18 Months

cannon, 18 months

Dear Cannon,

You are only 18 months but these last six months have seemed to transform you from a baby into a full-blown toddler!  You are 32.5” tall (50%), 26lbs 5oz (75%) and have a head circumference of 46cm (75%).  You started wearing 2T clothes right on your 18 month birthday when somehow your tummy was poking out of all of your shirts overnight. 

My favorite thing about you right now is your innocent excitement and your total lack of inhibition.  If you like something there are very extreme facial expressions, dancing, and slurs of excited yet undistinguishable words that are sure to follow.  You are always really happy to go outside, see a puppy, lay eyes on a pretty girl, or be offered more food from the Cannon-approved list.  Your favorite foods are ketchup, blueberries, yogurt, baby food squeezie packs, fruit snacks, hummus, raisins and hot dogs.  The ultimate treat in your book is a fruit and yogurt parfait from McDonald’s.

We mostly offer you parfaits when we are out of town and eating more fast food than normal.  In these past six months you have been to Florida to enjoy Disney World with Grandpa Chad, Momo, and all of Daddy’s former Chatham Town roommates and their families; Washington DC to see the sites; and Utah to visit all of our wonderful family there.  During our trip to Utah you were especially taken with Uncle Nick and Aunt Gabby.  It seemed that every time Aunt Gabby walked into the room you watched her with big romantic eyes, just waiting to see if she would notice you.  Uncle Nick put his good looks aside and enticed you with puppies, candy and outings to the park, Chuck E Cheese, the pet store, and Cabella’s.  It did not take long for you and Uncle Nick to form a rowdy friendship that I hope will last forever. 

In talking to Grandma Shari, it sounds like you and Uncle Nick were actually quite similar as babies.  You are both darling, adventurous, all-boy, and incredibly stubborn and strong willed.  Memaw likes to say that “when he is good he is very very good but when he is bad he is horrid.”  I love you dearly my sweet boy but you definitely have not come without your demands in these past few months.  My perception is that you are mostly frustrated with your lack of communication skills at this point.  You can say words like wow, look, hi, go, what’s this, what’s that, doggie, truck and the signs for more and hat; but communicating your desires and frustrations is hard.  You are also just around the corner from understanding how to reason.  When I say, ‘I need to put on my shoes and THEN we can go outside’ your world pretty much ends because you don’t understand anything except for the fact that Mommy said we could go outside but she is walking the wrong way.  My guess is that as soon as you leap over the next few communication hurdles your overall mood will improve dramatically.  Getting those last few teeth in probably wouldn’t hurt either.

At 12 months you had just six teeth and now you are only missing your canines, which look like they should be breaking through on the top in the next couple of days.  After the remainder of your teeth are in, your binkie is going to be gone once and for all.  In July Grandma Shari and Kimpa came to visit and while they were here, they rid you of the binkie completely!  Then they left and you started getting molars… and the bikie crept back in to preserve the sanity of your parents.  This one has been a hard habit to break but the doctor suggested that getting rid of it will help improve your speech and I think that you will like that much more than you will like your binkie.

During Grandma’s visit Daddy and I took a weekend trip to spend with Aunty Michelle and Uncle Nate at Niagra Falls and Kirtland.  You loved your special weekend with Grandma and we decided that leaving you for a couple of days at a time is most easily achieved after a baby is a year old, when they no longer need formula, a bottle (I took yours at 15 months and you didn’t skip a beat), or quite as much sleep.  You had a great time without us and we had a great time exploring.  You especially liked the souvenirs we brought back: a Niagra Falls popper and a new baby sibling!  We’re not sure yet if it will be a sister or a brother but your little sibling will be here around April 3^rd, just after your second birthday.  Now whenever we see babies you walk up to them and point, not quite sure what else to do with them.

You started walking a tad bit late at 13.5 months.  You took your first unassisted steps on a Tuesday and by Friday you were steady and stable.  Before you started walking it was obvious that you had the skills, you just weren’t using them yet.  While we were over at the Kennedy’s house I pulled out the Lucky Charms and bribed you to walk across the living room to me for a marshmallow reward.  You came eagerly and we spent the rest of the afternoon walking from marshmallow to marshmallow.  I was such a proud mother!

