Halloween 2007

FLOUNDER
from the Little Mermaid

Brenna's daycare Halloween Parade

Getting ready for Trick or Treating!

With Ariel





"No, Brenna, you can NOT have lollipops! You have no teeth."


Some things Ariel said to Flounder tonight:
"I can have candy. I am a big girl.
I pee-pee in the potty. Brenna, wanna watch me pee-pee in the potty?
You can't pee-pee in the potty. NO. You wear diapers.
I have to hold my dress up. I can't get my dress in the potty.
Po take me to the zoo tomorrow. JUST ME. NOT YOU. Maybe when you are big.
That's MY dog barking. Your dog is gone."
(this is actually true...)


Check out my girl going for the candy!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween 2006

Here is a picture of Brenna one year ago today.
So much can happen in one year!

This was the first time we heard her heartbeat.

We came home on Halloween night and told everyone that we were having a baby!

Mischief Night

To help prepare for Brenna's first Halloween tomorrow, we took her to a costume-optional work event of mine tonight. She wore her cat hat, which is not her real costume, but it is festive enough. She was a big hit.

There were a lot of teenagers there, and that age group is never a good influence. We had to take her home after we caught her throwing toilet paper on trees and eggs at cars in honor of Mischief Night. She was so upset that she was caught...

Go Kelly, Go Kelly, Go Kelly...

Kelly's college graduation, 3 years ago

My sister Kelly is the smart one in the family. Or, I should say "the smartest" one in our family, the way our cousin Caitlin is "the smartest" one in her family. All of us were good students, but Kelly and Caitlin make a 4.0 GPA with only two AP classes look stupid... less quality points with so few AP classes, after all. And it doesn't help that with each passing year, her older sister gets stupider and stupider. The fact that, at first, I actually thought "stupider" was even a word is a prime example of this.

As early as Kelly's 8th grade graduation, she won the award for having the highest overall marks in the class. At her high school graduation, she again graduated at the top, with college credits already behind her (she left halfway through each day her senior year to take courses at a local college), and many scholarships to choose from.

At her college graduation, she did not sit in alphabetical order with the rest of the graduates, no, she graduated in the beginning with the other 16 honored students, and had a long description of her awards, honors and activities (including serving as captain of the University's cheerleading team) listed under her name in the graduation book. She really was the well-rounded, star student throughout her regular academic years. I should note that I was not like this at all... when I was at Penn State, I got distracted on walks to class by the call of Cafe 210 West and their special Long Island Iced Teas and bought my test notes from a place called Nittany Notes that targeted lazy students like me.

After college, Kelly moved far away from us because she was awarded a fellowship in a Ph.D. program. We know it is hard for her to live so far away because she misses seeing Ella and Brenna, and she misses everything about her friends, family and hometown. But, she wants to be a Child Psychologist, and she's dedicated to doing what she knows she has to do to accomplish her goal of becoming Dr. Kelly. Now, three years into the six year program (where she, of course, still maintains her 4.0 GPA), it is a very important day.

Kelly defends her thesis today. So, I wanted to say, "GO KELLY, GO KELLY, GO KELLY, GO KELLY!"

I'm sure, just like everything else she has done in the last 25 years, she will shine! Good luck, Kel! Don't choke :) Hahaha.

We're Ugly

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071022/od_nm/philadelphia_unattractive1_dc

This story came out a week or two ago on the news here, and now it has made national headlines. The 1.5 million people in Philadelphia are the least attractive in the United States. About two years ago we were dubbed the fattest city, and now we're the most repulsive to look at.

They should try to find the city that is the poorest, baldest, most toothless, most acne prone, sweatiest and smelliest. I bet Philadelphia could sweep all of these categories.

Grace Kelly would roll over in her grave.

But, how sad is it that it just makes me feel more comfortable to be here? I'm within five pounds of my pre-pregnacy weight, and yet I will never again fit my new hips into my old clothes, or quite get rid of this odd red spot that appeared on the tip of my nose during pregnacy or ever be able to keep up with the mounds of hair I'm shedding. I'm happy to walk around with the ugly people.

And, as I sit here, eating my 9:45 p.m. snack of Cool Ranch Doritos, obviously not caring if I fit in with the unattractive people or not, I am thinking that it just means that Brenna will have less competition in 20 years.

