Brianna's First Christmas in Pictures

 Great Grandma Rosie                                                                                               Grandpa Terry

                                            

Great Grandma Rosie

 Uncle Jon

Helping herself to presents on Christmas Eve (She may or may not have used her teeth)

All of the little guys on Michael's Dad's side of the family- notice only two girls!

Carrie, Jon, Susie, Mike's Dad (Terry), Michael, Me and Brianna

We're getting close to the end of weekly pictures!  I LOVE this one :) 

Christmas Morning at Grandma Pam's

Aunt Katie and Uncle Adam

                        Grandma Pam                                                          Lexie sharing her "food"

Standing up like a big girl- she hardly slept on Christmas Day!

Lexie loves to call out for "Bri Bri!" 

Brianna wearing Bella's hat

Aunt Erin in town from Pittsburgh the day after Christmas

Grandma Peggy

Overall, Brianna's first Christmas really was wonderful.  She got too many toys and we're still working on getting them out of their packages.  She was interested in opening a present or two but the rest were up to Mommy and Daddy.  Christmas Day brought lots of presents and three outfit changes, of course :)  She still didn't get to wear all of her Christmas clothes this season. She is a very loved little girl! 

Curls, Curls Everywhere!

I will be posting about Baby Brianna's first Christmas very soon but for now I'd like to discuss... HER HAIR!!!

Let's begin by taking a look at my sweet girl's hair in a picture taken October 3, 2011.  Just shy of three short months ago...

I thought she had a lot of hair at that point.  It was curly when wet but after drying it was straight and was perfectly controllable.

Because I see her every day it has been a slow progression.  Looking at pictures now I have noticed this EXPLOSION of curls...

This picture was taken December 26, 2011... 

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I have struggled with my curly hair my entire life.  

I was so hoping that my baby, boy or girl, would not inherit this madness.  

But now that I'm looking at this sweet head full of curls with a colorful bow to hold it off her face... I dare to say I love it!  I know there are going to be many days she wishes she had the straight hair of her friends.  I'll be there to dry her eyes when she has had enough of the teasing, because that day will come. When that day comes I want her to know that she is gorgeous and perfect.  I will never say "people pay good money for those curls".  I've heard that a million times in my life.  I HATE THAT STATEMENT.  I will be there to help her straighten her curls when she is ready and I'll be there to help her make them big and bouncy if she should choose. 

I want her to know that now that she is here, I am finally accepting my own crazy curls.  I'm thankful for this maddening head of hair because it is what first made my baby girl laugh.  In the middle of the night while changing a diaper she saw my curls sticking up and cracked up laughing.  A lifetime of hair struggles is worth that sweet, sweet sound.  I also am very short on time these days and am thankful that I can take a shower, let my hair dry by itself and let the curls take over.  I'm sure I'll go back to straightening some day... but for now I'll appreciate the crazy hair and smile when a  stranger says.. "She has your hair!  People pay good money for curls like that!"

Not us... not ever :) 

Christmas Love

 Brianna has learned a few new things throughout her 42nd week of life and has been very busy!  She now loves to say "Hi!!!" in her little high pitched squeal.  She has a little baby doll that she says "Hi!" and then kisses it.  She also likes to say hi and kiss the baby on the pampers wipes container.  

She learned how to drink out of a straw this week so she has been drinking a lot of water!  

She continues to stand by herself and has started to take a step without holding onto anything.  She is still cruising and can take a few steps with her little walking toy.  

She has gotten a little more table food this week.  She loves little pieces of bread and tiny pieces of cheese.  She has also had some mashed potatoes and of course loves them... I would be concerned she wasn't my baby if she didn't love them!

Saturday Brianna and I went to see Isabella in her Cheerleading Competition.  Man do those girls mean business!  She did a fantastic job and I am very proud of how hard she worked.  She is so beautiful and I absolutely love to see her happy with her little friends.  Have I said how much I love Isabella Art lately?  I do! :)  I didn't get any pictures of Bella but her performance video is posted on my Facebook page if you'd like to check it out.

I did, however, snap a few cute pictures of Ethan and Brianna.  Ethan had two basketball games Saturday but stopped by to see his sister perform.  Brianna was so happy to see him and they played together a bit.  On a side note,  we were sitting in the third row so there were lots of people sitting behind us.  Everytime everyone would cheer, Bri would think they were cheering for her and she would throw her little arms up in the air and yell "Yay!!!" and then clap.  It was so funny and adorable!  I love my happy girl.   

