Athena and her Chicks

This requires a closer look.

Oooooh. That's cute. I wanna tickle it.

Kitchy kitchy koo!!

It started out innocent enough. Chick in an Easter basket.

Then we thought, "Hey, this chick would totally fit in Athena's Barbie car."

And it should dine at Cafe Athena with Ken.

See? It loves it.

Then it relaxed in a comfy chair with Barbie.

Have a good nap, chickies!

Athena's first live show - Sesame Street Live

Patiently awaiting Elmo's arrival.

Show begins.
Baby is hypnotized.

It was super fun. We've never taken her to anything like this before. We went with Annabelle and her parents, who had generously given us the tickets.

Athena goes to a birthday bash

Swinging with her Papa. She couldn't be happier.

She had no fear. Some of these slides were HUGE.


Athena's cousin Micah. He's the birthday boy!

Micah's super cute (and super tasty) cake.

She loves Jay Z. She actually said "Jigga jigga bounce with me."

They should have called the slides "SUPER FAST BABY CANNONS."

Lights Before Christmas Show - Toledo Zoo

She LOVED it!

It was Athena's and my first time visiting the lights at the zoo. I can't believe I've never gone before! She never got bored or cold, and we visited everything. The lights with the music were her favorite. We sat there for a super long time munching on soft pretzels and hot chocolate.

We highly recommend going!!

SO proud of my new boots

New Uggs!

I had gotten these for Athena for Christmas. She caught me checking them out when they came in the mail and FLIPPED OUT AND NEEDED THEM ON RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! So she got them and hopped up on the table to show them off. She'd sleep in them if I let her.

It's a big deal in the Brocus house

For some time now Athena has been 110% against the idea of using the potty. We're talking kicking and screaming against the potty. So we were pretty stoked when she started wanting to watch US go "pee pee" and even more excited when she wanted to start hanging out on the potty.

Over the weekend, while thumbing through a Rolling Stone, she peed on the potty. 'Twas a proud moment :)

We still can't push the issue with her, but she's MUCH more open to negotiations.

All the Single Ladies - A tribute by Athena

Have you ever heard a better singing voice?

The butt slapping segment is second to none.

Why I don't have time for real cleaning:

Trick or Treat!

O-H-I-O! GOOOOO BUCKS!

Proudly posing with her pumpkin.

Witchy-poo.

Athena is a makeup artist too!

Athena the athlete

She's got her game face on.

Athena can do chores :)

Helping it get under the cupboards

Here she is making sure it gets under the couch.

(No one in this house has EVER swept under the couch.)

So the Brocus household loves the Roomba. We can see where it wouldn't be for everyone as it certainly isn't perfect... but it's a whole lot better than the job any of us are doing!

Athena's CRAZY fear of vacuums makes it impossible to sweep, but her love of the Roomba has given us the cleanest floor we've had in ages. PLUS she turns it on, monitors it herself, and helps it by Swiffer-ing! Athena can have an actual chore now! She's totally in charge of the floor.

As it dutifully went under the couch to clean, even hard-to-impress Louis said "That thing is awesome."

I'm sure you can understand why I've called her Mommy!

Easy mistake, right??
My cousin Brittany and me.

Ashley and baby Daisy, Mommy, Me, and Brittany.
Daisy and me talking about crippets.

Athena as photographed by Brittany

LOVELY visit with the California cousins

Annabelle turns Athena into a hugger...

Subtitle: Hug it out

"Wanna hug? C'mon. It won't hurt."

"OK, I'll try... but only because you're my BFF."

"See? It's not so bad!"

So they hugged...

And hugged...

And hugged.

Is that enough cuteness for one day?

Ooooooooh! Crippet!

Athena and Lila

Here Lila is putting her arm around her cousin for a photo op.

Athena LOVED tickling her coot widdle footsies. (Who wouldn't?)

Athena and her Dad can TOTALLY handle everything.