December

December already?!?! Since I'm so far behind on blog posts (and seem to falling further behind daily!), I have decided to write a post about the here and now! I still hope to catch up on pictures and posts; I might even backdate them to the correct month.
I have to post about December because I don't ever want to forget:

• Brynley calls Santa Claus "Kissy Claus".


• She is in complete awe over any Christmas lights that she sees.


• She loves to sing "itsy bitsy spider" before bedtime. We wiggle our fingers, 'get our spiders ready' and sing together.


• She is great at uppercase letters and now she is picking up on lowercase letters and putting these together to form words.


• She loves to sing, dance, jump!


• She loves her baby brother and pronounces his name "Whoa-man!"


• As I was putting Bryn's coat on tonight, she turned her face towards the ceiling and said, "Zip it to my neck!!!"


• Roman rolls all over the place.


• He sleeps from 7 or 8pm until usually 4 or 5am, then back to bed until 7.


• He loves to eat and just started eating sweet potatoes yesterday.


• He ate eight cubes of food in one sitting the other night...that's a lot!


• He thinks his sister is very funny and amusing...unless she is waking him up.


• Every time he smiles, I see my Dad's face.

And what is a post without pictures? These were taken on December 1st & 2nd with my new camera. (I have a lot to learn still!)

New York

In August, the whole family headed up to upstate New York for our annual family visit. We stayed with my Aunt Sue, Uncle Bill, & Grandma and got to spend time with all of my beloved cousins! Here are some pictures of our adventure:


The weather was so warm during our visit. One day, Brynley saw this bucket of water sitting outside of my aunt & uncle's garage. My uncle actually uses the bucket to empty out the dehumidifier he keeps in the basement. When Bryn saw it, she said, "Swimming pool!" and insisted on taking a dip....naked, of course! The whole family got quite a laugh over this "New York Swimming Pool" and Bryn played in it for quite some time.

Bryn, Roman, and three of their cousins. The twins were born two days before Roman.

Brynley and her great-grandmother:

My cousin Tara, Bryn, & Jovan:





Jill sharing her "bling" with B:


Rob saying, "Look, we got two more!!"








Bryn supervising Carter's lawn mowing repairs. She followed him around the yard for quite awhile and it kind of drove him crazy. haha



Roman and great-grandma:

Dentist

In August, Brynley had her first dentist appointment. She did really well! The dentist said that, because her teeth are very close together with NO space in between, she will most likely need braces in the future. Guess we need to start saving up now!

After her appointment, we had a few hours to spare before Roman's two month checkup. First, I had to get Bryn out of the dentist waiting room where she wanted to stay and play with the toys! We ended up going to a playground right in Warrenton in between the two appointments and I took a few pics of B there as well.

Sadness

Wow...it's been awhile since I've posted! September and October unexpectedly became busy months. We had a very ill cat who needed surgery, a house full of sick that I somehow managed to avoid, and my severe dental pain and issues surrounding that. Just when things seemed to calm down a bit, my Dad was put in the hospital. The last time I posted (10/18) was the day his condition worsened and sadly he passed away shortly thereafter. I am heartbroken, to say the least.

So, I'm working to get back to some sort of normal and I know it will take some time. Fortunately, I have two very wonderful things to live for! Whenever I'm feeling down, I just cuddle Brynley or Roman...or both...and things suddenly seem a lot better.

Here's some pics of my two miracles. These were taken back in August.