Sweet Black Lab...anyone?

Oh FUN - the new blog is up and going! I hope you like our new design! :)

And, if you haven't heard I am trying to find a home for a sweet black lab we found yesterday in east Pittsburg. Please email me sammiedawn1978@yahoo.com if you know of anyone interested in this sweet boy. He's at the Joplin Humane Society now because Olivia doesn't make friends with other dogs, but sadly they are NOT a no-kill shelter and I am desperate to find him a home. He would make a wonderful family dog!

End of Summer Party...

Tonight we took the kids to the country club for an end of summer Labor Day party. The pool was open but only crazy tweens were in there...all blue and shivering. We opted for enjoying the food, bounce house and "rockin" DJ. :) Enjoy the pictures.

PS - the blog is getting a WHOLE NEW LOOK! Watch for fun changes coming soon! :)

Give Momma your Miss America wave girls...

So those of you who know me well, know my little secret about pageants. You don't know? Well, we should get to know one another better if you are ready our family blog. :)

Before I proceed, I want to make it known that I AM TOTALLY AGAINST the full glitz professional pageants where crazy mothers live vicariously through their ridiculously made-up daughters who are transformed from sweet, little five year old girls to scary-looking 25 year old mini-hoochies. Can I write "hoochie" on a family blog? Anywho... I do not like what those pageants represent and the message they send to young women so you will never see me entering my girls into anything that calls for fake teeth or eyelashes. Geesh...

So with all that clarified, the girls entered their first little "pageant" today at Pittsburg's Little Balkans Day Baby Contest (this is big-time of course and our next step will obviously be Miss America). Naomi Grace wowed the crowd with her big blue eyes and wrinkled nose grin and won 2nd place for the 6-12 month division. Natalie Dawn flashed one cute grin and then buried her face in her hands and would only peek out to see the judges. But her bashful routine must have won them over because she placed 3rd for the 24-36 month division even though I am surprised they ever saw much of her face. Naomi could care less of course, but Natalie was pumped to have a trophy to take home. She plans to sleep with it she said. Momma doesn't think so.

Of course being a former natural pageant girl (meaning no make-up for the little ones and minimal for teens) with an emphasis on public service (i.e. I want to save all homeless black dogs) and scholarship, it is only fitting that I have my daughters enjoy the fun that I once knew. I am sure in a year Natalie will laugh in my face from the tree she is climbing when I ask if she wants to do a pageant, but for now...she's my captive audience and little sister Naomi is along for the ride. Enjoy the pictures of my little beauties. :)

My dear children, may I introduce to you...

one of the most highly-aclaimed and thought-provoking films of the 1990's. This film was heralded as one of the holiday season's best in 1990, being nominated for two Oscars and one Golden Globe.

Yes, that's right, tonight my kids are watching...



for the first time ever. Oh the joys of being a parent! Brings a tear to the eye to get to be the one to introduce my little brood to such classic cinematic genius.



Disclaimer so that you sleep tonight: Only a CRAZY parent would leave on a trip with one of their children still at home. Mommy and Daddy would never do that...but with that said, if you ever see us loading the van up with luggage...just be sure to jump in and get in your carseat for good measure.

Dear Schwan's delivery driver...

thank you for bringing me food right to my door tonight. You see tonight I was dealing with a Kindergartner who was SUPER tired and cranky after his first four full days of school, a 2 year old WORN OUT from her second day of preschool (and who just likes being dramatic) and a baby who received THREE shots and TWO finger pricks at her 12 month appointment....yes, today of all days, I needed you.


Here are a few shots of happier times...


Nicholas meeting new friends at Kindergarten


Natalie and her cubby (all grins at this point)


Naomi pre-shots


and just for sympathy's sake...Naomi post-shots

Life is so busy...we haven't had time to blog about it!

Whew - the past week has really been busy around here, which brings me to why you haven't heard from me online! I usually think about what I would like to blog about throughout the day, but don't seem to find the time to sit down and do it as often as I woudl like. So, this blog will have the highlights that I meant to chronicle daily...but haven't.



First of all - Naomi Grace turned ONE on August 24th. Hard to believe my "baby" has moved from the baby-stage into the toddler-stage. She had a great pool party with several family members celebrating with us and she almost showed off her new trick of trying to walk. She took her first two steps the night before her birthday and I honestly think she would walk across the room if she wouldn't think about what she was doing. She gets too concentrated and then falls down on her rear. I am not wishing the time away and don't want her to grow-up any faster than necessary, but I am looking forward to her being on two feet as opposed to all fours crawling...just for the sake of cleanliness. Our baby girl just lights up our world with her precious smile and we have been so blessed by having her in our lives this year.



