Fun New Discoveries

Breeley is learning so many new things every day! This weekend provided many fun new discoveries. We'd had a couple crazy weeks and it was nice to have a weekend where Brian and I were both here to enjoy all her new developments. It's also the first time in a while that she is completely healthy - no runny nose, no cough, no fever, no fuss. We need more weekends like this!

A big milestone is pulling up to a stand. She's been kneeling for a while, and she stood up by herself for the first time on March 18, but then we were away from home and out of our routine. By the end of this weekend, she had mastered getting to her feet. She's mostly standing in place, so no walking yet, but we're totally okay with that! She obviously enjoys the world from this vantage point. Here she is enjoying Reesey's dog pen.

She loves playing with the door of Reesey's crate. This was a special treat because I was washing all the bedding, so she took it as an invitation to explore the inside. I think she thought she was getting away with something.



Here are some videos to demonstrate a few other new things she learned this weekend. Very fun!


Timmmbbberrrr - Fun game Daddy taught her





What we used to do to sound like an Indian but I'm sure that is totally not politically correct anymore!




Ah dadadada - This is her version of repeating something we do in her Music Play class




Another fun thing she learned tonight is "Gimme Five!" Brian taught her in about 1 minute! It's so cute but of course she never does it on video, so we'll have to post that one later.


Hope you enjoy! We had so much fun with her this weekend and wanted to share the joy!

Funny Caption Needed!

Breeley's favorite playroom is the kitchen. There are so many drawers and cabinets to explore, as well as bowls and utensils and magnets to play with! She likes to play at the dishwasher (don't worry, I take away all the knives and forks!), and I snapped this picture, apparently in mid-expression. I can't think of a funny caption, but it seems to deserve one!! Help!

$199.99=$103.20

$199.99 Retail price of Evenflo Symphony Convertible Car Seat at Babies R Us

$159.99 Retail price of same car seat in less-popular black (with removable floral pad) vs gray

$149.99 Price of display model vs car seat in a box (that we would throw away)

-10% off Additional discount for buying display model

-10% off Additional discount at register

-15% off Coupon

$103.20 Price we paid for Breeley's new car seat!!

She hasn't completely outgrown her Chicco yet--which was an awesome infant car seat!--but I had a coupon so we decided to use the rainy day to go to my favorite place to look at convertible car seats. We got a great deal! As you can see, she seems to like it.

3 Trips and a Funeral

It's been a crazy couple of weeks! First I had my trip to DC for a work meeting on March 12-13. I help coordinate a program funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, and once a year all grantee institutions meet in DC to discuss progress, successes, challenges, etc. I worked all week to prepare a poster and other information for the meeting, then boarded the university plane (very cool! 8-seat corporate jet is definitely the way to go!) and spent 36 hours in DC. In all, I worked 50 hours that week planning for and attending the meeting! Since I'm part-time and am only paid for 25 hours/week, I had to adjust my hours the next week. Unfortunately, that's hard to do when you have previously-scheduled meetings and commitments, but it worked out and I was able to take some time off to attend a memorial service and visit family in Pennsylvania and Virginia.

On March 4, we found out my mom's brother, my Uncle Dale, died of complications from diabetes at age 62. That date was ironic since it was exactly 5 years after Mom's mom (Nanny) died, but we found out he'd actually died on March 2. They planned a memorial service for March 20. I debated whether to make the 10-hour drive, but I really wanted to be there and it'd be good for our PA family to spend time with Breeley. Unfortunatley, Brian had to go to Belgium for work March 21-27, so he wasn't able to go with us. However, I'm really glad we went. It was great to honor and remember Uncle Dale, visit with family in PA, and take a day-trip to family historical sites such as the homes where my grandparents grew up.

Here are some pictures from our trip:

Classic Uncle Dale. He did a lot of great things for a lot of people and groups and will be missed. He was our main family geneologist and had tons of pictures, artifacts, heirlooms, and family history information. He was an avid caver, community and environmental activist, and historian for several community groups. There were about 300 people at his memorial service! (Perhaps it was the bar--just the way he would have liked it!--but I doubt it.) He was always fun/funny and just did his thing, as evidenced in this picture.

Breeley with her uncle (my brother), DJ, and my cousin, Michelle

We spent Saturday night with my Uncle Mick, Aunt Kathy, and cousin, Michelle. The "kids" went out for Cold Stone and then enjoyed modern technology (we missed you Kaitlin!), while our parents watched basketball and put Breeley to bed.

Where Breeley spent 30+ hours. She was fantastic but came home with a terrible diaper rash from sitting so much!

At least she was able to spend some time exploring (and getting into stuff!).

We traveled through the night on Thursday, March 19, and returned on Sunday, March 22. Breeley and I made a pit stop in VA, staying with Doug and Joy and spending the day on Monday with Lindsay, Lance, Kade, and Emma, so Breeley could enjoy both sides of her family. I don't have any pictures of the kids together, but hopefully Lindsay or Joy will send me some!

