Beautiful Day and Fun With My New Flip

It has been an absolutely gorgeous day today - despite the attitude (see above) I got from Miss B this morning when I told her she had to share the swing with her friends at the park. This is Briana in time out. Nice, huh? She did apologize to me and gave me a hug after her outward display of unhappiness.

Bri was up very early this morning, so after playing at the park and lunch, she napped for two hours. While she was napping, I was snapping pictures of this unusually cool day in May and playing with my new toy. I got a new Flip for Mom's Day from my awesome hubby!

This is the rocking chair on my front porch. I was sitting in it as I enjoyed the weather and played with my new toy this afternoon while Bri napped.

This is the lot across the street from my house. It is a nature area.

The nature area is on the side of our house too.

The sky was so blue today. It'll get hot soon and the blue sky will turn to haze in a few days I'm sure.

Here is my new toy!

And here are a few videos I have taken with my new toy over the last few days. The first video is Briana "calling" grandma on her phone. The second video is Doug and Briana sitting in our guest room one evening watching "Wonder Pets" together and singing. The last video was at the park today. Click the "HQ" button on the You.Tube video to watch them in High Def. Enjoy!

A Rather Quiet Week

After the crazy busy weekend we had last weekend - from photo shoots to gymnastic spectaculars to Mom's Day - it was nice to have a quiet week to recoup. Ok, as quiet as it can get living with Miss B. Briana spent the past week doing a number of things. She dressed up like a "princess" (see above). Briana loves this dress. She fell in love with it as we walked through K.hols a few weeks ago. I am not usually one to buy a dress that is ruffled, pink, orange and yellow with the D.isney cast on it, but it was originally $28 and I got it for $5.60. Sold. I love a good bargain! And Briana felt that a crown, necklace and bracelet were needed to finish the ensemble.

Briana also put together this puzzle this week. Over and over and over again. She is so proud that she can put it together all by herself.

We also had our fill of play dates. We had another neighborhood playground play date with Amy and Mary. We also had gymnastics fun with Laney.

This upcoming week we are going to be much busier. Doug's friend is coming into town for Memorial Day weekend and that should be fun. I am also going to pick up my photo shoot pictures from PFP on Thursday! I'm excited to see how they turned out!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Gymnastics Spring Spectacular! (w/Video)

Saturday morning was the "Spring Spectacular" at Briana gymnastics center. It is basically a showcase for all the kids at the gymnastics center to show off what they learned this past year. Briana is in the youngest group of kids, so they were scheduled first thing in the morning. And boy, did they show their stuff!

The showcase started off with dancing and hoola hooping. Then all the kids climbed on a big slide made out of mats and slid into a foam pit. Briana did that about 7 or 8 times without breaking a sweat. By the 5th or 6th time, she started adding twirls as she slid down the mat into the pit. (She doesn't like to show off or anything.)

They then moved on to the circuit with bars, beams, ladders, etc. Lastly, the kids did a little floor exercise. During all this, Briana was um, let's say pretty good, at following directions. As you all know, Briana listens better to the voice in her own head. ;)

At the end, all the kids got a medal with a purple ribbon. So, Briana calls it her "purple medal". What made the day even more special was that Laney participated in the showcase with Briana and they had on the same leotard (not planned either)! They were so cute together and did such a great job! Laney has made gymnastics so much fun for Briana!

Here are the stars of the show!

Here are me, Briana, Angela and Laney before the showcase. (Angela did a great post on the showcase as well.)

Briana with her teacher Ms. Jennifer. Bri loves Ms. Jennifer.

And here is a video of the highlights of the day. I didn't realize how many times Briana fell to the floor with excitement until I saw the pictures. Good grief. She is on the floor about a million times with a huge smile. Ahhh, that's my girl...

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(Crud - I realized I spelled "Spectacular" wrong in the video after I uploaded it. Oh well.)

Mother's Day - Part 2

The second part of my Mother's Day was spent at my parents' house. We spent time eating and opening gifts. It was a great day!

Briana helped every single one of the moms open their gifts without even asking. She is so helpful, isn't she? :)

This is a gift from my mom - so sweet!

Briana enjoys spending time upside down.

My grandma holding my nephew.

Eating a "happy birfday cake". Every cake to Briana is a birthday cake.

I love balloons!

It is touching the sky!

Mother's Day - Part 1

Wow - we had a jam packed weekend! Saturday morning, Briana's gymnastics center held their "Spring Spectacular" to showcase everything the kids have learned in the past year. I am going to post about it later in the week, but let me tell you - Briana cannot stop talking about winning her purple medal.

