We'll Laugh About it Someday

I love Brynlee a lot and I really love all of her personality, but lately it has gotten her into lots of trouble. Just recently she has colored all over her arms and legs with a permanent marker, gotten toothpaste all over her church dress as we were ready to leave for church, and she purposely dumped her bowl of cereal on the floor and stepped in it. Lately one of her most used words has been sorry. She will walk up to me, pinch me, and then kiss the spot she pinched and say "sorry mommy, sorry." Needless to say she has been spending a lot of time in time out.

Brynlee loves to help me do things and she is a pretty good little helper. The other day we were at grandma's house and Brynlee was helping grandma mix up a juice. She was doing a really good job at stirring it. I went to pick up the baby and I came over to check on Brynlee right as she took a sponge that was sitting on the sink and threw it in the juice. I quickly pulled it out and made Brynlee get down from helping. Grandma was amazed that Brynlee got that in there so quick. She only left Brynlee alone for a few seconds. Luckily I got the sponge out of there really quickly and it was a new sponge. Grandma and I both still debated if we should drink the juice. Grandma stirred the juice and then just looked at me and said, "oh no, there is no way we can drink this." At the bottom of the juice we discovered one of those steel wool sponge things. We ended up dumping out the entire pitcher of juice and starting over. This time Brynlee didn't get to help. 

Yesterday was a busy day and when dinner time came around I got out a frozen pizza, preheated the oven and then I had to stop and feed Annalyn. Brynlee was playing with some toys for a while but suddenly things got really quiet. When I went to go check on Brynlee I found that she had pulled a chair up to the pizza, gotten out a can of baby formula and coated half of our pizza in baby formula. I just gasped and Brynlee looked up at me with a huge grin on her face. "Look mom, I make a pizza." After I snapped a picture of her I inspected our pizza to see if it was still edible. I figured since it was still frozen the formula couldn't really hurt it. I washed off all of the pepperoni's, shook as much of the formula off as I could, rinsed the rest of it off under the sink, and then I cooked it in the oven. It actually tasted just fine. Joel couldn't tell there was anything wrong with it. I told him what happened half way through his first slice of pizza and it didn't stop him from eating more. Yup, I love my daughter. 

Four Months

It's true. Miss Annalyn is already four months old and she is getting big. I am really starting to see her little personality shine through. She is such a happy and easy baby. She has got really nice chubby cheeks, chubby legs, and chubby arms. She is quick to smile at you as soon as you talk to her. She still has pretty blue eyes and some of her dark baby hair. Her hair is getting thinner and her bald spot is getting bigger in the back but she has way more hair than Brynlee had at this age. Here are a few more things about Annalyn. 

Weight: 15lbs 1oz (71.14%)
Height: 25 3/4 in. (94.7%)
Favorite things to do: Be held, lay on her back and kick her legs, sit up, watch things around her, chew on her finger, smile, "talk" to people, eat, and sleep

Annalyn still gets fussy every once in a while and can scream really loudly but is usually happy. She is sleeping through the night, eating well and can almost roll from her back to her belly. She did it once but hasn't done it again. She really wants to sit up and tries really hard to sit when I set her down. She also likes to stand on my lap. She locks her knees really well and will just stand there for a long time. She can scoot all over the place when I put her on her back on the floor. She just puts her little legs under hur bum and then pushes. She also loves to hold her feet and make all kinds of noises. She gets picked on by her big sister a lot but she just takes it all in stride. We sure do love this little girl. 

My Two Year Old

Miss Brynlee has been two for almost a month now. Brynlee has definitely gained her own personality and she is quick to let me know what she wants. Here is a list of some things about Brynlee.

Weight - 28.4 lbs (68%)
Height - 35 in. (81%)
Shoe Size - 7 Clothes are 3T
Teeth: Last top middle left tooth is finally breaking through and she is working on four more molars in the back. Her teeth took forever to come in.
Favorite Color - changes daily. Today it is orange.
Favorite Sno Cone Flavor - Rainbow
Favorite Foods - candy, ice cream cones, and anything sweet. She also likes grilled cheese sandwiches and pizza. Other than that the things she likes changes daily. For the most part she is still a good little eater.
Favorite Things to do - Play outside. She loves to play in the sandbox, jump on the trampoline, and swing. She likes to organize things, and she loves to play with animals. She loves rocking in the rocking chair and cuddling with mom and dad, She also loves watching youtube videos and home videos of herself with the video camera.
Favorite Songs - "Twinkle Star""Spider up the Waterspout" "Child of God" and "Sunbeam"
Favorite Toys - baby dolls, stuffed animals, blocks, play doh, and small knickknacks.
Favorite Games - Hide and Go Seek, and Duck Duck Goose  
Things She's Scared of - Falling. She woke up in the middle of the night a few times crying that she didn't want to fall.
Words She Says - Brynlee talks a lot and she is a singer. She says most words pretty well and she can talk in complete sentences. She will often refer to herself in third person. She says stuff like "It's Blee's turn." Here are some of the words that are harder to decipher. Alesha "she shuh," Grandma/Grandpa "Pa," Book "Bookt," chicken coop "Chicken  poop," swimming suit, "foup." She still likes to call her dad Joel. Probably because she knows it makes him mad. She knows most of her colors, some shapes, she can count to 10, and she can sing the ABC's.

Some more fun facts about Brynlee:

She loves to play with her little sister. She thinks changing diapers is lots of fun and always tries to help mom. She has been know to undress Annalyn and take off her diaper.

Brynlee sleeps in her big girl bed at night and has for a while. She still sleeps with her soother, her sea horse that plays music, at least one or two babies/stuffed animals, and the fan blowing right on her face. 

