Sippy Cup

As I mentioned in an earlier post "Just another sign she's growing up" Brooklyn has yet again tried something new, and has proven yet again, she's growing up! On Monday Ryan and I introduced Brooklyn to the "Sippy Cup" nothing annoys me more than a toddler walking around with a bottle...we decided to give Brooklyn a sippy cup to start getting her used to it, so that by the time she reached her 1st birthday she would be ready to be weined off the bottle...much to our surprise...she knew exactly what to do with that thing, it was like 2nd nature for her! I was so proud and yet sad all at the same time...My little baby is turning into my little girl!

Brooklyn drinking from a sippy cup for the 1st time



Just a cute picture of Brooke helping me do laundry

Sunday

Brooklyn & TJ at his dedication

Sunday was a pretty busy day for us! It started out with Ryan getting off of work early morning Sunday and meeting up with his dad and brother at the gun range to shoot their dad's new pistol that his brothers had gotten him for Xmas, after that we headed over to the Zepeda's for their son TJ's dedication. TJ looked so handsome in his little suit, we were glad we got to witness his special day! After spending a little over an hour there, we left and hit the highway to FT. Collins to visit our friends Nick and Melissa and their little boy Evan. I wish we had a little more time to spend with them, by the time we had left Art & Suyzel's and got to Ft. Collins it was already after 4:00, so we were there long enough to check out their newly finished family room and catch some dinner... dinner would have been really nice had Brooklyn been on her best behavior, instead she screamed through most of dinner...other than the evening being rushed we had a great time with them, we realized that next time we will definitely have to leave earlier in the day so we can spend more time with them!


Brooklyn & Melissa


The Vasa Family

Kelli's Birthday Dinner

Tonight we went to dinner at the Blue Bonnet to celebrate Kelli's 32nd birthday! Kelli was joined with 17 of her closest friends & family! We did a pretty good job of embarrassing her by singing extremely loud when they brought out the birthday sopapilla! We had a great evening celebrating with Kelli....Happy Birthday!


Kelli blowing out her candle


Tyler, Kelli & Blake

Kelli & Richard

Ken, Kelli & Jen

Kathy, Kelli & Pat

Kelli & Me

Kelli & her Neices Brittany, Jordan and Alicia

A perfect day for Sledding

Just another sign she's growing up

Last Saturday March 21st Brooklyn turned 10 months old! And just to show me she is getting older she learns yet something new! Thursday I got let home early from work due to the snow storm we were having, My sister Jenny picked me up from the light rail station and drove me home, when she got me home she decided to come inside and play with the kids for a bit. While we were playing with them, we looked up at Brooklyn and noticed she was standing up un assisted all by herself. This was the first time we had seen her do that...she was even proud of herself...flapping her hands in such appreciation for herself. I have no doubt in my mind that she'll be walking very soon!

Blake's Soccer Schedule

Hi everyone! I thought I would post Blake's Spring Soccer schedule on here for all you, in case you want to come to some or all of his games!

1st game: Saturday April 4th @ 9:00am Field 2

Saturday April 11th @ 9:00am Field 1

Saturday April 18th @ 9:00am Field 1

Saturday April 25th @ 9:00am Field 2

Saturday May 2nd @ 10:00am Field 1

Saturday May 9th @ 9:00am Field 2

Saturday May 16th @ 9:00am Field 2

Last game: Saturday May 23rd @ 9:00am Field 1

The games are located at the same field as last season:

CreekSide Park which is located off of Tower and Orchard... In the Farm Subdivision across the street from Belle's & Bau's Learning Center (look for a park rather than a soccer field)

Nephew's 1st Soccer Game!

Tyler & Caleb

This past weekend Blake, Brooklyn and myself went to see my nephews Tyler and Caleb play their first Soccer game coached by their Dad Gary and assistant coach Granddad!Blake was so excited to go and see his cousins play and his uncle coach! As soon as we got to the field he kept calling out their names so that they would notice him... he was more of a distraction than a cheerleader! It was so fun to watch Tyler and Caleb...neither of them were entirely interested in the game, cute little Tyler followed his dad around and occasionally chased after the ball! Caleb on the other hand, well he stood on the field watched the ball go by and then came over to his mom to get a drink after that exhausting play he just made! (and I thought only my kid did that...good to know that Blake is in good Company!) Ryan's cousin Kandi her son Isaiah plays on the team as well and he was actually a really good player, poor little guy would get so upset when he didn't get a chance at the ball, but when he did, he was all over it! It'll be interesting to watch the boys at their last game, it's amazing see how much they learn!

