Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving with family this year. We visited Jamie (who started a blog while I was there, but has no posts, so no link yet), Josh and Rylan along with Grandma & Papaw, Appy Debbie, Chelsea and Rick. We all filled our bellies and enjoyed each other's company. It was raining most of the time, so we were inside, but had a good time. It was amazing to see how much little Rylan has changed - I snapped a cutie patootie picture of him too. Grandma & Papaw followed us home and stayed with Brenna while I worked on Friday. We ventured out to shop a little on Saturday and spent the day getting Christmas decorations set up - the tree is up and lights are on outside. It's beginning to feel like Christmas (except for the warm weather, I don't think I ever get used to that occurring in November/December). Sunday we visited a park to get some fun pictures taken. Chelsea took some great ones of me & Brenna. I'm saving the best one for the Christmas card. We had lots of fun while we were there. We walked around the park, then took a ride on the train (Chelsea's friend hooked us up for free!) and on the carousel. We also fed the ducks before leaving (not my favorite part as there were lots of icky pigeons around too and it was nearly my worst nightmare when the all took off flying at the same time - eeewwww). As we were leaving, I had some car alarm issues and was very thankful that it happened then (with Chelsea) and so close to Appy Debbie's house - phew! All was resolved though and we made it home to finish up with Christmas decorations. What a crazy, busy, fun weekend! Can't wait until we have another fun one.

I'm all out of kisses

Here's the conversation Brenna and I had as we were playing tonight:

M: Can I have a kiss?
B: Nope, I'm all out.
M: What? Can you make some more?
B: Sure. (she proceeds to stick her finger in her mouth and "stir"). Ok, I have more now. (She kisses my cheek)
M: Thanks!
B: I have some hugs too if you want some of those.
M: Yes please! (she proceeds to hug me)
B: Ok, now I have to get more at the store.
M: When are we going to the store?
B: On Thursday
M: We have to wait until Thursday?
B: Yep

I sure do love that girl!

P.S. "M" is for mommy

History!

Brenna predicted history the other night when I asked her who would be elected president. Although I only recall mentioning both of the candidates' names to her once (pointing them out on tv since they were on tv a lot), she retained the information and repeated it back to me! Imagine my surprise when she tells me one night "you're Barack Obama and I'm John McCain!" I asked her who they were and she replied "for president." So I got the video camera - and I didn't talk about my vote with her. I interviewed her about 4 times - she was split even for them - twice she thought Obama would win and twice she thought McCain. Every instance after that, she would mention them both. Either way, I was shocked that she remembered their names after just one conversation, but now she recognizes their faces. It was amazing to witness a history-making moment last night. I am hopeful that we are all in for an improved America under Obama's leadership! And whether you voted for him or not, it is a pretty inspiring time - to see racial barriers knocked down (or at least knocked over) and I think it says a lot about how far we've come as a nation.

Halloween 2008

Halloween was a lot of fun this year - Brenna was counting down as soon as we got the decorations out around the house! She had the trick or treating script memorized early in the month and was very excited to be a fairy princess - what else? She got to wear glittery wings, glittery shoes (thanks to Appy Debbie) and glittery nail polish - perfectly fitting for her this year. There were lots of fun activities for this holiday including a festival at daycare, pumpkin carving with mommy and of course - trick or treating! Daddy came over to our house for trick or treating (as we get used to doing things a little differently) and we walked around the neighborhood. Pretty quickly that bucket was getting heavy and she was asking us to "go home." All that walking with a heavy bucket - just exhausting right? She anxiously waited for more kids to come to the house so she could hand out candy the rest of the night while we watched a Halloween cartoon and then visited with our friends and neighbors! Stay tuned for fun election updates with Brenna!

