Birthday Pictures to Share

Everyone enjoys Pizza, Chips, and Fruit Punch!

Who's enjoying decorating the bags - the kids or the Mommies???

Sabrina helps Jacob write his name on his Gift Bag.

Aunt Lisa and Mason work together as Brittany and Serenity finish their dinner.

Ella is having way too much fun! This was her favorite thing to do.

Happy Birthday Brienna!!

Today Brienna turns two years old! I can't believe it's already been two years! I could not have asked God to make her any more precious than she already is!! To celebrate the ocassion, I thought I would ask you to join me in a walk down memory lane!!

Birthday Party Number One!

Our Sweet Little Birthday Girl!

NaNa JuJu holds Baby Ellie while Daddy sits close by.

Brienna's first driving lesson!

They look much too serious, don't they?

It took a long time to get her in the Soft Play, but once we did, she was sold!!

We must be NUTS!! Birthday Parties are a ton of fun, but they can be stressful! And this year, we planned two of them. I'm hoping this doesn't set a trend for future years. You know, 2 parties for 2 years old, 3 parties for 3 years old - and so on.

Kristyn and I took a tour of all of the Birthday hang outs one day to pick a place for Brienna's 2nd Birthday party and decided on Hickory Dickory Dock. We loved having Brie's First Birthday Party in our yard last year, but the weather has been totally unpredictable and we just didn't want it to be ruined by unexpected rain, so . . . . Hickory Dickory Dock it is. Then the management informed us that for 2 year olds on a Saturday - it was a disaster in the making. Way too much fun, way too many kids, way too many temptations for the older kids to run rampant over the little guys. So, it had to be a weeknight. But, with family so far away, we needed to have a way to celebrate with them, too, so there will be two parties this year.


This is party number 1, and I have to tell you, I think I had WAY more fun than the kids!! This is the place to have a Birthday Party. All of the children finally arrived by about 6:30. They had unlimited access to all of the activities - the Bumper Cars, Slides, Carrousels, Games, Laser Tag (for the Daddy's), Free Play, Soft Play, and on and on - and they all took advantage of it, too! All of Brienna's friends came - Alexander and Lilly; Mason and Serenity; Mason, Jacob, Bella, Tanner and Ella, Journey and Londyn; and of course all of the Mom's and Dad's, NaNa JuJu (Patrick's Mom), Keely and her Mom were there, too! What a delightful time we had. When it came time to go to the party room, Lindsey, our hostess, had everything all set up for the kids and we all enjoyed drinks and pizza and then a delicious birthday cake. While Brienna opened gifts, Kristyn had a brilliant idea - the kids all made their own treat bags out of colorful markers and foam stickers. The kids and the parents loved it!!! Then while the kids returned to play, we quickly filled their bags with their treats. When they were ready to go home, their bags were all ready for them.

Hope you can tell from the pictures how much fun everyone had. I've never seen Brienna have so much fun! We were all dragging when we left the place - and I'm still tired today. I've never ridden with so many wreckless drivers on the bumper cars before, and I'm sure I've encouraged some VERY young drivers!!

Looks Like Spring To Me!

Brienna is going to be my little gardener. As soon as Spring is even a hint in the air, she is much like her Omi - she wants to head out of doors and get in the dirt. She's been working with me outside already this Spring, and it's been really hard to do because of our fickle weather. But she's already beginning to enjoy the fruit of our labor - and this is only the beginning.

Four Months and Growing Strong!

April 21, 2008 - Ellie and I had quite an adventure today. She is 4 months old and due for her 4-month Well Visit at Dr. Millsap's office. I offered to take her for her appointment so that Kristyn could take off early for Brienna's Birthday Party later in the week, so Ellie and I are off to the doctor together - which translates to Omi being the one to take her to get shots!!!

