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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Quick Trip to Michigan

We took a whirlwind trip back to Michigan for the weekend so we could see family (or...should we say so family could see Brielle) and so Kathi could have a shopping day with the Lohman ladies.


The trip included Brielle's first trip to Crane's orchard with Grandpa and Grandma Carlson...




























as well as Brielle's first experience at a Hope volleyball game with Dad, Grandpa Grotenhuis, Uncle Eric, Grant, and Brooke.




Brielle also spent a little time teaching Grandpa Grotenhuis how to read the Sunday paper...and emphasizing the importance of looking through the inserts...such as Target, Kohls, and of course the coupons!


And of course there isn't a weekend home without a little cuddle time with Grandma Grotenhuis!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Happenings...

Hi everyone! Brielle here to once again update you on what's been going on this past week and a half! Well since Mommy's side of the family visited a couple of weeks ago, it was Daddy's side to make the visit last weekend. Yep, Grandpa and Grandma Carlson made the trek to see me. (They wanted to see Mommy and Daddy too...but I'm pretty sure mainly me!) I think Daddy was the one to plan this visit because it just so happened to fall on a home Penn State football game. Lucky for me Grandpa and Grandma were willing to babysit while Mommy and Daddy went to the football game. I sure did have a great time! Grandma taught me to play the Four Seasons by Vivaldi. She said next trip she'll teach me the ever so difficult Alpine Polka. (I hear Grandpa Grotenhuis would really like me to play that for him!) Grandpa Carlson took me for a stroller ride through the neighborhood and we just played all day long. They wore me out so much that I took a 4 hour nap the next day! (Which I NEVER do...so needless to say Mommy and Daddy took a nice long nap too!)



After they left, it was all work from there. Mommy needed some help around the house so she had me help her fold the laundry...

and then she asked me to help put it away!

Man...are there child labor laws against this?!!

Otherwise I've just been hanging around...hanging on Mommy's hair that is! I just love grabbing anything and everything and it just happens her hair is always there and oh so grabbable! She is slowly starting to bald on the left side of her head...similar to Dad on the top of his head!


We're heading to Michigan this weekend so I can't wait to see everyone real soon!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

The Past Week in Pictures

We've had quite the action going on in the Carlson household the last week and a half. Here's a quick update of what's been going on.


The annual Grange Fair took place a couple of weekends go, so of course we had to take Brielle there for her very first experience! She was able to see goats, bunnies, mullets, rednecks...you name it they were all there! Unfortunately her Tony Stewart onesie was in the wash otherwise she would've fit in really nicely!



The main reason for going to the fair is always the food...and it appears that Brielle can't wait to get her hands on that monkey bread dad was eating!


Brielle is becoming quite the mover and shaker. Last week I set her down in the MIDDLE of her activity mat and low and behold I leave the room for 2 minutes and this is where I find her!


I think I prefer her to do this all day instead...this way I know she'll stay exactly where I put her!

This past weekend Kathi's family came into town for the holiday weekend to visit. Oh man...3 kids under the age of 3 all in the same house...makes me thankful the good Lord didn't give us twins! We're still finding areas of the house that were touched by snot, drool, and marshmallow-stained hands!


What a great weekend. Saturday was of course the opening day for college football which in our house is an observed holiday (Michigan won its first opening day game in 3 years - woo woo!). So Saturday was a bit of a lounging day...but
Sunday was a different story! We went to Del Grossos amusement park for the day (the Del Grosso family sells pasta sauce and operates an amusement park - all on the same grounds). Our 3 year old nephew Grant had a hay day (apparently they let boys of all shapes, sizes, and hairlines on the rides). Brielle and Brooke were just along to sit back and look pretty but will have a great time participating/running everywhere next year!






















The Grotenhuis clan left on Monday morning, so to wrap the holiday weekend up (and to celebrate Chad's 29th birthday!) we went to Pittsburgh to take in a Cubbies baseball game. Needless to say the weather was not ideal (as you can see...Brielle snuggled up with dad in his poncho) but the Cubbies won and the Pirates clinched their 17th straight losing season.



































Also to top the whole week off, our little girl starting giggling. There is no greater sound than hearing your daughter giggle. Here's a sneak preview of her (in between the hiccups)





















Thursday, August 27, 2009

A Week of Firsts

Well, this week brought a lot of firsts to the Carlson household.


#1 - The Hair: Can you see it? The first mohawk! Look closely...its there...really. We'll do more with her hair when she has more of it (pony tail, pig tails, barretts, short-longs, etc.). "Hair today, gone tomorrow," says Dad.


#2 - The Hands: Brielle decided her parents just weren't cutting it in the feeding department. So she took matters into her own hands (literally) and starting taking control of the bottle. She takes her feeding very seriously...there is no messing around. This is now a hands-free zone!


#3 - The Legs: Brielle decided to try a new sleeping position...the side. She really loved the leg thrown over the blanket sleeping position. (For those of you concerned individuals wondering why there is a blanket in the crib...it was for her not to fall onto her back...not for use as a foot stool). Some days she's so leg-adaisical.


#4 - The Body: Our little girl officially rolls over both ways! She made the big move today...oh man this opens an entirely new world for her! Good thing we saved up a our rollover minutes.

