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Happy First Halloween Brielle!

~ lovingbrielle ~ Leave a comment
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My 39th Week Posed Picture

Brielle had her first Halloween and turned 39 weeks! I wasn’t sure if I’d still be pregnant when Halloween came around, so I hadn’t planned anything. I introduced Brielle to the first Halloweentown movie (a yearly tradition for me) and then we went out and bought candy for the trick or treaters. David had bought a bag, but it was not the type of candy kids like, so we took it back. I did not anticipate the rush on candy at 4 in the afternoon. Goodness gracious, we went to Kroger, Rite Aid, and Publix in search of all the candy we needed. Brielle loves Skittles and I was determined to get some for her. David finally found a bag at Publix. Thank goodness, Brielle’s Halloween had to be perfect. We also picked up a pumpkin to carve for Brielle, her first jack-o-lantern!

We also went to a used book store and picked up some more books for her. I was shocked to find a couple of my favorites, “The Rough-Face Girl” and “The Legend of the Bluebonnet,” which is about a Comanche tribe, which I’m pretty sure is the tribe my family is descended from. My great grandfather wasn’t the greatest guy, so we aren’t sure what tribe we come from, but the Comanches are the only tribe we resemble. I read her both books and she liked them both! Especially “The Rough-Face Girl,” she started wiggling a lot when I read the part about the Invisible Being recognizing how beautiful the girl was even though she was scarred from fire.

When we got home I started munching on candy and Brielle had a bit of a sugar rush. David fastened Brielle’s mermaid costume onto my belly, I can’t see the bottom of my belly now. My parents bought that sweet outfit for her, I didn’t know if Brielle would come before Halloween and I wanted something for her. This worked out really well, especially since I’m not sure she’s going to fit into it anymore. She’s a full size baby now and has incredibly long legs, David and I are going to breed a race of giants.

Later we carved her jack-o-lantern and passed out candy to the trick or treaters. We turned on the movie Hocus Pocus (another yearly tradition) and watched that. Brielle had crashed by the time we watched Hocus Pocus, too much sugar for a little girl. But she had a lot of fun tonight. She did her dancing and wiggles and kicked her Daddy a lot!

Brielle’s big sisters celebrated Halloween too! I dressed Emmy (the oldest) in a cheerleader costume that says “Rah, Rah, Ruff!” and I dressed Rosie (the baby) in a glow in the dark pirate costume that says “Trick ‘Arrr’ Treat.” My dog children love dressing up, it made their day when I pulled out their costumes. Especially Emmy, Emmy is a flat-coated retriever which are known to be scary smart. So Emmy actually picked out her costume. I know that sounds weird, but really she’s so smart. Everyone says that about their beloved pets, but Emmy just knows and understands things. Her breed was used nearly to extinction by the English in the World Wars and I can see why they are such a popular breed for war. They have a calculating intelligence and a seriousness most retrievers don’t have. The girls, as I call them, also had pumpkin treats and enjoyed a brisk fall day outside. They were very happy and were thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day.

I’m so happy we got to share this holiday with Brielle. It was a very happy day, in a sugary sweet, happy family way. Those are my favorite type of days, I’m so thankful we got to have another one as a family.

I also made a Halloween playlist and have been playing it for Brielle. We’ve had a few hits with her. Interesting to note, she doesn’t like the Monster Mash or Time Warp, she really doesn’t like Time Warp.

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The “Oh, you’re such a sweet baby!” picture, with tickles.
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The, “Oh crap, you’re sea shell straps are showing and your starfish is curled up.”
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Beautifying little Brielle.
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Here we go, fixed sea shells and starfish.
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Brielle’s pumpkin and her bucket.
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Emmy’s costume, with Rosie trying to get in the shot.
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Rosie’s costume, with a fresh dabble of dirt on her nose.
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We couldn’t take Brielle out trick or treating, so whenever someone would come to the door, we’d put a piece of candy in her bucket. So this is her Halloween candy! lol
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Her Daddy is hard at work carving her pumpkin.
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He said he was happy we went ahead and did this, it was a fun memory to make with her.
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Her pumpkin.
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All of Brielle’s pumpkins!

My Birthday Celebration

~ lovingbrielle ~ Leave a comment

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My 25th birthday started out a bit rough, as mentioned previously. By the time David came home I was in much better spirits, but I still wasn’t thrilled about the day, to say the least. We decided to open gifts first since our reservations weren’t until 8:30. My parents had sent a good size Amazon box and an outfit they had ordered a few weeks ago arrived as well. David loves to spoil me (be worried about our children) so he bought me a romance novel, a K-Drama that I love, flowers, a cake, and a gift card to the spa for after Brielle is born. He also got me a very sweet card. He loves me.

