Happy Birthday Brent!

Happy Birthday Brent!! My sweetie turned 32 years old today. Wow, I can hardly believe I'm married to such an old guy! Brent was 22 when we started dating, and I still think we feel about that old inside. I think that's the sad thing about getting older. You never feel any different on the inside, but suddenly you look in the mirror one day and wonder, "Who's that old person!" Anyway, Brent has gotten to celebrate his birthday this year the way I prefer to celebrate mine--in the extended version! We went on Friday night to Elizabethtown to meet up with Brent's parents for dinner and presents. He chose a rib joint that we used to love, but it must be under new management and not so good anymore. We enjoyed seeing Chuck and Sherran, and Maura loved playing with her Nan and Poppa.


Nan and Poppa brought her a puzzle, which she loves. She's really gotten in to puzzles lately, and we're amazed by how well she's matching things. She had a great visit with her grandparents, and even got to stay out till 10:30 at night--that's even late for us!



Today, Wednesday the 19th, is Brent's actual birthday. He worked for the Army today, which was nice because that meant he got to come home for lunch and get home from work at a reasonable time. He was home at 4:30, which is a real treat for us, because we're not used to seeing him before 7:00. Maura loves playing with him. Here she's playing Dunk the Dolly. I don't know where she came up with this game, but that dolly gets dunked several hundred times a day. Only that dolly too. She must look particularly athletic!



I made Brent some guacamole when he got home and here's my guacamole girl! Notice the green mustache. She's not too picky--yet.



Maura helped Daddy open his presents. Of course he couldn't possibly do this on his own, so she offered LOTS of assistance. Once the present was opened, however, she was no longer interested and left.

Brent with his LMM. That stands for Little Metal Man. Brent has collected toy soldiers ever since he was a really little boy. As he's gotten older, they've become more sophisticated and therefore way more expensive. He usually gets one for his birthday and one for his Christmas present every year. He now has a great collection of Civil War era soldiers and we have a full scale war set up in our display case!

Bedtime for Maura. Brent puts Maura to bed every weeknight because he wants the extra time to spend with him. Bedtime is so much fun, because she's so into her books right now. She picks out the one she wants and won't listen to one she didn't pick out. Brent really enjoys the snuggle time because she doesn't really snuggle any other time. "Nite-Nite Maura."

Happy "Half" Birthday, Little One!

Tuesday, Sept 11 was a big day for Maura. She turned 18 months old! I can hardly believe my baby girl is already 18 months. She's turned into such a big girl overnight. She's extreemely independent and self sufficient. I can already imagine her saying, "I can do it myself," as soon as she is able. She's saying about 70 words.(Brent and I sat down and counted!) What's so funny is that she's learning a lot of adjectives rather than nouns. For example, she uses hot, cold, and warm a lot, rather than saying what's actually in the glass. She says, "heavy and hungry" too! What a descriptive girl--maybe she'll be a writer someday.

We decided to really celebrate this half birthday. I got her up in the morning singing,"Happy Half Birthday." I'm sure she had no idea what if the world her crazy mother was talking about, but she loved it just the same. She's getting really big these days--I think about 34 inches tall and about 25 1/2 pounds. A little different than she was 18 months ago!

I made her a half birthday cake all in pink, and she loved seeing it in the morning. She yelled, "Cake, Cake!" and I had a difficult time explaining that we would be eating it later. Look, pink, her signature color.

We had play group in the morning, and took some cupcakes with us to share with the crew. They all loved the pink icing. Notice Maura's new facial hair. She eventually managed to eat the whole thing.

This is Maura playing with her friend Lily. Maura is snatching the toy away from Lily, who shares much more graciously than my child. Look, she's actually smiling as Maura takes away her toy! These girls have been playing together since they've been about 8 months old.

Emily decided to entertain us all with a "live" puppet show. As the oldest girl in the playgroup, she shows the other girls the ropes. She'll be three soon.

Lily and Sarah. Lily is 19 months and Sarah is 21 months. Sarah and Maura have been "playmates" since Maura was about 4 months old! Really, we can't figure out if playgroup is more for the children or for the adults.

The four amigos in a rare moment of peace. Any minute now, one is going to step onto another's turf and tears will flow!

In the afternoon, Mom went with me to get Maura's 18 month pictures taken. Despite the unwilling subject, they managed to get tons of great shots and I had such a hard time deciding. I loved so many and could have spent a fortune, but I just kept reminding myself that I probably would want to get her pictures taken again when she turned two in just six months!

