Christmas Day 2009

Ok, well the video is too long to show her coming around the corner & seeing what Santa brought, but lets just say she liked everything! She walked directly to her new toys with a big smile on her face & sat down to play.
Pajama Brunch was again fun, with everyone showcasing their new Christmas PJ's. We all tried several new recipes in an Allergy free cookbook I received from St. Nick, & was surprisingly good! I always enjoy Meres' kids gift giving, as they get to go to the dollar store & pick gifts to give everyone. I can't wait for Brooklyn to be able to do this too! My fave this year was a 'stay out of politics' book for Uncle Sean from Quinton. (My all time favorites are still the Sponge Bob house slippers for Granny & cherry body butter for their uncle Tony)
She seemed to enjoy climbing on her presents just as much as receiving the actual gift. For example-her wagon was a long thin box that was out in the entry hallway. They propped her on top of it & let her ride it into the living room. When we got her down to open the box, she just wanted to climb & ride again. In one of these photos, she's jumping on her new bean bag prior to opening!
Poor Sean got a 'sick bug' & spent most of the day out of sight. The rest of us fullfilled Quintons' request to play Monopoly with the slight Christmas twist: Grinchopoly. I'm hoping for a return of Mimi's specialty drinks of Banana Foster & Tiramisu shots next year!

Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve & Day had numerous last minutes changes, but best of all, was the improvement in Uncle Tommys' health. We look forward to an Eve celebration at their home next year! This year, Brooklyn & I met mom & went to St. Joes for Christmas Eve mass. Haven't been there since 8th grade graduation, & it was nice to see several people I grew up with & their new families. This was the childrens' mass & a lot of singing occured, which Brooklyn enjoyed bopping her head to. Of course the books of Clifford meets Santa & Pat the Bunny helped as well. The children playing Nintendo DS, burping, telling jokes & eating beef jerky (which B about leaped out of my arms to try & get ahold of) in the pew directly behind us did not help! After mass, we headed back to moms for a nice dinner. One advantage to having a pack rat mom is that your child has ALL KINDS of things to play with! Mom has washed all of our old baby doll clothes & repacked them in our barbie suitcase along with my old cabbage patch dolls & a few others. She piled all of them in the center of the room as well as several stuffed animals & just enjoyed collecting her 'babies.'
Putting on her Christmas PJ's, we bundled her up & headed home- in plenty of time for Santas' big arrival.
Pics forthcoming- and as a side note, Sean isn't pictured b/c he had to work today...but next year his loving wife has suggested (strongly, strongly requested) that next year he take the day off & join us at church. :)

Visiting SANTA

WOW! No screaming! She sat right on santas' lap, stared him down for a quick minute, attempted to pull his beard (a quick diversion from Santa of a coloring book) & did answer his question of "Have you been a good girl?" with "goo girl" & a head nod.

All I want for Christmas IS 2 more teeth!

All bottom four are in now, as well as another one on the bottom left. Think I'm about to move from the rubber end toothbrush on my finger to the real thing; I keep getting bit!

Hmmmmm....what is all this white stuff?

Our first snowfall of the year gave us a mere 2 inches- just enough to cover the grass & leave the roads clear for a drive in to work this morning. She wasn't quite sure what to do with the snow, except when I made a snowball, she put her arms out to catch it.

Cookin' with my Mimi

Mimi brought over a great lunch & we whipped up some Brooklyn safe blueberry pancakes....tasters were ready & even made some extras for the freezer. YUMMY!

Ear surgery

Everything went great. We arrived at 6:30 & was on our way home within 2 hours. She was less than enthused about the ankle bracelet she had to wear, but in between her Frosty the Snowman (wearing the scrubs), the new book they gave her, & the super nice doctors & nurses, she was easily distracted. We went back with her for anesthesia, & then headed to the waiting room....for just under 15 minutes & the surgery was complete.
A little off with balance, but in a great mood most of the day!

Another tooth in! Top right.

I love this video! I just said his name for the first time today.

