Semifinalist

Brinley is a semifinalist. If you want to vote for her, she is #3 again.

It would help if I had the right link.

Go to http://www.stephanietueller.blogspot.com


And get voting she's behind and I'm sure it's because of my stupid mistake.

Yes, we do have a cute baby

Remember These? Stephanie Tueller took them last March. It turns out Brinley is in one of her top 12 photes for 2008. She wan't people to vote on them and the winner gets a free 11x14. Go Here and vote for your favorite. Brinley is #3.

Paradise Friends Christmas Party

Burr

The live Nativity

Our Big FAT Christmas Tree

We finally got our tree up with lots of help from our little UN DECORATOR.

I had a hard time believing Christmas was almost here. I think I needed a day to give thanks for all of the blessings in my life first. So, I suggested that we had a big family dinner and our traditional Thanksgiving day gingerbread houses. We ended up doing that last weekend.
Notice: our houses aren't as elaborate as they were before we became parents, but family traditions WITH children make them so much more fun.

Brinley's favorite part was UNdecorating her house. I never let her eat this much just so she was shoving candy in her mouth as fast as she could.

Gratitude and Grieving

The weekend before Thanksgiving my Grandpa took us to find a Christmas tree. This is a tradition I look forward to every year. I even missed Ashley's baby shower because tree hunting with Grandpa is so important to me. I know I could buy a permit and cut a tree down anytime, but going with Grandpa has always meant so much to me. He started this tradition years ago. Dustin found the perfect tree for us. You can see Grandpa in the truck. At the moment I took this picture Grandpa cracked a funny joke about our tree.
This last picture means so much to me, as it was the last picture ever taken of Grandpa.

My Grandpa died on Thanksgiving. It was a total shock to all of us. I can't express the impact my Grandpa had on my life. We were all so close to him! I am so sad for my poor mom who did everything she could to save her dad's life and my poor little Grandma who doesn't even know how to take her next step. None of our lives will ever be the same without you Grandpa. We love you and miss you so much!

Today my heart is filled with sorrow

But this picture is making me smile Thanks for the picture Lora. It made my day.

I'll take the blame for that one

We love Roxy (our dog), but sometimes her barking is annoying. The other day Roxy barked and Brinley pointed her finger at Roxy and yelled “SHUT UP!” Oops! That is completely my fault. We are really nice to each other at our house, but apparently we aren’t always so nice to the dog. I always tell Roxy to shut up when she’s barking and obviously Brinley picked up on that.

I just ignored it, thinking that if I didn’t make a big deal out of it she wouldn’t say it again, but I did tell my family about it.

A few days later I went to pick up Brinley at my sister’s house and walked it to both of them trying to get her to say “shut up” Hummm.. thanks guys for being such a good example!

Shhhhhh, Don't tell Daddy

I am always begging Dustin to let me cut his hair. He always tells me no because I have no idea what I'm doing. So I told him I wanted to cut Brinley's hair and again he told me no. I just wasn't a fan of the mullet so we cut it while Dad was at work. AND... he still hasn't noticed. Before

After

If you can't eat it, drink it.

Sabra's Bachelorette Pary

Sabra's Bridal Shower

The Fun Park

We took Brinley bowling at the fun park and let her play. I swear we did her hair
It looks like Dad had fun too.

I'm not sure if it was a good idea to let her ride the quarter rides. I'm afraid she's going to want to ride them every time we see them now.

I suck at tag

Everyone keeps tagging me and I know I NEVER do them. Don't think I don't read your blogs because I do. I know you tag me, I just haven't gotten around to doing it yet. Here goes, I'm going to play this time and I tag anyone that wants to do it.

Paste this into your own post, and BOLD the ones you have done.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praymantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. rode a train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Race
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise
31. Hit a home run .
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie or on a TV show
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Raked your carpet

Thinking about going private

My friend Jamey got me thinking about setting our blog to "private" let me know what you think and if you would like to be added.

We are suckers for babies

We absolutely love being parents and often talk about having more babies. Both of us think it would be cool to have a boy next so... I went to makemebabies.com to see what our future bundle of joy is going to look like.Seriously??? How did they come up with that? I guess I could learn to love him. HA HA.

Halloween

Don't you think costumes are hard? I felt like my options were to A) Buy the same Old Navy costume that every other little kid has B) Buy the cheap thin crappy costumes that aren't even that cute or C) make one. I chose option C. I was a little nervous that Brinley would have to wear something that I made, but honestly I knew she would look cute in anything. And I was right. She made a cute little witch. She wouldn't hold still long enough to let me take her picture so this is the best I could do.

Halloween Party

Cute Cousins

Painting Pumpkins

Did you ever wonder why I hardly ever post pictures of all three of us on this blog? This is why! Dustin always makes family pictures SO HARD! I know my pictures aren't great, but this is how I really look. I don't do it on purpose. Dustin is always pulling faces so I thought, maybe if I post these ridiculous pictures of him I will get a decent one next time.

Picking out a pumpkin

The Pumpkin Walk

Friday night we took Brinley to the Pumpkin Walk. It looks like she enjoyed her cookie.

Giving up or giving in?

I always thought it was gross when people would take pictures of their kids looking like this. Getting Brinley to eat seems so impossible lately. This particular day we tried everything. This was what seemed to work. I had just cleaned the kitchen and scrubbed the floor on my hands and knees, so what do you do when your kid makes a mess like this? You take a picture and clean the kitchen again once she's in bed.

:)

I love it when my husband makes dinner.

my favorite (other than mom)

The other day Dustin and I were in the kitchen working on dinner and Brinley was running around the house and playing. All of the sudden we heard "happy, happy, happy, happy, happy..." It was the cutest thing. Now I am constantly trying to get her to say it. And another one of her new words is "Brinley" it also sounds adorable!