 Brynlee usually tells me when she needs to go to the bathroom but I only have about two seconds to put her on the potty chair. She thinks she is pooping every time she goes and usually announces it to everyone. She will also let you know if "it was just a fart."

She finally goes to nursery without crying.  

If she want help doing something she just grabs someone's hand and pulls it until they come with her. 

Brynlee can be super sweet but she also has a terrible temper and is extremely stubborn. She likes to scream, run from us, and lately she has started hitting.  

Brynlee is a good climber and she cannot sit still for long. 

Brynlee has brought lots of happiness to our family. We love this girl a lot. 

Family Reunion

We spent the weekend up in McCall with all of Joel's family for our family reunion. We had some nice cabins to sleep in and there was lots of things to do. Brynlee had a blast watching all of her cousins catch frogs and she played with the puppies that were there. Joel and I went on a hike, played some games and just got to enjoy talking and catching up with family. It was a great time and a much needed break for all of us. Joel has a great family.

When we got back from the cabin Joel's sister saddled up her horses and all of the family that was still here went for to ride. Brynlee loved it! We have a little cowgirl. She could have rode that horse all day. Her favorite person to ride with was aunt Joanna. It was a fun week and we are sad to see the family leave.

Independence Day

 We had a fun day yesterday celebrating our independence. We went to the parade in Melba to start off the day. Brynlee had a blast playing with all of her cousins and she loved eating the candy, however she really didn't care that much about getting the candy. She got pelted with a hard piece of candy right after the parade started so I think that made her a little scared to get off of my sister Alesha's lap. She sat on her lap almost the whole time but she still managed to get lots of candy because my mom collected it for her. Annalyn fell asleep as soon as the parade started. She woke up a few times when the sirens went off and we got sprayed with water, but then she went right back to sleep. 

After the parade we went home so Brynlee could take a nap. Then we went to my parents house for dinner followed by food around the campfire at Joel's brother Jake's house. We stayed there to watch the fireworks. Brynlee liked them a lot. Both kids fell asleep in the car. It was a fun day. We really are grateful to live in the United States. 

The Month of June

I have been terrible at writing in my journal lately so I figured I would just write about what we did this last month on my blog. Last month was full of lots of fun stuff. My aunt and her family came up from Texas for a visit and they got to stay for a few weeks. It was lots of fun just to talk and catch up with their lives. While they were here we spent one day up camping with them. They rented a whole campground up in the mountains and stayed for two nights. We slept in a tent last year with Brynlee and none of us got any sleep so instead we just stayed for the day and went home to sleep in our own beds. We went fishing, did some crafts, made s'mores, went for a hike, and enjoyed the day outside. 

 We also celebrated Brynlee's second birthday and Father's Day in June. We made Joel breakfast in bed for Father's Day but I think the thing he enjoyed the most was getting to sleep in. He really is a great father. 

We also went to the pool to go swimming and we spent a day at the zoo. Brynlee loves the water but the pool was so crowded we could barely swim. I couldn't find my camera at the zoo so I don't have any pictures but Brynlee loved seeing all of the animals. Our favorite thing was walking with all of the butterflies. The only bad part about going to the zoo was that Annalyn absolutely refused to take the bottle I brought for her and she was screaming to be fed. The last few times I gave her a bottle she took it without any problems. I just had to find a bench and nurse her. 

The rest of June was spent playing outside, taking care of our chickens, and trying to stay cool. Brynlee and Joel both got the stomach flu and were sick for several days but luckily the baby and I didn't get it. Although I think the baby may have had a minor case of the virus.

Brynlee holding her favorite chicken.  She likes the white one the best

Dad taking care of sick kids

June was a fun month!

Me and Annalyn at Brynlee's birthday party

Playing with the kitens at Grandma Hirtle's house

Nice shades Annalyn!

Three Months

Lately it seems like my little baby has just grown overnight. She has already outgrown all of her 0-3 month clothes. And she is really strong. She loves to hold onto my hands and stand on my lap. She also loves to suck on her fist. She usually tries to put the whole thing in her mouth but sometimes she just sticks out her tongue and licks her fingers. 

Annalyn is usually a very happy and easygoing baby. She is starting to interact with us more by smiling and cooing. She still loves to be on her back the best, especially when there are things around to look at. She also likes to be in the sitting position because she loves to look at what is going on around her. We are all so grateful she is part of our family. We love her more everyday. 

Birthday Party

For Brynlee's second birthday we invited some family over to our house. Joel grilled hamburgers and hot dogs while the kids played outside and the adults talked. Joel put up a tire swing in our tree and we inherited a swing set and a wagon so there was lots to do. 

Before the party Brynlee and I made a fish pinata and filled it with candy. We never did finish decorating it but the kids still had fun breaking it open. It actually lasted for a while. Everyone that wanted to got a chance to try and break it. Brynlee gave the pinata some light taps and then quickly handed the stick to the next person. I thought she would be all over the candy because she tried to eat it all week but she took her time collecting it. She ate all of the candy she got before the party was even over. 

 After the pinata we did cake and ice cream and then we watched Brynlee open her presents. 

During the party Joel and his dad took turns pulling the train with the four wheeler. Normally Brynlee loves to ride in it but this time she decided she would rather drive so instead she rode on the four wheeler. 

 A few weeks ago Joel's sister Joanna asked Joel if he wanted some chicken. So before the party started she brought over 10 little chicks. Joel built them a cage and we had to put them in there pretty quickly because they were getting attacked by all of the kids. The kids loved the chickens. Brynlee was not afraid of them at all. So far they are all still alive so we are the proud owners of 10 little chickens. We have no idea how to raise chickens so this will be an adventure. Overall it was a fun day and I think Brynlee had a great birthday party.