Happy New Year!

I guess Brent and I are officially lame parents. Next is CNN 24/7 and NPR in the car. Obivously we don't have big plans for the new year tonight, I think we are frankly exhausted from the past four months. I am really enjoying stressing about what to make for dinner versus are we going to have a place to live come December? Oh, much better!
Allison is in the throws of the terrible two's. I saw her pediatrician and he recommended 1,2,3 Magic. It's a book about discipline for kids 2-12. I have read most of it, and what a joke. She just looks at me (after I have said 1,2,3 naughty spot) and says 7,8,9 Mommy! I guess these things take time!
There is one new behavior of Allison's that is both maddening and highly entertaining. She has little schizo episodes. Please bear in mind that I am not making light of any mental illness, but my toddler has episodes! One moment it's rock Mommy a nano second later it's no rock Mommy. Then read the book Mommy pause no, don't read the book Mommy. Milk Mommy no milk Mommy only water. Pink pajamas no pink pajamas brown ones no brown ones pink mommy pink! All day long. After awhile, I just laugh, what else is there to do?!?
I am really looking forward to the New Year and all it's promise. I hope you have a wonderful, safe, and healthy 2009! Hi Samantha and thanks for reading my blog! :)

Merry Christmas 2008!

It's been a whirlwind but we had a lovely Christmas. Our celebrations started with Brent's Dad Carl. He came into town the weekend that we moved. We still managed to get a tree up and decorated. We did a make shift potluck with Steve and Misti bringing a ham and mac n cheese. This also was the first time that the nieces and nephews saw the house, they were in the basement most of the time.


Allison got a rocking horse from PePaw, she named it Giddy. Hilarious.



Next, it was off to Pennsylvania to celebrate with Aunt E, Aunt Sue, Uncle Russ, Samantha, Jamie, Stephanie and of course, Dave. Holla! ((Allison now says that by the way in public places!)) Aunt Sue put up my grandfather's trains. It is called the yard. My grandparents put up the trains every Christmas Eve so when my mom and Aunt came down the stairs it was all done. I can't imagine doing that. I thought it was funny that the toy yard was named "Plasticville". The yard is in good shape being that it's how old? Mom? :) Allison of course didn't sleep that night, so Brent and I played musical beds with her until 10:30 at night. We thought for sure she would sleep all the way home. Nope. Let's just say Allison is now aware of my DVD player in the car. I was saving that one, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Even if it was Barney.











For Christmas Eve, we went to Aunt Mary Ellen's house. Allison had a blast playing with Kaia, Tracy and Mike's daughter. They played hide and go seek non-stop. They kept going to the same hiding spots over and over and would just scream and laugh when they "found" each other. Dad's were recruited while they played in the bathroom. Allison talked about playing with Kaia ALL THE WAY home. She also did her usual sing along in the car. Some kids sleep in the car, Allison not so much.





Once we got home, we got out the milk and cookies for Santa and the reindeer food. We wrote Santa a note and left it for him on the fireplace with our stockings. Then Allison had a major meltdown about Santa coming. She was hysertically crying and was incoherent with what she was saying. I finally decipherd "No Santa, Mommy, no presents!" What an awful feeling. Long story short blog, we think Allison thought that Santa would be in the house when she woke up in the morning with her presents.To reassure her that he was "just dropping them off" , I called the North Pole and told Santa that Allison was grateful for the presents, but to please leave them outside. Mommy and Daddy would bring them in in the morning. That calmed her down so she could sleep. I felt awful. We didn't push the Santa thing AT ALL and didn't even go to the mall, so who knows what her little mind was thinking.
She panicked again at 5 AM but with some Mommy reassurance was back to sleep until 8 AM. Merry Christmas Mommy and Daddy--well more Daddy then Mommy but still. When she woke up she was fine and wasn't upset about Santa being in the house. We showed her where he ate her cookies and took the reindeer food and even moved the fireplace screen. Then it was off to the presents. Santa brought Allison a market for her to play store. She loves shopping with me at the real store, so it was appropriate. We opened presents slowly (I make all attempts to slow time down with Allison!) and had Christmas tree pancakes for breakfast. She didn't finish opening her presents until mid morning, which was fine by us!! She really liked opening one gift and then playing with it for awhile. The best thing that came with the market was the cash register. It has a credit card slider and she picked that up real quick! That could be a problem.....



