Happy Birthday Momma!

Here's some pictures from my birthday. It was the best Bday, ever!  I'll post later all about our weekend in Orlando.

Brianna blowing out the candles

Momma blowing out the candles

Nana & Papa

Brianna showing off her pirate sword....Arghh!

This smile is what made my birthday so great

On a more serious note...

The BIG 25!

Tomorrow's the big day. I'll be 25. I have no idea where the time has gone. It feels like I just graduated high school. It's crazy! Philipe is taking us to Orlando. We're going to Sea World and Disney. I'm soooo excited. I can't wait to see Brianna's face. I'm sure I'll have a million pictures. Stay tuned! We're leaving Sat morning and coming home Sunday. Tomorrow we're having family over for cake. I'm not to sure when. Philipe's taking care of all that.

Brianna has started telling me she's gone potty. Once she's finished, she'll run up to me and say, "pee-pee-pee-pee-pee". It's so cute. If I could just get her to sit on the potty and go. She'll sit on the potty and make the noise but won't go. Hmmmm... I don't know what else I could do. 

We get to hear the baby's heart beat on Monday. Can't wait for that! Maybe then I'll feel pregnant and connected to my little bambino growing inside of me. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Philipe caught a poo!

So, we try to practice EC'ing from time to time. Brianna is naked a majority of the time when we're home. We're still not very good at catching but at least we make a connection when she goes. That's what's important.... at least that's what the book says. Personally, I would love to catch some on the potty rather than cleaning my floors all the time but it's really not that big of a deal.

Anywho, we got home from the mall today and I took Bri's diaper off as soon as we got home so she could get some air on her heiny. I went to go put the wet diaper in the diaper pail and as soon as I got back I saw that she peed all over the place. Philipe kind of made a "ugh" noise and asked why I left her with out a diaper on. He seems to show excitement about her learning to go to the bathroom on the potty but every time she has an "accident" (EC'ers refer to them as misses) he says she's to young and tells me I need to just put a diaper on her. Of course I don't listen and continue having to clean up messes all over the place. Well, while I was cleaning up her mess today I asked him to watch her. He asked if he could put a diaper on her and I explained we're never going to get good at this if we don't practice. So, as soon as I walked out of the room he put her on her little potty. And I heard him saying, "Brianna, go pee pee on the potty". In my head I thought he was ridiculous for even doing this. Obviously she didn't need to go potty. She just went all over the floor. He was just afraid to be left alone with her...diaperless. All of the sudden I heard Philipe shouting, "Yay, Brianna! You went poopie on the potty!" (I guess when practicing EC you're not suppose to make a big deal about going on the toilet but we're big deal kind of people. We tweeked it a little). He sounded so damn cute! I came running out to see what was going on and, oh boy, I wish I could have taken a picture of his face. He was pointing to the turd in the toilet like he just found a pot of gold. He was so proud! I was proud. I was proud I chose him to be my husband. He said he saw her make that face she makes before she goes poop so he put her on the potty but he didn't think she would go but then she stood up and there it was. How many fathers are that in tune with their kids bowl movements? He's such a good dad I think he could almost be a mom. That's big! I've only caught 1 poop. Now we're tied. It's on! We still haven't caught any pees. Brianna only pees standing up so that's been a bit of a problem. Any suggestions? I think Philipe might show a little more interest in elimination communication now that he got to see it first hand. One less diaper I have to wash! Yay! 

About 30 minutes later Philipe and I were looking at homes for sale online. Brianna was stading right in front of us. All of the sudden Philipe yelled "Hey" and jumped. I thought for sure something bit him. He said, "She just pissed on my foot!" I started cracking up. It was hilarious! Even he laughed. I told him he shouldn't get so excited. It might scare her. When she goes we're suppose to make the "pee pee" noise and let her finish. Hahahaha! Poor guy. At least this time he didn't say put a diaper back on her. He even helped me roll up the carpet so if she peed more it wouldn't get on the carpet. What a good man. 