Laughter makes life full

You know those people who have really great laughs? The kind that you remember forever, that every time you hear it, you can't help but laugh too? My daughter is one of them! I absolutely love her laugh. When it is a really good belly laugh - a geniune laugh - it is one of the greatest sounds. I can think of a few people in my life who have these laughs and even though some are people that I haven't seen or talked to for YEARS I still remember the laughs in my head - and they still make me laugh. Genuine, fun, contagious laughs are the best! I finally got a good video of Brenna's great laugh - I am tickling her like crazy to keep it going - so here it is for all to enjoy.

P.S. you can really see her top teeth here - for those of you who haven't really seen what they are like following her cleft palate repair - you can see that she'll need braces eventually, but they are not so bad!

Cousin meeting

Brenna met her new baby cousin Rylan this weekend. She was so excited - we had a countdown going all week. Saturday morning we woke up and headed south to Tucson. We had a great day of visiting and giving kisses to that precious boy. He is pretty mellow and it was fun to hang out with Aunt Mamie. Jamie and Josh are also doing well and adjusting to parenthood pretty well I think! We didn't get to visit too much with Josh, but will next time. Although it was a mellow day, the time really flew by. I finished the scrapbook I'd been working on for him and we had fun watching Brenna tackle some new puzzles (she is really good at puzzles). If we would've had more time, I think we could've started a blog for him, but things didn't really work out. Some day though....

Here are some adorable pictures of the proud big cousin. Some of the adorable things she said as we prepared to visit: "Mom, I have to squeeze him soft, I can't squeeze him too hard." and "I can't touch his face, just tickle his feet and hands." When I asked what she thought of him, she said "he's pretty." Too cute!

Problem: I washed a pullup

Problem solved: salty cycle

Yep, this weekend when doing laundry, I washed a pullup. I never knew what a pullup (or a diaper for that matter) was made of. I never bothered to care either as long as it served its purpose. These days, we barely need pullups. Brenna wears them at night still because I'm paranoid and don't want to have to be changing sheets in the middle of the night (I actually really enjoy sleeping through the night). Most mornings, well really all mornings for quite awhile now, Brenna's pullup is dry when she wakes up. Sometimes they are recycled for the next night (it is dry after all) but apparently this week, one snuck its way into the hamper with some jammies. I didn't see it when dumping the clothes in the washer. BUT, when I moved the clothes to the dryer, I was horrified to find lots of little balls of gel EVERYWHERE! I panicked a little, not knowing what it was. I initially thought it was one of those little silica gel packets that you find in a new purse or something (I frantically searched the internet for what to do and how dangerous they could be when opened). Nothing found...nothing helpful anyway. So I did the next thing that most people would do - I called my mom. But, busy helping with new baby Rylan, she didn't answer her cell. So, I called my dad. I asked for advice. They didn't know what was in a pullup either and didn't know what I should do. So, I did the next think I think most people would do, I googled "I washed a pullup". Luckily, I was not the first one to do this. I found a blog (on blogger even) where someone posted that they'd done this and fortunatly all of her friends gave some helpful tips. The one that seemed the most promising (translation easy and quick) was to run an empty cycle through the wash of water and salt. So I did that (after I scooped up the gel goop from the washer tub first. While that was running, I shook out the soiled clothes in the back yard. Then, I checked the washer - hooray, gel was gone! Put clothes back in washer, did not add detergent, but added salt. Ta da! It worked. Ran clothes through wash again and dried them...gel free! Quickly told Brenna not to put pullups in the hamper anymore - they go in the garbage can. She agreed and knew that it was not good to put a pullup in the "dishwasher".

Rylan is here!

My baby sister had a baby! Rylan Kae Silliman was born at 4:53pm on September 17, 2008. He weighed 7 lbs, 15 oz and was 21 inches long. I got to go visit them today and he is the most precious little boy (easy to say since I don't have a boy). He is very mellow and alert - he was looking around at us quite a bit. He makes adorable little noises and entertained us all - at under a day old! We can't wait to see him grow and play with his cousin (Brenna didn't come along because she'd been battling some sniffles and a cough and we didn't dare expose Rylan to that). I just know that she will love him so much and smother him with kisses! We all think that he looks like his daddy - but has his mommy's nose. Regardless, he is adorable!

