Little Sis

We had another ultrasound today to check the baby's growth because Brinley was born with  IUGR  (Intrauterine Growth Restriction).  Didn't really know they had a fancy term for it.  It just means she was small.  I personally don't think it's a big deal, she was born just the way she was supposed to be, but my Dr. wanted to make sure this one was a little bigger.  No need to worry about this baby!  She's  ahead of the game weighing in at 4 pounds 6 ounces right now.  The ultrasound tech said she should gain 1/2 lb a week from here on out.  Yikes!  Does that mean I'm going to have a 9 pound baby?  Now I'm a little scared.  Delivering a 5 pounder was hard enough!  I remember thinking I was going to die.  Actually, I remember saying, "No seriously, I think I'm going to die."  Either way, I can't wait for the little stinker to get here and we're so glad she is healthy.  She has cute chubby cheeks and I can't wait to kiss them!

Brinley Age 4

On Brinleys's 4th Birthday we celebrated with just the three of us.  She chose to go to the park and take a picnic.  It's hard to believe our little girl is 4 years old.  At age 4:

-Brinley gives the sweetest compliments.  She is always complimenting people and although she doesn't know it, she has made my day numerous times by her sweet compliments
-Although Brinley is very sweet she also has a side to her that is just hilarious!  We are constantly laughing at the things she says.  Sometimes it's even questionably appropriate.  I try to blame this on her Dad sometimes, but the truth is, it's just who she is. 
-Brinley is very determined.  If she wants something she does not give up until she gets it (or at least she tries).  I believe this is a great trait to have yet sometimes she drives me nuts because she just doesn't let things go. 
-Brinley loves to do her own hair and she actually does a pretty good job at it.  I usually let her do her own hair if she wants to because no matter what, she always ends up looking like an orphan at the end of the day.
-Brinley is very opinionated.  She always has in mind what she wants to wear or how her hair should look (usually a dress and pigtail braids).  She would wear a dress everyday if you would let her, but we are constantly reminding her how she needs to act in a dress because she's always doing somersaults or something.
-Brinley loves all things girly!  She love pedicures, dresses, jewelry, lotion, hair, accessories, babies, barbies, anything pink.
-Brinley is quite the little gymnast.  She recently moved up from "little bounders" to "prep-one"  she seems to have a knack for it and her Dad says he thinks she was built for it.  She has a solid little flexible body and does really well in gymnastics.  I was going to take her out for the summer, but she asked if she could take a summer class.  She can walk on the high beam all by herself now.
-Although Brinley did not like her dance class she still has a love for dancing.  I think she just likes free style dancing.  She will just stop what she is doing and in the most random places she'll bust a move.  We also spend a lot of time dancing around the house. 
-Brinley loves to sing!  Dustin and I just love riding in the car with her.  She knows most of the words to several songs and when they come on we just crank it up and watch her in the rear view mirror.
-Brinley has always talked really well.  Most people think she's older than she is.  She has a great vocabulary, but there are some things she says that I just can't correct her on because I love it when she says it.  The other day she was running into the house and stopped really quick and said, "Just a second, I have an edgie (wedgie)"  or instead of amount she will say "amountment" and rather than worse she will say "orser".
-Brinley is very smart, I'm not really comparing her to anyone else, I'm just constantly amazed by her.  She loves learning and reading.  She can recite entire books that we have read to her.  She can spell and write her own name and now she's really into counting things.
-Brinley is already the best big sister in the whole world.  She has been talking about her baby sister "London" for years now.  She is always saying "Lunnie can have this or Lunnie can have that".  Sometimes I have to remind her that she can't just lift my shirt up and give Lunnie a kiss in public.
- Brinley understands things that most 4 year olds don't.  When we go to the store she never throws a fit to get something.  If she sees something she wants she will say, "Next time can I get this?"  or "When this goes on sale can we get it?" 
-Brinley has the biggest heart!  Even as a baby she has always taken care of me.  She knew when I was having a bad day and she "fixed" it for me.  Just recently she was playing in the bathtub and I broke down over something.  She said, "Dad, what's wrong with Mom?"  He said, "She's just sad" and Brinley said, "Well, are you hugging her?"  She is so compassionate!
-At 4 years old Brinley still likes to drink warm milk
-She is a great eater.  She will eat anything.  The only things she doesn't like are tomatoes, onions, and spicy food, but don't let this fool you, she would eat junk all day long if I'd let her.  She knows it too.  She will say things like "Oh I wish candy was healthy because it's soooo good!"
-Brinley wakes up pretty early (usually around 6:30) and the first thing she wants is breakfast.  She loves anything you can put syrup on (or sugar)  pancakes, waffles, German pancakes and crapes are her favorite.
-Brinley is seriously addicted to gum.  She will sometimes ask for it 20 times a day.  This goes along with the being determined, not letting things go and the knowing what she wants that I mentioned above.
-Brinley likes to run and she's actually pretty fast.  Sometimes she will say things like, "Lets run Mom, I'm tired of walking."

Happy 4th Birthday Brinley!  We love all of the things that make you YOU!

Tea Time

Brinley wanted to have a tea party for her Birthday.  We celebrated a little bit early and had her party on Saturday.

 You would not believe what this cake put me through.  It was the cake from HELL!  On my first attempt one of the layers crumbled, Dustin pulled another cake mix out of our food storage, but it was expired so I made a trip to the store, on the second attempt the heating element went out on my stove, on the third attempt at my Mom's house (had to borrow her stove) I realized I accidentally grabbed the expired cake mix (not just a little bit expired, like over two years expired)  oh well, used it anyway, froze the 2 layers so they would be easier to frost, made the frosting, took the cakes out and frosted them the night before, but could not get them to settle, I had a huge gap between the two layers, thought letting it thaw might make it settle,  didn't work, just made my frosting runny and you aren't supposed to refrigerate it,  squished the cake to try to make it stay together, tried to fill it with frosting a little bit, looked down and realized I had somehow cut myself and was bleeding all over the place (thankfully not on the cake, just all over myself) the roses looked more like a kindergartner's art work rather than a rose so I scraped them off and started over, again and again and again (they were not this hard when I practiced them a few days earlier), tried refrigerating the frosting even though you aren't supposed to,  didn't do much other than make the frosting gritty,  both of my pastry bags got holes in them,  so at midnight I gave up, I tried to put the cover over the cake, but it wouldn't fit without messing up the roses (don't know why I cared) so I just left it out uncovered not caring at all at this point how it tasted or if it was dry and crusty,  I put the frosting in the refrigerator overnight and I cried,  I wished so badly that I could just call my Mom and tell her I needed her to make Brinley's Birthday cake.  I knew she could make it just perfect, but instead I went to bed and woke up early the next morning to work on it.  It really looked horrible, but as I was working on it Brinley woke up and said, "That's a pretty cake."  I said, "Thanks, it's your Birthday cake,"  she threw her arms around me and said, "Oh Mom, it's the most beautiful cake I ever saw." 

When Brinley put this hat on she looked just like a girl at a tea party should look and as you can tell, she had several poses to go along with it.

I made wrist corsages for the girls and bow ties for the boys.

We just can't believe we are parents of a 4 year old.

 Dustin told Brinley to close her eyes because we had one last gift for her.

 It took her a second.

 But when she realized what it was her response was,

(gasp and cover her mouth) "It's a bike!"  She was so surprised and she loves her new bike!

Thanks everyone for helping Brinley celebrate her special day.  Brinley, I'm so glad you were born!