, with more than its fair share of heroics, heartbreaks, and triumphs.  To be sure, we’ve both crossed the line on occasion.  Urine balloon barbs and incontinence jabs have clouded the fact that we’re actually not that different, you and I.  We’re both proud disciples of two of the most storied programs in all of college football, and although you’d be hard pressed to get a Buckeye fan to say it to your face, we respect the hell out of you and your traditions.

I’m writing because I know how you feel right now.  The actions of your beloved president, coach, and athletic director have shaken your program to the core and have threatened your own faith in humanity.  You’re shocked that someone you idolized could have done something so stupid, so selfish, so infuriatingly contradictory to the values they spent decades promoting.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not comparing what happened in Columbus to what’s alleged to have happened in State College.  Only Bob Ryan is stupid enough to draw that parallel.  What I am saying is that I know what it feels like to have a personal hero disgraced.  To watch someone you admire, who did more good in a week than most of us do in our entire lifetimes get publicly shamed, and forced out under a cover of darkness.  To see a legacy irrevocably stained and treasured accomplishments tarnished.  To have one person’s mistakes drag your university’s good name through the mud.  To be labeled an accomplice to the crime by virtue of your fan allegiances.

As I was driving to work this morning, I heard one of your own call in to The Herd and explain that he didn’t know how he was going to unapologetically put on the Blue and White and sing “Fight On, State” this Saturday.  He’s not the only one to express that sentiment.  Perhaps you’re feeling a little this way.

This is what I want to say to you.  You are not Joe Paterno.  You are not Tim Curley.  You are not Gary Schultz.  You are not Graham Spanier, and you are sure as hell not Jerry Sandusky.  Their alleged sins are not your own.  They may be the most recognizable faces of your beloved program, but they are not Penn State.  They are not a 156 year old center of higher learning.  They are not a century of football tradition.  Their flaws cannot eclipse the innumerable scientific, artistic, and humanitarian contributions your university, and its 44,000 students and 570,000 living alumni have made and will continue to make to the world at large.

The spirit of a program, of a university, and of a state is so much bigger than any one person.

So do yourself a favor, and stop thinking about Joe Paterno.  No amount of discussion can change what happened, and his bed is made for better or worse.  Recognize that only time can tell how he will be remembered.  (For what it’s worth, I hope beyond hope that the facts turn out favorably.)  Say a prayer for the children, and on Saturday, put on your Silas Redd jersey, brave the cold, and cheer your ass off for your team.
Not because you support the coaches, because you support the men on the field.  Not because you endorse the administration, because you believe in the University as a collective whole.  Penn State University has always been (and will always be) about one thing and one thing only: making life better.

It’s not just a motto, it’s a mission.  And you’re still a part of that.

Pray for the children.  Cheer for the team.  And in two weeks, make the drive to Columbus, so you can watch us bury your Big Ten title aspirations in person.

Sincerely,

A Buckeye Fan”

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Life Lately … according to my phone pictures

Someone was very excited that they passed their hearing test at the audiologist office today!! Yay Lucy!!! We are going back for a follow up test in a year just to be sure but the audiologist said that the left ear probe at the hospital was found to be broken after over 20 babies failed their left year test. Looks like Lucy was one of those unlucky twenty. So relived that she is okay! She has been smiling up a storm for the last week!! Love my happy little girl!!!

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Mr. Liam has had a blast reading all the toy catalogs that have come in the mail and newspaper. Someone is getting ready to Santa to come. Truth be told I am so ready to decorate for Christmas!!! 1bf91002093d11e180c9123138016265_7

I’ve been seeing this smirk at 3am a lot this week….

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Someone is worn out from this time change, none of us are adapting well yet! 8c8ed92e072511e19896123138142014_6

Oh and yes this would be me, IN FIRST PLACE, in our fantasy football league!

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Liam being a typical man and lounging watching TV which his belly hanging out. d1cce084057311e19896123138142014_7

and this one just blows my mind…. ummm when did she get big enough to do this!?e4d1751a088d11e19896123138142014_6

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Halloween 2011

Liam and Lucy posing with their striped Halloween pants. I love matching them like this. They will definitely have matching Christmas jammies.

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Our little pumpkin all ready to go to Grandma and Pops house. IMG_6059

The puppy (Liam), the pumpkin (Lucy) and the Blue Ranger (Evan, my nephew).

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Liam, Evan, and Bella. IMG_6066

Trick or treat!!

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Dada and Liam, he has such a blast, he had to hold a pack of skittles (that he got at the first house) the entire time.

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Kerri (my sister) and EvanIMG_6070

The boys.

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