Mommie & Me- Summer Session Finale

Last night was our last class of the summer session. It was a special class because it was our first Mommie & Me Family Night. That meant that the Daddys, Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles, etc. were invited to catch a glimpse of what we do every week. And there was free food. Kris and GrandPattie attended with us and a good time was had by all.

Playtime at the beginning of class while everyone arrives & gets settled in...



Wave to Daddy...


Doing the Hippo Song...


Hickory Dickory Dock, once with Mommy and once with Daddy!



Texture Time (due to the mobility of the babies the "texture" is often shared)


Pretty Baby in the Mirror (and excellent Daddy photography skills)


No More Brantley Monkeys Jumping on the Bed


Brantley sums up the fun had by everyone with this picture...

First Fever

Brantley had her first fever yesterday. When she woke up from her morning nap she felt warmer than normal so we took her temperature & it read 102. Momentary Mommy Freak Out...I gave her baby Tylenol and we just did the "wait & see" game. We went to GrandPattie & GrandDaddy's for lunch and she seemed to be fine other than being a little less mobile than normal. More lap sitting than standing-on-your-lap-to-pull-your hair. Longer nap than usual. Poor thing.
We went to New Orleans on Saturday afternoon and she had seemed fine but yesterday we just kept everything more low key than usual. GrandDaddy did his part by switching back and forth between 2 golf games on television; doesn't get more low key than that right? Today she seems normal and back to her playful ways...

Fourth of July Fun...

This afternoon Brantley & I attended the Stars & Stripes event in one of our favorite places, Downtown Hattiesburg. We were in the Kids' Parade, however it was not on purpose. We went to Brownstone's where I thought the parade was supposed to begin at 5pm but apparently it was where the actual parade participants were supposed to meet before proceeding to Town Square Park. A lovely young man handed us flag & we joined in the march!




Tricked out Patriotic Tricycle...


WONDERFUL Councilman Dave Ware welcoming everyone to the event...


Brantley and GrandPattie...


Me, Brantley, & a Clown...


Brantley being cute...


Brantley making friends...


Brantley taking a break...


We had a GREAT time! She was really 'jamming' to the music (T Bone Pruitt played his awesome blues tunes) and charming everyone she met. Her GrandDaddy and Uncle Briggs were there also, and she was really loving her Uncle Briggs tonight! You can't tell from my pictures but there was actually a pretty large crowd in attendance for the event. Brantley was in good spirits all evening, stayed up until we got home at 7:30pm (way past her bedtime), and then went quietly to sleep. It was a great day!

WOW!

Okay, so I took a break from blogging for the entire month of June. That should tell you a little about how much exciting stuff we had going on! As some of you know, my blogging/free time is relatively limited to when Brantley is asleep. Most of her nap times lately have been dedicated to the care & cleaning of the house. Nights have been for making dinner, having a glass of wine, & spending time with Kris. Also, during the month of June, Kris & I attended several events (at night!) & had our date nights and I had a few girls' nights as well. It was a good month to say the least...Here are some pictures to recap...

A wonderful visit from Grandma Sally and Bill-



A fun new toy...



A new book...



Play dates...




Annnnnd just cuteness in general...

Brantley's Baptism

Brantley's baptism was on Sunday, May 23, 2010 during the 10:30am service at Trinity Episcopal Church. It was one of the happiest days of my life. I have been putting off writing about it because I just can't seem to find the words to express how perfectly dreamlike the day made me feel. To start with it was Pentecost Sunday, so that in and of itself is a miraculous day in the church year, and Bishop Duncan Gray was the Celebrant of the service. He was visiting from Jackson and presided over the Baptisms, Confirmations, and one Reception during the service. So now you can imagine the families & friends in attendance for Candidates in addition to the people there to see the Bishop, and then the regular 10:30 service goers. It was a packed house. Now know that we have been in a bit of heat wave for the month of May...so to make this the most memorable of days...the air conditioning wasn't working. I don't mean it was in overdrive & not cooling well because there were just so many people, it was NOT working! The only cool you were getting was from the fanning of your bulletin. And our pew was losing bulletins fast as the destruction of them turned out to be a "quiet pastime" for Brantley during the service. She really did keep herself well occupied until it was time for the ceremony. Her Daddy and I, and her Godparents Jennifer & Briggs, presented her as a Candidate for the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and she was blessed by the water and marked with oil as one of God's own forever. Like I said, one of the happiest days of my life...She greeted the Bishop with her signature bottom lip pout when he reached to hold her to bless her with the water & oil. That caused quite a bit of laughter and was a moment I have burned into my memory. Forever I hope. Now being a baptized person and welcome at God's table, she went with us when it was time to receive the Eucharist. Kris knelt while holding her and when the wine was presented to him, he dipped his wafer in & then dabbed it on Brantley's little lips. I kid you not, my heart melted down to my toes...I can cry right now just remembering it. I would pay a zillion dollars to have a photo of that moment.
It was a beautiful service, a beautiful day, and we have a beautiful & blessed life that I try to be thankful for everyday...

Happy Family


Godmother Jennifer saving the day with a quick bottle after the service...


Godparents, Briggs Brantley & Jennifer Doleac, Me, Brantley, and Kris


Loving my sweet girl


Richard, Briggs, Nana (Rae), Brantley, Me, Kris, & Pattie


Afterwards we went to 206 Front to celebrate with our family & friends who attended to witness this happy, happy day!

Mommie & Me Class- End of Session Party

We attended the last class of our Mommie & Me session on Wednesday. The next session doesn't start until the end of June so we will now have some extra time on our hands Wednesday mornings...I have plans but we'll wait and see if the weather cooperates before I get everyone excited. A friend of mine asked me if we would be doing the MM summer session and I told her we would be doing every MM session until they kick us out. It is the one constant piece of her routine that happens every week, without fail, rain or shine. And she LOVES being around the other children.
On Wednesday, in addition to the regular activities that we do, we celebrated 2 birthdays and had "Mommy Food" and fellowship time at the end of class. The best Brantley related part of the day was at the beginning of class though. The instructor spreads out toys in the middle of the room for the children to play with while everyone is arriving and getting settled and Brantley has always watched the more "mobile" babies crawl over and play. But this time SHE did her little army crawl over and started playing with everyone else. I was so proud of her! And she really enjoyed the opportunity to get her mouth on some new things!



Another milestone event was that she kept her shoes on almost the entire class!



The older children in the photo are big brothers & sisters who were already out of their preschools for the summer. They are also graduates of the Mommie & Me program.
And the final shot was for her Daddy who loves how well she photographs "close-up".