By the way, I don't think this categorization is true at all. In the five years between college and getting married, I lived in the city and went out a few times a week. I know that Philadelphia has some great looking people! I just think that here, in the city that boos and throws things at Santa Claus during an Eagles game, we are the most NEGATIVE city. We probably had far more respondents in the poll say that our city was ugly, where in other parts of the country respondents said, "Oh, gee, ya'll know it's not nice to say people are unattractive," and answered the questions the way kind people would. We're really just mean.

Two more for the hat box

Today we went shopping.

The whole family got up at 7:00 a.m. and played until 10:30 a.m. or so. I convinced Jamie to go to Ikea, another local furniture store (we were looking for a new dresser for Brenna's room because her drawers keep falling out), Old Navy, the mall and then out to a late lunch. We came home for a bit and then we went to CVS and WalMart to get some necessities.

Brenna was a very good baby, and she loved traveling around in the baby carrier, facing the world, babbling and kicking her legs. Passersby would laugh because she was just so excited to be there; her happiness was contagious. She came home with plenty of little presents, of course. Because the weather is getting colder, and we have some outdoor events coming up, we got her two new hats (she has a hat box filled with more than a dozen hats, which was an adorable shower gift I received, but all the winter hats are still too big for her head).

A "dressier" one from Old Navy

And a fun one from H&M (with matching mittens)

Later, we went to my parents to have cake for my grandmother's 83rd birthday. It was a great day!

Hey, did you hear the news?

I can almost sit!

Working from Home

I have no idea how some mothers have jobs that allow them to work from home while raising their children. HOW DO YOU PEOPLE GET ANYTHING DONE?!

On Thursday afternoon, while I was in a meeting, I missed many calls from Brenna's daycare. I immediately called back and found out that she had three "loose bm's" (their polite way of saying diarrhea) and needed to be picked up. Yes, there are limits to the number of runny poopy diapers the babies can have a day, even if they are not sick and do not have a temperature. This has happened before, and she hasn't even been there two months.

Upon getting there five minutes later, I found out that I could not bring her back the next day. I even had to sign a form saying I would not. The new policy at the daycare center is that children must be symptom free for 24 hours, so I was free to bring her back around 3:00 p.m. on Friday. Gee, that is really helpful. I'm sure my new boss will think my arrival at 3:00 p.m. is a great idea. And of course, the daycare center will charge us $50 for the day even if they forbid her attendance.

I decided to take Brenna back to my office for the remainder of Thursday's work day, and I had to let my co-workers know I could not come in the next day. I would just work from home. Honestly, I don't know if working from home is even allowed -I've never heard of anyone else working from home. However, when I said I was doing it, people just replied, "Okay." I don't think they knew what else to say.

Not that my working from home looked like a likely story. The day I planned to be out of the office was a Friday. And Brenna looked like the picture of health as she flashed huge smiles at everyone and babbled her happy giberish. Oh, well.

(As a side note, it's so funny how there are two extremes in the workplace. There are the co-workers that make a HUGE deal over the fact that there is a baby in the office and they exclaim up and down the halls about how cute the baby is. They go on and on and on. And then there are the people who walk right by your office, and obviously see you have this miniature person on your lap, but they act like they don't notice. As if they are too busy to say, "Hey, looks like there might be a baby in the office." These people are strange to me... I hope they all get pregnant tomorrow, whether they are men, women or really old.)

So, anyway, back to working from home with my non-sick baby with the runs: Friday morning went great. We woke up and Brenna FED HERSELF a 4 oz. bottle in her bouncy seat in the bathroom while I showered. I called her Kelly Clarkson, my own little Miss Independent. It was so cute to watch.

Then I took her with me to go hear a State Rep. speak. I had to take photos for a story I am doing. Brenna was so good. She actually sat there and seemed to listen to the politician speak, quietly aware. She happily let a colleague of mine hold her... a stranger! Amazing.

We came home and I uploaded the photos and worked and listened to Jamie's ITunes while she played on a play mat next to me. Sometimes we stopped to dance around the basement to fun songs. I explained to Brenna that she was from the city of American Bandstand (or close enough... her mom and extended family were all from there, anyway). After hearing the history, you could tell that she loved MoTown. And as we were dancing, I sat her down, and she actually sat up by herself for a little bit!

We were having a great work-from-home day... and that's when things started going downhill. When we were down the basement, the electricity went out.