After walking came running and once you started you could hardly stop.  You run everywhere and are REALLY fast!  I love to watch your little blonde hair flap up in the wind as you run and jump with all of your energy.  You jump down curbs, over cracks and any other place that looks jumpy and though you’ve got great momentum, your cute little feet don’t quite leave the ground yet.  I love to watch you use your imagination, especially as you play.  You love to play cars, trains, ball, or do anything outside.  And when you are done you make sure to organize them all back into their rightful baskets and to put the baskets back in their designated place on the shelf.  You are a very orderly little boy.  At the park you love to go run around and climb all over everything, but you never exceed your limits.  If a ledge is too tall, you stay away from it.  If a slide is too big, you go to the smaller one.  It is so fun to sit back on a park bench and watch you explore your world or to join you for a push on a swing.  When you are playing by yourself you are always sure to come back every 5-10 minutes to say hello and give me a hug.  It is like you are checking in, making sure everything is still ok.  And it is.  It always is.

It has only been this past few weeks that you have started liking to cuddle.  You used to squirm and pull back if we would try and hug you and now you love to set your head on my shoulder and wrap your tiny arms around my neck while I squeeze you and rub your back.  I cannot think of a single thing that makes me happier than those moments that you come to me for loves.  I just love your sweetness.  Thank you Can Can for bringing such a light to our lives with your goodness and bright smiles.  I love watching you grow and being a part of your world.

I Love You Forever,

Mommy

12 months! Can It Be??

cannon, 12 months

Dear Sweet Cannon,

You have grown so much this month!  You have added a full inch to your height since your nine month doctor’s appointment, bringing you to 30.5” tall.  You have also gained four pounds in the last three months and now weigh a whopping 23lbs and 7oz.  My little 'string bean' baby of the past can now hold his own, especially if the situation requires mighty thighs or cheeks!  In height, weight and head circumference you are now in the 75^th percentile.  This is good news because it means all of your proportions are about equal and we now get more comments on how much darker your hair has become than on your beautifully large brain.  In the last couple of months you have developed a skin irritation mostly around your elbows and knees that the doctor believes to be a minor case of eczema, having something to do with our laundry detergent or dryer sheets.  I am going to wash your clothes with a milder detergent as well as eliminate dryer sheets and see if that helps.  The rash may clear up without much change once you start walking because your clothes won’t be rubbing on your knees as abrasively.  

Right now walking is not a top priority for you.  I think it has something to do with watching Tank on all fours, not having older kids around all the time, being a really good crawler, and lack of interest.  You did take three steps while we were visiting Memaw in Utah but you have not tried again since that night two weeks ago.  Since then you have shown readiness by doing a lot of cruising and sometimes crawling on your hands and feet, rather than knees.  I love watching you scramble around. 

Something that you picked up on our big trip to see grandparents is peek-a-boo.  You laugh SO hard when someone pops out and surprises you.  You also love to be chased and to play hide and seek.  Your favorite places to hide are under tables, behind furniture and in corners.  You are sure that there has never been anything funnier than when someone discovers Baby Cannon in hiding.  When you get excited you give a HUGE six-toothed smile, put your chin to your chest and kick your little legs as fast as they will go.  If tickling follows, you shrug and laugh so hard that everyone around you ends up laughing too.  Recently, excitement has started leading to hitting people in the face too so we are trying to harness that tendency as fast as possible.  Your most ticklish spots are your neck, your spine, the inside of your legs and your feet.  If I tickle your feet you kick and kick until I stop… then put your foot back in my hand for more.  You love to laugh.