It took me a week to finish the tree this year! I brought the box up & for 2 days, a little girl was very curious as to what was inside. We opened the box together & she pulled out the first branch. The tree & lights went up the first night. And she didn't bother it for 2 days. So I added garland. And didn't touch it. So I added ornaments. And she wouldn't leave it alone! 5 ornaments met little hands that day, but since then it's safe. :) Hope she gets insane curiousity again once Santa comes!

My kitchen helper

I certainly don't need as much help as what's offered when it comes to opening cabinet doors! Spatulas and wooden spoons are the "must have" item, before heading in front of the pantry to sit on the griddle box & bang away. It doesn't matter if its breakfast either, if the fridge door opens, we're likely going to get something out that SHOULD have ketchup on it. This part started the night Sean tried ( & succeeded) to make her special chicken tenders. She also saves me time when it comes time for apples. No longer do we want it cut up, she wants the entire thing. (and for those concerned, yes, I do sit by her to make sure she doesn't get too big of a bite.) She's growing up so quickly.

Ok, I just had to post this one too! This hat & glove stuff is too cute, & she just looks so little! I know it won't last long.

whatcha doin' up there da-da?

Thanksgiving Pics

Mommie boo-boo...I didn't pack toys for her, so she found her own: a crock pot insulation case. She carried it all around, & then used it as a pillow! After that, she was addicted to playing darts (magnetic ones) with Uncle Steve. Here she is, running towards Mimi for her photo session with her cousins.

Blogging Updates

Met with Doctor Cotton this week. Essentially said fluid isn't draining well from B's ears & that's what he believes is causing her ear infections. She's scheduled for surgery in early Dec. Everyone I've talked with says this is an easy surgery, so I've got it tucked in the back of brain for now. I'm sure Sean will hide all caffeine from me that day to prevent me from pacing hallways 'till its thru.

A new tooth has also popped thru! Usually she wants me to rub her bottom right gums, so was completely surprised to find one in the top left that was more than 1/2 way down.

I'm going to count the 18th as her official "she's walking" date. She was sitting down playing with her Elmo See & Say, stood up & walked to the kitchen asking for her cup. She been walking around ever since. YEAH. (or not.??)

Vocabulary is ever changing. Tonight she handed me to pieces to one of her toys, a pink & orange one. I handed the orange circle back to her, stating its color & she said looked up & said orange. Sean & I just stared at each other & laughed. She also says school,Ernie & Aydan (her cousin) very clearly. I admit, I had a proud mommie moment when at her 1 yr doctor appointment they asked if she can say Ma-ma & Da-da as a 1 yr milestone.-we're at 10+. (Ma-ma, Da-da, Allie (ok-it's "Eye-ya), Aydan, Ernie, Elmo, cup, night-night, hi, school, orange, ball,sock, Mimi, baby (that's all I can think of right now!)

At her doc appointment, she's now 20lbs & 1 year. Milestone to say she can sit in a forward facing car seat now. We've ordered one for her for Christmas, but we're in no rush- her current car seat can go to 30lbs & we all love it.

We just spend Thanksgiving at Seans' Aunt & Uncles' house. Food was fantastic, as was the company. Mimi let us borrow her webcam & we were able to Skype with my dads' family. It's was great "seeing" everyone. If anyone wants to Skype with us, let me know!! Friday we headed to Lexington to catch up with more family & friends. Brooklyn started helping me put up the Christmas tree when we got home. She had been banging on the box since I brought it up from downstairs, but amazingly, since its been up, she's hasn't been very curious about it. We'll see what happens when I get the ornaments on. :) Keep your fingers crossed for good weather tomorrow- Sean & his dad are working on the outside lights for me!

How daddy spends his Sat. mornings

BEEP, BEEP!!