Later that day, my Mom and Nick came over to exchange presents. Allison was really into the whole opening presents thing after that! She especially liked the new ironing board that she got from Papa Nick and of course is oh so stylish with all of the clothes that my mom bought her. She is asking me if I like her new shirt and if I think it's pretty. Too cute. Sometimes I just want to squeeze her she's so cute! Brent's Mom Connie was also there and then Brent left to pick up his grandmother from the airport. She flew in from Indiana. She's almost 90, that rocks.


The next day was the zoo with all of the nieces and nephews at Connie's house. The coolest thing was that we got Connie (not to toot our own horn, but toot!) a web cam and were able to see and talk to Mike while he was in Afghanistan. That was Mike's idea and Jen and us just ran with it! That was definitely cool! He showed us his closet, I mean room and we are still wondering about the pink thing on the bed.....
Allison greatly enjoyed spending time with "her cousins" . Especially Jessica. I can still hear, "Jessica, where are you??" in my head. She thinks she is just as old and big as them and they are so patient with her. They let her see their Nintendo DS's and their leapsters and even let her "join" their game of Life. Amazing. Sorry for the lack of pictures of the chaos, I left my camera at home. I borrowed my Mom's but haven't uploaded those pictures yet.

All in all we had a lovely time during Christmas and we are looking forward to painting and redecorating our new house for 2009!

Major Michael is in Afghanistan

Mike is at his final FOB (I have no idea what that is, I feel like I should as the daughter of a Marine, but I haven't a clue!) in Afghanistan.
He recently sent us his email and mailing address. Here is a copy of his email:

I am done travelling and have finally settled in at my new home, it's called FOB Walton, and it is just a couple miles east of Kandahar. We are co-located with the headquarters of the Regional Afghan Police. My job is to serve as the G-1 for RPAC-S. In non-Army speak, that means I am the personnel officer for all American personnel serving in the Southern Region of the Regional Police Advisory Command. It's been a fairly interesting experience so far, nothing exciting yet, just settling into my new role and new quarters. The FOB is nice, very small with some nice amenities - my own room, a gym, a tv in my room, and wireless internet on the base. Hell, I don't even have wireless internet at home! I saw a donkey on the side of the road, and some camels yesterday, and I struck up a conversation with some Afghan police officers yesterday. I did take some Pashtu classes and actually held my own. I showed them a picture of John and Andrew and they almost fell over laughing, not the reaction a proud dad wants. When I asked why, they pointed to their hair. These people have never seen kids with blond hair before. Poverty is beyond description, there is no doubt whatsoever that our efforts here are warranted.

Everyone asks my address (which I have finally) and what I want. Truthfully, we have it made here. We go to Kandahar Airfield every couple days and I stock up on the toothpaste, soap, etc. I have my laptop and tv, we have about 200 DVD's here on the FOB, so I'm stuck as to what you could send if so inclined. The only thing I could think of if foodstuff. We don't have a dining hall, we have to cook for ourselves. Usually someone cooks a hot dinner for everyone, but some things for the guys are always nice. Cookies, crackers, pop-tarts, etc can be used by everyone. And of course everyone likes brownies, cookies, whatever. Not sure when I'll get out to meet the locals often, so no need to send anything yet to give to the Afghan kids, hopefully that day will come soon though, and that would be a wonderful thing to be able to do.

Address is:
MAJ Michael Booker
ARSIC-S
RPAC-S/FOB Walton
APO AE 09355

The calendar tells me it's almost Christmas (not many Santa Claus's or Christmas lights here) so have a Merry Christmas.

Mike


Send him some love and muffins! :)

Jen's Idea!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The move to end ALL moves

We have moved, officially. ((I contacted DMV today, it's official!)) It wasn't a bad move but it wasn't exactly good. It was 100% exhausting. Brent's mom spent countless hours helping us pack boxes. I didn't think we were going to make it! The movers were there last Thursday for about 7 hours, then the cleaning people were there for about 9 hours. I guess to summarize we are dirty people with a lot of stuff!