We, of course, get to do all of the fun stuff first - sneeking out of playschool so that Brie doesn't spot us and cry to go with us, singing in the car, laughing and making a playful scene in the lobby of the doctor's office (Omi has no fear of scorn when it comes to playing in public with her grandchildren!), and then the most fun of all - taking off our clothes in the examining room! Well, that one is reserved just for Ellie (I'm sure the doctor is greatly relieved!). She loves to be in just her diaper now that the weather is so much warmer.

Our little one weighed in at 13 lbs. 1.5 oz. and is now 23-1/2 inches long and cute as a bug!! She laughed and played the entire time - and we were there forever, it seemed. While we waited, she got tired of laying on the table and I sat her in her chair. Just look at the fun she had. Wish you could have heard the conversation she was having with her feet!!

She wasn't crazy about the shots, of course, but as soon as they were over and she was cuddled and loved (A LOT!!), she was our contented little Ellie again! And we were off again to sing some more songs.

Mimaw's Visit

Patrick's grandmother came to stay with us last week and we all had a blast with her here. She was full of stories to tell, lessons to learn, and of course she had so much love to give to the girls while she was here. It really was a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of us as she doesn't get up this way at all anymore.

Brienna enjoyed Mimaw's company this week and I wanted to take a minute to share some fun pictures of the girls and Mimaw.

Join Us for Our Morning Routine

I know you all have read about our Saturday morning ritual - breakfast out with the family, the Speedway at the mall, the park - but we have yet to share our morning ritual when it comes to getting everyone ready for school and work! Oh, my!

6:30AM -Brienna is usually the first one awake, and she's sneaky about it! She silently gets out of bed, turns the knob and opens the door ever so quietly, and then barges through our bedroom door. Now I'm usually asleep when she does this, and if she makes enough noise coming into the room, she can usually startle me awake. If not, then I wake up to her hitting the bed saying "Mama, up!" as loud as she can. I pull her up onto the bed and turn on the Disney chanel. Someone (Omi) discovered with Brienna that The Wiggles come on at 7am. Now I can't get her to go a morning without them! And of course what would our morning be without a pop-tart and juice?

7:00AM - Ellie wakes up and wants to eat. Her cries are getting a little more determined and sometimes sound like her screaming. Even when it's ear piercing she still keeps her eyes on me as if to say, "Can we hurry this up? I'm HUNGRY!" Of course Brienna is in toe and standing right beside me at the changing table saying something like "Baby, shhh!" She's such a big help when she pats Ellie on the head or holds her hand. This actually gets Ellie's attention and sometimes gets her to calm down a little bit! By the time I get her ready for school, Patrick is there with a bottle and becomes her favorite (for the moment).

7:10AM - Patrick usually feeds Ellie on the foot of our bed and Brienna will climb up on the bed and make sure that Ellie is OK and eating. (If not she'll tell Ellie, "Baby, eat!") Brienna will then get settled back down on the bed and start watching TV again while I get ready for work. Most of the time she'll start trying to get herself ready for school by taking off her PJ's on the bed. She hears Omi getting ready in the bathroom and she realizes it's almost time for school! What she really wants is to spend time with Omi (the real favorite)...so she finds her way into the bathroom to make her presence known.

7:15AM - Now, something you have to realize about Brienna is that she's a "big girl" most of the time. She observes what we do and tries her best to do it. Her latest accomplishment? She multitasks!! This is a fluke thing, because she's not done it since, but this particular morning Brienna is using her potty AND brushing her teeth! I don't know why she picked those two things to multi-task with, but more power to her!! Once she's up and running again, it's hard to catch her. She loves to run around in just her diaper (or less) and it makes her giggle to be chased. This could last forever unless she's caught early enough! The fun part is that when she is finally caught, she's ready to hug!

7:30AM - Once she's caught, she'll usually let me change her on my bed as long as Ellie is near. Once she's changed and ready for school, it's off to the bathroom again with Omi! At least she stood still long enough for me to get this shot of her! I have to admit though, I had some help from Playhouse Disney...Higglytown Heroes was on! Getting her to turn around was the only difficult part!

