This picture was taken with my camera remote one
afternoon when we were staying at my Mom's house in Utah earlier this
month. I am working on getting myself in front of the camera more often
so my kids don't forget I was there. :)
Guess who is potty trained!?!
That's right...little Miss Brynnie is potty trained! We started the process early in December and after a few days I was about to jump ship and put her back in diapers when all the sudden it clicked and she has been rocking the undies since! For the sake of remembering, she has been an interesting child to potty train. While my other kids wanted help wiping or buttoning their pants, Brynn has been very independent. Chloe still yells "I have to go potty!" every time she has to go...probably a middle child attention thing...ha ha, but Brynn never makes a big deal about going potty. She just goes in the bathroom, shuts the door, does her deal, cleans up, washes her hands, gets her pants back on and goes back to playing without me even knowing. This has been so different from my other kids!
This little girl is getting SO BIG! She will be 8 months old next week and I can hardly believe how fast the time has flown!
Here are some of the wonderful things she can do right now:
- crawl: she started crawling on her hands and knees when she was right about 6 months, so now she is so so fast! It is exhausting to keep up with her all day!
- sit up
-pull to a stand and cruise along the edges of stuff: yikes...this is a scary thing to mommy!
- climb stairs - despite my best efforts to distract her from the stairs, she has discovered them and has figured out how to get up them.
-eat anything and everything she finds on the floor: curse those little polly pocket outfits Chloe and Brynn leave everywhere!
- smile and laugh: she especially thinks her siblings are hilarious!
-
sleep: she has been sleeping through the night-ish pretty
consistently...except for this week. She typically goes to bed at 7:30,
wakes up around 10:30 for a late night snack and goes right back down to
sleep until she wakes up around 7:00 am. Some would consider that a
good sleeper...I do not. While she is a better sleeper than Morgan, she
is the worst of the girls.
- eat big kid food: she does love the
baby puffs and yogurt melts, but this girl loves to munch on whatever we
are eating so we pretty much skipped baby food entirely. She has 3
teeth, so she can handle a pretty good variety of foods: salmon,
chicken, peas, corn, pasta, soft fruits, yogurtland, and crackers are
her favorites.
- be adorable: she totally knows how to pull faces that win over anyone she meets. She gives the sweetest open mouth slobber kisses, and loves to nuzzle right into you. She is a thumb sucker and loves softie blankets snuggled against her face just like Brynn.
Such a sweet little miss! SO glad I get to be her mommy!
I know it is almost the end of January, but early in December I started brainstorming a new word to live by and work on for 2012 and haven't taken the time to sit down and post about it. Last year I chose the word EMBRACE and it was so fitting for the experiences and challenges that faced us. We had to embrace change, embrace traditions, embrace the little moments, embrace our sweet little Ellie into our family, embrace family and friends as we said goodbye and embrace new friends, a new job, new surroundings and a new home as we started a new adventure. And while 2011 was a wonderful year for our family in so many ways, it was also one of the most difficult years of my life and I was happy to move forward to 2012!
This year, our circumstance is much different and my word came quickly and easily...EXPLORE. I have always prided myself on having an adventurous nature. I love to get out into the world with my family and try new things and go new places and meet new people, but lately I have noticed this attribute of mine seems to have disappeared. I don't know whether it is the extra child now that I am a mother of 4, or if it is the fact that every time we go somewhere I have to deal with dirty looks from people who are annoyed with my kids (the area we live in is not as kid friendly as what we are used to...is anywhere as kid friendly as Utah?), or missing the people that used to come on our adventures with us (some things are only worth doing when you have a grandma or grandpa with you for back up!), or if our house is just so much more enjoyable to hang out in now that we have a playroom, but it is so much easier/more enjoyable to hang out at our house than to try and go places. So, this year I am going to make a consorted effort to EXPLORE! There is so much here that is new and exciting...the zoo, the coast, OMSI, the aquarium, the gardens, the parks, the rivers, the waterfalls, the wildlife, the farms...and we need to get out there and experience it even if the idea is exhausting! ;) Not only do I want to explore our surroundings, but it will be fun to explore new traditions, new ideas, new hobbies, a new schedule and new food! Hopefully our explorations will bring us lots of fun and enjoyment and fond memories and that your year will be filled with the same! Happy 2012!
