9 months

Another month gone by.  And my baby is getting bigger.  I mean look at her all kneeling so cutely next to her toys.  Boy do we love this girl!  She is so stinkin' cute.

Even if she has been sick for the last month.  Bless her heart, she has been off and on sick since Thanksgiving and this month has been the worst!  I thought the whining would never end and I really didn't think she knew how to play on the floor with her toys by herself, until miraculously this week (now that she is feeling better) she did!  Thank heavens, my life is resuming some normalcy again. 

We went to Laramie this last weekend and this is what Brylen looked like when Dan and I came home from the Cowboy Basketball game.  Poor baby.  She was just so tired, she had to snuggle with Grandpa.

I don't think he minded.

This last month Brylen has become quite mobile.  She has been army crawling for awhile, but this last week she started to full on crawl.  While she is not real fast yet, she still manages to get where she wants to go.  Nothing is off limits now.

And if crawling weren't enough, she has learned how to pull herself to a standing position in her crib.  She doesn't do it real often, but give her a few weeks and I think she will be a bit more consistent.

The laundry basket is another fun thing to pull up on.  What's in there, mom?

Another favorite.  Knocking down towers.  She thinks it is so fun!  (And Alayna does not.)  Just as soon as Alayna builds a tower, Brylen is there to knock it down.  I don't mind at all.  It keeps them entertained....until Alayna has had enough.  :)

And eating.   We have a good eater on our hands (when she is not sick.  Which is basically never.  Ahem.  Ok.  I mean, not very often.)  She doesn't really seem to be picky.  

Look.  She can even do it with no hands.  

We have discovered that this girl LOVES muffins.  And since she is so incredibly underweight, we pretty much oblige her with anything she'll take (within reason, of course).  Fingers crossed that she will at least be on the upper end of 13 pounds at her next appointment.

And now a first.  An at home haircut (or trimming of the bangs).  Mom took it upon herself to shorten those long scraggly bangs.  A couple snips later and we have.....

A happy baby with shorter bangs.

And to end, where is that cute baby of mine?  I can't seem to find her.  

Hope this puts a smile on your face.

My golden birthday

Guess who's golden birthday it was?

(And for those of you who aren't familiar with golden birthdays, a golden birthday is when you turn the age of the date of your birthday.  So I turned 28 on the 28th of December).

My mom read about celebrating golden birthdays several years ago in a magazine (I think.  Or maybe I just made that up.) and decided she wanted to do it for all the kids.  I am the 4th of the 5 kids to have my golden birthday.  (My mom didn't calculate very well because within the last year, 3 of the 5 of us have had our golden birthdays.)

And with a golden birthday comes presents wrapped in gold.  There were a lot.  28 to be exact.  28 golden presents from my parents.  

Alayna was in heaven unwrapping all those gifts.  

A picture of the golden birthday girl wearing some of my gift from Alayna and Brylen.  How did they know I wanted a Happy Birthday crown and a Happy Birthday necklace?

And the loot.  This girl was spoiled!

Just for fun.  A list of my 28 golden presents:

2 sets of-Clear drinking glasses
2-bread pans
dress socks
medicine container for my purse
sifter
nylons
cinnamon sugar shaker
mini smooth mints
chapstick
samoa cookies
redbox giftcard
Amazon gift cards
Black and silver necklace
planner
red nail polish
1 dollar golden coins
reese's mini cups
handsoap
The gift of the Magi
Henry Wenhard's rootbeer
apple kitchen towel
Tupperware
The Christmas Card dvd
Corn Nuts
Sweet Mint Gum
Vintage Pearl 'Brylen' Necklace

I had a great birthday! My parents and Sarah and Jordan came and visited.  We ate out, went shopping and got frozen yogurt for my birthday dessert.  What more can a girl ask for?

Christmas 2012

Our Christmas was wonderful!  We stayed home this year (like we have the past two years), but we had some family come to us.  Uncle Phil and Grandma S. came and spent Christmas Eve and part of Christmas with us.  

This Christmas season was especially fun because everything really clicked with Alayna.  She got the whole process and thoroughly enjoyed everything Christmas.

Brylen, on the other hand, could have cared less. She was pretty oblivious to everything, but she did appreciate the wrapping paper some.

We were all pretty spoiled and enjoyed celebrating Christ's birth!

Now for some Christmas pics.

Brylen and Uncle Phil checking out one of her new toys.  Poor baby was sick so she just wanted someone to hold her.

Alayna playing with her gift from Santa.  Let's just say she RAN over to it when she came down the stairs.

Can you tell she's pretty much LOVING her gift?

Brylen with her loot.  She seems pretty pleased.

And a few pics by the tree.

Dan's birthday

I hate sometimes that I get so behind in blogging.  But never fear, I am bound and determined to get back on the bandwagon.  

So, Dan's Birthday.  

Dan's birthday was great.  His parents drove over to spend part of the day with us.  Even though there were several activities crammed into one day (such as family pictures (I know, my husband is a saint for letting me schedule pictures on his day.  How did I manage to catch such an amazing guy?) and the ward Christmas party), we still managed to make it a special day.

After the other festivities, he opened presents (with the help of Alayna, of course).

This range finder was a big surprise.  I definitely earned brownie points on that one.

And of course we had cake.  Lemon pound cake, per his request.  

Happy Birthday, Dan/daddy!  We love you so much!

8 months

Oh, how we love this baby!  She is getting so big and learning so many new things.  I am having a hard time keeping up with her sometimes.

Look at those eyes.  Love them!

Such a happy baby.....when she is not sick.  Poor thing has been sick more than she hasn't this month.  She had her first fever, cough, and ear infection all in one month.  Yuck!  All of that creates one WHINY baby.  This mama thought she was going to go CRAZY at times, but we survived and I hope she stays healthy for long time!

This 8 month old has learned to army crawl (of sorts).  She definitely gets where she needs/wants to go.  We thought she would quickly learn to full out crawl within a couple weeks, but she still has yet to figure that.  (Thank goodness!) As a result of being more mobile, she has assumed the role of vacuum.  We REALLY have to keep an eye on her because anything and everything goes in her mouth.

Brylen has really become quite the eater.  She will pretty much eat any baby food we put in her mouth. Fruit, veggie, it doesn't matter.  And she can eat a good amount at each sitting.  You wouldn't know that she is underweight by the amount of food she eats.  (She really is an itty-bitty thing, weighing in at 13lbs. 2oz.)

Somebody learned how to clap.  Want to guess what she is getting ready to do in this pic?

And just in case you don't believe me when I say I have to keep an eye on her.  I was in the other room when I heard her grunting and screeching like she wanted to get something.  Little did I know she had climbed up on something to reach the toy she wanted.

"What Mom?  I am on a mission."

She didn't seem to mind just diving off either.  Trouble.  She could be trouble.

And a couple more cute pictures just for good measure.

Smiley girl.

Sisters.