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Friday, December 26, 2008

Christmas 2008




It's hard to believe that my little girl is "all grown up" and celebrated her 4th Christmas! At this time next year, we'll have another little rascal running around!! Christmas was great this year and I really looked forward to the big day more than I have in a very long time. We are now drowning in princess and Barbie goodies. Brookey is as happy as a clam. However, my "nesting" and need to get organized is so intense right now that the first thing we did this morning is go out and buy a storage unit for all of Brookey's new toys. Scott is putting it together as we speak. :-)

Here are some pics from Christmas 2008...Brookey actually wore a frilly, "girly" dress WILLINGLY for about 4 hours!! It was too cute!! Thanks, Grandma Taylor!









Happiest Place on Earth


We spent two wonderful days at Disneyland
December 21st & 22nd.
The first day we had terrific weather--sunshine at mid-60's. We hit some of the "kiddie" rides and some rides we thought were kiddie rides--turned out to be nightmarish for Brookey! Snow White's Scary Adventure really was SCARY and the Pinocchio ride freaked Scott and I out!! Small World and the Jungle Cruise were a hit, along with the tea cups and the train ride. I think Brookey got more out of the entertainment than anything else. Although it rained the morning of the 22nd (who said it never rains in Southern California??!), we waited diligently for 1/2 and hour for Brookey's chance to meet the princesses. And if you know my kid, she's not one to go up and greet strangers, but as soon as she saw Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, she went right up to them and gave them big hugs!! It was really a dream come true for her! She also went to princess storytime and princess craft time where she made a crown. The highlight of the whole trip was the Disney Christmas Fantasy Parade--we got seats right on Main Street and it was truly magical!! So good that we went both nights. We also went to a Disney "live" show at California Adventure which Brookey loved--slightly overstimulating for me but it was precious to see her face and watch her dance with her favorite characters. We'll definitely go back in about 3 years or so...maybe when she can enjoy more of the rides. And we'll probably hit Disney WORLD in Florida instead and make a bigger vacation out of it. But for the time being, Brookey got her princess fix and we all had a great time!!


Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Barbie and the Pain-in-the-Butt Diamond Castle: Scenes from Rooney Parenting

So I never thought that I would be "that parent" that waits outside the
toy store and runs people over to get the "latest and greatest" Tickle Me Elmo or whatever toy happens to be "hot" this year. Most of you who know me, know I don't know an iPhone from a Wii and I am definitely not the most trendy, savvy person on earth (No, I STILL don't own an iPod!) I am proud to report that I am STILL not "that parent." HOWEVER, last night I am beginning to feel I was making pretty good strides towards it.

It all started with Brookey's Barbie and the Diamond Castle craze. She loves the movie, the dolls, the music ("Protected" by Katherine McPhee is her favorite song: http://barbie.everythinggirl.com/diamond-castle/). So for the past few months, she's had her eye on the "Diamond Castle" dollhouse. Every time we go to Target, we look at it and I promised I'd tell Santa. Every time we have gone to Target in the past few months, it's been there--retailing for $59.99. So last night, I escape to go pick it up for her and low and behold Target is sold out--it's no where to be found on the shelves. Darn it. Oh, well-i decided to just go home and order it online. Well, it just so happens that this "Diamond Castle" thing happens to be the most sought after toy this year. There were NOOOO Diamond Castles to be found from Eureka to Visalia (if you know CA geography, that is roughly a 500 mile span!). Not at Target, Toys R Us, Amazon, Sears, Wal-Mart...everywhere SOLD OUT. Oh, except eBay where people are selling it from $189-$325!!!!! I am not in that psycho parent category to pay that much for a dollhouse and I hope I never, ever will be!!!!

Scott and I collectively called all of these stores and it was no where to be found. Some store employees laughed at us right away and some were nice enough to check the shelves only to report "no luck." The store in Novoto, CA (about 30 miles from our house) said they were too busy and would "call us back." Yeah, sure. So we went to bed and decided we'd just get her the Leap Frog Reading System something-or-other.

At about 10:00pm our phone rings. It's the Target in Novoto. They seem to have located ONE last Diamond Castle in the depths of their warehouse. They could hold it for us for 24 hours. Working 5 days a week doesn't exactly lend itself to driving an hour on a two-lane road to pick up a toy at any time of the day. But my dear husband, being the dedicated dad he is, sacrificed himself at 7am this morning to make the drive to pick up the Castle for his little girl. Of course, he got to the store and they acted like they had no idea what he was talking about ("We would never hold anything over night!! Who said we would??") Typical Target customer service. But finally, after much haggling (begging??), the Diamond Castle is in our possession.

