Birthday Party Fun!

Brenna's giraffe cake - made by Mommy and Nana

Mommy's girl

self-taken picture by Daddy

smash cake

YUM!

Try some, Nanie!

I love Grandma Abel!

Eat some cake, Maw-Maw!

Brenna with her grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and great-grandfather.

sharing with Grandpa Halsey

some of Brenna's gifts

cute dress from Lisa, Kevin, and Emilie

She loved the cards!

B's first golf set from Uncle Brandan and Rachel

Lovin on Great Aunt Becky

We set the date (March 5), booked the room (Chrisiansburg Rec Center - Our house is tooo little!ewwwwwE`), and sent out invitations. That's kinda where the "we" part ended - sorry babe! I decided on a girly giraffe theme for her party since she seems to like her giraffe stuffed animals and it was her Halloween costume and all. I ordered a lot of the supplies online and picked up the rest at a local party store and Wal-Mart. I scheduled the party for 11:30 - 1:30 so Brenna would be between naps. She decided to only take a 30 minute nap that morning (of course!) but she hung in there and took a great afternoon nap as soon as we got home. We are so thankful to our friends and family who came to celebrate our sweet girl's first year with us.

Happy Birthday Brenna!

Dear Brenna,


You are ONE YEAR OLD. Today is the day that we remember all the memories we've made over the last 365 days as a family of 3. In some ways I can't remember life without you. In other ways it seems like you were born last week. Daddy and I talk all the time about how much our lives have been enriched since you came in to them. You are a blessing to so many people - most of all me and Daddy.


The email I got from BabyCenter today said "Your Toddler". It's said "Your Baby" every week for the past 52 weeks. Now, all the sudden you're a toddler? I guess I knew it was true, but it's still hard to believe you aren't my little baby anymore. You're growing up, sweet girl. Luckily it's fun to watch you learn and grow, so we don't have much time to dwell on losing your baby stage. You'll always be my baby, anyway! You're definitely doing some toddler things - including standing up from sitting without pulling up, practically running, pushing big kitchen chairs around the kitchen, trying to climb things that you shouldn't, and playing games like peek-a-boo and "I'm going to get you" and "give me that paci". You just giggle and giggle and we LOVE it! You will try to hand us things all the time, and as soon as we reach for them you'll take your hand back and just laugh. It's my favorite sound, you know.

Your vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. You still consistently say mama, dada, ball, mag/dow for Maggie, all done, Melmo (or something similar) for Elmo, baby for any picture of a baby you see - even yourself!, no for nose, and Nana/Nanie for your grandmas. You call most round things "ball" and mimic other sounds when you're in a good mood. You've used the sign for "more" a few times, and we are working on getting the "all done" sign more consistent. I want to work with you more on signing in the months to come.

You LOVE to eat, and get a little grumpy when it's almost time for lunch or dinner. Breakfast is usually yogurt, oatmeal, or scrambled eggs. You mainly eat lunch meat, cheese, and fruit for lunch. Dinner is either part of whatever we're eating, Gerber ravioli which you adore, or pasta - usually with veggies and fruit, too. Oh, and about 3 weeks ago you started drinking whole milk for one feeding a day - and you love it! We tried formula for a couple days before, but you hated it and wanted nothing to do with it. Now you drink whole milk twice a day and we still nurse morning and night. I'll probably drop one of those this week and we'll be winding down our nursing relationship. I think you'll be okay with it because it seems like you're trying to wean yourself anyway. You're an expert at your sippy cup now, and you love to carry it around with you - whether it has watered down juice or milk in it. Sometimes you let the milk run down your mouth and don't swallow - which, I admit, is a little bit cute but it's more of a pain because spilled milk isn't too sweet! I can tell you've gained some weight from all this eating. I'm really interested to see your stats whe we go to the doctor next week. You still wear mostly 9 month clothes, but I've moved you up to 12 month in some things. Usually those are still baggy in the waist and a little long, but I don't think it will be much longer until they fit really well.