At the beginning of this month, you and I went on a big trip to the west coast.  We spent a week in Utah with some of Daddy’s parents, Memaw and Pogo, and Uncle Brandon where we got to see their new house in Alpine, played A LOT, attended Auntie Savanna’s baby shower for your cousin Pierce who is supposed to arrive on April 1^st, spent time with Uncle Nick and Aunt Gabby, and had play dates with your Murdock cousins and Auntie Dani and her babies Sirri and Tanner.  You took a special liking to Pogo (Grandpa Craig) and wanted to stay in his arms for as long as possible.  You even let him give you a baby back massage in his home-based chiropractic office!  Toward the end of our trip Uncle Brandon taught you how to push a car rather than throw or scoot them along as you crawl; and how to hold and write with a pen.  Your favorite thing to do with Memaw was play chase.  You were thrilled that she was willing to get down on the floor and crawl after you until her pants and tops of feet were dirty.  The two of you laughed and chased and cuddled for hours and hours. 

After our Utah stop we caught a short flight to spend some time with Grandpa Chad and Momo (Daddy’s Dad and Step-Mom).  They loved to listen to all of your sounds and words.  You love to point and say oooh, Mama, Dada, what’s that, what’s this, or wow.  The weather was beautiful and they loved taking you outside to spend time in the sunshine and green grass.  Momo and I took you to feed the ducks and visit the horses at the park near their house.  Grandpa Chad loved capturing all of your different emotions and expressions as he took handsome pictures of you.  After a couple of days Daddy and lots of other family and friends came in town to celebrate your first birthday and Disneyland Day!  On Friday evening storm clouds rolled in so we decided to abandon the park and all join to celebrate at Lamppost Pizza.  You ate pizza, opened FUN presents, and covered yourself in the frosting from your cake.  I think that the only cake you actually ate were the three bites I spoon-fed you.  The rest of the time you just grabbed the frosting and tried to shake it off of your hands onto the ground… usually missing and getting it all over yourself.  We all had a great time socializing and celebrating the year of total joy you have brought into our lives.

The next day was our fourth annual family Disneyland Day!  Normally we have lots of kids at Disneyland Day but this year you were the ONLY ONE!  I think it is pretty safe to say that your feet didn’t touch the ground or the stroller one time that day, except when I laid you down after you fell asleep in my arms on Pirates of the Caribbean.  You loved every ride you went on and had wide eyes and a pointing finger every time I looked over at you.  You were the perfect Disneyland baby.   You love large groups of people, whether it is Mother Goose at the local library or a huge theme park.

The next day, you spent the day hunting for Easter eggs, decorating cookies and riding the Easter train with Grandpa Chad and Momo while Daddy and I spent another day at Disneyland.  They loved spending time with you and getting to know your sweet personality.  You are a very organized baby.  You like to sort things into piles, then pull your piles apart and sort everything into different piles.  You also like to stack anything with sides.  When you put your mind to a task you become VERY focused on your mission and rarely divert your attention until the task is complete.  I predict that this will later translate into both a ‘work-hard then play-hard’ mentality as well as some one-track-mindedness, but only time will tell.

Through all of our travels you have turned out to be quite the man’s man.  You love grandpas, uncles, and anyone else that likes to wrestle or talk about sports.  When you’re not with the boys, you like to be with Mama.  You have become a bit cuddlier lately and will lay your head on my shoulder or lap when you get tired or shy.  You also still love holding hands, especially while on your changing table or riding in a shopping cart.  I love holding your hand and hope you will keep holding my hand for years to come.

Cannon, this year has changed me.  You have softened my heart and opened my eyes to the most tender kind of love.  You have allowed me to mother you and comfort you, and as a result we have an incredibly strong connection.  I hope to always love and care for you with the purity of caring for an infant.  I love knowing you; I love watching you grow.  I am so grateful that you are my son and that you chose to come to Earth at this time.  I am sure Heavenly Father misses having you around but He watches over you all the time.  You can have the same kind of loving relationship with Him that you have with Daddy now if you keep His love in your heart and show that love in the things you do.  I love you and can’t wait for  you to wake up tomorrow.

I Love You Forever,

Mommy

Cannon is 11 Months!