Congratulations Jamie and Josh - you are already fabulous parents!! Love you!

Princess Brenna

She's been a princess since the day she was born - sometimes even a "baby queen" around Papaw. For her birthday this year, she recieved many princess related gifts and she LOVES them. Most of the time, she prefers to be in her dress up clothes rather than her regular clothes and very often she changes as soon as we get home. Sometimes the princess outfit is even put on top of her everyday clothes. If she can't be in her full outfit, she at least has the shoes on. She plays in her princess outfits, eats in them and even naps in them. She is very aware of using other princess items, such as her princess plate (a request at nearly every meal) her princess ball, her princess cup, princess washcloth and her princess toothbrush. Of course we regularly watch princess movies too! Thank goodness for her sweet nature - she is truly a treasure to me. She is quite the trooper as we go through some major adjustments and is so innocently optimistic about things that have quite a different effect on me. Without her kind, giving spirit this would be a much more difficult time for me. Thank God for this beautiful angel! Outside of being a princess, she is also quite the performer. She'll go on for quite awhile singing various songs and doing different dances - and if I'm videoing, she'll do even more (she also really likes watching herself). So, enjoy the video below. This one was one of the last in a concert she gave last weekend. Before I started recording, she said that she was going to sing "Old McDonald had a Farm" but it is important to note that the song just before was "B-I-N-G-O". Cutie patootie if I do say so myself!

Happy birthday Brenna!!!!

Crazy at it may seem, our little bundle arrived THREE years ago! She has been such a joy in my life and makes me laugh on a daily basis. She is loving, smart, playful, beautiful and the shining sun of my life! Since we had some family already in town for the baby shower, we decided to have a small gathering for her birthday the next day. Both sets of grandparents visited and some friends too. Brenna got lots of fun dress up clothes, puzzles, clothes and books - all of her favorite things these days! She also got her first bicycle! We wrapped the helmet for her to open first and when she opened it, the conversation went like this:

Brenna: "It's for my bicycle"

Mommy: "Do you have a bicycle?"

Brenna: "No"

Daddy: "I think there's one more present outside"

Upon walking (okay running) outside the front door - Brenna: "I DO have a bicycle!"

It was absolutely one of the most precious moments in her life and made us all laugh. She immediately tried it out before having some cake. It will take some time to develop those skills, but it sure was cute to watch her try! She also gave me an interview for her birthday - something I will plan to make an annual tradition and it is posted below. I can't wait to see what other fun she will bring me in the coming year!

Baby shower!

Last weekend I hosted a baby shower for my baby sister! She is expecting her first little bundle of joy in September and we had a great party for her. I was pretty proud of my ideas and games and had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for the party. I took ideas from the decor that she has planned for his (yes a boy!) room and stuck with the blue, brown, stars and circles for as much as I could. I made some fun centerpieces, tried my hand at an "edible arrangement" and made a train veggie tray. We played fun games including: Guess the baby food (no tasting involved), My water broke (plastic babies in ice cubes), Nursery Rhyme jeopardy and baby items on a tray. Jamie got lots of great gifts and good company! Brenna was nice enough to share her birthday to have a party for Mamie's baby and all turned out well. Brenna loves hugging Aunt Mamie's belly (Jamie may not like me for posting this picture, but it is sooo cute). We are all looking forward to baby Silliman making his appearance and can't wait to see what it's like to have a baby boy in the family! Brenna is most excited to meet her baby cousin too and talks about him all the time. Congrats to Jamie and Josh - hope I can get them to start a blog too =)

Cake and a puppet show

This weekend, Brenna helped me make a cake. She got to pick out the flavor of the cake and the frosting (white and lemon) and then helped get it ready. We decided to use our new pan that can be used in the microwave - to keep from heating up the house and it was fun. I learned some new lessons about the microwave cake - it needed to cool in the pan for longer than I allowed it - we lost quite a bit of the frosting unfortunately. But, Brenna had fun and that's what matters. She didn't really want to try it afterward, she wanted candy, not cake. Go figure.