Brent was a new level of tired. He was well beyond the "Allison hasn't stopped screaming and hasn't slept in 48 hours" tired and was running on fumes. During the old house settlement on Friday, I literally kept telling him to just focus on me and sign here/there, etc. Crazy. Then of course we go to Connie's house and Allison won't sleep. So, I ended up sleeping with her, or rather lying in bed with her. Kind of hard to sleep while getting kicked, pushed, hair pulled and rolled on. Why does she like to sleep on my head?
The saga with the our new house spilled over onto settlement day. Between the low-life realtor and his drama, he ended up short changing our realtor on commissions and not giving us garage door openers. Unbelievable.
The movers came on Saturday morning to unload us. This is when we discovered the two very large cracks on my black table. That table is just cursed. The movers were here for about 6 hours unloading the trucks. Yep, it was two big trucks. Brent's dad and my mom were instrumental in our unpacking success. Carl tackled the kitchen and my mom did my closet. I focused on Allison's room because I wanted to get that done before she got home from Connie's. She has transitioned well to the new house and really only wants a night-light to sleep now. I can handle that.
We also managed to get our Christmas tree up and decorated. Whew. It's starting to feel like home!

Allison's 2nd Birthday -- Cupcake Throwdown!

Allison didn't just have a party, she had a weekend full of birthday celebrations and cupcakes! It all started at her school on Friday. Brent and I both bailed out of work early to be there to sing with her and celebrate with her classmates. If you notice, she was wearing a cupcake birthday shirt to school. I truly lucked out with all of this cupcake paraphernalia. Because of allergies, all food has to be store bought, being that we were in the process of packing and moving, I didn't think to request a certain type of cupcake and icing, so it was green icing for all. I'm sure that made for some interesting conversations later while parents picked up their children with green teeth! During her party, Santa made a special visit to the school. Allison was convinced that Santa was there for her birthday. She kept saying that she wanted to go sit on his lap and have her picture taken. Well, when the time came, nope, not doing it. But even now if you ask her about it, she definitely sat on Santa's lap and had her picture taken.

We have moved!

It's official....we are in our new house. I am feverishly working on unpacking boxes and putting things away but we are for the most part good to go. Even got the Christmas tree up and decorated! The move was fairly painless. The beloved black pedestal kitchen table that I wanted for a million years and then waited for a million years was damaged. Of course! Brent's dad is still in town, so I will post stories from her birthday party, the move, Booker's Christmas part 1, etc. later! Woo hoo, liking the new digs!

Found the camera cord!

Yeah, I found the camera cord this AM. So, I am going to post some pictures from Thanksgiving. On the actual Turkey day, we went to my mom's house. It was just the four of us and Allison. It was so nice and relaxing. Friday was the crazy day with all of our nieces and nephews at Connie's House. It was also the last time that we would see Major Mike before he was deployed to Afghanistan. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Random .......... Allison is having a little mini birthday party at school tomorrow. Santa is also going to her school tomorrow for a visit. When I picked her up this afternoon, she ran up to me telling me that Santa Claus is coming to her birthday party. It'll be hard to top that! :)

Buh Bye House

We are busy packing up boxes and getting things ready to move. Calling utility companies is still painful!
Brent and I are really having a tough time leaving our current house. This is the first place we actually owned, worked for and maintained. It holds so many memories for us--the flooded basement, the blizzard, the birds, the attacks Bailey endured in the backyard. Not to mention bringing Allison home from the hospital here and having her spend her first two years with us, here! I can't imagine not living here but reality is on it's way and in eight days, I will walk out of here and not come back. I almost feel compelled to leave our initials somewhere in this house. This will always be my house, no matter who lives here. Brent and I have just outgrown it and the commute for Brent is much too much.

On a lighter moving note, I can't seem to find my cord to download photos from our camera. Brent was a little anxious in his packing, so I am assuming it's in some box, somewhere. He even packed my closet, um, hello? It's December, might need a sweater?? Won't go there. That in mind I will be a little delayed posting photos from Thanksgiving and consequently Allison's 2nd birthday party. I'll blog about it, but will post the photos later. On a cute turkey day note, I have a very cute picture of her sneaking cranberry sauce from the table when she thought no one was looking. Too funny and who would have thought that one of her favorite things would be cranberry sauce?!

We are excited to move and make new memories but it's bittersweet. We love this house and this will always be a special place for us.

Giving Thanks

Brent and I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. First is Allison. She is a wonderful gift and a true blessing. Days are long but the years are short and I wouldn't change a second of it. I am also grateful for my husband. He is supportive, loving and a wonderful best friend. He is truly the love of my life. So, thanks.
Second we are grateful for our parents. Our Dad's and Stepmom do what they can from a distance but our moms truly step up to the plate for the daily challenges. Between late night phone calls, date nights, sicknesses and babysitting they really help us. So, thanks.
Third we are grateful for having a new house to move in in early December. This move is not without it's struggles. We acquired a house through a short sale process. When we make it to settlement, it would have been six WEEKS since we presented the original contract. That's a record. It couldn't have happened without the help of our agent, Lisa Lieu, our loan officer Maria Vasilakos and my mom. There were numerous sleepless nights, angry phone calls and tears shed to get us to this point. But we really feel like we did it. It was a true Team Booker event. So, thanks.
Finally I am grateful to have a job outside of the house. I choose to work because I really enjoy being a physical therapist and I feel like I have a positive impact on people's lives. It is not without it's guilt. I don't exactly enjoy dropping Allison off at daycare, but she likes it. As far as I can tell. I know it makes me a better mom, which at the end of the day is all that matters. I also have a wonderful boss, Barbara Vogel. She isn't too worried about the financial aspects of healthcare, she just encourages us to do the best we can for the patients. How refreshing is that. So, thanks.

The Bookers hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Yummy Turkey!

Told myself I wouldn't do this.......

Allison had her two year birthday pictures today and Christmas pictures. We had them done at Portrait Innovations. It was awesome. A welcome change from the dreaded Sears Portrait Studio!! And I walked out with all of my pictures, no extra trip--bonus! I told myself I wouldn't share these pictures until her birthday, but gosh they are too cute not to share. So, I am posting some of my favorites--we have about 70 pictures, so I have about 70 favorites. I can't get over how all of a sudden she looks like a little girl......makes my heart happy and sad. Please note the previously mentioned cupcake sweater!

All things cupcake

Yesterday I spent happy hours (Allison's nap time) making one large cupcake on posterboard for "Put the the candle on the cupcake", think pin the tail on the donkey minus the tail and donkey part. Next, I attached 1/2 cupcake wrappers to construction paper for the craft. Allison saw all of my crafty projects and wanted her birthday yesterday. I also got her a sweater with a cupcake on it. Of course I did! I showed it to her yesterday and she said she wanted to go downstairs, sit at the table, and eat it! Thatta girl.

Strange bed fellows

Allison is now sleeping with her beloved trash truck shirt and a pair of pajama pants. She also wants to sleep with Funny, Madeline, Butter, New Lovey, Old Lovey, etc. Unbelievable. But the fact that she cradles her trash truck t-shirt is just hilarious. It's the same shirt she is wearing in the potty in the pantry video.

Potty in the Pantry

Allison isn't potty trained, but she thinks she is and she decides to "go potty" in the strangest of places. This morning, she chose the pantry.

Happy Birthday Uncle Mike and Samantha!

Today is Brent's brother, Mike's birthday. It's also my cousin's Samantha big day.
Both are family members that we are extremely proud of. Mike is serving in the US National Guard and is awaiting deployment to Afghanistan. He fortunately is home for about three weeks before he leaves for about 10 months. It's a tremendous sacrifice and we respect his decision.
Samantha just bought her first place. Only my cousin would buy a home during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Kind of like selling your home -- speaking of, SOLD sign in the yard. What a relief!
Samantha is a hard working elementary school teacher but she received fame after being on Alvernia College's billboards over the summer. Hilarious! I am still challenged with linking, so if you want to see her billboard shot, it's under July/August posts.

Hope you both have a wonderful day and we love you both very much!!

Late Night Conversations

Brent and I alternate, or at least we try to, with putting Allison to bed. Something about rocking in the dark she says the funniest things. This week's conversations include Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jesse Jackson all coming to her birthday party. Then we have an in depth discussion on the smell of BM's and we reviewed EVERYONE's habits and that everyone has stinky BM's. It's hard to keep a straight face!
She is now asking for a brother and for a big girl bed and pillow. I think she will get the bed and pillow first! Allison has told us that her brother's name will be Johnny Boy and actually she wants two. As in two brothers. Much easier and cheaper to buy a new bed and pillow. They don't go to college. I guess the pillow could, but still no tutition.

Jumping in Leaves

One of my favorite memories is gathering leaves and then jumping in them. I can remember doing it with my Dad, so much fun! We were on our way out of G-G's house on Saturday and I noticed the possibility with the leaves in her yard. Brent quickly grabbed a rake and we showed Allison how to have some fun. As you can see, she had a blast. She was running and then jumping into the pile.

A lap is a lap

Bailey is a very loving and snuggly dog. I took this pictures today when Allison was hanging out on the couch. It was too cute!

World? Meet Butter!!

Allison definitely has her phases of things. One week it's Elmo, next it's the purple dinosaur (oh the pain!) But this one with a stuffed animal is too cute for words. She was playing in her toy chest last week and found a stuffed giraffe. I told her that her cousins, John and Andrew gave it to her. With that, it was instant love and she hasn't been separated from it ever since. I like to create names for things besides the obvious stuffed giraffe so I have been asking her what was her giraffe's name. For days I got nothing. Then last Thursday, we were in the car with the no-name giraffe and I asked her if she had named her giraffe. She said yes, I was so excited, I quickly asked her what was the name? And I got, butter.
Butter?!
That's so adorable.
If you look closely you will notice that Butter had band-aids (Barbie band-aids, in this household Dora band-aids are as good as gold) on both of his arms. He has been maliciously thrown down by Allison, not once but twice. In my attempt to teach compassion and just down right decency, I have made a big deal of these attacks and have showered Butter with TLC. Don't know if it's made an impact or not, but she does kiss his boo-boos and says all better!

Happy Halloween!

Allison planned on being a bumble bee for trick or treating. That plan changed after she saw my Pooh costume and she also wore her bumble bee costume all day. My girlfriend, Candy, had given me the Pooh/honey pot costume set and I figured, might as well. Next year, she might not be that interested. She definitely was interested this year! She kept saying, "my mommy's Pooh and I'm the honey pot". Can't bet that! It was a big humbling this year. Like most years, Bailey was the big hit. He has his picture taken by more strangers! People would come up and we would be all dressed up sitting on the porch and ask to take a picture. Obivously (ha,ha) I would think they wanted me, Allison and Bailey. No, that wouldn't happen, instead they would invite their kids to sit with Bailey and have their picture taken, with our dog! Unbelievable!
It was a very special Halloween and it was fun to see Allison have so much fun with trick or treating.

When it rains, it pours -- out of the ceiling!

Gotta love toddler curiosity. On Wednesday, I was pretty stressed with a meeting at work and needless to say was a little preoccupied. I wasn't the best Mommy I could be and neither was Allison! Apparently she had put a lot of paper and wipes down the upstairs toilet. I wasn't aware of this event happening -- and when she got up from her nap, we went to the potty. I told Allison to flush and the toilet made this awful gurgle sound and whoosh, out comes the water, and it kept coming and coming....
I quickly turned the water off, and looked at Allison and told her to go to Mommy and Daddy's room and sit on the bed. I told her not to touch a thing, just to sit on the bed. She didn't miss a beat and sat there for me. I ran down the stairs to get the mop. Got the mop and then realized it wasn't going to work. I then made a mad dash back outside to the garage to get the wet / vac. When I returned, my sweet baby girl had gotten towels ((I think at some point I did grab some and throw them down -- no way she thought of that on her own)) and laid them on the floor. She was back on the bed and was sucking on a washcloth. She does this a lot with her teething, I noticed, in my deer-in-the-headlight panic that the washcloth was wet. I asked her how the washcloth got wet, she told me from the floor. I flipped out because now my daughter was sucking on toilet water! I vacuumed up the water and then went downstairs just in time to hear drip, drip out of the ceiling. Unbelievable. The water had seeped in around the vanity and was now flooding our family room. I had had it and just took Allison and Bailey to the basement. Brent came home and put a hole in the ceiling only to fill a BUCKET full of water. When it was happening, Allison pointed to the ceiling and told me it was going potty. Not funny at the time, but funny and adorable now!
To make this story more complicated and funny, really, our realtor called to tell us we were having a home inspection the next morning. That's right, the next morning. We got a handyman to at least patch the damage for the inspection and then we got the leak fixed this weekend. All day today Allison kept telling us that Victor was going to fix the ceiling. Lots of money later, the ceiling is fixed and we passed the home inspection. There goes my Christmas!

Ode to the Pink Cupcake

A patient of mine brought me in some cupcakes this week. (I actually need to discharge this patient because he brings me baked goods every week!) He brought in some of those mini cupcakes too. I knew the minute I saw them that I would soon become the coolest Mom ever! We held off on giving the cupcake to her before bedtime and then I opted to give it to her today after her lunch. After she had eaten her lunch (please note the half eaten carrots in the photo -- I do try to feed her properly!), she did her usual push away from the table. That's when I knew it was time. I went over and gave it to her. You would have thought she'd won the lottery. As she looked at me and what I was holding, I felt this beam of light surround my every movement and she looked lovingly at me. It was priceless. And it was pink! There isn't a day that goes by, especially on walks that Allison tells me she wants black (chocolate) cupcakes with pink icing for her birthday. Truly, I thought she was going to break out in Happy Birthday Allison!! It's moments like this that I am also reminded she's my child -- she only ate the icing! That's my girl. I think we will have a cupcake themed birthday party!

Diggin' her birthday suit

Allison just wants to be in her birthday suit! If we put her bed, she gets naked. When she wakes up in the morning, she gets naked. Fortunately with this new phase, there have only been two accidents. It is a little disturbing to walk into her bedroom and she hands her diaper to me!

Anniversary Weekend -- I'm a Wahoo, and you?

Brent and I celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary this past weekend. How our lives have changed in seven years! We decided to head out of town and go to Charlottesville. Nothing makes Brent happier than reliving his old haunts from UVa. He was a little shocked when one of the frat houses that he hung out at was nothing but a pile of rubble. Then I added insult to injury when I reminded him that he started college 15 years ago. He had the deer in the headlight look for awhile! We got a suite since Allison goes to bed at 8 pm. What a joke thinking that she would sleep in her pack n play. She ended up sleeping with us and I of course wasn't able to sleep, convinced the covers would suffocate her! She enjoyed the spacious nature of our suite and ran around saying okay, okay, okay. That's all Brent! Maybe for year #8, we can start the tour of Katie's education! It will take awhile.

Cox Farms

This was our first time going to Cox Farms. Apparently in this area, it's a rite of passage in the fall. Allison had a lot of fun. My mom or Nana also went with us. Allison had NO fear on the slides and wanted to go and go and go!! There were a couple of times that I was holding my breath, but she did well. We attempted to go on a pony ride. She said over and over that she wanted to ride the horsey, but when the time came, absolutely not! She also went on the hay ride. She was quite reserved on the hayride and didn't really say much. She kept saying she was having fun, but when we asked her if she wanted to go again, she said no. That told us that she was really scared but was trying to get through it. We ran into one of Allison's favorite people, Dr. Ben!! She wouldn't talk to him but did take to his little girl. We were headed into the "goat town" and Dr. Ben warned us that last year they treated a lot of bites. I immediately looked at Brent and said should we do this?? He just said, she will be fine and she was. I did feel like I was letting the pediatrician down!

Curse the potty chair!

