Congratulations!

Our hectic life recently has kept me from posting some very important congratulatory announcements.

1. First and foremost, the deepest, most heartfelt congratulations to my brother-in-law, Ryan, and his girlfriend of eight years, Courtney, who is now my future sister-in-law!!!! They got engaged in their hometown over Labor Day weekend, and we were all there to celebrate with them.

The day of the engagement was a beautiful day already. Brenna was playing on the swings, her cousins were running around the yard, and she was having a great time with her many uncles.

(Being lifted up by her grandfather's hand on the left and her great-grandfather's on the right.)

At one point, Courtney was playing in the yard with Brenna, and I said to Ryan, who we all knew was ready to propose in the near future, "Today would be a great day to do it..."

Courtney's family was there, his family was there; it was just a nice atmosphere. He smiled and said, "I know." I was so happy to hear he had been thinking the same thing!

Whispers between me and my mother-in-law (who had the same thoughts) continued, and Brenna even sent Ryan a note that said, "Dear Uncle Ryan, Please do it today! I love you, Brenna P.S. Labor Day weekend is very special. I was made on Labor Day weekend." Ryan laughed when he read Brenna's note.

A bit later, Ryan and Courtney were headed home to Courtney's parents' house to let the dog out, and as we saw Ryan shaking hands with Courtney's dad before they left, a few of us that saw it knew exactly what was happening. When they showed up back at Jamie's parents' house later, Courtney was wearing Jamie's grandmother's ring, and it was beautiful on her. I'm sure Pop will be happy to see his gorgeous wife's ring on Courtney's hand. (Pop, come up from Florida and visit us to see it! Or, even better, come up to live here again.)

They were so excited to announce that they were engaged! With Brenna when they came through the door...

We couldn't be more happy for them!

In the past week, Courtney has been on a mission. She asked Brenna to be her flower girl, me to be a bridesmaid, picked her colors (green and pink), and they chose a date (September 26, 2009) and location already! It is going to be awesome.

2. Another huge congratulations to my Aunt Mare, who has been named a Dean at her University this week! She is an inspiration to us all.

My aunt really is proof that it is possible to go from being at the bottom of the totem poll to a huge big-wig. If you are smart, work hard and are personable, the opportunities are endless.

3. Congrats to my cousin Danielle and her new fiance, Chris! They are having a celebration party in early October and will plan a wedding close to Ryan and Courtney's.

4. Meanwhile, Kelly began teaching her first huge college class as the main instructor (the students were like, "You are our teacher?") and handed in her first draft of her dissertation. Ian will see her this weekend - give her lots of hugs and kisses from us and the kids, Ian! Congrats, Kel!

5. Congratulations to Bobby for successfully not giving a crap that he was just put in daycare for the first time at 7.5 months. As long as someone is talking to him and feeding him, Bobby is content. He is the easiest baby in our family so far!

6. Good for Erin for returning to work for the first time in 8 months. I'd be crying, but she's smiling. Same goes for my friends ending their maternity leaves! Michelle already did and Andrea and Kelly and Jackie to come - it's hard.

7. We're very proud of Maura for being able to write her name at age three and a half. I wrote my name, too, and she said, "That's an M-E-G-H-A-N." She amazes me. She is transitioning well back into daycare as well, and despite her shyness around adults, she tells us that her old friends are fighting over who gets to play with her. We taught her to tell them that there is enough of her to go around. Just as long as she drops that mantra by high school, that is.

8. Congratulations to Kevin and Rose, both of whom started jobs in New Jersey - the new lawyer and the teacher. They are looking at houses now.

9. A big congrats to Sarah Palin for being selected as McCain's VP nominee. The family is very excited and we really enjoyed the RNC. My aunt just had a cute line about her new role as Dean, "You know the difference between a dean and a pitbull? Nothin', I don't wear lipstick." Haha, we're pulling for you, Palin!

10. Congrats to Brenna for doing so amazingly well at daycare. The transition these past few weeks has been a dream, and we couldn't be happier. She's happy, she loves her teacher, she loves her friends and the kids all really love her. The number of goodbyes and hugs she gets as we leave makes it all worth it. She is so excited to "talk" to me about it as we drive home, and she says, "Mommy," clearly now when I arrive to get her.

11. Congratulations to my cousin Ryan and Jaime, who are having a second baby!

12. Finally, I will give myself a pat on the back for being booked through mid-November with photoshoots! I have really been getting better with my love of photography, and working A LOT, which is why I'm falling behind on updating this blog. My portfolio building is finally going somewhere. I have been doing free or low-cost sessions, but as of November 1, I'm going to have make things more official. I'd share my shoots on this site, but I'm working on other side projects now. Basically, I'm just really happy with the direction my photography is going, and I'll continue to use this site to post snapshots and stories, but my portfolio building shoots will go in another format.

That's a lot of congratulations! It's been a fun, exciting time in our family!