Then, we went to a birthday party for blog friend Jason! It was at the puppet theatre, so it was Brenna's first puppet show! She got to make her own brown bag puppets, decorate a cute little hard hat (it was a boy party), watch a puppet show, touch one of the puppets, eat some snacks/cake, and play pin the tail on the donkey (a blow up version!) She had a great time too!

Show Low 4th of July

As far back as I can remember, I have linked the 4th of July with the annual Show Low parade and fireworks. My family always lived close enough to the parade route that we could walk with our lawn chairs and watch the horses, firetrucks, cheerleaders, politicians and the Shriners in their little cars. Since the 4th has not fallen on a weekend for awhile - we haven't been to the parade for awhile either! This year, we were able to take a trip up north to celebrate Independence Day - Show Low style and we had a great time! We started the day bright (well, dark) and early, avoided lots of traffic and made it into town before the parade started. Luckily, due to some excellent planning (not on my part) we had reserved spaces on the parade route and had great seats. Brenna was decked out in her "July outfit" as she called it and enjoyed the parade with Gramma and Papaw Pearson and friends. She got lots of candy, loved the princesses on the horses, and covered her ears for the firetrucks. Unfortunately, there were no Shriner's cars. Daddy was working hard helping Pepaw and Grandma, so he didn't join us, but see below....

After the parade, we went to our family-friend's house for some hot dogs, homemade ice cream and fun! Brenna loved playing with the other kids and running through the sprinkler. We got to visit with lots of friends and LOVED the beautiful weather. What a nice vacation from the hot weather we are used to. We didn't make it to the fireworks - we were way too tired. The last time she saw fireworks, she was scared of them anyway, so maybe next year!

We then made our way to Grandma and Pepaw's house where Brenna got to help daddy in the backhoe - she thought that was pretty cool! She also got to play with their puppy, Brownie, who she loves. We enjoyed some quality time with them and got some free babysitting too =). Justin also had a mini class reunion with some old highschool classmates, where we enjoyed more nice weather, good food and visiting.

It was a really great, busy weekend in some beautiful weather, and fun times with family and friends - a great way to celebrate life in America.

Patriotic project

Earlier in the month, Grandma Harvey and Aunt Tonya came to visit. Brenna got to spend a couple of days hanging out with them, going shopping, out to eat and just having fun! On their last night, Aunt Tonya had a project idea. She had purchased a Bible to send to a soldier serving our country. Inside the Bible was some space to write a message and she thought it would be fun for Brenna to make a bookmark too. We pulled out my scrapbook stuff and made two bookmarks. Brenna made one all on her own, cutting the edges of the paper for some texture, then adding star stickers and writing her own messages with crayon. Tonya wrote messages on the other bookmark and inside the Bible and read a passage as a prayer for the soldier who would recieve our gift. Brenna had a great time and I really enjoyed having a project for her to do that would benefit someone other than ourselves. Thanks for the great idea Aunt T! We are so glad we got to visit with you and Grandma for a few days!

Greer getaway

Nine years ago on June 12th, Justin and I got married! It is hard to believe that it was 9 years ago. Sometimes, it feels like just yesterday. Other days, it feels like we've been together forever. Either way, we are still in love and enjoyed some time away from home this weekend. We left Brenna with Grandma and Papaw (everyone involved was excited about this arrangement) and spent a night away in Greer. We rented (?) a small cabin and enjoyed dinner, wildlife walk (we even saw a deer up close and personal) and some time to ourselves. It was a wonderful getaway - even though much of our conversation revolved around our little nugget. We missed her! But we had a great time and really enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenery.

Which one is real?

I'm hoping this is an easy question. Yes, Justin got a tattoo - the permanent kind. He can't deny his Irish roots, or the fact that he likes dark beer (Guinness to be specific), so now it is permanently documented on his left shoulder. Brenna also got a tattoo that day, but of the temporary kind. It shows off her love of Dora the Explorer!

