Brienna turns #1

Brienna Grace
Born May 30, 2008
8 lbs. 20 1/2 in.

This day has come faster then I could ever imagine. I am sure all you Mother's say the same thing. With Aleia her first year did not go by this fast but with Brienna I look at her and still see such a baby, so dependent and still so many things she has not had the courage to do.

I look back and wonder where did the time go. Everyday I wake up to her big smile I consider myself the most blessed person on earth. I treasure each little thing about her. How her tiny feet are barely big enough to keep any shoe on, her tiny hands so soft and petite, she has the brightest twinkle in her blue eyes and a smile that can make any bad day seem good.

She is the mess in our orderly home, she brings a balance of chaos that we've needed:-) Brienna is a social little butterfly who can not stand not to be apart of every laugh or party.

We are so blessed as a family to have her and we look forward to so many years to come. We love you Boo-Bear!

Brienna shares a Birthday with someone very special...Big Papa!

Happy Birthday, Big Papa!
Miss you and love you.

A diver like Daddy....

In hopes one day that at least one of his girls will want to be a diver like him. Aleia is showing a little interest with a little force from Daddy.

At every chance he gets he buys her something to represent the ocean, water or fish.

Just recently he brought home this mask and fin set, and she is all set to swim the wide open sea.

I am pretty content with her playing in the mud puddles for the rest of her life, but knowing her she will take every leap, and every challenge to it's fullest, she is fearless and wants to be just like her daddy. A diver like Daddy, a preacher like Daddy and a Pastor like Daddy. She loves her Daddy and I'm so thankful.

Random thoughts

Over heard a few ladies on the train talk about what 3 words best describe them, they were so excited about sharing things about each others personality's. It made me think about these questions for myself.

What 3 words describe who you are?

What 3 things do you love to do?

What 3 things do you not like to do?

My answers as follows.....
1. Loyal, Sentimental, & Dependable
2. Go through old photo albums, holding my husbands hand, & kissing my 2 girls.
3. Taking time to go to the bathroom, saying good bye, & cleaning bathrooms

Today I woke up early to be prepared for a lady who was coming over to do a few things for me and she must have forgotten....so I've got a few hours to myself, not sure whether to read, clean, iron, nap, do bills, take a walk or just grab a snack and enjoy reading up on some blogs:-) yeah that sounds like a better idea (LOL)

Yesterday it was 56 degrees by this time of the day and today it is 72, feels like I'm in Michigan now where the weather can't make up it's mind.

Loving the sound of Brienna's laugh, something about when they learn to chatter and laugh, it is so cute. She'll be 1 on Saturday and I wouldn't trade her for anything. I told Charles yesterday that I love this stage she is in and he was silent, so I started to laugh and said what you don't like it, he said well I could do with out the sleepless nights and all the messes....I said oh yeah well I forgot about those things, it seems when I look at her, hold her and kiss her I forget she keeps me up all night....she is so sweet, she doesn't want to miss a thing, and by sleeping this would mean she would miss something BIG.

What 3 words best describe you?

Gerasdorferstrasse 258

Many of you are wondering what in the world does the title of my post mean.

Well it is the street in which our house is on:-) Oh yes! most of you all get to teach your children that they live on "Smith st", "Dorothy st", "Hollie st" or even "High st" but I wasn't so lucky.....oh no no no, I must teach our 4 year old that she lives on "Gerasdorferstrasse 258" hahaha. Try to say that 10 times in a row.

Well I'm a proud parent as of today because Aleia not only knows what street we live on but she now knows which public bus, street car and metro we take to get home. She's a bright girl.

Sunday we had her point out which way to get home on public transportation, and we were amazed that she knew the whole route.....even where to buy the ticket and how to put it in the check out ticker. The only set back with the brilliant ways of this 4 year old is she now thinks she is big enough to cook eggs, drive, discipline the baby, and get out of bed when ever she so well pleases......yeah we have some fine tuning to work on in the next few weeks:-)

Protecting Hand....

I have a prayer that I consistently pray over my girls and that is that the Lord watches over them even when I'm not looking or aware. I have two testimonies that will convince you to do the same.

Saturday after enjoying a wonderful 2 hours in Toy's "R" us, Aleia and I were headed out with all of Brienna's 1st Birthday surprises, when all of the sudden the cart got caught and flipped completely over, causing Aleia's head to hit the pavement at full force. I tried to catch the cart but it was full of (3) 20 kilo each sand bags for there new sand box Grandpa Vaughn sent money for. It was impossible to stop but everything in me tried, to the extent of hurting my own self very badly.

As you can imagine this caused a huge scene, not knowing very much German, everyone begin to ask me how it happened, how she was....I couldn't understand a word they were saying but I knew they were all so very concerned and very helpful. The manager came out to check Aleia's head and spine out.....during this whole time I am looking at her, she is crying for her daddy and saying is my hippo sand box broke, the only thing I was worried about was the trauma to her little head. I felt all around her head, and neck " nothing"....does it hurt Aleia....NO MAMA, I DIDN'T HIT MY HEAD!!! Now folks I saw it and everyone else saw that Aleia's head bounced off the cement, I know her head hit but as you know we serve a wonderful prayer answering God who always has his protecting hands upon our children. In the end the only thing she has is a little bruise on her leg and a small scratch on her elbow.

Today I was preparing for Brienna's 1st B-day party and she was in the play room playing with Aleia's doll house when all the sudden I here her screaming, I run in there and her little pointer finger was stuck and just as I came in the house fell....her finger was still stuck in the house, when I got it out, I could only imagine the finger would be broke or cut off from the force of the house falling, but when I picked her up there was only a little pressure mark on her finger and in just a few seconds she was fine.

I think the Lord for these faith building testimonies that encourage me and cause me to never doubt we have a God who loves the little children and who watches over them day and night.

Ethan's 4th Birthday

We were able to talk to Ethan today on Skype and wish him a very Happy 4th Birthday.

He was able to see Aleia but she wasn't able to see him, their camera was not working but it still was so nice for Aleia to hear his voice. They are 20 days apart and are great buddies.

Happy Birthday.....young man, we love you and miss you and hope your Birthday at the zoo was tons of fun.

Dreaded Allergies

Oh how I dread Allergy season, it has kicked in full force this year. I think the Lord I was protected from Allergies at this time last year. Not sure why but each time I was expecting with my girls, I never had allergies, great incentive:-) hahaha no not really.

Although I know that just left a question in all of your minds whether or not we will be having any more babies......I do hope so! I'd love one more but not right now, maybe in a year or two....and yes I would not mind if I had ALL 3 girls, I love GIRLS and think we were made for a house full of them, I wouldn't even mind getting a little girl puppy sometime, but this year just isn't the appropriate time for all that, no changes for a while.

Ok! now that I'm off of that tangent I can get back to the thought at hand....Allergies!

Symptoms: Runny nose, sneezing, stuffiness, itchy eyes, itchy throat, stuffy head, no energy, puffy face and eyes.....Just flat out awful. Still nursing so there isn't much I can take. Just trying to stay focused and not think of how awful I truly feel, for you all know the job of a Mama must go on no matter how hard your head is throbbing, eyes are watering or how much energy you are lacking.

Need a quick remedy for getting these allergies under control...I know my Grandma and Aunt Karen suffer most of the year with their allergies so I'm glad it only happens twice a year for me......at this time of the year and in the middle of September.