it came it came it came!!!!!

this has been on my wish list for brennan for months!

(dana you know what this is!)

when it went on sale for

50% off

i convinced sean to have it be from us to B for christmas.

it arrived today!!!

isn't it just

the

most

darling

thing

you've ever seen!?

i know, adorable.

would you look at those white and black keys!!!

and the shiny red finish!

it's a dream!

i'm in love with this toy,

and

i could not have imagined how much brennan would love this.

it is a real piano,

just miniature.

you know, for miniature people.
like babies.

hey, no jokes about the pork loin!

we literally had to pry him away from it at nap time.

he was in total bliss.

oh, grandma gibson is gonna love this!

now do you see why i couldn't stop myself from an additional post today!?

i can't wait to see him play with it again tomorrow:-)

those white and black keys and red finish!!!

i just can't get over it.

cutest

baby

toy

ever!

pincer pincer chicken dincer

brennan has finally mastered the pincer grasp

what does this mean?

besides being able to feed himself...

he can now open chocolates on his own.
guess i can't give him that and turn my back anymore!
i'll have to think of another creative kitchen toy in my bread bowl...

feels so good

there's nothing like an after christmas shopping spree!

seriously, best new year's day ever.

played a few songs on world tour,

got two encores & unlocked a song.

grabbed the babe and hub and went to the mall.

crazy?

i thought so too, but it was surprisingly not very busy.

i guess noon is still early on new year's day.

the best part was

not

spending

a

dime.

no, i didn't steal them!

i have morals people;-)

two words:

gift

cards
thank you gift card givers.

i

love

you.

almost as much as i love this "steal" i found in the kids' dept. at nordi's.

really, best deal all year!

lol

if you know me, you know i LOVE lucky jeans.

i snagged these little duds for brennan while waiting for sean to do a return.

originally marked as $58

marked down to $37.90

marked down to $28.90

rung up as...

(drum roll please)

$19.97!!!!!

or

$21.34 with tax, but tax surely doesn't count!

seriously, that would have bought a cute little pair at old navy, but no, i got

baby lucky jeans for the same price!!!!!

2009 is so great;-)

and in 2T!

you bet i'm rolling those babies up so he can start wearing them now.
new year's resolution:
wear red lipstick

a lot.

they did my lips at the mac counter, don't they rock!?

i think that might be the biggest my nose has ever looked,

but this is about the lips, right?

rockstars

rockstars

we battled

i won

woot woot

this was my preparty practice at our house
new year's party at the mccleary's this year
we put little "overactive bowels" to bed
(thanks mom for holding the fort down)
and went out on a new year's date!
i made this aMAZing artichoke dip.
you
MUST
try it.
recipe to follow
sean and layne
"besties"
thanks for a great party mccleary's!

artichoke dip:
sorry no picture b/c frankly i was too busy eating all of it;-)
1 pkg softened cream cheese (i microwaved it for 30-60 sec)
1/4 c. mayo
1 can artichoke hearts, drained
1 4 oz. can diced green chilies
1 c. grated parmesan
garlic salt (a few shakes)

mix it all together, bake at 350* for 30 min., serve with chips
seriously,
you might want
to make it
tonight.

new year's no no

never go to the store on

new year's eve day

ever.

lesson learned.

however, now that i am home i am very happy to have guitar hero world tour to play on my wii tonight.

EI8HT

ei8ht

is my favorite number.

it's no surprise that 200EIGHT was a great year.

8 has always been my favorite number.

my lucky number!

you know, pick a number in your head?

i always choose eight.

guess you'll be able to win at that game now!

i

made a quilt

became a mother

had a 9.4lb baby with an epidural

(thank you dr. kyle for the drugs & dr. nielson for a healthy babe)

became a nursing mother

became a stay at home mother

(you should try it, it's fab!!!)

watched my husband become a father

and an amazing one at that

fell in love with my husband in a whole new way

became more honest

took maternity leave

resigned from teaching

(at least the kind i got a paycheck from)
fell in love with a 2nd boy

(hint: name begins with B)

learned every kid song known to man

made up a song for everything in my day

traveled to 4 or 5 states

lost 45 pounds

(thank you breastfeeding)

started swimming again

started sewing

successfully made homemade bread

dyed my hair dark (a feat within itself!)

fell in love with my new dark locks

became a "ehem" blogger

(something i had once rolled my eyes at in the past)

was offered a guest blogger post

(tune in to see where & when!)

rekindled old friendships

tried to make new friends, but ended up mainly sticking with the old

made some new friends through the old

fell in love with nieniedialogues

put my baby on a schedule

took my baby off a schedule

put my baby on a schedule

(thank you baby wise)

taught my baby (with sean & nat) how to sleep

increased my milk supply

(very VERY proud of this!!!)

am still nursing full time

plan to nurse until he is 1

(yes, to join the elite 20% group who actually make it there!)

did a 1/2 way homemade christmas

organized a fundraiser for nie

tried some new recipes

fell in love with homemade wheat pizza

recommitted myself to eating more fish

and avocadoes

appreciated my country

my freedom

and right to vote

joined a book club

read over 20 books

purchased fabric & patterns for retro aprons

(will finish in 2009)

reorganized my closets 3 times

(which need to be done again, d.i. i'm supporting you!)

went to the movies once

got released from a calling

got a new calling

set a 10pm bedtime

threw out the bedtime

renewed my temple recommend

try really hard to stay at church every sunday

we are getting better at staying!

