We're Moving!!

Our new site is going to be www.abc-west.blogspot.com, so if you'd like to keep reading, CLICK HERE. (It will be under construction for a while!!)

Merry Christmas!!

Taken two weekends ago... I just haven't had much time to post!! Brynn wasn't a fan of the "Big Guy" in person, I think this picture explains it all. ;o)



Brynn loves Santa in all other forms (stuffed, pictures, ornaments, etc.), he just really freaked her out in person. If you ask her what Santa says, she'll tell you "Ho, ho, ho"!!

Have a Merry Christmas!!

Bob - we went BPS, like you did last year!! ;o)

All I Want For Chrismas...

Is a digital SLR camera.

Check out these pictures of Brynn that were taken over the weekend at a birthday party.









*** EDIT ***
I would like Photoshop too. ;o)

Instead Of Sending Out Cards...

Our friend Brian rocks. He took some pictures of us that we were originally going to send out as Christmas cards.

Well, the budget is tight this year and you're probably just going to throw out the card after the holidays anyway, so we thought we'd just post this instead. (If you REALLY want the picture, you can right click on the picture and save it... or print it out and THEN throw it out after the holidays!!)

Thanks Brian!!

Sleep

Brynn and I woke up at 9:40 this morning. How awesome is that?!

DANG IT!! (Take Two)

Ugh. I had an annoying last five minutes at work tonight. There was a sign by the timeclock that in my mind, I read as "Due to the economy being a big piece of shit right now, you are not getting a bonus this year".

WELL, that money was going to be our "Going to Ohio", a.k.a. vacation money. So, it looks like I may not need to decide between the reunion or the fair. It may be neither.

I know you're not supposed to plan on bonuses but damn it, I'm a good employee and I work my ass off.

I know there was a lot of swearing in there but I'm frustrated. We can't seem to get ahead. We were doing great and now I'm not working for 2 1/2 weeks.

Chad told me I need to look at the positives and realize that I'm lucky. I FINALLY like what I do... and I have a job. So yeah, I'm trying to be more positive, it's just hard sometimes.

P.S. I bought a lottery ticket tonight. That would be a MAJOR positive. ;o)

DANG IT!

My highschool reunion is going to be on August 1-2, 2009. That isn't Labor Day weekend.

So, what should we do?

A. Go back for the reunion and go to Cedar Point?
B. Go back around Labor Day weekend, use one less day of vacation, go to Cedar Point and go to the fair.

Those are the choices for next year. A or B?

SO PROUD!!

Tonight...



We had to throw Abby Cadabby to try to get her to walk and once she did it a few times, she was a pro! We even caught her turning around for the first time in this video. Now we're in trouble...

(And yes, our living room is THAT messy at night!!)

Candy Cane

Enjoying her first candy cane...

Ice Cream Treat

Brynn tried her first chocolate and vanilla swirl cone today...

********* CORRECTION!!! (Thanks Michele!!) She had her first chocolate and vanilla TWIST CONE!! **********

A Few...

STEPS!

BRYNN TOOK A FEW STEPS TODAY!!

Brenda called me while I was at work today and I was all worried, because she never calls. Brynn took two steps at daycare AND a few tonight at home too!!

Everyone keeps telling us that we should be thankful that she's not walking yet and that it's actually really good for her other developmental skills. Who knows.

Babies, Babies Everywhere!!

* Our friends, the Blakesley's, had a baby girl on Monday. (They have a son who is 2 months younger than Brynn - yikes!!)

* For those of you who know the Deegans, they found out they're having a BOY! (Due in May)

* We probably won't find out what Ana and Keith are having until next month but I'm 99.9% convinced it's a girl!!

Jobs Schmobs

It's so weird that I've only been in my new position for a month and a half. Sometimes it feels like I've been there forever. I think everything is going pretty well, one of the guys that I work with told Amber I'm doing a good job yesterday. Today, another guy told one of my bosses that I'm doing a really good job. So, that was pretty cool.

The bad thing is, that same guy who told my boss that I was doing a really good job gave me some quantities of something that I needed to order today but he accidentally gave me a number that ended up being about $5,000 more than what it should have been. I ordered the items and then realized afterwards that it was wrong. Luckily, I caught it in time and got it fixed. So, technically, um, maybe, I saved the company $5,000 today? Ok, not really, I shouldn't have trusted what the guy said anyway... but it was a nice thought.

We're supposed to be closed from 12/18 through 1/4 for the holidays. Well, normally, that would be awesome but I don't get paid for the time off. I think it's pretty shitty that they're doing that, really. The good thing is that I think we're actually going to be busier than what they thought, so I might be able to come in a few days. I HOPE.

Chad's going to be off work the week of Christmas and all of the following week, except for one day, ON VACATION. His company is awesome. He gets 3 weeks of vacation and 5 sick days. PLUS, 5 personal days (unpaid days off) if he wants them. I'm jealous.

Thanksgiving - A Little Late

I'm behind on everything this month.

