Visit with Auntie Tara

Auntie Tara and I go WAY back.  Auntie Tara (or Tara Chadwick as I call her even though her married name is Bergman) and I were office mates back at good old TERRA Resource Group…Yes---Tara at TERRA...we have heard it!  This was my first job out of college. She has been there for some of my HUGE life milestones. She read at our wedding and has just been an amazing friend to both Brenan and I over the years.    As you know,  I surround myself with strong, amazing women and she is definitely one of those women…Plus she is just a freaking happy person to be around…you always leave with a smile on your face…she is just cool….ok now that my love fest of Tara is over…

Tara had brought us food right after we had gotten out of the hospital and we slept through the entire visit!  Needless to say she did not get to meet the bean! Brendan and I decided enough was enough and we were going to make a trip to her house (Carnation).   It was so happy to see her and have her meet Bridget.   Bridget loved her!  She is still tentative around people and totally went to Tara without a fuss…Tara even took her upstairs without me…not a peep!  It was awesome…I did not know what to do with my hands…I was free!

We had such as great visit with the Bergman Family!

This was the second day (yesterday we were at the property with Grandma and Grandpa) of pushing the bean with her naps…fifteen minutes into the car ride home and she was passed out!

Auntie Tara and Pixie

Uncle Phile, Pixie and Clara (not the girl in the backgroun the mouse in her arms...I have no idea what the girl in the background name is!) 

Showing off my rolling in one direction skill!

Aunie Tara introduced us to a ball....she liked this.

Thank you Auntie Tara for our doll Clara....She loves  to suck on her nose!

Camping with Grandpa and Grandma Nelson

Grandpa Leroy and Grandma Cathy have property out towards Belfair (think towards Gig Harbor but FAR!)…We have been wanting to visit the property since they bought it but had never made it out there…Well Sunday was the day!  We packed up, what felt like everything in our house, and headed out.  The drive was pretty and Bridget did awesome.  She just sang along to dad’s music and looked out the window. 
Grandpa and Grandma did not know we were coming (in all fairness we say we are going to go out there and then never do because the drive seems too long) so they were pretty stoked when we go there.   Grandpa took Brendan for a tour of the property and told him all of the plans for it.   Grandma, Pixie and I went to the fire to sit and snack…because this is what we do when we camp.   This was the first time Pix saw a camp fire which was fun…she got just as mesmerized as we all do.  She sat in Grandma’s lap almost the entire time.  

We stayed for a couple of hours and then headed back home with everything smelling of smoke…YUM.  (sad report: no smores…but next time!) As you know, she is not a sleeper.  She has to have her own bed, it quiet and dark to sleep…she is like Brendan this way!  After an hour of fussing she finally feel asleep in the car! She has not done this since she was an infant.

Solid foods here we come!

Yes,  we are a little late in introducing solid foods…but whatever!  I was all excited for this moment.  I was told that babies make the cutest faces and are just hilarious the first time they get food….So we got the video camera out and the camera and the phone…All of this hoopla for nothing.  She grabbed the spoon and put it in her mouth and we were done.  She just ate the food.  That was it.  There is one picture at the bottom with a funny face but really it is her gaging on the rice cereal.   We have found that she is not into cereal at all…and yes, we have tried them all (rice, barley, wheat, corn) and in all ways (mixed with water, milk, fruits and veggies)  she is just not that into it…She will devour sweet potatoes, carrots, summer squash, spinach and mangos.  She is still getting used to green beans and peas.

Pat introduced us to these packs that are combo foods…spinach, pears and peas  or beats, quinoa, and apples….she LOVES them.

My new toy!

Auntie Destiny brought over a new toy…an exersaucer.   We were not sure how she was going to respond to it…she was just holding her head up but not at all sitting on her own.   We put her in it and she loved it…granted she leaned on it and could not figure out how to move the chair around.   She loves the snail…it is this rattle and has knobby antennas that she loves to suck on.  The other item she gravitates to is the flower…I really think it is because it has a tag and Pixie LOVES tags!

After one or two days, we found that Pixie loved this toy! We got down the exersaucer we got from Tara Chadwick-Bergman and put  in the office for her to play with while Brendan is working.  

