Happy Hallween!

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

October in Atlanta

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

From October 2009

Happy Birthday, Molly!

One nice thing about us being in Atlanta for the Fall is that we got to celebrate Molly's first birthday with Mark and Jill and their extended families. Take a look at some pics from her special day.

Nick's Soccer Game

One perk about being in Atlanta is we got to watch one of Nick's first soccer games.
Go Velociraptors!!! (Yes, that is the name of their team!)

Atlanta

Brett was put on a contract through work in Atlanta so we have been enjoying the fall weather in Georgia for the last month. It really couldn't have worked out any better because our wonderful friends Mark and Jill coincidentally just moved to a beautiful house about 5 miles from where Brett is working in Alpharetta, GA. So we have been staying with them and having a great time. It's also been nice being close to the Mussons and being able to see Nick and Alex more often.



The girls getting ready the start of football season! Go Gators and Go Bulldogs! (Mississippi State bulldogs that is...not to be confused with Georgie Bulldogs)




Brenna and Molly enjoying some good ole Southern BBQ. On a side note, the girls were both in love with our waiter.




Molly making the "cheezer" face.

From September 2009

This is seriously the most patient cat in the world. Gilbert puts up with a lot of abuse from Brenna.




Poke, Poke, Poke


"Why are you hiding from me, Gilbert?" Brenna follows him around saying "Cat, Cat, Cat"



GO GATORS!!!!



Daddy's #1 girl!

Shari's Baby Shower

We had a lovely intimate baby shower in honor of Shari and BBD (Baby Boy Debowsky) this past weekend at my mom's house. Can't wait to meet Shari's little man in early December.

Happy Birthday, Brenna!!!!

Brenna is now 1 year old! I'd like to say that the time flew by but really it didn't. It was a long year full of exhaustion, fun, laughs, and many new friends. We had a big party on Saturday to celebrate her birthday. Friends, old and new, came out to our BBQ at the house and Brenna had a blast. We asked people to hang a buck or two on our Giving Tree (an idea I stole from my neighbor/friend Allison) and we raised $100 to donate to St. Jude Children's Hospital. Of course, not everyone obeyed the no gifts rule and Brenna now has some really cool new toys and clothes. Among her favorites are some new Gator gear, a new red wagon from Grandma and Grandpa and a new table and chairs set from Grammy and Grandpa.

She loved the cake. She dug right in and made a mess of herself but after a quick bath she was ready to go back out and party!

She also had her 12 month checkup this week and weights 22 lb 15 oz, 18.25 inches long. Time to ditch the formula (wooohoooo....my bank account thanks you!). She's an excellent eater right now and among her favorite foods are blueberries, yogurt, cinraison toast, cheese, Mahi Mahi (she loves fish!), ham, turkey, pears, broccoli, and green beans. She has 4 teeth on top and 2 on the bottom with another one just starting to poke through on the bottom.

She's not walking yet but she can crawl FAST!!! She's pulling up on everything and cruising all the furniture but I think we still have a little bit to go before she walks unassisted.

She waves and says "hi" and LOVES LOVES LOVES Peekaboo...like Peekaboo NEVER gets old around this house. She loves helping me with the laundry...she pulls it out of the laundry basket for me to fold and plays... yep, you guess it....Peekaboo with the laundry. She says Dada and makes a great monkey face. Our next mission is the conquer the Gator Chomp before this weekend's game.

Here's a slideshow of her birthday party and 2 videos below the slideshow.

Our Week at Hilton Head, South Carolina

We spent the last week in Hilton Head Island with Ed, Joann, Mandy, Stephen, Nick, and Alex. Ed and Joann own a timeshare at Barony Beach and we had a lovely sun-filled week at the beach. Minus the 24 hour food poisoning episode that I had, it was a perfect week. Take a look at some of the highlights of our trip below.

