7th Annual Halloween Party ~

We had another successful Halloween party. I counted 75+ people in my backyard at one point during the party. But at the same time the night before I was a little nervous. We had some minor issues crop up last minute –

1. House was a wreck
2. The decoration were still in boxes
3. The toilet was out of order
4. Our band got in a fight and flaked out
5. Henry cried for 12 hours the day/night before
6. The kegs we ordered didn’t arrive

It was a true test of faith.

You see I don’t have time to clean, much less decorate the house with a 1-month-old that has to eat every 3 hours. So I called Martha our maid in a sheer panic asking if she could come help me out. She and her team arrived at noon the day of the party and worked their magic. My in-laws arrived about the same time and helped us decorate the house. They also helped with Henry. Problems 1 and 2 solved.

We noticed our toilet was leaking so Matt had to tear out the wood flooring, let all the baseboards dry and then replace the wood, stain it and put the toilet back in. He got the floor all fixed up but the toilet was still sitting in our backyard the morning of the party. Matt went to Home Depot four times for parts and absolutely could not get the toilet put in. It wasn’t leveling out. Who wants to sit on a rocking toilet? Matt was cussing, so I called a professional. Our plumber arrived a few hours before the party and now we have what Matt calls the “super-flusher”. Problem 3 fixed.

The band we had last year has been telling us for a year now they would play again. Jonathan, my brother-in-law and also the lead singer, even confirmed with them 2 weeks prior. Then they all decided that acoustic is no fun, they wanted to be “plugged in”. Matt and I said no. They were plenty loud last year and I didn’t want the cops coming over. I got a noise violation, Class C misdemeanor, before and it takes 6 months of probation to get that off your record. Well, come to find out, Jonathan has like 3000 songs and has DJed events before so he brought all his equipment over and kept the party entertained for hours. It was just as fabulous as the live band last year, so problem 4 resolved -- I LOVE YOU JONATHAN!

Poor, sweet Henry doesn’t like Chuy’s. Who knew? It’s my favorite restaurant. We took him there for lunch Friday. I enjoyed salsa, jalapeño ranch dip and the delicious Chuychanga with green chilis –YUMMY. About 4 pm Henry started crying and didn’t stop until around 4 am. He’s a breastfed baby and my delicious lunch gave him severe fire butt. All that crying wore him out so he slept most of the day Saturday. Guess I’ll have to watch what I eat from now on. Issue # 5 fixed.

Kegs – please kill me now. This was stressful! My neighbor’s roommate had been telling us for months that he has “the hook up on kegs”. So Matt told him exactly what to order and they agreed the 3 kegs would arrive at our house Friday before the party. All day Friday we waited and waited and no kegs. Our sweet neighbor Fred got involved and started calling around, checking on the kegs and they kept saying they are coming, they are coming. 10 am Saturday morning, still no kegs.

Now come on! How can you host a Halloween party with no beer? A dirty house, no decorations, no toilet, no music AND NOW NO BEER – I don’t cuss but F&#%!

I started calling liquor stores and they all said they have kegs but you have to order the party pack 24 hours in advance. (The party pack includes the tap which is very important.) Panic set in then the phone rang. A nearby liquor store had 3 kegs so Fred and Matt hopped in the truck and problem 6 was SOLVED. Thank God!

So how did the party go? FABULOUS!!! We had some of the most creative costumes this year. And I got to hang with all the super-fun Click Here chicks. Jonathan really had the crowd pumped up. With all of Henry’s crying the night before, I was a party pooper around midnight. So Jonathan and Matt played host until about 1:30 when everyone was left. So you see – all you have to have is a little faith and everything will work out.



CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PARTY PICS >>

Not so fabulous week ~

Well I hate to be a complainer, but this week hasn’t been so good. It all started last Thursday. Henry was particularly fussy and wasn’t napping during the day. I called the nurse and she basically said keep feeding him, maybe he’s hungry. Not helpful.

Then Friday I had to volunteer up at the church. They put me in the baby room, so I went from fussy Henry to more fussy babies. And these babies weren’t a cute 8 lbs like Henry. They were between 20 and 30 lbs. Since I had a c-section only two-and-a-half weeks prior, I really shouldn’t have been lifting these monster babies. But I did. Up and down for over 2 hours. I left the church crying…my body ached.

Saturday started out great. I sat on the couch all day and watched our Longhorns trample Colorado. But then later that night Matt was in the dog house. Let’s just say I got 2 dozen roses on Sunday.

Then Monday I woke up from a late afternoon nap with a scratchy throat. I called the doctor on Tuesday and was able to get right in. The doc said it was just sinus congestion and gave me some nasal spray and Claratin. Wednesday I woke up with laryngitis and couldn’t hardly talk. Matt took the 4 a.m. feeding last night so I got to sleep a full 7 hours – heaven!

I’m feeling a lot better today, so I’m just going to take it easy. Matt’s company is throwing a big western party on Friday, and I sure don’t wanna miss that.

Okay, enough about me. Henry is doing great! He’s 8 ½ lbs. now. He’s napping better and loves riding in the car.

Oh, and my beautiful, wonderful sister took these amazing photos of Henry. She's a great photographer. Wanna see more pictures? Click here >>

And the 7th Annual Bryarly Halloween party is quickly approaching. Check out our Halloween website >>.

Henry Update -- Week 2

Henry and I got home early afternoon on Friday after being in the hospital for about a week. I was feeling especially antsy to get out so mom and I made a mad-dash to North Park Mall late Friday night to pick up a dress to wear to Cindy’s wedding. It's crazy -- get out of the hospital Friday then go to the wedding Saturday? But these are my best friends. I was supposed to be a bridesmaid. I really didn't want to miss it. So Mel and Jonathan (sis and bro-in-law) came over on Saturday night to baby-sit. We arrived about 20 minutes late – we’re on baby time now but made it just in time to hear Tara sing the Ave Maria. Then we ran over to the reception and made it home just in time for Henry's 11:30 feeding. He slept the whole time we were gone. What an angel!

My mom stayed with us for about 5 days. She and Matt were a big help. There’s so much to do, I didn’t realize. When you spend 6 to 8 hours a day nursing; it’s hard to get things done. I'm slowly adjusting to this 3 to 4 hour feeding schedule. Henry sleeps pretty well and only cries when he’s hungry and when we’re changing his diaper. He likes to be swaddled so when we change him he gets cold and screams. He’s going to hate this cooler weather. Our old house isn’t all that energy-efficient.


Our friends Kelly and Joel from Tulsa came to stay with us the next Friday for TX/OU. That was Henry’s worst night yet. He just wouldn’t go to sleep. He's been a pretty good 3 to 4 hour sleeper but by 5 a.m., we’d only got 1 ½ hours of sleep. Finally I woke Matt up just beside myself crying. Then, not 2 minutes later, Henry was sound asleep. Important lesson: keep Henry up during the day so he will sleep well at night.

Matt calls Henry the Messiah of UT Football. Before he was born, and before football season even started, Matt said we’d beat OU and even predicted we’d go to the national championship. We’ll see…so far our horns are making us proud.