Seven Quick Takes- I slept last night!

1. The part of being sick where you have to watch your kids suffer, not get any sleep, and spend a ton of money on doctor's visits and prescriptions is no fun. The part where they recover and sleep 13-14 hours at night to make up for what they lost is positively delightful. I think if I showered I might actually feel like a normal person for the first time in... weeks!

2. I swear I feed my kids, I SWEAR it. But yesterday I found Juliette face down on the ground licking up a piece of old banana. It was one of those moments that if we were in public I'd be all like, "Weeeird where is that kids mom."

See! Proof that I feed her (mashed up bananas! super healthy!) AND that she sleeps! All in one neat little photograph.

3. I've learned a new form of exercise that you don't have to leave the house or put on a DVD for. You lie back, hoist your toddler up on your legs, and pretend she is an airplane. It provides lots of entertainment and giggles and leaves your legs with a wicked burn afterwords.

4. My sister is coming in from college for her spring break so we will be heading down to my parent's house this weekend. I found a Groupon for a photo shoot at JC Penny so (yet again, because it's not like we just did this at Christmas) I can document the crud out of their younger years. I would say, "Sorry kids." but since each of them pose like they are competing for the cover of Baby Vogue so really, this is a treat for all of us! And I will be putting the pictures up on her ASAP.

5. Speaking of my sister, she currently attends Franciscan University and was asked by Stella Mariae household to be part of their lip sync by channeling her inner Taylor Swift since she is a dead ringer for the country-pop icon. If you forward to about the 4 minute 30 second mark you'll get to see her rock her part. I'm so proud of her because as an introvert being up in front of crowds is not her thing and she did an amazing job.

6. Just a friendly reminder-
I think that according to NFP and one of those nifty online due date calculators, next week might be the last week to make your efforts. But ya know, it would be pretty cool.

7. I really, really, really love my family. God is so, so incredibly good to have given me such an amazing husband and such beautiful daughters. I feel like I write this all the time but really it's that His goodness leaves me in awe every single day.

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Seven Quick Takes- A Fantastic End to the Week

1. Yesterday my lovely sister in law, Lainey got engaged to a wonderful man named Sam. We are all so excited for them and the girls are thrilled to have an Uncle Sam.

2. My sister Hannah spent the night here last night to get some quality rime with her nieces. Today we went to the mall where Madeleine got new shoes and I balloon and I got bubble bath at Lush. It was a winning trip.

3. This means I will HAVE to find time to take a bath. Most days it's a struggle to get in a shower. I suppose that is the life of a mom!

4. For Christmas I got my dad tickets to a Boston Celtics game. The last time we went to a game together was when I was Madeleine's age! I remember that they were losing and I started to cry. My dad told me if I prayer really hard that maybe they would win and so I did and THEY WON! The Celtics is something I share with my dad. We always follow the season together and so it was awesome to be there live! We had so much fun even though the Celtics lost.

5. Got to see the new Boston Bruins banner! Stanley Cup champs, heck yes!

6. There is nothing better than a baby falling asleep in your arms. It is pure heaven. I mean, I don't know how anyone can doubt the existence of God when they hold a baby. I am so completely in love with God and my children.

7. We are currently watching the pilot episode of Star Trek. Live long and prosper my friends!

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An Interesting Weekend

This weekend I visited my parents in "Stars Hollow, Connecticut". I am leaving to go back home today. Why am I here? Glad you asked! My little sister is in town!

Hannah, as well as LAUNNICK (Madeleine believes them to be one person making her understanding of the sacrament of marriage greater than most Americans), arrived early Friday morning, we are talking like 3:30, so we didn't get to see them until we woke up.

Still, the girls and I got in Thursday night waaaaay before the newlyweds and the curly blonde head so we had to find ways to entertain ourselves.

Carly had been working at a Halloween event in town and had come back with a bunch of temporary tattoos. Naturally, Carly thought it would be an awesome idea to use them on the girls so now Madeleine has a butterfly in her chubby belly and Juliette has a panda bear tramp stamp. Madeleine is very proud of her tattoo and lifts up her shirt to show it to us every ten minutes or so. And when we really tell her how pretty it looks on her she goes up to her sister and lifts up her shirt as well.

