A Birthday Party!

Sunday was, Briana's friend, Kaelani's first birthday! Briana had a lot of fun playing with Kaelani, watching her open her presents, and having her first taste of cake!! Kaelani's mom made special organic cupcakes for the kids to eat (Thanks Steph!!!), and Briana thought they were very yummy!

The last time that Briana and Kaelani saw each other, they were both much smaller! Briana was only three months old, and Kaelani was only six months old! It was amazing to see how much they had changed, and how differently they interacted with each other now!

We all enjoyed spending time with Kaelani and her family, and are very glad that they invited us to share such a very special, and important day with them! Thank you so much Jay and Steph for a wonderful time! We hope Kaelani had a wonderful birthday!!!

Christmas with Grammy and Grandpa B

On Saturday we went to Grammy and Grandpa B's house to celebrate Christmas with them, as well as cousin Gabe, Uncle Re Re, and Leslie. Briana had a lot of fun playing with Gabe and the kitchen set that Santa had brought for him to have at Grammy and Granpa's house.

Briana got a lot of wonderful gifts, and we were all impressed with the rocking horse that Uncle Re Re gave her!! She loves riding on it, petting it, and hugging it!!!

Christmas at Great Grammy's

The day after Christmas we went to visit Great Grammy to celebrate the holiday with her! Another day filled with yummy food, and wrapping paper!!! We all enjoyed seeing Great Grammy, and left with full bellies!

Christmas with Grammy and Grandpa T

Christmas Day we went to visit Grammy and Grandpa T. Grammy cooked a delicious ham, and Briana was very excited to try a new flavor. She quickly gobbled up the ham that mommy gave her to try!

Having practiced opening presents in the morning, she had quickly figured out what this wrapping paper thing was all about, and was more eager to tear into her presents! Of course, she was still more interested in the boxes and paper than she was the presents themselves (until Mommy opened the soup ladle that she got as a gift)!

Christmas Morning

Eating Christmas Breakfast

Checking out her stocking

Opening presents!

Briana wasn't overly excited about opening presents on Christmas morning, though she did enjoy ripping the wrapping paper into tiny bite size pieces! Who knew wrapping paper would serve as a yummy snack?

Chrismas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at home with Grammy, Grandpa, and Great Grammy. Briana was enthralled by all the yummy food (though much of it wasn't baby friendly, so she just got to look at it). Briana had a lot of fun reading one of her new books with Grandpa, hanging out with Grammy and Great Grammy, and showing everyone her new tricks!

Wishing You a Merry Christmas!!

Briana turned 9 months old on Saturday! It's hard to believe how quickly time has passed! Briana can now crawl anywhere she wants to go, she pulls herself to standing, and is starting to "cruise" along the furniture. She has 4 teeth, 2 on the bottom, and 2 on the top. She knows and can do the sign for "milk", and waves Bye-bye. Her vocabulary is expanding, and she can say, "Mama," "Dada," "Kitty cat," and this weekend learned to say "BAD!" The kitty was trying to knock ornaments off the Christmas tree, so Mommy said, "NO! BAD KITTY!" Briana thought that was funny so now she yells at the kitty too. "BAAAAAAAAAD! BAAAAAAAAAAD KITTY!"

We hope that you all have a safe and happy holiday! I know that we will see many of you between now and New Year's, but if we don't, please know that we are thinking of you, and hoping that you have a great holiday! Love, Tricia, Matt, Briana, and BAAAAAAAAD KITTY!

Daycare Christmas Party!

Briana's daycare had a Christmas Party on the 19th. To start the party, the "big" kids all got up on stage and sang Christmas carols to the parents. To their surprise as soon as they finished singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," Santa appeared with his elf!!! The elf was Rylie!! Rylie left daycare this fall when she started school, so all of the kids were very happy to see their long lost friend!

Briana had a lot of fun at the party, she really enjoyed opening her presents from her secret santa, and from the daycare providers! She also enjoyed hanging out with her (boyfriend) partner in crime, Michael!

Helping Mommy Wrap Presents!

Daddy worked late the other night, so Mommy thought it would be a good time to wrap his Christmas presents. Briana wanted to help, so she crawled up on top of the present and pulled the paper off as Mommy was trying to put more on. We eventually were successful in getting the entire present wrapped, though it took about 20 tries!! Briana was very proud of herself for being able to climb up on the present!

Hamming it up for the camera...

Please enjoy the "camera" smile in the first picture. This is the smile that Mommy sees whenever Briana realizes that Mommy is trying to take her picture. Mommy has to be sneaky in order to get a natural smile now!

Briana's New Shoes

A couple of weeks ago (yes, Mommy is WAY behind on updating Briana's blog), Grandpa bought Briana some really cute shoes. Unfortunately Briana has since had a growth spurt, and outgrown them.

Moxie discovers a book about her...

Briana has a touch-and-feel book that is all about puppies and kittens. She left it laying on the floor one day, and Moxie was in awe. She snuggled up with the kitty on the page, and Mommy had to take pictures!!

Bumbles are scary? Not to Briana!

While Mommy was unpacking Christmas decorations, she found the "Bumble" from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He growls, and then sings! The Bumble is pretty loud, so Mommy and Daddy thought Briana might be afraid of it. Briana LOVES to be scared (well, startled anyway... it makes her giggle), and loves the singing monster!

Mommy's Little Monkey!

For the past couple of weeks Mommy has been making silly baby hats to sell. Unfortunately for Briana, that means that she has to model Mommy's creations! She does make a very cute monkey though!

Peek-a-boo!

Briana has mastered the art of playing peek-a-boo with a blanket, and has now moved on to using stationary objects to hide behind. In the video below Briana is playing peek-a-boo with Daddy, while he's in the kitchen, and she's hiding behind the wall in the living room. Please excuse Daddy's goofy voice! (Sorry Daddy, Mommy couldn't figure out how to mute you!)

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Mommy and Daddy set up the Christmas tree on Friday afternoon while Briana was napping. She was very excited about the pretty lights, and had to touch the tree to see what it felt like. To Mommy and Daddy's pleasure, she hasn't had any interest in it since then!

Briana's new favorite toy is her fire truck. She likes to push the button on it to make it play the firetruck song, and really enjoys it when Mommy and Daddy take turns pushing her around the house on it. Both Mommy and Daddy will be very excited when she figures out how to make the firetruck move on her own, since their backs will get a much needed rest!

Briana's First Thanksgiving!

Unfortunately Briana wasn't feeling well on Thanksgiving, so her Thanksgiving dinner consisted of Cheerios, cheese, and Pedialyte! She did enjoy going to Great Grammy's and seeing Daddy's aunts, uncles, cousins, and of course Grammy and Grandpa T! Despite feeling yucky, Briana had a lot of fun!