Christmas, Moving, and Graduation

This last month has brought a lot of changes for our family and in a short time it fills like we accomplished a lot. The Biggest accomplishment it that Joel officially graduated from BYU-Idaho with a  degree in Construction Management. He has been going to school for the last three and a half years we have been married so it will be a whole new experience to have him be done; but it is an experience we are looking forward to. We are all really proud of all of his hard work.

Joel's graduation was on the 16th of December, at 8pm on a Friday night. He had a final earlier that same day and then left at 4:30 for the first part of graduation. His family and my family all came down for the occasion and I really appreciated their help. Especially since we kept Brynlee up way past her bedtime so she could watch her dad graduate. 

Joel really didn't get a break because the next morning we woke up and Joel loaded all of our stuff down the three flights of stairs. We had lots of help from family so we were done before lunchtime but it was a lot of work. I spent the two weeks previous packing and we spent the next few hours cleaning so that we could leave. My sister Alesha rode in the car with Brynlee and me to keep Brynlee entertained for the 4 and a half hour drive to Boise (although Alesha slept for most of the car ride) and Joel pulled the trailer with his dad's truck. We pulled into my grandma's house around dinnertime that night and we stayed there while we looked for a house to live in. 

We didn't find a place to live until Monday and the house wasn't ready to move into until late Tuesday night. Joel and several of the family came over to help get things moved in and we spent all day Wednesday unpacking. We also went to the ward Christmas party that night. Right before we left Brynlee scared us by walking in with blood all over her face. Turns out that she found one of her dad's razors and managed to cut up her face pretty good. Luckily the injury wasn't worse than it was but it sure scared us. 

Brynlee helping to unpack

On Thursday Joel went out and bought a Christmas tree and found all of our Christmas decorations. We decorated for Christmas and we went and finished all of our Christmas shopping. On our shopping trip we determined that Brynlee is not fun to shop with. Brynlee loved the tree so I am glad we put it up. She thought all of the decorations were for her to play with and I am still finding them all over the house. 

Me and Brynlee in front of the Christmas tree. Almost 28 weeks pregnant.

Playing with the Christmas decorations. Notice the cut on her face from her first attempt at shaving. 

Friday we spent more time unpacking. We spent Saturday, Christmas Eve, with Joel's family. We ate tacos and went caroling.  We spent Christmas day with my family unwrapping presents and eating a ham and turkey dinner. It was fun to be with family and to remember the birth of our Savior. We all got great gifts and had a great Christmas. I was especially excited about my new camera that my dad gave me. He got a new one so I got to inherit the old one. 

Brynlee showing off one of her Christmas presents. She pushes all kinds of things around in this stroller.

Now that Christmas is over Brynlee and I are settling into a new routine in our new house and Joel has started working on the farm. We are glad things are starting to settle down because that move and everything was really stressful. Joel is still hoping for a job in the construction field but for now we want to stay here at least until after we have the baby. It is so nice to have family around and I am going to the same doctor that delivered Brynlee. Later Joel will look harder for a job so who knows where life will take us. For now we are excited about where we are and we are just taking things one day at a time.  

Eighteen Months

Brynlee has officially turned 18 months old. She weighs 23.8 pounds and is 32.5 in. long. She is constantly surprising me with the things she can say and with what she can do. She can say several phrases and she can repeat almost anything I say. I can's always understand her but she talks a lot. She really is an independent little toddler. Lately she wants to do more and more things all by herself. Here is just a quick update of some things about Brynlee.

Brynlee loves to sing songs, play with her dolls, and she thinks it is fun to sit on the potty chair. She has actually used the potty a few times so that she can get candy and she likes to put each of her dolls and stuffed animals on the potty so she can clap for them.

Brynlee also loves to help me and we spend a lot of time cooking and cleaning together. Brynlee thinks it is lots of fun. She is good at putting the clothes in the dryer, taking the silverware out of the dishwasher, and her favorite thing is to use the dust pan when I sweep. When we cook she likes to mix things and dish stuff into separate bowls. Everything takes a lot longer with her help and she makes a mess when she helps to cook but I love that she wants to help and I don't mind letting her.

I love that she put almost all of the macaroni in her bowl. 

In other news, Brynlee finally has some more teeth. She has four teeth on the bottom and a few weeks ago she got one on the top (her right front middle). The next day she got another tooth on the top but she is still missing her top left middle tooth.

She wouldn't let me get a good picture of her mouth but you can see her top teeth. 

Brynlee is so fun and I love her a lot. She has made moving a lot harder these past few weeks. She loves to play with ribbons, string, or tape measures and she has found a lot of them to play with. She loves to fill up the boxes and push them around the house but she freaks out if the boxes get stuck and she can't move them. Every room I go into Brynlee will follow me and make a pile of all of her toys. She loves to build with her legos and play with dad's boots. Lately she has been really into blankets. She loves it when dad wraps her up and carries her to church and she cries when he takes the blanket off. I love this girls so much.