And after all these firsts she was worn out and decided to take a nap in her swing. (Yes she is in fact sleeping in this position) Any time we put her in a swing or her car seat she instantly sticks out the chicken wings because she wants to be sitting up and seeing whats going on. If she sleeps a lot during the day, does that make her "nappy?"


Chad has officially started his very first full-time job and will be receiving his very first full-time paycheck. Can you see the excitement on Brielle's face? You should've seen the excitement on Mom's face!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

What I've Been Up To...

Hi Everyone - its me Brielle. Mommy and Daddy have been a little negligent in keeping this blog updated so I decided to take it into my own tiny 3 month old hands to update you on what's been going.


Mommy, Daddy, and I took a trip back to Michigan for a week and a half to see family and friends and for my baptism. What a great time I had! Let me tell you about it.

My Grandpa & Grandma Grotenhuis were camping out at the State Park again for the whole time I was there so I was able to spend a lot of time in the sun (well, actually the shade - my skin can't handle UV rays yet). As you can see Grant and Brooke sure wore me out most of the days but, man, did I have a lot of fun with them.


And of course Grandpa Grotenhuis had to show me the Jeep! What's a trip out to Michigan without a ride in the Jeep! I can't wait until I grow enough hair to blow in the wind when the top's down.


We were able to stay all week at my Grandpa & Grandma Carlsons house which was a lot of fun! In between my naps with Grandpa and my indoor stroller rides (it was raining, don't judge us) with Grandma, we went to Saugatuck a couple of nights and had a lot of play time. I am beginning to edge out Aunt Bethany for the title of Princess of the Family. Grandpa would say that we share the crown, but I know that I have him wrapped around my finger.




















I was baptised this past Sunday in front of all of my family. Boy did I like that - it felt just like a bath except that the water was colder. I wonder why that is. Good thing I wasn't totally immersed. That would've been freezing, and then I would've made the experience miserable for everyone by crying my eyes out. Instead, my mom told me I looked and acted like an angel. Then I spit up on her nice clothes.




















The ride home to Altoona went pretty good, but boy was I ready to be out of that car seat. Can you tell by the look on my face that the 8 1/2 hour trip really did a number on me? I guess you can only look at semi-truck grills through the back windshield for so long until your eyes go dry and your cheeks puff out.



Lets see...what else...well I've been rolling over like crazy for the last couple of weeks. I'm getting to be really good at it. When I wake up in the middle of the night I usually roll over, but since I can't get back to my original position I wake Mommy and Daddy up to help me (mostly Mommy - Daddy suddenly became a VERY sound sleeper. Oh well, his breath usually smells when he gets me in the middle of the night anyway).
I have become quite the chatter box. I love talking with anyone that will listen to me, but I hate talking to myself. My favorite words are "ow-oo," "ga (with a gurgly voice)," "eeee (high pitched)," and "Penn State."


My Mommy has gone crazy over these bow bands for me. As you can tell...I don't have quite the enthusiasm as she does. I think they're bow-ring but she thinks they're band-tastic. My Daddy thinks their cute (not his exact word) but that they make me look like I have a costume on. I keep telling him, though, that I need to wear it since this pathetic lack of follicles on my head comes from his genes - just look at the resemblance between my peach fuzz and his.


I absolutely love my bath time. I'm starting to master the art of kicking my feet in the tub and sending water flying. Daddy thinks I'm going to be a soccer player...Mommy just hopes that I stop peeing in the tub...And I just hope that they stop drizzling my urine-saturated bath water on top of me.

I love my activity mat and my exer-saucer. I can actually reach for things...and play with them instead of grabbing for them, missing them, and bonking myself in the face! The other day I decided to spit up a load of my breakfast in my exersaucer which somehow ended up in the bottom, where I proceeded to stomp my feet throughout it. I liked the feeling of it in between my toes...Mommy on the other hand was not a fan of the clean up.

I kind of like my bumbo...the only problem is that its a little bit of a tight squeeze for me...all my "chubs" seems to merge into one and when Mommy and Daddy try to get me out my thighs get stuck! With a little work, maybe I can one day be on "Biggest Loser (Children's Edition)," "Lost (Weight)" or "Jon and Kate Plus 8 (creases in my arm)." Isn't it nice that I can joke about this kind of stuff. My parents will have to delete this post before I can read so that I don't develop a complex.


Anyway...sorry my parents are so bad in updating...I'll try to stay on them. I miss everyone in Michigan - thanks for a great time!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

The Results are In!

Well, Brielle had her 2 month check-up this past week and our little peanut really isn't much of a peanut anymore.


She weighed in at 12 lbs 11 oz (90th percentile) and was 23 1/4 inches long (75th percentile)!

Yep, she has now acquired the nickname Bubba and is now competing with her Daddy on who has the bigger thighs!

How did she get to be this size? We still can't figure it out! :)


In other news, in between Brielle's naps, feedings, and night-time sleeping, we have been working on doing some painting. We painted our bathroom and our bedroom over the weekend. Whew...2 rooms down...only 6 to go!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Finally, it worked

Well, our first two attempts didn't go so well. Here, finally, is Brielle actually doing a little jabbering.