So much junk going around

We've got Bronchitis, Fifths Disease and wide spread crankiness.

What do you have at your house?

Piper got her hair cut

Josh took the girls to get their hair trimmed by Miss Katie yesterday. They took a few inches off Brenna, but you can't really tell. Her hair is still very long and beautiful. Piper also had a couple inches trimmed off. I loved how long Piper's hair was, but it really does look so much better now. Thanks, Katie, job well done, as usual!!

Master of Secrets

Josh is the Master of Secrets. This is what he bought me for Christmas this year. Of course, I absolutely LOVE it! The kicker is that he bought it for me in MAY of '07. I have no idea how he could 1)plan that far ahead, 2) keep it a secret for that long, 3)remember where he put it for that long!! But I'm thankful he did!

I love you, Josh, for your secret keeping and many, many more reasons.

I've been tagged. Thanks, Anita (denote sarcasm)

The Rules: Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog. or Share the 5 top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list. or Share 5 things you never pictured being in your future when your were 25 years old. Tag a minimum of 5, maximum of 10 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. The tagees have a choice of which they want to do.

Random/Weird facts about me:
1. I have to blow my nose every time I brush my teeth.
2. Nearly every morning in the shower I get a random song or word in my head that I can't get out. Today it was "litigious". It just keeps running through my head over and over.
3. I LOVE the song "Love Shack". And when I say love, I mean: crank up the radio, sing at the top of my lungs and dance like I'm the only fool in the world. And if I can't do that (like at my shop), I'd rather turn the radio off than not be able to enjoy the song to the fullest!
4. I am actually really a shy person. Unless in my comfort zone, in which case I am the loud, obnoxious person most of you know and, hopefully, love.
5. I love to tell a good story. You will never hear me say "to make a long story short" - no matter how much Josh wishes I would!

And now, I'd like to change the game a little...I'd like each of you to leave me a comment with some random fact I don't know about you. Thanks in advance for participating!!

Ok, now I tag Amber B., Lesley, Heather F., Mandy W. & Dee Dee.
I'll look at your blog soon to see what I can learn about you.

Piper has braids

This is the best shot I could get.

Dragon Badge

On the trip to the zoo last week, they went to the Oklahoma Trails exhibit and ended up in a room full of bats. Brenna was NOT happy about this and refused to go in. Josh convinced her to give it a try. While in there, she did fine. So as a reward for overcoming her fears, Daddy made Brenna a "dragon badge". If you watch DragonTales you know what I am talking about. On that show, when a dragon does something that is hard for them, their dragon badge lights up. Brenna was very proud of her dragon badge.

Last week we went to Erin's to celebrate Julianne's birthday. Julianne is Brenna's favorite cousin!!! Erin got a new puppy named Olive who is just a tiny fluff ball, she looks like a teddy bear. She is a very well behaved puppy who did great with my girls. Piper loved Olive immediately and they interacted quite a bit. Brenna's only interested in Olive was making sure they stayed far apart. Brenna is sadly a little fearful of dogs. We tried to get to her touch the puppy all evening. Finally right before we left, she pet Olive on her head. When we got in the car, she asked if she could wear her dragon badge again. Of course we let her.

Moms & Muffins

We had Moms & Muffins day at SSS last week. Brenna was almost as excited about this as she was Dads & Donuts. Almost.

Zoo Trip

I just got this email....

Sarah,

We decided to go on a zoo adventure today. Thought you'd like to see some pics. They both loved the apes, Piper hated all of the brass statues (wouldn't touch them), and we stopped for a while so Brenna could put on a tap dancing show. Hope you're having a good day!

Love,
Josh

Wow..

I occasionally find myself watching Brenna and I try to see how she morphed from her baby self to now. I look at the scrapbooks and baby pictures and I don't see my baby anymore. Until this moment...

Brenna, age 6 months(ish)

Brenna, age 4

Meow...

Brenna wanted to be a cat.
I think this is in responce to her overcoming her fear of the preview of the play "Cats" at the beginning of one of her favorite movies.
Side note: We were actually given tickets to see that very play when they were here last year. Brenna loved that preview so our ad rep gave us two tickets. Turns out Brenna was terrified of the stage and didn't remove her face from my chest long enough to even see a cat. We left during the second song. Since then she fast forwards through the preview. Just recently is she able to watch the entire preview, then is SO excited that she watched and was not afraid!! I am happy to see she is working through her fears.

Piper's 2 year old pictures...

Experiment

Piper's birthday

So...Piper's birthday is the day after Christmas. (Yeah, you all feel sorry for her now, but did you send her a card or wish her a happy birthday??? I thought not! haha -to anyone who did acknowledge her birthday, please disregard the smarmy comment. We love and appreciate you very much.)

We had a quiet celebration this year, full of what Piper loves most. I think it was a great day for everyone.

She opened presents

She enjoyed watching the snow

She enjoyed her favorite dinner of Quesadillas and, of course, cupcakes

"two"

And a new birthday tradition of a slumber party in the living room.

Long ride home

So, we had a 8 hour trip home from Arkansas that went amazingly well (despite Piper throwing up twice). The girls really entertained themselves quite well.

Here are a few conversations that took place:

1) Set-up: Brenna had used the word disgusting earlier in the day, but obviously didn't quite have a grasp of the meaning, so...

Me: "Brenna, do you know what disgusting means?"
B: "No."
Me: "It is like gross or yucky, but worse...you know, REALLY gross."
B: "You mean, like when my nose starts to run and I stick my tongue out to catch it?"
Me: "Yup, you got it."

2) Set-up: Brenna loves to sing. She makes up songs all the time. This time she made a current song and made it her own.

"Come into my heart, come into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Come in today...I color with my feet...(indistinguishable words couldn't be heard over the howling parents after that line.)

Picture of the Year

Christmas update...

We, like so many others, had a wonderful Christmas that included WAY too many presents for everyone. We feel very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who love us so much.

We spent Christmas day together, just the 4 of us. None of us even brushed our teeth. How is that for a leisurely day!!! We opened presents, ate a great brunch, played with presents, took naps, ate a traditional dinner, played with presents and went to bed!

On Friday evening we headed to Arkansas to spend some time with Josh's family. We stayed in a hotel Friday night, which the girls LOVED. And I would like to just throw out here that I don't know how so many of you "bed share" with your children!!!! They take up WAY more space than I do! And I don't sleep so well with feet in my face.

Anyway, we got on the road for our short 1 1/2 hour road trip to the Grandparents and about 30 minutes into it, Piper threw up. All of her breakfast. No details to follow! It was a one time event and she was happy after. We had a wonderful visit with the entire family over the course of three days. They are a great group of people to be associated with. We had a family picture taken of the whole clan.




Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Bailey