A Scarecrow with a Skunk and Leopard friends?

We had a great Halloween and hope you did the same. Although Brody and his buddies are too young this year, next year should be even more fun with actually going trick or treating. My dad and his wife Pat, my grandpa, and my sister traveled over for the early part of the afternoon to spend sometime with Brody. It was of course great seeing them. We went to our neighborhoods Halloween festivities - a dog parade and costume contest. Rocky sadly did not enter. He isn't very nice to fellow canines, therefore leaving us no option but to leave him home.

Later in the evening, our friends came over (the Longs and Colbergs). We are so lucky to have wonderful friends so close. It was an experience with the 3 little ones! They do not get to all three be together often enough so it is great seeing them interact. Gavin was hilariously cute in the skunk costume...the tail was awesome! And sweet Teagan was as adorable as ever in her leopard costume...she even let mommy put a nose and wiskers on her face. Teagan and Brody got to stroll around the neighborhood while the big kids went house to house. Guess it wasn't too exciting for them since they both fell asleep.

If Brody could talk, I believe he would say he had a great Halloween!

Sleeping & Walking but not sleep-walking

Date Night

Saturday, Gabe and I had date night, which as you know doesn't come around very often now that a kiddo is in our lives (a kiddo who we love more than life itself). Any way, we headed south to Downtown, Victory Park to be more specific. It is there where we wanted to have a quick bite and to go see a show at the House of Blues. Gabe offered up Luna de Noche, one of my favs and haven't been to it in forever. It is there that I had my first official adult beverage since finding out I was pregnant. We had a drink each and two appetizers for less than $20...yea happy hour pricing! :) After filling our bellies with delicious Mexican food we walked across the street to the HOB to see Mat Kearney. We first watched Smile Smile, a local Dallas band and they were good! Gabe has a friend who knows one of the singers, which was kinda fun. Then we watched Vedera who is on tour with Mat Kearney and who were actually very good. I had not heard of them and was impressed. Then to the best part of the night, Mr. Mat Kearney's performance! Gabe and I love listening to all of his music, there isn't one song we skip over. We looked at each other during the show and both agreed that we do not ever tire of listening to his music, we just wished more people listened to him so they could enjoy him as much as we do. His CDs are always our go-to music if we can't agree on anything to listen to in the car. Love him!

We were lucky to have such wonderful babysitters! Thanks Jen and Armand. You are the best!

Pumpkin Patch

We ventured out to Celina, TX on Sunday to see what this pumpkin patch thing is all about. Our friends Brooke and Steve went to the Big Orange Pumpkin Farm recently, and so Gabe and I thought we would scope it out with our little one. It sure was packed full of people out there, but the weather could not have been more perfect!!! I keep seeing all of the adorable photos of friends and their families at pumpkin patches, so I wanted to do the same thing. I thought it is a great idea and something you can do annually to see how the babies grow from year to year. Since Brody is so little still, we couldn't do too much. We did get some great photographs of him. Looking forward to chasing him around the pumpkin farm next year.

ENJOY....

The sweet Colberg Family

A New Do

Somebody got their hair cut over the weekend!

Brody is a bully?

Yep, that's right! My son is a bully! As you know, I recently started a part time job at a preschool here in McKinney (takes me 10 mins to get to work...I'm lucky!) Anyway, one of the reasons I took the job is because Brody gets to come with. AND I get to watch him all day since he is in the room next door. Fabulous set-up....right?? Well, yes and no. Yes because I want to be with my son all day and the next best thing is to be able to see him. And I like to watch him interact with others. No because he cries when he sees me through the window (so sad, I just want to run over there and pick him up) and also because I hear "uh uh Brody!" allllllllll day...or for the time we are there anyway. He is beating up the other children. Not really, but he is a hair puller, toy stealer, and a clothes puller. He is making 9 month olds and 13 month olds cry as well as the adorable little girls in his room who are the same age. I hope his socialization skills improve with him going to "school" everyday.

Cutie Patootie

I have 2 bottom teeth!

Drying off after my bath

Sweet face

6 months pics

Follow the link to see a few of Brody's 6 month photo shoot! Again, we are so impressed with the turn out of these pictures. Cherie is mighty talented!

Cherie Marie Photography Blog

Cute Lil Butt!

Too bad Tech has lost the last two games. Oh well, at least this makes me smile when I look at those double T's!