You got your fourth tooth today! You now have four bottom teeth and no top teeth! It's the best of both worlds - gummy smile on the top and toothy smile on the bottom. I don't think teething bothers you too much - but usually when I discover a new one I do realize that you woke up wanting your paci more than usual the night before. I wish I could take the pain away for you. You've definitely had a bout of separation anxiety recently - even crying several times when we left you at Miss Kate's in the mornings. It breaks my heart to leave you when you're crying, but I know you forget about it soon afterward. You're a bit more clingy when we're at home too, and we try to not pick you up every time you beg for it. But you're just so cute that you're hard to resist!

We got to do some more traveling this month. We enjoyed a trip to Bristol for a surprise birthday party for Nanie. We also enjoyed our trip to Hickory, NC for Daddy's job interview, followed with a trip to Pine Mountain to see friends and family that we don't see as much as we'd like to. There are exciting things on the verge of happening for our family, Brenna, and we're happy to be able to share them with you. Daddy and I are trying to make the best decisions for our family so we can give you the life we want you to have. Oh, and you're getting a cousin in September. Aunt Mal is pregnant and we can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl! Cousins are so fun!


I'm looking forward to your birthday party tomorrow, where we'll get to celebrate your first year with lots of friends and family. Many days on my way home from school my eyes just well up with tears when I'm thinking about you. Lots and lots of songs remind me of you, and I guess I'm missing you at that time of day after being gone to work for 9 hours. I've wanted to be a mommy for a long, long time. I couldn't wait to have a little baby to care for and love. But, it amazes me how much love I feel from you - not just for you. You have made my heart grow bigger than I ever thought possible, and my love for you and Daddy and our little family grows every day. I know there is not a baby on Earth that is more loved than you are. I look forward to watching you grow this year, and I plan to savor every minute that we have together. Happy Birthday, sweet girl. As I was reading through birthday cards trying to pick one out for you, I teared up reading the cards from moms to their adult daughters. It's hard to believe that one day you'll be the one writing a letter like this to your daughter - my granddaughter. Only then will you know what the love in my heart for you feels like.

I love you, toddler Sprout.
Love, Mommy

11 Months Old!

Dear Brenna,

Well, here it is. The last monthly post before you are ONE YEAR OLD! That is unreal to me. I remember last year around this time - I was so, so ready to meet you! Actuallly, this day one year ago was the day I became "full term" (37 weeks pregnant) with you. I was pretty much ready to meet you anytime after that point! And now I don't really remember what it really felt like to not have you around.


I always say this, but I think this might be one of my very favorite stages so far. You still have some great baby qualities - like cuddling in our arms, finding your paci and popping it in, and touching my face when I'm nursing you. But, you also have some toddler qualities, too, that make it so much easier and more fun to interact with you.


Ok, so here it is - the big news! YOU ARE A WALKER!! You started getting braver around the beginning/middle of January. You would walk a step or two and then lunge to us. You took up to 4 or 5 steps, but they didn't seem like they were on purpose. But, on Thursday, January 13, you took about 5 steps several times consistently. We caught some of it on video that night. You pretty much took off pretty quickly after that, and now you walk everywhere. Just in the past week or so you've learned to bend down and pick things up (Puffs, balls, books) and stand back up without falling. Your balance amazes me! You've even tried to climb up the bottom stair going up to our third floor. We have baby gates everywhere now it seems! Not to mention the cabinet latches that come along with a mobile baby!


You're not just a walker. You're a talker, too! You're still saying "bye bye" when anybody leaves or if we hang up the phone or if we say it first. Last week you learned the word "ball" and when you hear it you'll go look for one of your balls to play with. You say it pretty clearly and it's so cute. We think you might be starting to say "dog" and you look for Maggie when you hear us say dog or Maggie. You've mimmicked me saying "all done" a few times, and of course you still say "da" when you see Daddy sometimes. Oh, but this morning takes the cake. When you woke up in your crib, I was in your room laying your clothes out. You grinned at me and I walked over to you. You looked at me and said, "Mama", clear as day. You've said it before but never that clearly and never consistently. You said it a bunch this morning and more tonight. It melts my heart every time. I never knew hearing such a little girl say such a little word could make me feel the way I do about you!