Potty-training with Natalie has gone remarkably well. She has such a mind of her own but thankfully it appears that she has made up her mind to use the potty. She had an accident-free day yesterday (and told us when she had to go) and so far today has been accident-free and also telling me when she needs to go. She is doing GREAT and loves her big-girl underwear. She also loves chocolate candy and I think the combination of M&M's and Princess underwear has really done the trick for her. She has earned herself a princess Barbie doll for all her efforts and has been telling us what a big girl she is every 5 minutes or so.



Nichoas has some VERY BIG NEWS! He is a KINDERGARTEN student now! We had made the decision because he is a July boy to hold him back a year and start K next year. We had him enrolled in a Peer Model classroom at The Center here in Pittsburg where he was suppose to be a role model kid in a class that was mixed with normal functioning kids and kids with special-needs. We thought this would be great for him but when we realized at Orientation last week that the other kids in his class were mainly 3 year olds, we decided that wasn't the best option for him. We were afraid with such an age difference that he would regress and not feel stretched to learn more. So on Friday we checked out our Kindergarten options and decided on the public school near our house - George Nettels Elementary. This morning when Momma woke him up and asked him if he knew what today was, he popped right up and said "YES, KINDERGARTEN!" He was pumped. The picture above is of Nicholas with his teacher Mrs. Sours. When Momma and Daddy left his room at school he wasn't even looking to make sure we were still there...he was off with Andrew (our neighbor who is also in his class) meeting new friends. It was probably a harder day for Momma...realizing my oldest baby is growing faster than I thought possible. It seems like just yesterday when I held him for the first time and he fit snuggly in my arms. Now he's waving good-bye on his first day of Kindergarten...and I would be lying if I said I didn't have tears in my eyes as I finish this post. :) I know you other Momma's understand...

I will *try* to update tomorrow with all the great insights and things he tells me that he learned on his first day of school. I am sure it will be a HOOT!

Let's make a deal!

There seems to be a lot of "deal-making" going on around the Brueggemann home right now. Let me fill you in.


Last week we started potty-training Natalie more seriously. By serious I mean that we are stripping her down naked or putting her big girl undies on and giving her as much juice and milk as possible so she pees a lot. Of course this involves the acceptance of puddles but I keep her on the hardwoods or tile for the most part and so far no accidents on the carpet! This strategy worked wonders with Nicholas and we seem to be having good luck with Natalie too...stay tuned for more on that. Of course like any self-respecting parent, we have rewards for actually putting pee and poo in the potty...which brings me to the topic of this post.

The organization freak in me has devised a "pay-out scale" for potty-training and it goes like this:

1. Natalie pees in the potty upon adult's request = 1 M&M.
2. Natalie pees in the potty after telling an adult she needs to go = 2 M&M's
3. Natalie poos in the potty (regardless of who initiated it) = 2 M&M's

Well, that has been working well over the course of the past several days however I am now realizing that Natalie has caught on to the pay-out scale and is in the market to play "deal or no deal" when it comes to using the potty.

Here's our latest example:

Momma: "Ok, Natalie let's go use the potty."
Natalie: "Hmmmm, 2 M&M's?"
Momma: "No, that's only if Natalie says she needs to go potty."
Natalie: "Oh, ok. No potty."
Momma: "Well, no chocolate."
Natalie: "Ok, Natalie go potty."
Momma: "Wonderful."
Natalie proceeds to use the potty...
Momma: "Great job, here is your M&M."
Natalie: "No, TWO M&M's..."
Momma: "No, Mommy brought it up."
Natalie: "No, Natalie did. Natalie say go potty."
Momma: "Grrrrr..."


Another example of deal-making happened last night with Nicholas. We were reading Tom Sawyer and we read about how his Auntie pulled his tooth. This subject worries Nicholas a great deal because the idea of one of his teeth coming out isn't pleasant at all. We have told him about the tooth fairy and we reiterated this last night. Our sensitive Nicholas looked scared to death so we said that the great thing about losing a tooth is that you get some money from the tooth fairy. Our conversation went like this:

Daddy: "It's great because when you lose a tooth the tooth fairy brings you money in exchange for the tooth."
Nicholas: "Did the tooth fairy bring you money?"
Daddy: "Yes, she sure did!"
Nicholas: "How much?"
Daddy: "Oh, I think about $0.50 a tooth."
Nicholas does not look pleased. He can smell a rotten deal...
Momma (seeing that he isn't thinking that sounds worth it): "Well, there's been inflation and teeth are worth more these days."
Nicholas: "How much are they worth now?"
Daddy: "Oh, I would say about $2."
Nicholas: "Or maybe $3 or $4 Daddy."