I had no access to my computer, so it made my work from home plan look even more questionable. We went upstairs in pitch black. Finally it came back on, which was when I got a call from my boss saying that someone in our organization had tested positive for a highly publicized staph infection.

So, Brenna started getting restless after a day of being perfect, and she needed my attention, while I had to contact everyone and their mother and post information and links regarding this disease.

Meanwhile, bottles and laundry and junk of all kind was all over my house, Brenna would NOT nap and was very cranky, and my cousin and her husband planned to come right after work to see us.

Then there was a huge difference in the story I sent out and one another source sent out regarding the case, and I was contacted to clear everything up (the other story was a misunderstanding). I was pacing my foyer with Brenna in a stroller in an attempt to get her to sleep (it was pouring rain outside), and she finally fell asleep about five seconds before Jamie came home (of course).

By that time, I wanted to pull all my hair out. Which I really shouldn't do because my post-pregnancy hormones are causing my hair to fall out in clumps, so nature is doing it for me.

It was a long day. I have no idea how people work from home and juggle children and work at the same time, from the same place. God bless all of you women!

Bumbo Seat Recalled

My brother-in-law, Mike, said he thinks a bunch of baby designers sit around creating infant products in Australia (of all places) and one of them, in his Australian accent, says, "What should we call this?"

And another designer says, "How about a Boppy?!"

"And, this?"

"Why, I think that is a Bumbo!"

Well, today, the Bumbo was recalled.

The Bumbo is a foam baby seat. It is the purple seat Brenna is sitting in the last couple posts, actually. As crazy as Brenna is, and as strong as she is, she has never managed to hurt herself in the Bumbo. And, believe me, she tries to get out... she twists and turns and tries to stand up out of it And, still, no injuries yet.

However, if I put the Bumbo on the COUNTER TOP, like the parents that caused the recall, she would most likely get hurt.

Who puts their child on a raised surface and walks away? HOW STUPID ARE PEOPLE? Brenna and I talked about that tonight while she played in her exersaucer...





Okay, really, Jamie was right there. :)

Goodbye, Sunshine!

Tomorrow the temperature is going to drop, so I wanted to post these pictures I took yesterday. I guess we'll see skies like this again in about six or seven months...

5 months old

My Whole Weekend... by Brenna

Mommy said that to improve my language development I could write her blog tonight. Plus, she's been slacking, and I have a lot to say!

You should know upfront that this is long, but I was so busy this weekend!

So, Friday night it was just me and Mommy. Daddy had to go DJ a party, so we were just chilling around the house, hanging out in our bumbos, drinking some Enfamil and Chardonnay (relax, Gram, we both only had 6 ounces)....

And then, I was like, "You know Mom, my teething gums have been hurting more than ever, lately. This sock is just not doing it for me tonight. "

But, I don't think she realized how serious I was until I surprised her by waking up screaming at 2:30 a.m. Until now, I have slept through the night EVERY night since I was a scrawny little 3-month-old. Of course, there were times when I woke up with sore gums before, but I usually just give myself a pep talk, or on "difficult nights" Mommy and Daddy would come rub my back, and I'd be back asleep within five minutes.

Well, not Saturday morning. I stayed up until 4:00 a.m. When I woke up crying again at 6:30 a.m., Mommy took me downstairs to give Daddy a break. I showed her how uncomfortable I really was...

Even on her 4.5 hours total of sleep, Mommy felt really bad for me. We watched the sun come up through the heavy morning fog, and we even saw deer! Ella always brags that she sees deer at the family mountain house. If only she knew I saw them at my house, too!

Mommy took a picture. Can you see them? (If you click on the picture to bring it up larger it helps.) It's hard to see clearly, but I have outstanding eyesight. One of the perks of being a baby, I guess.

After our deer sighting and some fun playtime, Daddy came down at 8:30 a.m., and this is how he found me and Mommy...

We stayed like that until almost 9:00 a.m., when Daddy took me to the grocery store to give Mommy a chance to take a shower. After my trip and Mommy's shower, we were like new women!

We even joked about the earlier teething pain. Mommy thought she was making fun of me, but I completely turned it around on her, and told her that her hand looks like an arthritic 90-year-old woman's in this picture... haha...

And, anyway, I was so excited because we had really fun plans for the day!


Grandma and Pop, Daddy's parents, came for a visit with Uncle Danny and Uncle Matt.