Leave it to Brookey to decide she likes the most popular toy of the season. My only question now is...how much can we get for it on eBay??!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Countdown to Disney: 6 days!!!


I haven't had a vacation to look forward to in awhile and I have to say I am looking forward to this "vacation" more than anything in a long time!! It's like my Christmas present to ME! :) Not because I am necessarily excited to ride Dumbo The Flying Elephant, shake hands with Sleeping Beauty, eat a lollipop the size of my head or take a picture with Mickey Mouse ears....it's because our little rascal has been waking up every morning for the past few days asking, "Are we going to Disneyland today, Mommy??? Today?? When??" The look on her face when she walks through the gates of the Magic Kingdom will be a present more than I ever hoped or dreamed for.! If anyone knows me well, they know I am and have been a bit of a scrooge around Christmas (the holiday stresses me out, man!!). But this year, I have to say I have never looked so forward to the holiday season. Is it that Planned Parenthood commercial that says, "Having a baby changes everything." So true.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

3rd Year Video

So far I've been good about keeping a video journal each year of Brookey's 3 years...hopefully I won't slack off next year with the new baby!!! After taking 1000's of pictures each year, it's nice to condense it all into a three-minute "highlight" reel. It also shows how much she's changed in just one year!

Enjoy!!


Friday, November 28, 2008

Conversations with a 3-Year Old

It never ceases to amaze me what comes out of the mouth of my, (as of TODAY) 3 year old. My mom suggested I start documenting some of her hilarious sayings before the new baby comes and I have no time to pee much less write anything down. Here's a CONVERSATION I had with her on the way to school last week. It almost brought me to tears--the fact I can now have a conversation with my baby!!!

Her: Mommy......guess what?!
Me: What?!
Her: Guess what--i'm going to be a doctor when I grow up.
Me: Really...that's great! Why do you want to be a Doctor?
Her: (pause) So I can help people.
Me: That's good. What kind of a Dr do you want to be? There are Drs. for little girls like you, Drs for animals, Drs. for mommies and daddies...?
Her: A Doctor for animals. So I can help them. Or...I can be a firefighter. They help, too.
Me: Yes they do--just like Fireman Sam.
Her: Yes, or I can be a teacher like you, Mommy!
Me: That would be good too, sweetie. Marry someone rich.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Our Baby is (almost!) 3!!!

Our "little baby" celebrated her 3rd birthday with 12 of her closest pals today at North Bay Athletics where she has been taking gymnastics classes for the past year. I went back and forth between having her party at home and having it someplace else and I am SO happy I choose to have it someplace else (AKA: someone else cleans up!!!). With 12 kids and all of their parents, my house would have been the Romper Room. This was MUCH more relaxing. The kids ran and played, ate cake and candy and went home!

Brookey and I got matching T-Shirts that said, "3-Year-Olds Rock"--which is exactly how I feel about it!!!I think 3 really is a "magical" age when our babies start to change and become real people...much more aware of themselves and their feelings, more confident, able to communicate...and as Scott puts it, "a lot less of a pain in the ass." Well said. Still, part of me is SOOO sad that my baby is growing up. It really goes by too quickly--even the pain-in-the-ass years. I expect more of those years around Middle School. Until then, I'll wait until April 1st when I'll have a brand new one to scream, cry and throw up on me. I can't wait.








Saturday, November 1, 2008

Happy Halloween!

Getting hair and makeup done by Mommy!


Miss Snow White




The Princess




She got TONS of candy!

The Halloween party at school

Crazy Classmates!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Soccer Season--Almost Over!!

Soccer season is almost over--only one practice left. The coach has been preparing the kids for the next class (3-4 year olds), so on Monday they played their first little "game." They tried to score goals off the coach--exciting!! Below is a video of Brookey scoring her first goal! Woo hoo!! We can't believe how far she's come after just 6 months of soccer. She is at the age now where she's really starting to listen, follow directions and ENJOY structured group activities. It's been an amazing transformation since the first soccer practice when she pooped her pants and laid on the grass and whined for 30 minutes!!! Here's the link to her video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMFlGZzARyk

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Annual Trip to the Pumpkin Patch!







Now that we're all healthy, we took advantage of the perfect fall weather and made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Unfortunately, Maddie and her family weren't able to join us for the 3rd year in a row...now they're all sick! But Grandma Shanks joined us and we all had a great time! Brookey is counting the days until she can put on her Snow White costume and parade around for candy....her two favorite things: princesses and candy!!!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

The Rascal is Sick!