11 Month Update

Hello everyone,

Well Brenna is 11 months old now so it's time to start planning her 1st birthday party :-)! We can't wait to celebrate with all of our family and friends. I'm stealing a lot of things for the party from my neighbor, Allison! For her daughter Cate's first birthday party, she created a "Giving Tree" and asked that guests only bring a $1 bill to hang on the Giving Tree, all of which were donated to St. Jude's Children's Hospital. I thought this was such a great idea that I vowed to steal it which of course I did! I know people sometimes feel weird not bringing a gift, but I am 100% sincere when I say that I hope people only bring something for our giving tree. Brenna is so lucky to be spoiled all year round, I can think of no better gift than teaching her to care for others that are less fortunate. This is also a reminder to Brett and I how lucky we are to have such an amazing and HEALTHY baby girl in our lives. So anyways, check back next month for updates and pictures from the party.

This past month has been filled with so many improvements in Brenna's motor skills. At 10 1/2 months, Brenna finally figured out how to crawl forwards! And ever since then, it's been GO GO GO!!! She's also been walking wonderfully behind her push cart that the Lubers left for us once they moved. She is seriously quick! One of the most memerable events of the past month and Brenna's new found mobility is the unfortunate fall from my bed a couple of weeks ago. I performing our daily ritual of making our bed while Brenna was on it (she loves when I flip and fluff the sheets). I was done making the bed and like all the other mornings I turned around to put my jewelry on and wouldn't you know it but she crawled right off the bed toward me, flipped, and flat-backed right on the floor! It SCARED ME TO DEATH. Needless to say, we both cried and I learned my lesson that she's not going to sit still anymore like she used to. (Don't worry, she's just fine)

Here's a video of her crawling milestone!

Another cute thing she's into this month is peekaboo. She holds up a blanket and giggles everytime! Take a look!



Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last few weeks:

From July 2009

From July 2009

From July 2009

From July 2009

From July 2009

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great time this past Fourth of July. Brett, Brenna, and I went to Abacoa's festival and met up with our playgroup pals before heading back home to our neighborhood block party. I had hoped Brenna would stay up late and watch the fireworks but by 7:30pm she was out. Luckily our monitor reached far enough for Brett and I to hang outside with the neighbors while she slept inside. We were literally SHOCKED that she slept through all the noise of the fireworks. She must have just been exhausted from the heat of the day because normally she'll wake up when there is a bad thunderstorm or something but nope, she slept through the hours and hours of fireworks...some of which were shot off 20 feet from her window.







We had a Fourth-themed playdate this week and Brenna must have been giving off some pheromones or something because everyone wanted to love on her all day. First it was Ella Kate who hugged her so tight, we pretty much had to pry her off of her.



Then it was little Aiden who leaned in for the smooch! I witnessed her first kiss. Here he is going for it!


And he didn't settle for just one! He wanted to kiss her all day long. She is clearly over it!!



And here is Brenna, Marina, and Audrey playing together.


At 10 months, Brenna has both top teeth through now and is making much better progress with crawling forward. She still isnt' the best at it yet, but she can get from one place to another no problem.

Teeth, Anniversary, Father's Day, Da-Da, and Clapping

Hi everyone,

Brenna is almost 10 months old. She has 2 bottom teeth that she's had for a couple months now and she just cut her top right tooth this week. Pretty soon I think it will be in sight. She's been a little fussy with the tooth but not bad. Definitely not as bad as when she was cutting both bottom teeth at the same time.

Since my last post, Brett and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. We went to dinner at Too Bizarre and then to the movies. It was a nice date night while his parents babysat Brenna. The following day, all the boys (Brett, my dad, Brett's dad and Jeff) went fishing for Father's Day while Brenna, Mom, Joann, and I went shopping.

The following day, we celebrated Father's Day just the 3 of us. Brett is such a good dad and husband. We are so lucky! We spent the day just running errands and spending quality time together.

Brenna has been saying Da-Da all the time lately. It's so cute. So now her vocabulary consists of Ga-Ga and Da-Da and she sings along with the ABC song (not the actual letters, more of the sounds and tone of the song). She also can clap her hands and make a monkey face and noise. She's so funny. She has the best giggle as seen below :-)

June Pics

Here are some of my favorite pics from the month so far.


This is the swing we installed on the back patio. She loves it!

And these pics were taken right at 9 months at Picture People...