never the same...

You are so silly!

2012-01-27T13:00:00.003-06:00

I'm sure it's obvious that Miss Addison can be a tough little cookie. We have our share of rough days with her, but it doesn't mean that she doesn't have awesome days or at least moments in each day. She's a little cuddle bug, gives the best hugs, never turns down a kiss, has the best laugh, a zest for life, and says & does some pretty hilarious things. (Pics have nothing to do with each narrative...just some fun pics of Addison being goofy with Mommy.)

I told her that I'd give her a treat if she went potty. After she went potty we headed up the stairs to get ready for bed. She stopped in her tracks halfway up the stairs, "Mommy, you forgot to get me a bunny snack." "You're right, Addison." We marched down to get one, I fished one out, handed it to her, and she looks at me and says in all seriousness, "BUSTED." That one left me laughing all night.

Marc took her out sledding and the inevitable happens. "Daddy, do I have a diaper on." (Translates to, "I have to pee, can I go right now?") Marc started pulling her back home in the sled, frequently asking her if she was still dry. After asking her several times and her responding to each, she finally said, "Yes Daddy. I'm dry 5 times." :)

When she had her ear infection, she was crying about it hurting so much. Mommy comfort wasn't helping, so I told her we should pray about it. After praying that Jesus would help it feel better, the second I finished praying she immediately and with all sincerity, "Mommy, pray again. It still hurts."

Her prayer before lunch one day, which we hadn't put anything on her plate yet. "Dear Jesus, thank you for this nice day (a staple in her prayers and says it no less than 3 times per prayer). And thank you for...{long pause to look at her plate to know what to be thankful for}...no food."

"5" is her favorite number currently. This conversation happens most days right now since her birthday is nearing. "First I'm going to be 3 and then 5, just like Nathan." (Her 5-year old cousin). Nathan must make 5 seem pretty awesome, because the whole 5 thing started after his birthday last month. Her mini obsession with "5" is working to our favor, too. If we tell her she can stay up a little longer, the next question is almost always, "For 5 more minutes," showing us all 5 fingers with great excitement in her voice. It's better to say "yes" to that than to explain "even longer." If our answer can have "5" in it, she's happy! Love when little things can create so much joy!

We love our spunky and sweet little girl. :)

Dare I say it...9 months!

2012-01-26T16:30:00.001-06:00

Ok, time can really slow down! All of a sudden I'm feeling like Brylee is so close to a year old, and it's making me sad. I really wasn't that sad when Addison's first birthday approached - the little stinker gave us a run for it in her first year (and beyond) - so we were celebrating that we made it through and looking forward to some improvements with year #2!

Brylee's sweet personality is such that I don't want her to get older. She's just so much fun, which I know will only get better with age, but still. I'm trying to savor what's left of her baby months. Hardly a baby at this point, but yet such a baby.

Here's to 9 months, sweet girl!

Ahhhhh...too cute! I love this little lady. She's so beautiful inside and out!!

Yeah, I'm big stuff and can give myself a bottle! She's doing a great job feeding herself these days. She knows that eating is her main job! I don't think we've put anything in front of her that she hasn't devoured! For example, a dinner may look like almost a full (small) sweet potato, a good handful of peas, and some noodles. When she really likes something, she continually makes "mmmmmmm" noises as she stuffs her face. Pretty awesome to have such a great eater.

Some of her current favorites: blueberries, spaghetti meat sauce, noodles, pears, peaches
Nothing she dislikes, though Cheerios have sort of lost their luster. Bummer! :)

Is she as kissable to you as she is to me?! MWAH!

She's still pretty easy to please! She certainly knows what she wants now, but can usually be pacified/distracted if that something is something she shouldn't have.

9 month pictures proved to be the turning point of it becoming harder to get pictures. She wasn't too interested in sitting still for me.

One of her favorite things this past month...clapping. If anyone says, "Yeah," Brylee will start cheering along. My favorite time that she claps is when I open the car door to get her out. "Yeah, I'm being rescued!"

Sweet sisterly lovin'. Lately, anytime Addison comes near Brylee, Addison gets a big one planted on her. Brylee will *sometimes* give kisses on demand, accompanied by the "ooohhhh" noise. Love it!

My two cuties! Addison's job was to "hold on to her," and she did just that!

Peek-a-boo! And, I love her little teethers! Still at just those two, but she currently has a little diaper rash and runny nose, so maybe more are on their way.

"HEY!"

Peek-a-boo, round 2, in such a cute fashion! She loves playing games with us! One of her latest games with Mommy is Mommy putting her pacifier (the hard plastic part) in my mouth. She takes it out of my mouth, into her mouth, and then takes it out and puts it back in my mouth. She thinks it's so funny!!

There are those eyes again!! She has been pretty consistent with her shut eye time though. She sleeps through the night from 7:30-7ish. Her two naps are still about 1 1/2 hours - 2 hours each. Thank you, Brylee!

Keep playing with me, Mommy! She loves being around people! She will play by herself, but much prefers interactions.

Look what I learned this past month!!! She is on the move!! Right about 8 1/2 months it all clicked and she took off. A couple days after crawling started, she was pulling herself up.

She is very happy to be exploring the house in a new fashion! It sure makes life busier, but it is so fun to watch her taking off.

Don't mind me...I'm off and away!!

Christmas with the Painters

2012-01-22T22:26:00.008-06:00

We had a great and full Christmas break, not to mention an occasional meltdown or two. Ahem. We were pretty much gone from our house and out of routine the full two weeks, which proved to be just a bit too much for a certain big sister. Little sis just went with the flow.

We were thankful to spend time with Marc's immediate and extended family.

A happy Brylee with Grandpa!

Making funny faces om the computer with Uncle Scott and Aunt Jacqui!

A fun surprise to find Santa at our breakfast location! Good thing since it would be the only she saw this Christmas! She really wasn't too nervous, which surprised me!

The fam & Santa

Sweet picture of Daddy and his girl downtown Chicago.

At the German market...

Inside a building to warm up and listen to a concert. If there is music...there must be dancing from this girl.

She's developed quite the moves!

Having a blast!

Addison quickly made a friend there. If anyone looks close enough to her age, she will gladly welcome them to play with her! They danced together, played with a scarf, and ya know, the other typical 2-year old games. :)

Drink break!

Bundled up and loving life!!

First family pic by The Bean!

The whole Painter Family!

SO SO sweet!! Mike is going to be a great Dad to a little girl of his own come the end of May!! Yeah for a Painter cousin!

Addie is always up for Grandpa time!

Hey!!

Christmas morning cuteness!

Such a beautiful little girl!

A watch of her very own!

Never a shortage of hands to love of Brylee! The girls love their Aunt Becky!

And for a bit of Addison's sweet dance moves, check out this video. The music she is dancing to was written and sung by Marc's cousin. Pretty sweet!!

Looks who is a BIG GIRL!!

2012-01-20T14:38:00.002-06:00

I am VERY proud of Addison, who has taken big girl underwear by storm. We hit the potty training pretty hard shortly after Christmas. We actually did one, we'll call it a practice round, before Christmas that started well, but didn't finish well. Round two has gone very well. It hasn't been accident-free, but they have been minimal. She had been "poop trained" for quite some time, so that maybe made the transition relatively smooth. I still need to request her to go throughout the day, but sometimes she heads there on her own. Way to go, Addison! We are SO proud of you. Keep it up!!

It's great to be down to buying diapers for only one now! Added bonus...seeing a cute little girl running around in her big girl undies. :)

The Big Day

2012-01-14T09:00:00.001-06:00

Christmas Day also happened to be Brylee's 8 month birthday. In my usual fashion, I am updating about her almost a month behind schedule! Here are some 8 month pics and an update about what she did from 7-8 months (though some of them may have been in her 8 month and I can't remember).

HELLO DROOL! Her second tooth poked through around 7 1/2 months - a couple weeks after her first one. She got a HORRIBLE diaper rash this time around. The poor thing had bleeding, open wounds on her bum. I think her two growing teeth are so stinking cute. I'll try to get a good pic soon!

Someone started learning some tricks! But, the little stinker is a one-and-done gal. She would do a trick for a couple days and then once it was old news, she moved onto her next one! She was doing SO BIG for a while, grabbing her head each time she put her hands up. I love the pride and cuteness involved! She also loved to play peek-a-boo this month by putting a blanket over her eyes.

WHAT A DOLL!!

Concentration for SO BIG this time!

Brylee, Bry (didn't think I'd call you that, but I kinda like it), Brylee-girl, Bryels, Baby Cakes - just when I think you can't get much cuter you prove me wrong. You have such a charm in your personality. You flash you monster smile and melt a whole lot of hearts with each grin.

You had a great time over Christmas with lots of attention. But, you also became even more of a Mommy's girl. If I was an option, you certainly preferred that I be close to you or holding you. Once someone else had you and distracted you, you were usually ok though.

LOVE THIS POUTY FACE!!!!! I have no idea what you were doing here, but I'm so glad I caught it. Sometimes you do seem to have a flair for drama though. You've done this little act when you're sad that I've walked away, but normally it's not quite as cute or quiet. You scream for me to come back!! You've also thrown your face into your hands on the floor in front of you in frustration when I lay you in bed. "I don't want to go to bed yet." I can't help but laugh and have my heart melted a little each time it happens.

You were getting closer all of your seventh month to crawling, but didn't quite make it. You got good at rocking on your hands and knees, but that also frustrated you. I was quite surprised to find you in funny places this month as your attempt to be mobile often scooted you backwards. You were able to get toys much easier this month though. You made the sit to crawling transition a couple times, but that usually resulted in face plants. A couple tears and you were over it.

You have a zest for life! I think you're going to be a funny, active, yet sweet as can be little girl. You may be a little party animal. You love to be a part of the action and get SO excited for people to come close to you. Your excitement can be felt in your whole body. You tense up your hands, torso, and squeeze your legs around my waist (when I'm holding you), when you get excited. And, of course, give your almost fake looking grin!

I'm not sure where you are at size-wise again. We go at 9 months! You are wearing 6-12 month clothes. Some 9 month pants are already getting short, so I think you're continuing to be tall. Your weight seems to fluctuate daily. Some days you have lots of little chubby thigh rolls and other days you seem to lose them. Maybe it has to do with how much you spit up in a day!

You love your parents, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I think this sweet smile was for Grandpa A.! You especially have a soft spot for him!

You are sleeping ok still. Not great, not bad. This month you were thrown off by sleeping in our room during our visits to family. You napped (2 naps) pretty well and slept from 7:30-6ish. It just felt especially early since it was Christmas break! When you were teething earlier in the month, you would wake up because of that. A little Tylenol and you'd be back down in no time.

Almost edible!!! But for some reason, the things you eat still don't stay down very well. You don't seem bothered by it, but it just makes for a lot of messes! We did switch you to non-specialty formula and there wasn't an increase or decrease in the spit-ups so we stayed on the cheaper formula. Our budget thanks us!

You are such a great eater. You get 3 6-oz bottles during the day and one 8 ouncer before bed still. You eat three solid meals a day, too. You literally eat everything I put in front of you...with joy!! You shock many people by how quickly you can down a bottle or the food on your tray. We started giving you a few more table foods...peas, cooked carrots, and you still love your Cheerios and puffs.

Those cheeks sure beckon to get kissed a lot and you like to give us kisses, too! Thanks for bringing us another month of fun and joy! We love you, Brylee!!!

Christmas Fun at Home

2012-01-13T14:24:00.002-06:00

Once Marc's Christmas break from school started we weren't at our house a whole lot. When we were home, we loved it. It was so much fun decorating this house for Christmas for the first time. Of course, it took a bit longer than usual, but it made the house feel so cozy. Marc also hung some lights outside.