She found a cassette tape and discovered that they have ribbon in them.

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving week was lots of fun. We left for Boise on Monday night before Thanksgiving and Joel woke up early the next morning to drive to Washington with my dad and brother. My grandpa had a tractor he gave my dad and Joel went to help him get it. I really wanted to go too but it is a 9 hour drive and they drove straight there and then back. Brynlee doesn't do well in the car and I would have been very uncomfortable having to sit for so long. I decided to stay with my mom and grandma. My sister and my cousin and her family went to Washington too but they drove their own vehicle. Joel got to meet my grandpa (on my dad's side) for the first time. It was a long and quick trip but I think he had fun and he was back by Wednesday night. While he was gone I got to help get ready for Thanksgiving dinner. We had lots of people over so my grandma made eleven pies.

I love these two so much. 

For the rest of the week we did some puzzles, played games, talked to family, went shopping, and enjoyed lots of great food. It was great to be able to reflect on all of the blessing in my life and to think about all I am thankful for. Having Joel gone for a few days made me rally appreciate him. I am also grateful for my wonderful family, for my beautiful daughter, and for my Savior. I am glad for the opportunities we have to visit family. It was a great week. We really do feel so blessed. The only bad part about the week is that Brynlee and I both got colds. Hopefully they wont last long and Joel wont get it too.

It's Autumn Time

This year fall in Rexburg started out really nice. On the first of October Brynlee and I spent the day outside in t-shirts catching bugs and playing with bubbles. 

And then on the 6th of October it snowed quite a bit. Brynlee was not a fan of the snow. The wind was just blowing so hard it was really cold. Since then we have had some days that have been really nice and we have been able to play outside with just a light jacket on and there have been other days that it is too cold to even leave the house.  Lately there are more cold days than anything. 

Brynlee has been really ingenious at coming up with things to keep herself busy on the days we are stuck inside. She loves to dress up in mom and dad's clothes and she is constantly making piles of toys and nicknacks all around the house. She loves to read books, although she won't sit still for an entire story. In the middle of the book she gets up and leaves and then brings me another book to read. She also loves to sing songs. Our favorite part of the day is when dad is home. Brynlee loves to wrestle with dad, they play blocks together, and he builds the best tents.

Here is a short video of us singing some of our favorite songs. 

It's a...

GIRL!

At my doctor's appointment yesterday they did an ultrasound and we found out that we are having another little girl. We are way excited. I think it will be lots of fun to watch Brynlee interact with a little sister. Plus we don't have to buy this baby a whole new wardrobe. Joel was excited to be having a girl to. We plan on having more kids so he said he didn't mind waiting for a boy. 

The baby looks healthy and was moving all over the place. At first we didn't think we were going to get to find out the gender, but at the last second she gave us a brief glance. If this baby is anything like Brynlee we will get a run for our money but I would be really happy. 

Brynlee as a newborn

Brynlee's Favorite Game

A few months ago I taught Brynlee how to play Ring Around the Rosie and now we can't play it enough. Brynlee loves this game. She is constantly walking around the house, usually going in circles, singing "Ashes, Ashes, Down." Then she falls to the ground. She is always trying to grab my hands and get me to come play with her. Lately she has started to play with her baby dolls or her stuffed animals. 

Won't she make a great big sister? Lately Brynlee and her Uncle Brian invented a new way to play the game. We all love it when Brian comes over because he likes to play with Brynlee and he is good at keeping her entertained. 

Trick-or-Treat

For Halloween this year we all went trick-or-treating. We dressed Brynlee as a spider and took her outside. We tried to get Brynlee to say trick or treat all week and she would just tell us no. We had a few trick or treaters at our apartment right before we left. We were surprised that anyone would walk up three flights of stairs for candy but we had some candy to give away. Once Brynlee saw these kids outside though, it totally motivated her to go and when Joel told her she had to say trick or treat if she wanted to go she was all over it. (Although it was more like "Ti o Tee") 

Brynlee rode in the stroller to the first house but insisted on walking the rest of the night. She loved watching all of the other kids and seeing all of the pumpkins and decorations. The whole night she was in awe of what was going on. At each house she would walk to the door, knock, say trick or treat, and then freeze once the door opened. A few times she waved goodbye or would say thank you and several times she tried to get more candy from the person. "More" she would ask. A few times it even worked. A few times she tried to walk into the house, especially when she could hear a dog barking.  We made it down one street and back but it took quite a while so then we were done. We stopped by the church for our ward FHE Halloween party where we got lots more candy and then we headed home.  

Brynlee got lots of candy. We dumped the bag out when we got home so we could check everything. Brynlee kept trying to pick up as much candy as she could. Joel tried to eat a piece and she got really mad at him. Eventually she gave him a piece of candy and we put Brynlee to bed. 

