Life's A Party

And party we have...

Thank goodness Briana is feeling better because we have been BUSY!

Thursday, my mom came over to visit, and she, Briana and I went out for a ladies lunch and a little shopping. We did little decoration shopping for my sister's future baby shower - so much fun! And we finally got Briana to wear the Steak and Shake hat!

Then Friday, Briana and I headed over to Lisa and Maisie's house for a playdate with Deb and Li Li, Orla and Rachel, Brandy and Zoe and Theresa. We had a great time! Briana did have a little fall and she didn't hit anything, but she did manage to bite her lip on the way down. Blood started to come out of her mouth. I actually remained very calm. I have been told that blood coming from the mouth usually looks worse than it is, and I also didn't want to freak Briana out by being upset. She does have a little cut on her upper lip, but the bleeding stopped almost immediately - thank goodness.

After the playdate, I drove down the street for a surprise visit to my former place of employment to visit my former co-workers/friends. It was great seeing the girls again (sorry I missed you Linda!).

Saturday, we attended the local China adopters potluck at Trixie's house. It was a St. Patrick's Day theme. It was great seeing everyone and all the little ones, and Trixie's house was just lovely! Thanks for having us!

And finally Sunday, we attended at birthday party for our friends Mark and Alison's daughter Ashlyn who turned six. What a beautiful day for a party! They had a horse come to their house so the kids could have horse rides. We tried to get Briana to wear the hat that you need to put on to ride the horse, but she would have none of that. So, she just petted it! She had a blast (especially because she got to eat some vanilla ice cream)!

We are tired from our very busy last couple of days (to say the least). So, we are taking it very easy this week!

3 Words

Here are my three words...


I think it is time for a Miss Asia update. And since she isn't getting the blog coverage that she used to get, I am devoting my three words to her this Sunday. She is doing well around Briana, but she still rather watch her from across the room than be any where close to her. Briana loves Asia. Unfortunately, Asia only tolerates Briana. Every time Briana sees Asia, she says "Hi Kitty" and blows her a kiss. Yeah, doesn't matter - Asia still ain't having any of it.

Asia cries a lot for attention now, and Doug and I do our best to give it to her, but there is no way she can get the "only child" attention she got before Briana came along. And sadly, Asia still has a bare belly and continues to lick her stomach so it won't grow back. Ugh. She also gave us a little scare about two weeks ago because when I changed her litter, it was unbelievably wet. We wanted to make sure her kidneys were ok, so off to the vet she went. Urinalysis and blood tests showed she was fine. What a relief. Looks like it might be another issue related to stress - yet again.

Asia is still adjusting to the little intruder that has invaded her life. I wish I could explain to her why Briana is here and why she won't leave. :) All I can do is cuddle my kitty as much as I can. Asia has been my baby for 8 years - through all the ups and downs. She will always be my first baby.

She Said Her Name

That is right - baby girl said her name yesterday for the first time!

First, she said it for Doug while they were on the back porch, and of course, I was in another room. Then, we took her upstairs for a bath. While I was filling the tub, Doug asked Briana what was the name on the rocker that my mom made her. She said slowly, “Bri-a-na”. Of course, I missed it again. Then we took her in the bathroom where the picture my friend Carole bought for her is hanging that says “Briana”. We asked her what name was on the picture. She said again softly – “Bri-a-na”. And I got to hear it that time!

Briana is not an easy name to say. It is pronounced "Bree-AH-na". And she actually pronounced it the right way! I am one proud mama!!!

And on another note, thank you for all the sweet comments I received on my last post. The last two days have been MUCH better. She still seems to be chewing on things, so I am really thinking she is teething, but she has been in a much better mood. We have a super busy weekend ahead of us, so let's hope the streak continues!

Motherhood Is Tough Sometimes

...and exhausting and draining and tiring...

I love Briana with all my heart and soul. I can't imagine my life without her. She is my pride and joy. Now with that being said, she has been kind of difficult for the past few days. I always told myself that I would never complain about anything once I had my baby home with me. Well, that was just stupid. I am human - I get tired - and I guess it isn't normal not to get frustrated at times.

And the last few days have been frustrating and tiring. Honestly, Briana is such a good girl. I am so lucky. She is an angel when eating in restaurants, she plays well with other kids, she laughs a lot and she actually does listen to me (well most of the time). She can go for weeks without giving me much trouble at all. But then all of a sudden, something bugs her and she gets all "out of sorts" for a couple of days. She tries to push my buttons and push the envelope. She cries and whines when she doesn't get what she wants. Fussy is a good way to describe it. This behavior is pretty unusual for her, and it can be very exhausting and frustrating for me.

Sunday, my poor baby woke up with a fever. And she was sluggish and irritable for a lot of the day. After her afternoon nap, she was cranky. Now when it comes to TV, she has the attention span of about 10 minutes tops. But on Sunday, not knowing what else to do, I put on "Toy Story" to see what would happen. She watched the whole thing as she lied on my lap on my bed. I knew something was up with her. I gave her a little Tylenol in the morning and Motrin in the afternoon and by the end of the day, the fever went down.

Then Monday came. Again, she was not acting like herself all morning but no fever luckily. Kind of irritable. She woke up from her afternoon nap and was really upset. She cried and carried on for about 45 minutes. Nothing I did could console her. Finally, she calmed down and drank a little juice. But by then, my nerves were shot.

