more changes

Well, as you can see I (we've) made more changes. I think it will stay this way for a while. Especially since I've pretty much spent all weekend working on it! :o) I hope you enjoy the new colors and setup. The frogs on the top and sides are actually the border in Brianna's room. It of course isn't even close to perfect or professional looking, but I'm very happy with it and my first attempt at doing something like this. Let me know what you think and also let me know if there is anything you think I should change. I'm up for suggestions! Have a great Sunday all!

new milestones...

Well, I've heard that the background makes it slightly difficult to read the posts, but I haven't had time to change it again. I will keep looking for new backgrounds and hopefully will find one that works better. As for the milestone mentioned in the title, this morning I realized I hadn't checked to see if Brianna had cut any teeth in a while. Yes, I do this every so often, because people have been telling me for months that she was probably cutting teeth. Well, as I was checking out her mouth, I about cut my finger on two tiny little teeth! Yup, her front two bottom teeth have cut through. I can't believe I didn't know that they were coming through. She has been in a very good mood and hasn't been acting different at all. Anyway, thats the big news around here. I can't believe how big she is getting. I added this picture plus four more in the February 2006 album. Check them out. Have a great weekend all! Lots of love!

work in progress...

Well, I'm still not 100% happy with it, but at least the links are back up. Thankfully that was not hard to put back. It was trying to find a template that I liked that took me forever. And I'm still not really sure about this one, but it'll have to do for now. I wish I was somewhat knowledgeable in HTML coding, so that I could come up with something on my own...but I have only a few talents and that, my friends, is not one of them. I blame it all on Dale...if he wouldn't have changed their blog, I wouldn't have had the desire to change ours! :o) Thanks a lot Dale! :o) You know I'm just kidding, we just needed some change, too many dark colors. Anyway, since Bob and Brianna have both been sleeping for hours I guess I should either go to bed or figure out something else to do for a while. Let me know what you think about the new background. I promise you won't hurt my feelings, like I said...I'm a little iffy on it. Night all! Have a great weekend. OH...and if anyone can tell me how to get rid of all that space between the post and the blog name, I would really appreciate it, it is driving me crazy!!

PS. Notice the new counter...

some changes

Seeing Dale & Suzanne's blog has prompted me to make some changes in ours. The photo albums are a little out of control and in need of some restructuring. And to be quite honest...I tried to change the template to brighten things up (yes, I am a copy cat!) :o) and it removed all the links, etc. so now I have a definite reason to update things. Hopefully this will be done by the end of the weekend. Sorry for the mess! :o)

happy valentine's day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
We Love You!

concert & random other notes

Friday night I went to the Keith Urban concert with Amanda and her two sisters, Emily & Stephanie at the Allstate Arena. Amanda (& Ben) gave me the ticket for Christmas. It was an amazing concert. So much fun. And apparently Nicole Kidman was there as well, although we didn't see her. Anyway, we had a great time at the concert, that is about the only exciting thing that has happened in the last few days, so I guess I don't really have much to post about.

If anyone checks on little Miss McKenna, (I know there are alot of you!) she has reached the 5 lb mark. Yay!! We are all so excited for Dale, Suzanne, & McKenna. Pretty soon that adorable litte girl will be going home!

Miss Brianna is doing well, jabbering up a storm and she is now sitting up pretty well on her own. Other than that there isn't too much to report. I have added new pictures to the album, more from the concert and a few of Brianna sitting around and playing.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. Love to all!

brianna's sixth month checkup

I knew you all were anxiously awaiting Brianna's latest stats...so here they are. She is now a whopping 16lbs 9oz (75th percentile for weight) and 25 1/2 inches (45th percentile for height). It is hard to believe that at her 1 month appointment she was in the 10th percentile for weight!! Its hard to remember just how small she was! :o) We took her to get her 6th month pictures taken yesterday. They were running WAY behind, so we had to wait for about an hour and by that time, she was starting to get cranky...but we got a couple of good ones.

Speaking of this...I just have to vent a little. We take her to JC Penny's to get her pictures taken and are members of the portrait club, cause its a decent price, etc, etc. They schedule their appointments 10 minutes apart, which frankly is not long enough when you have a child that can't smile on command, so this immediately puts them behind schedule. Add to this that they now have a policy that the photographer has to stand there while you make your decisions about which pictures you purchase. They had 2 photographers there, so at many points during the day they are both helping people pick out pictures, which leaves the studio empty and customers piling up. I realize they are trying to make money, but if they allowed extra time between appointments, I would think they would be able to stay a little more on schedule and thus, having happier children, thus having better pictures, and happier parents that would spend more money. And let people pick out their own pictures for crying out loud...I don't need to feel hurried and pressured while I'm trying to figure out which pictures I want and who I'm going to give them to. It doesn't make me want to spend more money, it makes me want to spend none at all!! OK, enough with my ranting.