Little gardener

This was a couple of weekends ago, but I'm a little behind....Brenna helped me plant some flowers in our front flower bed that had been flower-free for some time. Sadly, our yard lacked some color, so now we have some. She was very excited to shop for them, and to plant them. She enjoys checking them everyday to see how they are doing.

May

I really didn't think that I would let a month go by with no update, but I did it. So, here is our month in review (with only a few days left to go - geez oh pete)!

Mother's Day - what a special weekend! Justin, Brenna and I just did our normal weekend activities. Justin made it special by just doing the things I wanted to do - no matter how boring. On Sunday, I got to sleep in a bit, had breakfast and then enjoyed some time with our friends the Esmays. We went to the mall (hoping to play in the splashpad - which was broken) so came back to the house for some kiddie pool swimming. Brenna and Conner enjoyed the cool water - the weather was nice and warm for it!

Bun head - during bath one night, I made a soapy bun on Brenna's head and then she wanted it the rest of the night, so for the first time, she got a bun. She kept telling me that she wanted a "sponge" and then when she saw herself, she said "I'm a pumpkin!" Of course, she had to wear a bun to school the next day too - to show her friends and teachers. Just one of the adorable things she had said or done this month.

Dogsitting - We had a visiting dog for a few days and Brenna was attached immediately. Jack stayed with us and Brenna had quite the playmate. Since Scruffy has gotten older, he has less interest in chasing balls, toys, etc. Usually his attention span is short for that kind of activity. But Jack really had the energy for Brenna - they got along great (and with Scruffy too).

Memorial day in the pool! We enjoyed some time in the water (during the coolest Memorial Day in a very long time) thanks to our friends/neighbors who just built a new pool! Brenna had a blast playing with her friends. When she was done playing, she told the water bye!

Last but not least, a little song and dance (spin) from our little performer. She sings nonstop - making up songs, singing about things like pants, macaroni and cheese and princesses. She is so much fun and very entertaining. Here she is with a well-known song, Baa Baa Black Sheep.

Stay tuned for June!

Silly goose

Our Brenna is such a silly goose these days. Between the "why" and the "but why" comments, she cracks us up. Sometimes it is intentional - she knows she is a ham and loves to make people laugh. Other times it is not intentional and we have to face the other way so she won't see us laughing at how cute her inappropriate behavior is. Either way, she is a joy to have around and we love spending time with her. This week, Justin has been working on his motorcycle a lot. She likes to hang out in the garage with him and even has a few sets of "garage clothes" - clothes that can get dirty and it doesn't matter if the stains don't come out (in most cases, they've been stained already and we can't get them out anyway). She knows that she needs those on if she is going out to the garage. If it gets noisy, he gives her some "earmuffs" to wear to protect her hearing. She loves them so much that she wears them even when she's not around the noisy motorcycle. They make her cheeks look like chipmunk cheeks and it is precious. This morning, while taking a break from the garage, I found her walking around the living room like this - garage clothes, earmuffs and mommy's heels. She happily posed for a picture. Oh and you can kind of see that our walls are no longer white (hooray). See my other blog for info on that. I digress....anyway, Brenna is such a fun little girl. We enjoy that she is sometimes tomboy - sometimes girly-girl, shares easily with others, has a great sense of humor, says amazingly smart things, is learning to play well independently and says "I love you" before we say it to her. She is a precious part of our lives!

Best friend

This weekend, Brenna told me "you're my best friend mommy" and my heart completely melted. She and I have so much fun together and I love that she enjoys our time so much that she would think to say that to me. It will be one of those things that I never forget. Even though she and I share some not-so-great moments too (which I'm sure will always be part of the package) we truly do have a special relationship and I hope that we have it for the rest of our lives. I know it is not the healthiest thing to be your child's best friend - and that is not what I really desire. But, I have faith that she and I will always be friends and I hope that she will always consider me a friend to her.