Using our Birthday gift card

We went to Build a Bear yesterday. I got a odd look when I handed her the bear 'skins' & put the display bear back on the shelf.( "No, no no" & pointing to the filled bear!) She kept going back & forth b/w a black cub & brown teddy bear, we ended up going with the brown one that was a little bit bigger. She picked out a heart, kissed it & put it in the bear & LOVED being able to step on the pedal to stuff it with fluff! Our "she" bear, named "Teddy" for now, is even wearing a Happy birthday shirt! Thank Greg & Heather!

Got a bug...seems like lots of family & friends are posting pics of new hairdo's; here's mine- 3.5 inches less!

Yep, that's Sean teaching her how to play basketball.........with her UK soccerball. (say what??)

My first Birthday Party

Had a great first party, with over 35 family & friends. ( I have also come to realize finding a cut off number for a birthday party is a LOT harder than for wedding.)
Three favorite memories: Kellys' girls wore Elmo shirts to the party. Brooklyn went to hug elmo on their shirts & ended up knocking each of the girls over (ages 3-6!) They were all laughing! We also had a what I call a present mob. I've never been surrounded by so many little ones all shouting open mine first, open mine first! They were so excited to be at the party. Memory number 3 comes from our little one taking more than 2 steps. She's taking 4 & 5 at a time now. Gooooo Brooklyn!

I started my birthday in my super cool b-day pj's eating my Gluten Free Chex Mix Cereal!

Next Brooklyn & I headed out to Totter Otterville to play in the ball zone.

We met Mimi & Grandma Kay at Applebee's for lunch. The restaurant sang happy birthday & brought out some applesauce (the ice cream had egg ingredients), & opened a new jean purse & baby doll presents. I even got a very special booty necklace from Brooklyn (from Mimi during their England travels).
We headed home & were greeted with visits from our neighbors, Lexi Howard & The Shupes & our friends Pam & Eric (who may or may not still be our friends after seeing the crying tizzy of a very tired birthday girl!)

Daddy made me some homemade french fries to dip in my new love, ketchup.

I opened a few cards & gifts, put on my new monkey pj's & called it a night. Here I'm opening the first one that came in the mail from Aunt Susan & Aunt Brooke. A few super-yawns later, she quickly fell asleep! What a BIG, fun birthday!

Halloween Outfits

Well, I'm glad we made it to Mere's party last week. Going thru our costume box, I found a big & little m&m outfit, Sean decided to be Eminem. (we'll watch 8 mile together one day, baby girl.) Mimi was Mother Nature & Brooklyn wanted to wear her wig. Can't believe she left it on as long as she did. No outfits, or props scared her! She stayed awake until 10, and didn't stay awake long enough to be fully out of the driveway. :) Next year, Brooklyn will get to see how fun Trick or Treat is on our street. Sean & I are both very under the weather today(swine flu?). Seans' nephews are still recovering from last week so they stayed home tonight too. We did get Brooklyn dressed up as a lady bug, and made it over to one house, where she got an apple in her Elmo bag. (photos forthcoming- different disk)

Photos from Wed & Thurs. Went to the park w/ Kelly & the girls for a few hours today. Was going to go test new car seats for her afterwards but starting to feel under the weather. Too bad too, it's 70 degrees, & nice out!
Wed., giggle puss is watching daddy mulch the leaves out the back window. They wave & laugh at each other every time he comes back across.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Mimi & Grandpers came over tonight to watch Brooklyn for a few hours so Sean & I could go out with his (former) co-workers for a Goodbye party @ The Pub. Brooklyn watched the UK cheerleaders on TV for Big Blue madness & put her arms in the air to mimick them. (oh-no.....not a cheerleader!)

We headed up to Deatons this afternoon to pick out of pumpkins. Sean took Thursday & Friday off so we could have a few family days before he begins his new job on Monday. How great is that! She's feeling so much better now that the teeth are thru & her ear infection meds are doing their job. (She's built an immunity to ammoxocillin!)

Top right is thru too

Look close, you'll see two top teeth.

No need for the song

"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth." Her top left broke thru last night. Top right isn't far behind.

