check out my baby girl!

Out of nowhere, Brinlee has started playing like a "big girl". It's so cute....I can hardly stand it.




She likes carrying any type of bag around (that's my GIRL) and pushing her baby stroller, vacuum or the buggy.

She finally likes shoes, too! Although she still takes them off as soon as we get in the car. She'll walk up to me and say "shoe, shoe", wanting me to put them on her. She also says "this" a lot. It's really funny because she has a little lisp! She'll say "cheeeeeeeeese" and give a big cheesy grin as soon as she sees my camera in front of her. It's so adorable. She really has a lot to say, I think she's going to be a little chatter box.

This girl is a little monkey, too! She'd rather climb than eat when she's hungry! She can easily climb on and off the couch. Yesterday, we caught her climbing up on her toy box...and standing up! She would look at us and just laugh, she knew she wasn't suppose to be doing that!!!


She cracks us up! She is so much fun and I'm really enjoying my time with her. She is my little sweet pea, and I could just EAT her up!!!!

Kindergarten updates

OK, so this morning took me by surprise. It was HARD and I had another emotional moment. We had planned on walking Brayton to his class all week. Well, he had other plans. As we pulled in to the school, he informs us that he wants to walk in by himself. My heart sank. What's a momma to do? I didn't have my camera in the car (gasp, SURPRISE) and I just wasn't"mentally" prepared. But, I didn't want to hold him back and Daddy was there for emotional support, he thought it would be OK.

First off, let me tell you...we are LUCKY. We drop him off right at the kindergarten door that leads to the kindergarten hallway. Brayton's class is the first door when you walk in. Thank God!

So, we pull up and I tell the teacher on car duty that it's his first time walking in by himself. She leads him to the door and off he walks....all by himself...not needing our help :-( We watch him until he is out of sight...I choked up and cried harder than I did the first day of school!!! Just not being able to see him safely get to his class was hard. I know it's something that needed to be done sooner than later, and I know it's just another part of letting go, but it's still hard! I am not use to him being gone all day, all week. It's day #3, toughest day so far...

On a happier note...this is what he had to say about his first day...

-there was a very "bad" boy in the class that was sent to time out already! Brayton just couldn't believe this!

- they made "red wagons" today

-he got to sit by Peyton at lunch

- he was HUNGRY and couldn't believe he had to wait so long for lunch. With that being said, he only ate 3 grapes for snack because he didn't want to stop playing play doe.

-as he was leaving lunch, he saw Kylee in the cafeteria.

-he'd like to buy his lunch one day, because he saw that they had brownies (not interested in the other food, though, ha!)

-their playground is small and only has 3 things...he likes preschool much better!

-they played "snakes" on the playground

2nd day comments:

- he made two new friends...one boy had on an XMen shirt, so they started talking

-his teacher read "The Kissing Hand"...one of our FAVORITE books :-)

-Kylee rode home with us, and he LOVED that!

I didn't mention that he DID in fact get the teacher we requested...the one that tested him. Ms. Day with Mrs. Pike as an assistant. And to sweeten the deal, Peyton is in his class. That is his friend and our neighbor from down the street. They've been playing soccer together since they were 3. Made me so happy and relieved that there would be a familiar, sweet face :-)

I have a feeling we'll doing a lot of rest and relaxation this weekend! ha!

Sorry no pictures! Slide show coming soon!!! Probably tonight!

Brinlee's BIG post coming soon, too!!!!!

By the way, my sweet girl sure misses her "bubba".

The Night Before Kindergarten

'Twas the night before Kindergarten,

And as he prepared,

Brayton was excited

And a little bit scared.

He tossed and he turned

About in his bed

As visions of school supplies

Danced in his head.

Erasers and crayons

And pencils galore

Were stuffed in his backpack

And set by the door.

His outfit was hung

On the doorknob with care,

Knowing that Kindergarten

Soon would be there!

In the morning it came -

School starts today!

Would the teacher be nice?

Would he still get to play?

His face was all washed,

His teeth were brushed white,

He posed for his picture,

With eyes sparkling bright!

He grabbed his backpack

And hopped into the car

And dashed off to the school,

Good thing it's not far!

He let go of mommy's hand

And then walked down the hall

And heard mommy promise

That she would not bawl!

The teacher then greeted

Each one with a smile

And invited the students

To stay for awhile.
The room was all filled

With books, colors and toys,

Such wonderful things

For all girls and boys!

Brayton was playing

And as happy as could be,

When he happened to look

And see his mommy,
And what to his wondering

Eyes should appear

But a very sad mommy

Who was holding back tears!

Her nose - so sniffy,

Her eyes - red and wet!

This was the saddest goodbye

Brayton had ever seen yet!

He ran to his mommy and daddy

On the magical rug

And then sent them away

After one final hug!

He waved to his mom and dad

From the door of the school,

"Don't cry Mommy! Kindergarten is COOL!"

(adapted from the book by Natasha Wing)

Myrtle Beach trip

Our "vacation" was fun, but we did miss Daddy during the days. It didn't seem right playing around all day while Daddy was working. But we at least got him back by 4pm each day! And...to make things much better...Ge Ge and Pa Pa decided to spend a week at the beach, too...on the water! The water was extremely rough. The life guards wouldn't let anyone go pass their waste. In fact, a man drowned right IN FRONT of my moms room while we were there. He was on vacation with his wife and kids...could you imagine? That is just horrible. Luckily, we weren't around to witness it.

