Catching Up a Bit.

I guess I've become that person who only blogs every couple months now... Oh, well.

I've been busy getting used to being at home full time, creating a schedule, etc. I'm really loving it. I feel so much more balanced, like I'm able to finally give myself fully to being a mom and a wife and taking care of a house. Even though I was working part time, I never felt like I was able to be fully present wherever I was because I was thinking how I needed to be the other place. I don't know how full-time working moms do it.

Brindle is approaching 17 months and is changing so much! Although her weight hasn't... She is a petite little thing, only growing in height and head circumference. She is 19 pounds and still in her infant car seat. Facing backward. 

She is really exploring the world, loving being outside and into everything. She wants to be wherever I am and doing whatever with me. She is learning new words every day. Just this morning, she learned how to say "moon" to the one on her nightstand. I'm constantly amazed by every new thing she learns.

Kanyon has been really busy getting some new land that he took over this year ready for planting, working a Kairos, and is about to start team meetings for a Walk he is working later. He and Brindle are best buds. They have several minutes of funny faces that they make at each other and giggle over before bedtime every night.

Brindle is constantly jabbering these days. My favorite words are "oof!" (ouch), "cuck" (milk, drink, water?), and "pu-ppeee" (puppy, said like its two words). The first thing she says when she wakes up is "Pu-ppeeee?". She loves her Zeb. They have a strange relationship. They've only ever touched each other by force. They get so excited to see each other, run to the other, but as soon as they get to close, the excitement is too much and they run the other direction.

Okay, I'm going to go actually get something done while Brindle naps. Have a good day!

P.S. I just realized the post about Brindle's first birthday party never got published, its still labeled "draft"! Oops. I'll finish that one and publish it.

Holidays

Wow, let's pretend that November 12th isn't the date I last posted, please?

Life has been great, hectic, nerve-racking, joyful, warm, uncertain... all sorts of things since my last post. Since then, I have quit my job, gone through the end of harvest, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Deer season, my birthday, my first dance class, and my first week to really be at home as a "stay at home" mom (who incidentally don't actually stay at home much). 

Quitting was wonderful, a little sad, but mostly wonderful. I ended on a good note with the staff and the church and felt that I had adequately prepared the woman taking my place. It was a good feeling. I wasn't even too nervous about the whole lack of any more pay checks coming my way (until later). I think Kanyon has really loved me being at home more because sometimes I actually cook something for breakfast and lunch. It's thrown a whole lot more variety into his every day :)

Right before I last posted, we had Brindle's first birthday! I'll give it its own post, though.

For Thanksgiving, my parents came up here. We had Kalith and Vaughn over that afternoon and had a great time. I love Thanksgiving meal! I could eat it throughout the year. I thought this picture of my mom making dressing was typical of both of them - Mom's eyes are closed and Brindle is dancing.

After that, it got a little crazy. We had a church Christmas party, training the woman taking my place at work, a small group Christmas party, three family Christmases in Welch, drove to Houston for Christmas Day with my family, hunting at the deer lease and my birthday. I've technically not been working since December 13th but feel like I haven't noticed until last week!

Christmas was so fun and such a whirlwind! We see so much family in such a small amount of time. I wish we could have a whole week to visit with them. In a 36 hour span, we had our immediate family Christmas with Kanyon's parents and siblings and their kids, then Mama Brown's that night, and Meme's the next afternoon.  

After that weekend, we left to go to Houston - a 9 hour drive with a 13 month old and a dog. It actually went a lot better than I imagined! Even with me realizing after a few hours that I completely forgot to pack any diapers. At all. I found out diapers are really expensive at the convenience store in the middle of nowhere.

Being in Houston was so relaxing, we did little besides eat, sleep, and visit - besides opening presents. We did leave the house to go play our annual charades night with friends and the boys went skeet shooting. Brindle did a lot of sleeping. I guess she was exhausted from the weekend before.

Sorry for the quick post on Christmas but I guess since it was a month ago now, I'm not remembering many details! We had a great Christmas, though, and are always so excited to see family. Hope your's was good, too!

Next, going even further back to Brindle's first birthday party...

Happy Happy Happy

Here I am, after a month has gotten away from me. July has been so busy for us, I looked up and realized I haven't even checked my email since July 1st as of yesterday. Pretty crazy when I have it available on my phone. While its been crazy, it has also been so fun. We have seen more family this month than we see some years!