Tyler


Caleb


"Cheerleades, Grandma Burke and Brooklyn"

Too cute not to post!

Sorry, I know the video clip is a little dark, but you can still see Brooklyn boppin her head and dancing! It was just too cute and funny not to share.

St Patty's Day Celebration

As I have mentioned Ryan is very proud of being Irish...so of course we have to celebrate St. Patricks Day! We started out at the St Patty's day parade downtown, which has become a tradition of ours ever since we found out the parade existed back in 2005. We've been going every year since then! We met up with Ryan's and My family and sat along the parade route (17th & Blake) it started out a little chilly but ended up being a really nice day. After the Parade we headed to McCabe's for a nice Irish lunch and some beer! After McCabe's we came home for a nap and then headed over to Jen & Ken's house for dinner and some good ol Rock Band!






St. Patricks Day' isn't only the celebration of the Irish for us...but we also celebrate the birthday of a very special person.... My Best Friend and Sister! Because Patty's day is on a Tuesday we celebrated with Jen and some of her closest friends and family on Sunday at Hacienda Colorado for dinner! We are hoping to do LA for the Day to finish celebrating her birthday..we'll see if Candee can pull through for us! Happy Birthday Jen!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today I celebrate what would have been my mom's 54th birthday. She was born March 12, 1955 and sadly passed away a few months after her 47th birthday, on June 14, 2002. I'll never forget the day she departed, it always stays so fresh in my mind...that by far was the most horrific moment of my life, I had so many emotions running through my body...I had never before felt so lost & alone and heart broken than I did on June 14, 2002. I remember it was a Friday night, and I had gotten a phone call from my dad telling me to hurry over that he & my sister had just gotten home from work and found my mom dead... I remember thinking it was some twisted joke, I got in my car and rushed over, my heart was racing, I couldn't breath, I couldn't get to their house fast enough...and they only lived 3 minutes away... I pulled into the complex and I heard police sirens, I ran into the apartment only to find my mom laying on the floor, with her hand holding her heart...she had clearly been dead for a while, her face had already turned blue and her body was cold, I let out a loud cry, and asked Ryan to check her pulse, although I knew she was dead, I just had to be sure my eyes weren't deceiving me, Ryan had confirmed there was no pulse, as did my dad...seconds later the police and ambulance had arrived and took over the scene, we waited outside for them to do their jobs, about 20 minutes into it, a fireman came out of the apartment apologized for our loss and pronounced my mom Dead... those words traveled through my body much like a lighting bolt. The Coroner came and carried her body out of the apartment, and the fire trucks, ambulance and police all disappeared...my brothers,my sisters, my dad myself and my aunt we all stood outside of the apartment crying and trying to console one another all the while trying to make sense of what we had just witnessed...how could this be? why her? why was she taken from us? .....she was so young... and so vibrant. We spent the whole next week planning her funeral in Nebraska and she was buried on June 21, 2002 at Cedar Hill Cemetery, next to my grandpa (her dad) and my brother (who passed away at birth).
The coroners report came back, it had turned out that my mother had, had a blood clot in her leg that had caused her to have a heart attack.

You know people have said to me, that the pain of losing your parent never goes away, but that with each passing year it gets easier and easier to accept... I had somewhat found that to be true, except for right now...for some reason, I am finding it exceptionally hard not having my mom here in person with me, with my family, with my children, the grandchildren she never got to meet or hold in her arms. I sometimes find myself in denial, I tell myself she isn't gone, she's just on vacation somewhere and doesn't want to come home... I guess that isn't far from the reality of it...Maybe Heaven is a vacation?!!!

With all of that said, Today I am going to celebrate the life of my mom by having my family over for a delicious pot roast, much like the ones my mom used to make! I am going to keep the memory of my mother alive and I am going to share the precious moments that her and I shared together, with my own children. I want them to know their grandmother, and what she meant to so many people and what she meant to me. I know she is here in spirit!

So the moral of the story, don't take for granted what you have today, because you may not have it tomorrow! And lastly, Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened! I may have only had a short time with my mom, but she made a lasting impression.

Happy Birthday Mom....May you rest in peace eternally!

Love your baby girl
Brittani aka "The Rip"

Kiss me I'm Irish!!

Anybody who know's Ryan know's that he is very proud of being Irish! So I decided to take the kiddo's to get their pictures done with their St. Patricks Shirts as a little surprise for their Daddy! I also needed to get Brooklyn's 9 month old pictures taken, I know here lately I've been a bit of a slacker in the monthly picture department (Sorry Brooklyn). So hope you enjoy, I know Ryan was very pleased!!!