Happy Halloween!

Unfortunately, this was not as fun of a day as we would have liked Bran to have for her first Halloween. My dad brought Bran and I to St. Louis where Jamie met us to bring us home. Made for a very long day!!

We had trick or treaters come by, but I really felt awful. I think it was just a week's worth of no sleep catching up with me. So we went to bed as soon as the trick or treaters were gone. Sorry Bran, we'll do better next year!

Trick Or Treating

Today was a fun day. We started with going to the clinic to get Branigan weighed and measured by a professional (mom). She was 24 inches long and 13 and a half pounds. Growing fast! We visited with a few of mom's colleagues, and then it was time to head back home. Mom was really tiring quickly, so she talked to her boss about only coming back half days next week. Thank goodness, she is not ready for full days.

So we had a relaxing day at home, and then took Branigan around to visit some of my aunts in her halloween costume. It was fun to get to show her off!

Finding her voice

Its no secret that Bran has always been a little gabber, but this week she really seems to be finding her voice. It is so cute. I even had to call Jamie today at work just so that he could hear her!

One other new development is that it looks like Bran's eyes are changing. They've always been a crystal clear blue like Jamie's - but today I suspect that they are turning brown...will have to monitor that....

Very fast beginning of the week

Its been a very bust week so far. Monday was another day that started out at the hospital. Robin also had to go home this morning, so the zoo is losing some of its animals. :) Monday night my dad and sister Jamie went to see mom together; which left me at home with Branigan and my grandma - quite a bit of work right then. I feel so sorry for my grandma right now; she's such an independent person, and now has to rely on us for most things. Must be hard to go through. My aunt Mary made dinner for us tonight, baked spaghetti - very good, and so nice of her!

Tuesday morning, Jamie and Jamie took off. It was hard to see them go, as Jamie (husband) really hasn't been away from Bran this long before. Then dad brought mom home. She looks so much better, but you would not believe the amount of medicine she is on! Wow! In the afternoon I ran to town to pick up some things. I was going to cook dinner when I got home, but my aunt Pat beat me to it, bringing over chicken enchiladas and apple cake - yummy!

Today was much more relaxing. My aunt Earlene came and got my grandma this morning, and then we just chilled. mom and Branigan took naps together throughout the day while I got the house cleaned up. The only unsettling thing was how little my mom can be up at a time. There is no way she can go back to work on Monday. I hope they understand.... Again I was going to cook dinner, but this time my mom's friend Micki beat me to it. She had taken up a collection at the clinic and went grocery shopping for us! That was really so thoughtful of her - mom's really got a good friend there.

I'm glad that we'll be here a few more days; mom could definitely use the help! And she and Bran are having so much fun together!

A very hospital weekend

Quick and yuck. That's about the best way I can describe this weekend. Saturday, Jamie V and I went to the hospital first thing in the morning. Frankly, Mom looked terrible. Her face was beet red from all of the steroids, and she was aching from head to toe; I was really afraid she was getting a bug there in the hospital. The frustrating part was that we still had no answers. But it felt good at least to be there with her.

That night, Jamie F and I went to a benefit for a friend of ours, Neal Heindselman. There were TONS of people there, which was great. But we went home quickly, as Jamie V was watching Branigan for us, and she was home alone with my grandma as well. Oh, did I forget to mention that my grandma was staying with us? She just got out of the hospital, and will be taking turns staying with my dad and his siblings until she is well enough to go home. So the house is a zoo!

Today was much the same. I went in to see Mom very early, and to start she looked even worse than the day before; she couldn't even get out of bed on her own. All of this over a stupid cough? I stayed until about one in the afternoon, when Mom was finally transferred out of ICU. She was looking much better than when I came in. Then Jamie came in to sit with her next. Tonight Mark came over and the four of us hung out for a while. But I am beat, so its off to bed early!

We have made the decision that I'll be staying the week. The Jamie's will go home Tuesday morning, and I'll stay until Saturday in order to help my mom transition back into being home.

Whirlwind

That's the only way to describe today. I woke up to Jamie V calling to tell me that she had just spoken to mom, and she did not sound good - she may be in the hospital until Tuesday! So we made the decision that it was time to go home. Jamie was fine with this and went about clearing his schedule while I started the process of packing for two adults, one child.

Around 2 pm, we finally got on the road. It was a fairly uneventful trip (the best kind), and we were home around 9:30. We missed seeing mom this evening because visiting hours were over, but will go in first thing in the morning.