At the end of last month, my parents and brother came into town at the same time as Kyla (sister-in-law) came with her three kids. 

I had a great time spending time with Kyla that I haven't had in a while and her girls are just the most polite delightful little girls, while Preston is so cuddly and sweet! I wish they were closer.

Uncle Cole and Brindle had some great bonding time. Cole lives far off in Denver guiding treks and going to school so we go months between visits. Which is a lot in baby development! They adore each other.

We had Brindle's Baby Dedication the morning my family was there. Our small church family gathered around her and prayed for Kanyon and I as we parent Brindle and for her to be blessed with unwavering faith. I love our church.

After that, it starts to become a blur and I have to refer to my calendar. I had a Mary Kay party and a girl's night at a friends house which means lots of daddy-daughter time. Brindle loves her Daddy but she is ADORED by him. He would - and does - anything just to get a smile from her. Or a snuggle.

After that, the Shocks (Kanyon's sister Jada and family) came in town for several days! Brindle got to spend lots of time playing with her Aunt Jada.

Notice the tongue? It's out 95% of the time right now. ?? And she looks like a huge chunk in that picture, doesn't she?

The day after the Shocks left, Brindle and I jumped in the car and headed for Edmond, Oklahoma, to visit both sides of my family. And then - surprise! - my parents decided to meet us there! If only Kanyon could have come but summers are crucial for farming. We got to spend a lot of time in the pool playing with my cousins (we are calling them her "aunts") and her actual Aunt Jenny. I even got to go out to eat for a girl's night with the girls while Aunt Jenny babysat. We also spent some time with my day's sisters who hadn't gotten to meet Brindle yet. She put on a show taking her first consecutive crawls on Aunt Carol's floor. We couldn't get her to do it again to save our lives but at least I had witnesses! I don't have any pictures but I do have a couple embarrassing videos of Emily if anyone's interested...

As soon as I got home that next week, Kanyon came down with a nasty stomach bug. I won't give you the gory details but it was bad enough that I needed to stay home from work to make sure he got even a little bit of nutrients and didn't keel over.

That weekend, we had my BFF, Camille (I have to use that acronym since we go back to Jr High) and her husband, Jacob, out to visit! It was such a great time spent with them. I don't think I've gotten to spend time like that with Camille since I've been married. A whole three and a half years, which is, like, forever, right? They got to even experience a chihuahua. If you know what I'm talking about... you know. 

They left on Sunday night, I worked a full two days, and then Brindle and I jumped in the car with my friend Kellye and we drive to Dallas today for Mary Kay Seminar. I am super pumped. 5 years ago, I would have been like "who's Mary Kay?". It's the 50th anniversary and they are going all out. So if you need me, I'll be drooling over the pink Cadillac SUV.

I did want to catch y'all up a smidge on Brindle's recent accomplishments since I know that's all y'all think about like me. A few highlights:

- No teef. Seriously thought they'd be here by now?

- Crawling: check. I'd share a video but I'm not able to at the moment.

- Not sure on her weight because we haven't had a check up since 6 mos but I'd guess 18 lbs. Since she's become more active, though, she's slimmed up a little. People always say she looks very petite. She's still wearing 6 mos spot on except she's too tall for a few things. Wonder where she gets that from?

- Eats cereal and baby food like a champ. Still nursing really well, too. I've been very blessed by how easy it has been for us.

- Says Dada, Mama, Papa, and Nana.

- Toys and tv are secondary to people. Can't get her interested in them! Not that I'm complaining, really.

- Loves Zeb. Zeb could care less about her. Weird, huh? He loves kids. We're working on it.

- Not consistently sleeping through the night but I can't blame her with so much change in her schedule and sleeping arrangements just in the last month alone.

- "Happy happy happy"!

Some summertime pics (as if you haven't already seen several of her):

Alright, I'm going to bed. Got a busy few days ahead of me!

Catching Up!

Life seems to go by way too fast these days! Brindle turned 5 months a couple weeks ago and I can't believe it. I'm going to be astonished when she turns 6 months. That seems like such a big girl!

Recent milestones include rolling over and over the second we put her on the floor, finding her toes, getting really good with hand-eye coordination, actually liking tummy time for a few minutes, singing all the time (sometimes it sounds more like a Tarzan yell actually), and sleeping longer through the night without eating. She's going about 7 hours now! We had a rough couple months of sleep deprivation all of a sudden so we're hoping this will last. She wasn't crying, just wanted us to put her pacifier back in every hour!