You love your Elmo books (and all books in general). The other day I took you with me to Barnes & Noble and you walked straight over to the Elmo display and started pointing at them and talking/laughing. It was priceless! I look forward to all the storytimes we'll have together over the years! You laugh at your Violet dog, you like to "sing" into your cat keyboard, and you love pulling things out of baskets and boxes. I love when you find a toy that's sitting on the back of your crib when you wake up in the morning and press the button to make it sing. And I love it when Daddy or I builds a huge tower of blocks that we're really proud of and you rush over to knock it down.


We took you to the doctor about 3 weeks ago and you weighed 17 pounds, 14 ounces. That was just to check on your ears - which were find and all healed up. Then, two weeks later, we had to go back to the doctor. You were 18 pounds, 11 ounces! Holy cow! I guess all this "big girl" food is helping you pack on the pounds. This month you've started eating steamed peas and carrots, small bites of turkey, ham, and American cheese, toddler-friendly granola bars, fruit cups, macaroni and cheese (only as a special little treat), cooked pasta with some pizza sauce and parmesan cheese, Toddler ravioli, pancakes, mashed potatoes with chicken, and probably more off our plate that I'm forgetting. You're pretty much over baby food, unless we offer you banana mango, which you still want badly enough to let us feed it to you! You LOVE to feed Maggie from your high chair, and you let her lick your fingers until we catch you and make you stop. I can see now that you two are going to be quite a pair! You're still nursing 3 times a day and taking 1 bottle at Mrs. Kate's. You've also mastered the sippy cups with the straws and drink quite a bit of water and/or very watered down juice most days. I'm hopeful you'll start taking your milk by sippy cup around your birthday, which I'm hoping will coincide with the weaning process that we'll begin pretty soon. That's a little bit sad for me, but I know that it's just another part of your growing-up process.


So, I mentioned our second doctor visit of the month. This one came when I fell on the ice while walking you up to Mrs. Kate's house one morning. You hit your head on the pavement, so we took you in just to make sure you were okay - which you were. It never really even bruised or got too big of a bump, so we think maybe you hit on your bottom first and then just fell backward. I'm pretty sure it was more traumatizing for me than for you after you got over the initial shock and fear. It was a scary day for us, but we're so thankful that you never missed a beat!

You're still wearing mostly 9 month clothes, but some of your 6-9 month pants are too short now. You look adorable in anything and I notice lots of strangers whispering when we take you out to the store. I can't blame them - your sweet little smile and voice are the sweetest things! You got your first "big girl" haircut this month, where we even cut the back and sides a little bit. I think it made you look more grown up - but also much less shaggy!


Your eyes and your smile and infectious, Brenna. I prayed a lot before you were born that you would have a fun and loving personality - and my prayers have been answered a million times over. Your giggle is my favorite sound, and I'm lucky that I get to hear it many times daily. You will let almost anyone hold you, and love to show off your smiles to them, too. If I could have designed the most perfect baby for our family, I couldn't have come close to all the wonderful things we're discovering about you. It's hard to come to terms with the fact that your first year of life is almost over - but the memories we've made and the bond that we've formed will always have a special place in my heart. Here's to the last 28 days of your first year - may they be filled with health, giggles, new adventures, discoveries, kisses, cuddles, and lots and lots of love!

I love you, my little (but growing up!) Sprout!

Love, Mommy

Note to Self

Every day it seems there are things that Brenna does or learns that I want to remember. It's hard to imagine ever forgetting things, but I know it will happen as she grows and develops so quicly! Anyhow, here are three big ones.


*Today Brenna was playing in the living room floor and had walked over to the DVD player under our TV. She hit the open/close button (which she'd done, on accident, before) and the drawer came out. It scared her to death! She started crying and backed away. I went over to rescue her and showed her how touching the button again would make the drawer go back in. She laughed at this. Then we opened it again, and she backed away and gasped again. Repeat about 10 times. She finally figured out how to push the button herself, which is probably a terrible lesson. But, hey, at least she's not afraid anymore!


