Brenna, All About You At 3!!

Happy Birthday, Brenna!  You are 3 years old today!!!  What a year it's been.  You have definitely grown up so much this year.  And we have hit so many milestones.  I'm so proud of you how well you've done in so many different areas. 

For starters, the Pacy Fairy came and you completely said goodbye to your pacies that you loved so much.  By 2 1/2 you were Pacy Free and you really handled it so well.  Only a few tears at the very beginning.  I thought this transition would be much tougher than it was.  The Pacy Fairy left you a letter and a little bear and you still talk about them and know who gave them to you.  The dentist could really tell a difference too.

Then you found out you were going to be a big sister.  You insisted from the very beginning that you would be getting a little sister and if we even mentioned the possibility that it could be a baby brother, you would break down in tears.  Well you were right, you are getting a baby sister and she will be here soon!  I know you will be a big helper once she arrives...just as long as she doesn't take your stuff because you will tell me "Mommy, I don't want to share."  This could be a problem....

Our next big step was getting your big girl bed.  Bye-Bye Crib.  You loved your crib and slept really well in it...never once did you climb out, couldn't quite figure out how some of your friends could climb in and out...you needed a little boost.  You've done beautifully in your bed. It took about a week where we had to reverse the lock so you couldn't run out when you wanted to, and you were not happy about that but it wasn't long before you slept in your bed all night by yourself.

Lastly, you are 100% potty trained!  Yay!!!  This was a lot easier than I anticipated (for once something was easier)...you did a great job.  We introduced the idea around 2 and you weren't quite ready but a few months in and you pee pee'd on the potty like a champ.  It took another 2 months to conquer #2 but overall you caught on so fast and you rarely have any accidents.  Even at night, you will call for mommy if you have to go.  We really lucked out here, thanks for throwing us a bone in this department, boo boo!

You still go to Holy Spirit Lutheran Preschool and just started in the 3 year old class.  Now you go to school on Tues,Wed, and Thursday.  Mommy works while you are at school so we can play together during the times you are home. On Monday we have dance class and on Fridays we go to storytime at the library.  Our days are filled with fun activities with some TV time and book time sprinkled in there too. 

Your favorite shows right now are Dora the Explorer and anything Princess related.  You like many different books (we are at the library a lot swapping our books and DVD's).  Mommy has to read the princess ones because "you're a girl" and Daddy reads the other ones.  You like to read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  You have such a cute high and squeaky voice. 

You are a really big helper in the kitchen. You like to make smoothies with Daddy and bake cookies with Grandma Joann. 

You like to talk like a grown-up.  You get in this moods where you are the mommy or the teacher and talk to daddy and me like we are the kids.  You might say "Mommy, did you drop that toy on the floor (even if I didn't), you can't do that mommy, you're making a mess, you need to clean it up.  And tell my baby you're sorry, you stepped on her foot (even if I didn't) and you hurt her. Tell her you are sorry, Mommy, alwight?  Alwight, Mommy?  Did you hear me?  I'm talking to you"

As you can tell, you talk A LOT!  You can have a conversation about anything and it's fun teaching you things and watching you learn and retain.

Personal space:  This is big for you with your friends.  You don't like running hugs from friends and you don't want anyone to grab your hand without asking first.  You are affectionate but you just don't like to be caught off guard.  You need to feel like you have control in the situation.

We love you sooooo much!!!!  I can't wait to see what year 3 brings! 

Here we go again!

In case you missed our recent facebook announcement....


Yep, we are very happy to announce that our family is growing!  Brenna's new brother or sister will arrive around October 16, 2011.  We are very blessed and lucky to be expecting especially since I know that the process of growing one's family does not happen so easily for everyone.  With Brenna, I got pregnant right away.  With this one it took slightly longer than immediately so it did give me a little bit more understanding for anyone who feels the disappointment in wishing they were pregnant.  So we are very thankful and I am trying my best to savor this pregnancy knowing that this will most likely be my last.  Sooo, how am I feeling you ask?

LIKE CRAP, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ASKING.

I am not one of these people that love being pregnant.  In fact when people tell me "oh I just love being pregnant", I think "really?  come on...are you serious? do you want me to punch you?"  In fact some of my friends are on baby #3 in less than 4 years and I honestly don't know how they are doing it.  Did they have very easy pregnancies?  Are they as tired as I am all the time?  Do they feel nauseous morning, noon, and night?  Have they had to get up from bed to puke?  No?  Just me?  Ok then. 

But at least I know what to expect this time around.  I feel pretty much exactly the same as I did when I was pregnant with Brenna only slightly less crazy. I still feel very hormonal but not as straight up crazy as I did the first time around...probably just because I know what I'm feeling is normal.  Another difference is that while I was nauseous all the time with Brenna in the first trimester, I never actually vomitted.  This time my dinner has come back up to say hello quite a few different times and I hate throwing up.  So disgusting.

I am hopeful that by week 14, my nausea will be gone and my energy back up.  That's what happened the first time so fingers crossed that I'll be feeling a lot better soon. 