In typical fashion we spent half of Friday eating and the other half trying to figure out what to do in the evening because "Trunk or Treating" on the Town Green had been canceled due to weather. Now, I know what you are thinking. "Why were you going to something called 'Trunk or 'Treating' to begin with. That sounds like you would be walking around taking candy from strangers cars and isn't that the opposite of what we try to teach our children?" I don't know. And yes.

Saturday is when the real snowfall began. I had told my old nemisis SNOW that I refused to be put down by it this year. That it could do it's worst and I would still go out. So naturally, when the one inch it had dumped in the morning coated the street and we were trying to figure out if we should all still go shopping I laughed in the face of danger.

We got halfway there, turned around, and came home. You win this round SNOW but I will win the war.

I found out on Sunday that my power had gone out back in Massachusetts so I decided to stay the extra night here. Kyle was going to be picking up an extra shift anyway to help with the havoc the SNOW had unleashed on the airport (or more like the crazy-a people who go to the airport in the snow when their flights have been delayed or canceled just to scream at the people who work there. mess with my husband and the next time I am pregnant I WILL sit on you).

Since I was staying the extra night my mom asked if I wanted to lead Mafia at the Life Night. Since I am obsessed with crime shows (current fav, Criminal Minds. Dr. Spencer Reid. I've got a thing for tall, awkward, nerd types) I got reeeeeaaaaally into it. When it was my turn to play and someone else to lead I picked out who was in the Mafia correctly by the end of the second "night". Either I am a brilliant detective or I played waaay too much in college. I'm kind of betting the latter.

But today I am taking Elmo and Cookie Monster (or Cookie Hat as Madeleine calls the character) home to go Trick or Treating with their daddy. We miss him like CRAZY and are so excited to see him! It should be lots of fun, lots of candy, and wicked cold.

And a warning to SNOW... I'll get you next time.

Vacation all we ever wanted

So this past weekend we got the chance to put all of my travel tips to the test as we jetted off to Steubenville, OH to see out foster mother (alma mater). I'm going to be honest... we are awesome at traveling. Even going standby, using my tips made us completely efficient and relaxed. Go us!

I mean, our travel savvy awesomeness means we schooled business men traveling alone when we went through security. We were scanned, baby food and all, with our shoes on before the guy four people ahead of us had even put his laptop back in his travel bag.



Kyle was in 7th heaven because his little miss mini me Madeleine was Ob.Sessed. with the planes. This was her first trip where she was really excited to be flying. The plane we were on had two seats on each side of the aisle (my nerd husband tells me it was an Embraer 190). Kyle and Madeleine sat together on one side and Juliette and I were across from them. Juliette slept the whole time and Kyle did a photo shoot with Madeleine. Since we were on JetBlue each seat had it's own TV and I was able to watch Criminal Minds and drool over Dr. Spencer Reid in peace.




When we arrived we got settled and heading to campus to pick up Hannah. Madeleine was freaking out. All week long I had been telling her we were taking a plane to go see Lauren and Nick and Hannah so as soon as we landed she started almost chanting, "Laun! Nick! Haaaaaan!". It was 9:00 pm but no matter! Hannah thought it would be an AWESOME idea to give her some of her mocha. This lead to my two year old running around the student center screaming, "MOOOOOOOOOCHA!!!!" at 9:30 at night.

We ran into some old friends and some people we had never met before who all ohhh and ahhhed over our children and then it was time to hit the hey.

Over the weekend we stayed with Lauren and Nick, the sickeningly cute newlyweds. Lauren is the resident homemaker and has turned her house in the Steubie projects into a master piece of Martha Stewart proportions. Madeleine is obsessed with Lauren and Nick but can't seem to tell them apart. We credit this to her obvious deep understanding that when they got married they became one person. She is a theological genius.



The weekend included a very fancy type date with my adoring husband at Casbah in Pittsburgh (thanks to Andrea for the treat and my sisters and brother-in-law for baby sitting), Lord's Day with Love of the Lamb, and watching Hannah dominate at tennis.