Here are a few pics of Christmas at and around our house 2011.

Our couples small group, minus one couple. Boo for sickness! We've been together about 6 years now and love these people!! Our annual Christmas party always involves some sweet White Elephant gift exchanging.

This was such a cute idea. One store front in a local town had nightly performances of The Nutcracker. Girls danced in four different store front windows while many little girls watched in wonder. Addison can barely be seen, but she has a tan coat and brown and pink hat on.

Meanwhile, Brylee was all bundled up and just liked watching Mommy or Daddy smile away at her.

Addison has been picking up quite the dance moves lately! She absolutely loves to dance and boogies it down!

A few pics of the girls after church one Sunday in December.

Mommy put her close enough to get a good look at the tree and she was mesmerized!

Love this pic of Addison!

Our "Christmas" morning.

Checking out what Santa put in her stocking!

She would have been extremely happy if we let her put that paper in her mouth all day!

Oh, the anticipation!

Cuddling her tiny new baby. She also got a pig pillow pet, a soccer ball, tool and doctor sets, and clothes.

Gummy worms! Her face says it all!

Classic kid. Giving a forced smile about getting clothes for Christmas. She opened up the clothes and quickly removed them from the box, as if to see what else was going to be in it. :)

B is for Beautiful Brylee! She got some new pacifiers, a little baby of her own, and toys.

I had fun putting extra touches on all the packages this year. Also, my "solution" of using initials was great for Addison's age. She can certainly recognize her A, B, D, and M. She was able to pick out which gift was for who without any problem.

This Christmas we also attempted to do some Advent activities. It included making an ornament each day, which proved to be too much of an undertaking for Mom to pull off every day. We did some of them and she totally understood that Jesus is the Light of the World. (Day 1) :)

I've Fallen and Working My Way Up

2012-01-12T14:15:00.004-06:00

Wowsers. I realize I've totally fallen off the face of blogging earth. Sorry about that. Lots of pictures have been taken in the past month so I'll be working my way through the growing "stack" of good ones.

First up, a little video clip of the girls entertaining each other. I LOVE these moments. Addison still gets the best giggles from Brylee. I wish I was as funny. :)

Here are some cute shots of the girls. These two love each other lots!! It does a parents' heart a lot of good to see them love on each other.

Sweet Brylee with a typical expression on her face.

This little one LOVES to jump around on the couch, into pillows, the ottoman, etc. We realize it's a very personal choice to let her jump on our couch, but something in life just aren't worth battling. It's just a couch and being worn in well. We do battle it when we are at other people's houses though!

Much of December, Brylee was pushing her upper body WAY up in the air, but without much effort for crawling though. I'll update on her in a few posts though.

These next photos are a fun batch of Brylee desperately wanting to give Addison a kiss and Addison being extremely patient with her clawing sister!

Addison still smirking.

There goes the eye!

Yet, she's still smiling, but her one eye doesn't work anymore. :)

Surprisingly not running out of her grip when the kiss was over and sweetly entertaining her!

One night Addison really wanted to give Brylee her bottle...ALL BY HERSELF. She actually did a great job doing it, making sure it was tipped enough and all. Part way through the bottle she informed us that she needed to be burped and sure enough she did. It was very cute to see Addison in this role and so proud of it!

She's 7 Months

2011-12-09T19:53:00.002-06:00

Brylee Joy is the ripe age of 7 months. There have been a few note-worthy changes that have happened in the past month. Tooth number one (her bottom middle right) broke the surface just a couple days before her 7 month birthday. Her second tooth has yet to pop through (7.5 months), but is mighty close!

What a little charmer! Though her charm has begun to mix with her making her desires more known. She can be quite LOUD now. She started making a very funny noise when she gets excited about seeing somebody she doesn't know too well. Her whole body tenses up while she sort of yells/grunts. Not the cutest sound, Brylee. :) She really doesn't like it when, especially Mommy, walks away from her or walks by her without doting on her.

Though she doesn't babble a ton, she makes all sorts of other (sometimes odd) noises! She loves to blow raspberries now and her favorite babbling noise is "ya ya ya ya." She gets most worked up when food is close but not close enough! It's a pretty dramatic cry for food. Patience isn't in her vocabulary when it comes to food! :)

Likes: dumping out buckets of toys, LOVES the jumperoo, the exersaucer, being held, being tickled, Addison, anything she can put in her mouth
Dislikes: being left alone (though she usually adjusts quickly), laying on her back since she isn't a big roller, having toys taken from her (namely by her sister!)

She has also begun moving around a bit on her tummy. Definitely not scooting yet, but spinning in circles to get to different toys. She's pushing up higher with her arms so she may start to try the crawling position soon.

Sleep is still not as consistent as we'd like it to be! Most of the past month she has been waking up once or two times in the middle of the night. We think a lot of her sleeping difficulties are due to teething. She's been napping better recently. She is only taking 2 naps a day though now. She usually takes her first nap around 9:30 or 10 and her second nap around 2 or 2:30. Each nap has been about an hour and a half to two hours. It's been nice to be back on track with naps. She goes down for the night around 7-7:30 with a big 8oz bottle and is usually up about 7 the next morning.

Love the sweet smiles she gives when I go in to get her up. She gets SO excited to see us and squeals for us to pick her up. She does a funny tummy crunch (think ab workout) whenever she's on her back and wanting to get picked up or sit up. I'm more than happy to scoop her up!

Brylee is an all-star eater! I have made all of her baby food, like I did for Addison. I've had to make round two of many of the foods she eats already! She eats two or three ice cubes of food each meal plus some rice cereal or oatmeal. She has also begun to like the little baby puffs. It took her a few times to actually keep it in her mouth as she was a bit alarmed that there was a chunk in her mouth. :) She is just starting to try to put them in her mouth by herself. She still has trouble getting it out of her hand, but she's getting it.

The other change is that I'm now done nursing Brylee. It's all bottles now. Thankfully she loves her bottle. We're still giving her the specialty formula, but she is still spitting up about the same, so we may try some less expensive formula soon. Because we've been unsure of the dairy sensitivity for Brylee all along, I was still going very easy on my dairy intake when I was feeding her. So, bring on the ice cream, pizza, chocolate, cream-filled dishes, cheese, etc. WOOHOO! It's been way too long. :)

Brylee, you continue to bless our family with so much joy! You are so quick to give your sweet smile to each of us and absolutely light up when one of us enters the room. You sure know how to make us feel good! We are so thankful for another month with you and look forward to celebrating your first Christmas with you in the coming month! We love you sweet Brylee-girl!

Giving Thanks

2011-12-08T22:21:00.008-06:00

We had so much fun hosting our first Thanksgiving with my side of the family. My Dad had already been living with us the two weeks prior to Thanksgiving to finish our basement! Another post will come on that. My mom flew out to help my sister-in-law in Iowa while my brothers went on a hunting trip. Then they all piled in the minivan to come to our house for all of Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks again for making the trek out to our house! It had been way too long since we celebrated Thanksgiving together!

Fun centerpiece I made.

The bird! It was my first ever turkey and actually wasn't nearly as hard as I always figured it would be. It turned out pretty yummy and we ate pretty close to the time we planned on. And...nobody got sick. Definitely an added bonus. :)

The crew (minus my mom taking the picture) ready to eat!

Adorable cousins just weeks apart in age!

We looked over and these two were cuddled up watching a show. Very sweet! I always think it's funny how kids perceive anyone younger/smaller than them as "baby-ish" and therefore, holdable.

My sweet Brylee was a champ all weekend. We almost forgot about her at times because she was so good!

Clearly, not the most flattering photo, but it's the best we could get of the girls...we missed our Sedy cousins though!

One day we boarded the train and rode for just 15 minutes or so and arrived at 2 Toots - the train restaurant. A fun little outing for the kids!

Watching the train deliver some food!

Meanwhile, Brylee sat in her carseat and was charming us all with her sweet smiles.

We all bundled up (though it was amazingly warm for a late November night) and went to the parade in a nearby city. Another fun memory!

**Though we didn't get any pictures to document it, we also celebrated my parents 40th wedding anniversary! We had a fun night of putting them on the hot seat and interviewing them about the past 40 years. It was a fun time of learning and reminiscing. Again, happy anniversary Mom and Dad! We're thankful for your commitment and love for each other and the family that you built.**

Half a Year?! REALLY?!

2011-11-19T22:50:00.000-06:00

Oh, Brylee. How can 6 months be already passed? (Ok, we're actually just shy of you being 7 months and I didn't get around to this sooner because we've had a very busy and overwhelming past month.) I'm posting as how things mostly were at six months. You are definitely out of that baby phase, which is sad and exciting all at once.

You continue to be our smiling girl. And we continue to receive many comments on how happy you are. A joy you are indeed. You are easily excited and your whole body reacts with your excitement. Sometimes holding you can be a juggling/wiggling act. :) Even when you are fussy, you can often manage to smile between fusses or cries.

Overall, you are quite content, though you've realized recently that it makes you sad when you are left alone. It's usually nothing a quick look over at you or talking to you can't resolve.

You are sitting! All it took was a little practice. I was starting to think it was about time you should be sitting and you weren't yet doing so. We propped you up and worked with you and it "clicked" and you've been getting better ever since! I think you love your new vantage point. You do not enjoy laying flat on the ground. When I try to lay you down, even for a diaper change, you put out quite the ab workout. You lift your head, shoulders, and legs off the ground wanting to see what's going on. You are a strong little girl! You still don't roll both ways. Either you are just totally content not to do so or your size is getting in the way. :) You easily roll back to front (only one direction) but not front to back. It seems like you're trying to move a little bit now. You stick your little bottom up in the air when you want to get something in front of you. You also will turn a slight bit when playing on your tummy. I'll continue to enjoy finding you where I leave you for a bit longer!

Your size sure isn't fooling us that you are six months. My goodness, you keep growing! You must be in a constant growth spurt. I think you got your Daddy's genes. At your appointment, you were 28 inches long...which is the 99th percentile!!! WOW - 2 inches in 2 months! You are "thinning" out a bit as you weighed 17 lbs 1 oz - the 71st percentile. The span between the percentiles is widening. The doctor commented that you are the size (at least in height) of an average 9 or 10 month old. You are easily fitting into 12 month sleepers, though you can also still pull off some 3-6 month onesies. It's the length that gets you on clothes, so unless you want belly shirts, it's safest to put you in 6-12 month clothes. You can still squeeze into size 2 diapers, but have been wearing your sister's size 4 diapers at night. Pretty crazy they can fit into the same diapers right now. You could easily wear size 3's, but I'm using up my stock of 2's first!

You love to be tickled and we love to do it to hear those adorable giggles (and grunts). Your sister is still the one to get laughs out of you the easiest. She needs to merely make a sound and look at you and you giggle at her. (Much to her pleasure. "Mommy, she laugh-ed at me.") You also like it when we give you a little toss into the air.

The other big event of the past month is the introduction of solids. Our first attempt went ok, not great. Then we went downhill for a bit - you didn't want to ever open your mouth, so our only chance was to get you to smile and shovel it in. You also started to spit up a TON more, so I decided to take you off the cereals for a couple weeks. In the end, I think I was just not being very careful about avoiding dairy in my diet and that was causing you the problems. Sorry, sweetie - problem corrected. You've since begun to love to eat and you do so with vigor. You don't just open your mouth...you dive-bomb the spoon. You gobble up all the oatmeal we give you. You've also had carrots and squash and loved those, too! Your initial reaction to peaches was a pretty classic "sour" face, which kept us laughing for a while. You got more used to it the second time we gave it to you.