We spent lots of time at the pool and collecting shells. Brayton and Brinlee got a new pet...hermit crabs. They totally creep me out. We spent some time at Broadway on the Beach, did some shopping at the outlets and flea markets, and of course...ate A LOT!!! We had a time with Brinlee and the sand...it seemed to stay in either her mouth or eyes...or in her poor swim diaper. She was a trooper, though- and she LOVED every minute of it :-)

And, Frank and I went on our FIRST DATE since Brinlee has been born! We went for seafood (mainly crab legs) and ended up driving around for 2 hours! It was nice and we enjoyed our time together.

what a PERFECT day...

Warning: I got a new lens (50mm 1.8) and I am still learning how to use it correctly, especially indoors! Some of these pictures didn't turn out so great :-(

I do love the lens, though...I've taken some really great photos with it, I just need more practice!

We had a wonderful family day today :-) I feel so blessed and overwhelmed with happiness.

It's been so nice to have Frank home with us all week!!!!!

We started the day off going to Facts and Fees at Brayton's school. The excitement and reality is definitely starting to hit us! I bought Brayton and I KES Tshirts, joined the PTA and got his car rider #. Fun, fun stuff!

He's proud of his school already! It's such an adorable little school. They have lots of animals painted on the walls....right up his alley!

You know we'll be at the Boo Hoo Breakfast boo hooin' away!!!

We then headed down town for the Kids Museum.

I pretty much read the school hand book on the way down there, ha! ha!

We were hungry first...so we made a stop here.........


oh my! It was soooooooooo good. Even Brayton fell in love with the "pizza style" nachos. We may have a new hang out!

After lunch we needed something sweet, so we headed a few doors down.....




I needed to know what all the fuss was about anyway :-)


Brayton chose this...



while Frank and I decided to share one of these


Brinlee had a taste of both, but she wasn't really impressed with either.




Julie, it's a shame we didn't hit this place up together while you were here.

Look what we ended up throwing away.


Brayton said it was "good, but too much icing". Frank and I had to agree. I know you Monahan girls love some icing...but it was enough to make me SICK! Do you see his cupcake in the background...yep, just a few bites is all he ate. That boy does not have a sweet tooth.


We played, pretended and had loads of fun over at the museum. I don't know what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't that Brinlee would roam around and want to play, too. She had a blast! She was in heaven with all the balls. The girl loves a ball!!! She even played Publix with Bubby and Daddy :-)

He made me close my eyes for a surprise...then he went over and "bought" me some flowers...sweet thing!

He LOVES the new pirate boat!

This lady bug was a favorite....I'm thinking we may need to buy her one?!?

She loves balls more than babies right now, ha! ha!

For our last stop, we went school supply shopping. We still have to get the backpack and lunch box, but the supplies are out of the way. I'm afraid of what he is going to pick out for a back pack. I'm not sure what's worse...Transformers or Ninjas. ha! ha!


We found the mother load of Beanie Babies for Brayton. Oh, that's another new interest he has...thanks to Grandpa and McDonalds!


OH, Brayton learned how to snap his fingers.


We came home and played outside for a bit. Frank took the training wheels off of Brayton's bike and they practiced for a while. Brinlee ran around in the grass with all the balls. Frank, Brayton and some neighbor kids played soccer.
Horrible picture, I know. I was running and holding Brinlee and the video camera AND across the street in our yard.


It was a wonderful fun filled day with my favorite peeps.....I am one happy girl :-)

we jammin'

I bought this CD at Target and little Miss Brinlee absolutely LOVES jammin' to it :-)


I love looking back in the back seat and seeing that little head bob back and forth and her little hands clapping. Brayton is funny, because the CD makes him "sad and miss Daddy."
Frank is a Bob Marley fan for sure!!!


Brayton has been jammin' to something a little different...

He has become a huge Michael Jackson fan. I have had the CD for years now. You see, I have always been a MJ fan! Brayton has been asking questions about his death (not sure how he actually knows he died). I told him he had a heart attack. Then he asked me who scared him...ha! Guess I use that expression a little too much.

PROUD MOMMA!!!!!!!!!!!

Excuse me while I brag on my boy..... :-)

We went for Brayton's Kindergarten testing today and it went extremely well. It looks like we have one smart cookie on our hands (we always knew that, ha! ha!). The teacher that tested him said he had one of the highest scores she had ever seen. There were several other teachers standing around that chimed in as well. The were all very impressed and went on and on about how smart he was :-) Of course, Frank and I were grinning ear to ear and couldn't stop! And you know me, tears swelled up in my eyes and I just wanted to hug him to pieces! (I'd feel that way NO MATTER WHAT...even he didn't know a thing!)

He scored PERFECTLY on the math portion. The score he made today is the "goal" score they have set for the end of the year. She asked him to count to 100, and he did. He told her he could keep counting if she wanted him to, but she didn't, ha! ha!

He scored high on the literacy portion also. He seems very excited and anxious to get started. I'm starting to warm up the idea, too. The teacher that tested him was very sweet and Brayton liked her a lot...so, we requested her :-). We'll go for registration on Wednesday (Aug 5) meet the teacher on the 14th and start school on the 17th!

We still need to go school supply shopping and do all the fun stuff. I'm getting excited. Nervous, but excited. I wish he'd want a cute little lunch box and back pack, but I know it's gonna be something like ninjas or Star Wars or GI Joe....that's OK, though. I'm ordering cute little Tshirts, too....can't wait to reveal them :-)

Frank is off this week and we hope to get some things done around the house (pressure washing, cleaning out the garage, organizing the playroom and my office). We also want to do some fun things with Brayton before school. I know a movie and children's museum is on our list. I also want to take him to Possibly Piccaso.

The beach was fun last week, but we're so glad to be back home. I'll save the details for another post.


Uh, I hate a post with no pictures....sorry!!!!