After the photos, we went to Boyd Orchard, one of our favorite places to eat, but alas, they were not serving dinner. We did indulge in an apple dumpling, however. Maura loved the pumpkins and I think she managed to touch most of them during the time we were there.

When we got home, we finally got to eat that "CAKE!!!" with daddy. What a big day for a little girl!

A Good Routine

Brent has been back to school now for about a month and Maura and I have gotten ourselves into a routine that we really love. During the summer, we just kind of hung out with Daddy all day and sometimes we never really accomplished anything. Once the school year started, though, we really needed to get into the groove. Here's what our days look like:

Maura usually wakes up around 7:30 in the morning and comes to bed with Mommy, where we drink milk and sing lots of songs. All of this lasts about 15 minutes until she yells, "Get Down!" That's the end of that! I take her into her room to change her and ask what she wants to wear today. She immediately runs to her closet and chooses her big pink puffy winter coat. After she prances around in that for a few minutes I can generally talk her into something more appropriate!

After we finally get downstairs, I make Maura an omlet for breakfast. She LOVES to stir the eggs for me, and generally wants me to pick her up so she can see the eggs cooking. She loves her omlet and generally gobbles it up before I'm able to sit down to my own breakfast! After breakfast, we usually go for a long walk around the neighborhood because it's still cool.(Usually!) Maura loves to look for bunnies and dogs and we usually see them too. I generally look SOOO beautiful while we do this that I'm really a little embarrassed to be seen in public. But, alas, it is sometimes my only exercise for the day.

When we get back to the house, Maura loves to ride her bike on the driveway where it's about a million degrees. She yells, "BIKE," until I give in and just sit in a puddle of sweat and watch her! Generally I try to encourage back yard play, where the yard is still in shadow. She loves the sandbox, but usually dumps most of her sand over the side. She's enjoying her slide a lot and says, "Weeee!" as she goes down.

She has a playhouse too, which she likes, but usually only if I'm inside it as well. I wish I had a picture of how big it actually is. I'd be embarassed if anyone actually saw me inside of it with my legs up to my chin!

We usually make it inside in time for lunch at about 11:30 and then nap at 12:00. Then it's MOMMY TIME!! I love it! I usually can get some computer time, a workout, shower and lunch into that 1 1/2 hour time period. Don't ask me about how my house looks, though, because I had to trade houswork for work out! My body looks better, but my house sure dosen't!

In the afternoon, we usually either head to my Mom and Dad's house to swim or fill up the little pool in the backyard. We really make an event of it and put the slide into the pool and I pull up a chair and a umbrella and cool my heels in the pool as well. Here, Maura is eating a "Pop." The pool is about the only place I'll let her have one because she makes such a mess!

Sometimes our neighbor Emily comes to swim too. She usually brings her mommy, Shauna, and her baby sister Sydney with her. Maura and Emily usually spend more time fighting over toys than actually playing, but I figure it's a good metaphor for life for her. In other words, "Sometimes people are going to steal your things, but you still have to be nice to them and not hit them over the head!"

Brent has been getting home at about 6:45 lately from football practice and we have dinner and she's in bed by 8:00. Then it's MOMMY AND DADDY TIME. A note to all you expectant parents and married without kids--Try to make your kids go to bed early--It's so awesome not to have a youngin up in the evening!!

Anyway, I hope I haven't bored all my blog readers. If you regualarly read this blog, please make a comment below. I'd really like to know if anyone is actually reading this!!

The Wedding

We travelled this weekend to Tennessee for a much awaited event. My brother-in-law Matt married his fiance Brenda. For those of you reeling from the shock, not having realized that he was even engaged, they got engaged back in May and set the wedding date for September 1. The wedding was held at a historic home just down the street from my in-laws house, and the wedding was actually in my in-law's back yard. It was really a beautiful event. My mother and father-in-law worked and worked to make everything beautiful and perfect. The historic home, Cragfont, is the perfect place for a garden wedding and the weather couldn't have been better. I've encluded lots of pictures in this particular post, because as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

The happy couple celebrating their marriage. The ceremony only lasted about 15 minutes, but it was about perfect for someone who was holding a wiggling child on their lap, trying to keep said child VERY quiet. It took candy to make it happen. Lots, and lots of candy.

