Sully Fest 2012

Once again this past weekend, the Sullivan clan gathered in South Bend to celebrate family and the birth of our savior.  Teresa was very happy to finally meet Cecilia given that her husband met her when she was just over 24 hours old.

Lucas kinda liked Cecilia too.

Lucky #13 of the nieces/nephews for Pat.

On to the party.  Some one was smart enough to bring paper and markers for the kids to use. 

Some of my dad's cousins were there too.  Here I am with Father Eddie Shea.  You fellow ND band alums may recognized him from Alumni band mass.  He's the priest that sings a lot.

Here are my cousin Mike's girls, looking adorable.

And don't forget my cousin Lauren's cutie, Norah.

More pictures of kids being kids.

Being the newest member of the clan and exceptionally cute, Cecilia was very popular.  She dealt with this by sleeping most of the time.

She only woke up long enough to eat and take this single picture.

Uncle Dick taught the kids all about fire.

George enjoyed cousins close to his age.  Here he is running around with Jake and Lucas, both 3.

My brother-in-law John got a chance to hold Cecilia and she loved his handlebar mustache.

Mike, being the huge dork that I love, found a Christmas bow tie to wear to the party.

Finally, thanks to my Aunt Kate, we have a picture of all who were able to attend.  A good time was had by all and we hope more can get there next year.

Getting the tree

We did a lot of picture taking this weekend but we'll start with the end.  Sunday afternoon, we headed out with the Showalters to hunt down the 2012 Christmas tree.  Every kid got a turn to use the saw.

Here are the mighty lumberjacks with their spoils.

It was close to bed time by the time we got home so we had to do most of the decorating the next day. But George did managed to get the angel on before he was sent to bed.

Here's the tree with just the lights.

Thanksgiving

I know I'm rather late but I couldn't get the pictures to upload. My sister Elizabeth came for a visit the day after Thanksgiving with her two kids.  Too bad nobody liked Cecilia.

Patrick really enjoyed having another boy his age around to talk Legos and Star Wars with.

Costumes were a big part of the fun.

Dad and Becca dressed up in their chef gear.

Clara and Cecilia.

Liam and Cecilia.

The boys playing with Trio and Legos.  Liam was awesome with George, showing patients I'd love to see more often.

Meanwhile, Becca and Clara girled it up on the other side of the room.

A group shot of the kiddos.

On Saturday, after our guest had left, our girls took a nap together.

I'm sorry for the lack of updating this blog.  Cecilia is growing big and strong (even I have noticed how big she is already) and we're all learning to live with each other.  The whole family went through a small bought of sickness but it only lasted 24-hours a piece.  Too bad both Mike and I had to do it at the same time.  With the holiday party season starting up, there should be more pictures up soon, provided I can get the blog to work.

Two weeks out

Its been an eventful two weeks since Cecilia was born.  I start with some more pic from the hospital.  My brother was able to "stop in" on his way to St. Louis.  This is the first of my  siblings to meet one of the kids within the first week, let alone in the hospital.  Having three boys himself, it was a treat to hold our sweet little girl.

Chris stopped by to meet the newest arrival and of course fell in love right away.

George and Grandma came with her.  George was a little warmer to his sister this time.

Katrina, a soccer friend, was also able to stop by.

After two long nights, the doctors agreed that I'd be better off at home.  George greeted me at the door with a smile and my worries went away.

Becca wasted no time and found a book to read to Cecilia.

In the outfit that use to be Mike's.

Patrick also loves his new sister.  I realize there's not a lot of pictures of him but he's always asking to hold her and telling me how cute she is.

First bath was not a happy time.

Grandma equals reading.  I think both grandmas read each and every book in the house at least three times while they were here.

Cecilia's first full ND game vs. BC.

My beautiful girls!

I somehow managed to get contact dermatitis and had to stop nursing for three days.  This gave Mike his first chance to feed one of the kids.

Becca finished opening her gifts.  Grandma & pa Hatton got here this fun chef stuff.

And the Brave doll from her Godfather, and yes, there was screaming involved.

As I mentioned, I got contact dermatitis (I'm guessing from the latex tape) that started around my incision and spread up my stomach, on my chest, under my bra line and starting to creep onto my back.  The doctor put me on some high test meds and it stopped itching after two days.  She told me not to nurse so we braved the world of formula.  After three days of pumping and dumping I was overjoyed when the doctor said the breast milk was safe and we could resume nursing.  Cecilia handled the whole thing like a champ and continues to eat, sleep and poop with gusto.  George is having a harder time transition than the rest of us.  He's great during the day and loves his sister but has decided that sleeping in his own bed is not for him.  Mike and I have lost lots of sleep this week putting him back to bed, sitting with him, trying to comfort him and let him know that he is loved.  We made progress this morning when he didn't turn up in our room until 5AM, which is way better than 2,3 and 4!  All in all, we're slowing adjusting and learning how to manage our new life.  Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes.