The Month that Was - February

February was a good month. We celebrated a couple of birthdays (And if it wasn't clear at the time, for my birthday, Steve had every post I wrote in 2010 printed out into a pretty hefty little hardback book for our library, like a family yearbook or something...and it's amazing! And also, I expect one every year, now...), hosted a party, and made some new friends.

Brigid developed a love of reading and a crazy obsession with my closet that leads to both of us trying on all sorts of clothes that she's picked out of the piles. She's starting to talk a little bit, but even without words, you can actually have an entire conversation with her now. She legitimately understands almost everything I say to her, and she reacts accordingly, and I'm not going to lie, it freaks me out a little bit. When did she become old enough to process what I'm telling her?!?!?

As if that wasn't enough, she started eating with a fork this month. And the two handed, intensely concentrated stabbing of every bite of food she takes? Beyond adorable.

Sure, she had her toddler moments, but she also had her sweet little Brigid moments. And I don't think I'd give up either one.

So, thanks for the good times, February, and here's to a March that's just as fantastic!

The Month That Was - January

So. January. 2011. 

You came. You went. 

You would have been a lot more fun if you were June, or something.

I kid, I kid! I love all of you months, equally, I promise.

January brought the good old winter weather with it, this time around. Which I would have absolutely expected. If I still lived in Indiana. Or Ohio. Or anywhere other than Georgia. But we survived the snomageddon! Or the snopocalypse! Or whatever you'd call it when six inches of snow and a little bit of ice paralyzes an entire city for over a week! 

And Brigid even got to go sledding . So all was not lost.

Speaking of Brigid, she's off the bottle, on to books , still above average, and a newly minted zoo member.

Me? I lost my mind over the snow , over Brigid growing up too fast, over Brigid not growing up fast enough, over just about anything that I felt like losing my mind over. 

February resolution? RELAX! For the love of all that is good, I need to relax.

Steve is still Steve, and really, would I even want it any other way?

Here's to a great January, and an even better February.

The Month That Was - December

December. So that was a month, huh? Let me tell you what I learned this month...

I learned that I am beyond old.

I learned that my kid is a little bit of a brat, but that there is officially a way to bribe her to do things she doesn't necessarily want to do.

I learned that Brigid loves Gingerbread. And Bumble. And Christmas cookies. And snow. So basically, I learned that, with the exception of the snow thing, Brigid is most definitely my kid.

I learned that I am very much over the nanny search. And that the nanny search may be very much over! (Ok, technically I learned that one today when we found out that Steve will be on my four day office schedule now, but that he will have Mondays off instead of Fridays, negating the need for the once a week nanny. But still...yay!)

I learned that when in doubt, take the darn stroller with you when you plan to shop for longer than fifteen minutes at a time. And even then, it's sometimes better to err on the side of caution.

I learned that white Christmases will follow me wherever I go, whether I want them or not. Snow. Twice. In December. In Georgia. I am moving to Miami.

I learned that Christmas is still my favorite holiday, and that it's only going to get better with Brigid around to celebrate it with us. Because kids? At Christmas? Awesome.

And Brigid? Well, Brigid learned to raise her voice to the dogs and push them off of the ottoman when she wants to put her toys there.

It's nice to know I'm teaching her the important things in life.

The Month That Was - November

Brigid can point out her nose, her eyes, and her belly button.  She can also show you mommy and daddy's nose, eyes, and belly buttons, if you ask her.  She poses for the camera.  She asks for nom-noms when she gets hungry or thirsty.  She can open doors without any help from anyone, which stresses me out to no end.  It's a lot harder to corral her these days, what with all of the walking and the houdini-ing out of belts and straps and entire rooms now.

Brigid made her fourth (Maybe?  I can't quite keep track these days...) trip to Indiana.  She celebrated her second Thanksgiving, in much better fashion than her first.  We decorated for Christmas and visited Santa Claus, and generally set the poor kid up for a lifetime of over-excitement regarding my favorite holiday.  She loves the Christmas tree and the Nativity set and all of the singing stuffed animals.  Her dancing?  Maybe the funniest thing I've ever seen.

We've officially  moved from baby to toddler, which is a little more than I was ready for, but once again, I haven't been ready for any milestone we've hit, so this shouldn't come as a surprise.  

Steve and I snuck in a date night at the end of the month, leaving Brigid with his mother so we could go see a movie together.  This whole date night thing?  It might be something we need to start doing more of.  For people who are always in the same area at the same time (and I do mean always, since he works right down the hall from me), we really don't see that much of each other.  It's kind of weird...

But November, it was a pretty good month.  This next month?  There are parties and presents and a children's mass on the agenda.  A possible visit from my parents to look forward to.  A couple of days spent at the lake with all of Steve's family. Another new year to start.

I can hardly wait!

FYI - I finally set up a Twitter account for the blog, if you're interested...@taralynn404.  Stop by and say hi!

The Month That Was - October

I think, now that Brigid has passed the one-year mark, I'm going to transition from writing monthly letters to her on her birthday to writing monthly wrap-ups of the family as a whole.  Because you are all waiting on pins and needles to see what we've been up to over the past 30-ish days, aren't you?

Well, in October, we hung out in a cemetery.  We decorated for Halloween.  We found out (for the 2nd year in a row that nobody in our neighborhood likes us enough to give us free candy.  Brigid turned one!!  We went to the pumpkin patch, we went to the fair, we ate sandwiches (I think Brigid still has peanut butter in her hair from that one...which maybe says more than it should about my baby grooming abilities?).  Brigid kept growing, with the teeth and the walking and the whole milk and whatnot.

I spent waaay too much time playing Martha Stewart this month.  Steve spent waaay too much time building a black lit ghost and staining a skeleton for our front porch.  Brigid spent waaay too much time loving on the frog chair she got for her birthday.

October was awesome.  But November is the start of the Christmas season, according to my calendar.

November is going to be so much better!