Baby Cannon, 11 months

My Sweet Candy Man,

Happy 11 months!  It is so wild to think that in just a month you will be having your first birthday.  You are growing up!  Though I don't know your exact height and weight right now, you seem to be growing into your head so that's saying something.  It's also fun that you are completely out of your 9 month clothes now and I can officially start shopping in the TODDLER section (which has a much better selection)!!  Your hair is still ashy blonde and is getting so long and crazy!  You are going to get your first professional haircut (not that your 3-month mullet removal wasn't professional) next week to even things up a bit before you go see all of your grandmas and grandpas next month for Disneyland Day!  Your eyes are a pretty gray-green like Daddy's and your darling smile now contains FOUR teeth!  Two on the top and two on the bottom.  This seems to be helping a lot with your meals because you are able to take better bites.

You typically wake up in the mornings between 6 and 7am for a 4oz bottle then sit down to breakfast with Daddy and I about an hour later.  We always have eggs and fruit for you and sometimes some yummy green juice that you love.  After filling up, you play in the bathroom for a while while we all get ready for the day then have another 4oz bottle before your nap, which usually starts at 9 or 10am.  After sleeping for 1.5-2 hours you have lunch around noon.  It usually contains some sort of protein (normally chicken), some veggies, and applesauce (your favorite).  We get you all dressed and handsome and the activities begin!  You like to be out of the house as much as possible.  The days that we don't leave, you get really grumpy and whiny.  You love to go shopping; on walks; to play areas at the library, mall or Tot Town; and go to friends' houses. 

A couple of weeks ago we went over to visit my friend Laura May and her boys for lunch.  You kept up as best you could as the older boys and dogs ran and mommies chatted and ate.  At one point I watched you crawl into the kitchen.  About 10 seconds later I realized that there are stairs down to the basement from the kitchen and jumped up to make sure that you didn't go tumbling down!  When I got there you were sitting in the middle of the kitchen covered in something brown.  It was all over your hands, clothes, and mouth.  Even your little drool was brown.  I almost couldn't breathe when I realized that you were snacking on their dog, Ruby's, poop!

Dinner is normally had around 4:00 and consists of baby food mixed with oatmeal.  Before bed I give you a big 8oz bottle to keep you full through the night and you go right to sleep.  We have started bathing you right before bed now and it seems to work a lot better for you.  Very rarely do I hear a peep after putting your down.

Your favorite noises to make still consist of a lot of lip fluttering and yelling.  Your words don't really mean much yet but you can say mama, dada and 'ruck' (truck).  You love cars, trains, trucks, and basically anything else with wheels.  Keeping with the all-boy theme, you also love throwing things, wrestling, splashing, and dogs.  Tank is liking you more all the time, as your throwing is improving daily.  You also like to get right in Tank's face to yell and flap your arms... he appreciates that MUCH less than the throwing.

Though you are an absolute joy, it is important that I mention your stubborn nature.  If you want to be held, you will whine and whine until I pick you up.  You will not eat something if you decide you don't like it and have some major texture aversion to things like tuna and cottage cheese.  If you are happily playing in another room or with someone else and I walk by, more whining for Mommy.  I love being your go-to girl and am so happy we have such a special bond but I'm hoping that as you age you will find another way to express yourself.  Maybe sign language isn't such a bad idea after all...

Though we haven't taught you any baby sign, there is a video monitor set up in your room and it is so cute to watch you wave bye bye after I put you down for a nap.  You like to wave at things when you are bored or ready to leave, but almost never on command.  Your kisses are big, wet and sloppy and I gobble them up whenever you are willing to give them away.  You are happiest when you spot your walker from across the room.  You are not walking on your own yet but you can push and steer your little pushable walker all around town.  I love to watch you laugh and smile as you successfully navigate through a tricky area.  Daddy and I have tried to help you translate your walker-pushing into real walking but that makes you mad and you just plop down on your little bottom.

I love to watch your little personality develop as you get older and am excited to help you continue to learn and grow.  You light up my life and I am so happy to be your mom.

