Brindle's First Birthday Party

Brindle's birthday fell on a Monday before I was supposed to work a Walk to Emmaus Thursday through Sunday. Mom was going to come up and keep B for me during the Walk so I decided to have the party on Wednesday afternoon so that she could be there. It actually worked out good because having it at lunch meant I had time to clean up and finish packing that night. And then we had another party at church that night! Brindle likes to extend her birthday like I do ;)

I decided to do a "little Indian" party. Native American stuff is big right now so I knew I'd have a lot of inspiration to look at. I went pretty simple, though.

I had been really wanting to buy Brindle a teepee for her first birthday but have you ever looked at how much those cost?? Close to $150 for a decent one. No, thanks. So I found a tutorial online on how to make one and Kanyon said we could do it. We finished it at midnight the night before but we loved how it turned out. We're keeping it in storage for some fun sleepovers in the future since it was way too big to stay out all the time. We don't have a playroom so maybe if we do in the future, we can.

I made a white chocolate two-layer cake with lemon buttercream frosting. I really have no idea why I chose that except that she had lemon ice once and loved it. It turned out really good!

She wasn't so sure about making a big mess, especially with everyone staring at her...

I think Kanyon ate more of her little cake than she did.

I decorated with fringe banners in the kitchen, they turned out so cute! And so easy to make.

We had lots of friends and family there to celebrate with us!

Brindle got lots of great presents, too. Here she is sitting in her present from Nana and Papa (Kanyon's parents)... unsure of where to put her hands because of the tutu :)

She loves that chair... Grandma and Poppy (my parents) got her a beautiful play kitchen that is a big hit with her and all the kids that come over.

It was a great day celebrating her first birthday!

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...

Catch Up of Christmas

I have been working on this post for two weeks now a little at a time! I am going to attempt to go back and write about our wonderful Christmas! This was a whirlwind time but so much fun. I was so thankful I was still on maternity leave so I got to spend as much time as possible with our family and Brindle! One day, I had so much on my to-do list when we got up but decided to just spend the morning snuggling with Brindle while I watched White Christmas and drank coffee. One of my favorite Christmas memories!

A couple weeks before Christmas, Kanyon and I were so excited to have several of our college friends come to visit and meet Brindle. It was such a FUN weekend! We had 5 extra people staying with us. 7 people and a baby in our house.

We spent the weekend mostly at home. The boys did make a run up to Kanyon's parents' house for a little. That night, we all made a really yummy dinner of ribs from a hog that Kanyon shot the weekend before and venison sausage (still eating that stuff from last year...). It was so great to see everyone.

Several people have asked me how Zeb is with Brindle... he is great! He was nervous around her at first since we kept telling him "no!" every time he'd try to lick her but now that we are more relaxed, he is, too. He loves kissing her on the top of her head and letting us know when she has a dirty diaper, ha. When I find the time to give him a bath, I want to get a cute picture of her sitting with him. Who volunteers to give him a bath? Just let me know.

Brindle has been such an easy and loving baby! Her smile comes so easy and she loves being talked to. She cries only when she has a reason to - cold, tired, or hungry - and will calm down as soon as you appease her. She is super photogenic and I can always get a smile! Sometimes I just spank her for being too cute.

She met so much family over Christmas and actually slept through most of the parties. I think it was how she coped with all the new sounds and people... We had about a week of getting our nights and days mixed up after all the busy-ness to get sorted back out after the holidays. But she is sleeping like a champ at night already.

We had Kanyon's family Christmases all in one weekend. Our immediate family, then both of Kanyon's grandparent's separate Christmases. It was a lot of fun! Brindle got loved on by so much family! These pictures are a little out of order but oh well.

 Vaughn taught me how to decorate a cake!

 Isn't this the prettiest outfit!? She had three beautiful red outfits to wear throughout the Christmas season.

One of her favorite places to be!

 Our immediate family Christmas - 23 of us now, 25 with Bailey and Aimee!

It was a great time with everyone in Welch. The next day, on Christmas Eve, we flew to Houston for Brindle's first airplane ride!

She slept through the whole thing. Boring, apparently.

We had a relaxing few days in Houston with my family taking naps by the fire and getting in the hot tub. And of course, Brindle got more love from her family!

"OH holy night!"

 Relaxing with Rachel!

The next few pictures of Brindle talking to her Grandma just kill me...

We got home on the 28th and were so tired but satisfied with a very good Christmas. The best one yet!