Tuesday morning...she started to cry when I took her out of the car to go into the grocery store. I thought once I took her out of the car she would be ok. Nope. Back in the car and headed home. She was fine on the way home, so I turned back around in my driveway and went back to the store. She was fine the second time around. Thank goodness. So weird.

Briana did much better today. She tested me a couple of times, but nothing too bad and nothing I couldn't handle. At Briana's music class, Deb and Lisa suggested that Bri might be teething - getting her two year molars. It is very possible. She came to me with eight teeth at a year old, so those molars could be coming in early. I have noticed her gnawing on things a little and actually, she has been more fussy in the food department the last few days.

Ironically, she has done fantastic with the time change. I started moving up things by about a half an hour for a few days before the time change - nap, bath, etc. So, she is already on track with daylight saving time.

So, this is today's post. I want my blog to be real and honest, so I have to talk about the good and not so good. To end this on a light note, I love my beautiful Briana, I love being a mom and I love my life. And right now, I'd really love to be asleep. Good night everyone...

Lovely Surprises

Saturday evening, Doug looked on our porch and realized that there was a package on it. It was from Sophia and Daniel (and Steffie B. of course)! What a surprise! I had commented on Steffie's blog how much I loved the bubble maker for the bathtub that she wrote about and guess what was in the package? You guessed it! The bubble maker!! Briana absolutely loves it! Steffie, I cannot thank you enough for sending it. You are so unbelievably sweet and thoughtful. Thank you! Thank you!!!

Here is Miss Briana showing off her present.

Enjoying bubbles in the tub!

And on Friday, Briana and I tried out a free Gymboree class to see if Briana enjoyed it before I consider enrolling her in a program. Well, of course she had a blast. But, I am still considering whether or not I want to sign her up or not. I must check the budget first!

My friend Alison and her daughter Kaitlyn take classes there already, and Kaitlyn was in the class right after Briana's on Friday. So, we decided to get together for lunch after Kaitlyn's class. I had not seen Alison in a while, so it was nice to have lunch together and catch up on life, kids, husbands, etc. Doug worked from home that day, so when I got home with Briana after lunch (she crashed in the car of course), he had a dozen peach colored roses sitting on the counter for me - just because. Isn't he the sweetest? I love surprises!!!

Briana waiting for Alison and Kaitlyn.

Briana grabbing on to my leg when a big truck drove by. Look at her scared little face! It is so cute!

Kaitlyn enjoying some sweet tea.

My beautiful flowers!

3 Words

This is Doug, Briana and me at the White Swan back in August. Doug and I waited a long time for our precious gift, but she was worth every minute of the wait!

Scenes From A Play Date

Wednesday, Briana and I headed over to Kathy and Chani's house, as well as Lisa S. and Maisie, to have a play date. The girls had a blast and pigged out on pizza for lunch. I was watching all the girls playing together that day and had one of those moments where I just couldn't believe that it was real. Sometimes I still have to pinch myself...

Here are a few pics!

Briana, Chani and Maisie. Briana said to Chani, "Hey, Maisie's back is turned. Let grab her cup!"

Miss Briana (compliments of Lisa S.)

Miss Maisie (compliments of Lisa S.)

Miss Chani (also swiped from Lisa S.)

Briana in deep thought...

Briana and Chani. Look familiar? Briana loves to feed all the newbies!

Maisie and Briana.

Maisie and Briana.

And this was Briana when we got home. Tuckered herself out!

19 Months Old

"Hi everybody. I am 19 months old today. Life is good..."

Weekend Recap

We had a beautiful weekend here in Georgia! And it is going to be 70 degrees today! We are going to get some nasty thunderstorms in here tomorrow though, so we are going to enjoy the weather today.

Here is a picture of Briana getting ready to go out to dinner this weekend (she is rockin' Maisie's former jeans - thanks Lisa!).

We met Georgia and Jeff for dinner on Saturday night to have a Longhorn Steakhouse celebration meal to celebrate their referral for this cutie pie...

They are leaving for China on March 12 to go get their daughter Zoe, and we couldn't be happier for them! We had a great dinner and you can just tell how excited the parents-to-be are. Good luck guys!

Then Sunday morning, my sweetie Doug let me sleep in and got Briana up for the day. When I came downstairs, she was fed and happy. Then she lounged in her plush chair. Can you tell it was a lazy Sunday?

Briana and Doug were playing a little "gimme 5" - well I guess it is actually "gimmie 10".

Later that morning, we headed to Toys R Us (to return something and to use a gift certificate) and it was Briana's first time there. Yep - the first Toys R Us experience. We entered the store and she was in heaven. Toys, toys, toys everywhere!!! Let's just say we bought a couple things.

And she had a great time on this little apple ride. Actually, she liked playing in it better when it was not moving...

Overall, it was a great weekend! Hope yours was too!

3 Words and 7 Months

A cool blogger version of "3 Words" (based on GMA segments that run on Saturdays) has been started by the lovely Ms. M! I will attempt to post three words every Sunday!

Here are the rules: Sum up your week in three little words.“You can sing it, you can say it, you can write it, you can draw it. It can be funny or sad or poignant as long as it’s honest.”

I spent a lot of time this week watching Briana sleep. She is so peaceful. Here are my three words...

And Briana has been in our lives for 7 months now...

Then...
Now...