We went to California this year for Thanksgiving. This trip, we stayed with Chad's sister Ana and her boyfriend Keith. We had a lot of fun and it actually ended up being a pretty relaxing trip, I think because we had a few more days than what we normally would have. We gave Ana and Keith lots of tips (I'm sure it was a lot more than what they wanted to hear), Ana is pregnant and is due on June 2nd!! We're excited for them, they'll be great parents. Brynn really had a fun time with "Uncle Keith". We're hoping they're going to have a girl, we have plenty of stuff to let them borrow!!

Chad's youngest sister Jami also came home from a two-month trip on her ship the day before we got there. We were really bummed that we weren't able to be there to see them pull in to San Diego (Chad was off work that week, but I wasn't). We did see lots of pictures though, it looked really cool. I got a text message from Jami shortly after she saw everyone and it said "You knew Ana was pregnant and you didn't tell me?!". ;o) I didn't want to ruin Ana's surprise!!

On Thanksgiving Day, we went to Chad's parents' house for a nice meal!! Thanks for everything Jody, Ana and Keith!!

The day after Thanksgiving, Chad, Brynn, Ana and I headed to Big Lots and Toys-R-Us to see if we could find some deals. We didn't get what we wanted at Big Lots (that's what happens when you don't get up super early in the morning, everything is gone!) and we didn't really have anything that we wanted to get from Toys-R-Us but we ended up coming home with a big box... you'll see what it was in a few weeks!!

Here are a few of the pictures from our trip (I have several other posts to do from when we were there!!):















From left to right: Jami, Keith, Ana, Jody, Mike, Me, Chad and Brynn, of course!!

Brunch With GGMa and GGPa

GGMa and GGPa have been traveling since May and they just returned home a few weeks ago. We caught up with them just after they got back. Here are a few pictures!! (Brynn gave GGPa LOTS of kisses!!!)

16 Months!!

I'm REALLY late on posting this one.

Brynn, you are talking like crazy. We really have to watch what we say around you now because you try to repeat everything!! Some of the things you say are hi (HA!), bye (BAH!), no, more, more drink (sometimes you combine more and drink to say "mork"), milk, dog, doggie, kitty cat, dada, mama, baby, thank you, bird, birdie, car, bug, da da's bug, donut, socks, shoes, pants (pats), gramma, nana (Chad's sister Ana), Bri (sounds like BEEEEEE) and more that I can't think of right now.

You know what Santa says (Ho, ho, ho) - I need to get that one on video!!

You have stood up by yourself several times but still don't want to walk without holding on to something. You love your walking toys though. When you're ready, you'll do it!!

Here are a few pictures that we took throughout the month:

Our Blog Is Moving!!

On January 1, 2009, we are hoping to move our blog to www.abc-west.blogspot.com. I wanted to use abcwest but that was already taken. If you want to keep reading, make a note of the new site!!

Arizona State Fair

Back in OCTOBER, we took Brynn to the Arizona State Fair. My hometown of Wooster, Ohio holds the largest junior county fair in the state. It's a huge deal back there and the kids even get a day off of school and free admission!! I really wanted to take Brynn so that she could see all of the animals. Well, the fair wasn't what I expected, I was pretty disappointed actually. Oh well.

ON A SIDE NOTE... In 2009, I will have my 10 year class reunion. We're trying to figure out when to hold it and I'm hoping that people will vote for Labor Day weekend. That way, one weekend we can do the whole reunion thing, then we can go to the Wayne County Fair, and then we can go to Cedar Point the next weekend. SO IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND YOU ARE IN MY CLASS, PLEASE VOTE FOR LABOR DAY WEEKEND TO HOLD THE REUNION - IT WILL MAKE ME SUPER HAPPY!!

Ok, back to the Arizona State Fair. It was pretty hot outside and REALLY overcrowded. There wasn't a whole lot to see and the food wasn't that great. Basically, the only choices we had were burgers and jumbo sized corn dogs. Oh and fries. BUT not the normal fair fries, they were seasoned. Hmph. They didn't even have vinegar. I think you get my point... I'm glad we didn't have to pay to get in!!

Here are some pictures though, Brynn liked the animals (one of the goats tried to eat her shirt off of her belly!) and the fries.

She's Going To Hate Me For This...

We really did take those first two pictures in that order!!

Here is one with Brynn making her "serious" face.

Big Girl!

No Time!!

Holy cow, I have no time to blog!!

Quick highlights of this week (and posts to come when I have time):

* Thanksgiving in California
* Brynn's amazing vocabulary (boy, can she talk... and talk... and talk...)
* Christmas tree is up and lights are on it, hopefully ornaments are tomorrow
* Found out I am off work from 12/18 to 1/5 - Holy cow!
* Chad is off work for almost as long as I am for the holidays!
* Trying to help organize some things for my 10 year high school reunion (IN OHIO!) and we're having a heck of a time getting valid e-mail addresses
* Brynn FINALLY stood up by herself for about 10 seconds tonight without realizing it (Um, yeah, she's 16 months old now and I haven't had time to do a 16 month post for her yet.)

That's all I can think of right now, I'm exhausted.