Love you Forever,

Mommy

Cannon is 10 Months!

cannon michael, 10 months

My Sweet Can Man,

You have been SO much fun this month!!  You love to laugh and play and make big messes!  Your favorite places to play are the kitchen and the bathrooms.  You love to pull the toaster out of the kitchen cupboard to see how many crumbs were left inside from its last use.  You also enjoy unraveling the toilet paper in the bathroom and let Tank rip your mess to shreds!

You and Tank are becoming quite the duo!  You hold onto his tug rope and he drags you around from the other side.  You sit in your high chair and he waits patiently at your feet for his half of the meal.  You throw his ball and he happily brings it back.  He even follows us into the nursery while you get your diaper changed and into the bathroom during your baths, which you now LOOOOVE to take in the bath tub like a big boy!  It seems that the only thing he is waiting on before becoming blood brothers are your abilities to aim when you throw and for you to take your first steps.

You are a confident cruiser and can switch between pieces of furniture or hands easily but walking does not seem to interest you yet.  Your crawling abilities are being perfected as you explore the world around you.  I am constantly finding little trails as I pick up in the evenings that just seem to say 'Cannon was here'!

Just the other day we were at the Kennedy's house taking care of their kids Ethan (5) and Eva (3) when you found their cereal shelf.  I was cleaning up in the next room over and realized that I had not heard you in a while, so came to see what was going on.  There you were, sitting in a pile of Cheerios with the box on one side of you and the empty bag on the other, looking as innocent and happy as ever.  You could not see the problem... probably because you were being so good about cleaning up after yourself, eating at least half of the mess right off of the floor.  I decided just to let you eat for a while as I took pictures and laughed to myself.

When you're not making me laugh, you are certainly making yourself and everyone else laugh.  You love to pull your flirtiest of faces, shrug your shoulders, put your chin down and giggle when you get excited.  It is absolutely irresistible.  Your other charms include lots of waving, nuzzling, kissing, fluttering your lips, holding hands and jabbering at anyone that will listen.

At the end of December you pulled out all the stops and soaked in a week of Grandma Camp.  Daddy and I went with some of the other grown up Murdocks on an eight-day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean and Grandma Cheryl came all the way to Connecticut to love on you while we were gone.  I missed you like crazy but knowing you were at home with Grandma made everything alright.  She had lots of fun stories to tell us when we got back.  I felt like I hadn't seen you in a year, you had changed so much!  You had two top teeth on their way in, you didn't need your wrap to sleep any more and you changed from two naps a day to only one!  Now you wake up between 6 and 7am and go back down for a nap around 9am.  You sleep for two hours, then we get the party started for the rest of the day.  Every once in a while you ask for a second nap but I think those days are numbered, which is ok since we have 1:00 church this year.

Your mischievous tendencies paired with your sweet nature make me want to squeeze and play with you all day long.  Thank you for being so loving.  For setting your head on my lap so that I can play with your hair and for holding my hands at every opportunity.  Your chubby little fingers could not be any cuter.  I love your smile and your laugh but mostly that you are all mine (and daddy's) and I get to spend so much time with you.  You are my sunshine.

Forever,

Mama

PS.  You also stopped spitting up this month!!  THANK YOU!!

A couple more from our 10-month collection:

Welcome 2013!

My birthday is January 1st so the start of a new year always ushers in a new age and phase for me.  Lucky for me, this year's new age (26!) came with Caribbean sunshine as Michael and I were on the Oasis of the Seas in the Eastern Caribbean.  Ironically enough, we snorkeled on my birthday. 

This may sound silly to you but I am deathly afraid of fish (specifically being touched by them).  And when I say deathly, I mean DEATHLY.  We're talking panic attacks in the middle of the ocean.  Snorkeling and haunted houses actually hold hands at the top of my 'things I never want to participate in' list.  In the past, I have thought it was a good idea to try and conquer fears.  And I still think that conquering can be beneficial in regards to things like public speaking, needles (which I have recently worked hard to move from my 'fear' list to my 'hate, but can handle it' list), hair cuts or other things that will benefit you in the long run.  Fish, though?  Why get over fish?  That's like feeling the need to get over not liking liver or something; it's always a personal choice to jump in a large body of water.