Sleep...oh sweet sleep. Still not your strong suit this month. You've been all over the board. You sleep through the night some nights. You are up a couple times other nights. We've let you cry it out a couple nights. It took a LONG time of crying, but you did eventually fall asleep. Your consistent 2 hour + naps have also jumped ship. Your morning nap is an hour-ish. Your second nap is about an hour and a half, and #3 is just a quick 30 minute nap. Thankfully, your disposition doesn't seem to be too effected by how much sleep you get. Our happy, love for life, girl.

You still don't have any teeth, which is crazy to us. You've been mouthing everything in sight for months. With each *month* that passes, we certainly think, "Any day now!" You chew on anything and everything and are usually drooling as well.

We love you so much and are so thankful for the joy you bring to our family. You keep all of us smiling, even if we haven't had much sleep or have had a rough day. You are a gift to us and God has given us such a beautiful gift in you. You are loved so very much!

Take Her or "Leaf" Her

2011-11-04T20:00:00.000-05:00

A neighborly story...

We hadn't lived in our house long when Brylee was born. One afternoon "Miss Sue" came by to see if we had dinner plans, though we hardly knew them at the time. We got talking and she asked that question on that day. "How are you doing?" Call it a rough day, post-baby hormones, or a lack of sleep, I just started crying. Our relationship was just starting and there I was unable to stop crying. BUT, for some reason it felt ok with her. She quickly assured me that she understands and remembers being in my shoes. And then she said something that blew me away. "Kendra, you are not raising your kids on your own. You aren't alone. We are right here and we are here to help. You can send them over to our house if you need a break. Text me if I need to come over. Whatever. We are here and want to help."

THAT is what community looks like. It is a beautiful thing. I am so blessed because of it. I can only hope to be that "somebody" in someone else's life.

I know Sue doesn't regret that offer, but I sure have taken her up on her offer. She's SO gracious to watch the girls while I run an errand or to the doctor with one of them. Sit at our house while they nap. Take Addison to the park. Bring her to her house and give her lunch while I pack for a trip. And SO much more. Addison loves Miss Sue. We all do. We love their whole family.

One morning when I was not feeling well, she entertained Addison with a pile of leaves and took some sweet pictures in the process.

"Miss Sue" (and family) - thank you for being you. For living where you live. For inviting us in. For loving on our girls. For loving on us. For being an answer to unspoken prayer.

My Giraffes

2011-11-03T21:23:00.004-05:00

The Giraffe Sisters posing before trick-or-treating!

Grandma (and Grandpa) Painter came over for some Halloween fun.

(Grandpa's fun actually lasted all day with the girls. On top of a nasty cold/sinus infection/bronchitis/laryngitis, I came down with a flu bug in the middle of the night. He graciously came over for the day while I went to the doctor and then barely moved from my bed the rest of the day!)

She had the routine down pat (or so I'm told since I wasn't up for tagging along this year). Ring the bell, move away from the door, say "trick-or-treat," take time to ponder the candy choices, pick her favorite, say "thank you," and repeat!

Oh the cuteness.

Some family friends created a maze for their grandkids in their basement. They extended the invitation to Addison, who wanted to bring along one of her best buddies, Landon. They loved it!

Making her way through!

Peek-a-boo!

Addison's first pumpkin carving experience. She dug right in and hardly wanted or needed help to get the guts out.

The carvers and their finished product.

A happy girl with her happy pumpkin.

Traditions

2011-11-02T08:00:00.001-05:00

There are a few "must-do's" for each season of the year. One of those fall traditions is a visit to the local fall festival. Pumpkins galore, kiddo rides, pony rides, festival food, and much more.

It's so fun to watch your kids experience things for the first (or second, third, 50th) time. Or seeing how they've grown from one year to the next in terms of doing activities better, with less fear, etc. We definitely saw some firsts and growth on our little outing this year.

Daddy and his girl in the pumpkin mouth.

Mommy and her girls!

According to this growth chart...3 feet (ish) tall at age 2 1/2.

While "little" sister is 2 feet and 2 inches.

Mommy went on the Dumbo ride with Addison.

She had never done a ride like this before and she LOVED it.

Getting crazy with our hands in the air!

A happy girl after the ride (though I'm pretty sure the smile turned to tears when she realized it was all over). :)

Next up was the pony ride. She did a great job all by herself and had a ball.

Look at the joy and pride on that face!

Addison loved feeding the animals - something that would have scared her in the past. She very calmly held her hand still while the goats ate the food out of it. She would have done this all day if we let her!

Addison the Conductor!

Meanwhile, Brylee just soaked it all in!

Such BIG muscles, girl!!

Cook-out

2011-11-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

One beautiful fall night, Addison experienced roasting her own hot dog over the fire. Probably the best hot dog she ever ate. I always remember that if I made something as a kid, it tasted SO good. :)

The dynamic duo cooking their hot dogs!

Cuties! :)

Soccer Season

2011-10-31T20:59:00.002-05:00

The months of September and October are full of soccer in our family. Marc coached the varsity and JV junior high teams for his 6th season. They, once again, had a very successful season. They won both of their tournaments and only lost to one team all season.

While Marc coached, the girls sat on the sidelines for many games. Usually during the JV game, Addison was allowed to be with Daddy and "help" him coach. They both loved that time together. I think Addison was especially fond of the treats that the other coach, Mr. Dave, would bring.

Though it's fun to be a part of the soccer season and team, we are always glad when the season wraps up and we get Daddy/hubby back at a much earlier hour each night. :)

During one game the weather changed drastically and Mommy wasn't prepared for the drop in temperatures. Daddy lent her his rain jacket, which brought about SO many "cutest thing ever" comments.

A VERY sweet pic of Daddy and his big girl. Love this one!

Like Daddy - Like Daughter

Her favorite part of each game...after the buzzer went off and she could run and get her Daddy!

Down on the farm...

2011-10-31T20:31:00.005-05:00

Oh boy...I have some serious catching up to do! Suffice to say, fall is a BUSY time of year for us. Pair that with enjoying any last nice weather days and blogging falls by the wayside. Enjoy the big catch-up session. :) Posts will be coming up for a while (hopefully).

One of our first fun fall activities was going to the farm of a co-worker of Marc. All the junior high staff and their family headed out there one evening and had a blast!

We picked and ate lots of apples. I'm pretty sure Addison ate 3 entire apples before we left...a new-found love!

We got to pick pumpkins from a patch!

She found her pint-sized one.

She had a blast with the other kids.

Open for Business :) :)

2011-10-12T14:06:00.002-05:00

I know I mentioned this a little bit ago, but for those who missed it, I decided to start selling headbands and hair pieces. I've loved making them for my girls and thought it would be fun to make them for others, too. It's especially fun to make one custom for someone, whether it be for a photo shoot, baby dedication, special outfit, or just an every day accessory.

I'd love it if you stopped by my Etsy shop: http://simplysweetchicshop.etsy.com. Feel free to pass the link along to others who may be interested in something already listed or for a custom item.

Also, for those not on Facebook (and unable to get the coupon code there), enter "OCTOBERSHIPPING" at checkout for free shipping, now until October 26.

Have a great day!! :)

We Love our 5 Month Old Girl

2011-10-05T22:03:00.000-05:00

Happy 5 Months, Brylee Joy. How many times have we commented that: "Her middle name couldn't be more perfect for her." We say it a lot around our house, because, well, she is full of JOY.

Not a ton has changed in the past month for Brylee. She continues to grow like a weed. I feel like we're in and out of clothes so quickly these days! I just love her pudgy cheeks, squishy legs, and round belly. It sure seems like she is going to be tall, like her Daddy!

E-V-E-R-Y-THING goes into her mouth. I'm sure teeth will be coming soon. Until they do, I am savoring her gummy smile. LOVE! She is also becoming quite aware of when we are eating and wants in on the action. The funniest is when we are holding her and taking a drink. She watches us the whole time and when the cup hits our mouth, she begins saying, "Oooh. Oooh." Cuteness. Due to her dairy sensitivity, her doctor recommended holding off on "flavored" foods until 6 months old. Oatmeal and rice cereal would get quite boring for a month straight, so we're holding off on starting that for a couple more weeks.

She continues to get an 'A' in the eating category. She normally feeds about 5 times/day. I'm still her main source of food, but her last feed of the day is a hearty bottle of formula. (Side note: This hypo-allergenic formula NOT cheap. YIKES. Hopefully we'll be able to come up another solution soon.) I have been slowly trying to have some dairy in my diet again. It seems like small doses are ok for her, but big doses mean a full day of lots of spit up. It makes her a bit fussier, but still not bad. It's nice to know I can have a little dairy again!!

We do the "good night" bottle of formula in hopes to extend her night-time sleeping. She's been sleeping pretty well the past week, but the few weeks previous to that were a bit rougher. She was waking up once (sometimes twice) around 3 or 4 am. We could usually get her back to sleep by giving her the pacifier, in between letting her cry for a while. Sometimes an hour later, we would all get to go back to sleep! Thankfully, she would then usually sleep until 7:30. It seems like that sleep training is starting to pay off. Lately, she's been sleeping from about 8pm until 7:30 or 8 the next morning.

Her naps are pretty consistent and pretty amazing! I'm so thankful for her great naps. She takes three naps/day. A typical day is a morning nap from 9-11. A nap at the same time as Addison from 1-3 (or 4). A last little cat nap from 6-6:30. This last one is getting harder to get her down for though now. Thank you, Lord, for her awesome sleep habits.

She has been loving her exersaucer this past month. She quickly figured out how to spin around to get to all the different toys. She knows how to spin the little wheels on it and knows what each toy on it tastes like. :) Brylee continues to roll back to tummy, but has yet to roll tummy to back! The doctor commented that it may take her longer because she has more body mass to move around. Haha. I'm more than happy that she is not in a big rush to move! She can stay my {big} baby for a lot longer!

Her sweet little face lights up just by looking in her direction. I LOVE going to get her up from her naps. The second she hears her door open up, her fusses stop, and she begins smiling and looking for us. She gives us the biggest and sweetest smile when she finally sees us, almost ready to start laughing due to her excitement. This pic is such a typical Brylee face. {I want to scoop her up from her sleep so I can kiss her right now!!}

Brylee absolutely LOVES her sister! It brings us so much joy to watch the sweet times between our girls. Addison is so attentive to Brylee's needs. When Brylee starts to fuss, Addison rushes over to her saying, "It's ok sweetie. I'm here now." If I'm busy and can't tend to her right away, I can ask Addison to "make Brylee happy," and Brylee is more than happy to accept attention from her sister. Addison can make Brylee giggle unlike anyone else. It's just the best. Addison's latest "stunt" with her is to basically lay on B's back to give her a hug. We monitor the amount of weight she actually puts on her, but it always gets Brylee giggling.

WE LOVE OUR GIRLS!!!

Simply Sweet Chic

2011-09-21T14:06:00.005-05:00

I've recently been having a lot of fun making bows, headbands, flower clips, and more for my girls. As a result, I decided to go ahead and open up a little shop...Simply Sweet Chic. At this point I am just listing them on Facebook. Head over to Simply Sweet Chic to check them out!! We'll see how it goes, but I'm having fun doing this creative outlet for now.

If you or you know someone who would be interested, you can either comment on the picture in Facebook with your email address (which will be used to bill via Paypal) or leave a comment on here and we'll be in touch. For those who don't have Facebook or can't access the page, here are a few samples of what I'm doing. Almost all of these can be mixed and matched (flower is detachable and can also be worn clipped straight into longer hair...i.e. Addison-style)! I love having girls and adding these cute accessories. :)

**Most are $5 for the headband and flower combined.**

Only the Lord...

2011-09-15T13:37:00.004-05:00

**********

...can heal some pains. Like having a two year old break your heart with her words.

