A Magical Weekend

A few months ago, one of my Facebook friends posted something about a Disney on Ice show coming to the area. As soon as I saw that post, I knew what we were going to be doing for Brynlee's birthday. After telling our families about our plans, Brandon's mom was all-in and suggested an extended family weekend to see the ice show. She LOVES ice skating and did not want to miss this. So, we headed out last Saturday with Brandon's parents to Indianapolis and met my parents there. We got a fantastic hotel deal on Priceline and we ended up having the.best.weekend. We were able to check in early to the Hyatt, get settled in our rooms, headed out for lunch, and then straight to the show! Here is a barrage of photos from our weekend that highlight all of the fun we had!

Testing out the comfy hotel bed

Somebody was a little tired

Trust me, Bryn was more excited than she looks

Somebody suckered her Mamaw into buying her a princess light

Enough pictures, bring on the skating!

Little one's nap didn't last long...she wanted in on the action too!

Mickey and Minnie getting things started

She's in the zone now

She spent the whole first half of the show asking for Rapunzel. She just loves her!

All the princesses for the finale...a fantastic experience and great weekend with our families!

8 Months

Brayla, you are 8 months (and 1 week) old! This has been a busy month developmentally for you and you are definitely keeping us on our toes.

-I have no idea how much you weigh right now. I think you've definitely started to gain a little more, even with all your moving around. My guess would be about 15-16 pounds.

-Though you are gaining weight, I don't think you're getting much taller.

-Food has not been your friend lately. I can get you to eat a decent amount of food about one time every 3-4 days. You don't seem starving at all, I think you just don't have a huge appetite.

-You still wear a lot of 3-6 months clothes, which is just crazy to me. You can wear some 6-9 or 6-12 month clothes, but they don't make up the majority of what you wear.

-You still sleep great at night, usually about 11-12 hours. Given the chance, you will gladly sleep in until 7:30 or 8:00 some days. Heaven!

-You balance out your awesome night sleeping by not taking such great naps lately. I think part of this is teething (yuck) and I'm hoping it remedies itself soon. Most days your older sister sleeps more in her one nap a day than you do in two. Ugh.

-You finally got your first tooth this month! Last Monday (January 8), the day before you turned 8 months old, your lower right tooth made an appearance. You weren't grouchy leading up to that, but you have been not such a happy camper since then which makes me think tooth #2 might not be far behind.

-You are still an army crawling machine, but you've recently started to pull yourself up on EVERYTHING. It's much harder to get you to sleep since you can now stand up and entertain yourself that way. I anticipate you will be walking early just like your big sister.

-This month you have started to notice Turner a little more and think he's great. Every time you see him, you smile and giggle like crazy. I'm sure Turner will be thrilled to soon have two girls chasing after him :)

-You adore playing with your sister. You are both enjoying having someone else to entertain with all your tricks. Your favorite toys are your Sophie the Giraffe and your grape vibrating teether. Most of these toys get ignored, though, in favor of computer cords.

Two peas in a pod

During our photo shoot, Brynlee said "Take my picture."

Definitely still likes being the center of attention.

Smiley girl

Brayla, you are growing so fast and we are enjoying watching everything that you are accomplishing. You are the perfect baby to balance our family and we just love you to pieces!

Happy 3rd birthday, Brynlee!

Today, our sassy, spunky, crazy Brynlee turned 3 years old! We have had warmer-than-average temperatures lately and today was no exception. Quite a change from the blizzard that was occurring when we first laid eyes on our teeny 5 pound 14 ounce baby girl three years ago. What a joy it has been to parent this lively girl for the last three years. We have learned so much about ourselves and life in general through this parenting journey. We can't wait to see what the next year holds for our big girl!

Here are some of the highlights of Brynlee's life as a 2-year-old:

• This year you became a big sister. It was a struggle in the beginning as you learned to share your mommy with Brayla, but you have turned in to a GREAT big sister for her. You sing to her if she's crying, you get her toys so she can play, and you love sitting in her crib and reading with her.
• You have changed from a semi-petite 2-year-old into an above average height 3-year-old. I think you've grown about 7-8 inches this year alone. You are wearing 4T and even XS 4-5 clothes! Your feet have continued to be huge (like your daddy's) with you wearing a size 10 already.
• Your favorite things to play this past year have been baby dolls, kitchen, dress up, and tea party. One of my favorite memories is you taking your "mothering" of your baby doll to the extreme by consistently breastfeeding her and using my breast pump :)
• You have really taken to watching movies recently. I'm pretty sure you can recite all the words to Toy Story and Beauty and the Beast.
• Your favorite cartoons to watch are Max and Ruby, Dora, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

We had Brynlee's party yesterday with our family. Of course it was a princess theme and she loved everything about it. Here are some pictures from her special day!

You would never know we just had Christmas with all those presents!

First present of the night...a princess cup!

Little sister wanted to help unwrap too

This princess alarm clock has been played with over and over and over again already!

Feeding her new baby (baby #837 in our house)

A rare shy moment when everybody was singing to her

Mamaw got to help sing too...even in Illinois!

Attempt #1

Finger in the cake deterred her the first time...try #2

What a great day for our little princess. God has richly blessed us with Brynlee and we are thankful for the life that we get to enjoy because of her!