My Olivet, Our Olivet

After the Olivet football game last Saturday, we took Brynlee on a tour of our alma mater, and her future stomping grounds. She thoroughly enjoyed the visit and we look forward to many more trips there with her!

Visiting our "spot" where we

would start to think even

in those early days of college

that maybe we could be more than friends :)

Brynlee's really glad her mommy and daddy

got to spend all that time in the quad getting

to know each other!

Checking out Chapman Hall and dreaming

that she can meet her hubby at Olivet

just like her mommy did!

Seeing where Mommy lived her

freshman year (3rd window up on the right).

Daddy spent a lot of time in the

lobby and on the steps of this building too!

Milby Clock Tower

Grandma looks thrilled

to be at the planetarium!

(P.S.-Mom, how HUGE is that sweatshirt

you've got on?!)

My favorite alumnus along with

our future Olivetian!

She was over the "Olivet Experience"

by this point :)

Our Family!

Brynlee is 8 Months Old!

Brynlee turns 8 months old today! This month has been a little slower in terms of development, and I am quite alright with that. I'm getting a little break before she decides to start walking to catch my breath! Brynlee, here's what you're up to now that you are 8 months old:

-You are back to sleeping through the night again....hallelujah! I think the momentary break in sleeping was due to learning how to stand. You wanted to stand all the time, including the middle of the night, but then you couldn't get yourself back down! The newness of standing has worn off and you're back to being a sleeping angel :)

-You now wear a size 2-3 diaper during the day and a size 3 nighttime diaper at night, which has been a lifesaver in terms of laundry.

-I haven't weighed you recently, but I'm guessing you weigh around 17-18 pounds. It seems like you are really starting to get tall too!

-You're now wearing 6-9 month clothes for the most part. Most of your jammies are still 6-9 month too, but you're probably able to wear 9-12 months pajamas, just because you need the extra length.

-You eat 3 (food) meals a day. YoBaby yogurt and a fruit in the morning, with a veggie in the afternoon and a meat and veggie in the evening. The jury's still out on the meats (you've only been eating them for a few days) but you are finally back to liking vegetables.

-Still not much hair to speak of. The good news is we're getting our money's worth out of all of your hairbows and headbands :)

-You still have just your bottom two teeth. I thought you were working on one of your top teeth, but it's been a few days and still hasn't shown up yet. Maybe soon!

-After almost 2 months of army crawling, in the last 2 weeks you decided to get up on your hands and knees. The transition came out of nowhere and you haven't looked back since!

-You still like to pull yourself up on everything. Just today you climbed up every single stair by yourself (with your mama hovering behind you) and you are now starting to walk (almost run!) along the couch and loveseat. Maybe by your 9 month post, you'll be walking!

-You love being outside and going for walks and we're looking forward to doing more of that now that cooler weather is arriving!

-Other things you love: reading books that make noise, splashing all the water out of the bathtub, chewing on every cord and tag that you can find, chasing Turner and trying to eat his paws and tail, and playing with all of your friends at the babysitter's!

Can't believe that Bryn is 2/3 of the way to her 1st birthday. Time sure does fly when we're having fun!

HAPPY 8 MONTH BIRTHDAY, BRYNLEE!

WE LOVE YOU BUNCHES!

Wedding Weekend

It's been so long since I've updated our blog that my sister had to beg for an update via Facebook. I'm happy to oblige her request :) Things have been pretty busy here lately, so I'm planning installments of the Yoder family happenings in numerous blog posts.

Brandon's cousin, Molly, got married last weekend on the golf course. It was a little chilly that day for an outdoor August wedding, but it was beautiful! The occasion allowed for Brynlee to finally meet her cousins Elli and Kolbyn. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the three of them, but Elli and Kolbyn couldn't get enough of "Baby Brynlee." I'm sure the three of them will be thick as thieves in due time.

Brynlee enjoying the rehearsal dinner

Brandon and Brynlee before the ceremony

Brandon and Kolbyn, the ring "bear," showing off their growls

The Girls

Kolbyn sneaking his 2nd (or 3rd!) cupcake of the night

Do these two look like trouble or what?!

Brynlee and the beautiful bride

Take note boys, this girl loves flowers :)

Congratulations James and Molly!

Brynlee is 7 Months Old!

*Note: I originally wrote this post on August 10, but it took me this long to hit the "publish" button, so things are slightly outdated already. I can't believe how much can change in just a week and a half!

Yesterday Brynlee turned 7 months old! This has definitely been her biggest developmental month since she was born. Brynlee, here's what you're up to now that you are 7 months old:

-You have recently decided to NOT sleep through the night. You wake 2-3 times a night, but we've recently started making you cry it out. You don't like it and neither do we, but it seems like things might be heading in the right direction to get you sleeping like normal again :)

-Still wearing a size 2 diaper. I feel like you've been in these forever!