Psalm 147:3

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds … Great is our Lord, and mighty in power …”

**********

...can change hearts. Like changing my heart to become thankful in the midst of challenges.

Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

**********
...can help control emotions. Like responding with a soft answer and words when all I want to do is yell right back at her.

Proverbs 15:1

A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.

**********

...can calm my anxious heart. Like comforting me with the knowledge that the Lord doesn't give us interruptions in our life...only divine interventions.

Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

**********

Clearly, we're in the midst of yet another challenging phase. There are moments in each day filled with sweetness and fun. Unfortunately, those moments are often followed, much too closely, with defiance, tantrums, and yelling. "My grace is sufficient for you." There are moments when I couldn't be more thankful to be at home with my girls all day, every day. And, there are moments that I desperately wish I could trade places with Marc so that I could go to work and he could be at home handling the mess. "My grace is sufficient for you."

I've been made very aware that I cannot change Addison on my own strength. Scratch that...I cannot change her behaviors. I do not want to change who she is, just how it comes out at times. It's ultimately going to be the Lord's work in her life to more consistently bring out the sweet, loving little girl that she is.

Because I don't want to think about or dwell on the ugliness I see each day right now, here are some cute pictures of Miss Addison Rae - the giggle box, the boundless energy, and the goofy and happy girl she is.

Big indeed

2011-09-12T07:56:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to update/document about Brylee's 4 month appointment.

She is HUGE! In fact, they re-measured her because the first measurement put her off the charts!

Brylee is still right about the 75th percentile for weight...now at 15 lbs. 8 oz.
She shot up in height since last appointment. She's in the (drumroll please) 97th percentile for height...putting her at 26 1/2 inches long.

No wonder my arms get tired holding her!! :) I'm thankful she'll sit on my hip at times now to give my arms a break.

She checked out great and really did quite well with her shots. A quicker recovery than her last shots and they haven't seemed to bother her since.

We got a couple of great sleeping nights in a row (11-12 hours) this week! And then, I told somebody and as a result she only slept 9ish hours, but went right back down to round out her 12 hours of sleep for the night! We're hoping the 11-12 hour night become her norm! We ALL really like sleep!!

My Big 4 Month Old & 2 1/2 year Old!

2011-09-05T15:08:00.000-05:00

What is new in the Painter household? Lots! Be prepared for a long post!

Marc just wrapped up his second week back at school. Additionally, soccer season is also underway. We LOVED LOVED LOVED having him home with us all summer. It was a fabulous summer in so many ways. It's hard to say goodbye to something so good! He has been riding his bike to school when the weather permits and has enjoyed that start and finish to his day.

Here's a little summary of what our two little girlies are up to these days.

ADDISON RAE is officially 2 1/2 years old now.

*not thrilled that it's taking so long to get a good pic of both girls*

The girl has some personality with a capital P! She cracks us up daily with her antics, phrases (or paragraphs), and the way she moves about her day. She talks non-stop. The sentences she strings together are pretty classic. "First, I need to put my shoes on, then we'll go outside, and then you can come with me, Mommy." Ours lives are in full narration for anybody to enjoy! Her new found ability to talk in L-O-N-G sentences is hilarious. Anything she sees becomes part of her story. "When I am a big girl, I will use my fork to open the door so that the baby can jump on the trampoline. Then the window and the books can laugh at the table...." and her story continues. It makes NO sense whatsoever, but her stories are filled with passion, making them half believable. :)

*her amazing ensemble that she put together*

She is very interested in matching right now. She's finally getting the hang of her colors and likes to point out that, "This shirt is pink, just like Brylee's bow is pink." We compare many things these days. "I have an owie, just like Daddy has an owie." It really makes her happy when her silverware matches her plate. :) She is also starting to have more of an opinion about what she wears. She doesn't understand "complimentary colors" so some days it takes some convincing that blue jeans and a pink shirt can go together. I've heard multiple times, "Actually Mommy, that doesn't match." Sorry, my fashionista!

Addison has learned to ride her bike. She does a pretty good job on her little trike! She'll go for a "long" bike ride, return home, and say, "Phew, I worked hard. I need a rest." :)

She is also get pretty good at coloring. When asked to color the clouds, this is what she did! We were SO impressed.

She's trying very hard to stay inside the lines. We're proud of her efforts!

BRYLEE JOY hit her 4 month birthday on August 25.

Oh, you make us smile, girlie!! She has such a charming personality. She's already learning some things from her sister, such as how to talk LOUDLY!! Brylee loves to chat up a storm, but sometimes it sounds like she's yelling happily. Other times her noises are just as sweet as can be. Her favorite sound to make right now is the "o" sound. Too cute.

Her hands are her favorite toy these days. They are almost always in her mouth. She most loves being able to grab some fabric (her shirt, blankie, burp cloth) and then put her hand in her mouth. She also loves her playmat. She's now starting to intentionally grab for the toys hanging down, but sometimes gets a little frustrated when she can't bring them into her mouth.

As of a week ago (just at 4 months old), we have a ROLLER! She rolled back to front. We'd been commenting that she's so close to making it over. She was trying and trying and finally got herself over. Then, repeated the performance multiple times whenever we put her on her back. For a girl who loves laying on her back, she acts like it's old news to do that now! She flips very quickly and still working on getting her arms out from underneath her after flipping. The downside to the flipping is that she wanted to flip during her sleep and she wasn't a fan of sleeping on her tummy. It caused for several long nights and short nap days. I finally wised-up and got our sleep positioners out. Those little triangle bolsters keep her in place and without flipping. SUCCESS!!

I'm still nursing her and still dairy-free. We still don't have conclusive answers about the dairy allergy. I'm not quite as rigid about not eating dairy as before, but still try to avoid it overall, and especially in large quantities. Oh, believe me, I am DYING to have many different foods. Ice cream. Pizza. Cheesy dishes. CHOCOLATE! Looking at that list, I guess I'm eating quite a bit healthier on this diet! It's still hard to tell if the dairy does anything to her tummy. At this point, I think I'd call it a dairy sensitivity, not an allergy.

Brylee is taking awesome naps most days. She's usually up for a couple hours after eating and being awake and then sleeps for a couple hours. Her first two naps of the days are generally 2-3 hours long each, and then she takes a shorter 45 minute - 1 hour nap in the evening. She has her last feeding of the day at 8 or 8:30 and then...well, we're not overly consistent yet. I'd say on average, she sleeps until 5. She used to sleep til 6:30 or 7, but we've digressed a bit. But, sometimes she's up earlier to feed, so I'll quick feed her and then she goes back to sleep for a couple hours. She's such a joy to go get from her crib. She'll fuss a bit to let us know she's awake and then as soon as we walk in, she is all smiles, and excitedly kicks her legs!

Brylee is definitely ticklish. She's has been giving us little giggles here and there and the giggles are almost guaranteed when we tickle. Some other random things can get little laughs: raising her hands above her head and laughing with her, some funny noises we make, bouncing with her, and kiss attacks with my hair falling over her face.

I put her in the nursery for the first time last week. I know...it took me long enough. For some reason, I always have a hard time making that step. Maybe because keeping her with my in the service means she's still a little baby. Maybe because I want to "shelter" her. (I know...not much to shelter her from in the church nursery except the dreaded germs.) Maybe because I am just not ready to let her go. Whatever the case, I did it. Although, it was naptime, so I swaddled her up, put her in the crib in the sleeping room, and she didn't wake up until minutes before I came back to get her. A successful first Sunday!

Brylee-girl is still such a happy and pleasant baby. (Though her one unhappy place is the carseat...but not every time.) If she has people around her, including her sister who loves to squeeze her cheeks now, she is especially happy. She loves to be held facing out. With her pounds adding on, it gives my arm a pretty good workout to give her a "bench" to sit on. Her 4 months appointment is later this week, so I'll find out then just how big she is!

Right now, life is good. No, life is awesome. As tough as some days can be, I can't help but realize that I'm not forever going to have baby swings set up, burp clothes at every corner of the house, tantrums, and happy little girl noises. I'm SO thankful that I get to be at home with these two loves...sitting outside in the shade of a tree with Addison, while Brylee naps inside. Sitting on the deck for lunches. Feeding Brylee while watching Addison dance around the living room. This is our life and I'm thankful!

Not looking so little next to big sis anymore!

Pure love between these two. I LOVE watching this relationship grow!

My baby is growing up before my eyes...but I wouldn't want it any other way!

We are Family

2011-08-22T14:29:00.001-05:00

It was so nice having some extended time to hang out with the whole Painter family. Though we did a lot of activities, we also had down time to just relax and chat together. It's always so much fun to be with everyone!!

A HUGE thanks to Marc's wonderful parents for this vacation!! We love you!

A rare shot of just the two of us!

So, we had to act up, since we're not used to taking pictures so easily and quickly these days!

Thanks, Aunt Becky, for our matching dresses!!!

Sweet Brylee girl!

You are SO beautiful!!

Mighty comfy and getting sleepy in Aunt Jacqui's arms!

Cute girl, would you stop growing up so fast?

Hanging out with Uncle Mike!

The girls love Aunt Becky and she loves them!

A water "chugging" contest with Uncle Mike had Addison belly laughing. It was also a great way to ensure she drank plenty of water in the higher altitude!

Scott and Jacqui's turn to cook. Each couple took over one meal to plan and cook.

Brylee was such a great baby to travel with! She gave out so many smiles! She usually didn't even fuss when she was past due to feed!

More adorable-ness!

Our plan to do family pictures in the beautiful mountains got foiled by a downpour of rain! Oh well!

Love our little family!

Love this man!!

Great pic of Grandpa and Grandma!

Who are fantastic grandparents!!!

CUTE pic of these two...just before...

...these two left to get ENGAGED!!! :)

Jacqui was totally surprised, while we all knew. We had fun decorating the place for when they came back to continue the celebration!!!
"I ASKED" and "I SAID YES"

The cute engaged couple!!! Look out summer 2012! We're so happy for you guys!!

Before jumping of the airplane, we made one final pitstop.

Addison showing Grandpa exactly which rock she wanted to throw in!

Must have been a good one!

Mommy happiness!

What's so fun about this picture is that Marc and I took a picture here 7 years ago...before we were even engaged!! That was pre-digital cameras so I'll have to dig it up!

A final group shot, minus Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky who were driving home!

Enjoying more of God's amazing creation!

Colorado...big kid fun!

2011-08-22T10:46:00.000-05:00

We did some pretty sweet stuff in CO! Marc's dad is great and coming up with and planning each day's activities! Thank you!!!!!!

FIRST: FLY FISHING

We are looking mighty fine!!

My brothers taught us the basics before our trip, so it was really fun to actually practice it!

All the boys!

Three chicas up for the sweet challenge! Marc's mom graciously stayed back with our two little girls so we could both do this!

Heading back from a few hours of fishing! Due to the strong potential of falling in the water, we didn't bring a camera with us. We were out in the middle of NOWHERE. It was beautiful being surrounded by mountains, river rushing through, and not seeing anybody around you! We each caught a couple of fish. It was really fun to learn how to do this!!

NEXT: WHITE WATER RAFTING

Love the bandage look!

Hiding the neck! :)

Excited to go out on the river!

Hoping we'll all be alive at the end of it! A huge thanks to Marc's dad who stayed back with the kids for this excursion.

We did Class IV and V rapids, which was amazing! The water was 40 degrees, so falling in wasn't a high priority. Mike and Becky got launched out of their boat and escaped with several injuries.

Meanwhile, our boat thankfully made it through unharmed. Our attempts to save the other two in the water failed. Sorry guys!

What a thrill!

LAST: BIKING DAY

I stayed back with Brylee while the rest went on a long ride. One way they hardly had to pedal. The other way...seriously hard biking!!! They went about 12 miles. Way to go crew!

