Disney on Ice, Ice Baby

My friend, Suzanne, called the other night and offered me a free ticket for Breeley and I to go to Disney on Ice, which was performing at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia. I thought maybe Breeley was too young, but I can't pass up time with friends and a FREE ticket! Well, it turned out, she was a bit too young, but at least I got to enjoy a few of my favorite Disney songs, and my arms got a work-out from having to wrangle with a 1-year-old so she'd stay on my lap! And Breeley really enjoyed the plain hamburger she had at McDonald's before the show!

Besides Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy, the show featured songs and characters from Cars, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Tinkerbell.









Breeley watched about 2 minutes total of the show; she was much more interested in climbing on the seat in front of us and staring at the people behind us. Since I'd only seen 2 of the featured movies anyway, I was happy to leave a little early before Tinkerbell was over.



Breeley and Izzie (Suzanne's little girl, age 2) had a lot of fun playing in the fountain outside the arena. Izzie, along with a bunch of other little girls, was dressed as Tinkerbell - so cute!



Thanks for the free ticket, Suzanne! It was great to get a test-run--now I know it's worth paying next time Disney is in town and Breeley is a little older!

Special Birthday Weekend - by Breeley

I'm 1-year-old! Apparently that's a big deal because I got to do lots of fun things.

We took a long ride in the car all the way to Virginia, which is not very fun, so I was really happy when Daddy let me "drive" on the dirt road going to the cabin. He said I drive better than Mommy!

I played for a little while when we got to the cabin, but then I went to sleep in my own special bed. Mommy and Daddy thought they were pretty creative and clever, but I was so exhausted from all the fussing in the car, I would have slept anywhere!

Mommy and Ma Joy spent all morning getting ready for my special party while Daddy and Pappy went hunting. They came back pretty excited about some bird and "the perfect hunt." Later, Daddy got excited about catching a big fish in the pond.


Daddy and Pappy helped with the party too, and so did Grammy, Grandpa, Auntie Ames, DJ, and Erin. I was most excited about the food! Mommy was pretty excited about the cute cupcake holder and Grammy's ingenius idea of hanging balloons using cut-up Walmart bags. I hope one day I'm as smart and creative as them!

Apparently a birthday party is where everyone gives you delicious foods that Mommy normally doesn't let me eat. Mommy was worried I would be clingy, but I figured out pretty quick that all these friendly people just wanted to feed me! By the end of the day, I had banana pudding, jello, Goldfish, cookies, Sprite, and lots of other yummy things.


The best treat was my very own cake! Mommy said I could have it because you only turn 1 once, but it was so good I wish it was my birthday every day!




I didn't mind sharing with my best friend Reesey!


I really enjoyed the part where I got to tear paper and "take things out." I got lots of fun things, including a wagon, ball, pop blocks, purse, books, and some cute outfits. People really love me!




Mommy was really surprised I kept this hat on as long as I did since I hate having things on my head. But, hey, it's a party!




Here are some other fun things people did at my party: fish in the pond, throw sticks and rocks, play with bubbles, do a nature scavenger hunt (Mommy's creativity again), ride on Power Wheels and 4-wheelers, and lots of other things that kids do outside where they can't destroy things.








In between all the fun and food, I practiced walking. Grammy didn't know she was the first to walk with me holding only one hand!




The best part of the day was getting to spend time with all the people who love me.






Despite a nap before the festivities, I started to get a little tired later in the day. This Slinky calmed me down a little...


... but it's my party and I'll cry if I want to!


Most people left around dinnertime, but a few stayed and we ate hot dogs. I even got to eat them, but they were cut up VERY small. Here's a picture of all the mommies with their babies: Mommy & me, Punkin & Tristen (4 months), Ashley & Lakin (7 months), Lindsay & Kade (11 months).


I liked playing with all the kids at the party, but it was nice to have some quieter time with Roger & Ashley's kids after everyone else left: Lakin, Tyler (almost 5), and Kenzie (2).


After a good night's sleep at the cabin, I was ready to play again!




But it was time to go home to SC after a nice weekend celebrating my special birthday.


I'm 1-year-old! And that's a big deal!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, BREELEY!