Aunt Courtney and Uncle Ryan came, too!

I was a very good girl. I love having visitors at my house now. I used to be very anti-social, but not anymore.

On Saturday night, Daddy had to go DJ again. Mommy actually had a party, too, but, I said, "Hey, Mom. PRIORITIES." She got the picture.

Besides, our weekend was far from over. I slept much better on Saturday night, but I did decide to begin my Sunday at 5:30 a.m. I was so excited for the day, I just couldn't wait.

We had a wedding shower to go to! Mommy drove me and Aunt Kara and Ella there, and I was so happy the whole entire time. I laughed whenever anyone talked to me.

Here are the highlight photos...

Mommy's cousin, Kevin, and his wonderful fiance, Rose

Seeing my great-grandmother, Mommom

Gram and me

Colleen and Caitlin (Kevin's sisters/Mommy's cousins)
about to give a tear-jerking speech

Finding a corner to play in with Ella

That Mommom is so funny!

Aunt Mare (Gram's twin sister), Rose, and Rose's mom

What a fun shower. I can't wait for the wedding. Wait, what? Mommy just said I'm not invited because I'm a baby. Oh, man. Well, I'm certainly glad I didn't chip in for that Kitchen Aid mixer.

Well, regardless, what a day. What a weekend. I'm exhausted.

I. Can't. Write. Another. Thing.

The Ringleader

Today when I dropped Brenna off at daycare, her teacher, Miss P, told me a new baby boy was starting today who was 2 months younger than Brenna. I said, "Good. She will no longer be the youngest one in the class."

Miss P told me that her age was no matter. She felt that Brenna was advanced (Miss P knows how to keep the checks coming. She also once told me she could see that I was an excellent mother), and she said that Brenna, a week shy of 5 months, was actually the ringleader of the class consisting of a 10-month girl, a 9-month girl, a 6-month girl and a 6-month boy. My baby, the leader.

I guess I could see what she meant. As my baby played in her exersaucer, a father brought his baby boy in the room with his 3-year-old brother by his side. Brenna LIT up when she saw the 3-year-old. Her eyes were glued to him and she jumped up and down, as if to say, "Forget these BABIES! One of my people!" I think she spends so much time with her cousin Ella that she thinks she's a toddler, too.

Since Brenna will very likely go through an awkward stage in 12 - 15 years like her parents (99.9% chance of being weirdly tall with braces and bad hair), I decided to have a photo shoot of the day Brenna was the coolest kid in school.

No more pictures, please.
My popularity is exhausting.

Someday, Brenna, I will buy you a hair straightener and take you to get your braces off. Until then, I hope you enjoyed today.

Lazy Sunday

Today I took Brenna to church, and she wore her first hair bow. While I love hats, I'm not really a fan of hair bows on babies without any hair, but it came with the dress and looked so cute, so I had to leave it on.

The dress/onesie/hair bow combo only cost $2 on clearance at Babies R Us. I like to note my fine shopping skills at times like this...



She was great in church, which I was thankful for because Jamie took her to the cry room last time due to her growling, and he was not there to help today because he had a ton to do after a long night DJing at a bar. So, it was just us girls. We sat in front of Kara, Joe and Ella, and Ella loved jumping from pew to pew and telling Brenna she could NOT have any goldfish.

After church, I took her to Target to get some things for the house. We then headed home to watch the Eagles game. During the game, she napped on the living room floor in front of the tv. She was so content, I let her stay there.

After two hours of sound sleeping on the ground, she woke up and said "Google." 10 years ago, this would be considered baby giberish, but I would not be surprised if my tech-savvy daughter's next word is "Myspace" or "Yahoo."

We then all went back to the park. It was just a tiny bit cooler today, but another gorgeous day. This time, she was an experienced park-goer, and felt much more like the cool kid...

"What are you looking at?" When we returned home,
"JACKPOT!"

We played with a new Baby Einstein toy that we bought at Target today. It is another thing that lights up and plays music, and, of course, speaks your choice of English, Spanish, or French. We don't have any Baby Einstein dvd's, but every toy we have (her exersaucer, her playmat, teething rings, and now this) that those Baby Einstein people make, she is obsessed with. I've heard it's like crack for babies, and it really is...

I'm now off to bed. Tomorrow's Monday :(. But, it was a great weekend.