Nonetheless, the whole family wanted to go snorkeling in St. Thomas.  The boat was scheduled to stop twice.  The first time to see turtles and the second to see sting rays.  I am not sure who reads 'swim with STING rays' and thinks Steve Irwin was probably just kidding but that adventure was not even a second thought on my radar.  Turtles though?  Turtles are so sweet and beautiful and... SLOW!!  When we got to the turtle bay I waited for everyone to leave, then I put on a mask.  I'm sure the view was great as I tried to stick my face in the water off the back of the boat without having to get all the way in.  I stayed back there for a good 5 minutes and somehow didn't see a single fish!  When Michael saw me testing the waters he came back and stood by as I jumped in and swam a lap around the boat.  In the process we saw a beautiful giant sea turtle!!  I watched it grazing on the ocean floor for a minute then followed it as it came up for air.  It was so magical!  We swam a little further from the boat and saw a few more turtles before our time was up and the captain called us back to the boat.  As we neared the boat I saw my first school of fish, almost drowned my husband, then pushed a seven year old boy off the step ladder to get back in the boat.  His dad gave me a dirty look but I flashed him one of those beautiful runny-maskara/I-think-I-might-die smiles and I think he forgave me.

What have I learned from this experience? 
A. I am ok with being afraid of fish for the rest of my life if I can still swim with the turtles every once in a while.  Jacques Cousteau and I can always talk about the art of frying an egg or something in the afterlife...

B. There will be no fish in my 2013 resolutions!  I love resolutions.  They are like goals that nobody expects you to accomplish.  Last year I read an article that said that a person is least likely to reach a goal if it is made in the month of January.  Either way, I love making them and I often times do accomplish them (cheers to those of us that accomplished all that we set out to do in 2012!!)!  Here is what I have resolved to do this year:

1. Pay off my car.  We bought my cute Honda CRV in June of 2012 and paying it off will make us debt free.
2. Have FUN with Cannon.  In my opinion, motherhood is an awesome excuse/reason to do fun things every single day.  As much as I enjoyed working, it is AWESOME to spend my days swimming at the pool, taking pictures, going on walks, dancing, going to the library, playing with my baby, going to the park or dog park, etc.  It's great that all I have to do is change stinky diapers, do laundry, clean the house and cook to pay for my extravagant lifestyle!  I have actually gotten to a place where I really like most of those things!  I want to make sure I take advantage of all of the FUN that we can.
3. Restrict my baby voice back to only using it with the baby.  As much as my 28-year-old husband wants me to pretend to be Elmo as we talk about our mortgage...
4. Be an awesome co-captain.  Believe it or not, sometimes Michael and I have different opinions.  I want to work on taking more of a team approach than siding...  Team Murdock always takes the cake anyway ;-)

The Murdocks Lately

I haven't been super great at posting our day to day happenings.  They mostly revolve around fun things like work, grocery shopping, play dates, laundry, playing with the baby, visiting the puppy store, craft nights, book club etc.  But they have also involved some fun things like having Kimpa come to visit; taking an online class taught by the professional organizer from Hoarders, Geralin Thomas; training for and running mini-races; leaf peeping (creepy east coast way of saying 'looking at fall leaves'); baby photo shoots; trips to NYC and pumpkin patches.  Here are pictures to prove it all:

family pictures at Tarrywile Park

mini photo shoot for Grandparents' Day

KIMPA CAME TO VISIT!!  This is the carousel in the mall

spending some time with Kimpa before church

Cannon LOVES the puppy store

NY Mets game

baseball with Daddy!  thanks for the tickets Papa!

tug of war

this boy LOVES the grass and dirt

family appreciation day!

sharon dropped her Kohls coupon into the reservoir and made me fish it out... with a fishing pole and duct tape

oh sharon...  what you'll -do- make your friends do for a bargain

walking 1/3 of the brooklyn bridge

bahaha!

happy baby

sleepy baby

at the top of the empire state building

view from the top

pumpkin patch

daddy and ducky

sharon and I wished we would've gone to jr. high together

lucky ducky!

baby in the leaves

michael's first race!