I opened my parent’s box and was so surprised. It was filled with things for Brielle! Happy patterns and cute newborn outfits. I was so excited by them. David said in a disappointed voice, “Your parents outdid me this year.” He was not happy about that lol. I spent quite a bit of time looking at each thing and putting the newborn outfits together. David was excited about them too, but kind of jealous that I wasn’t as excited about his gifts. Poor David. Seeing all of those things for Brielle made me so happy and cheered me up. It was so fun imagining her chubby, little legs kicking out of her onesie. So cute! David then said, “How do you put those things on and how do you change a diaper? Do you take the whole outfit off?” It hadn’t occurred to me that I needed to teach David how to do those things. We needed to have a crash course on babies.

We had a nice dinner out, which Brielle enjoyed as well. We have a bit of problem there, she enjoys expensive steak a bit too much. We’re not continuing that for her after she’s born. Mommy and Daddy are still having good steak though.

When we came home, David grabbed Brielle’s American Girl doll, Grace, and I set up a station on the coffee table to teach David how to change a diaper. That was interesting. Not because of David, but because the doll was not flexible – at all. We had a lot of fun though! David did such a good job, he’s worried he won’t do it right, I kept telling him that he will know. He’ll know what to do and he is already doing such a great job. He said he wanted to be a good daddy. I told him he was already a great daddy. Brielle loves him so much! He’s still worried, but hopefully not as much. To be fair, it is quite a bit to take in and learn when you’ve never been around newborns before.

Saturday we saw The Martian, which was good. We have read the book a couple of times and the book is hysterical, terrible language, but hilarious. The movie was not so funny. We still had fun and Brielle liked it too. After the movie we went to a Carter’s store and bought Brielle a bunch of outfits. That was so much fun! We both enjoyed that, David was amazed at how tiny everything was. I even had fun doing laundry that night. I washed all of Brielle’s little clothes and blankets. It made me so happy to fold a little stack just for her.

Overall I had a great birthday weekend. It started out really rough, but spending time with my sweet family was all I needed. I got to spoil my little girl, eat cake, spend time with David, and get dog snuggles from my sweet fur children. And we had an amazing Sunday. It was an emotional birthday, but a great one.

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Look at Rosie and Emmy. Do you think they want cake?
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My white cake with white buttercream cake.
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Look at all the gifts Brielle and I got!
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David trying his best to put clothes on the doll.
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Still trying…
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He did it!

Thank You Mom

~ lovingbrielle ~ Leave a comment

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I have to brag on my Mom. She came out last Wednesday and helped so much. She stayed Wednesday night with me so David could go home and get a good night’s rest. When we came back from the hospital she and Dad went out and bought groceries for the weekend. She made beef stew for dinner (and cookies!). We finished watching Princess and the Frog with Brielle, we had started watching it Wednesday night with Mom, Dad, and David. And then we watched Aladdin. Brielle didn’t go for Princess and the Frog, but she loved Aladdin. I guess Jazz isn’t her thing.

Friday, Mom began cleaning the house for us. I’ve been too tired and David has had way too much on his plate and hasn’t had time to clean. He already has his hands full. So she took care of us all weekend. She did laundry, dusted, vacuumed, cleaned bathrooms, deep cleaned the kitchen. It was so nice. It was uncomfortable at first, because it just doesn’t feel right to have your Mom clean your house. But David and I appreciated it so much.

I’d been craving pulled pork sandwiches, so Friday she made pulled pork sandwiches, fried potatoes, and green beans. We ate good this weekend! Friday was also Brielle’s 34th week day, so Friday night we had popcorn and watched Flywheel (the first Kendrick’s brothers film). Brielle danced through the whole thing.

Saturday we had a popcorn lunch and saw War Room, another Kendrick’s brothers film in theaters. We loved it, so did Brielle! She did lots of wiggles during the movie. It really was a very moving movie. We had a great weekend with Mom, and Dad when he was here. Dad went back Friday morning, he left at like 5 AM.

