Warning...it's Spirit Week!

So it's Spirit Week in Holly...which basically means that Friday is Homecoming. So, with that, comes a week filled of goofy-dressed children and husbands! LOL I'll try to post pictures each day...

MONDAY for Tony and Bradlee was "Stop Light Day" - wear Green if you're going to the dance and have a date; wear Yellow if you are going to the dance and need a date; wear Red if you are not going to the dance or if you don't want a date. Obviously, both of my boys wore red!

MONDAY for Emma was "Sports Team Day" - wear your favorite team colors! Naturally, Emma wore the good 'ole maroon and gold! (Tony says it's because I got to her first...LOL)...the truth is that I:

1. Get her dressed in the morning.

2. Gave her the choice of what to wear (Michigan or CMU or MSU)

3. Bribed her with a cheek tatoo of my Chippewas!!! :)

Can I help it if she has good taste? Geez!! At least she picked a WINNING team! LOL

Look for more tomorrow!

Is it Wednesday already??

Wow!! Where has the week gone?! It seems like yesterday I was just getting ready for my busy weekend ahead of me, and now not only is the weekend over with, but the week is half over with also! To be perfectly honest, I don't even remember what we did on Friday night, but I know Saturday and Sunday were packed with a ton of things!! Emma started swimming lessons at the YWCA on Saturday morning. She LOVED it!! She in the 2.5 foot pool, so she can touch the bottom and according to Tony, it really made a difference...she let Tony help her float on her back (something she was afraid of doing before) and was able to walk around the pool and gain some independence...now if we can only keep her on task with the class instructions!!

Saturday morning I helped celebrate "National Card Making Day" with my Stampin' Up friends and attended a workshop from 10am - 4pm. We made about 25 cards and 2 3-D projects, including a Frankenstein popcorn holder and a candy package that will definitely make its appearance at Christmas time for my colleagues!! Then my mom and I met Tony's parents and the kids at church and we set up the community room for Bradlee's baptism the next day.

Oh...you're seeing that picture right....Emma's taking after her daddy and reading on the potty! I had to get a picture! She's looking at a catalog I got in the mail and finding all the cool things she can ask Santa for. She got a pen and started circling things...I finally told her she could only circle 3 things that she really wanted, and she wanted 10, we settled on 5...I just have to find where she hid the catalogs to see what she circled so I can **maybe** put them on a Christmas list....

Tony was able to announce for the Michigan Invitational Marching Band Tournament on Saturday afternoon...his high school, Flushing, hosts it, so he has been asked to announce for it for several years now. He loves doing it, and I (usually) enjoy going and watching the bands as well...this year I just had too much to do, but I heard I missed a great show!!!

Sunday we had the baptism of Bradlee and Griffin, the son of our friends, Matt & Desiree. It was a great mass and both kids were pretty good..Griffin grinned the whole time, while Bradlee got a little fussy towards the end of the "big" part...Neither of them cried when they were immersed, and, to their parents' disappointment, neither of them peed on Fr. (Uncle) Paul!! Bradlee wore a gown that has been passed down in my family from my great-great grandma...she made it for my great-grandmother, who was born in 1907...so the gown is 101 years old! Aside from the coloring, it's in fairly good shape, with only a small tear on the bottom. My great-grandmother, grandmother, dad, uncle, aunt, me, my two sisters, my two cousins, and Emma and now Bradlee have worn it. It's pretty cool. Who knows who will wear it next, so it's my job to preserve it until someone else comes along!!

We had a nice celebration afterwards in the community room and enjoyed chicken salad sandwiches, party wieners, cheesy potatoes, meatballs, and cake and punch. It was a long and tiring weekend, and we would not have made it were it not for our friends and family that helped out so much!!

Emma had "ganaxis" (a.k.a. gymnastics) tonight, so Bradlee and I had some "mommy time" at home...I put him in his bouncy chair and grabbed the camera to try to get some shots of him smiling...something he does fairly frequently now-a-days! What a great one I got, eh??

We're in for another busy Saturday ahead...I'm volunteering at the "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" walk here in Flint and Emma's got swimming again...and then Tony has to DJ that night! If any one's in town Saturday night and wants to hang out, let me know! We'd love the company!!! Have a great (rest of the) week and a great weekend!

P.S. Does anyone know how to post a video on here where it doesn't take FOREVER to load it?? PLEASE let me know! I have a great one of Emma doing some of her "ganaxis"!!!

12-pound tub-a-lub!