Wow! Breeley is 1-year-old today!! What an amazing journey this has been. We have been so blessed with a beautiful and wonderful little girl, who truly is the joy and love of our lives.

When I was pregnant, the phrase we heard constantly was, “It will change your life… but it’s so wonderful.” It starts to get on your nerves (at least it did mine) as you anxiously wait for the wonderful, life-changing event, but now that she’s here, that really is the best way to sum it up. We no longer have the freedom to just jump in the car and go somewhere, or sleep until noon, enjoy a late-night dinner at a nice restaurant, or spend hours fishing at the lake, but every day we experience miracles, laughter, and the awesome responsibility of influencing and teaching, shaping and molding a life. Our lives have changed in amazing and wonderful ways!

In honor of Breeley’s first birthday, I sorted through our 5000+ pictures and put together a slideshow to remember this amazing year.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I also wanted to share some random facts about Breeley at 1-year-old:

1. She moves A LOT in her sleep. She's in a different position and a different part of the bed every time we check on her! (She's a GREAT sleeper. Goes right to bed, sleeps 12-13 hours--it's wonderful!)

2. Her favorite syllable/word is "da..." She says "dada" to Brian (and we think she means it), but she also says it to the door, chair, Reesey, toys, etc!

3. Breeley's favorite games are "taking things out" and "flipping things." She takes any opportunity to "take things out"--folded clothes out of basket, blocks out of container, dishes out of cabinets, toys out of toy box, etc. She also loves anything she can flip--dishwasher soap dispenser, TV console cover, DVD cases, etc. Other ways to describe these activites would be "making a mess" and "trying to break things."

4. Many traditional baby things do not hold Breeley's attention at all. She has shown no interest in dolls or stuffed animals, or TV or movies. Also, much to our dismay, she does not seem to care about books (but we continue to read to her every day!). She is also not interested in many toys, but she does have a few favorites, including blocks, her piano, and her push walker.

5. Things she loves: velcro, Reesey's leash, shoes, Slinkys, Reesey's water dish, straps.

6. Breeley is a fantastic eater! We've never had a problem getting her to eat anything. Her daycare is constantly amazed at all the stuff she will eat, including greens, peas, and lima beans. She especially loves all fruit, sandwich meat, string cheese, and green beans.

7. We have 7 teeth (I say "we" because teething is a group process), which are pretty much fully grown in. She hasn't gotten a new tooth in about 4 months (although I continue to blame all fussiness or ailments on teething, the catch-all for anything that's ever wrong with her).

8. She can sign "all done" in sign language. We've tried teaching several other things but that's the only one that has stuck.

9. We're blessed that she's been remarkably healthy. There's been a few random trips to the doctor, but never anything serious. Nothing needing antibiotics. Just allergies and daycare germs. Not even any ear infections!! (No, I got that!! I was diagnosed 2 days ago with an ear infection! Go figure!)

10. Breeley is very sensitive. She cries when we yell at Reesey! It's a good thing she's perfect so we don't have to yell at HER! :)


Here are some pictures of the birthday girl.

Waking up – 1-year-old!


I took banana pudding to Breeley’s daycare for the Mobile Infant class. Yummy! The younger infants could not enjoy it with the big kids, so we took them banana yogurt baby food for later.


We gave Breeley one of her presents a couple days ago (WE wanted to play with it!). She loves it!

This picture makes her look like she's riding it, but she hasn't exactly gotten the hang of the push button yet. I'm sure she will in no time!



We're heading to Virginia to celebrate with family and friends there. It's been fun planning a birthday party for our special girl! HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, BREELEY! We love you so much!!!

Park and Play

We are very fortunate to have a park right next to our neighborhood. We like to walk/run there, and now we are excited to start using the playground equipment! We took Breeley this afternoon and she enjoyed the slides.






Back at home, she decided to clean out Mommy's cabinets, one of her favorite activities.




Then we let her play with the blocks we got her for her birthday. She liked for Daddy to put them together so she could take them apart.




This was actually a neat moment as a parent. We haven't found a lot of things that hold her attention very well, so we were surprised to see her concentrating so hard on the blocks. It was neat to see our almost-1-year-old visibly thinking.




We had a really great weekend!! Shealy's, zoo, steak and crab legs, park, blocks. Brian even got to go fishing on Saturday morning!