Maura was the flower girl for the wedding. We weren't really sure how it would work. She's really young to be a flower girl and you can't just tell her to walk down the aisle and throw out petals. As you can see, it's a VERY long aisle. At first, she got distracted by the flowers and butterflies on either side of the aisle. Once she got past that obstacle, she actually threw out some petals, which was great, until she realized that she needed to pick them all back up! Brent had to go help her, or else we'd still be there! Then, she started walking and noticed the photographer. She stopped to pose a few times and to look into the camera. You can tell that she NEVER gets her picture taken! After that, she started trotting up the aisle and decided to take a detour through the grass beside aisle. She finally made it to the front and I grabbed her. She realized when we sat down that someone had scattered additional petals on the aisle. She shouted Uh-oh several times before I shoved a pacifier into her mouth and was able to fish some Smarties from out of my bag!

Here's the cutest Flower girl ever coming down the aisle.

Could she be a Strasburg model, or what? This picture is in the gazebo just before the start of the ceremony. She loved it in there, and I was afraid she might make a break for it during the ceremony.

The reception followed the ceremony. It was around the pool and looked beautiful with lots of bright colors. On of Matt's friends did a fly over in his plane and threw rose petals out of the window of the plane. They actually landed over the reception site. It was really cool. I got it all on video, but unfortunately don't have a picture of it.

They even lit off fireworks just after the end of dinner. Matt's pilot friends took care of lighting off some huge fireworks and had a ball doing it. We were all concerned that the ground would catch fire, since it's been so dry. Not to worry, that was fine. What wasn't so good was the fact that they loaded all the spent fireworks back into the mobilzed cart that they used to bring them out in. Unfortunately, one of the fireworks reignited, causing some of the others to catch on fire. The guys were able to stop it just before it reached a cannister of disel fuel. We could have burned the whole house down. This is my mother-in-law just as she's hearing of the fire.

This is the whole Allen crew, minus the members who are out fighting the fire, unbenounced to us!

Maura with her Uncle Matt on Sunday after the wedding. We went to a local golf course for a really nice brunch. Maura thinks her uncle is SO funny. He flies her in the air and makes her laugh.

Maura and her Poppa. She LOVES playing with Poppa. This was taken at the Rehearsal dinner. Notice the cowboy boots. Are they not adorable??

Maura and Nan. She loves playing dolls with her Nan. They had a great time together this weekend.

Well, alls well that ends well. We're glad that the wedding went well and equally glad that the event is over! Weddings are a lot of work! Matt says he knows that he's married for life because he's never going through another wedding!! We're happy for them and wish them a wonderful life together. Congratulations Matt and Brenda!!

My Daughter, the Cheerleader?

We had a big day on Friday! We went to Boyd Orchard with my mom for lunch. We had to go early, so as not to interfere with naptime. We chose one of the hottest days of the year to go and play on their big hay playground. It was close to 100 degrees with high humidity that day and I was MELTING! I don't know if you can tell that from the pictures. Maura loved the swings and the climbing section, but when I took her to the top of the 40 foot slide, she began to have a few reservations. She clung to me tightly and looked with trepidation down the monstrosity of the slide. We waited at the top for a second, then WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

We began sliding! Notice, the look of joy on my face and terror on hers!

At the bottom, though, she giggled and turned around to go back up. What a daredevil!

Later that day, we went to Brent's football team's first scrimmage. It was a crazy event involving four different middle school football teams all playing on one football field. You can imagine the chaos that ensued. There were also three different cheerleading squads cheering in front of the crowd. Well, let me just say that I think my daughter might very well have a future as a cheerleader. Now, those of you who know me well know that it wouldn't be my first choice of hobbies for her, but I like to try to keep an open mind about these things. Here's how it went down.

The cheerleaders start practicing beside us. Maura is instantly drawn to all the clapping and yelling. She stood, transfixed, and watched for several minutes while they continued with their cheers. Then...

She turned around and started a cheer of her own. She was clapping, she was dancing, she was doing everything but turning cartwheels!

This was by far her best cheerleader pose. She puts her hands in the air and yells "GO!" Even now, if you ask her what a cheerleader says, she says "GO!"

Here's Brent in action. If you can't tell, he's the one in the white shirt on the far left yelling at his team. They actually played really well, tying the league champions in the quarter that they played them. He's got high hopes for this years team. I, on the other hand, am not so sure of my own chances of being able to control my child while at the football games. Last year it was so easy to just put her in a front pack. This year, I'm going to have to keep at a full run to keep her from joining the cheerleading squad! It should prove to be an interesting autumn.

