Our Lil' Punkin!

Norah celebrated her first Halloween tonight. We had a great time 'trick-or-treating' and seeing all of the kids stop by the house for trick-or-treating. It is always so fun every year seeing kids from school stop by to see 'the other Mrs. Brining' and myself. I told Drew today that it is wild to think that last year at this time I was about one week pregnant and now here we are with our lil' punkin all dressed up and almost 15 weeks old. Amazing!

Norah's first art project she did at daycare!

My first Halloween!!!!  :)

Smiley girl!

Our first trick-or-treating stop....Grammy and Papa's!

Our second stop....Grandma and Grandpa's!

Our third stop......Great-grandpa's, where Aunt Dinah and Uncle Kenny met us too!

Our Halloween hair!

Lilly, Norah, and Audrey....two strawberries and a 'pumpkin ballerina', I guess you could call her!

Drew and I laughed so hard at this picture.  Lilly just looks like she is talking so intently and Norah is getting ready to talk back!
Lilly: "And then we went to Grammy and Papa's and got lots of candy....did you go there?"
Norah: "Yeah, that was our first stop.  Grammy drew me a pumpkin and gave me some M&M's.  Aren't those your favorite candy?"



All of Norah's daycare friends.  Mrs. Nancy, Mrs. Karen, and Mrs. Heidi wrangling all of the babies up for a Halloween picture.



Excersaucer experience

Since Norah still hates tummy time (we are working on it and she is getting better, but still not her favorite!) we have been trying to strengthen her neck and back in other ways. Since she has been holding her head up on her own, I thought I would try her excersaucer. She didn't quite know what to do with it, but she loved looking at the little orange smiley face! I think she is going to get a lot of use out of this!

The two 'monsters' playin' together!  :)

"HHMmmmmm....what are all these new toys!?"






"AAANNNDDDDD....I'm done!"




Just had to add this picture because it is so adorable!



We made it!!!!

Well, we made it through our first day back to work and daycare. There were many, many tears shed in bed last night and then I broke down as soon as I walked in the daycare this morning. We got Norah situated in her room and by the time we left she was playing on the playmat on the floor, smiling and kicking! That made it easy for me to walk out the door without an extra tear. Nancy, her caregiver, called me at about 11:00am and left a message on my phone to let me know she had a great morning, took a good nap and sucked down her entire bottle. I had a great day at work and have a fabulous class. I am really looking forward to this school year and all the fun stuff we are going to do. I picked Norah up at about 3:45pm and she was a little overstimulated, I think. She was just sort of staring up at the ceiling and wouldn't even look at me. There were just a lot of new noises and things going on. I know she will get used to it. By the time we were out in the car her eyes were closed and she was ready to sleep. We got home, snuggled for a bit, she slept, I unpacked all of her stuff, Drew snuggled and fed her while I ran to the store, dinner, bath, bottle, bed. That was our night! The only thing that made me so sad was we didn't have very much time with her from the time we got home to the time she went to bed. Thank goodness for weekends! We are really looking forward to this one!!!! Thanks for reading everyone and for the kind and encouraging words today! We really appreciate it!

Us before we leave for work and daycare!!!

Daddy and Norah before her big day!



Phew.......we made it!!!  Both exhausted, snuggling on the couch!




Daddy's turn to cuddle.  This is how she was the rest of the night.  She woke up, had a bath, ate and went to bed at 8:30pm.  What a sweetheart!  On to the next day......



Back to Reality

Well, I am sitting here tonight and can't help but think about the past 13 weeks that have past.  The time has gone so quickly.  I was putting Norah to bed tonight and sat in her rocker with her for a minute before I put her down.  I got all choked up thinking about the nights I spent in that chair trying to nurse her at midnight and how sleepy I was and how frustrating the whole experience was.  Then, I think about watching Drew sit in that rocker for the first time and read a story to her.  I think about all the mornings I got to spend with her while I was drinking my coffee and she was laying in her Boppy pillow right next to me, cooing and smiling.  I know these days are not over because I still have the weekends, but everything changes now.  It is time for the next chapter.....I'm not sure I am happy to embark on the next chapter, but I know we are going to be creating new memories.  Drew and I will get to spend the mornings together getting her ready, Norah is going to go to daycare and make lots of new friends, and I will get back to my job where I will have my other children to take care of.  We are so blessed and it has been such a remarkable 13 weeks and we just can't wait to see what the next many, many weeks brings in our lives!  

I know it has only been 13 weeks, but thought I would go back and reminisce already.

 

The honeymoon's over

For those of you that didn't hear, my brother and Erin were on their honeymoon in Hawaii. The last day of their vacation, my brother was complaining of a side pain that kept getting worse. They finally decided to head to the hospital and thank goodness they did. Jimmy had a CAT scan done and they determined he needed to have his appendix taken out. What a way to end their honeymoon! We are all just thankful he is okay and doing well. The doctor wouldn't let him fly for four days, so they are flying home tomorrow. I guess if there was one place to be stranded, Hawaii would be the place I would choose! Love you James....and thanks for taking such great care of him Erin!

Additions to Nursery

This is the print that Erin (the lady that made our wedding invitations and Ashlie's friend) made for Norah's nursery.  I love the pop of pink it adds to the room and the polka dot background is a perfect compliment to Norah's room!  Thanks Erin!

I found this frame at Hobby Lobby for a great price.  Again, I wanted to add more pink accents to Norah's bedroom and I just couldn't pass up the polka dots! :)

Business in the front......



Party in the back!!!!!!!!



Norah is getting quite the mullet in the back, but there is no way I am cutting it.  She is just going to have to sport it proudly for awhile! :) 

Bumbo mania!

When the heck did she get so big! Ugh! This is my last week at home with Norah before I head back to work. I am trying to soak up every last minute I have this week before I am back to reality! This last 12 weeks has been the most emotional, happy, fun, exciting, adventurous 12 weeks of Drew's and my life. I know it is for the best that I head back to work and Norah start to make her new friends at daycare, but I can't help but think how wonderful it would be to just stay at home with her. Love you baby girl!

Multi-talented.....sitting up and rattle!

All in One

I have several posts to update everyone on, so I thought I would just wrap them all into one.  :)

We had a surprise visitor the other day.  Renee was in town for a couple days and surprised us with a little visit the other day.  Her baby belly is adorable and she is getting anxious for the arrival of her little one in November!

I had to purchase the following bows for Norah.  I realize they are a little obnoxious, but I just couldn't resist.  I also just ordered her one that is similar with a Michigan State motif.  :)  Poor girl! 



All decked out in her MSU gear for the game the other day!  Go State!



Goin' to the Chapel......

and my brother got maaaarrrriiieeed!!!! We had a wonderful weekend this past weekend at my brother and Erin's wedding. Everything turned out beautifully and we were so honored to be a part of their big day! Now they are honeymooning in Hawaii and we are back to the real world! Thanks to all of our family and friends for coming to celebrate with us. We hope you had a wonderful time as well!



Welcome baskets!!!



Beautiful church

Us at rehearsal dinner

Wedding Party



Norah, Erin, Michelle, Anna and Me (bridesmaids and bride!)



All the boys!