Needless to say, Bob and I weren't completely overjoyed, but there were a couple of good ones of Brianna, but thats just because she's so cute anyway! :o)

OK, gotta get the house picked up so we can get ready to go to Ben & Amanda's for the Super Bowl. Its a good thing we planned on going over there and not having people here, because the receiver for our dish went out on Friday (we lost all the movies we had recorded on our DVR) and they will be shipping us a new receiver in 3-5 days. Great timing huh? OH, well...there are definitely worse things...

Everyone have a great Sunday, and hopefully I'll post again soon!
Love to all!

its my 1/2 birthday!!

Yep...that's right...I'm six months old today! Since my little cousin McKenna gets to write on her mommy and daddy's blog, I told mommy that I wanted to write too, since I'm older! :o) Mommy and daddy say that I'm growing like a weed...I'm not sure what that means, but they sure think its funny. Mommy says that I am growing up too fast and she tells me to slow down, but I'm not sure how to do that, so I just smile at her and that seems to make her feel better. I've been going to a place that has lots of other kids while mommy and daddy go to work. Mommy used to take me to work with her, and that was fun for a while especially when the big, white, furry dog was there, but then it got boring, because she was busy and couldn't play with me all the time. I like the place with all the kids, but I miss mommy and daddy. Grandpa Bob and Grandma Nancy come and pick me up every now and then and play with me until mommy and daddy get home. Mommy has been working a lot because she has to do something called "taxes" it doesn't sound very fun....I wonder why she does it? Anyway, daddy has been busy at work too, but he comes and picks me up every day and I really like that. Mommy and daddy say we get to go visit Grandpa Lester, Grandma Susan, Aunt Angie, Uncle Nick, & cousin Braden soon and my Great-Grandmas Kramer & Felton too, that makes me very happy, I like playing with Cousin Braden! I heard mommy and daddy talking before and they said I have to go to the doctor tomorrow for my 6 month check-up. I don't like when they weigh me, and I think I have to get shots too...ouch! Good thing Mommy and Daddy are there to give me lots of hugs and kisses when its over. Well...I'm getting sleepy so I'd better say goodnight... This writing thing is tougher than it looks, so I think I'll leave this to mommy for a while. I'm sure she'll tell you all how much I've grown, she gets excited by the little things...she's silly. Goodnight everyone! Lots of love to you all from me!!

McKenna~ You're much better at this than me...maybe when you get to go home with your mommy and daddy we can have a play-date and you can teach me a few things about writing!

"Auntie" Amanda~ Hope you had a happy birthday yesterday, I'll see you on Sunday!

Oh...and mommy put some new pictures of me in the latest and greatest album (like there aren't enough pictures of me) she always has that stinkin' camera in my face.

OK, I'm really going to bed now...night...

nothing new...

I know, I know...I've been slacking lately. Things have been busy with work, but other than that, nothing much going on here. Brianna is still fighting her cold and cough, but seems to be in pretty good spirits otherwise. Bob has started his winter volleyball league, and I am making the office my home for the next few months. Gotta love tax season!! :o) I've added captions to the pictures that don't have them, so now you can all go back and look at the pictures again and read my witty comments! I hope all is well with everyone, and I'll try to get back on my once a week schedule to update this. Have a great night everyone!

Happy Anniversary Tomorrow (January 25) Alli & Steve!!

rollin', rollin', rollin...

I know I told you that Brianna rolled over from her back to her tummy quite awhile ago. And she did, but we think that was just a fluke, because she never did it again, until Saturday. Yep, she is on the move. She's becoming quite good at it too. Although, once she is on her tummy, she doesn't really know what to do and she doesn't really enjoy being on her tummy, so she just cries. But we're very excited about her new little milestone. Even as I'm writing this, she is rolling around! :o) I've added some more pictures, a few anyway. Sorry I've been really bad about the updates and the pictures, things have just been crazy! I know...its no excuse... I'll try to do better! Love to all!

sorry to disappoint...

Nope...no new pictures! :o( Sorry, things have been hectic. I know thats no excuse, but to be quite honest, I haven't even taken any new pictures since Christmas. 1....2....3...4...now that you've had time to pick yourself up off the floor, from the shock that has just knocked you off of your chair, I'll continue. Today was Brianna's first day of daycare. And no, I didn't cry, I actually transitioned very well. I think Bob having her at home for the last 3 weeks definitely helped with that! When Bob picked her up tonight they told him they wish they had 12 (thats as many as they can have in the nursery) just like her. :o) The only thing that really stinks (besides actually haveing to pay for daycare!)is that I have to get up about an hour earlier than I did when she was coming to work with me. But I'm sure I'll get used to it quickly! She is finally starting to feel better and act more like herself, so that is definitely good. Besides that, I'm busy with tax season...so if I don't post on a regular basis, that is why, but I'll try my best, and Bob is busy catching up at work. We are also busy trying to get organized at home, we're doing pretty well so far, we'll see how long it keeps up! I'll try to take some pictures soon! Love to all!