Uneventful Weekend

Nothing exciting to report this week. It was one of the most uneventful weekends we have had since becoming parents. I woke up at 5 am Saturday morning with nausea and throwing up. Again at 6:30 and the sick stomach lasting all day! Awesome! We called Care Now due to the whole swine flu drama, eventhough I had very few symptoms of the flu. Anyhow, we were wait-listed for 3.5 hours!! Luckily we were able to wait at home. I was given the most painful booty shot ever (it STILL hurts and I cried when she pricked me) and they drew blood which came back as a bacteria infection. I think it was the vegetable plate I ate from Cheddar's the night before. Pretty sure I will be staying away from Cheddar's. The shot made me throw up one more time and then I slept from 5 pm to 9 am and on and off all day Sunday. This sickness saddened my heart to no end that I missed my dear friend Carli's baby shower Saturday night. I was really looking forward to it, but there was no way I was physically going to make it there. I was thankful to have my sweet husband and my loving mom there to take care of me as well as watch after Brody for the weekend. I am extremely grateful to you both!

I thanked Gabe again yesterday evening for taking such great care of me and for his patient heart this past weekend. His response, "We had a weekend?" I think that pretty much sums it up. I feel great as of yesterday, thank goodness!

J-O-B's

Job #1:

I am working the mornings at a Preschool super close to my house. I am in the 1st infant room (meaning I have the youngest group 6 weeks - 6 months) Under state law, I can have no more than 4 babies. Right now I have 2 adorable little boys. The best part about this job is Brody gets to come with me! He is in the room next door so I am able to see him right through the window! I was enjoying my time at home with Brody, but also missing work in a crazy, strange way. I was really sad when all my friends went back to work and I didn't. I'm weird. Anyway, this is a job I had been praying for and couldn't have it any better. It definitely met my high requirement list: part time, close to home, Brody comes, a learning environment, and I get paid!

Job #2:

I will be working Sunday mornings at a church nursery, again this also met my "requirement list." I will start this Sunday...

Catching Up

We have been extra busy this past week. I will summarize and make it short and sweet!

Wednesday - call for a job interview. Mom, Ron, and Devon came over, babysat while I interviewed and got the job!! Gabe's HS friends came over Jason and Jordy to go to the Blink 182 reunion concert. Devon and I hung out and played with Brody. Mom and Ron met friends for dinner.

Thursday - Went in at 7 am to fill out paperwork and begin reading some of the training guides. Picked up Kelly from the airport. Hung out at the house, went to dinner at OTB while Gabe stayed home with the little guy.

Friday - Kelly, Brody, and I went to Target. Met our cute, tiny, preggo friend Allison for lunch and shopped for her travel system/stroller. Kelly went home with Allison while Brody and I ran more errands. Gabe and I met Brooke and Steve and Adam and Amber for dinner with our babies (where Brody was pretty much a nightmare the entire dinner! Enough to make me lose my appetite! It didn't help that we had to wait forever before we sat down)

Saturday - We were up early to make the drive to Arlington for Brody-man's 6 month photo shoot. Met my dad, sister, and grandpa for lunch. Back to McKinney, I left to go to Allison's baby shower where I got to see my old college roommate who I haven't seen in years, Lisa. Came home and met Amber, Adam, and Teagan for McKinney's Oktoberfest celebration. Back to our house to watch the first part of the Tech game. We were all exhausted!!

Sunday- ran errands while Gabe stayed home with Brodsters and did lots of helpful chores around the house. Thanks honey!

Monday - first day of my first week at my new job. Met a "Fossil friend" for lunch who is sadly moving to Atlanta. So happy for her though! Thanks mom for babysitting Brody while I went to lunch and ran some much needed errands!

Tuesday - un-eventful (thank goodness!)

Wednesday (today) - was offered another part time job! When it rains it pours! :)

As you can see, we aren't taking Brody many places these days. He is extremely difficult in restaurants and is on the go 24/7. We couldn't love him more. His fun-loving personality is developing more and more everyday. Brody is happiest at home. He will laugh and play, crawl and stand, bounce and roll all day if you would let him. His fingers/hand are constantly in his mouth, he is snotty and drooling up a storm. I am afraid he is getting more teeth! I will post recent pics here soon when I can catch my breath. I should be in bed now getting my rest since tomorrow is another FULL day.

TEETH

Brody is cutting his first 2 teeth on the bottom. I saw something different in his mouth last night and today I can feel and see them coming through!

Sick Baby Update

We are on the mend, finally! We just have a pesky cough that will not subside. B-Man is on the go once again and is refusing to slow down.

In the meantime, I am getting ready for Gabe's friends on Wednesday night and my friend, Kelly on Thursday night. Definitely looking forward to spending some QT time with her!