Pit stop at the bear carvings. Addison loved them.

Clearly never saw anything like this before!

"I can't even believe this!"

Addison telling Becky all about life!

Mountain Tops

2011-08-20T07:28:00.007-05:00

Our first full day in Colorado was spent on the peak of one of the mountains. There was so much fun stuff to do up there! We spent the whole day having a blast. It was also SO much fun to watch Addison try all these new things! She can be a bit tentative with new things, but she did awesome. Watching her do all these things had me in disbelief of how big she is getting!

Here we go! Up to Peak 8 for a fun-filled day!!

Addie being a cool chick!

Work it, girl!

A harness has never looked so cute on someone! She was getting all suited up to jump!

She was a little unsure at first, but then got the hang of it!!

Higher and higher!

She really wanted to do this again, mentioning it at various points in the day. Grandma Painter took her over later and she patiently waited in line for 45 minutes! I guess she really wanted to do it! :)

Mommy flying high!

Even Daddy got in on the action...doing flips! Good job, Daddy!

Her first alpine slide ride with Daddy!! She loved it!

The second time down, Addison rode with Grandma so...

Daddy could go full speed ahead and subsequently take a BIG spill. He rode the rail with his neck, arm, knee, and hand. If you look closely, you can see a large red patch on his neck. He was in the first aid tent getting bandaged after this run down! You'll see the theme of bandages and/or large red marks in many pictures throughout the week!

Addison was very brave and rode a horse all by herself! She was unsure when the horse took the first couple steps, but then realized it was pretty fun!

Mommy was probably more nervous since she wasn't strapped in at all!

The nice worker tried to make Addison look like a real cowgirl, but Addison wasn't happy about it!! It caught her by surprise a bit too much.

Oh the things you can do with a baby! :) Brylee and Addison both had their first chairlift ride! Both did great!! (Notice the white bandages on Marc...poor guy!)

The whole family in the beauty of Colorado!!

We decided to push through and skip Addison's nap! Lots of activity, fresh air, and no nap = crashing!! She just couldn't keep her eyes open any longer!!

I haven't held her sleeping like this in months...so sweet!! :)

Colorado Bound

2011-08-13T10:33:00.007-05:00

We recently returned from our yearly Painter Family vacation. We went to Colorado this year...first to Colorado Springs and then to Breckenridge. It was an absolute blast and we had so much fun being all together. Both of the girls did amazingly well for being on different time schedules and so out of their normal lives. There wasn't a lack of pictures taken, so I'll let the pics do most of the talking!! It'll take a few posts to document all our fun, so stay tuned!!

Thank you, Mom and Dad Painter, for providing in such an amazing way to let all these fun memories happen! We appreciate it all so very much!

This was our "Countdown to Colorado!" Each morning Addison got to cut off a ring. Added bonus...she learned how to use scissors!

At the airport and entertained by escalators, elevators, moving walkways, and airplanes!

TOO cute! She very capably wheeled her suitcase all around like such a big girl!

No easy way to travel light with two little ones!

About to head through security...hoping she behaves. :)

Getting ready to board! She was SO excited, especially since there was a slight delay, making her wait even longer.

Time to go up, up, and away! Both of the girls had a great flight. We finally got Addison to take a brief nap during the flight, but was otherwise very easily entertained!

We're here!! Love these beautiful mountains!

What an amazing sunset to arrive to the first night!

We drove from Denver to the Springs to stay and Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky's house for a night. It was awesome to see their BEAUTIFUL house and take in all their amazing views. Addison loved exploring their yard...PJs and all! Thanks for letting us invade one night!

The beginning of summer fun!!!

2011-08-01T15:10:00.000-05:00

Yeah, this post is just proving how behind I've been in blogging. Too much fun, too many pictures, and too many other things to do besides blog are to blame! Enjoy these pictures from the beginning of the summer...Memorial Day!

We met up with the Fultons for Addison's first ever parade! The Wheaton Memorial Day parade...killer! :)

Staying cool and taking it all in!

Mesmerized by all the sights and sounds!

A rare 90 degree day in May definitely called for water fun!

Liking Cody's (the dog) idea!

The wind-up...

And another wind-up...

and......

leading up to.....

...the...

...big dive! Ker-splash! :)

O-B-E-Y

2011-07-29T13:10:00.001-05:00

What does that spell?! PEACE! :)

Addison is certainly our strong-willed, spirited child. We continue to learn what this means. As we "figure" her out more, we are able to meet her needs a bit better. I think the older that Brylee gets, the more we will realize that we can't parent two very different kids the same way.

One thing we've realized is the importance of affirmation for Addison. While discipline has it's place in all of our lives, it seems like she functions most positively when she is rewarded for good behavior versus punished for the bad. When she is rewarded, it seems to help curb the negative behavior. She still needs some firm discipline once in a while, but this obedience chart has been a winner of an idea!! We are so proud of her for choosing to obey so often. It is so much fun for all of us to be able to acknowledge this wonderful change in behavior!

She got to put a sticker on when we asked her to do something and she obeyed quickly and happily. It was fun to see her excitement about obeying! She would obey us, and then say, "I get a sticker?!" Obviously, we didn't/couldn't reward her each time, but tried to do it frequently enough to keep her motivated. Hopefully, her obedience us will become less about the reward and more about a heart-felt desire to do what is right! For now, we will take this stage. She has been SO much more fun to play with, be around, and even ask her to do "un-fun" things. I'm not lying when I say a couple months ago, I almost feared telling her to do anything. It resulted in such strong opposition that I knew I'd be dealing with a monster for quite a while following any request.

Addison has been so happy and we are most grateful for her bubbly, lively, active, and sweet personality. She makes us laugh all the time. She is a walking chatter box, and speaks in paragraphs! Oh, the fun of a 2 year old. (I know we'll still have some rough days ahead. On those days I'll come back to this post and laugh that I said a 2 year old can be fun.)

She is quite proud of herself for filling out her entire chart! We are too!

Each row had 5 empty boxes followed by a picture of a little snack (fruit snacks, pretzels, goldfish-type crackers). When she completed a row, she got the snack at the end. The very last row had a picture of a present. When the whole chart was filled out she got her present. Here she is digging into the long-awaited and earned present.

We went out right away so she could use her new toy. A fun sprinkler for the yard!

Good job obeying Mommy and Daddy so well, Addison! It is such a breath of fresh air! We love you (when you obey and when you don't)!

More Michigan Fun

2011-07-28T12:23:00.008-05:00

Here's the last post of our time in Michigan with the whole family. We could hardly take enough pictures to capture all the fun. Hope you enjoy even more MI pictures!

Loving our summer together as a family of four!!

Sisters...nothing can quite compare. Seeing these two interact brings me so much joy. Brylee only needs to hear Addison's voice to start beaming. When Addison comes into Brylee's sight, Brylee is so excited and happy. Addison has also learned the art of "baby talk." She goes up at least 2 octaves when talking to her sister. "Hi Little Sweetie" is one of her coined phrases. :)

A pretty awesome vacation if you ask me!

Wheel barrel rides from Grandpa who is refilling the sand area for the kids to play in!

Excuse me, Addison, but when did you turn 5 years old?!

Dancing with Uncle Ryan while waiting for our dinner!

Yes, you have full permission to make fun of us for making you pose for this picture.

Love those cheesy smiles.

An awesome kid-friendly place for dinner. Sand, toys, volleyball, outside, the works while waiting for dinner!

Some of our crew! Sister-in-law - Carrie, brother - Eric, Aunt Jodie, Mom, and brother - Ryan

No better place than the safety of Daddy's arms!

Grandma's turn with the sleeping babe!

Can't get enough of this SWEET girl.

Happy, happy, happy - even hanging out in her car seat while we ate dinner!!

Kissable cheeks!!

Figuring out the world around!

Some sweet time with Aunt Jodie!

Uncle Eric got some cuddle time, too!

Brylee adores her Grandpa. The smiles and talking are almost instant for him!

No need to eat the whole donut when the sprinkles are on top!

Natalie thought it was a "hands-free" eating competition. :) The girls were serious about eating their donuts!

And, Brylee just enjoyed the company of Grandpa while everyone else enjoyed their donuts!

Relaxing by the lake!

Sweet time with Daddy.

Pumping more sugar into the kids! We do try to monitor how much sugar Addison consumes, so this was a total treat for her! She was a complete mess by the time that cone was gone!

About to say good-bye to Uncle Ryan who was leaving to prepare for his amazing bike trip. It's now finished but he and a group of people biked over 1,100 miles to help those less fortunate. Awesome!!!

One of the greatest holidays...

2011-07-26T11:02:00.001-05:00

I've decided that the 4th of July is becoming one of my favorite holidays. As in...it's right up there with Christmas in my mind. Though the meaning of Christmas far outweighs the 4th of July, the festivities are giving some good competition.

For us, the 4th of July mean: summer!, family get togethers, crazy fun boating, grilling out, food all day, flags everywhere, cute/summery/festive outfits (for the kids), the classic boat parade, fireworks, and seeing party after party at each house around the lake. This last part is what's becoming so endearing to me. I LOVED to see all these get-togethers. I know they happen at Christmas time, but you don't get to see them like you do for the 4th. There is such a sense of fun, community, fellowship, and happiness. It's hard to describe it well, but I know my heart is full when I see and enjoy it!

For breakfast, Aunt Carrie made these very cute waffles! YUM!

Enjoying a few minutes of a peaceful lake in the morning...then it got crazy!

Cutie!

Brylee's first big holiday!

Dolled up in her festive outfit!

Enjoying cuddles from Aunt Evie!

So relaxed and peaceful in Daddy's arms!

The annual boat parade! All "participants" decorate their boat, pile in the boat, and meet in the middle of the lake at a designated time. Then, the procession begins.

She did great! She wove those flags and yelled, "Happy 4th of July" to all the onlookers!

Hats off to you, Uncle Sam!

We let Addison stay up for the fireworks this year. She loved them, as we knew she would! She only covered her ears because we told her it was going to be loud. Then she realized it wasn't so bad and enjoyed the booms in their loud glory!

Enjoying a pretty impressive show for a private lake!

Happy 4th of July...looking forward to celebrating again next year already!!
(Thanks for taking the pic, Marc!)

Pure Michigan

2011-07-24T10:54:00.000-05:00

Michigan and water fun go together like PB & J! We are so thankful that Addison has started to really enjoy the water. She doesn't mind getting splashed, and often instigates it by splashing us first! This year, she would jump off the raft to one of us! We usually kept her face out of the water, but sometimes we purposefully let her drop in over her head. It wasn't her favorite thing to do, but she did it anyway.

Brylee went for her first little swim...all 5 inches of her legs that got wet. She really didn't seem to mind, but the water was on the cooler side for a little babe so I didn't put her in further.

Hello, summer. Hello, precious tan lines. Hello, bleached out hair!

Our little fish!

No words...just a lot of cuteness!

Addison is truly an encourager. While anybody was skiing or tubing she would genuinely say, "Good job, Mommy/Daddy,etc.," the entire time, along with a cute "thumbs up."

"Go Mommy!"

"Go Daddy!" (Most Improved Award goes to this amazing guy!!)

No instructions needed for her. She saw everyone else wear the gloves while skiing, so she figured she needed them in order to ski!

Though, she preferred practicing to ski from the safety of the dry land! Next year may be the year for her to first attempt at real skiing! We'll see...

Life is good!

Sweet! I love how Addison wants to be just like her Daddy!

Splish splash happiness!

What a fun place to rest!

Jet skiing with Uncle Ryan!

Fun in the sun with Mommy!

About to go out on the jet ski together.

Brylee's first little dip...

...and I think she liked it!