*A couple nights ago Jonathan and I were sitting in the floor rolling two of Brenna's balls back and forth to her. We kept saying "ball" and she kept repeating it. She's pretty good at rolling and tossing the ball, and she says "ball" every time. She really knows what the word means, which just boggles my mind!


*She's getting SO much more steady on her feet. She's bent over a few times to pick things up without falling while standing. Today she bent over, picked up a Puff she'd dropped, and stood right back up and kept walking. It was just so cute to see her do that. I'm not sure what it is about a baby bending down, but it just makes me giggle. Her little toddle is so adorable, and it's amazing how good she has gotten at it.


These days are priceless, and I couldn't be more thankful for snow days right now!!

Resolutions

So, last year I made a few resolutions while very pregnant with Brenna. Let's take a look at how those turned out...

1. Birth a baby and keep her safe, healthy, and happy. Check! We have the most perfect girl in the world!

2. Lose the pregnancy weight and the extra 10 I was carrying when I got pregnant. Not so much. Still have about 8 of the pregnancy pounds. We'll reinstate this one for 2011.

3. Run at least 2 5K races, maybe even the same one I did last year in Greenville. Kelley? Nope. Didn't even run one. Didn't run much at all after she was born. Here we go again.

4. Keep my motto that "babies are portable" and not let her limit our family, but instead to inclue her and provide lots of fun memories for all 3 of us! YES! We took many trips to see our parents and grandparents, in addition to a trip to Richmond, one to Atlanta and Greenville, a trip to DC, and our beach trip.

5. Hear my husband say, "You were right about cloth diapers. They really aren't that bad." Yep, he's a believer. In fact, I was ready to quit a week or 2 ago and he talked me out of it. Weird, but true.

6. Wear pre-pregnancy clothes to the many, many weddings we'll be attending (and in!) this summer. I wore pre-pregnancy clothes to a few showers and other pre-wedding things, but I think I wore new clothes to all of the actual weddings. They were bigger than my pre-pregnancy size for the most part, but hey, they did have waistbands!

7. Read through the daily Bible. Nope. Totally forgot about this one, honestly. I'm only ten days late, maybe I should get started.

8. Drink more water. Yes. And I peed more than I thought humanly possible.

10 Months Old!

Dear Brenna,


It's your first monthly "birth"day in 2011. It's going to be a big year for you and I'm so excited to watch you grow and change even more. I'll admit it was a little sad to say goodbye to the year you were born, but that's just how things go - time goes too fast! You're such a different little girl than you were just 10 months ago, and your personality is coming out more every day I think.

I wouldn't call you a walker, yet, but you're close! You stand with great balance, and you've taken 5-6 steps several times. You get really proud of yourself and smile really big when you walk from the couch to the ottoman. It's fun to watch you get better and better at it. Daddy doesn't like it when you practice this skill, because he says he'll miss how cute you are when you're crawling around. You are a pretty cute crawler - and you're so fast! You can get from one side of a room to another in the blink of an eye - which explains why we're looking into baby gates to prevent you from crawling UP the stairs and not just down. You've mastered one step already - eeek! You're a pretty determined little thing, that's for sure!


Speaking of being determined - we're trying to figure out how to start disciplining you to the amount that you understand. I've found myself saying, "No, Brenna" quite a lot lately, and I think you've made the connection that it means to stop what you're doing. When I'm nursing you, you have a really lovely habit of smacking me in the face. I always have to tell you no and move your hand down to your side. You think that's funny and laugh at me when I tell you no. Oh, geez. We want you to be obedient as you grow up, so we'll have to really figure out how to begin teaching you right from wrong. But, don't get me wrong, you are still a super friendly, happy, loving baby, and everyone always comments on your sweet personality and attitude.


Miss Kate says you and Liam are playing together more, and you definitely interact with London more, too. It's going to be so fun seeing you make new friends and play with them. You're still surrounded by baby boys, but you seem ok with that for now.

