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!

Brindle Boo

I've been terrible at updating the blog lately. I now know why my sister-in-laws always have trouble updating theirs. Because kids don't like your attention being away from them!

So Brindle is turning 8 months old next week and I am yet to post some of her 6 month pictures! I've had them on Facebook for a while so everyone that reads this has probably already seen them but just in case...

 Notice the Wrangler diaper cover :)

They turned out so beautifully! Ashley Kerby is our photographer. She is wonderful!

Brindle's personality has really been showing up the last month or so. She has become so spirited! She has a smile for everyone. She's always making noise - Dada, Papa, and Mama are her favorite words but there's a good amount of just regular "aaaaaah" too. She likes to hear her own voice and loves to make us laugh. She's getting up on her hands and knees and rocking a fair bit. She hasn't cut any teeth yet even though I've thought for months now that they were coming soon! She has a strong personality like both her mom and dad. She is a busy girl moving around the room, scooting backwards and touching (and tasting) everything in reach. She loves Zeb!

I can't believe how much she has grown! Being a mom is unlike anything I have ever experienced. Cole says being an uncle is the best thing ever but I assured him that being a dad will be a million times even better. What has surprised me the most is how easy it is - in the sense that it has come naturally - not that there are not hard parts. We find ourselves doing the most ridiculous things just to see her smile and laugh, and she never makes us work long for it. I had to start putting Aquaphor on her cheeks because they were drying out from me constantly kissing them.

Brindle's Nursery

I am finally uploading pictures of the house! The "Our Home" page is now updated. Gotta upload more of the kitchen, though.

___________________________________________________________________________

For Brindle's room, I decided to go with a sherberty orangey pinkish color. I painted the ceiling and walls in a couple of days and the rest of the room kind of came to me after that. I love turquoise so I added a little turquoise here and there.

The room is pretty crowded but it was necessary in order to have the twin bed in there that we got for her. I'd love to have more room but I like having the twin in there more, so it will do! There's enough floor space, so its okay. 

I wanted to go with a burlap-and-lace theme but it ended up a linen-and-lace theme because burlap is too hard to sew with (not that I sew...). I had a lot of help in this room implementing my ideas. Mama Brown sewed the amazing curtains, Aunt Rhnea made the gorgeous lace canopy, Mom had the linen bed and crib skirt made, Vaughn helped me paint and pick out the rocker, and Cole helped me sand and paint the furniture. I love how it turned out!

With my affinity for re-arranging furniture, though, who knows how long it will stay like this? (Seriously, though, these pictures are making me want to change it up a bit.)

Come visit her sometime!