Baby Annalyn

Our sweet baby girl joined our family on Tuesday March 20, 2012. We were scheduled to be induced the next day but we are glad she came on her own.

It was snowing that morning as we left for the hospital. I didn't start having contractions until about 2:30 that morning and I wasn't sure this was the real thing until about 4am I was really afraid that I would get to the hospital and they would send me home so I waited to call my dad until about 7 that morning. He came over to watch Brynlee and we got to the hospital around 8 that morning. At this point I was already dilated to a 6 almost a 7 but there were no free rooms in the hospital.  I had to wait for an hour and then it took another hour to get an epidural. At that point I was already dilated to an 8. Two hours later and with only a few pushes my little baby was here. We named her Annalyn and she weighed 7lbs and 8oz and she is healthy, and O so beautiful. We love her so much already.

Only a few hours after we had the baby they moved us to a teeny tiny corner room. I guess they had a lot of babies born that day. It is a good thing Annalyn came early because they would probably not have been able to induce us the next day. We spent that night at the hospital and were able to go home the next day. They really wanted us to stay for one more day but we were able to convince them to let us leave early. Joel spent a few days home helping out and we have really enjoyed having this baby in our home.

We all love this baby so much. It is an amazing feeling to be responsible for such a tiny person. I was really worried about how Brynlee would react to a new baby but so far she has done great. She thinks she has to be by the baby all the time and she is constantly giving her kisses and pointing to her face while naming all of her body parts. I think they will grow up to be great friends I just can't leave them alone in the same room for a while. We are all very grateful that this new little spirit has come into our home and we can't wait to get to know her better. 

Canada

Joel spent the last week of February in Canada while Brynlee and I stayed home. He went to help his parents with a job they got putting in sisal and vinyl in some church building. His parents needed the help and Joel loves doing that kind of work. He was more than glad to help out and earn some money. They were supposed to leave at the beginning of February but things kept getting pushed back. It made me nervous to have him gone so close to when the baby was due but we were pretty confident that she would wait for him to get back. Luckily she did.

This was the longest Joel has been away since we have been married. Luckily we have lots of family around here so we were able to stay busy. Brynlee did really well the first few days but at the end of the week she was super whiney. Church was not fun without Joel. He made it home at 4:30 am last Tuesday, about a week ago. A week and one day after he left.

We are really glad Joel is back. We missed him a lot. He is such a huge help taking care of Brynlee in the evenings after he gets home from work. When Brynlee saw him in the morning she was super excited. She kept randomly giving him hugs and kisses all morning. Joel tried to sleep in but Brynlee kept running in our room to make sure dad was still there. I had to take her outside so he could sleep.

Joel worked hard on his trip but he seemed to have a good time. I wish we could have visited Canada with him. He brought home lots of Canadian candy and some pink cream soda. He lost his voice while he was there and it is just now coming back. It is good to be together again.

Facts About Brynlee

I love spending time with Brynlee and seeing her little personality grow. She is very strong willed and she knows what she wants. She is learning new things everyday and getting so big. I can't believe she will be a big sister soon. Here are just a few fun facts about Brynlee

• Brynlee is now 20 months and 2 weeks old. 
• Brynlee has 13 teeth. She has five teeth on the top and eight on the bottom. She has 4 molars.
• Brynlee's hair is long enough (barely) for a pony tail but she wont keep one in. 
• Brynlee loves to give hugs and kisses.
• Brynlee talks constantly but I can only understand one or two words in each sentence. She loves to repeat what we say and she likes to say the prayer. 
• Brynlee gets frustrated very easily and is quick to throw a temper tantrum. If she doesn't get her way she lets me know she is unhappy. One of her favorite phrases is "no way."
• Brynlee is not good at sharing and she will push other kids and scream at them if they touch something she wants. 
• Brynlee loves to sing. When she is in a good mood she walks all over the house singing songs that she makes up. She really loves going to the library for our "music and movement class." She is good at singing the songs and doing all of the actions. 
• Brynlee loves to play with play-doh and make "snakes" that hiss. The other day she rolled each one of her noodles from her macaroni and cheese on the table and pretended they were snakes. They each hissed and floated through the air before they made it into her mouth.
• Brynlee hates sitting in the cart at the grocery store. If we let her out of the cart she runs from us. This makes it hard to take her to the store. 
• Brynlee does not like going to nursery at church without mom or dad. She went fine at first but now she cries every time we try to leave.
• Brynlee still sleeps with a pacifier. We call it her soother and she calls it a "sue." Lately she has been sneaking it out of her bed and she hides in her closet so she can suck on it. She likes to run out of her room with it and show me that she has it and then she runs to hide.  

• Brynlee also cries when Joel or I go anywhere, even if we just go to the bathroom. Joel had to say the prayer at church a few weeks ago and she screamed and yelled for daddy as soon as Joel got up. I had to carry her out of the chapel while she was screaming for dad.
• Brynlee is also good at unloading the dishwasher. I can't leave it open at all or she will start to unload it, even if the dishes are dirty. She also really likes to play with the tablets that go in the dishwasher. If we leave them out she opens as many as she can and lines them up. She took a big bite out of one a few weeks ago. Luckily she spit most of it out.
• Brynlee already thinks she should be the one to drive the car. Every time we head for the car she says "wanna drive." Joel made the mistake of letting her sit in the front seat and he let her "drive" the car down the driveway and into the garage one day when he was cleaning out his truck. Now she heads straight for the driver's seat every time we get in the car and it is a huge battle to get her to sit in the car seat.
• Brynlee loves to watch videos on youtube. She could watch them all day but I usually only let her watch them every once in a while. She likes songs with actions and she sings and dances while she watches the shows. She insists on being the one to pick which songs we watch and she get really mad if I don't do the song she wants.   
• Brynlee has completely figured out how to use my mom's i-pad. She even taught my dad how to use it. The last time we were at my mom's house I put the i-pad away and went to get my shoes on. When I came back she had turned the i-pad back on and she was in the middle of putting together a puzzle. She thinks the computer should work the same way as the i-pad so it is covered with fingerprints.
• Brynlee can be super sweet and still loves to sit on my lap and cuddle with me. She can also be very busy and running all over the place. 
• Brynlee is also extremely independent. She doesn't like me to help her with much of anything. 
• Brynlee is a great helper. She throws away the garbage, puts her clothes in the dirty hamper, and helps set the table. 
• Brynlee is lots of fun to be around and I love her a lot.