Now, for those of you who don't know Hannah and really all you know of her is that she has great hair and you only know that from reading my blog, she is an amazing tennis play. And has an introverted phlegmatic personality. Combine those two things and you get the most entertaining tennis match you will ever see.

I would hate to play against her because not only is she good but when she is beating you she doesn't even look like she is trying. Heck, she doesn't even look like she cares. You are running around and panting and she is checking her nails and YOU GET SERVED (tennis pun intended). I was a very proud big sister.

The last noteworthy part of the trip was our adventure into the Trinintine mass with our two little Behr cubs. It went surprisingly well. It was a beautiful mass and although I prefer Novus Ordo, it was nice to switch it up. The only hitch came not from the Latin but from the incense. It sticks to be a Catholic allergic to incense because not being able to breathe does not lend itself to a prayerful and peaceful spirit.

Since we've been back we've enjoyed some time with Kyle's household brothers in the New England area. Sunday we got off our plane at 8:00 pm and drove straight to the Johnson house where I won exactly half of the Apples to Apples games I took part in (okay, it was only two). Yesterday the boys did something involving beer and today we all went to see an old, old wooden ship. I think it's called Diversity? Then the boys came back to our place and ate and drank more beer.

One more day until Kyle goes back to work. I'm not looking forward to it but I've kind of gotten the kids used to having a home and eating food so I'm thinking we may need the money to keep that all up.

Rain Suited Up

Well, the Behrend ladies are heading to Connecticut this weekend to wait out Irene. As in the storm, not the song or person. Kyle has to spend a couple of days at the airport doing damage control so he feels much safer if he knows it isn't just me, the babies, and a few flashlights.

I went out to pick up some disposable diapers to bring with me since it's not easy to use cloth with no power and "rain suited up". This meant my knee high rain boots, my water proof North Face jacket, and my rain hat. I looked adorable according the hubby but it was only drizzling at the time. I really wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

When I walked into Starbucks I got a few looks. I was the crazy girl who "rain suited up" way too early. They were all smug in their shorts and t-shirts and flip flops. Then I went into Rite Aid and by the time I got out five minutes later the sky had opened up and it was freaking pouring.

Guess who's smug now SUCKERS!

Well right now Kyle is bringing in the play house and the sand table and tying down the rocking chairs. Which really won't make too much of a difference when we get projectile pelted from all the crap on our neighbor's porch. But it really is adorable how concerned Kyle is about his girls and our little Behr cave.

I'm not looking forward to driving out to Connecticut in the rain but I am really looking forward to seeing my parents and my sister, Carly. They are heading back from dropping Hannah (the one with the awesome hair) off at Franciscan University and are really missing her. A baby Behr fix will make them feel so much better.

And if anyone is wondering, Hannah is doing very well. She made the tennis team and there are boys following her to and fro. So she is doing an excellent job of continuing the legacy. Get it girl! (And by "it" I mean your MRS degree)

That's about all I've got for today. I am praying hard for all of you who are also getting caught in the storm.

Ode to Hannah's hair

This poem is dedicated to my sister, Hannah, who has awesome hair.

Ode to Hannah's Hair

There once was a girl named Taylor Swift
Who's pretty blond curls gave her career a lift
Those perfect blond curls made her the toast of the town
But there was even better, blonder hair to be found
Much to Taylor Swift's surprise
Another young girl's hair won the prize
She couldn't afford all the best beauty supplies
But her hair was still a feast for the eyes.
Wherever this young girl would go
A group of male suitors would follow her so
All trying to prove how much they care
To the girl with the glorious, beautiful hair.
"When I go to college" the girl would share
"All of the people there will compliment my hair"
For truly she saw her hair as a gift
Because wherever she'd go people'd say, "OMG it's T Swift!"
You may say, wrongly, that this girl is quite vain
Thinking that her hair will bring her all sorts of fame.
But clearly you don't know, or maybe haven't met
My beautiful sister Hannah Juliette
For as lovely as she is in a mirror
She's even more beautiful if you look even deeper.


I love you so much Hannah and I will miss you when you go to college. Remember to Skype often. Stay close to God because he makes you even more beautiful than you already are. And always remember that my hair is naturally blonder.