PS. Keep the prayers coming for Miss McKenna, she has reached the 3 lb mark!! Keep praying and she'll be at home with her mommy and daddy before we know it!! :o)

happy new year

Well, 2006 has arrived. Sorry I don't have new pictures to post, things have been a little hectic around here. Brianna has been sick and we're trying to get her healthy again before she starts daycare next week. She went to the doctor on Friday and just fyi she now weighs 15 lbs 9 oz. She was started on antibiotics on Friday and also nebulizer treatments. Hopefully they will help and we can go back to normal around here. Unfortunately, this has caused her to wake up at night and sleep a lot during the day. Also, unfortunately she has passed her cold onto me. So, we ended up having a quiet New Year's Eve at home having a 24 marathon. We watched the first season and now we're about 12 hours into the second. We had the Carroll (immediate) family Christmas yesterday, and also the Caruso family Christmas. It was great to see everyone, and of course Brianna was spoiled rotten! I think she has enough toys & clothes to last her a lifetime. I hope everyone has a happy and healthy new year, and we look forward to seeing/hearing from you all!! Lots of love to you all from the three of us!!

its over already???

I can't believe its the 26th (well, actually almost the 27th) already! The weekend went way too fast. We had a wonderful Christmas in Iowa though. Santa was very nice to Brianna this year, but I guess you can't get into too much trouble when you're only 4 1/2 months old! Grandpa Lester & Grandma Susan spoiled Brianna and Braden rotten, but they loved every minute of it!! It was so nice to see the Kramer side of the family. (I promise that we will attend some Felton family function sometime in the near future!!) My brain is still a little sluggish after a weekend of doing nothing, so this won't be too long. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and we hope you have a happy & healthy New Year. We love you all. Check out ALL the Christmas pictures (there are a ton of them!!) and also pictures from Joey's baptism on the 23rd. The pictures will have captions sometime in the near future! Keep in touch!

only 6 shopping days left...

I can't believe Christmas is next Sunday. I had every intention of being way more prepared than I am! I don't have any cookies or candy made yet, although I see that as a positive, they'll be really fresh! But I did get the wrapping all done today, so I guess that is good. And as you can see the tree is finally all decorated, and there is a very special present under it, can you tell what it is??

We went to a holiday party on Thursday night, and Brianna got to see Santa (check out the Christmas 2005 photos.) Friday was Brianna's last day at work with me :'o( Bob isn't going back to work until January 9th, and that day Brianna is starting daycare. Its been great having her at work with me, even if it is a little stressful. Other than that I guess there isn't too much going on here.

I've rearraged some suff on the left side of the page, I figured most of you would rather have easy access to the pictures instead of my archived ramblings. Don't worry, I'm sure there will be a big addition to the albums next week. :o)

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year! If you are traveling, be safe. Keep in touch and we hope to see you all in 2006! We love you all!!

the whirlwind continues...

Hi again...well, here we are, Sunday night again, and time for the weekly update! Man, the time has been going so fast, I can't belive Christmas will be here in two weeks! It was another busy weekend here. Friday night we went to dinner with Ben, Amanda, and some friends from Knox who were visiting, after dinner we went back to Ben & Amanda's, where they (not I) proceeded to play poker until 4:15am. I fell asleep on the couch with Brianna, so we got home about 5am yesterday morning! Brianna was up raring to go about 8:30 or so, so we decided to go Christmas shopping, and Brianna spent the day at Grandma & Grandpa Carroll's. She had a good time of course, and I'm sure they didn't spoil her at all, at least that is what they tell us! ;o) Today I had every intention of getting the rest of the house picked up and decorated for Christmas, along with the presents wrapped, but of course, none of the above got finished! Oh well, I played with Brianna, and spent a little time with Bob, when I could drag him away from the football games, or the computer checking on his fantasy football team! Holly, I agree, I can't wait for fantasy football to be over, lets hope they don't decide to do some other fantasy game! :o) This will be Brianna's last week at work with me :o( Bob is off starting next week through the 8th of January, and on the 9th she will start daycare. :o( I'm sure its going to be a sad day, but I know she is going to enjoy herself. Other than that, I guess there isn't much else going on, just time passing too quickly. I'm still amazed everyday how much Brianna grows and how she grows more curious everyday. She has completely turned our lives upside down, and our house has never been messier, but it also has never been filled with so much love, smiles, and laughter. Its almost bath & bedtime....so I guess the mess will have to wait! :o) Love to all.