For some adult entertainment...the guys thought it would be fun to try to catch a bass with the minnow net. Amazingly, with three guys running, screaming, and cornering the bass, they were successful.

It was HUGE...20 inches! The three guys + Nathan proudly showing off their catch. Next year...bare hands, guys!

HILARIOUS! 5 men in a little fishing boat. Why they decided to take that boat to go help a neighbor with something, I don't know. I'm glad they did as it gave us some great entertainment. :)

Got Ups?

2011-07-23T11:56:00.000-05:00

Addison totally impressed us with her mad jumping skills! This girl LOVES to jump. Hence, her Christmas gift from us last Christmas was a little indoor trampoline. Thinking a big outdoor one may be in the near future, too!

Addison is such a learner and soaks everything in. She clearly watched anyone who was jumping to see what they did and often tried to copy them when it was her turn. If she couldn't do it correctly right away, she'd ask, "Mommy, you do it again, please." She'd carefully watch and try, try again. I was very proud of her patience (and success) in learning new things!

Many of these pictures make me laugh out loud...or smile big at the very least. Enjoy!

Our jumping bean!

Working on the one leg jumping...pretty impressive for a 2 year old!

Knee drops!

Knee to hand-stand!

Determination, focus, and persistence. By the end of the week, she could successfully jump a couple times in a row on one foot. Good job, girlie!

Aunt Jodie from Cali was with us a few days and Addison had fun playing with her!

Natalie is such a little peanut. It was so easy to send her flying, and she loved when I popped her like popcorn and caught her flying high.

The somersault pro!

We Love Our Cousins!

2011-07-21T13:53:00.001-05:00

Two weeks in Michigan with my family means LOTS and LOTS of pictures. Can I just say that I love digital cameras? I know, I know, digital cameras aren't anything new. But, I was just thinking about how many pictures I would have taken if we were still in the olden film days. Maybe a roll or two. And of those...maybe a dozen would be keepers! Well, here's far more than a dozen keepers (though with multiple kids...the term "keepers" is relative) of the cousins doing life together...Michigan vacation style!

These three cuties had so much fun together. At first, Addison and Nathan were especially good buddies. Those two have pretty comparable energy and could (WOULD) run around all day together and not get tired! Since the girls are both two (just a few weeks apart), sharing toys was not high on their list. When they got past (at least temporarily) their sharing issues, they had so much fun together. I just loved watching them have fun together, listening to their little conversations and giggles, and seeing a true friendship forming.

P-R-E-C-I-O-U-S

Enjoying the 2nd annual waterfront concert together.

Encore!

Some of the group enjoying the concert. It's such a fun night with lots of boats pulling up, anchoring, eating, drinking, game playing, and listening to a band play for several hours.

So proud of Nathan for getting up on skis!!!!!

Getting ready to tube together!

You decide...showing some love or the Heimlich maneuver!

Nathan and Natalie doting over their baby cousin!

PJ time!!

Mmmmmmm...dripping ice cream cones on a warm day!

Checking out the messes on each others' face!

Cutie pie!

I think loading these kids with sugar is a theme of these pics. S'more time now! :)

Lots of time spent together jumping away, playing ring around the rosie, playing "copycat" with different tricks, and giggling away. One morning the adults were finishing up breakfast on the deck while the girls decided to go to the trampoline. I overheard their conversation...

"Natalie, be very, very, very, very careful. Don't go by the edge." "Ok, Addison."

Love how they are already protecting each other!

"Natalie, let's smile for a picture."

"With that foot getting close to me? I don't think so."

"Cousin to cousin. Tell me the truth...is it really that bad?"

Vacation with Grandpa and Grandma isn't complete until you have the swedish pancake breakfast! Yum, yum, yum!!

Being chauffeured by her cousin.

Typical...men drivers scaring the female passengers.

**We certainly missed not having my sister's family with us this year. Traveling cross-country with a 2 month old and 3 other kids would have been a bit much. Looking forward to the next time we can all be together!!**

Grandpa Kregel

2011-07-19T20:00:00.000-05:00

At the end of our time in Michigan, my Grandpa took a sharp turn for the worse. His rapid deterioration took everyone by surprise. I was grateful for the time to say my earthly goodbye to him. It was very hard to walk into the exact place I said goodbye to my Grandma 5 months earlier to be saying goodbye to Grandpa. Though rarely communicating, he did speak a couple times to me during this time of goodbye and it was incredibly meaningful. Since I use this blog as a way to pass on stories and pictures to my girls years down the road, I share these stories.

"Hi Grandpa. It's Kendra!"

Though very mumbled, he was able to say, "Hi Kendra. How's the baby?"
Brylee, through many tears, I was able to tell him all about you.

The following day, we went again to see him. It was the first day he had opened his eyes in many. He wouldn't open his eyes to see any of us at first, but then we said, "Grandpa, we brought Brylee to see you. Kendra is holding her right here." He slowly opened his eyes just enough to see her and stared at her for the next five minutes.

Brylee, we were planning on you meeting him while he was still doing quite well and alert, as we didn't expect the sharp decline. I was kicking myself for not going sooner, but it meant so much to me that he was already loving you by taking interest in you. He met you and I know loved you immediately!

We decided to bring Addison in to see Great Grandpa, as she had been asking about him. We told her that he would be sleeping, but we could go see him. My Grandpa would always make a clicking noise to get smiles from little kids and Addison was always intrigued by it. Standing around his bed, we told him that Addison was there and that she always loved when he did his clicking noise. Again, he was rarely communicating in his weak state, but chose to do so for Addison. He opened his mouth and we all saw him moving his tongue around, trying to make the clicking noise for her. Though no noise came out, it spoke volumes.

My Grandpa never had us doubting if he supported us, was proud of us, or loved us. While saying my final goodbye to him, I was hugging him and telling him that I loved him. Even then, he didn't miss an opportunity to communicate his love. His last words to me were, "I love you, too!" Thank you, Grandpa!

He passed away June 24, 2011 at age 93. He left an incredible legacy and a strong heritage. He was a man of strong faith who worked very hard to support his family. God richly blessed him as he ran Kregel Publications for many years, leading the publishing industry in various ways. He was very generous and faithful with all that God gave to him. His funeral service was a great tribute to a wonderful man who will be greatly missed. He is now reunited with his bride of 63 years...only having to live without her for 5 months! A true love story that they get to continue in Heavenly Glory!

My siblings with Grandpa shortly after Grandma's funeral.

Marc and I spent one of our dating spring breaks in Florida with my grandparents and made some very special memories!

Fun with Grandpa in the pool. Many memories revolve around water with him!

Loving on Addison last summer at the lake!

We love you, Grandpa. Thank you for everything you've done for each of us!

Michigan or Bust!

2011-07-18T22:54:00.000-05:00

Going to the cottage in Michigan always makes it feel like summer is officially here! After our first trip up to Michigan in mid-June, it felt like summer officially began! :) We were all very anxious to get there, but Addison was especially bursting with excitement to go. We didn’t leave until around bedtime in hopes that both girls would sleep most of the way and Marc and I would have a peaceful ride. Let’s just say that Addison was a bit too excited to be in Michigan that she flitted around in her carseat much past her bedtime before she finally fell asleep. We're talking 10pm folks! :)

I mean, who can blame her. Afterall, she accomplished her big Michigan to-do list we made for her. Since kids don’t have much concept of time, this little picture list starved off her heartbreak that we weren’t leaving the second she woke up from her nap. Again, who can blame her? I did in fact tell her that we were going to Michigan after her nap...I just meant hours later, not minutes!

We arrived and it was fun, fun, fun. This is certainly backtracking to our first Michigan trip this summer, back in mid-June. Many more Michigan pictures coming in subsequent posts.

First things first...Addison got a haircut. It looks adorable and she did a great job sitting pretty still. I had given Addison a snack in the car on the way over to ensure all possible happiness during the cut. She sat down in the chair and the cape was put on. She kept trying to reach her face, but the cape was blocking. Thinking the cape was just bothering her, I insisted it was a "pretty dress," "Mommy wears it," etc. Her big eyes slowly welling with tears told me she wasn't going to let it die. I reached under the cape to hold her hands and found the problem. Her snack was still in her hand and she couldn't get it into her mouth! Poor girl! :) After that small hiccup, it went great!!

Brylee's first of many boat rides! She LOVED it. :)

Pure joy!

Pride and fun! Driving the boat on Grandpa's lap...a classic tradition in our family that I fondly remember doing as a little girl!

MMMMMM!! S'mores by the same fire pit area at which Mommy and Daddy officially started dating and got engaged.

One of her favorite things at the lake! Bonus points in her mind...jumping with her baby!

Love this girl!!

Mommy has always loved jumping on the trampoline! It's SO fun to see Addison enjoying it so much, too! Each summer, I always have to see if I can still do "tricks"... 2 babies later. Result: Yes, a little bit, but I am extremely winded after a very short time! :)

****

Now, it's time to practice what Mommy just did!

Already becoming a pro!

Happy 2 Months to our “Meat and Potatoes Girl”

2011-07-12T14:37:00.006-05:00

A bit belated...6/25 marked two months.

There is just too much sweetness packed into our little girl’s body! Two months ago we dreamed about what she would be like, and it’s so fun to begin to see her little personality and disposition come through.

She is our little charmer. Her beautiful, gummy smile bursts out whenever somebody comes near her. I love going to get her from her nap. When her tired eyes come into focus and see me, she gives the cutest sheepish smile. It's SO fun when your child truly knows and recognizes you as Mommy. Brylee has certainly figured out who Mommy is and gives me the biggest and more smiles than to anyone else. LOVE!

She has the sweetest voice and loves trying to talk to us. At times, her voice is almost too quiet to hear, but she’s usually able to effectively communicate and imitate us. She loves when we do the silly baby talk and ask her to say “ooh” with us.

She is balding! Oh no! The little bit of brown hair is slowly falling out and will likely be replaced by white blonde hair, just like her sister!

She keeps growing like a weed. At her two month check up she weighed 11 pounds 14 ounces!! That puts her in the 80^th percentile for weight and is in the 90^th percentile for height. Wow! Clearly, eating is one of her strong suits. She is gaining good head control and will hold up her head very well when she’s up on our shoulder. She's also lifting her head and shoulders up when on her tummy. Brylee is wearing mostly 0-3 month clothes, but some 3-6 stuff fits her. Her size 1 diapers fit her well.

As Brylee gets older, it’s been fun to see the similarities and differences between the two girls. One of the most noticeable differences between them at this point is their size. We very affectionately call Brylee our “chunky monkey.” The girl can eat, which we’re very thankful for! She’s like her Daddy and likes a good hearty meat and potatoes meal! In comparison, Addison has never been above the 15^th percentile for weight and her head has usually been around the 20^th percentile! Crazy how different two girls from the same parents can be.

Some random things about her: she loves to lay on the floor, especially if people are fussing over her. While lying on the floor, she kicks away, but her right leg is often doing a solo bicycle kick.

She usually sleeps with her hands above her head or sprawled out like an eagle…no full swaddle for her.

She falls asleep on her own for most naps. Yeah! She has given us several 9ish hour nighttime sleeps from 9ish to 6ish! LOVE IT!!

She still struggles to open her eyes much if it’s sunny outside…even if she is in the shade. We’re still working on making her a beach babe.

She is our beautiful Brylee. Of course, we are biased, but do think she is picture perfect. Her big blue eyes, her round face, her full cheeks, her perfect nose, her gorgeous smile.

