May Happenings...

My goodness May is almost over! Where is time going? Braysen is already nearing the 8 month mark with blows my mind!! He is getting so big and advanced! He got his first 2 teeth a couple weeks ago and has 4 more on the cusp of breaking through. Finally! Brylin started teething at 5 months so I have not known what to do with a baby who can't chew! He is able to stand by our couch by himself (until he gets distracted for 1 second and then he quickly crashes). He has been learning his favorite signs and shows the most excitement when "milk" or "eat" are signed to him! He continues to LOVE his sister! When we walk in her room to wake her up if she's sleeping too late he knows we are going in her room and he starts to tense his body and giggle. So funny! He is a bit of a Momma's boy (and by a bit, I mean extreme). I cannot leave his sight without near panic setting in. When I pick him up he is immediately happy. Heart warming? Yes. Difficult to get anything done? Absolutely. Little stinker. But, he does give the best kisses. Open-mouthed, sometimes he slips the tongue in there. One of my favorite things! He has also started clapping. That is one of my favorite milestones for babies. I love when their little chubby, spastic arms meet in the middle in pure joy!
The other day, Braysen and Brylin were involved in a wrestling match which I happened to catch on camera. Here's a few...

Round 1 - Braysen

Round 2 - Brylin

Round 3 - Tie based on the mutual smiles

Both feel like winners!

Brylin is getting geared up for a summer of fun! I totaled up all the days we would be with family this summer and it is 30 days of the summer! That is a lot and a lot of fun for all of us but especially for a little girl who loves to play with other kids! She is also in her big girl gymnastics class, Sporties For Shorties, and Jump, Shout, and Boogie. So, it should be a very busy and very fun summer for Brylin!

Flying her kite with Daddy

She continues to be a complete joy! She loves to help in the kitchen. Especially when I bake something sweet and she gets to lick the beater. She tells me she can't crack the eggs because "she's too tiny." She plays outside any moment I let her and loves to look for bugs and birds. She loves to be in charge...of anything. Today I found her putting her shoes to bed and shushing them for being too loud. Her babies are often disciplined for different reasons. She is very quick to defend her little brother. If you are frustrated or sharp in your tone with him at all she will quickly tell you that you can't talk to her brother that way. I tell her that I love that she is taking care of her brother but sometimes Mommy has to correct her brother on things. She looks at me suspiciously as if she is keeping her eye on me! So funny! 

Spring!

I am loving the warmer weather of Spring. Now, if only the 200 mph winds would die down it would be a great time to be outside with the kids! It is so nice to be outside again and feel like our lungs are breathing fresh air! Brylin is such an outdoor kid and would play outside the entire day if I let her. Braysen is still unable to control his breathing when the wind blows in his nostrils so he enjoys it far less!
We had a great Easter celebrating the hope of our salvation last Sunday. We were down at my parent's house and, as always, Grammie did it up big. There were over 120 eggs to hunt and awesome Easter baskets for all the kids...including Braysen! Brylin had such a fun weekend playing with her cousin Addison and I hardly ever saw her and Braysen enjoyed the extra attention and loving arms to carry him whenever he let out a little peep. I am just always reminded of how blessed I am on Easter as I think about Jesus no longer being in the grave and that I am saved because of His sacrifice! It is also such a reminder of God's extravagant love when I see my two healthy kids and my ahh-mazing husband standing beside me! What a great holiday!
The kids are growing like weeds it seems lately. Brylin finished up her gymnastics class and was bumped up to the next level even though she is too young because her teacher said she was "too advanced" for the class she was in. Obviously our little girl is not going to grow up to be an all-star gymnast, but it has been amazing to watch her skill level develop so quickly in those classes. It makes an ex-athlete very proud! So, we are going to start her again in the summer with the bigger kids and hopefully she will still love it as much as she has!

She is constantly saying hilarious things and I have an ongoing document at home where I sit down when she says something and type it up really quick so I don't forget. She and Braysen are also becoming such good buddies. Brylin is very good with him and she brings him toys and pretends to hurt herself and fall over just to make him laugh. Braysen gets so pumped when Brylin comes into site. He tenses his legs and clenches his fists and just starts to scream with happiness! If she talks to him he bursts into this belly laugh even if what she said isn't funny at all! It warms my heart like nothing else to see them enjoying each other!

Braysen is well over 6 months now and he has changed night and day over the past month. He is sitting up all by himself now and playing with his toys. He rolls over and coos in his crib in the morning until I come and rescue him. He is eating all kinds of yummy veggies and fruit. Although, he is a milk boy I believe. His excitement for baby food is about a 4 out of 10. Last summer my Mom got a bunch of fruits and veggies from her garden and her fruit trees and made baby food for Braysen and froze it. So amazing and it makes me feel good to know he is getting very basic, very healthy food!