Fever week

Since Monday night, we've been above 100 degrees, & as high as 104.3 (Th. am) After a prescription for a Z-pack on Wed., we headed right back in to the doc this afternoon to find out she has a ruptured ear drum. Poor girl. This makes #4 for ear infections in less than a year, so as you might guess, they're recommending tubes. Just in time for couch cuddling & recovery, Gpa/Gma Boutelle sent some books....and very tasty ones at that! (One is a foam Seasame Street with pop out characters.) Mimi also brought over a "My first Halloween," which shows kids in various costumes. She likes the witch & the page with the bat!
We've also started saying uh-oh. It started when we said "uh-oh, bad cough." So now when she says it, the "uh" is more of a cough sound, followed by a "oh." It's very cute. I'll get video tomorrow if she's feeling better. Cross your fingers she has a quick recovery.

Getting Updated

Ok- so I know its been awhile. lets catch up. Blood tests show a .6 level allergy to milk. It would need to be a 1 to be 'official,' but since she's reacting, milk is off the table for a little while. Not sure which hurdles are worse- these or the ones I tried during high school track.
I just got back from a 4 day trip to Columbus. I can't believe some of the changes she's made in that short of a time period. Gaining confidence in standing without holding on, we are now taking one step and then a fall. Will she be officially walking by 1? Her vocabulary is also expanding. Making the list are Elmo, Ba-ba (bottle),Mimi & Goat. Yep, goat! On Friday, I took her to the Wool festival where they had a childrens' petting area. I had been sharing with her the name of each animal as we saw them. I bent down to let her see a 4 mos. old baby goat & she looked right at me & repeated it. Too cute! Then "mama goat" came over by her & I got the death grip & a few tears. Cows freaked her out too, but the calf got an "Awww..." Obviously, size matters. :)
Can't believe she'll be a year old next month; what an amazing year. (note to self:Start working on those party details!)

Do anyone have a giant bubble I can put her in?

Seriously. We were told Milk was safe. But this is the result from milk dropping on her belly from her sippy cup. Headed in for blood work today. She did great- not even a whimper.

I know its not a toy, but this entertains her the last 3 nights: playing with buckles, crawling in & making it rock.

A baby & her Da-da

Little one crawled into Sean's lap this morning & fell asleep. Too cute. Oh the things I miss by working weekends.

Whew......

I laid Brooklyn down for a late afternoon nap today since she kept rubbing her eyes. I was getting ready to do a load of laundry so I took her snack stained clothes off & was going to let her nap in just her diaper. Won't do that again! Went into her room after 15 minutes since I could hear her just playing & found her diaper on the floor & a naked baby in bed! She was bouncing up & down & crawling all over the place, happy as could be! So glad her bed didn't become a potty.

Ok, so I think its official-chocolate isn't an allergen. I let her try chocolate fondue on Grandparents day, & this afternoon I made chocolate cupcakes (cherrybrook farms) & she is still hive free- a big yeah from Mommie on this one.
Had my first choking scare today. She stuck her fingers in her mouth & jammed her teething cookie further back in her throat & turned it sideways. I couldn't get her out of her seat fast enough. Luckily I was able to reach it with my fingers & it was out quick. I could do without this happening again.
I made our fall front door wreath. Since my lovely husband said "no you didn't, you bought that," I take it as a HUGE compliment. What do you think? Last year when I was putting fall stuff away, Allie decided she'd find unique ways to get my attention. I came back upstairs to find the living room covered with leaves & Styrofoam pumpkins. I was able to salvage the wreath itself but put in all new leaves, berries & pumpkins. My first crafty project that turned out decent!

Happy Grandparents Day

A nice visit, a few cards, & chocolate fondue. What could be better?

CIncinnati Museum

Today was a Free Friday so we headed over to the Museum center, where all 3 areas were accessable. I took her down to the Childrens area first. What fun!! At first I thought she may be too young, but she pushed grocery carts, played in the sand, hit bongos, crawled thru tunnels, & made a new friend, Phin & much more! I'm sure it will be a place we head back to. The video is dark but you'll see what she's 'talking' about.