Every time she pees when she doesn't have a diaper on she cuts it short and doesn't finish. I think she gets freaked out by the way it feels with out a diaper. I know that's a good thing but she'll never go on toilet, sitting down. So she pees like every 2 minutes because she doesn't fully empty her bladder. Again, any suggestions? 

Oh! We got Brianna's Halloween costume today. She's going to be a pirate. I can't wait to dress her up. Philipe even had the idea of buying a little plastic pirate sword to go with the outfit. I'll definitely post pics. That's all for now. Ta ta!

I'm Home!

We got back from Jersey  Friday night. I've never been so happy to be home. I love my family to death but my trip sucked. First, let me start by saying Philipe and I got to the airport and hour and a half early so we decided to eat lunch and hopefully Brianna wouldn't be hungry on the flight. The lady at the restaurant ended up taking forever so we were crunched on time. They called my name over the intercom so Brianna and I were off and running. I begged everyone to let us skip them through security explaining that my flight was about to leave. They were all pretty understanding and I was pushed up to the front of the line. Or gate was at the very end of the airport. I was about to drop my bag so I stopped for a quick second to adjust my self. I took my hands off of the stroller for 2 seconds. We were on a declined walkway and the stroller starting rolling down the hill, with Brianna in it! I screamed and chased it. I finally caught up to it and we were off and running again. I was dripping sweat and everyone was looking at me like I was a fool. I finally got to the gate. They asked if I was Mrs. Chibas and began to open the door for me to board. Just as they opened the door the walkway to the plane started to retract. We missed our flight. I was out of breath and tears filled my eyes. The man was very good at calming me down and assured me we could find another flight. We had to wait 2 more hours for the next flight. No big deal? Yeah right! Brianna wanted to walk around and I couldn't chase her while keeping an eye on our baggage. She was miserable! The flight was horrible. I should have read the signs and not gone when we missed the flight. 

 I was suppose to be staying with my sister but they were in the process of moving and there were boxes everywhere so I ended up staying with my Grandmother most of the time. My 85 year old, very stuck in her ways, Grandmother. She criticized everything I did. She went off on me for still nursing Brianna and I finally told her that she really needs to just drop it cause I was getting sick of hearing it and she was really beginning to piss me off (I said it a lot nicer though). For some reason she thinks that me being tired is because I still breast feed my daughter. Of course it couldn't be because I'm in m first trimester of pregnancy! Whatever. She finally got the point and apologized and I felt really good about sticking up for myself and for Brianna. Brianna was really clingy and whined a lot. Every time she whined, I was instructed to feed her food. I told her that it was because she was in a strange place and was probably scared and didn't want to leave my side. I got the third degree on how it was my fault because I made her that way. Ugh! Nobody up there knows how Brianna really is. They've never come and visited her in her home where she's most comfortable. Brianna was super annoying though and I had no help. I thought I could do it by myself. I was sadly mistaken. It was so frustrating at times but then I would just feel bad for her. I was the one that took her out of her element. It wasn't her fault. As a result of Brianna being so out of her element and anxious, she wanted to nurse every 2 seconds (slight exaggeration but not by much). She started to lift up my shirt right in front of everyone, which for some reason made me feel really uncomfortable, and my nipples were so sore. I wasn't sure if it was from her being attached to my boobs or because I'm pregnant. I talked to Philipe and told him that when I got home I thought we should look into gentle ways of weaning her. Well, I ended up going to my sisters for a few days which was really rough too. There were boxes everywhere and I felt like we were constantly in the way. Brianna got worse and worse and I came to the conclusion that we were both home sick and decided to cut our trip short. My sister dropped us off at the air port. I was so nervous about the flight but so excited about going home. This time the flight was completely full so there was no open seats for Brianna to sit in. I had a window seat and she was on my lap. There was a man next to us and and woman next to him. I was extremely claustrophobic and was sure Brianna would feed off of my anxious energy. I took out 2 books I brought and thought once we were in the air I could grab my bag full of goodies for Brianna out of the over head compartment. Brianna was great for take off and I just kept reading her the 2 books I put aside. She was perfect! An angel! She calmed me down when I felt I was about to have a panic attack. She didn't even do her annoying loud noise she does when she gets aggravated. I was so proud. She didn't cry once. And, she was crammed on my lap the whole time up against a wall. I love my daughter. Maybe she knew we were going home. Oh- The whole nipple thing... they're fine. Back to normal. And Brianna's back to nursing 3 times a day instead of every 2 seconds. She's not pulling at my shirt anymore either. When she wants to nurse she just signs milk and it's granted. Agh, it's great to be home. The only thing that's missing is my husband. He made arrangements to go hang out with our friend in north Florida because he thought our trip would be longer. Normally, I would probably complain and tell him he doesn't understand what it's like to be with a baby 24/7 and he needs to give me a break but I really feel like Brianna and I bonded in a way we never have before after having only each other for the last week and a half. I thought I understood her completely but I was wrong. When I would get overwhelmed Philipe would tell Philipe to give me a breather. Well, I didn't have that option and we figured things out just wonderfully. So, while the trip sucked, it was really good for me and Brianna. She's been so happy since we got home. And I'm so happy she's so happy. This was a great lesson in parenting for me. Children are always changing and as a mother, I need to make sure I respect her needs and adjust as she gets older. There's always ways to improve our relationship and I need to always try to understand her better. I feel like a good Mother, and it feels great! Is that cocky? Philipe is coming home tomorrow. I miss him like crazy!!! Brianna does too. She'll bring me the phone and say, "Da-da". We call him (often) and she gets overjoyed. I love it!