-You weigh about 16 pounds and are roughly 26 inches long!

-You're still wearing mainly 3-6 month clothes, with some 6-9 month outfits. Pajamas are all 6-9 months.

-You eat 3 (food) meals a day. Cereal and a fruit in the morning, with cereal and a veggie in the afternoon and evening. Minus a short stint where you decided to hate peas after previously liking them, you eat anything we put in front of you.

-Your hair is pretty much non-existent still. Maybe by your 1st birthday, you'll have something up top to show off :)

-You got your first tooth about a week ago and it pokes up a little more each day! And as of about 5 minutes ago, I noticed that your second tooth showed up overnight!

-Right after you turned 6 months old, you started army crawling! That's still your main mode of movement, but you occasionally get up on your hands and knees and crawl the "correct" way.

-Just last week you pulled yourself up to standing! Now you pull up on the couch, stairs, your crib, and anything else you can manage.

-You are still a pretty happy-go-lucky baby, for the most part. You still like your exersaucer, love Mommy and Daddy making faces/noises at you, and playing with Turner. But most of all, you like to crawl/climb all over and explore!

With all that Brynlee has done in the last month, I'm sure the next month holds plenty of excitement for us. She sure keeps us on our toes and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Try To Keep Up

Brynlee has been tearing up the milestone chart the last few days and I am having a hard time keeping up with all the new things she is doing!

Last Thursday, Brynlee had a horrible day. By the time Brandon got home, I was crying because she was just whining all day long, never wanted to be put down, etc. I was exhausted. Friday morning, I got Brynlee out of her crib and she was flashing the beginnings of her first tooth at me :) I felt a lot better knowing there was a reason for Brynlee's crankiness and my previously well-behaved and happy baby had not been taken over by aliens!

Saturday, Brandon and I went to a wedding reception while Brandon's parents watched Bryn for us. Before we left their house, we sat Brynlee down to play and she actually stayed sitting! Previously she had been too antsy to sit. But she finally proved that she can do it!

Monday, Brynlee delivered her most shocking development to date. I went upstairs to get her bath ready and left her downstairs to crawl around, play, hang out until I was ready for her. Well, I came down the stairs and was greeted with this:

She had pulled herself up to standing! The girl is not even 7 months old yet! Since she did this Monday, she immediately finds her way to the stairs all the time now and is pulling herself up. And, as I'm typing this, she has used her Bumbo seat to help her pull herself up and stand at the couch. Seriously, I cannot keep up with her and all her new tricks! I also can't stop myself from constantly worrying now that she stands that she will one day fall and bust her head open. Oh, motherhood. So much fun but so much worrying!

Here's hoping Brynlee gives us at least a month before she starts walking, but I've ordered 2 pairs of Pedipeds on Ebay in the last week just in case she doesn't :)

A Review Via Pictures

Blogging has taken a bit of a back seat lately as we have been way too busy. But I'll attempt to review everything we've been up to with the aid of some pictures.

Our dear friends Brad and Aubree welcomed their little baby boy (and Brynlee's future husband) on July 15th. We're excited to go and meet little Owen and hang out with our college crew next weekend.

We attended Brandon's company picnic and Brynlee was the hit of the party. The bow always draws a crowd :) Brandon and Brynlee rocked out their matching Interra shirts, even though it's hard to see in this picture.

We took Brynlee to her first baseball game to watch the South Bend Silverhawks! We put her in the Snugli, which she previously hated, and she was happy and content the whole time. We didn't stay the whole game, but it was a fun experience nonetheless.

Brynlee got to take in the sights and sounds of the Elkhart County 4-H Fair. I intended on taking pictures of her there, but instead all I have to show for our days spent at the fairgrounds is this picture of a pig and her less-than-24-hours-old babies.

Last weekend was Yoderpalooza '09 (aka Yoder Family Reunion). We had a great time spent participating in Yoder Olympics, relaxing, catching up, and spending time with 60 or so of our family members. Brandon won two events in the Yoder Olympics. He was happy about it until he realized he was the oldest winner by about 10 years. I told him it's a good sign...it means that even at the age of 27, he can still keep up with the young kids :)

Brynlee had her 6 month checkup, where she was actually about 6.5 months. She weighed 16 pounds 1 ounce and was 25.75 inches long. She's gone from the 5th percentile at birth to between the 25th and 50th percentile. She had to get 3 shots, but didn't seem phased since she got to show off her crawling skills and play with the toys :)

We've also been doing a lot of baby bathing at our house. Brynlee has decided that her food is far more fun to play with than to eat, so she usually looks like the picture below after every meal. I never thought I'd be the type to undress my kid to eat, but it's either that or change/ruin clothes at every meal.