Thankfully our little friend Eli has been giving Zeb some extra play time as he is no longer the baby of the family and trying to get used to it ;)

Happy Easter!

We had a really great and laid back Easter at home. After church, we ate a church potluck lunch (my favorite) and had an Easter egg hunt for all the kids in the yard. We are so thankful for all the kids at our church these days! We took several pictures but of course, I have none of them. Gotta get someone to send one to me.

Recently, Kanyon and I have joined a small group in Lamesa and I have joined a reunion group. Kanyon was already part of one but I hadn't yet joined one. (A reunion group is a Walk to Emmaus' small group - men's or women's - if you don't know what Walk to Emmaus is, basically I joined a women's accountability group.) We have loved it! It makes for a busy end of the week with Kanyon going to his men's group on Thursday morning, us going to our small group on Thursday night, and then Brindle and I going to my group on Friday morning. The best part is that there is a lot of overlap in who is in our groups so we are getting to be even closer to several people.

Ainsley and Brindle having girl time at Reunion Group.

The weekend after Easter, Kanyon and I had our friends Tyler and Lauren out for dinner. I love that we are still close to most of our college group. And Brindle being the first baby in the group is making her spoiled with everyone's attention :)

Brindle is such a sweet and happy girl. I get told at least once a day that she is the smiliest baby someone has ever seen! She'll make anyone feel extra special. Kanyon and I enjoy being her parents so much.

Last weekend, we packed up the car and headed to Granbury for Kanyon's cousin Derek's wedding! I was busy with nieces and nephews the whole time so I didn't get any pictures but it was a beautiful ceremony and reception. Kanyon's aunt Rhnea decorated it and it was stunning! 

Before the wedding, since we had some of the family together, we had a first birthday party for Krae! 

Brindle and Papa Brown

The wedding was an afternoon wedding so we headed half-way home and stayed in Abilene Saturday night to see several friends. 

One of the families we needed to see was the Albus family. If you are familiar with Abilene, you know they own 5D Hats and Leather, where Kanyon worked in college. You probably also know that their shop burned down last fall. It was devastating. Most everything was lost including non-replacable equipment. Saturday night, we met the whole family at the new shop and it is coming along great! They are operational now and are about to start renovations. We are so relieved and excited for them! They were also excited to meet Brindle for the first time.

We stayed with our friends Shelly and Colby and got to see Bryan and Rachel Levrets for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Then we ran by Paige's shop to catch her for a little bit. Brindle got lots of great gifts from her and obviously loved her new bow:

And last but not least, we stopped by to see our friends Kelly and Brandon who had a baby boy, Hudson, a month before Brindle was born and I'd been wanting to meet him so bad!

It was great to see them and catch up a little bit. Brindle was happy to meet Hudson!

Well, Mom is on her way to Welch right now and we are packing up the car again and Brindle, Mom, and I are heading to Denver to go visit my brother tomorrow morning! I am so excited. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures and lots to post about!

I also still need to blog about our recent house projects... I'll do that soon!

Brindle and River

Sena and I had the "pleasure" of being pregnant at the same time last year - and both of us are glad that "pleasure" is over! Brindle's cousin River was born 7 weeks after her on Christmas Eve! Brindle gets so excited when we lay her next to River these days - its so cute.

Brindle and River loved each other from early on! And Brindle really loves her Aunt Sena.

Meeting River for the first time after coming home from Christmas in Houston!

 Kissing her cousin! Missed by a little...

 Hanging out in River's crib... they've taken a few naps together in there!

We love having Daniel and Sena and the kids living so close now!!

Grands and Greats

One of the biggest blessings (out of the many) of marrying into Kanyon's family is being a granddaughter to Kanyon's grandparents. They are so special to me and I am so thankful for their love and support. I don't feel like an granddaughter-in-law but their real granddaughter.

And I am so excited about Brindle being able to grow up living within a few miles of one set of grandparents and two sets of greats. And the other set of grandparents, my parents, will see her so often, she won't realize they don't live nearby ;)

Thank you, Meme and Granddad, and Mama and Papa Brown, for being so good to me and now so good to Brindle. We love you so much!