Snuggle Monday's

Dustin is such a hard worker and we feel so blessed that he has the job that he does, but it takes up so much of his time (Usually 10 hours a day and occasionally as much as 13). So, we both feel like it’s better for him to go in early when he is busy and try to be home when Brinley and I get home so we can spend as much time together as possible.

Well, lately Dustin has been hitting the snooze button a few too many times, then he rolls over and puts his arms around me and goes back to sleep.

Last night while talking, Dustin informed me that he would be going in early everyday except for Monday’s. I said, “ok, why?” and he said, “Because Monday’s are our snuggle day.” HOW CUTE! He dedicated a day out of every week to stay home and “snuggle” me. Don’t get me wrong, my husband is great and as much as I like the idea of “Snuggle Monday’s” I think he’s just too tired to get out of bed.

A few pictures from this week

Our beautiful little girl LOVES the camera. As soon as she sees a camera she smiles and says "cheese"
Lately feeding Brinley has been such a chore. She doesn't want anything unless she can feed it to herself. This particular day she wouldn't eat at all unless she could have "that" (her bunny)

Too smart for her own good

The other night Dustin was having a conversation with Brinley about how we needed to go to the store to get her some diapers. She would shake her head NO and say, “hut-uh” so Dustin said, “We have to, you’re not potty trained” Her response was, “choo-choo.” She may not know what potty trained means, but she heard the work “train” and she knows that a train goes, “choo-choo”

Life at our house

Most people spend their Saturday nights going to dinner or... going somewhere. We spent out Saturday night playing in a fort. We kept Brinley up an hour past bedtime so we could have a circus and hide from the Indians. There wasn't anywhere else in the would I would rather be.

She's finally a big girl

The Dr. told us not to take Brinley out of her infant car seat until she was 20 lbs. She was outgrowing it, but she didn't weight enough to take her out. We put her in this seat about a month ago because she just didn't fit in her old one anymore. She loves it! She loves being able to look out the windows. Sundays are long days for Brinley, she usually doesn't get a nap. She might be big enough for this seat, but apparently she isn't big enough to miss nap time. As soon as we buckled her, her eyes were closed.

How does it happen so fast?

I recently came to the realization that I don’t have a baby anymore. People say this all the time, but it’s true. I think it really does happen overnight. I swear, yesterday I had a baby and today I have a toddler with an attitude. It really does happen that fast. Now I know why people have WAY too many kids. What does this mean? It means that I want more. Don’t worry, it will be years before we have more kids UNLESS I can find someone kind enough to GIVE me their baby. Like I said, it will be years. I just honestly can’t believe how fast they grow. I’m not lying when I say Brinley is doing something new EVERYDAY! We took her to the Dr on Monday for her 15 month checkup. She weighs a whopping 21 pounds, but she is not in the 25% range. Developmentally her Dr. said she is “perfect” I thought her development was normal, but when the Dr. asked if she could say at least 3 words I was thinking more like 30. Yesterday I took her shopping with me. Everyone seemed to be amazed that such big words were coming out of such a little girl. In one store I got at least 5 comments from 5 different people about how well she talked. Being a mom is SO MUCH FUN! I love, Love, LOVE it!

The Junction

Thanks Mom for watching Brinley so I could go on a date with my husband. We went to the Junction this weekend. I really think Logan should get a theatre that you can eat dinner in. Are we the only ones who sneak complete meals into the movie theatre? Good thing I have lots of big bags and purses!

I love being a mom...Yes even today!

Usually I feel like I’m a pretty good mom. I love Brinley as much as humanly possible, I read to her 20 minutes a day, we go on walks, we run, we go on bike rides, I take her to the park and I go down the slide with her, we sing, we dance around the living room, we play with toys, I don’t loose my patients with her, sometimes I even wake her up at night just because I miss her and I want to play with her or hold her AND then there are the days that I question why God trusted me with this beautiful child. It doesn’t happen often, but today was one of those days.

Brinley always takes a morning nap. I use that time to get ready for work. Today she was peacefully sleeping (or so I thought) and then she woke up (or so I thought) so when I went to get her out of her crib the first thing I noticed was her cute, little, naked butt…WHAT? BRINLEY…and then I noticed the art work she had created using nothing but her very own Number 2. She had taken her diaper off (that is the part that makes me feel like a bad mom) Why did I put her to sleep in just a diaper?????? She held her disgusting arms up and wanted me to pick her up. I’m sure she didn’t understand why I was holding her as far away from my body as possible or why she got her second bath for the day or why I couldn’t quit gagging. I have never used so much Lysol and disinfectant in my entire life. It was EVERYWHERE! I even questioned if she ate some. I won’t go into anymore detail, but like I said, I don’t know why God trusted me with her, but I’m glad he did. YES, even today.

A guy's opinion

I had an appointment to get my hair done last Saturday and then we were going to spend the rest of the weekend in Wyoming. I think Dustin was a little irritated that he had to wait around for me to get my hair done, but I knew if I rescheduled she wouldn’t be able to get me in for another few weeks. I couldn’t decided what to do to my hair so I asked for Dustin’s opinion. This was his advice, “Whatever is the fastest.” Humm, I’m just wondering how that would have turned out.

My favorite thing in the whole wide world

I can't believe my little baby is growing up so fast! Her latest thing is giving hugs. I live for her hugs, they are the best thing in the whole world! She is so funny! She makes us laugh every single day of our lives. The other night Dustin and I were sitting on the couch watching the Olympics at about 9:00 and we heard a loud scream come from Brinley's room followed by some laughing (her bedtime is 7:00) This made me miss her so I went and got her our of bed so we could play. Dustin reminded me that this could cause problems and I would be the one to deal with it, but I didn't care so we ate raspberries and played until about 10:00.