Sharkey Family =): July 2008

Madeleine and I traveled back to Olean, NY to visit the nuns who prayed for us throughout the pregnancy. As a bonus, we also got to meet with various family members & friends, many a first for Madeleine! :-)

Madeleine got to meet her Gampy (my Dad) for the first time! =)

Ole Fussy Face still gets upset when anyone other than her Mommy or Daddy holds her...

When Maddie's older, Mommy will let her take a ride with Gampy. ;>

While back East, Maddie missed her nightly walks in the Bjorn with Daddy. So, Gampy gave her a few rides. =)

In addition to meeting Gampy, my brother, Sean, and his wife, Kristin, brought their 2 children, Libby (Emily! Elizabeth) and Charlie to Olean so Maddie could meet her cousins. :)

Unfortunately, we were so busy having (Family!) fun that we didn't get many pictures. Oh, well. That's what next time is for!

Mary Jane, my Aunt and Godmother, also got to meet Madeleine for the first time. =) Of course, Maddie loved her and always had a smile for MJ.

Probably because Mary Jane always had a way to entertain...

Madeleine also got to meet my best friend since birth, Amy Mahar.
Our moms were in La Leche League together many many years ago! ;>
We had such good times together over the years (pictured are her parents Joe and Roberta). Again, we were having such a grand time, we forgot to take more pics!...

Maddie and I were certainly busy...
Madeleine also got to meet some important people from my mom's side of the family!

(L-R: Pok, Jeff, Evy, Maddie, me, Candy)
My cousin, Evy, and I spent a LOT of time together growing up (playing Payday mostly, hehe!).
My Aunt Candy (younger sister to my mom) used to let Evy and I have sleepovers at her house, which were SO much fun; she baked us tasty treats and spoiled us rotten!! ;>
Also pictured with his wife, Pok, is my Uncle Jeff, my mom's only brother, who had FOUR sisters ~ poor guy!! :P

Maddie was such a good sport about being passed around, but after this last pass, we let her relax with a nice nap...

Next day, off to the Auction!
Every Wednesday, rain, shine, or snow, the Auction is held.

A great place to find all sorts of "Treasures"! Which, of course, we did! (Good thing Continental Airlines still allows 2 bags, hehe!!)

The auction IS exhausting, though!

Every chance we get, Mom, Rich, and I like to sit around and bamboozle each other at Cutthroat Euchre!
Here's mom and her "Sorry!" hand which she bojangled Rich and I with!

Unfortunately for Rich, Mom & I proved to be a "Special Kind of Stupid" at the game... yet we continue to hold our own, which must be ESPECIALLY infuriating for poor Rich! :P
Here's Mom's "Special" hand (with Rich thinking,"REALLY?!?")

And MY "Special" hand, with Rich AND Mom thinking,"REALLY?!?"

A nice walk on the road going by Mom & Rich's house...

My little city girl is in awe of these tall, tall trees!

The night before we left, Maddie and I got to meet up with Nancy & Rebecca (Nancy's daughter), and MEET Nancy's (new!) husband, Stan. I've known Nancy and Rebecca my entire life (Nancy was the one who introduced my parents in the first place, so I suppose I owe my existence to her! Thank you, Nancy!)
Anyway, it was wonderful seeing them again; it had been WAY too long! I think the last time I saw Nancy & Rebecca was 5 years ago at my wedding, when they helped decorate the church!! =)
Here we are:

And in this one, you can see Nancy's husband, Stan, too. (He's in the white shirt. That's Rich in the green.)

And last, but not least(!), Madeleine got to meet Rich's mom, Ina Dean. We stayed at her house the night before catching our 7 am flight home! Poor woman, here she is at 4:30am when we woke her up ~ but have you ever seen anyone look more fabulous at 4:30am?!?

And not shown is the Euchre game in which Ina and I WOULD have totally trounced Mom & Rich, had it not been for MY "Special Kind of Stupid"! As it was, we only won them, hehe!!... Sorry partner, we'll get them GOOD next time! ;>

What a GREAT, FUN trip!!!
Thank you everyone!!!
I guess we'll have to come back sometime. =)

An enjoyable pregnancy, a relatively easy labor lasting barely 2 hours, AND a tear-free, drug-free delivery after only 20 minutes of mediocre pushing on my part... How/Why did I get so lucky??? This is my secret:

...or rather, the women inside.
The photos above are of the St. Elizabeth Motherhouse in Allegany, NY.
My aunt (dad's sister) is a nun, although she lives "off campus". ;>
However, I have VERY fond memories of visiting the Motherhouse when I was little. Visiting was always a good time as it was like having 100 grandmothers all doting on us, telling us how cute and wonderful we were, filling our tummies with food and cakes, and our pockets with candies. Hmmm, I wonder if there's a Motherhouse near San Francisco... but, I digress.
Anyway, when I found out I was pregnant, I asked my dad to go to the Sisters and ask that they think of me and the little Sharklette in their prayers because early on I was afraid of a blood clot & miscarriage. Things were going so well that my dad kept going back to visit the Sisters every other week for the entire 9 months of my pregnancy! =)

Needless to say, within weeks after Madeleine's (extraordinary!) birth, I was making plane reservations to take Maddie to meet those wonderful women AND to thank them myself!
Sister Mary Lawrence knows everyone and would take my dad around, making introductions. She did the same for Madeleine and I. Unfortunately, we were so into Meeting & Greeting that we forgot to get a pic of us with her! =( Gives us a GREAT reason to go back! ;) Here she is on her own:
SISTER MARY LAWRENCE SCANLON

SISTER ANN PETER MOTTO made Madeleine an afghan which she LOVES (primarily because she can get her little fingers in it and manipulate it, also because it's pink and pretty! ;)

Maddie loved this Sister, SISTER CHARMICHAEL. It was very hot, sticky day and Madeleine was getting tired, but when we got to Sr. Charmichael, Maddie was all smiles for her! =)