You're still nursing 3 times a day (with an occasional skipped feeding, which you'll be happy to know I no longer freak out about) with a bottle when you're at Kate's. It was SO nice to just be able to give you all your feedings during my Christmas break, but we're back to the grind now. You eat 2 meals of about 8 oz. a day, and you still prefer Stage 2 baby foods. You do eat more finger foods now - including shredded cheese (which you LOVE - in a shoveling it in with both hands kind of way), Ritz crackers, Puffs, cooked carrots, scrambled eggs, bananas, yogurt melts, ground beef, and small pieces of ham. You still despise Stage 3 foods, so I guess we'll go straight to all table food eventually. You're definitely an eater! I'm curious about your weight, but you don't have an appointment this month, so we might have to do an at-home weight check! You still take 2 naps a day, but they seem to be getting shorter. I know you're not ready to drop one yet though, because you get pretty sleepy mid-morning and mid-afternoon.


You wear mainly 6-9 month clothes, with a few 3-6, 6-12, and regular 6 and 9 month ones mixed in. You're pretty long, so we have to move you up in pants size way before we have to go to the next size in shirts. You have some pretty cute clothes, if I do say so myself. And Aunt Mal hooked you up for next year as your Christmas present. Buying clothes for baby girls is so much fun! I think you agree - we have fun on our little shopping "sprees".


Your first Christmas was very special. You got to see lots of your extended family and they spoiled you with gifts and attention. You're finally starting to notice your toys more, and we try to let you play on your own a lot so that you don't always depend on us to entertain you. You do love to be read to and sit pretty well when we read you stories. I hope you love to read as much as I did when I was a little girl.

We are loving how you'll give us "kisses" now on occasion. Your little slobbery kisses are the best kind! You also have a new habit of raising one or both hands out of the blue. Yesterday I would ask you, "Who loves Daddy?" and you would always raise your hand. It was the cutest thing! Kate also told me you raised your hand when she asked you and Liam, "Who needs a diaper change?" Ha! We still think your giggles are the best sound on earth, and we hear them many times a day. I hope you never lose your playful spirit.


It's hard to believe that you'll be 1 in two short months, but I'm determined to soak up these last 2 months of your first year. Here's to more playtime, stories, cuddling, and adventures in 2011!

I love you, sweet little Sprout!
Love, Mommy

*little stinker trying to tear off your sticker - Have you been talking to Finley??*

2010 in Review

*I blatently stole this idea from Merritt. It's SUCH a good idea and I'm already looking forward to writing this list! I didn't ask her for permission - I think it's better to just ask for forgiveness for copying! :)*

January

*We rang in the new year at a MARTA stop in Atlanta on our way back to our hotel after the CFA bowl.

*I finished up my sub plans for my materity leave which I was SURE would be happening in.

*We had our second baby shower at The Freedom Center - thrown by one of my BFFs April.

*We had our third baby shower at my mother-in-law's house with Jonathan's family.

*We took maternity pictures with our buddy Jeff Loope.

*We finished up Brenna's nursery and got more and more excited.

*I ate Tums by the handful. I also got kicked in the bladder more than I thought humanly possible.

February

*I became full-term. Brenna also decided to no longer be breech!

*I spent a LONG night in triage of labor/delivery with mild contractions and dehydration.

*I turned 28 - shew!!

*I only worked 6 or 7 days due to lots of snow and ice.

*My class threw me a baby shower. It was SO fun and special.

*My due date came AND went.

March

*I had to go to L&D to get Brenna's heartrate checked out. I wasn't in labor and was only about 1.5 cm. dilated.

*Less than 3 hours later I was admitted to L&D, dilated to 7 cm. Brenna was born about 7 hours later, after 2.5 hours of pushing and a fabulous epidural. Hooray modern medicine!

*We came home as a family of 3 and introduced Brenna to Maggie.

*We didn't get a lot of sleep, and had lots and lots of visitors.

*Brenna lost too much weight, but then got caught back up.

*Brenna had her first photo shoot with Jeff.

*Brenna met my students at school.

*Brenna and I had a girls-day-out to do the bridesmaid dress fitting thing with Sheri, Paige, April, Whitney, and Peighton.

