Family time at the shop.

Big smiles!

These were taken Saturday night during bath time.

THE "Belle" dress

Saturday night as we were preparing for bath time, Brenna announced that she wanted to wear her "Belle" dress. For those of you who don't know, this is the dress I made for Halloween that has hung in the closet since mid-October. Of course, bathtime was pushed back and the dress was pulled on. She love it!!

She looked in the mirror for a long time and then twisted at the waist so the dress would swoosh back and forth. It was very sweet.

So, on Tuesday we are having a Royal Tea Party at the Bailey house. Brenna will wear her Belle outfit and Mama will wear a bridesmaids dress from about 10 years ago. There will be no documentation of this event because as I mentioned, the dress is from about 10 years (and two babies) ago. It won't be pretty, but my 3 year old doesn't judge me!



look at that face!!!

New glasses...

this was taken at the end of the day, so I look a little weary, but overall, it is a decent picture of me...or at least it shows off my glasses.

Brenna got her hair "cut short like mama's".

Piper's first cut. She seemed pretty content with the whole thing!

some sweet moments at our house...

Piper flirting with Daddy

Brenna showing off her fashion sense.

Piper cuddling before bedtime.

sharing a pre-breakfast snack

THE robe!

Need I say more???

First picture with digital camera...

This is the first picture I took with our new digital camera!! It was also the best picture I have taken since. I think I will have to stick to pictures of furniture until I get the hang of it. The girls are too wiggly!!!



and here is the best of about 10 more taken....

A presentation for our whole church to see...

Piper's one year picture

Holiday recap

Since I am So far behind on this, I will allow the pictures to speak for themselves. We had a great holiday with both sets of grandparents here. And Piper had a wonderful first birthday, however the disk with those pictures was apparently given to someone else because one our disks has a not-as-adorable-as-our-girls little girl on it. Thankfully, we have the pictures and I will scan them in and add them later. Maybe. haha

After Piper's birthday, we went to Arkansas to see Great Grandma and Grandpa Bailey and the rest of the Bailey clan. It was great to spend some time with them as well!

Pictures with Santa

Friday night, we had a class party and guess who made an appearance??


I really think Piper thought this was Grandpa, but something was different. She just looked at him for the longest time. Never afraid, but very intent.

Holiday pictures

We had our pictures taken on Saturday for the holidays. I just had to show off these sweet little dresses. Overall, the session went fairly well. Brenna hasn't been feeling great, so we were pleased with the outcome.

Brenna hadn't quite warmed up yet...


Brenna warmed up and was pleased to take her picture with Piper.


Piper wore out!!!

Another lookalike....

Brenna was wondering around Aunt Mary's house and found a picture of Aunt Mary's oldest daughter, Donna, and thought it was Piper. I find the resemblance remarkable as well. This picture isn't a great side by side comparison, but the essence is there. I find it odd that both my children look so much like Josh's side of the family, and opposite sides of that family as well. Aren't genetics fun!!



Over Thanksgiving, we went to Texas to be with Marsha's sisters and their families. We had a wonderful time and the girls adored them all.

Brenna was wondering around Aunt Mary's house and found a picture of Aunt Mary's oldest daughter, Donna, and thought it was Piper. I find the resemblance remarkable as well. This picture isn't a great side by side comparison, but the essence is there. I find it odd that both my children look so much like Josh's side of the family, and opposite sides of that family as well. Aren't genetics fun!!

Last night in church...

OK, I don't a photograph for this one, so you will just have create a picture in your mind.

I don't have to take Brenna out from church very often, but last night we had a little power struggle. She really copped an attitude with me about sitting down on the pew. I picked her up on my lap and whispered to her, "If you don't change your attitude right now, I am going to take you out and spank your little bottom. Got it?"
I put her back down where she was, then asked her to sit in the pew. She told me no. So, I took her hand and started to climb over Josh and Brenna says in a full voice, "Don't spank me real hard, Mom." I was trying really hard not to laugh, but the whole way out she was whispering some version of "just spank me real quiet, Mom, not loud or hard."

I guess I should finish up by telling you that she did get spanked "loud", but when we went back in and sat down she had no more trouble obeying.

Seeing Double???

Josh's Aunt Judy sent this to us not long ago. The black and white is Judy when she was three(ish), the other is our Brenna (with Piper).

Happy Halloween!!!

Below is the only Halloween picture for 2006. It taken at Sonshine School Tuesday morning. (What kind of scrapbooking mom am I?)


For those who haven't heard, I made Brenna a beautiful "Belle" dress (from Beauty and the Beast) at her request. The plan was to make Piper be the teapot. When it came time to hem the skirt, I asked Brenna to try it on and she refused. And she continued to refuse. I never made the teapot costume.

The evening of Halloween, the girls and I went to the Storybook Forest. It is a trick or treating trail set up at Lake Arcadia. We were able to walk through the forest and read fairytales like The Three Little Pigs, Little Miss Muffet, Sleeping Beauty and The Itsy-Bitsy Spider (which was actually quite large). There was candy at each stop and then at the end of the trail they had several games set up with prizes. Brenna didn't want to play any games, so we just rode the hayride back to the beginning, where they had a bonfire and we could roast hotdogs and make smores while a woman read more fairy tales. It was a wonderful event that I plan to make a Bailey tradition for as long as the girls will do it.

After that, we went home and handed out candy. Of course, the first person at our door was some punk kid with a Scream Mask on. From then on Brenna was afraid to go to the door...or even be in the living room really. Thankfully no nightmares resulted.

Even though nothing went as planned, it was good day. And sweet Piper, was just happy to be anywhere. She wore Brenna's ladybug costume from her first Halloween and seemed to enjoy watching all the activity of the evening.

Next year will be even better!!!

School Pictures!