It was a great and fun day. Once Brynlee was in bed Joel ate lots of Brynlee's candy. I had to hide it from him. 

Pumpkin Carving

Ever since we brought a pumpkin home Brynlee has been obsessed with them. She points them out every time we see one. On Saturday we finally showed Brynlee what people actually do with pumpkins. We carved a nice face in them. At first Brynlee was very curious about what was going on. 

Once dad pulled off the lid Brynlee backed way back.

Eventually she came in for a closer look. 

She watched dad clean the pumpkin a little bit. 

And then she got right in there and helped. 

She loved pumpkin carving. 

Here is a little video of Brynlee cleaning out the pumpkin.

Here is the finished product. Joel made ears and eyebrows for the pumpkin but Brynlee kept pulling them out.  They only lasted for a few days before Brynlee took out an ear and took a bite out of it. She didn't try to eat anything else but I guess the ear looked good. Luckily she spit it out. 

Fun Day

Brynlee and I love to play on the computer. Brynlee especially likes to watch herself while we listen to music. Here is a short video of me and Brynlee watching ourselves on the computer. 

P.S. Our trip to Boise was a LOT of fun. I love getting to see my family. 

What a Week

So far this has been a really long week. It started on Sunday with Brynlee only taking a short 20 minute nap at church. We had some family over for dinner and even lots more family over to celebrate Joel's birthday with us. We bought an ice cream cake but I forgot the candles. I guess Joel really wanted candles on his cake because the next thing I knew he had one of my scented candles in the microwave and he cut up one of my hair ties (thanks Joel) so he could make his own. One of them actually worked. We had a fun night of cake and games.

As soon as everyone left we put Brynlee right to bed. I have never seen Brynlee that grouchy. Almost as soon as we went to bed, we were awaken to the sounds of Brynlee throwing up. This happened throughout the night so we didn't get any sleep. I kept having to change her clothes, or her sheets.  On monday morning she seemed to be much better. She was running around and making all kinds of messes. I was just glad it was a short bug.

Tuesday was Joel's real birthday. We spent the morning at the doctors for a check up on baby number two. They also gave me the flu shot while I was there. As of Yesterday I am 17 weeks pregnant and baby looks healthy and has a good strong heartbeat. We find out if it is a boy or girl on the 3rd of November and baby is due on March 22nd. We are all pretty excited.

After the doctor's appointment Joel had to go to school. Brynlee and I went to the store to buy him some presents. We came home and wrapped everything, I made Joel a cake, and then I felt so sick I couldn't even get off of the couch. I got whatever Brynlee had and felt miserable. I just let Brynlee terrorize the house and she did a good job of making a huge mess. When Joel came home he had to make his own dinner, eat a piece of cake alone with Brynlee, and he brought the gifts in the bedroom so I could watch him open them. Then he spent the rest of the night taking care of Brynlee and doing homework.

On Wednesday I felt much better but I still had no energy. Later that day, Joel came home early from class with the same sickness we had. He spent the rest of the day in bed but he felt much better by dinnertime. He didn't get near as sick as I did. He felt completely better On Thursday and was able to go to all of his classes. We finally got to put some real candles in the last piece of cake and sing happy birthday to Joel that night. Now it is Friday and we are getting all packed and ready to go to Boise for the weekend. My grandpa and Uncle are there from Texas and I haven't seen them in almost four years. I am really excited to get to visit with them and my family is always excited to see Brynlee. This should be a good weekend which will make up for our crazy week.

Fifteen Months

This girl turned 15 months a few weeks ago. 

At Brynlee's 15 month check up she weighed 21.1 lbs. (23%) and she was 32 in. (91%) tall. She grew almost 3 inches in 3 months.  

Brynlee loves to play outside. She loves dirt, mud, and bugs. She is good at blowing bubbles and loves to play with them. Nowadays she is really fast and runs everywhere. She is extremely independent and wants to do everything by herself. She also wants to be included in everything we are doing. She is good at helping us load the dishwasher and make dinner. 

Brynlee only has two teeth (the bottom ones) in her mouth but she is finally starting to grow some more hair. She says new words everyday. Some of the words she can say include... thank you, please, what, more, bite, dog, kitty, cow, bug, nose, mouth, eye, belly, go, down, bath, no, wee, bubble, mommy, daddy, and Joel (Joel was not happy about this one so now I can only call him dad in front of Brynlee). She can say several other words and has even said a few small phrases.

Brynlee can be very sweet and loving but she also has a temper. Lately she has not been fun to take anywhere because she doesn't like to sit still for long. Lately her tantrums include throwing herself on the ground with loud screaming and kicking. She throws several of these fits a day. She is just a very busy  little girl. 

Overall, Brynlee is a happy, healthy, active 15 month old little girl and we are very glad she is in our family.