Easter weekend

A bike ride, playing on the playground, a trip to Boccato Gelato, Easter dinner at Nana & Grandpa's house, familiarizing Aunt Tina with poopie diapers, two Easter baskets, brunch and church with Uncle Kenny, Aunt Leslie, and Cayman, swinging some more....what a great weekend it was!!

Coloring for the first time:

Of course:

Eating treats straight from the plastic eggs:

Pretty Aunt Leslie in her pretty yard!

Not quite a gardener:

(snapping a tulip in half!)

Brynley hasn't had much experience with grass.

She wasn't sure what to make of it:

The second basket:

Just a'swingin...

Yummmmm....

April already?!?

I can't believe it is April already...time really does fly by!

Brynley is not walking yet, but she is cruising along while holding onto the furniture. She is very active and sometimes a bit mischievous. She often gets in trouble for playing in the dog's water dish. She's never met a food she doesn't like. She loves music, books, swings, animals, and splashing in water (dog dish and bathtub!).

It seems that every few days she comes up with a new facial expression or a new sound. She has even begun to say "Baba...Baby!" She has even said it a few times while pointing to pictures of herself or of babies in books, magazines, and on food packaging.

B will go out of her way to crawl over the dogs rather than going around them. She mimics Chanook's distinctive "row-rowl-rowwwwwwwl" sound. She squeals in delight when she sees a cat...eardrum shattering squeals! She is a mama's girl (for now).

She is back to sleeping through the night...yeah!! She is starting to go down to one nap a day. She still plays with someone's fingers when she is tired.

My brother's caption for this photo: "Yes, I have a loaded diaper, but I gotta finish my grocery shopping!"

She's my happy little buttercup...my boo bear...my boo diddly...our little oochy-boochy. There aren't enough hours in the day...

Random photos

It was gorgeous outside, so Rob & I took Brynley to the playground today.

She loved the swings!

And was fully entertained by all the other kids running around...

Some other random photos from the past two weeks:

Brynley's mad face. Pretty, isn't it?

My sweet little bunny

Birthday party!

Brynley's snowed-out birthday bash finally took place yesterday (2/27/10). Bryn always loves being surrounded by people and the party was no exception. She especially enjoyed playing with Erika's two daughters.

Some photos from the festivities:

Brynley turns one

It's hard to believe, but my little girl turned one on Saturday, February 13th. Throughout the week, I thought a lot about where I was one year ago. From 2/6/09 when I was first admitted to the hospital with high blood pressure to 9:03 pm on 2/13/09 when I first got to hold my precious girl in my arms.

My Brynley is petite...only 3rd and 5th percentile for height and weight, but she has a huge impact on my life. I am a completely different person than I was one year ago. Hopefully I'm a better person! I want to write a post that is memorable and sentimental...one that fully expresses what Brynley means to me...but I'm afraid I don't really have a way with words. One thing I do know: God has blessed me!

Brynley's birthday party was postponed due to the horrible winter weather, but it is still going to happen. On her actual birthday, we were staying with my in-laws so we all went out to lunch and let Bryn make a mess out of an ice cream sundae. Here are some pictures from that day:

A letter to my daughter

Dear Brynley,

Today you turned one. It is hard for me to believe that a whole year has gone by. You continue to amaze and delight me every single day. I have changed so much since you joined our family. My greatest hope is that I will be a good Mommy, that you will have a happy life, and that you will grow up to be a confident, strong woman who knows that she can do anything she puts her mind to.



Some things about you...at one year old...

• People continue to comment about what a happy baby you are. When we are out somewhere or visiting with people, you are always so relaxed and full of joy. People are drawn to you.


• You are a silly little girl. If you make a noise or do a dance that makes us laugh, you will do it over and over again just to hear us giggle.


• I am afraid you are also a bit stubborn! :) You do not like to be told no!


• You love food and will eat nearly anything we put in front of you. Also, if someone else is eating, you will crawl across two rooms to tug on their pants leg in the hopes of a tasty treat. Daddy & I fear that you think you are one of the dogs.


• Also, you like to try to eat dog food. Chanook will let you take it right from her dish. Cider will growl at you. We always catch you before you actually eat any....although we have had to fish it out of your mouth a time or two. And you get really mad (see: Stubborn)


• You are tiny; only 3rd & 5th percentile for height and weight.


• Because you are tiny, strangers sometimes think you are much younger, and then they are amazed when you can clap and wave.


• For now, you are a Mama's girl...and you love Nana to pieces. You love your Daddy too... you guys crack each other up!


• You still sleep with that butt up in the air. It's adorable.


• When you are tired, you grab your pacifier, cuddle up next to someone, play with their fingers, and moan.


• Although you used to despise it, you love bathtime now....especially since you learned to splash!


• You still love music, dancing, and animals.

You are my precious little girl, my gift from God, and I love you with all my heart!

Mommy