A pleasant visit, a funny story and other updates...

My mom has been in town for the last couple of weeks visiting. It had been since June since I had seen her, but for my sister, it had been much longer. She came to visit last February right after Christy had Reagan. That was the last time they saw eachother because unfortunately Brogan got sick right before our trip to Florida, so Christy wasn't able to go. We were slightly anxious about the visit because my mom brought her new boyfriend, Hugh. He's a very nice man, but we can't help but be protective of our mom...and for that matter, CC (our ex-stepdad). The trip went really well, despite our anxieties and we and the kids had a great time with Grandma Nancy. Unfortunately, I only brought my camera to Pioneer Village, so I missed out on several photo opportunities. Hopefully my sister or Hugh will e-mail me some.

The visit was full of many highlights from our evening at John's Incredible Pizza to the Fresno Zoo, but instead of boring you with all the details, I'll share a funny story. It's a kids say the darndest things story...one I'm sure little Brogan will appreciate when he's older.

As I mentioned earlier, my mom's new beau's name is Hugh. In her Pennsylvania accent, my mom usually pronounces the name "You". After much confusion on the phone when she would tell a story about "You" and I, she decided to start referring to him as Hughie...or as she would say it "Youie". My mom isn't he only one who has a hard time with this name. About day 4 of their visit (they stayed in my sister's 5th wheel on the side of her house), the house was quiet over at Christy's so Brogan asked where Grandma and Pee-ew were. Christy wanted to clarify what she was hearing, so she asked Brogan to repeat himself, so he did. At this point she asked him if he was saying Hugh or Pee-ew and he said, "You know mom, Pee-ew, like stinky". Christy corrected him and he went on his happy way. He, of course, really thought that was his name. As I know too well (I'm a teacher) once a name is stuck in your head one way, it's hard to correct yourself. The next day, after my mom got home from a little out of town excursion, Brogan (in his most genunine way) asked Christy if Grandma and Stinky were going to be home for dinner. Christy corrected him once again without breaking a smile, then proceeded to call me where we got a good laugh. Grandma and Stinky made it home safely last night and we're glad that we didn't do any permanent damage with the nicknames.

In other news...

Daddy's big helperWe've been busy working on Aubrey's big girl room. So far I'm loving all the details, but struggling with putting together the BIG PICTURE. Hopefully, my sister-in-law and mother-in-law can come by this weekend and help me get the furniture arranged and decorations up. Look for the big reveal in early December.

Also, since the holiday nativities have been at the stores, Aubrey CONSTANTLY talks about Baby Jesus. This season's favorite book is appropriately her baby Bible from my sweet friend Teri. She turns to the page with the nativity and talks about Mary and baby Jesus and makes mommy or daddy sing Away in the Manger. I think is pretty much the sweetest thing ever. I tell her as simply as I can about Jesus and the sacrafice that he made for us. I try to stay as serious as possible about the topic, but in all honesty her repitition of the term "baby Jesus" makes me giggle as I think of the movie Talledega Nights...this is totally normal, right? LOL