Oh, and I forgot to mention. The headache that I predicted yesterday is in full effect! I'm definitely paying for the margaritas. :)

A trip to St. Joe

Today was a quick day of errands and then running to St Joe to take Lacey to the vet. It was so worth the trip! She needs both knees operated on, and the first quote we got for the surgery was $3K!! You hate to see your dog in pain, but there was no way we could spend that much for dog surgery. We are going to be able to get the same surgery up there for $500!! That was an early christmas present. Bran went to Grandma Frederes during the appointment, here is a picture of her on the way.

Tonight was girls' night, here at our house. Jamie got to join in since he was gracious enough to make the margaritas - mango flavored - they were awesome! I'm guessing I am going to have a major headache in the morning. :) I also made chicken enchiladas from a new recipe, and they were excellent! Overall we had a great night.

An update on my mom - she had a procedure today to look down her throat, and she started coughing so much during it that she passed out! So tomorrow they will try the test again, this time with her knocked out. Hopefully it will yield some better results and we will find out what's going on here. I'm getting increasingly worried, and wondering if we should be going home.

Did I mention that I really enjoyed Jamie's margaritas?

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa Frederes

Today was a busy day. Jamie and I went to the plaza so he could go to his doc and get the flu shot, and then we had lunch at PF Chang's - love that place! When we got home, we had a rather long visit with Shirley and Fred. I left in the afternoon to go get groceries, Aunt Jamie will be babysitting this weekend, and I need to be sure she has all of her favorites here. It is nice to get to go to the grocery by yourself from time to time, but its amazing how much I miss Bran when she's not with me! I couldn't wait to get back home.

This afternoon I got some bad news, my mom is in the hospital! She had not gotten over that cough she had when she was here, but none of us thought it was this serious. Apparently she had a coughing fit at work where she could not stop coughing, or breathe for that matter, and passed out. They sent her via ambulance to the ER, where they decided to admit her. I did get to speak with her briefly this evening, and she sounded terrible! I am trying to stay calm and am fighting the urge to run home right now. I need to wait until we know more.

Bumbo lessons

Well today I learned a big lesson about the bumbo. If it seems like baby goes poo in it, remove baby immediately. I thought maybe Bran did, but I had my hands full, so I waited a few minutes. Then I brought her into her crib so that she could rest for a minute, thinking maybe that was why she was so fussy. She seemed to calm down, so I turned on her mobile and left her there for a bit. When I came back, I thought something smelled funny, so time for a diaper change. I could not believe the mess when I took her pants off! It was all the way down to her foot! Poor thing, I had to give her a bath to get it all off. Not exactly feeling like mother of the year at that point.

I had no idea what was waiting for me under those pants....

Other than that, the day was fairly uneventful. We ran some errands and did tummy time, then had dinner ready when Jamie came home. I am a very fortunate person.

Bumbo Baby!

Two weeks ago I tried to put Branigan in her bumbo, and it was just way too big. But she has been trying so hard to sit up lately that I thought, lets just get it out and try it again - this time it worked! I can't believe she's grown that much in just two weeks! She just loved sitting up in her chair. She wore out after about ten minutes, but it was so much fun to watch her during that time. She was banging keys on the play tray and looking at things through a new angle. So fun.

Bran is also hysterical to watch when she is playing with her baby einstein lights and discovery center. She almost attacks it! She has figured out how to change the music, and really can play with all the different parts of it now - with her feet! It is too funny.

The best part of my day now is going in when Bran is waking up in the morning. She is in such a good mood and just gives you the best smiles. I love her so much!

Some more pictures today, playing dress up:

A very lazy weekend

This has to be one of the laziest weekends on record! We watched an entire season of Dexter, which is about 12 hours worth of television. We really love that show. Saturday night Jamie did head over to the neighbors for a beer tasting, and Sunday morning we met Jamie and Mark for breakfast. But that is as far as our motivation went!

Branigan was a dream the entire weekend. On Saturday she played in her pack n play a great deal of the day, and really seemed to have fun kicking at the toys hanging over her. She is getting so much more coordinated! She is still really batting at things, but makes the connections much more often. Jamie jokes that she thinks her feet are hands the way she uses them. They are really one of her favorite things to look at - she has moved from staring at her hands to her feet, guess she found them! We are having so much fun watching her grow.

Not much again

Just a quick note. It's very weird to know that Mark is coming to town this weekend to visit Jamie. Hope things go well. Guess I was right about that hunch a few weeks ago...

Here are a few pictures of Bran from the day.