7:40AM - Brienna heads off to the bathroom with Omi. While Omi gets her make-up on and her hair curled, they chit chat about Omi/Boo stuff. Brienna will talk to herself in the mirror, wash her hands, brush her teeth (for the second time this morning) and get her hair done. It's quite a site! Here are some photos of them getting Omi ready for work!

8:00AM - Once the girls are ready for another day at play school and Mommy has Ellie's bottles made, bags packed, and car started, it's off for another day of adventure! The girls have a great day and Mommy gets to play with lawn equipment! Whoopie!!

Just To Share Beautiful Pictures With You

Brienna on Easter Sunday

Poppy holds Baby Ellie for the first time.

Sweet little Baby Face!

Brienna shows off her new pink "Frogger Shoes."



Brienna helps Ellie put her socks on!

Mothers and Daughters - History Repeats Itself!

Kristyn accuses me of saving everything - and while that isn't true, I do save some important things - memories! When Kristyn was very small, one of her favorite things to do was to get up very early in the morning and snuggle with me on the sofa while we watched cartoons together. While Kristyn still enjoys the snuggling on the sofa part, Brienna is afraid to be still that long, so she is just glad to be there watching Disney with Mommy but does not dare slow down long enough to snuggle for fear of going back to sleep. What makes this especially memorable is that Brienna has on Kristyn's very favorite night shirt - the very same one she wore at age 2 when she snuggled with me - it's 25 years old!! One of the few things I saved from when Kristyn was little and she and I were doing the same thing - watching cartoons together very early in the morning!

Brienna is the Little Helper

Last night when the girls got home from school it was apparent that both the girls had been outside. The school yard is covered in mulch and anytime Brienna is outside, her rear and hair are covered in it - she plays hard! So, after a unanimous decision (didn't take more than a look at each other) we threw the girls into the bath.

First one up was Ellie. She's easier to coax into the tub and she doesn't mind the water in her ears. All we have to do to keep her happy is keep the warm water running over her (via a washcloth) and sing a crazy song. I don't even know the name of it, but there are three verses and when we sing it to her in the tub she giggles and coos. Evidently she has great taste in children's music already! My mom used to sing the same song to me!! lol

Brienna was such a big help! See for yourself!

Ellie Rolls Over!!

I have been dying to get these posted, but as you all know, life gets in the way sometimes. Wednesday afternoon, Patrick picked up the girls from school and brought them home. He fed Brienna and then they both entertained Ellie until Mom and I got home. While we were gone, he took this video of Ellie on the floor - and she was so close to rolling over!


This morning Brienna, Ellie, and I were upstairs getting ready for school. Honestly, today was a "two" morning for Brienna. She slept all night so I'm not sure what was wrong other than the fact that Ellie isn't usually awake in the mornings and Boo doesn't have to share her time with all of us. Anything out of the norm seems to get to her lately. When she had one of her many "two" moments this morning, I put her on her bed in time-out until she calmed down. While she was composing herself, I put Ellie on my bed and she immediately started trying to roll over.

As if that wasn't enough, she also started rolling over in her carseat. I usually put her in her seat on the table or counter top so I can get the girls' stuff ready for school. This morning I discovered that will no longer be possible unless she's strapped in! She will definitely be the one to keep me on my toes!

O' the Joys of Sharing!

I was pleasantly surprised this afternoon when I got the girls home. I thought for sure it was going to be "one of those nights." Tonight we introduced the stand-up toy and floor mat to Ellie, and I thought for sure Brienna was not going to like that at all. I wasn't prepared for this one!!

Brienna wasn't at all upset about Ellie playing with her floor mat. She actually enjoyed playing with Ellie, showing her all the stuff she would get to do.

I get asked all the time if Brienna is jealous of Ellie. Most of the time she's not. She's so excited about having someone else in the house that's her size. Brienna is enjoying being "big sister" and being the one to teach Ellie how to do things.