Piper, age 9 months



Brenna, age 3

Brenna got a camera

Why is it we all have such goofy looks on our faces when Brenna gets the camera??

a trip to Target

One saturday a few weeks past, the girls and I loaded up after being at the shop all day. As we walked to the car, Brenna reminded me that she had not taken a nap. She then declared she didn't need one because she wasnt' tired. I told her that was fine and that we were going to Target to get Piper some formula and stuff to make cookies. She, of course, was thrilled by this. As we pulled in the Target parking lot (which is less than 2 miles from the shop) Piper was sound asleep and Brenna was doing the head bob thing. I started talking to her to wake her up as we parked. She perked up and started talking about what she wanted to look at in the store adn just which cart she wanted to use. I knew our time was limited, so I was moving quickly. We went to the grocery section first and got chocolate chips. As we rounded the isle for formula, I noticed Brenna was falling asleep sitting up in the cart. I tried singing and talking but nothing woke her up, only her head falling forward..and that was only for seconds. I picked up my pace even more and headed to check out. Of course, when we got there, there were only long lines, even in the express lane. Piper was still asleep. I picked Brenna up and let her sleep on my shoulder (kind of sitting on the handlebar of the cart) while we were waiting. Then it came time to put our stuff on the conveyor belt. I jostled Brenna around and asked her to help me. She got down and sat on the floor of the cart, and immediately went to sleep. Since my arms were free, I just unloaded, purchases and reloaded our stuff while she slept. I decided to leave her where she was until we got to the car. This seemed like a good plan. But not so much. As we were about halfway to our car, Brenna rolled right off the cart. I scooped her up as quickly as I could, and realized the girl never woke up. I was laughing so hard all by myself in the middle of the Target parking lot with absolutely no one share it with. I wish you could have been there!!!!

Just for future reference

It is probably best not to call our house from 7-8pm on Saturday evening if you want to talk to the girls. We now watch Lawrence Welk. I should say 2 of us (the little 2) are mesmerized by Lawrence Welk. Thanks, Pa!!!

Another Prayer...

This weekend Josh was on call, and he was called a lot. We went out Friday night with his co-worker to celebrate the completion of their annual inspection (it went VERY well). He ended up going back in around 9pm and got home about 5am. Then got called back in at noon, home around 2ish, back in at 3:30. I got a message from him around 5:30 saying he finally called of on the stuff he was waiting for (it is very typical to go up there and just wait for a while on the stuff he needs.) and it turns out the crossmatch was canceled around 2 and she "forgot to call". Argh. SO...he came home and ate dinner and then had to head back around 8pm.

After bathtime, playtime and quiettime, it was finally prayer time. Brenna decided she wanted to sleep in her star shirt because Daddy had worn his to work that night. She then asked me if she could wear her star shirt to church if Daddy wasn't home in the morning. I, of course, said we'll see.

Brenna deviated from her standard prayer and said...
"Dear God, Thank you for this day and our house and let Daddy get home safely."
What mother would cry over THAT!!!

Long over due!

A family walk to the park, with BOTH strollers.

So, my sweet mother pointed out that it has been far too long since I posted any updates here. I apologize for my tardiness and will jump right into the latest and greatest.

Brenna started Kindergarden last week and truly loves it. She is the most advanced in her class and is working on perfecting her cursive writing and 2nd grade reading skills. Piper is walking, talking in complete sentances and is nearly potty trained.

OK, so it hasn't been THAT long! haha

Brenna is back in Sonshine School at the church were I work. She loves being back in familiar ground, although she did great at the other school as well. She is always telling me who her best friend is, which changes daily but most often includes Jaylen, Nathan and Lily. Occasionally I get a teacher or one of my friends thrown in that role, but not very often. We play dollhouse everyday at our house and I think we all enjoy it. The dolls do everything we do in our normal routines, such as make dinner, go to the doctor and work, and take naps. Our dollhouse family consists of mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, and about 1/2 dozen kids. Seldom are all the dolls played with at the same time, and if they are, it is usually just to let them all watch Dora together on the TV.

Piper has 7 teeth and tries them out on anything and everything. I can't wear earrings or necklaces now because Piper will just eat them. And she only seems to want to eat nonedible things. We have tried nearly every kind of vegetable manufactured in the baby isle, and she doesn't like a one of them. If we are lucky, she will just clamp her mouth shut so we can't put it in. Sometimes she opens wide, gets a mouthfull and then blows a raspberry and sends the veggie of the day all over anything in a 3 foot radiace. And lately, she has just been leaving her mouth open with her tongue sticking out until the food eventually slides right out of her mouth. For the most part I have given up this task and have just moved on to table food. She is doing better with that. Peas are not a favorite, but corn, meatloaf, chicken and pears make their way down most of the time. The girl could eat her weight in Cheerios though.

We were grocery shopping the other day, we being the girls and I, and an older lady (70ish) started tapping Brenna on the shoulder. This of course made me rather nervous. The woman asked Brenna if Piper was hers. Brenna just looked at the lady and hugged my leg. She kept asking if that was her baby. Finally Brenna said yes. Then the lady asked if she could have the baby. At this point, Brenna let go of my leg and got on the cart, closer to Piper and put on her big happy smile and said 'Nooo'. The lady said "Tell your mama to get you another baby, because I want this one." Brenna just looked at me and moved even closer to Piper. The lady repeated her statement. This time Brenna said "You can't have that baby, I want her, she's my sister and I LOVE her." The lady chuckled and told us to have a good day as she walked away. I was so proud of my sweet girl, I just had to hug her neck. I also know I need to write this story down in the scrap book. Brenna may need reminding that at one point in her life she had the option to get rid of Piper, but chose to pass it up and is forever stuck with her now. haha

I will try to do better in the future with this, but come on, my girls keep me BUSY!!