Reilly can read??

This morning I am wearing my Halloween shirt (see pic below) (yes, I'll wear it tomorrow too - don't judge me!). As I am getting Reilly ready, she looks at my shirt and says, "Mommy, that says Boo!" I about jumped out of my skin. "How do you know that?" I say. And she points to it and says "B -- O -- O...that spells Boo." She said it so matter-of-fact, like Duh Mom!! I knew she knew the letter B, but I had no idea she was starting to put the concept of words together. I asked how she knew that and she said "Mrs. Bogart taught me!" Hurray to Mrs. Bogart!!

Pumpkin Patch

Every year Mike and I look forward to going to the pumpkin patch, even back before we had kids. I think that excitement gets to be more and more though as the kids get older and share in the excitement. Reilly has been asking to go since the "patch" got set up a couple weeks ago. We decided we would go when Grandpa Sweeney was here. Since we have been going to this patch since Reilly was born, we are able to get some great pictures.

Reilly's First Soccer Game

Reilly had her first soccer game this weekend. If you haven't watched a group of 3 and 4 year olds play soccer before, you are missing out! Not only do they not understand the rules of the game, but they run the wrong way, walk off the field in the middle of a play, and stop to talk to the other players. But we were so proud to watch them! Reilly did a great job. She didn't want to play a lot, but in the few minutes she did play, she did a great job.

Daddy is coaching her team, and cheering her on this weekend were Grandpa Sweeney, Grandma Trudy, Brooke and me!

Birthday Party

On Sunday, we had Brooke's birthday party at My Gym. It was a lot of fun, they always throw a good party. The kids enjoyed playtime and organized events. We had the luxury of enjoying the party rather than taking pictures, because Amanda was there taking the pictures! But that means I don't have pictures to post here, except this one my dad took on his phone. :-D

Brooke's School Birthday Party

For Brooke's real birthday we went to her class in the afternoon to bring cupcakes to the class. The kids were so cute with their singing and messy eating.

Brooke is 1!

How is it possible for a year to fly by, but at the same time for it to feel that Brooke has been part of our lives forever? In honor of her birthday, Mike and I have put together a video (YES, we are THOSE people who do a video for everything ;-) And I have also borrowed an idea from my friend, Jaime, to write a letter to Brooke. (Thanks, Jaime!)

Brooke,

When you were born, they laid you on my chest and I fell in love immediately! In fact, I said to Daddy and Jaime "I could do this again." (But I won't ;-)) You were a perfect newborn, you were always happy, you rarely cried and you slept well. And you and Reilly fell in love with each other instantly!

Over the last year, you have grown and changed into a toddler full of your own thoughts. Here are a couple things that you currently do:

You have the best laugh; when you laugh, the room stops to look to see whats so funny. And you laugh a lot. At school they say you are the comedian.

You are a snuggler. You are willing to sit and snuggle in the morning in bed or on the couch.

You LOVE to sleep! There is rarely a time when we get in the car when you don't fall asleep. At school you take one nap, on the weekends at home, you take 4 or 5. I mean it when I say you LOVE to sleep. Oh, but not between 5 and 9 a.m. Thanks for THAT!

In your one year you have been to Savannah, San Francisco, Denver and Sacramento. You started school, made friends, learned to crawl, got 8 teeth, started drinking milk and turned your car seat around.

More than anything though, Brooke - you made our family complete! I can't imagine our house or lives without our Brookie!

Love,
Mommy

Baby No More

Tonight, as I was putting Reilly to bed we had a sweet conversation. I wanted to write it down immediately so I wouldn't forget it:

Reilly: Mommy, do you know what?

Me: what?

Reilly: Tomorrow Brooke turns ONE!!!

Me; I know, and she will be a BIG girl now.

Reilly: yeah, and she won't swallow the little balls any more, so we can play Hungry Hippo.

Me: awww, together?

Reilly: yes, but I'll win because I am bigger. But I don't always have to win. Sometimes I just won't play so she'll win.


So...there you have it. Tomorrow Brooke will be one, she'll be big, and being big means she can play Hungry Hippos with Reilly. :-)

Being a Mommy

My friend, Tory, sent me this blog post today from The Preppy Baby, and I was so touched by it that I felt I needed to share it here. It really explains motherhood so well. From the day you learn you are pregnant, your life changes FOREVER. Every line of this was like, "Yep, I feel that way."

The writer of that blog explains that she read the following story in an email forward - which seems cheesy - but it IS a good one. Enjoy.

We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family. "You think I should have a baby?"

"It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral.

"I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations ..." But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.

I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her.

That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.

I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moment's hesitation.

I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.

I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom.

However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give it up in moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years-not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.

I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor.
My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.

I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving. I hope she will understand why I can think rationally about most issues, but become temporarily insane when I discuss the threat of nuclear war to my children's future.

I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike.

I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.

My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes.

"You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings. This blessed gift from God ... that of being a Mother.

Please share this with a Mom that you know or all of your girlfriends who may someday be moms.

Last Few Weeks as a "Baby"

Brookie is achieving milestone after milestone lately - new words, new personality, and seems to be getting close to walking (though, I don't make predictions!).

This morning, in the car with Reilly and Mike, she said "Rei Rei."

Here are a couple cute pictures from this weekend. In one she was using Daddy as a stepping stool to climb the coffee table ;-)