4 months old

I know you have all been anxiously awaiting my post all week, and I know I usually post on Sunday nights, but we were home approximately 10 minutes all weekend, and last night the site was beeing funky, so this is the first chance I've gotten to write anything. We spent the weekend in WI visiting some friends (hence the not being home all weekend). It was a wonderful and relaxing weekend and it was so great to see Jonas & Jen.

Besides that, as you can tell from the title of this post, Miss Brianna turned 4 months old on Friday. She had her checkup on Friday as well. Bob ended up taking her by himself, as I was swamped at work. She now is weighing in at a whopping 14lbs 6oz and and giagantic 24 inches long! She also had to get 4 shots again...boo :o( The doctor told us to start feeding her rice cereal, but as you can see from the pictures, I'm not real sure she likes it! I can't believe how much she has grown and actually that she is 4 months old. It doesn't seem like she's been around that long already! Other than that we don't have anything exciting going on, just trying to find enough time to get the tree up and decorated, as well as the house and get our Christmas shopping done, and cards out. So, I guess with all that to do, I should stop writing these posts and get to it! By the way...there are some new pictures up, you know what to do, just click on the link!

brianna & braden

I always say these things will be short and then I end up rambling on forever, so this time I won't even say this will be short, even though I'm planning for it to be so! First of all I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for. Obviously, I am thankful for our beautiful baby girl who brings us so much joy, and as you've been seeing, is growing way too fast! I'm so thankful for the wonderful family that we have, they are so wonderfully supportive and loving, and for my handsome new nephew, who I can't wait to spoil!! I am thankful for all of the new babies that have gotten here safely this year, and pray for the ones still on the way, and also for beautiful baby McKenna, who every day shows us all that the its not the size of the body that matters, it is the strength of the soul, the love of family, (especially two amazing parents), and faith that really counts. And we are also very thankful for our wonderful friends that we are so lucky to have. As I said we have many things to be thankful for this holiday season, so thank you to all of you who check in on us, you are all very special to us and we are so very lucky to have you in our lives!

OK, I'm done with the mushy stuff now! :o) As you can see we went to see little Braden this weekend (oh, and Angie & Nick too!) I've added the pictures to Braden's album, there are quite a few of them, so enjoy! Other than that, I guess there isn't too much to tell, we had a great time visiting with the Creech family, and are so excited about their new addition. Braden is so adorable, and judging by the fact that he wasn't put down for more than 5 minutes at a time the whole weekend, I think he's going to be just a little spoiled! :o) Just kidding guys! We love him and you and can't wait to see you at Christmas!

Love to you all!!

mr. braden nicholas creech

I've added a Braden photo album. Click on the link to the left to see some pictures of the cutie pie! I'll be adding more soon!! :o) I've also changed the links a little bit. The photo album list for Brianna was getting out of control, so I will have a link to the most recent album from now on. Don't worry the rest of the pictures will still be there, you just need to check out my whole collection of albums now! And yes, Braden has his own section, but hey, I've never been an aunt before, so its exciting for me!

just a quick note

Just wanted to write a quick note, its been a busy weekend, and I'm tired, so this definitely won't be too long! Friday was Grandma's 75th birthday, so we went to Iowa to help her celebrate. On Saturday Mom and Dad went to St. Louis to wait for the arrival of their newest grandchild, so Bob, I, & Brianna headed back to Illinois. We were supposed to spend the weekend getting the house ready for Christmas, since we won't be home for the next two weekends, but we ended up not getting a whole lot accomplished! Oh well, thats usually the way that goes. There are new pictures, but I haven't created a link yet, so you can click down at the bottom of the left side to get to the main page with all the photo albums. I've created a new photo album that has pictures from Grandma's birthday (THANKS LINDA!!) and some of Brianna (yes, I know there are a lot of the same picture, but I have my reasons!) And it is easier to upload the whole file instead of picking and choosing. I promise I will go through them one day and delete a bunch, when I get some extra time! I guess that is about all. I'm anxiously awaiting pictures of my nephew, and can't wait to see him in person!

Please especially keep Dale, Suzanne, & McKenna in your prayers, that precious little angel has a strong spirit inside that tiny little body, and the power of prayer is an amazing thing!

we have a nephew!!

Braden Nicholas Creech was born at 10:37 pm on November 19, 2005. He weighed 9lbs and was 21 inches long. From what I've heard he has lots of dark hair. Congrats Angie & Nick, we can't wait to see all of you!!

Also born yesterday was Dale & Suzanne's little one. McKenna Arlene Felton was born at 2:35 am and weighed 1 lb 12 oz. Congrats Dale & Suzanne on your beautiful little girl!

Please keep the 4 parents and these 2 little babies in your thoughts and prayers!

We love you all!!