April

*We celebrated Easter in Bristol and on Pine Mountain for Brenna's first travel adventure.

*Brenna turned 1 month old!!

*Brenna had her first babysitter while mom worked out - Kristen Spence.

*We took a roadtrip to Atlanta with stops in Greenville, SC to see Kelley, Kiran, and Sienna and meet Rhys and Owen and in Bristol to see my mom.

*We took Brenna to her first Hokies game - the spring football game with Darin and Lydsie.

*We took Brenna to a Salem Red Sox game with my school kiddos.

*We entered the cloth diaper world full-force.

*Brenna had more newborn pictures made with Mary Stafford.

May

*Brenna was dedicated at church on the same day as London.

*She got her first set of shots.

*I celebrated my first Mother's Day.

*I went back to work and left Brenna with Kristen for 3 weeks.

*My kids took their SOL tests and kicked booty!

*Jonathan and I had a date night to see Sister Hazel at Festival in the Park. Brenna celebrated by screaming with a belly ache for Donette, Randy, and Kristen.

June

*I threw a lingerie shower for my coworkers and BFFs Sheri and Lisa.

*School ended for the year. Brenna and I had LOTS of time together.

*Brenna rolled over.

*Jonathan had his first Father's Day.

*Jonathan DJed Kevin and Julianna's wedding. Brenna stole the show.

*I got 10 inches cut off my hair.

*Brenna got her first haircut, too.

July

*Brenna got more shots. :(

*We had family photos made with Mary.

*We celebrated the 4th of July in Bristol, in Austinsville, and at a cookout with church friends.

*We dressed up like cows with Lisa, Lea Beth, and Emilie to celebrate Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A.

*Jonathan was a groomsman for one of his best friends from childhood, Chuck.

*Sheri got married and I got to be a bridesmaid for her special day.

*I started selling Thirty-One.

*We took our first beach vacation with Brenna - along with the Bashams.

*Jonathan and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary with a date night to The Melting Pot at the beach.

*My student, Peyton, was in a bad car wreck, but recovered well.

August

*We visited Brandan in Richmond.

*Lisa and Kevin got married, and we celebrated with them near Richmond.

*We went to Jonathan's 10 year high school reunion.

*I went back to work and Brenna started staying with Kate, our neighbor.

*Brenna had her first food - avocado.

September

*Brenna turned half a year old!

*We spent Labor Day weekend in DC with my mom, sister, and cousin.

*I nursed in some really weird places in D.C. Sorry, but I had to include it!

*I dealt with serious sadness about going back to work.

*We took Brenna to the park to play and swing for the first time and had SO much fun!

*I made my first baby food. Brenna hated it.

*Brenna crawled!

October

*I FINALLY got my car painted.

*We had more family photos taken.

*We celebrated London's first birthday.

*We celebrated my grandma's 80th birthday with a surprise party.

*We celebrated Jonathan's 29th birthday with a surprise party at his grandma's.

*Brenna said "dada" a lot.

*My coworkers and I were super-cute as Care Bears on Halloween.

*Brenna was a giraffe (and a bee) for her first Halloween. We "trick-or-treated" around Pine Mountain and then my mom and sister came to visit.

November

*Brenna started finger foods.

*Brenna had a ruptured eardrum and took her first antibiotic.

*Brenna started walking while pushing her toy with good balance! She also started "cruising" around our furniture.

*We spent Thanksgiving with both of our families.

*We cheered on the Hokies on TV a lot!

December

*Brenna took a few steps.

*Jonathan and I enjoyed a Sister Hazel concert and the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra Pops Concert.

*My mom was in the hospital for 8 days after having a borderline tumor removed from her ovary. We spent some time in Bristol.

*I served on jury duty.

*Brenna discovered a serious love of cheese!!

*We made Jesus a birthday cake in the church nursery.

*We celebrated Christmas with lots of our family.

*We said goodbye to 2010 by putting Brenna to bed, making a homemade fondue dinner and chocolate cake, and watching a movie and the ball drop.

It was a good, good year for the Halseys.