She just gets us! We’ve often heard commented about her that she looks like a doll, too perfect in disposition and appearance to be real. We think so, but don’t want to brag. ;)

One similarity between the girls is a concern of a milk allergy. When Addison was a baby, I cut out dairy for a short time, but it didn’t seem to do anything, so we dismissed that possibility. Several weeks ago, the doctor tested one of Brylee’s dirty diapers for the presence of blood and sure enough there was some. Sad! Blood usually means allergy and the most likely culprit is dairy, so my diet is a lot of meat and (plain) potatoes these days! A retest of the diaper several weeks after not having dairy in my diet didn’t have any evidence of blood, so it does seem to be the culprit. She still spits up a lot, but is grunting much less! Due to the recommendation of our pediatrician, we are bringing her for allergy testing in a couple weeks.

Overall, she’s been such a happy, happy baby! Since Addison wasn’t always the happiest baby, we certainly do not take it for granted. I cherish each monster smile and happy jabber from Brylee. We are so so thankful for the blessing of Brylee!

We're the luckiest ones...

2011-06-19T10:34:00.000-05:00

I am the luckiest to have Marc Painter as my husband for six years. And, our girls are the luckiest to have him as their Daddy!

Yesterday, June 18, marked our sixth anniversary. We were able to get away to northern Michigan, while my parents watched both of the girls overnight. Though hard to leave a newborn baby, especially, it was so good for us to have some focused time together. We stayed at my aunt's condo, walked around Charleviox, layed on the beach and took a power nap in the sun, walked along the beach hunting for Petoski stones, ate a wonderful dinner by the water, watched a gorgeous sunset, slept 9 hours straight...thank you Mom!, and meandered around Traverse City. We had a great time talking, laughing, and just hanging out without distraction. It made me realize again just how lucky I am to have him as my husband. He is so selfless and would do anything to make sure I am happy. I proudly say he is one of the best decisions I've ever made!! Happy 6th Anniversary, Marc!!!

*********

Today, we celebrate Marc as Daddy. My oh my, our girls are SO lucky to have him! He has to be one of the most fun dads ever. He is incredibly invested in their lives and knows just what to do to make them happy. He will bend over backwards to spend time with them, no matter the mood they are in. If he is with his girls, he's a happy man. I'm so thankful that he desperately wants to be with them every second he can. He is always looking to make fun memories with them. He sees the positive in each circumstance, and brings out the best in all three of us girls! Happy Father's Day, Daddy!!! We love you SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!

*He is our soother and comforter.*

*He is the one who makes us laugh and doesn't forget to have fun in life!*

*He is our protector.*

*He takes time to make all his girls feel like queens.*

*He is always up for an adventure.*

Thanks for ALL you do each do, Marc! I can't put into words just how incredible you are! My heart is so full when I watch you with our girls. You were made to be a Daddy of girls! I'm so thankful they will look at you as the example of what they want their spouse to be like someday. There's nobody I'd rather them emulate. I love you and they love you SO much!

*********

Happy Father's Day to both of our Dads! We are so blessed to have amazingly supportive Dads. Our girls LOVE their Grandpa's, who both are so fun to play with! They carve time out of their schedules just to be with their grandkids. They are creative and look to the fun things to do with them! Thanks for all you do, Dad A. and Dad P.

*********

Happy Father's Day to our Grandpas! Sadly, this is going to be the very last Father's Day with my Grandpa. We actually said our final earthly goodbye to him yesterday as he is likely going to meet Jesus very soon. He was diagnosed with cancer just a few weeks ago, but his health has taken a VERY quick and drastic turn, so it was a bit of a shock to be saying goodbye right now. While I'm so excited that he will get to be with my Grandma after only 5 months of separation, we are going to miss them lots! They are leaving a big hole. He's been an amazingly generous and hard-working man who loves and supports his family no matter what!

We love you, Grandpa!

*********

Special Visitor

2011-06-01T08:13:00.004-05:00

A couple weeks ago, we were SO blessed to have my Aunt Kerry drive over from Michigan for a quick trip to meet Brylee and help us in any way possible. Kerry has always played a special role in my life and I am more than grateful that she is involved in our kids' lives, too. She is so much more than an aunt and has been a second mom to me all these years and is now a dear friend. We can talk for hours about anything and everything. We laugh together, cry together (definitely the same gene pool here!), joke together, and have lots of fun together.

Just arrived and already with her hands full! Addison was SO excited for Aunt Kerry to be at our house again.

By the way...is Kerry not beautiful?! You'd never guess her age. :)

Never a shortage of kisses for those cheeks!

Addison didn't leave Kerry's side for long...cooking, talking, playing, you name it. She wanted to be part of the action!

Addison's cheeks are still just as kissable!

Still working on her smile, but cute nonetheless!

Surrendering to sleep once again!

Kerry, thank you, thank you, thank you for coming to spend a couple of days with us. It meant so much to me. I'm thankful for the time Addison had with you and that Brylee got to meet you so early on! Thanks for cooking us a wonderful dinner, letting me get some extra sleep, entertaining Addison for hours, and encouraging me. We can't wait to see you again! I love you!!

Happy One Month Sweet Brylee Girl

2011-05-25T21:05:00.009-05:00

It's hard to believe we've already been blessed by Brylee's little life for a month now. Yet, cliche as it sounds, it also feels like it's been much longer as it's hard to remember life without her! She continues to be such a sweet baby. We have been loving her more frequent smiles lately, watching her face light up when we talk to her and the smile that subsequently spreads across her face. She certainly recognizes her sister, too, and lights up when Addison lies down to talk to her.

She's a total mix of our very alert (and can't force to sleep if we try) girl...

and our sleepy (and can't wake if we try at times) girl.

She has been full of joy...

and is overall a peaceful little baby.

Yes, I could eat her up, too, with her precious little features!

The biggest issue we are having with her is a reflux issue. She has some pretty amazing projectile vomit sessions, soaking everyone and everything in sight! It also makes it a bit hard for her to sleep at times as it's a bit uncomfy to gag on acid! We're in the process of figuring out if meds are the way to go after an unsuccessful trial (made it worse) of one med.

She is a growing girl, despite losing half of her meal sometimes. At 2 1/2 weeks she was 8 lbs. 8 oz. We'll find out soon what she weighs now at a month. She's still in newborn diapers, but only because I want to use up what I have. She can also wear either newborn or 0-3 month clothes. Newborn clothes will be phased out soon, I think, and she'll soon fill out her 0-3 month clothes better!

We're sleeping ok...nothing to write home about though. Early on we got longer stretches of 4-6 hours, but she's been waking every 3 pretty consistently through the night lately. We're working on lengthening it out! Maybe a growth spurt is happening. She is still in our room with us, but those days are probably ending soon, which is sort of sad in some ways.

Thankfully, she usually will sleep in her crib or pack-n-play throughout the day. Unless, of course, somebody can't bear to put her sweet face down.

Or we're out and about and the car seat is too comfy in which to resist a nap.

Or the occasional times when she can't fall asleep in her crib, we move her to the swing.

We'll take the sleep in whatever form in comes, because is she not the cutest sleeping baby? She often poses so perfectly with her fist up by her face while she sleeps.

The Lord knew just what we needed in giving us Brylee Joy. We praise God for giving her to us.

Easter Sunday = Getting Ready for Brylee!

2011-05-25T13:23:00.000-05:00

I realized I had some cute pictures from Easter Sunday that I never put up due to going to the hospital later that night to have Brylee!! So thankful that this was the last picture I had to take being pregnant! I was feeling ready to pop for good reason! I guess all the egg hunting got Brylee excited to join our family!

I love that we have this picture. Just hours before going to the hospital and I am looking quite ready to pop!

Last picture as a family of three!

Easter 2011

Look at that full basket! I guess when there isn't any competition, she is able to do very well. :)

Setting off on her Easter egg hunt!

Amazing! Look what I found!

On the move for more!

Intensely serious business!

Enjoying the rewards from her hunting!

She hunted low and found lots of goodie-filled eggs!

Getting to the best part!!

Mmmmm...life is good!

Thanks for hosting a wonderful Easter celebration, Grandpa and Grandma!

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-24T12:51:00.002-05:00

We enjoyed a gorgeous day for my 3rd Mother's Day. Having two little ones this year certainly makes me feel even more of a mom. Does that make sense? In my head it does, so we'll go with it. :)

My mom and I were treated to a delicious breakfast of our choice that Marc whipped up, went to church, followed by a delicious grilled steak dinner meal, said good-bye to my parents (boo), and had Marc's parents over in the evening. It was a great day. It was special to be with my Mom this year. It has been a while since we could be together on Mother's Day. Since this was her first Mother's Day without her own Mom, we were glad to celebrate her as our Mom and Grandma!

Is she not the sweetest thing?! LOVE her sweet sleep smiles AND her real smiles. We are getting her real smiles more frequently now...at just 4 weeks. It is so much fun!!

My two girls who make me a Mommy!

Admiring little Brylee.

So special to celebrate my Mom and to be celebrated as a mom!

Not the best family picture, but can't win them all!

A very cute picture with Grandma and Grandpa Anderson before they went back to Michigan (for a whole day before flying back out to California)!

Fun for Addison

2011-05-23T12:22:00.004-05:00

While my parents were with us, Addison had a lot of fun outings. Lots of walks, trips to the park, a zoo, and much more. It was such a blessing to have her entertained so well. Keeping her entertained while also giving plenty of attention to a newborn hasn't been an easy task!

Addison has had a very hard time with the transition lately. It's honestly been very overwhelming and challenging to deal with her. Her default mode of communicating has been whining and crying. Her default response to any request of ours has been to do the opposite. Her default emotion right now seems to be anger. My heart is quite heavy about her disobedience. We're trying to be as consistent as possible, but without too many results currently. I can't wait for Marc to be home with us for the summer. 8 more days in school!!!!! Praise the Lord.

For the rest of this post, you can forget about her struggles and see how much fun she's been able to have as well!!

Addison will not be out-shown when the camera is out. We are careful to take a picture of Addison if we also take a picture of Brylee. Addison often asks us to take a "smile" when she is holding Brylee. I think she's pretty proud!

At a small local (and free!) zoo. She talked about the alligators for days!

Looking at the eagles with Grandma.

Amazement!

She declared she was going on a trip in her "car." She loaded all the diapers she could find, wipes, and many other very random things into her car. She knows if we have diapers, we are in good shape. :)

Addison has been surprising us with how well she is climbing different ladders and other equipment at the parks.

Pure joy!

Such a sweet look!

Her newest trick - hanging from the bars (and practicing on many other things...the table, counters, etc.).

It takes a lot of work to get this amazing feat accomplished. :)

Bath Time

2011-05-11T14:42:00.000-05:00

Always monumental...the first baths! We did a sponge bath for Brylee only one time since her cord fell off when she was exactly one week old. She liked her baths, when she was nice and warm. One of the sure fire ways to get a little cry from her is by making her cold. As a baby, Addison loved to be naked, wrapped in a blanket. Brylee likes to be cuddled in her clothes so nobody's cold hands can get to her!

Preparing to get wet!

Ha - she looked like such a chunky money when we were holding her like this. She actually loved it when we put her little bottom in the water.

Put me back in that water!!!

Fresh and clean cuddles.

Cord is off so she can get fully wet now! Again, she loved laying in the warm water!

Peaceful as can be!

Her many admirers!

First sister bath! Addison did a great job just pouring water on Brylee's tummy. She liked having Brylee with her for the bath, but I think also realized she couldn't have quite as much splashing fun!

Life as we now know it!

2011-05-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

What in the world has happened to us in the course of 6 weeks? Life has been NUTS. We moved into our new house, while I was on bedrest, undertook tons of house projects, thought Brylee was coming "any day" for 5 weeks, and finally welcomed Brylee into our family!