We were happy to return home to SC on Tuesday, March 24, and even happier when Brian got back from Belgium on Friday!! I think we'll stay home for a few weekends and give Breeley's diaper rash time to heal!

March 16/17

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Breeley will not keep on her cute shamrock headband from daycare (she HATES anything on her head right now), but here she is in her green. No pinching my baby!!

We also want to wish happy birthday to Mom/Grammy, who turned 39+ yesterday! We love you and hope you had a great day!

The Greatest Show on Earth

We took Breeley to the circus today! We'd talked about going but hadn't bought tickets yet, so when the weather was too gross to go the the St. Patty's Day celebration in Five Points, I started searching for tickets for the 3:00 show. I used the promotional code "thrill" to get a great deal... and we ended up getting seats on Row 6 right in the middle! (I'm not sure how because it was only a few hours before the show and the place ended up being packed!)


Here's what we learned from our first circus experience with Breeley:


1) Woah, stimulation overload! Lights, sounds, people, costumes, souvenirs... Here's a visual.

2) The Colonial Center has 3 men's restrooms for every 1 women's restroom. Why???? Is this not the biggest case of reverse logic EVER?? Have they never seen women's lines vs men's? I don't think I would have noticed this as much before having to juggle an 18 lb baby, a diaper bag, and Brian's fleece (which I somehow ended up with).


3) Breeley was either a little too young for the circus, or she may have ADD. She stayed attentive for some things, but was actually more interested in watching the people behind us than the circus acts.



Here she is being attentive. I'm not sure what she's looking at because this was actually after the circus was over.

4) I like the circus, I really do, but I don't like the tiger part. Most the animals seem pretty happy and natural, but the tigers are way out of place. I'm pretty sure they are in a cage at least 22 hours/day, which is just wrong. I'm sure they'd be much happier in a zoo or some type of tiger habitat. When I said that, Brian said, "yeah, or Africa." Oh yeah.

5) Circus marketing and sales people are very smart. They charge $12 for a circus hat and bag of cotton candy, $15 for circus cup and sno cone, $10 for a circus box of popcorn, ... you can't buy cotton candy, sno cones, or popcorn without the accompanying circus souvenir. I think we may have been the only people who left without a souvenir.

6) Breeley is teething. She spent the entire time gnawing on her paci clip. Actually, twice she tried to chew on the chair in front of us, but I think we intercepted in time.

7) Our camera stinks!! We had our old one because our newer one is currently not working. It took TERRIBLE pictures (I'm sure it didn't help that Breeley knocked it off Brian's lap), so Brian finally agreed to get a new one!!

8) Brian's circus job would be riding one of the motorcycles in that circle thing (see picture) and mine would be the trapeze. I've been obsessed with it since watching Circus of the Stars as a kid! Right now, Breeley could be one of the girls doing tricks with the dogs, with Reesey as her partner of course!

9) Parents use their kids as excuses to go to the circus, but they really want to go too.

10) The circus will be even more fun when Breeley is a little older. (Don't tell her I said that! We aren't in any hurry for her to grow up!)

It was fun! And it was a good decision to skip the St. Patty's Day celebration. Instead of constant drizzle, the only rain that hit us was confetti! (This was Breeley's favorite part of the whole circus by the way.)

In other news of the day: Radford High School won the boys' basketball state championship! Go Bobcats!!

Weekend Temps

We were so excited when weather forecasts called for 80s and sunny this weekend! A great welcome to spring in SC!

Brian went fishing in the morning but promised to be back in time to take Breeley to the zoo in the afternoon. We bought a family pass last month and have been wanting to use it, so this weekend seemed perfect. Unfortunately, Breeley decided to welcome the high spring temps with a high temp of her own. Throughout Saturday and Sunday it fluctuated between 100-102 so she was on the alternating Motrin/Tylonol regimen, before it finally fizzled out in time for Monday.

We managed to spend a little while in the yard, but our grass is still brown and crunchy (as opposed to green and crunchy at its peak this summer), and Breeley was not a fan.

Oh well, there are sure to be many nice weekends in the near future, as well as, I'm sure, many high baby temps... we'll just hope they don't always occur the same weekend!

Proud Sister of a McNair Scholar

Amy is a McNair Scholar!! She just got her call from the president of USC!! Last weekend she came to USC to interview for the most-prestigious scholarship for out-of-state students. She was 1 of 41 students invited to interview, and we end up with 21 McNair Scholars. The scholarship includes $15,000/year and in-state tuition, along with a free laptop computer, preferrential housing in the brand-new honors residence hall, preferrential parking, and special programming and membership in a special group just for our top scholars. All of these students are admitted to our Honors College, which enrolls only 300 of the 4000 incoming freshmen each year. The Honors College offers smaller class sizes, specialized classes taught by some of USC's best faculty, and excellent advising. These students are encouraged to participate in undergraduate research and study abroad, and are provided with staff and often monetary support to do so!