Brenna is excited and insists on 2 things:  1) that she has a baby in her belly button and 2)  the baby will be a girl.  If we tell her that we don't know if it's a girl or a boy she breaks down and sobs that "Nooo, it's a girl"  Hmmm, she'll either be super excited or heart-broken. 

But despite not feeling well, I am truly so excited and happy to be expecting again. I found out I was pregnant after I had gone to NYC to visit Schecky for the weekend.  I tested when I got back and to my happy surprise, I got the 2 little lines 3 different times. So I went to the library and got a bunch of children's books about being a big sister and expecting a new baby in the house.  When Brett got home from work, I told him that Brenna had picked out some new books from the library that she wanted him to read to her.  He got it right away from the first book he pulled out and was very excited.  Yay!

Our little blueberry at 7+ weeks


Our little "large plum" at 12 weeks



2011 will be the year of the baby boom, with my brother, Jeff, and his wife, Jackie, expecting a baby boy in early August.  Cheers to new babies!!!

Brenna's Favorite Things: Dance Class and Merry-Go-Round!

Two of Brenna's favorite activities right now at amost 2 1/2, is surely dance class, which is every Monday morning and riding the new Merry-Go-Round at Downtown at the Gardens.  Here she is strutting her cute stuff at dance...

Her favorite part of class is when you get to hop like a frog on the colored spots.  She also loves when it's time to clean up the spots and she tries to pick up as many as possible and rush them back to Ms. Jessica.

And if we pass Downtown at the Gardens without stopping at the Merry-Go-Round, I will surely hear about it for hours on end.  I estimate that in 3 months the carousel has been there, we have probably ridden at least 40 times.  But look at how happy it makes her.  Thank God, Brett's coworker gave us a bunch of free passes or I'd have spent a fortune by now.

We recently went to Trey's 2nd birthday.  You can read all about it on my other blog (Click here).  It was really something.  Here are a just a few pics of Brenna from the party. 

This one was taken by Brooke.  She's so talented.  Not only are her pictures gorgeous but I admire her for how it seems like she never gets burnt out.  It takes A LOT of time to edit these and she is always posting new pics of Maren and Maren's friends for everyone to enjoy.  Some of my all time favorite pics of Brenna have been taken by either Brooke or my friend Lauren.  It's great to have friends who are great photogs!

Professional Photos - Holidays 2010

I live for Christmas cards.  I love getting them in the mail.  I especially love the ones with a nice coordinating and sometimes awkward family photo so I can see how everyone's families have grown and changed in a year's time.  The more perfect the families appear, the funnier I find the picture.  That goes for my own family pictures as well.  I love displaying the cards I receive and when I go to someone's house during the Holidays, I almost always look through their pile of cards even if I have no idea who the families are. I love it!

And yes I totally get that it's a little narcissistic to get the family all dressed up in coordinating outfits and get professional photographs done each year but I don't care.  Call me vain, roll your eyes at what is the adorableness of Brenna's Ralph Lauren ensemble (Thank you, Aunt Schecky) but as long as I have the littlest of strength left in my body in the month of December, I will schlept my family out to the beach or some grassy knoll and get a picture taken.   Because for that one second, it appears that we have it all together and I find that delightful and amusing.  I probably have residual snot in my hair and I may be bribing my kid with a lollipop or the empty threat of NEVER RIDING THE MERRY-GO-ROUND AGAIN, but you will never know that by the looks of our photo. :-)

My very good friend and photog, Lauren Donovan, of Lauren Donovan Photography took these pics.  Kudos to you Lauren.  I love them!!!  Thank you for your patience and beautiful work!

Christmas 2010

For some reason, I've been really burnt out with the blogging lately so I took a nice long break to just enjoy the moments themselves without hopping to the computer to record them right away.  I hope I can get back into it on a semi-regular basis because I know that I will love to look back and read all about our lives "when".  I also do this because I hope Brenna and any other future kids will also look back and see a glimpse into what life was like when they were little.   So without further adieu, here is our Christmas 2010 Recap!

We had such a nice Christmas this year.  We started out by baking cookies for Santa...

Pouring some milk for him and leaving some carrots for the reindeer.

Before bedtime, we needed to taste for quality-assurance.

In the middle of the night, Santa arrived and even left snowy footprints.

Brenna woke up around 5am and I brought her in our room past all the presents (which luckily she didn't even notice) and we all slept a few more hours in our bed.  Brett and I got up and started breakfast before Brenna came stumbling out.  She was half-asleep so didn't have a huge reaction to everything but she did enjoy playing with all her new toys and discovering new ones all throughout the morning. 

Daddy and Brenna playing with Mr. Potato Head in her new Monkey Tent.

Dress Up Time

One of my favorite memories was skyping with the grandparents and Brenna showing them all the goodies Santa brought her.


Christmas Eve at the Bloom House

Grammy fixing Brenna's hair....there's always a lot of this going on.