Help name our son!

Please cast your vote to the left. Here is a list of potential names for our litte guy, in no paticular order. We would also welcome suggestions that are not on this list (just email us or place a comment under this post).

Big Girl Bed

So, we had decided right after we moved that we would not put Maddie's crib back together again and that she could go right into her toddler bed, but she had absolutely no interest. Rather than have her sleep in the pack and play anymore, we put her crib back together and she was fine. She really has never expressed any interest in a big bed and we were fine with that since she's never climbed out of her crib.


When we were home over Christmas Maddie slept in a real bed at her Grammy and Grampa's house... we were a bit skeptical but she did fine.

Last weekend I asked Maddie if she wanted to sleep in a big girl bed like at Grammy and Grampa's and she got excited and said yes, so she helped take her crib apart and was very excited about her "new" bed. That was last Sunday...





Sunday-slept all night, no issues


Monday-slept all night, no issues


Tuesday-slept all night, no issues


Wednesday-came in our bed at 3am


(Maddie resting on the bathroom floor at 5:30am while we get ready for work)


Thursday-came in our bed at 6am


Friday-came in our bed at 12:30am


Saturday-tried having a night light on... came in our room at 12:30am, I got out of bed and brought her back to her bed where for the next hour she squirmed all over, in and out of the covers, whining about needing to go potty. Finally at 1:30 we went to the potty where there was no pee or poop but we had to sit there for a long time trying. As soon as she got back to bed she kept crying about needing to go poop on the potty, needed me to sing to her, hold her hand, get her water, etc. I dozed off at some point (I'm sure she didn't), but she was still crying about the potty. I told her to go get Ben because I had told her I was only taking her once. I dozed off again and then noticed the bathroom light on. I checked on her since I wanted to be sure she wasn't alone... Ben was with her... it was 2:30 am. After going potty she came, reluctantly, back to her bed, where she whined until we both fell asleep again. I woke up at 5:30am and got back into our bed since my back was sore after sleeping for 5 hours on her floor. At 6am Owen started crying and then Maddie was at the side of our bed again... this time Ben got up and went into her room only to deal with the potty thing again, though this time she went. Owen cried in our bed with me until almost 7 when Ben took them both downstairs and I was able to sleep until 8:15...

So, we are all ears and eagerly awaiting some advise on how to get Maddie to stay/sleep in her bed because tonight leads into the work week and Ben and I will get really cranky, really fast with limited sleep all week. The easy answer is to put the crib back together but I don't want to deal with this in 3 months when there's a new baby in the house keeping me up also.


HELP!!!

It's another GIRL... finally!!!

Congratulations to Edward, Jeanne and Big Brother Sebastian who welcomed

Sophie Madeleine Brennan Bliss

January 14, 2009
9lbs 5oz

We're so excited for you!

Happy January!

Ben and I were able to enjoy ourselves the other night thanks to our getting a babysitter. We had our work holiday party and one of the other doctor's daughter watched the kids for us so we could get out just us. It was a mostly uneventful evening... after Owen fell into the side of the tub and smashed his 2 front teeth in... and after Maddie, mistakenly, locked herself in her bedroom and we had to switch the doorknob around... the babysitter came and Maddie wasn't so sure but only 2 minutes later she was holding the girl's hand and showing her all of the toys so it was all good. For all those wondering... the babysitter was here for 4 1/4 hours (through dinner and bedtime) with the 2 munchkins so we were going to give her $35 but didn't have change so ended up giving her $40... probably too much but worth it!

Here are some of the latest pictures...

Silly boy in the tub.

Crawling in the tunnel.

Big boy walking.

Mommy and Baby at 25 1/2 weeks.

Playing in the snow.

Hope everyone is doing well and a few shouts out to our friends and family...

Mike- Happy belated BDay 12/19

Annee- Happy belated BDay 12/27

Shirah and Dan- Congrats on Baby Boy Finnian Steven Thomas O'Connell!!! (hope you're getting some sleep)

Mike- Happy belated BDay 1/10

Bruce/Grandpa- Happy Birthday today 1/12

Jana- Happy Birthday 1/15

Babysitting help

This Saturday we are getting a babysitter to watch the kids so we can go to a holiday party but since it's our first time with an actual babysitter we have no idea how much they get paid these days... any suggestions... Help!!!

Our Christmas Vacation

So we have been back in the swing of things for about a week now, sorry it has taken so long to get these pictures up. We had a great Christmas starting out with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Robertson and Aunt Kristen and Uncle Scott on 12/13. Then we left NY in a snowstorm and headed to Maine where we celebrated Owen's actual birthday on the 21st and an early Christmas on the 24th with Grammy and Grandpa, Aunt Jana, Uncle Nate and cousins Elias and Josiah. Next stop Massachusetts to Nonnie and Papa's house where we also visited with Aunt Kristen and Uncle Scott again, Aunt Kimberly, Aunt Ericka and Uncle Mike as well as went to Great Aunt Janet's house before coming back home here to NY on the 28th. It was a whirlwind trip as usual but we are thankful to have been able to make it back home for the holidays. Here are a few pictures from our trip. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and have a happy and healthy New Year!



YOU NEED TO CLICK ON THIS PICTURE TO SEE MORE, SORRY, COULDN'T GET THIS ONE TO AUTO-PLAY...