Among the reasons these students come to USC: all of the above, beautiful campus, beautiful weather, chance to have a small college experience at a large university, Gamecock spirit, nice people, great town, sisters and nieces close by, etc.

McNair Scholars are truly at the top of the class! The group's average SAT scores are usually about 1450-1500 with around a 4.5 average GPA! They are highly involved in their schools and communities, and are among the very best at their high schools. I won't list all of her specific qualifications, but all of you who know Amy know she obviously fits the bill! I'm SO proud of Amy for being selected as a McNair Scholar!!!

Now the $100,000 question (literally since that's about the value of the scholarship over 4 years), the question I get asked every day at work, and the question Amy is now facing: Is she coming to USC??? She still has a big decision to make. She's still deciding between USC and BYU, and I'm certainly glad I'm not in her position! I can definitely see pros both ways. I guess it's just a matter of weighing them and deciding what's best. I'd be lying to say I wouldn't love for her to come to USC, but more than anything, I want her to go where she thinks is best for her and where she's going to be happy. If that ends up being 2000 miles away vs 20, I won't be any less proud of her. Luckily, with all her smarts, she's become quite adept at text messaging, Facebook, and all other forms of communication made possible by technology!!

Now, Amy, what's the Web site where you can make personalized bumper stickers? I think I need one that says "Proud Sister of a Carolina McNair Scholar"!

"Snow" Day

Here is the 2-4" of snow that closed all area schools and daycares today.

Clearly there's a bit of sarcasm there. Once AGAIN (in a repeat from January 20), closings were announced before the snow-that-wasn't even started, causing many working parents, like myself, to frantically try to make other child care arrangements. I LOVE the mild winters in South Carolina. This is a typical winter day - 45 and sunny, with NO snow (it's actually usually a bit warmer). However, on this particular day, the nice weather actually frustrated me!

Because of my flexible schedule, normally I can adjust my days and this wouldn't have been a huge deal. However, since we had McNair weekend and a few other things going on at USC, I really needed to be there. In the end, I was lucky. Amy had her McNair interview this morning, but there isn't much on the schedule for parents, so my mom was able to watch Breeley in the hotel. They had to go to a luncheon starting at 12:30, but at least I was able to spend the morning in the office, which was very helpful. I felt bad that my mom missed an optional speaker (Dad went), but Dad said something to the effect of "We have 5 children, we've always had 5 children, and 2 of you need us right now," so they worked it out to be there for both of us. That really touched me - thanks Mom and Dad!!

I am still extremely annoyed about the premature closing and I've discussed the "inclement" weather closing policy with our daycare. I think they need to wait until morning to make a decision (or at least until the snow starts!) and they shouldn't rely so much on the schools' decision. Also, if they do close, we should get a refund for that day. I'm not sure if anything will change, but at least I feel good about letting them know my concerns. I'm a super laid-back daycare mom and have never complained about anything before, so I know it got their attention.

But I'm done complaining. Breeley and I are going out to build a snowman. (Haha)

USC Weekend

My sister, Amy, and Mom and Dad came down this weekend for Amy to participate in USC's McNair Scholarship Weekend. They'll be at USC from about dinnertime Saturday until Monday afternoon, and they'll have a chance to learn all about USC and Amy will interview for USC's most prestigious scholarship for out-of-state students. She's already named a Finalist (there's 41 from about 800 applications!) so she's guaranteed $11,000/year and in-state tuition, so we're super proud of her! I'm especially proud because I know the scope of the award, and because I love USC! It's also ironic that 5 years ago this same weekend, I was at USC interviewing for a graduate assistantship, which ultimately brought me and Brian to Columbia.

I had to set Amy up with a "care package" for her USC weekend, which of course included her first garnet Carolina shirt!


They came down a day early so they could visit with us and see all of Breeley's new skills. Mom spent the week with her when we were in Jamaica, but Dad and Amy haven't seen her since mid-January, and even that was a hectic visit since it was Brian and Tina's Open House weekend. Breeley showed off her crawling skills and demonstrated her love of scrambled eggs and pancakes. Grandpa read her a book -- and realized she isn't exactly the best listener right now -- and Grammy gave her a bottle and changed a stinky diaper (hey, she volunteered!).



Now they're over at USC - staying in the swanky Inn and hobnobbing with all the big wigs. It's kinda weird that they're in Columbia and not staying with us. We'll probably head over today so they can see Breeley during their short free time before dinner. After all, I have to remind Amy of the biggest incentive to coming to USC! :)

From an admission standpoint, it's a terrible weekend to have our top scholarship candidates on campus. It's rainy and cold and calling for snow! One of USC's top selling points to students from the north is our beautiful weather - it's normally in the 60s this time of year. Who would have thought we'd have snow warnings in March!? Luckily, Amy's been here before and is semi-familiar with Columbia and the campus, but it stinks for the students from Wisconsin and Ohio! The verdict is still out as to what we'll actually get. Of course, if I've learned anything from living here for almost 5 years, South Carolina shuts down for even a dusting of snow, so I won't be surprised if schools and daycares close before the snow even starts!