Brody's 6 month pics are this weekend, and I am still trying to get over the fact that I have a six-month old. Where does the time go?? Brody brings so much joy and happiness to mine and Gabe's lives. I think back to my pregnant days and wondering if I will love my baby...now I wonder why I was so worried? How could I not love this sweet-tempered, ball of personality, mover and shaker of a baby? Now I am hoping to be able to set the right boundaries with the right amount of discipline for him, when the time is appropriate. Does anyone know of a good book that I might be able to help me in that dept? I have Babywise, which seems to be geared more towards newborns. Maybe I haven't read far enough into it....

Sick Baby

Brody has been sick these past few days, and let me tell you how heart-wrenching it is to know your little one is not feeling well and there isn't anything you can do. He was running fever in the 101's Monday and Tuesday, had lots of congestion, a cough, zero to little energy (which is extremelty rare) and sounds terrible. We took him to the doctor and they think it is viral. He has been on constant flow of Tylenol to hopefully take the edge off. I am happy to report his fever has broken since this morning, but the congestion and cough are still there and I know he still isn't feeling good. He swats the bulb syringe away since it's his worst enemy these last few days. Luckily he has been sleeping and resting most of the last two days to fight off the sickness. He has perfected his dramatic cry and it is pitiful! I will be holding him on my left hip, he body is spread eagle with his head thrown back crying a cry that reminds me of a "WHHHHY ME??" type cry. One thing that is not lacking is his appetite, which I am told is a good thing.

He has been to the doc two days in a row, but today we went for our well visit and flu shot (round 1). His stats are as follows:

Weight: 15 lbs 7.5 oz (15 %tile)

Height: 25 3/4 inches (25 %tile)

6 months (on Wednesday)

I just cannot get over the fact that my little munchkin is going to be 6 months on Wednesday! There is just no possible way! He is growing way to fast and time is flying by. I am having so much fun with him and thankful for all the time I am able to spend with my little guy. He is definitely the light of my life.

Here are a few of Brody's latest tricks:

Mascara

I am always looking for a new fabulous mascara to try, along with my friend Brooke. She recently introduced me to the Colossal Mascara by Maybelline. I am on day 3 of using it and I love it! I got a 2 pack at Target for like 8 dollars!! Thought I would pass along this in case you are in need of a mascara switcheroo.

Happy Birthday Rene!

Saturday was my MIL's birthday! We surprised her by flying in her sister from Atlanta early Saturday morning. We all show up to "pick her up for breakfast" and in walks Jan. Priceless moment!

After hanging out for a bit, we decide to head to lunch in Grapevine. I gave the suggestion of Esparza's even though it was already planned to have more surprise visitors arrive there (her brother Jerry and his wife Pam, her best friend Sally, and her Aunt Mary and cousin Mark).

Her last surprise was what Jerry and Pam picked up on their way in from East Texas...Bodacious BBQ! We had a house full on Saturday, but loved every second of it. So glad we were able to celebrate with most of the Journey family!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RENE!

A Sweet Treat

Today I went and bought some Sprinkles Cupcakes for a girl at Gabe's work who had never heard of Sprinkles until a week or so ago. It was her birthday and it was Gabe's idea, I just had the time to go get them... Anyway, while I was there, I treated myself to one. Peanut butter chocolate deliciousness! Yummy!! I also bought some of their mix and will try them out soon!

Seriously... Seriously...

My child is SERIOUSLY a mess! He is on the go non-stop! I am convinced he is the busiest baby around. I am sure you all are thinking, every baby (or my baby) was/is busy, but this kid is different, I'm tellin' ya! He is crawling at 5 1/2 months and is everywhere and into everything. I have taken some pictures of him getting into things and items around the house that he shouldn't be (and will not post because I would like to keep my child! :). He travels across the room in 30 seconds flat! I cannot turn my back on him for one second!

Here is my sweet angel baby on August 19th in his crib after waking up from a nap:

And THIS is what I found after he woke up from his nap yesterday (August 31st):

This I am not ready, nor prepared for! Seriously, Brody. Seriously...

Gabe and I definitely have our hands FULL! After the day I had yesterday with Brody, all I can say is "SERIOUSLY..." We lowered his crib and pack n play to the lowest settings after yesterdays drama. We are so blessed to have a loving sweet baby boy even though he is a ton of work. We wouldn't have it any other way. He brightens our days everyday!

Here are a few pictures that I hadn't uploaded until today.

In my highchair eating...such a big boy!

Enjoying the Huggies baby wipes box...we used it as a boat to get around the room

BRODY - Mommy and Daddy love you so much!