Now, we are starting to figure out what our new normal is. We continue to feel so blessed by our new house. We've had plenty of room to have my parents, visitors, lots of extra baby stuff around, and still room for Addison to run around. My parents were with us for almost 2 weeks. It was such a blessing to have their help. They both served us non-stop. My mom made tons of delicious meals, cleaned non-stop, did laundry (also non-stop), entertained Addison, rocked Brylee, and so much more! What would I have done without her?! My dad hardly took a rest from working on projects around the house. He totally cleaned and organized our garage and built extra shelving out there. It looks amazing. He also built a little storage room in our basement with lots of shelving. Marc, being Mr. Organized, can't wait to get all the boxes in the basement organized now. Any other "honey-do list" projects we had were knocked out by him! What a blessing and burden off of Marc, especially!

They left after a nice lunch on Mother's Day. Now, we're starting life as our family of four. Hoping the transition goes smoothly! Here are lots of pics of the past couple weeks...in no particular order. :)

Cuddling with Grandma...always a good past time!

Cozy again!

Her typical scrunchie face, which gives her such kissable cheeks! Mwah!

Angel face!

Once in a while Grandpa paused from his hard work to cuddle with Brylee.

Two happy girls!

Lots o' dots!

Cuddle in to me, sweet baby girl!

"Brylee" gave Addison a little present. A diaper changing kit for her baby. She loves it, but can't quite do it by herself. That means, when Brylee gets changed, someone also has to help baby get changed. :)

Some sweet cuddle time with Grandma Painter.

First family outing...to church. We actually never missed a Sunday at church! Brylee was born just after Easter and 6 days later we were back at church. Quite a feat for us considering we didn't make it anywhere for weeks with Addison!

Funny how each of them are looking at a different person, including Brylee.

Looks like her baby got replaced today! Good thing those animals have a good oatmeal snack to eat on their walk! :)

"So big!" Addison is ready for her sister to really play with her!

One of her daily holdings. One day Addie requested to read a book to her and grabbed Brylee's hand to help her feel the page she was telling her about. Cute! Also, Addie doesn't like us to help her hold Brylee. She'll often push our hand out of the way so she can do it by herself. "Move your hand, Mommy." :)

Homecoming!

2011-05-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

I'm working my way through the many pictures we took and will be getting more posts up from our last couple of weeks!

A few more hospital pictures and then coming home!!

Enjoying time with just my baby in the hospital! Knowing these moments will be far fewer with a two year old at home made us appreciate the time with just her so much!

Sweet cuddles with Daddy!

Ahhhhhh....bliss!

It's official. Brylee has Daddy's heart, too. Two cute little girls vs. a smitten daddy. It won't take much to get a few special treats from him, I'm sure!!

Time to go home! I always love to look back at the car seat/going home picture to remember just how small they started!!

We had a nice long stay due to her coming just after midnight. We had a great experience, but were ready to come home!

Addison was very excited that Mommy, Daddy, and Brylee were home when she woke from her nap!

Addison likes to get Brylee to hold her finger. :)

Stealing Kisses

2011-05-09T10:32:00.009-05:00

REALLY? WHO COULD RESIST THESE KISSABLE LIPS, CHEEK, AND FACE?
She gets LOTS of loving each day!!

We continue to fall more in love with sweet Brylee each day! She continues to be a great baby. She continues to be a little grunter, but not much of a crier. She is a big league spitter and has successfully covered herself and Mommy several times. We're hoping that corrects itself soon! At times it seems to make her uncomfortable, but she normally just grunts her way through it all.

We've had tons of love and support shown to us in this new phase. Here are some of Brylee's visitors!

Grandpa and Grandma Painter meeting Brylee for the first time!! They were so helpful with Addison while we were in the hospital, too!

Uncle Scott and Aunt Jacqui even got to come up. Uncle Scott was home for Easter weekend, so we were all glad she arrived when she did so he could meet her before going back to Taylor!

Grandpa Anderson came from Michigan the day she was born!

Great friends (and now almost neighbors), Scott and Leslie Mathews

Former belly buddies and now baby buddies - the Kendra's! We tried to talk their baby into coming while we were still in the hospital, but it didn't quite work. Andy and Kendra Howard had their little girl, Brielle, three days after Brylee was born! So fun. It felt very funny returning to the hospital and walking past our room just a couple days after we left with Brylee. :)

Grandpa and two of his granddaughters.

Grandma Anderson finally made it...planes, trains, and automobiles style! She had been out in California with my sister and her newborn for a week when we put the call in to request her back with us! Using a stand-by plane ticket was great for flexibility, but proved a bit more complicated than hoped. Due to bad weather in a connecting city, the only flight available to get her close to Chicago was to go to Milwaukee. So, my dad drove up to pick her up from there and then came straight to the hospital!! A very happy grandma, indeed!!

Back at home with some of the Fulton family visiting us!

Definitely best friends already! Annie Joy and Brylee Joy!! Annie is the daughter of our dear friends, Ben and Allison.

I love seeing these two little girls together and can't wait for many more times! Annie is about 8 weeks older than Brylee.

All the kids!!! Love it!

Love spending time with Al and loving on each other's babies!

Holy cow...what started off as the four of us adults has turned into this! :)

Happy Due Date = Happy One Week Old to Brylee

2011-05-02T15:58:00.008-05:00

Dear time,

Please, don't go too quickly. I enjoy these newborn days, snuggles, smells, and smallness too much for them to pass me by. I know, one week seems like nothing, but I know one week turns into two, and then a month passes, and then.....she'll be walking down the aisle. Dramatic, yes. Reality, pretty much. :) I want to savor each of these sweet days, even if they aren't filled with all sweet things. Time, please go slow enough that I don't miss a thing.

Sincerely,
Brylee's Mommy

Here are some pictures from back in the hospital. The hospital photographer came to the room, so after she left we snapped a few of our own, trying our best to reenact what she did.

Brylee is a week old today, which is also her due date. I'm SO thankful she joined our family when she did! She has been such a sweet, sweet baby. My heart is overflowing with love for her. She rarely cries and her fusses last very briefly. Diaper changes are about the only way to get a decent cry out of her. As soon as it's over, she's a happy clam again. Sure, sleep is a bit more of a commodity, but I am not complaining, especially because Brylee has been sleeping so well for a newborn. She's been getting up about every three hours at night, sometimes giving an even longer stretch. Last night she had a stretch just over 4 hours! Woohoo. The other blessing is that she has been able to fall right back to sleep in her pack-n-play. We swaddle her up and, lay her down, and all go back to sleep. She's a big grunter, so sometimes she grunts for a good half hour before drifting into her peaceful sleeping. But, at night she's falling asleep on her own. Yeah! Her naps throughout the day are pretty good. After a long awake time, she has a little trouble getting to sleep on her own. A pacifier usually helps her drift off pretty quickly.

Looking at Grandma and giving her some smiles.

I can't get enough of these cuddle times. She's sometimes a bit squirmy when she is falling asleep, but once asleep, she's as squishy as can be. I absolutely love how she still goes into a little ball to cuddle on our shoulder. She makes the best faces when she's sleeping. Her deep sleeping couldn't be any more peaceful. I love this girl!!

I think her name fits her so well. She has been so full of joy and brought us an abundance of joy, too. She smiles so much. Intentional or not, we LOVE seeing her precious smiles. They truly seem intentional because she does it quite a bit when she is awake, especially when we start talking to her. During her awake times, she can be very alert, staring at us or black and white pictures for quite a while.

An attempt at getting a picture of one of her smiles!

My mom bought a cake, just to have on hand for dessert. Upon seeing the cake, Addison immediately began singing Happy Birthday. So, we decided to celebrate Brylee's one week birthday and sang to her.

The Big Sister

2011-04-27T12:56:00.003-05:00

Addison came to visit Mommy, Daddy, and meet Brylee on Monday morning. Marc's mom came over to our house to stay with Addison when we went to the hospital, so she didn't even know we left. Although, we were informed that she woke in the middle of her sleep, which never happens anymore, crying for Mommy. It was like she knew something was going on! Crazy.

She was so excited to walk in the room and had her eyes fixed on Brylee, saying, "Baby! Hi Baby!" She crawled into the bed with me and began to inspect her little sister. Of course, we had plenty of nose and eye pokes, but she really was very gentle and sweet to her.

She held her by herself a bit later for almost 5 minutes and took the task very seriously. We asked if she wanted to sing to her and she did. Part way through the song, she stopped, rested her head on Brylee's head, and then sweetly said, "This is my sister." Whoa, talk about emotions flowing then.

Addison then entertained the room full of people and any nurses that came in. She tried to find her own fun in a small room and did pretty well overall.

We're so thankful for our two girls and can't wait to watch them grow up together and hopefully become sweet friends.

So excited to look at Baby Brylee!

A happy Mommy with her two girls!

Sweet, unprompted kisses for Brylee. Although, when we asked her what her sister's name is later, she responded with, "Broccoli." I can actually see how it seems similar, but we'll have to keep working on this one. :)

Such a big girl talking on the phone, telling Grandma all about her new sister.

I love how Addison just wants to keep soaking in Brylee instead of pose for the picture. We all think she's pretty special to look at!

Being a cute goofball. She loved hiding behind curtains and standing on the ledge for a good view from a few floors up.

Peek-a-boo!

Visiting again on day 2!

Sisters!

Daddy helping to keep Addison entertained!

Our family of four! I don't think the reality has set in yet. I've looked at Marc the other night and said in disbelief, "We have two kids! Whoa." What a blessing!!

We are heading home from the hospital today. We're currently just waiting for the pediatrician to come for a last check and release us. Because we technically had Brylee on Monday, we were allowed two days. We could have chosen to go home yesterday, but felt we might as well stay and take the extra help at the hospital and the nursery care overnight to get caught up on sleep!! We are ready to go home though!! :)

BRYLEE JOY

2011-04-26T17:49:00.006-05:00

At 1:39am on April 25, 2011, we welcomed our second beautiful baby girl into our family! We couldn't be happier and feel beyond blessed by her arrival. Brylee Joy weighed 7 lbs 12 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long.

Sunday evening (Easter Sunday), I started wondering if I was leaking amniotic fluid. Since I had such a slow leak with Addison, I've been paranoid about this happening again. Several other factors played into the decision to head into the hospital to get checked out. After running the tests at the hospital, I was informed that I wasn't leaking fluid. In other words...bladder control was just limited. :) This was probably due to the fact that I was having contractions every 2 minutes, which were definitely showing up while I was being monitored. Needless to say, I was very disappointed to learn it wasn't the fluid. The doctor came by and explained that he didn't really see a good reason to send me home though...I was constantly contracting, already at 4cm and 80%, was Group B Strep positive so I needed meds before delivery, and I had a history of delivering very quickly. I wasn't going home pregnant...and I was THRILLED to hear that! :)

So, around 10pm Sunday night I was admitted and got the process going. I needed a dose of antibiotics first and then the doctor broke my water around 11:30. About an hour later I got the epidural, which didn't fully set in as I was pushing about an hour later. 8 minutes to push (thank you, Lord) and she entered the world!

What a long and emotional journey this pregnancy brought us on. Just as we knew it would be, Brylee was worth it all!! We are so in love with our precious girl and our hearts are full!

These pictures are from the night of her birth. In the coming days, I will get more pictures up. Thanks for all your love and support in these amazing days!

A tad excited that we were going to meet our girl!

We made it...here we go!

One last picture of the two of us before the going got tough. :) Marc was so good to me through it all. He is so encouraging and comforting. Love my hubby!

She totally shocked us by weighing a full pound and a half more than Addison. As long as both due dates were correct...they were very similar in gestation, too.

A very proud Daddy.

Meeting and comforting my baby girl!

She was so alert and attentive to our voices right away. We had some very precious moments with her.

Falling in love all over again!

Someone found her thumb! She was ready to eat and did a fabulous job right away. A huge praise!!