it's official...

i've become that lady on the plane...you know, the one that everyone watches intently as she takes that long, dramatic walk down the aisle to find her seat, where all passengers are crossing their fingers, crossing themselves, saying a private prayer or performing some sort of superstitious ritual to the airplane gods to not have the crazy lady with the over-sized carry-on bag overflowing with yogurt puffs and bright, flashy toys, and a crying baby sitting next to them? yah, that's me. then it happens...i make contact with the lucky winner, give them a sympathetic smile then wedge myself and all of my baby baggage (yes, i really do need 2 sippy cups, 5 binkys, a separate bag of toys, diapers and back up diapers, and 5 varieties of snacks to choose from) into my seat then kindly ask the neighbor, who is now searching for any remaining vacancies, to hold the jar of corn and carrot soup with turkey bits and the baby biscuits while i get things situated. no offense was taken when our soup-holding neighbor inquired for the 15th time how much longer the flight was going to be.

well...little miss humored me by being woken up at the wee hours of the morning, missing naps, and going to bed late all so i could get my fill of friends, family, and fall weather in utah. so in the end...i won't complain that she was beyond ornery and in serious need of some sleep on one leg of the flight back to florida. she was such a trooper and quite the hit out west. here's some of the happenings...

a little visit to see kimmy and her fam

a huge birthday cake, just for us!

a little happy-birthday sushi for ourselves

one of many freezing-cold early morning runs. apparently they have these things called gloves that you put on your hands when you're cold. who would've thought...

great-aunt gretchen. that's right...i said (typed) great-aunt. coolest/best great-aunt you'll come across.

great-grandma and grandpa bernhisel

brenne and brylee couldn't get enough of little miss and she couldn't get enough of them. she was thrilled to have 2 constant backseat buddies during the car rides.

you saw correctly. we are swimming. in october. in utah. heated pools are a wonderful thing.

chillin' with uncle ryan

benji boy

kevin's bro benji came into town for a quick visit to see the gators, little miss, and us (and in that order too). it was a fun-filled weekend with lots of gator-themed activities...some of which were quite the disappointment (no need to specify on which ones). thanks for visiting benji! come again soon and hopefully we can get you a "W".

creepy crawler

-minus the creepy part

-plus the would-crawl-through-broken-glass-for-a-cellphone, love-for-all-things-smelly-and decrepit (lucy), catching-major-z's-at-night(er), continued-binky-and-mama-addict (to her defense, however, no reform has been offered), frequent-self-adulator, would-rather-eat-fistfulls-of-dog-hair-and-dustballs-than-her-split-pea-soup, and mastering-the-pull-up-on-all-things-dangerous, part.

-there you go. little miss summed up.

warning: excitement overload

ATL

i guess we just didn't get enough of family in early august because we headed up to atlanta to celebrate my niece leila's b-day and catch an atlanta brave's b-ball game. the weather was refreshing, the home team accommodating, and the hamburger, hot dog, cake, pizza, soda and dip-n-dots consumed in one day wonderfully indulgent.

as you can see, little miss did not make an appearance at the game. originally the game was to begin at 4:10 but was then switched to 7:10 which meant another really late night for her (not to mention a distracted ball game for me). with head between my knees and a brown paper bag, i decided to leave her for the first time (first time when someone else had to put her to bed) .

13 texts, 7 calls, and 2 pictures later, we enjoyed an evening to ourselves and a nice "w" from the braves.

the rock star b-day girl.

no kids, walls, or body parts were injured during this activity.

two's company, twenty's a crowd

....a freckled-faced, sticky-fingered, loud-mouthed, napless, huggable, lovable, kissable crowd, that is. for about a week and a half, mama and papa b's place became the melting pot for some texans and floridians, mixed with some georgians and south carolinians,

and a couple of pennsylvanians sprinkled on top.

some enlightenments from this week long party:

• pureed beets make me gag
• a three year old can independently program, record, watch and re-watch all the dora the explorers he wants on satellite tv
• i hate dora the explorer
• wetting yourself doesn't stop you from having a good time
• fire drills at 3:00 in the morning, 2 days in a row make for a tired group of hotel-dwellers
• locking lips with lucy builds your immune system but gives you killer breath
• apparently the phrase "there's a sleeping baby upstairs so please be quiet" is an uninterpretable, foreign language
• you can willingly eat toast for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 2 weeks with a couple of juice boxes thrown in and survive.
• i adore these people and would have them any day of the week. poopy diapers, tantrums, wet beds, and all.

the gang.

don't worry lance, i still see a softball, i mean baseball pitcher in david's future

party at the aquarium

cousin love