I Won A Photo Contest!

I won my neighborhood "My Summer Vacation" photo contest! I just got my Gazette in the mail today! I found out a few weeks ago that I won, but I didn't want to announce it until I actually got my copy of the magazine. I submitted a few photos in early July and just kind of forgot about it. Well, at least until I got an e-mail saying one of my photos won. I love that Bri is a cover girl! And I won a $50 gift card. I haven't won a contest since I was in the 3rd grade. I'm not kidding. I can't even win $1 on a scratch off lotto ticket! So this is huge for me!!!

Boosterthon

Last Thursday, Briana participated in her very first elementary school fundraiser - the Boosterthon! Briana (with the help of Mommy of course) got a number of donations and she ran thirty laps! Woohoo! (A big thank you to all my friends and family that donated!)

The fundraiser event was really cute. Doug and I went to cheer her on. The kindergartners and 1st graders participated in the first hour (which was 8:15 in the morning and luckily not too hot yet). Each class was called onto the field like they were football stars. The kids had to run a lap and then stop to get their t-shirts marked by a teacher. It was a bit chaotic to say the least!

At first, Briana kept wanting to find her friend K and to run with him. That was slowing her way down. Doug and I called out to her to let her know to just worry about herself. There were 6 or 7 teachers waiting with markers at the end of each lap, and for some reason, Briana kept picking the longest line to wait in. Ack! Again, Doug and I started urging her to find the shortest line so she could keep going. About lap three, a little boy accidentally tripped her and she fell flat on her face. I was worried she would start crying. But she didn't. She stood up, brushed herself off, had a bit of an annoyed look on her face, but she kept going. That's my girl.

About half way through, Briana really started to get the hang of it. She actually seemed to get more energized as she kept going. And then she started getting marks faster. I knew Briana was a runner! Amazing stamina! The announcement was made for the runners to stop and they made one victory lap with their parents. That victory lap was number 30 for Briana. And that was 30 laps with her stopping for a quick water break.

The kids running on the field...

 

 

30 laps - woohoo!!!!!

When the kids started getting ready to go back to the classroom, Bri found her friend K again. If you look closely, you can see that K grabbed for Briana's hand. Oh yes he did. The hand holding didn't last long, but it happened. I'm thinking it is all innocent. Well, at least I keep telling myself that. I am going to stay in my happy place.

Briana did tell me that a classmate asked her a few days ago if K was her boyfriend. She told me she said "NO!, K is JUST my friend". Ahhh, music to Mommy's ears. Bri is a bit too young for a boyfriend. :D She definitely won't be ready for boyfriends until she is at least 30. That isn't too unrealistic, right? 

Princess Po

Saturday morning, Doug and I took Briana over to the Build-A-Bear store to make a new stuffed animal. Honestly, this child does not need one more stuffed animal. I can barely see her on her bed anymore. But, she wanted to use her birthday money and some of the money from her piggy bank, so I told her it was ok. She has been talking about making a panda at the B-A-B store for months. When we walked in, we didn't see a traditional black and white panda on the wall. I started to freak inside my head a bit. But, we did noticed that they had a green panda bear on the wall and Briana was very happy about it (wipe sweat off brow).

She stuffed her panda and dressed her in a princess dress. Are you really surprised? And she decided to name her "Princess Po."

Below is Briana posing with her 5 Build-A-Bear stuffed animals. I told her we are now DONE at Build-A-Bear. Each animal has a special meaning ~ three were made for her and two she made herself. But seriously, this child doesn't need one more stuffed animal. I think she has a bit of an addiction...

Dream Big

This is something I hope Briana always remembers to do ~ Dream Big. (Dress compliments of Gramma ~ purchased at Justice, our new favorite store.)

Cause Baby You're A Firework

She is my little firework, isn't she?

Friday night, Doug, Bri and I decided to go out and see a rescheduled fireworks display near our house. You might remember they were totally rained out on July 4th. Bri had been up since 6:30AM that morning, had gymnastics practice from 4:30 to 5:30PM and then had dinner at Steak and Shake around 6PM, so I wasn't sure she would actually be awake enough by 9:30PM to see them. I don't even know why that thought crossed my mind because Briana was totally fine at 9:30. She was probably more awake than I was at that time. We watched the fireworks and headed back home. We got home a little before ten. Bri took a quick shower and jump into bed. She was asleep in about 2.4 seconds.

It was really cool to see the fireworks and there wasn't a crowd where we were at all. I have to wonder if many people even knew they had been rescheduled.