David and I are so thankful for everything Mom did to help us out. We really needed the help and appreciate it so much. Especially David, he has way too much going on. He’s being pulled in just about every direction and when I told him Mom wanted to help him by taking care of the house, he let out a huge sigh of relief and it was as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

Mexico Independence Day

~ lovingbrielle ~ 1 Comment

Wednesday Dennis G. had a layover in Atlanta and came out to see me and Brielle. We had lunch at The Marietta Diner (very tasty!) and caught up on things going on back home in Texas. It was so great to see him. The last few times I’ve been in Texas I either haven’t seen him or I’ve only seen him for a couple of minutes, so it was very good to see him again. For those that don’t know, Dennis and Rene have been a part of my life for the past twenty years. I grew up with them and their boys and they feel more like family than family friends. Scott and I grew up playing in the New Mexico Rockies and beating each other up back home. Him and Robert were the brothers I never had and I love their family dearly. David is also extremely fond of Robert as well, Robert is a computer nerd just like David. David always says, “Oh, I like Robert, he’s a cool dude.” I guess that’s guy talk for he likes him?

Wednesday was also Mexico Independence Day. Again, for those that don’t know, I am a born and raised Texan and I took my fair share of Texas history. It grieves me that my children will not be Texans, really, it pains me. So, I’ve decided if they can’t be born Texan they can at least be raised Texan. Since Mexico’s independence from Spain is a big part of Texas’s own history I decided that I should educate David and Brielle about this day.

We went to Pappasito’s, which is about the only place in Atlanta with homemade tortillas, so of course we went there for dinner. Brielle loved her fajitas and onions! And she really liked the mariachi band too! She had a lot of fun and wiggled around quite a bit. When we came home, I read them the story of Father Hidalgo and we discussed Mexico’s independence from Spain. David was sad that Father Hidalgo’s life didn’t end well, he was surprised by that. Such is war and revolution. Overall, I think Brielle had a great day today! Even if it ended with the story of a man dying.

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Brielle is 31 Weeks!

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Friday was the beginning of Brielle’s 31st week! We took her out for hibachi and she liked it! She liked the soup they served and she jumped during the big fire part of the show. We’ve been watching the Harry Potter series, so we continued with another movie after dinner. She’s not really into Harry Potter, she liked the first one, but the rest she doesn’t really enjoy. I think its because the first one had a lot of music.

Saturday our friends John and Courtney came down to visit for the weekend. We went to Bahama Breeze for dinner and I gave Brielle a pineapple drink. She really liked that! There was a lot of jumping and dancing. She did not like conch fritters or jerk chicken. Dad said she was like Papa, he didn’t like conch fritters either. We watched a crazy movie that night and we were all laughing hysterically. Brielle loved that, she loved hearing us laugh, and was so happy the whole night. She kept dancing and doing her happy wiggles. I actually had a hard time settling her down so that I could sleep. Silly girl!

Sunday morning she was a sleepy head, until she smelled bacon! Then she perked right up and kept kicking me like, “Why aren’t we eating yet?” She loved her breakfast. Strawberries, orange juice (she’s been craving that), bacon, and biscuits with winter white honey from Savannah Bee company. Oh she was so happy. Brielle had a good day. She took a nap for the rest of the day. Only waking up to enjoy food again. She is her father’s daughter.

I was exhausted Monday, so while I had planned on having a picnic, flying a kite, and playing mini golf with Brielle. It didn’t all happen. We went to a used book store and were very happy to see they had a huge children’s section. So we bought Brielle nine new books. After that, we went out to play mini golf that evening after dinner. Brielle curled up on my right side and slept the entire time. We had a great time, but it was exhausting. There were a lot of stairs and I seriously underestimated what I was able to still do. David helped me walk around though and get up and down the stairs. He also placed my ball every time for me and let me use his when I hit my ball into the water. He’s such a great husband.

We decided to test her vision Monday night, by shining a light on my tummy. She really did not like that and ran away from the light. She’d been sleeping so she was not a happy camper. We wont be doing that test again. But she can see! This is huge! It means she’s exhibiting all five senses, which is one of the things that doctors say anencephalic babies can’t do.

That night David read her Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss. That didn’t go over well. She actually tried to hide from the book. First she kicked me really hard, and then she burrowed as deep into me as she could. And just kept on trying until I stopped David from reading. David was relieved as well, he didn’t like that book either! So he read her Beauty and the Beast. She really liked that book! She came back out of her hiding place and snuggled back up on my right side. She did a few happy kicks and she just felt happy.

Brielle was very happy and very active all weekend. I’m glad she had fun. She’s been very sleepy since Monday. I think we wore her out. It certainly wore Mommy out!