Since before we moved, I feel like I have been in a creative black
hole...not really feeling inspired or excited about the creative outlets
that used to be a source of joy and fun for me. My desire to capture
life artistically through photography turned into a drudgery task of
getting out the camera, uploading pictures, editing, and maybe
eventually posting the images for others to see (this is probably not big news to any of you still reading this blog since I have been such a slacker about posting). My sewing machine was
quickly banished to the far reaches of my closet along with the small
fabric stash that made it into the moving truck (twice). For months all
of my crafting supplies sat unpacked in boxes...only to be unpacked
because I was sick of the boxes...certainly not so they could be used.
Since we returned from our trip to Utah, I have slowly been getting
excited about the idea of creating again, starting a few quick and easy
projects and pinning stuff like crazy on pinterest excited about the IDEA of doing something crafty or creative, but just not up for a big creative effort.
Sunday afternoon when the kids were down for rest time, I collapsed onto the couch next to Seth feeling completely drained. He was tapping away on his iPhone - playing angry birds, I figured - when on came the sounds of one of the Mormon Messages videos. He was exploring his updated gospel library app and happened upon the video "Create".
I loved this talk when President Uchtdorf first gave it, but I hadn't seen the video before. In that moment, I didn't realize it, but subconsciously that simple video awakened in me the desire to create. Moments after watching the video on Seth's iPhone I made a declaration: "I am going to make that quilt today!" The history: on black friday of 2010, I bought fabric for 2 very large rag quilts to use as picnic blankets/photo props. And into a cupboard they went with the hopes of becoming something soon. But then we worked on projects to get our house ready to list, and then we listed our house, and then Ellie was born, and then we moved, and then we moved again, and they we started on projects to make our new house feel more like home, and then it was Thanksgiving and our house was filled with people, and then another black Friday came and I was guiltily standing in line buying fabric knowing that I still had a box of fabric for two quilts that hadn't even been started. But, I brought home the new fabric and made a few throw pillow covers and blankets for Ellie and left the box of fabric sitting up in my closet.
So, Sunday after my sweeping declaration (which Seth probably didn't realize meant he was in charge of kids for the rest of the day), the dusty box came off the shelf in my closet and our formal living room/office a.k.a. "the study" morphed into a sewing station. Hot iron and ironing board, rotary cutter and mat, sewing machine and sewing box, and colorful fabric scattered in pretty patterns...it was quite a sight. By the end of the day my back ached from bending over my cutting mat on the floor and my fingers were sore from cutting the edges of the quilt so they would fray, but I was overwhelmed with a sense of accomplishment at this beautiful quilt I had created. I remembered how it felt to create...to make something wonderful with a pile of supplies and my own two hands. It was a rush! And I wanted more...so I started on some quilt blocks. I have never quilted before other than rag quilts, but some of the ladies in my ward do a quilting bee and were willing to hold my hand through the learning process and let me join. I rediscovered my OCD tendencies as I unpicked stitching again and again to get lines to match up more perfectly, but with that I was again filled with a sense of accomplishment those few strips of fabric came together to make a beautiful quilt square. Over the course of this week, I have made a valentines day flag garland, some rosette kissing balls, finished 3 more quilt blocks and organized my office to make it more usable for crafty stuff and sewing. I love the energy that comes from creating! I am excited to bring creativity and art back into my life more this year and grateful for the inspiration to do so!
The thing we miss the most about living in Utah is our family! We had a whirlwind trip to Utah at the beginning of January, but we were able to squeeze in an afternoon with Grandma Tate amidst it all. And I am so glad we did, not only for the ice cream cones, the conversation, the strawberry jam and the wonderful Grandma Tate hugs, but also for this wonderful shot of Ellie and Grandma!
I have been sorting through pictures and found these two pictures of Brynnie from the fall that I just had to share. I can't believe how quickly time has flown, but on Saturday she is going to be three years old. Maybe it is her petite little frame or that she loves to curl up on my lap and cuddle or that she likes to suck her thumb and snuggle her blankie, but she is still my little baby girl!
We live in Tucson, Arizona with our kids (Morgan, Chloe, Brynn, Ellie, Lincoln and Ryder) and our dog (Ollie). Seth is a Nurse Practitioner and Jennifer is a stay at home mom and lifestyle photographer. We like to keep things fun and exciting and there is certainly no shortage of either at our house. Life is an adventure and we are taking it on together!