Poor baby! She has the puke flu--either that or it's food poisoning from some goat cheese she ate on Friday night at Whole Foods. I can't believe my kid likes goat cheese! What's wrong with her??! Anyway, she's been sleeping and just taking it easy. We missed our annual Pumpkin Patch trip on Saturday, but have rescheduled for next Sunday. I hope she feels better by then!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Freaky Friday

Last Friday (9/26) began five days of high anxiety here at the Rooney Household. I am finally in a place where I can talk about the whirlwind few days we've had.

It all started with what I thought was going to be a "routine" ultrasound. However, I was told that it was really a nuchal translucency (NT) screening for Down's Syndrome and other chromosonal abnormalities. This NT test was not routine when I was pregnant with Brookey just 3 years ago! To make a long story short, I left the office in tears after being told I was in the "high risk" category for Down's and that I needed to decide if I wanted to pursue more invasive, diagnostic testing for definitive results. Since I am a bit on the control-freaky side and need to know things (except the sex of the baby!!), I scheduled an appointment for a CVS test, which is a similar procedure to an amnio (yes, needles in belly--not cool).

Scott escorted me to the procedure this past Monday and like a trooper, sat there with me through three needles in my belly (two to "numb" it and one REAL needle). I think I have a pretty decent tolerance for pain and this procedure sucked. I don't wish it upon anyone, but it was over really quickly so I guess it wasn't that bad.

The next two days we were sitting on pins and needles. I did a lot of soul-searching and came to the realization of what a personal decision all of the testing was as well as a couple's decision about how to proceed with the pregnancy if any negative results are found. My Dr. told me awhile back that almost everyone (myself included) hypothetically says, "no matter what the tests show, i'll keep the baby." However, he found it amazing that the majority of people he's worked with ended up changing their mind once they were truly faced with the situation. The point is, you cannot pass judgement or know what's right until you are actually faced with the decision yourself. And in fact, there is no "right" or "wrong" decision. It's all very personal.

Luckily, Scott and I are not faced with that decision right now. We are happy to report that Baby Rooney #2 has no known chromosonal abnormalities, based on the results of Monday's testing--including Down's Syndrome and other much more serious conditions. So far, so good until Round 2 of genetic testing is done at 20 weeks. But right now, we're just counting our blessings.

We have another thumb-sucker!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Gymnastics Video

Here is a link to a You Tube video of Miss Brooke today at her first somewhat-successful big-girl gymnastics class. This is the first class where she's had to do things on her own without us by her side. I couldn't upload to this site, so hopefully this works. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAA95qLS5PQ

Long Time, No Post!

I know I've been so bad about posting. It's been a pretty crazy week, but I'll have more to post next week. Right now, Brookey is doing great. She actually participated in her first "Big Girl" gymnastics class. Last week was a disaster and she refused to do anything without her old coach. This week she was much better and I think it will get even more fun for her once she warms up to the new coach. She our little cautious girl!!! You gotta EARN her trust!!! I have been trying to post a gymnastics video onto this site, but it never goes through. I'll try to figure it out and get a video up and running soon. It's too cute!



Monday, September 15, 2008

Soccer Practice with Maddie!

After taking the summer off, soccer started again for Brookey. This "season" her friend Maddie is joining her. As you can see, they're having a great time! So far, Brookey is much more into soccer than she was last season. She seems to get the hang of it more and is much better at following directions and interacting with her coach. I think that's all part of being almost 3!! Big girl!! :-)

Fresno State/Wisconsin Tailgate



Heartbreaking loss. Enough said .

Saturday, September 6, 2008

No More "Mommy and Me!"

Brookey reached her first gymnastics milestone today! She graduated from "Sparklers," which is a Mommy/Daddy and Me class, to "Shining Stars," the 3-4 year old class for "big girls" not accompanied by a parent. Her coach said she may even be ready for the next class after Shining Stars for kids 3-6! She'll be the only one in the class under 3. I almost cried when they rang the bell and announced to the gym that Miss Brooke Rooney had "graduated!" It's a good thing another Baby Rooney is on the way, because Brookey is not my baby any more--she's just growing up too fast!


Quick and Easy Meal Prep for Breakfast + Lunch + Snacks!

Ready for a SUPER quick and easy meal prep?! No joke, it took me longer to find all the lids to these containers than it did it prep my b...