To say Allison is obsessed with the potty is truly an understatement. I bought her a potty chair thinking that we were still pretty far from potty training, but now I am not so sure. So we got the potty chair, I put it together ((yes it requires assembly with snaps, crazy!)) and explained to her how it worked. She was thrilled and immediately began pulling her pants down. Her only point of frustration is that it doesn't flush. I spent my day in the potty! She is getting better in that when she goes to the bathroom, she does tell me that she needs to go potty. Oh, and when we say that it's the whiney potty--you know the one with about 4 syllables in a 2 syllable word. ((Only adds to the pain!)) I have decided to just ride this one out and see what happens. I still curse the potty chair!

Sometimes, I'm so 1991.......

I miss the original but this one is not so bad. Maybe it's because Kelly Taylor and Brenda Walsh are still in it, but I am really enjoying the new 90210. I personally think I am just getting in touch with my teen years--I still have countless VCR tapes (oh the horror!) of 90210 episodes. And for the record, the earlier seasons were much better then those awful Tiffany Amber, Claire, CU ones. Nothing is better than David doing is DJ stuff at the peach pit and Brenda and Kelly fighting over Dylan. And let's not forget, Donna Martin graduates!! Oh the memories!
http://www.starpulse.com/Television/Beverly_Hills_90210/gallery/Beverly-Hills-90210-tv-77/

He's a lover, not a fighter

Poor Bailey as if the summer wasn't enough, he got into a scuffle with another dog Thursday night. Brent was in St. Louis and Allison, Bailey and myself ventured out for an evening walk before bedtime. We turned the corner at the elementary school and met our fate! A yellow-lab, yes a yellow-lab came charging out of his house without a leash and greeted Bailey. At first it was a typical exchange between dogs. No one was growling, showing teeth, nothing. The next thing I knew the other dog attacked Bailey. I positioned myself in front of the stroller--Allison was screaming at this point, so was I, and fortunately the owner of the dog was there to help separate the dogs. Bailey was bleeding at the time and I had to put my mommy pants on to first calm myself down, then the dog, and finally Allison. I got home and quickly tended to Bailey's wounds. He was lucky in the fact that the other dog only scratched him and didn't actually puncture his skin. He just bled from losing hair. I did take him to the vet and they cleaned the wounds and decided not to put him on any antibiotics. We are just going to watch the area for any further signs of infection. All in all, I think Bailey's pride was hurt more than anything. Although I must say during the scuffle for once, Bailey fought back a little. That may have been because Allison and I were there or maybe he thought he had a chance. He is such a good dog and we are so lucky to have him!

Thanks, Kate!

We had Allison's pictures taken by our friend and amazing photographer, Kate Triano. We just got the CD today and I had to share some of the photos! They are amazing! Kate really captures Allison's personality. If you ever need a photographer, she's the one you want! I am having problems posting her website, so here's her address: www.katetriano.com
Allison is also on her blog.

I got you!

 

Allison decided to show off her jumping abilities with Steve. This speaks for itself!

Happy Birthday John!!

John Colter will be celebrating his tenth (seriously?!?) birthday on September 13th. Mike is leaving to go to Kansas then to Afghanistan, so we all went down there this past weekend to celebrate John's birthday and say goodbye to Mike. We had a wonderful time spending family time together and Allison really likes being with her cousins. They all spoil her and are very considerate of her and her super grabby toddler hands!





Allison was especially excited to eat the birthday cake. That's my girl. She reminds me on a daily basis that for her birthday I will make her cupcakes. Then she always sings happy birthday to herself!


Here's a picture of Jen and the boys. Jen wanted this picture taken because she says there is limited documentation that she is in fact the boys' mother! So, here you go!

Ferlazzo Family Reunion

We attended the Ferlazzo Family Reunion the weekend of August 18th. It was a lot of fun and of course the food was great. They are Italian! Janis taught Allison about "brain freeze" if you eat ice cream too fast. Now if she eats anything cold, she just says "ice cream gets you right here and points to her forehead". Too cute! I have been to many family reunions and this is the first that they played music from the Godfather movies. Over and over!!
Allison had a ball on the dance floor and chasing balloons. This was when she was just beginning to jump and was just hoping someone would hold her hands so she could jump.