Brynlee also won Polka Dot Bowtique's Amish Acres photo contest with the picture below. We get free tickets to the Arts and Crafts Festival this weekend and $20 in free bows....woohoo!!

And last, but not least, there has been a lot of this going on at our house. Makes all the fussing, food throwing, and diaper changing worth it :)

She Likes to Move It, Move It

As of yesterday, at the age of 6 months 5 days, Brynlee decided she was no longer content to be sedentary. She is crawling! It's just army crawling on her belly at this point, but when she sets her sights on something, she goes after it in a hurry. The first video is yesterday, when she first started the crawling. She was kind of over it when I took that video, hence the whining. Oh, and pay no attention to the mess that is our house. Baby junk consumes our living room, but Brynlee likes it that way :) The second one is from today, where she's trying to get to Turner. This one cracks me up because she is trying so hard! It's amazing to me how much better she is at it just in one day's time. I'm so excited for her, but all of my friends with toddlers said I needed to treasure the time when Brynlee couldn't crawl/walk because once she does, this parenting thing gets even more exhausting. Lucky us, our child decided to crawl way earlier than the average baby, so we get two extra months of trying to keep up with her! 

 

Morning in Review

Once school let out for the summer, I planned on taking Brynlee out on walks through our neighborhood often. I figured it'd give us something to do, keep Brynlee entertained, and most importantly maybe help me lose the 3 remaining pounds of baby weight that WILL NOT GO AWAY! So far, we've walked a whopping two times :) Today was one of those times. The following is the play-by-play of our morning:

10:52 am- Set out on our walk with Brynlee facing out in her stroller for the first time. She thought she was hot stuff being able to see all around her. I held back tears because she is getting far too big too fast!

10:58 am- Arrived at the park in our subdivision and hit the swings for a little while. Bryn was unsure whether she should lean back or lean forward, so she tried both.

11:10 am- Walked down the street and arrived home to our massive hanging baskets. Yes, they're amazing. No, I don't have a green thumb. I've kept these babies alive and growing since May just by watering them daily. If only all plants were that easy to take care of.

11:12 am- Safely in the garage with Brynlee looking like this:

11:14 am- Spent a few minutes here:

11:20 am- I check on Brynlee and she looks like this:

All in all, a successful walk. Maybe we should try these more often :)

P.S. I realize her crib looks institutional. We had to remove the bumpers because someone tried to rip them apart when she wasn't attended to instantly after waking up. I'm hoping a few days without them will break her of the habit and that we can get them back up since they're just so darn cute!

Brynlee is 6 Months Old!

Half a year?! Seriously?! Every month on the 9th I sit in pure disbelief that Brynlee is growing up this quickly. But with the growing up comes a lot of fun adventures with our little princess. Bryn, at the age of 6 months:

- You are still sleeping about 9-10 hours a night. You go down at about 8:30 and wake up at 6:30. Now if only I could get you to understand that summer break only lasts another month, maybe you would let Mommy sleep in!

- Still wearing a size 2 diaper, and no longer soaking through them. Hooray for less laundry!

- Estimating that you weigh about 15 pounds. Doctor's appointment is in a few weeks.

- Wearing 3-6 month clothes, but just about to move you up to 6-9 month sleepers

- You are eating cereal once a day and in the last week have added peas and green beans to your menu

- You are starting to get a little hair (finally!) and it looks like it will be pretty dark brown.

-Things you love: Mommy or Daddy making silly noises, watching/playing with Turner, watching Baby Einstein DVDs, being outside, and playing in the Exersaucer

- You aren't sitting up quite yet, but are getting pretty close. Hopefully soon!

- You roll all over, from one end of a room to the other, but crawling isn't happening yet

- Despite all the sucking on your hands and everything you can grab, you are still a toothless girl. But those gums when you smile are just the cutest!

- When I lay you down in your crib, you immediately roll to your belly. By the time I check on you before I go to bed, your teeny tiny hiny (as I call it) is usually high in the air.

Take 1: Looking like a Grandma :)

Much better

WE LOVE YOU, BRYNLEE!

HAPPY 6 MONTH BIRTHDAY!

Why I Love My Husband

Here are a few conversations that took place in our house today that remind me why I love Brandon so much.

Upon seeing Brynlee after he got home from work, Brandon says: "Hi mini Brooke. My Brooke Jr."

Me: "What makes you say that? What parts of her are like me?"

Brandon: "The good parts."

Good answer, dear husband :)

Conversation #2

Me to Brynlee: "Bryn, tomorrow you and I have to take a shower and change our clothes. We stink today."

Brandon: "Well, I think you both look beautiful."

He makes me smile :)