Yep, you read that right...Bradlee is 12 pounds even at his 2-month mark (which is today!)!! And he's 22.5 inches long, so he's growing really well! The bad part was the 4 shots he got today...two in each leg, the poor guy...cried so hard, so I just sat in the exam room at the doctor's office and rocked and cuddled him for about 15 minutes after his traumatic experience...the part I'm scared, no....TERRIFIED about is that in December, I have to take both Emma and Bradlee for their appointments (not at the same time, thank goodness) and Emma alone has to have 4 shots! I didn't even ask how many Bradlee has to have...but I can at least hold him down enough that he's not a problem for the nurses...Emma, on the other hand, I'm bring along reinforcements, i.e., GRANDMA!!!! :)


My parents got a new puppy on Friday. She's a pure-bred Golden Retriever they named "Maggie Beijing"...her litter was born on 08-08-08, which, you may remember, was the kick off date of the Olympics in Beijing! My sister, Karyn, is obsessed with the Olympics, so they only thought it appropriate that they incorporate that in the puppy's name. We spent a good majority of the weekend over at their house...Emma LOVED playing with her and "chasing" Maggie around. Bradlee, on the other hand, was not as amused, as Maggie kept trying to share his bouncy chair with him...she had 2 and and half paws up on it before we caught her!


Saturday night, Tony was DJ-ing and the other three of us were at my parents' house. I had put Emma in her pajamas before we left to come home (even though it's a 2 minute drive!)...we got home and I was going to find a "special movie" for her to watch before bed. I went in the basement to look for it, came back up probably 8 minutes later, and there she is, passed out on the kitchen floor, head on the boppy (nursing pillow) and Pinky under her arm. I had the hardest time picking her up to carry her upstairs...she was dead weight! Good thing I didn't find the "special movie" I was looking for! LOL


This week is pretty busy for us...we've got gymnastics, haircuts (for Tony), swimming classes starting on Saturday, eye exams (for Emma), doctor's appointments (for Bradlee), eyebrow waxing (for me), football games (for Tony), marching band competition to announce for (Tony), stamping event to go to (me) and still have to get things ready for Bradlee's baptism on Sunday! We should be fine, though...he's actually being baptised along with a friend of our's son, Griffin, who is 4 months old. They're both going to be immersed, so we're hoping Uncle Paul (or Fr. Paul, which ever you prefer) will get pee-ed on twice! :) LOL We're having a gathering afterwards with our families and friends, so they are all helping us get things ready this week as well...it should be a nice time!!

I think that's all the news for this week....preschool is still going well, and Bradlee did great at his first week at the nursery. Aside from making a HUGE hole in our checkbook, putting our two kids in school this early has been one of the best things we've ever done...although I'm dreading the day Bradlee starts talking as much as Emma does! LOL


Hope you all have a great week! Feel free to leave a comment about my ramblings!

Drained....

What a week! Emma went to school two days and was home the rest of the week with a virus, I started back at work, Tony's still DJ-ing and doing middle school/Freshman/JV/Varsity football...and then there's the other just normal day-to-day activities, like eating dinner!

I spent the last two days of my maternity leave with Bradlee and loved it. He's so cuddly and cute and really such a good baby. Emma came down with a fever on Tuesday night and stayed home the rest of the week with Tony's parents, who also watched Bradlee those three days. Stupid viruses...she seems to get a few right in the beginning of the school year. This one started as a cold last week that just wouldn't go away...I'm hoping that getting back to school (and in bed EARLY) will get her body used to the whole school routine. I just can't believe how much energy she has...I wonder if I acted like this when I was 3! :)

Going back to work was wonderful! I had cheers and smiles and hugs when I went back...and the girls I work with even brought their (our) favorite snacks...candy, bagels and a cheese ball! LOL They seemed genuily happy and grateful to have me back, which made me feel really good and even happier to be back with some "adult entertainment" (as my boss called it...really, they are SO entertaining!) :) LOL

Today I had a concert at Wolcott Orchards, just north of Flint. I was right in the sun, so I have some GREAT tan lines from my sun glasses. We have another concert next Sunday at the same place, so if it's nice again, I'm remembering to wear a sleeveless shirt!! The concert went fairly well...I wish some things were different, but it's mostly because of the type of rehearsals and groups I've performed with in my long "musical history" LOL....ah well...I'm just happy to be playing again!

I don't have any pictures to post this week...I'll try to get some this weekend and week so y'all can see how much my baby boy has grown! Have a great week!

Football Season!

It was a fairly uneventful week...Emma was home with a cold at the
beginning of the week, so I had a few more days of just her and Bradlee to myself. Just when I think she can't talk anymore, man, does she surprise me! What a chatterbox, even with a nose running like a faucet!! Bradlee turned 6 weeks old on Tuesday, which means I headed (with both kids in tow) to the doctor's for my 6-week postpartum checkup. Emma was a riot...I told her ahead of time what was going to happen, that Dr. Scott was going to check me to make sure I was okay after having Bradlee. She said, "Mama, don't get hurt." I told her Dr. Scott was not going to hurt me! So Dr. Scott came in and I got hugs for having
two beautiful children (and she gave herself kudos for delivering them!). She asked Emma what her sister's name was, and Emma looked at her and with the straightest face said, "It's a BOY." LOL Dr. Scott grinned and said, "Are you sure??" and Emma said, "Yes. It's a BOY and his name is BRADLEE." LOL What a riot. Then Emma told the doctor that she goes "tinkle and poopie on the potty" and Dr. Scott asked if she had to go right then and Emma said, "No, I went poopie at home." AH...give me a heart attack for a minute there! I thought I was going to have to run her to the bathroom sans pants or totally disrupt the rest of Dr. Scott's
schedule by getting dressed and taking her! So Dr. Scott's checking me and Emma has this distressed look on her face and I said, "Emma, it's okay." And she looks at me and says, "Mommy, just take a deep breath." Dr. Scott looks at me and says, "Oh no she didn't?!" LOL What a kid!!! My visit went fine and I was cleared to go back to work (YIPPEE!).

