the story of our new family of four: 2009 recap (march)

The month of March started out as a whirlwind! My sister Kelly spent the end of February and beginning of March searching for an internship for her final year of her Ph.D. program. Ideally, she wanted that internship to be as close to home as possible. She's been in Ohio for far too long, and we are all ready to have her back here. But no one is more anxious for her to return home than her boyfriend, Ian.

The way her program works, the poor Ph.D. candidates have to go through a grueling process of interviewing and ranking their top choices. When their selection week comes in late February, an odd (and unfair) system matches both the candidates' and the programs' top choices, and the candidates literally have to accept what they are offered immediately, or they take the chance that they could not get an internship at all (and wait an entire year to go through the match system again). We were so proud of Kelly for getting amazing interviews (including Yale) in many of the states bordering PA, and our fingers were all crossed that she'd end up on the East Coast and not Iowa, which was a possibility, and in a program working with children, since that is what she wants to do in life. After a few days of serious stress and anxiety, Kelly was matched with a program in PA, about an hour and a half north of us, at a children's clinic! She is coming home in July!

Meanwhile, Ian had quite the coming home present for Kelly when she arrived home to rest over Spring Break and celebrate her placement with her family and friends. On March 6, at the airport, Ian presented Kelly with a 4-leaf-clover locket, and in each leaf he wrote the words: WILL YOU MARRY ME?

Of course, Kelly said yes (her ring is gorgeous!), and our whole family was waiting at a bar in Lafayette Hill to celebrate with the newly engaged couple. (I will brag now - except for his dad, Ian told MEEEEEEE first.)

Since I couldn't drink at the engagement party (even though someone else that was there was only pretending to drink... more on that later), the joke was that I was still going to cost my father just as much money as if I were drinking, when I unknowingly ordered the "fancy" water.

It was a great night, though Mommom stayed out later than Erin and I were able to. We're so lame.

The next day, we had Katie G.'s bridal shower in Bethlehem. It was one of Katie's two showers, this one hosted by my Aunt Mare at the cutest little Irish tea room.

I, of course, was the escort of the classiest guest at the shower.

Again, with the class...

After that busy weekend, Kelly spent her Spring Break working on school work and planning the beginning details of her wedding, not surprisingly. I asked her and Ian if I could help them pick the photographer, since that's my favorite area of interest, and I was on the phone with her a few times discussing reception venues. By the following weekend, they had narrowed their choice to two awesome venues (and their choices were limited due to the guest list they came up with, which 350 people!). They wanted to compare both of their final choices with my parents, and afterwards, everyone was coming to our house for dinner.

The first to arrive at my house that day were Erin, Rob, Maura and Bobby. I thought nothing of the fact that Maura was wearing her Best Big Sister t-shirt; I had seen it before. I never noticed that Bobby had on a Big Brother t-shirt, though! Maura had to be the one to tell me that they were having a new baby!

Erin is due on October 15, so 4.5 months after our baby, and only 21 months younger than Bobby. We are so excited for them!

When the rest of my family arrived at my house, they noticed the kids' shirts right away, and the afternoon/evening was fun discussing our growing family and Kelly and Ian's wedding.

That evening, Kelly and Ian chose their location, and set a date: October 2, 2010 (Jamie's 31st birthday). We can't wait.

Of course, things slowed down a bit after mid-March, and we began to think of the many things we had to do to prepare for Baby #2.

We got our matching Britax convertible car seats (one we bought, the other my father-in-law and mother-in-law bought as a gift) for Brenna and the baby. My father-in-law got an amazing deal on them from a guy he works with. Brenna loves her new seat!

I took some belly pictures on March 18 to help document my pregnancy. My mom does not understand why pregnant people take pictures of their bare ("distorted") bellies, but I think it is so cool. It's not like I'm wearing a string bikini! I am very glad I have belly pictures from two years ago to compare with these, and I hope that in 6 months, this belly is a distant memory.

At the end of March, we worked on Brenna's new big girl room! We decided that we would keep Brenna's baby room as-is since everything is still in such good condition. We would move the baby into that room when she is born, and Brenna would move into the guest room. Ryan and Courtney took the furniture that was in that room, and Brenna got beautiful new furniture, which was our gift from my parents for Christmas. We used the money Pop in Florida gave us for Christmas to buy the mattress.

We decided to make the transition in March, since Brenna could really climb in and out of her crib at that point, and so she didn't thing the baby "took" her room and crib from her. I could have cried at the time because we were taking her out of her crib and putting her in a big bed (thus ending her days as my actual baby), but I didn't. I guess I decided not to get too emotional in March; I had plenty of days left in May for that!

And, besides, the transition really could not have been easier. Brenna really is a big girl, and I'm so proud of her these days. I can not believe how great she did in her big girl bed. We only lost her once, the second morning (she was wedged behind/under the headboard in the corner of the room). Everyday since she has stayed put in her bed, and it has been a breeze. Well, besides a few days before Easter when she was puking all over her new bed/room, and the fact that she now enjoys removing her pajama pants and diaper in the middle of the night and wetting the bed. Besides that.

Brenna is so proud of her big girl bed, and she absolutely loves having story time every night in her bed (she is one cuddly kid), instead of her rocking chair. Here are some pictures of her new room, but they were taken with at night with a flash, so the colors don't look as nice as they do in real life.

Thanks, M, for designing this canvas for us!

Uncle Ryan made Brenna dollhouse bookshelves (and she knows he did, too!). I was going to spend a lot of money on a set I found online, and Ryan said he could do it for us. He did an amazing job, and we are so grateful.