Fair Days

On Monday, we went to the Kentucky State fair with my Mom, and sisters Katie and Emily. I don't know if I can adequately convey how much I love the fair. It appeals to me on so many levels. I love the crazy, dangerous rides, the animals, the exhibits, and ESPECIALLY the fair food. I think I've only missed one Fair in the nineteen years we've lived in Kentucky. It's a milestone for me now, signaling the end of simmer and beginning of fall. I was so excited to share the fair with my little one this year. I talked about it for weeks leading up to it about all we would see and do. I'd ask her, "Maura,do you want to go see the piggies at the fair?" "No," she'd say with a shake of her head. And again, "Maura, do you want to go see the horses at the fair?" "No," she'd say with another shake. Well, she obviously didn't know what she was talking about because she LOVED the fair. Her first favorite thing was the filthy stroller we had to rent because her horrible mother forgot to bring hers. It was shaped like a car and and a steering wheel and all she could think of for the first half hour was that stroller.

THEN we found the pigs! I am terribly proud of my child--she does the best pig impression that I think I've ever heard. It only got better during our visit to the pig exhibit. Maura got very excited about the pigs and was snorting all over the place. Then, some pigs got loose and went running right by her. You would have thought it was Christmas morning. Her face lit up like she was seeing Santa! She was so funny!

We managed to see pigs, sheep, dogs, ducks and baby chicks before leaving that part of the exhibit. She treated us all with impressions of the animals. The next part that she loved was the cake exhibit. There are beautifully decorated cakes in glass cases which are close to the ground. I don't know if she knew they were cakes, but she was VERY excited about them. She ran up and down the display case squealing over each cake, pointing and occasionally hitting her head on the glass trying to get a closer look! I don't know why they were so exiciting, but maybe she'll grow up to be the next Ace of Cakes. After that, we indulged in some fabulous fair food. In all actuality, this post's pictures don't really convey a sense of our fair experience simply because you don't see us eating in any of them. That's really what we're there for. My favorite indulgence this year was a deep fried Snickers Bar. What, you may ask is a deep fried Snickers? It's a sinful confection of a Snickers bar on a stick dipped in funnel cake batter and then fried. You don't see a picture of me with it because I ate it while holding my dead asleep child and spilled powdered sugar all over her! It was truly a successful day. We went home tired, happy, and slightly sick to our stomaches with all the fair food!

Summer Fun

Hi Everyone!

Ok, Ok, I've been a little slow on the whole blogging thing. For those of you who haven't noticed, I've had this blog since April and never updated the stupid thing. For some unknown reason, my computer does not handle Blogger very well. It stubbornly refuses to allow me to upload even one image to my blog. Personally, I just never saw the point of continuing to blog if I couldn't smear pictures of my precious, adorable little girl across the internet!! So, it is with renewed confidence and a sense of optimism that I try this again. I think I can, I think I can, I think I might actually make this work. You'll know if this post shows up without any photos that I was again thwarted in my efforts! Obviously, I haven't figured out how to edit the photos yet. Hang in here with me!

It's been quite a summer for us. We have travelled literally nearly every week this summer and we're so glad to be home. We started out in June with a trip to Florida with my parents. We went to Navarre beach and had a fabulous time. One week later, we headed for TN to visit with Brent's parents for a week over the 4th of July. We were able to visit with Brent's brother, Matt and his fiance, Brenda, who are getting married September 1. It was so great to get to see them. A week after we returned from TN, we headed up for four day weekend to visit my grandparents. My Dad's parents were so excited to see Maura, but couldn't help but exclaim about 100 times how busy she is! My mom's dad was in the hospital, but he still enjoyed a visit from Maura and we took some pictures with him. Unfortunately, he passed away three days later and we were heading up to PA yet again for his funeral. Although it was really sad, we had a great time seeing the whole family. We did get to be home two weeks before I headed off for a conference in Michigan. Sherran, my mother-in-law came to stay with Maura and they had a fabulous time while I was gone.

Needless to say, this summer has flown by. Brent is back to school and football has started again. Won't be long until we're all headed off the the pumpkin patch for our jack-o-lanterns. I will try to post more reguarly in the future and look forward to keeping all our friends updated to all our adventures.