And Mother's Day was terrific! Doug let me sleep in, and he and Briana went out in the morning and brought me back breakfast. Yes, I had breakfast in bed! As the bedroom door swung open to wake me, Briana yelled, "Happy Mother's Day!" and handed me flowers. And Doug bought me a new Flip video recorder - I'm a lucky gal!

After breakfast, I sat out on my upstairs back porch with Briana and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was in the low 70's with a slight breeze. The sun was shining and everything was lush and green. A perfect morning!

Here is my porch...

Briana decided to hop up on the storage unit.


Then she lied down on it.

Then she decided to grab a pillow and a blanket and slide underneath the little coffee table and pretend to sleep.


After a restful morning, we all got dressed and headed over to my Mom's house in the afternoon. Briana and I posed for some Mother's Day pictures before we left. Briana was wearing her favorite polka dot dress and a light pink bow. I wanted to put a bright pink bow in her hair, but she wasn't having it. It HAD to be the light pink bow.


Gosh I love Briana kisses! Well, that is part 1 of Mother's Day. I will post more in a day or so!

Happy Mother's Day

There are still those moments when I look at Briana and cannot believe that she is my daughter. She amazes me every day with her charm, big smile, sense of humor, perkiness and zest for life. I am one lucky mama.

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms in my life. And to those who are still waiting for their babies - just know that I am thinking of you today.

I am also thinking of Briana's biological mom today - the woman who gave my precious Briana life, as well as Bri's foster mom - the woman who took such good care of her before I was able to.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Here is a link to the post of my first Mother's Day as a mom last year.

Fun Times With Briana

Ok, when is Briana not having fun? Right? The day before we left for Michigan, we met our friends Amy and Mary for a delicious Chinese food lunch and then some play time at the neighborhood playground. The girls love toasting each other. They were too cute together.

It was such a beautiful day. It has pretty much rained in GA since. I am ready for some sunny days ahead!

I love this picture - it cracks me up. Mary's face and Briana chillin' in the background. Quite artistic I might say. ;)

Swinging away!

Briana was assisting Mary down the slide.


Last Thursday, Briana had gymnastics class and since Doug was on vacation that week, he decided to come along. The kids did some fancy dance moves (see below video) and as you can see, Briana was more interested in impressing daddy than actually listening to directions. (BTW, Briana loves the song "I Like To Move It" from the movie M.adagascar. She also loves the song "Dancing Queen" from the M.amma Mia soundtrack. She requests it every single time we get in the car.) This upcoming Saturday morning, Briana has a gymnastics showcase with her class. Sniff - this is my very first "recital" for my child! I am so excited!

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And a quick thank you to everyone who sent us anniversary wishes. We had a great night on Sunday. My parents watched Bri and Doug and I went to a movie and had dinner. We saw "G.hosts of G.irlfriends Past" and it was really cute. Then we ate at a little restaurant that is right next to a local airport. It was such a nice evening!


My girl gave me the biggest hug before we left. Gosh I love this child!

Twelve Years Of Wedded Bliss

Twelve years ago today I married my best friend. Doug and I met in high school and have been together for eighteen years. We have spent half of our lives together.

We have experienced so many happy times and have definitely had our share of struggles. We struggled for 6 years of our marriage trying to start a family and somehow Doug managed to keep me sane through it all. I don't know what I would do without him.

Doug is the most wonderful husband and an absolutely amazing father. I am so happy that the dream of our daughter finally came true, and I cherish every moment of raising Briana with him.

I actually put this slide show together and posted it on my blog for our 10th anniversary, but I would like to share it with you again. "Now and Forever" is the song Doug and I danced to our wedding.

Hope you enjoy...

Time In Michigan (In Pictures)

Someone had fun. Can you tell? We all had a very nice time in Michigan visiting Doug's grandparents - despite all the rain.

We had fun...

Riding on the plane (someone enjoyed her Aqua.doodle).

Playing stickers with Great Grandpa.

Playing on the beach playground for about 10 minutes before the downpour.


Hiding in the bushes.

Sitting in trees.

Spending time with family.

Enjoying the few minutes it didn't rain.

Running all over the carpet leaving lots of little footprint marks.

Tickling Great Grandpa's feet.


Playing with an inflatable toy from a Sub.way kids meal with Great Grandma...

...then whacking Great Grandpa with it.

And enjoying lots of good meals together!

We had a great time visiting, but Briana is so glad to be home. Last night as I was rocking her, she put her arms around me and whispered, "Home, home, home" and gave me a little smile. She then fell asleep right in my arms. I love that my little girl feels so happy and safe at home.