Thank you aunties for the toys!

The loved snail!

There is a bee that when you pull it out of the hive it shakes and buzzes back to the hive...she hates it.

Auntie Kaylene and Gramma Billie

Auntie Kaylene came over to visit before one of her softball games.   Ever since Kaylene was a little girl animals have been her thing---she sold bugs to our neighbors,  she made us late for school because she had to say goodbye to Buba (her dog) and the list goes on….so it was no surprise that when she sat on the floor to play with Bridget that Sadie and Gabby flocked to her.  Thankfully Auntie Kaylene did not mind at all.

A few minutes into the visit,  Gramma Billie showed up with new books!  We were very, very excited about these.

It was a fun girls night at home.   PS Kaylene’s softball team lost 19-2….she should have stayed with us and partied all night!

Vote for my Gramma!

Gramma Billie filed for Pierce County Assessor today!  We are so proud of her.  This is something she has been trying to decide on for quite some time now.  She has worked at the Assessor’s office for 21 years!  Filing was the big step, I have never seen her so nervous.  There are now 6 people in the running for this position and only the top 2 candidates make it to elections.     Here are some awesome links to find out more!

http://blog.thenewstribune.com/politics/2012/04/20/longtime-assessor-treasurer-staffer-billie-obrien-will-run-for-the-top-job-against-her-boss-and-others/

http://www.facebook.com/BillieOBrienForPierceCountyAssessorTreasurer

http://obrienforassessor-treasurer.com/index.html

 Gramma Billie filling out the forms to get started

It's official....She is running for Pierce County Assessor!

Pixie turns 6 Months!

As Joel would say Pixie finally has an age…She is zero and a half!  Yep that is right the big .5.  She is crazy growing (I know I say that in every post…it is amazing how fast they grow!) She is super interactive now and will do anything to stay up and not go to bed.  Too bad she has mean parents that protect her sleep and still make her go to bed…otherwise she would be up until midnight….just like her dad!

Playtime:  She loves books…no surprise there but she is loving more and more when you read to her.  She will sit in my lap and let me turn the pages.  We get a couple of pages through and then she wants to chew on it. She scratches at every picture.   She loves to have dance parties and LOVES attention from Gabby and Sadie.  She tries so hard to put Gabby’s (our cat) tail in her mouth and she want Sadie’s (our dog) snout or ears in her mouth. 

Sweet Moment:  Auntie Destiny was having a very rough day.  I was holding Pixie and talking to Destiny and Des started to cry…Pixie totally started to cry, reached for Des and kissed her…..She is the sweetest, most loving little girl.  We have a “feeler” on our hands.  Lord have mercy!

New things:  We kiss!  Yep the good old fashion open mouth, I have been slimed, baby kiss!  It is awesome.  Sometimes you might get a lick in that kiss or she will suck on your chin…It is so awesome.  She rolls now and even Brendan counts it as rolling.   It is really funny because she can only roll one way so she will roll then pivot her body to roll back to where she came from.    She can sit up almost on her own…not all the way yet but comes pretty close.  We giggle!  It is not abundant yet...kind of takes alot to get her to giggle...but it is stinking cute!

Strangers:  We are getting better!  We still really only want daddy, mama or Destiny but we are a little more willing to be in someone’s arms (about 30 seconds)….I will take what I can get!

Questions I get asked:  She is not crawling, have teeth or sleeping through the night yet.  I think I might hold her too much!  But that is just fine with me…she will be crawling soon enough.   For the amount of drool this child is producing you would think all of her teeth will come in at once…she drools through her bibs on to her shirts…we are at a 3 outfit minimum for each day due to the amount of drool.  It also does not help that she chews on her bibs!  She wakes up generally at 10p and then at 2:30a. We are then ready for our day at 5a.  Yes you are reading that correctly 5AM! She is so dang cute in the morning that it makes it worth it.

Here they are 6 month pictures! 17 pounds and 26 inches long!

Happy!

 Trying to roll off of the bunny...so fun!

 I would like to eat the chalk board please.

Watch me grow:

The model pose...so serious!