I'm not feeling so sick anymore. I'm not that tired either. I'm 11 weeks pregnant. First trimester is almost over. It's going by so fast! 

Leaving on a jet plane...don't know when I'll be back again.

I'm Jersey bound on Friday. My anxiety is sky high and I hope we make it there in 1 piece. I never use to be afraid of flying. I don't know when I turned into such a chicken shit. I flew to Sweden, Denmark, Australia, and New Zealand to play soccer in high school with no problem. I've lost my mojo! I'm not to sure if I'm more afraid of the plane crashing or keeping Brianna under control BY MYSELF. I'm sure we'll be fine. And once I come back home I can make fun of what a weeny I am. Please pray for me.

The other day I went to my friend Lauren's house. We were greeted by her horse, Joe. He's probably one of the sweetest horses I've ever met. I just love him! 

I put Brianna in Ruby's swing and Joe was nice enough to push her for me. He's a great baby sitter. Brianna loved it!


Our little Zeus is getting so big. He is still the best cat ever! His purring still annoys the crap out of me at 3:00 in the morning but he's such a lover lover.
Here's Brianna at one of my soccer games. She's definitely my #1 fan. She's siting in her special chair her buddy Caleb got her for her Bday. She loves it. 

Oh....I finally decided to quit playing soccer. I was going to try to  play until the season ended but some b*t*ch decided to kick me in my stomach, on purpose. I came to the conclusion that if there are people in the league who play like that, then it would be best that I not play. I almost got in a fight, and it's really not worth it. It was a really hard decision. I really wanted to play for as long as possible but there are a lot of the people in the league who have never played before. They get frustrated very easily and turn to violence. Not cool! It is SO on after this baby comes though. I hope that girl decides to play next season. Our team ended up beating them 3-0. Serves them right!

Brianna loves to go outside and pick the grass. She's so cute! I can't believe how lucky I am. I just love this little girl to death. I don't know how I lived with out her for 23 years.

Brianna loves to color! She's a little artist in the making. It's nice that she can actually entertain herself while we wait for our meals now. Again, I love this little cutie patooti!!!
Alright, I'm back to packing. Wish me good luck!