Here are a couple shots of that happy baby playing with Ethan: 

Here is a picture (far away, I know) of Bella's squad... sitting with the squad I liked to call Toddlers and Tiaras...

My angel baby sat in the bleachers completely entertained for 4 straight hours!

Some Week 42 pictures:

Brianna met Santa Claus this week!  Grandma Pam and I took Brianna to Cookies with Santa at Town & Country on Sunday.  She was in a great mood and loved looking at all of the kids running around.  I had no idea how she would react but when we put her on Santa's lap she just looked up at him and smiled and was perfectly fine!  I think she knew he would be bringing her some fun presents in just a couple weeks :) It was a very fun experience!  

I had Tuesday off work so Michael and I took her to Florence Mall to have her official picture taken with Santa.  She loved him too.

After visiting with Santa I called Libby to see what she was up to and we decided to go over to visit with her for a little bit at her house.  This was Brianna and Jack's first date!  I got a few pics on my phone but I'm hoping to get some of Libby's soon because they were so cute.  Baby Jack made a move and put his arm around Brianna.  She was playing it cool.  It is love.  Julianna loved Brianna too!  She wanted to play with her and feed her.  She is such a sweet girl! 

We have been busy but these past couple weeks!  I'm going to try to continue to be better with pictures.  I want to remember every moment of these fun moments!

The Luckiest

Sometimes I feel like everything is going wrong and why is this happening to me!

Then I realize...

I feel loved every day.  I still believe anything is possible.  I'm challenged daily.  

I'm not doing so bad. 

I knew from a very early age that God had a special plan for me.  I had a deep desire to HELP.  I had a special passion for people that had it harder than I thought I did.  Specifically, people with disabilities.  I spent a lot of my free time in the special education classroom helping teachers and connecting with the kids that were always in a different room.  I didn't understand it.  But I knew I made a difference there.  

Every year my family drove to Florida for a two week vacation.  I'm not sure if I've ever told my parents about this but one year, I was probably nine or ten, my brother and I had fallen asleep when we were fairly close to home after two fabulous weeks on the beach and sixteen hours in the van.  I woke up when we were just ten or fifteen minutes from our house.  I almost drifted back to sleep when I realized, HEY... my parents are talking about me!  It very easily could have been a conversation about how I'm always fighting with my brother or how I don't do THAT great in school.  But no... they were talking about how much they love me! They were asking each other, how did we get a daughter with such a kind and giving spirit?  They were wondering how my passion to help and care of others came to be.  Hearing this conversation, without them knowing I was listening, was probably one of the most affirming moments of my life.  In this random moment, I felt like my parents SAW me.  They got me.  They appreciated me.  

I know God had me hear that conversation for a reason. I stuck through school to get the education I needed so that I could not only help people, but get paid to do it.  

My parents made sure that I always felt special.  I will spend the rest of my life trying to do the same for Brianna.  It might seem at times that I'm bragging about my beautiful baby.  And I might be... because I'm already hoping she will overhear my conversation :)  

Slow Down Baby!!!

As I mentioned in my last post, Brianna is learning so much every day!  I took these pictures a couple weeks ago and I can't believe how big my girl has gotten as I look at them.  

Since these were taken, she has gotten even more brave and adventurous.  She wants to explore... constantly.  Her favorite toy is a little radio that plays different songs and she will press the button and start dancing.  It doesn't matter if she is in the middle of a meltdown, she hears the music... and she dances.  It is pretty funny!  Not quite as funny in the middle of the night but still cute. 

Her surgery went very well and I thank everyone for their prayers.  She was loving the attention from all of the nurses and I'm pretty sure the nurses loved her as well.  It always makes my heart happy to hear someone new say that she has such a wonderful little temperament and is such a happy baby.  It makes me feel like I might be doing something right!  She bounced back very quickly after the surgery and I'm looking forward to fewer trips to the doctor's office (fingers crossed!).  

The same weekend of the surgery she had two new teeth come in.  She now has three on top and two on bottom.   On Sunday she stood all by herself for the first time.  I was so excited and wanted to yell for everyone to look but didn't want to knock her over.  She has done it again several times since then but I'm not sure she realizes she is doing it. She has been a very busy girl!  She seems to be getting a lot closer to walking.

 Why wouldn't I be holding on with just one hand???

 My sweet, happy girl!

This is one of the first times she stood up using this toy.  So far she has gotten more enjoyment out of the box it came in than the actual toy.  

The past few days have brought very little sleep because she seems to be fighting a cold.  I am really hopeful she will be feeling better this weekend so we BOTH can get a little bit of sleep!