Moving Pictures

This post, like many to follow, is long overdue. in the late summer I saw previews for "Tangled" and was so excited knowing immediately that this would be the first movie I took Bella to. Our first mommy/daughter date night! The movie was scheduled to be released in the middle of November so I bought a couple of the Rapunzel books and the doll thinking that if she was at least familiar with the characters and the story, she'd stand a chance to actually sit through the movie. I waited until the day before to bribe her for good behavior with promises of the "Punzel mobie". She was simply angelic those next 24 hours. So the day it was released we bought tickets for the regular screening (I knew it'd be expecting way too much for her to keep the 3D glasses on) bundled up and headed out for our big afternoon complete with a lunch and the movie.

She. did. amazing. She was giddy the entire lunch but settled pretty quickly and quietly into her seat once we got to the theater. (note to self for the future: toddler's aren't heavy enough to keep the fold-down seats down, it literally swallowed her up - much to her laughter - every time I took my foot or hand off her chair, so I need to bring a booster seat next time.) Bell was completely enamored the entire time, not so much as cracking a smile at the funny parts because she was watching too intently. In fact, each time the three teenagers next to us would laugh she would turn her body but not her eyes and "shhhh" them, it was hilarious! It wasn't until the very end of the movie when the hero is riding through the castle to save the princess that Bella started crying... so I just walked her to the aisle and we watched the rest of the movie spinning in circles so she wouldn't see the brief moments I thought may scare her. I have to say, Disney didn't disappoint at all, it was a fantastic movie! Even without the excitement of watching it with Bella, I really enjoyed the entire thing and can't wait to buy it when it's released on DVD.

When the movie ended she was in such a good mood jibbering on and on to whoever we passed on the way back to the car showing them her Rapunzel doll she brought with her from home and telling them as much about the movie as they'd patiently wait and listen to. AND as the bragging mom I couldn't help my chest from swelling a little with pride each time we were stopped and received comments about how cute she was with her curly hair and doll in hand. It was easily one of my favorite moments with her and I look forward to more special moments and memories as she's getting older. That girl, she lights up my life, quite literally.

getting ready to go...

enjoying a quick bite before the movie...

Bella's first movie? check.

"Ten Things from 2010" Photo Edition

Our Christmas family newsletter (yes, I'm one of those) but complete with pictures...

1. On March 19th Austin Lee was born at 8 lbs 8 oz and 20 inches. The newest addition to our little family quickly filled a void we didn’t know was missing and we’ve settled fairly seamlessly into a family of four.


2. Bella is a fantastic big sister to Austin – she simply loves to love on him. She's so proud of her ability to trap his attention and he's more than content giving it to her.


3. Justin and I celebrated five years of marriage with a weekend trip to Chicago. Joined by my sister, Andrea, and brother-in-law we went on a boat tour, caught a game at Wrigley Field, ate deep-dish pizza, went to the top of Sear’s Tower and spent time on Magnificent Mile shopping. No one could tell we were tourists I’m sure.


4. Bella’s vocabulary increased abundantly and we are the receiving end of her hilarious, rambunctious and independent spirit that’s newly evident through words and phrases she’s learned.

okay, no picture for this, but you can watch her sing "bringing home a bumblebee" here

5. Austin has smiled throughout each and every day he’s been alive and has blessed us with every single one of them. It’s not uncommon to get stopped when we go out from people commenting on his smile.

6. We were blessed and thankful for the opportunity to give the Lord what is His in September when we dedicated Austin at church. It was one of the first moments of truly relinquishing ownership of our child and recognizing that he is the Lord's.

((no photos of this one but the video of his dedication is here!))

7. Because we didn’t have enough on our plates, we put our house on the market two days after Austin was born. We’ve had multiple open houses and a few showings but no love from buyers. If you know someone looking, tell them to buy our house. but seriously…

this was taken the day we bought our house in March 2005

8. Acquiring the attention span to (almost) watch a full-length movie, Bell’s love of Disney Princesses has increased despite Justin’s best efforts. fine, despite mine too.

9. Bella and Dana recently enrolled in Mommy and Me gymnastics (or to Bella: “doodastics”) and it’s become the perfect outlet for her extra energy. She loves it and I love watching her obvious pride of the new tricks she learns weekly.


10. In the middle of November I left the Cleveland Cavaliers and took my talents south to Olmsted Falls, officially becoming a stay-at-home mom. A month later we’re still in the process of adapting to one another on a fulltime basis, but I’m already sure the right decision was made!

Just Another Day in the Office

Wordless Wednesday

trading this... for this...
I'm okay with it!

Me and Mama Brady

It’s been a week now since I’ve made one of the bigger decisions I’ve made to date… a choice that will affect every member of our little family. It was a pretty tough choice to make, one that I’m still secretly nervous may not end up being entirely the right choice for me personally, but I’m completely certain is the best option for my family, so ultimately it was a decision I’m happy to make. Starting November 18th I will officially be a stay at home mom.

I know this is a dream for many women to be in a place where they can afford to live on one income – we will certainly be cutting back, but thankfully are able to live solely on Justin’s salary – but personally, being a working mom has always been a pretty great dynamic for me. I worked extremely hard to make sure I could achieve my goal to work in sports and entertainment… an opportunity I knew would be hard to come by. I chased down a competitive internship at USA Basketball and applied relentlessly until my resume was finally picked up by the Cleveland Cavaliers. I landed my dream job when I was just 23 years-old and have been incredibly blessed by the opportunities I’ve had here. That’s what makes this hardest, I’ve really enjoyed what I do – and challenged myself to grow a entry level position of a coordinator to a manager.

All that said, I’m not lost under rose-colored glasses. The pay in sports is hardly anything to write home about (believe me, the professional athletes make the dollar bills, not the team behind the team – not that the Cavs are unfair, it’s like this across the board until you’re really high up and I’m not at a place where I want to dedicate myself to climbing the corporate ladder). So when you’re paying to put two kids in day care fulltime, it’s practically a wash. The hours are anything but traditional or consistent during the season, and I had it better than most.

A couple weeks ago I worked 50 hours by the end of the day on Thursday and I still had all of Friday and a quick trip back to work for a couple hours over the weekend. It was clear that it was too much for me at this point. Justin’s off work for over an hour before I get home every day as it is, so tag on the nights and early mornings I’d have to work and I can literally go days without seeing my babies for more than a kiss goodnight. These years are too short to continue down this road.

I’m not sure this is my future as a stay-at-home. I hope in the next couple years I’ll go back to school for a masters in counseling so I’ll have the same hours as my kids, and I can use some of the gifts God’s given me in an area I’ve felt called to since high school. I’m more than nervous that I’m never going to find a good network of other moms in Cleveland… I have this fear that all that’s out there are teacher-sweater moms (the ones that wear sweater vests with appliqués and poms way prematurely) and that finding new relatable mommy friends will be harder to find than a husband, but I’m up for the challenge. Not succeeding at this is simply not an option.

not a care in the world

Wordless Wednesday
just a tease from our family photo shoot last week!