(do you have kids? do you know what i'm talking about?)

went home for christmas

got excited for christmas like a kid

(hoping for the 1 gift i really really really wanted-wii)

started tuesdays with marie

supported a husband through the first 1 1/2 of grad school

nursed a baby through his first real sickness

(this is not completed just yet...)

leanred that there is really a special place in heaven for scout masters

and mothers

learned what "happiness" is truly all about

found my dreams

found courage

found confidence

(and a whole new wardrobe...

or it feels that way at least)

found more love.

cheers to 200EIGHT.

le stomach flu

le stomach flu

is what he has,

but

you

would

never

know

b/c

this kid rocks

and

is

happy

all

of

the

time.

i almost didn't take the little guy to the pediatrician b/c he was in such great spirits, but as dr. ring explained it, the little guy is suffering from

"overactive bowels."
poor little dude.

symptoms: won't eat, won't nurse, and "overactive bowels"

dr.'s orders: BRATs diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) & fluids, fluids, fluids

stitch flounce?

i love this little apron.

sandie gave it to me over christmas. she had bought it from an almish community when we went to iowa as kids. dad would go with sandie for an entire day to almish country for no other reason than love b/c all of you men know he was not loving that trip to shop for homemade arts and crafts. what a guy! anyhoo, this little number was handmade, and i think it's adorable. i'm currently making three aprons for myself. i bought the cutest little black with pink polka dot fabric and retro pattern. so cute, but seeing that i don't sew, this has been quite the endeavour. i've learned that sewing is like learning a forgein language.

press,

edgestitch,

pin contrast,

stitch flounce,

staystitch,

slipstitch.

what was i thinking? i literally thought i would just go buy the fabric, read the pattern, and vwallah! seriously, i graduated college at the top of my class and these things mean absolutely nothing to me. all of you "sewers" out there, try not to laugh.

i will conquer!

wait, mom, can you help me?

thank goodness for mothers!

lunes

our christmas card wall has grown!

are you here?

p.s. heather yours got eaten by the pork loin, so sorry, and all family members, yours are already filed into the family history folder

brennan got a rockin' walker

and many other things, but we opened this today

(you know, since crawling is

"out of style"

we're onto walk training, lol)

big thanks to aunt nat, uncle shawn, & cousins em & addie

and i'm almost done with all of this.
although, i really don't mind laundry.
i didn't used to like it, but about 1 1/2 after sean and i got married we got the whirlpool duet front loaders, and let me tell you, washing has been fun ever since! call me crazy, but it's just so true.
do you think so too?
(brennan likes it as well, fun to watch at any age!)

"goin' goin' back back to cali cali"

it was so much fun to blog without pictures this past week, but oh do i have a scrapbook for you today! out of all of the pictures we took of our christmas trip to cali, the first 3 of the plane ride home were my absolute favorites...

but...

there is a story to go with them...

everything had been going smoothly.

we were dropped off in plenty of time.

our curbside check gentleman bumped us ahead of all of the inside lines to get brennan's birth certificate checked and cleared for travel (we gave him a pretty tip too, he rocked! and santa had been good to us this year).

5 minutes before boarding brennan "ehemed."

no big deal (although because he had "ehemed" twice prior we were definitely surprised that he "ehemed" again).

i was nervous that we didn't have much time, but grabbed the diaper caddy and played it cool (you know, being the expert mom i am).

there was a line for the diaper changing station in the bathroom, so i decided to lay my babe down in a corner for a quick change.

to my surprise, "ehem" had exploded.

(this is where sandie says "i told you so")

no extra outfit was packed in my carry on.

all other outfits were checked.

so, i calmly (remember, expert mom, you know, the ones that always have an extra outfit in their bag) dressed my babe without a shirt and walked back.

sean and i laughed on sight b/c without words he knew what happened.

but honestly, would these pictures have been as cute with a dressed baby!?

i think not.

grandma max's famous christmas stockings. these babies are hand made with love (and yarn). we've noticed that sean and brennan's (the newest family additions) are longer than the rest of ours. more santa stuffing for them. lucky dogs.

this was the best picture i got on christmas day of us. i'm hoping someone else can send me some from their camera?

pre-christmas eve mafia party. "grandie" (grandma sandie) hooked B up with this cute little christmas outfit number.

when i got pregnant with brennan, all dad could talk about was taking his grandbaby to the pond with a remote control boat. grandie got dad his dreamboat for christmas. it was lots of fun. dad was like a little kid. so cute.

don't you just love boys? me too. right after this shot they decided they needed a remote control helicopter for next year.

precious. i think i caught the dream on camera!

it was so funny walking through the airport like this...people couldn't stop laughing at us.

the christmas feast. prime rib is always our main event.

this little pony is famous in our family

you know you have a dedicated blog reader when they buy you the willow tree nativity scene you mentioned you wanted but couldn't afford. sandie, you rock!

we took brennan to see santa at hilsdale a few days before christmas. i need to post the picture sandie took of all of us taking pictures and videos of brennan on santa's lap...i'll work on getting that...

feeding the ducks

the boots. remember, "uggg, ugggg, uggg, ugggg, uggggggssssssssss"...i don't care what you think, they are the most comfy shoes ever to grace my pretty feet!

and now i'll spend the next year recovering.

also, brennan is still not crawling

(for those who have been asking.)