Believe it or not, I'm really ready to go back to work. I totally

admire stay-at-home mom's...but it is TOTALLY not for me!!! I'm

going stir-crazy and just want that daily, non-family adult interaction. The paycheck's a bonus, as well!!

Preschool is going well...I get to send my first snack with Emma this week! LOL Tuesday is going to be Teddy Graham Trail Mix and juice boxes and Thursday is going to be string cheese and juice boxes! There's a license requirement with the school that says they can only serve 100% juice. I was happy to hear that, 'cause that's all we give Emma...anyways, she's also been learning the Pledge of Allegiance...it's so funny to hear her say it...I was getting her ready for bed last week and she's bare-butt naked, kneeling at the side of her bed with rosary beads around her neck saying something about "under God, and the United States of America. And God bless Boppa [my dad] and our garden. Invisible and justice for all. Amen." LOL I wish I had a video camera!!

Today we were all dressed in CMU clothes, so I attached some pictures. I even had some fun with Emma and did our hair the same way and even put some eyeshadow on her! She loved it! Talk about a "mini-me"...LOL!!!

I think that's all for this week. If anyone out there needs some girl clothing (with sizes ranging from birth to 3T...for a girl born in December), let me know...I have a TON and you can come shopping!!! Have a great rest-of-the weekend (stay dry!)!!!

Continuation....

Okay....both kids are in bed, so I'll finish my last blog now!

Other than the first day of school, it's been a quiet week. Emma started her next session of gymnastics on Wednesday and Bradlee and I have just been hanging out. I also started rehearsals again for the Flint Symphonic Wind Ensemble on Tuesday. I really enjoy this, even though I'm not always thrilled with some things that happen in the ensemble, I enjoy playing each week, and this year I found someone to join me in the wind ensemble who's my age, so that's making me much more excited to participate and go each week (THANKS, ERIKA!!!)!!

We took Bradlee to the doctor last Friday for his 1 month check up. He is doing great...weighing in at a whopping 10 pounds, 3 ounces! Emma didn't weigh 10 pounds until she was 2 months old!! I think we may have a football player on our hands! LOL

I introduced both Tony and Emma to eggplant Parmesan this week! Emma and her Boppa (my dad) have a vegetable garden at their house. They've got eggplant, cucumbers, cabbage, green and wax beans, tomatoes (3 different kinds!), and a few other veggies growing fairly well. My dad planted 2 eggplant plants and has a TON of the darned things growing! We got 2 of them to eat, they were each over 1 pound! So I made eggplant Parmesan for dinner last night and it turned out so well! Tony's on Weight Watchers, so I used a recipe I found on the Hungry Girl website. If you've never heard of Hungry Girl, I encourage you to try it out...they have a cookbook my grandma introduced to my mom (who introduced it to me!) and great website PACKED of healthy recipes and tips...so this recipe for eggplant Parmesan used Fiber One cereal instead of bread crumbs, egg whites and other low or non-fat items....It was delicious!! Emma DEVOURED hers for dinner, then wanted to take the leftovers for lunch today! She brought home an empty container! YIPPEE!! I was making dinner tonight and asked her if she likes brussel sprouts (I LOVE them!)...she said no at first, and then she immediately said, "What are they?" I showed her and she asked if I like them. I told her I loved them and she said that she liked the too...so the whole time I was making them, she kept coming in the kitchen and saying, "Are my brussel sprouts done yet?" Unfortunately, the sprouts were a bit freezer burn, so they were really bad, but I told Emma we would get some good ones to eat for dinner next week! I'm sure I'll her about it until we have them!

All for now...going to bed. Have a wonderful weekend!!

First Day of School!

This may be a short blog today...Bradlee's most likely going to wake up any minute!!!

So yesterday was the first day of school...not only for Tony, but for Emma, too! She is officially at "big girl school" (a.k.a., day care and 2-day preschool)!! Where has the time gone?! The first day was a success...she didn't even kiss or hug me goodbye (And yes, I cried when I left!)!! She knows about 4-5 kids there from the "baby school" (a.k.a., the nursery she was at the last three years and the same one Bradlee will be going to in a few weeks!).

She had a great time, although she was a little grumpy when she got home...her and Nana (Tony's mom) went shopping for new tennis shoes last night and she was all ready for another day of big girl school today!! Here are some shots of her first day (with her new Disney Princess lunchbox and backpack!)!!! Happy Back-to-School!!!