Shortly after we bought our home in Southern California, Thomas's mum and sister came to visit. Mum was excited to help us hang pictures and get organized, Emily had just finished finals and was ready to hit the beach and relax. The sleeping options were not ideal for accommodating two people that didn't want to sleep in the same bed. As Mum is a light sleeper she automatically received the spare room on the cool, dark, west facing side of the house for her quarters.

Emily, being a sleep-until-two-in-the-afternoon type of sleeper, was relegated to the sleeper sofa in the living room, which is not a 'room' in our house. It should really be called the 'living space' because it's just one huge room that encompasses everything in our home minus the bed. It has the front door, back door, sofa, television, club chairs, dining table, dining chairs, bookcase and oh, the entire kitchen. Needless to say, Emily didn't have much, how do I say this? ...Privacy.

As if the sun smiling at her over our panoramic eastern view was not enough to make Emily annoyed at six in the morning, surely her bellowing brother could do the trick. Each morning he would leap out of bed at the first glint of sun and rush to put the kettle on for the first pot of tea. Just as he would crest the living space threshold he would let out a deep, booming, "GOOOOOOOOD MORNING!", instantly startling Emily awake and unable to get back to sleep.

More tired than when she had arrived, Emily was less than pleased with Thomas. That of course made Thomas only more pleased with his accomplishment. Now four years down the road Emily is yet again suffering from extreme lack of sleep only this time there is not an insanely loud older brother, but a sweet little girl at the tail end of the problem. Emily has married and had a daughter. I'm certain baby Annabella, true to family history, loves to unleash her loudest voice to get the attention of her mother, albeit for drastically different reasons.

Somewhere in between naps Emily has started a blog showcasing her beautiful girl and fabulous photography. Check it out, here.

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And, on a slight side note to the story, this was the trip when Mum and Emily found this little bundle of joy. Something that gave me many sleepless nights, but will forever give us huge smiles.