I am still a bigger fan of fireworks on July 4th though. Just something about seeing them on that day. I hope we don't get rained out next year!

Only Rainbows After Rain (1000th Post)

Once I click the publish button, I will officially have 1000 posts on this blog. I honestly cannot believe I have written 1000 posts. I have shared so many of my thoughts on this blog - thoughts on infertility, adoption, marriage, parenting, race and of course just my day to day life with my beautiful girl. She looks so grown up in the above pictures.

I chose the title of this post to be "Only Rainbows After Rain" because Briana loves the song "Keep Your Head Up" by Andy Grammer. She said to me a few weeks ago, "Mama, I really like when he says 'Only Rainbows After Rain'." I like it too. Because I have had my fair share of gray skies in life, and Briana is definitely my rainbow after the rain. And even now, when I feel like life is weighing down on my shoulders and I am feeling super stressed, I think of this song. Because you always gotta try to keep your head up.  

Here is the video - I promise it will make you smile...



I am going to reminisce a bit now...  

Can you believe that Briana was actually this small? ~

I have to say, kindergarten has thrown me for a loop a bit. I am having a bit of trouble watching my baby grow up. I waited for a baby for so long. I yearned for a baby for six years, and now my baby is a little girl. Somehow I blinked. I have loved watching every milestone Briana has reached and I adore the little girl she has become. She is amazing, sassy, fun, sweet, smart - the whole package. But, there is that small part of me that misses baby Briana. The baby I finally got to cuddle in my arms after that long, long wait.

Well, time continues to march on and all I can do is try to enjoy every moment. Take it all in. And if I want to visit baby Briana again, I will look in the archives of this blog and visit her.

So, I hope I have entertained you over the last 1000 posts and I hope to continue to entertain you for more. I can't say I will write another 1000, but I will continue to write as long as you all want to keep reading.  

If you haven't commented before or if it has been a while, feel free to say hi. Would love to hear from you!

Happy 1000th post to me!

She Makes My Heart Melt

She makes me smile. She makes me crazy sometimes. I feel so blessed. I feel so lucky. I still pinch myself sometimes that she is in my life. I just love being her Mommy.

 

(I got Bri's dress at www.redthreadstitches.com.)

Another School Update

Wow, I can't believe it is now day 12 of Briana being a kindergartner. Here is Miss B on Hilarious Hair Day yesterday. I kind of had practice already from the Wacky Day that Briana had at dance camp this summer, so I went with the same hair theme - bows and flowers everywhere.

I have to say how much I love Briana's teacher. Love, love, love her. She is a wonderful communicator. She has a FB page and is constantly keeping me the parents updated. She took all sorts of pictures on the first day of school and on hilarious hair day and posted them. It makes me feel so good to see how Briana's days are going.

In not so surprising news, Briana already had her first trip to the nurse along with another girl because they accidentally bumped heads together during PE on Friday. She got some ice put on it and now has a nice little bruise on her cheek. Ahhh, that's my girl. She did say she didn't cry. That same day though, she told me that she did cry when a different little girl got irritated with her for getting behind her too closely in line. Hurt Bri's feelings a bit. And Briana told me this week (two days ago actually) that she got angry at a little girl that cut in front of her in line when Bri was supposed to be line leader. They both ended up having to apologize to each other. No harm done. Bri takes any "job" that is assigned to her very seriously. Even if she has to bust heads doing it. Ok, I am exaggerating a bit with that last line. A little. ;)

She looks innocent enough...

 

Here is Bri with one of her new friends from her class at recess... (I swiped this picture from the FB page. I picked this one because it was taken from behind.)

And here is Bri this morning. She just looked really cute!

Briana is already taking part in her first school fundraiser. Next week, she gets to run laps with her classmates to earn money for her classroom. I have already gotten a number of donations (thanks everyone!) and Bri is ready to put on her running shoes next week. I'm going to go cheer her on!

Wow - I really sound like a kindergarten mom now, don't I?

5 Year Old Checkup

This afternoon, Miss B had her 5 year old checkup with her pediatrician. She is happy, healthy and right on target. No shots today and Bri was thrilled (and so was her mama). She passed the hearing and vision test. She is 38 pounds and 43 inches tall (38th and 61st percentile respectively). The best part of it all was the Rainbow Brite sticker that she got to walk away with at the end of the visit.

Briana wanted to wear her Minnie Mouse dress today and since there was no P.E. today, I was totally for it. She looked so cute...

She loved the fact that she matched her Minnie Mouse doll, so she snagged her for a picture...

Another day at kindergarten down. 5 year old checkup done. We are good to go!