Hello World!

Believe it or not, I am alive and well in Danbury, Connecticut. I spend most of my days bonding with my darling (aka obnoxious, really cute, and sanity-preserving) puppies while adding bits and pieces to my baby's room, watching episodes of Felicity on Netflix, trying to get through all of my 2012 New Year's resolutions by the end of February, and seeing how well I can clean floors and baseboards with a watermelon attached to my midsection. So obviously... too busy to blog... right? I do read your blogs though - and have loved learning about your new babies, darling outfits, and exciting day to day happenings. It's good to remember that my friends are fun... and out there!

Recent highlights in the M+B world from the most current on back:

-Last weekend my dear friend Michelle drove from Virginia to stay with me and drop off the beautiful rocking chair that she refinished for my nursery. It is absolutely PERFECT and I am thrilled to spend my nights rocking my baby to sleep in its arms.

-I've only got 2 1/2 weeks left until my due date and have not progressed toward labor yet but that is normal so all is well. I can't wait to meet this little monster!!!

-I got a new calling at church. Substitute primary worker. At first I was really sad about this calling but I have subbed twice now and have really enjoyed it both weeks.

-We spent an awesome weekend with tons of family at Disneyland for our annual family reunion event fondly referred to as Disneyland Day.

-Michael is LOVING his job at Blue Sky Studios and doing a great job.

-The move was good and we are all unpacked (minus one box that is going to be conquered this weekend)

-I had an AMAZING baby shower hosted by my sweet friends Dani, Merrick, Lauren, and friends. It was more than I ever could've asked for.

Life is lonely but it is wonderful too. All Connecticut is missing is you!

What's in my Bag??

Christina Sanford tagged me in her "What's in my Bag" post so here it goes... And I did think long and hard about whether to clean up and look presentable before dumping the loot and decided against it. A messy purse has more of what you need on a daily basis.


What you may spy: prenatal vitamins for the mornings I forget to take them with breakfast, a bag of safety pins, extra change, my wallet, my card wallet with all of my extra but necessary cards, chapstick, Victoria's Secret lip gloss, extra scooter key, extra Mercedez key, headphones, ipod (don't know why that's in there - I never use it), two jump drives (again - why??), Loreal lip stain, point and shoot, two pens, cheque book, phone list, orange and purple nail polish, sweet pea lotion from Bath and Body, and the ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY spiral notebook that holds everything about everything (ok... mostly grocery lists and drawings done while sitting in church - very important).

So that was just in case you wanted to be just like me and start carrying around 400 things that fall in the misc. category at the grocery store! Michael appreciates it.

I tag: Savanna, Megan, and Merrick

Cha Ching!

My dad shared a beautiful quote with me today:

"I believe the recipe for happiness to be just enough money to pay the monthly bills you acquire, a little surplus to give you confidence, a little too much work each day, enthusiasm for your work, a substantial share of good health, a couple of real friends and a wife/husband and children to share life's beauty with you."

-- J. Kenfield Morley

And on that note... A couple of things that make me happy:


My hot husband and his facial hair... and green feet...

My family... Especially when I give my dad a reason to make this face. This says, "Brittany!? I think I was pretty clear about you not being allowed to drive the rental car... Especially when we're still in the car lot!" But he doesn't really mean it. He was dying for me to set all the radio stations to all his favorite rappers.

Double date nights with Savanna and Jon... the boys are there somewhere, we probably just forgot about them for a sec.

Girlfriends. This is Ashley, Merrick, Me, and Margo.

Babies!!! This is Benson, my favorite god son, with his beautiful mother Merrick.

Disneyland. Where we will be visiting again in just TWO DAYS!!! Be sure to check out Michael's awesome DISNEY BLOG!!