Now, I always thought Brylin loved her Daddy, but Braysen is a whole other level of adoration for Brad. He hears his voice and starts to turn his head all around (sometimes straight backwards over his shoulders) to try to find him. And, when he finds him, it is immediate joy! He loves his Daddy so much and I think Brad is just a little pleased by that!

Brad is still working on the basement and is about to start the sheet rock. It is starting to look more and more like an actual basement. Our fireplace is in down there, the tub is in, the insulation is up, and the electrical is pulled! What a task for Brad! But, he is doing so awesome. The other day the inspector came to make sure he had done the insulation according to code. He came upstairs with a little smirk on his face and said, "Bit of a perfectionist is he?" Ha! That he is!

This Sunday is Mother's Day and it makes me feel so blessed that God has allowed me to be a Mommy to two precious little kids. It is such an indescribable feeling to have 2 little ones love you so much and to be their #1 comfort and support. I am so thankful for my family!

March update

It is hard to believe we are already nearing the end of March! We just got home yesterday from a week long trip to Kansas to see family and celebrate my Mom's 60th birthday. The kids did stellar in the van on the way down and back. Braysen has increased his love for the carseat which makes trips much more enjoyable. It is just so crazy to me how different 2 kids from the same parents can be. Already Braysen is displaying traits so different from how Brylin was at his age. I guess it makes me realize it isn't completely my perfect parenting skills that made Brylin such a keeper! There might be some sides to their little personalities that they come with day 1!

Braysen is well on his way to being 6 months old. I cannot believe we are already almost half way through his first year! He is into grabbing everything around him right now so I have had to remember to keep drinks, plastic bags, and sharp objects out of a 3 foot radius around him. In the past week he has managed to get all three of those things in his chubby little hands in the amount of time it took me to set him down and turn around! We is sleeping beautifully at night for the most part. He is going down consistently between 7-7:30 and getting up for the day between 7:30-8. Not too shabby! His naps seem to be hit and miss still. This is one of the noted differences in my two kids! Brylin had a very systematic schedule by the time she was 6 months old. Braysen likes to play it more by ear!! I pray (literally) that we can figure out a schedule that will work for our ever on-the-go lifestyle.

Brylin had her test run early this month to see if she had reflux from her bladder to her kidneys. God was gracious to us as it went as smoothly as possible. She was so cute running around the imaging room with her little purple toddler hospital gown on. She was very brave through it all and got lots of praise and stickers. They did find she has reflux on her left side which explains the constant bladder infections since November. We have to see a pediatric urologist in April to see where we go from here. I am so thankful we found the culprit to all her problems. It is so hard when you don't know why your kid keeps getting sick!
Brylin is at such a clever little age right now. She is really into being a dare devil (hair devil as she told me today) lately and jumps off anything I tell her is okay! She is loving gymnastics and especially loves the end when they get to jump on the trampoline or in the pit with sponge blocks! She is on the move go, go, go and then all of the sudden she will stop and get her blankie and sit for about 10 minutes snuggling with me. Then she goes again. I hope she never outgrows her love for snuggling! The other night we were snuggling and she told me, "Mommy, I love you so much!" I asked her why she thought she loved me and she responded, in her little 2 year old voice, "I love you because you are my best friend. Because God made you my best friend. And...I just love you so much!" Melt my heart! I don't think she saw the tears in my eyes after she said that!
About 3 weeks ago I took the kids up to Boulder for an alumni get together with my girl's basketball team from college. It was such a fun weekend and I must say I was so proud to see my old teammates and one of my closet friends as the head coach at CU. I am pretty sure she is the youngest D-1 coach and she is just so amazing! Anyways, we were able to sit court side at the game and Brylin was immediately drawn to the dancers who were in front of us. She slowly worked her way down to the floor where she was sitting one row behind them. Somehow, by the end of the game she was sitting with the dancers, doing their dances with them, and was even taken out on the floor by Chip (CU mascot) to dance at one of the timeouts!! It was like every little girl's dream! I have tried to explain to her that she was a very special girl that day and that we shouldn't expect that everytime we go to a game. I think it is falling on deaf ears! That was one of the best moments in her life!

Trips and Kids

We got home from our trip to Texas a couple days ago. We were able to see Cody, Sarah, Rachel, and Autumn for almost an entire week. We had such a good time. We went to Fossil Rim one day which is an open wildlife area where you can feed the animals from your car. Brylin was in heaven and was so brave. She just stuck her little hand out of the window with some food in it and let all the animals come and eat right off of it. It is so much fun to watch your child enjoy something so much. Braysen spent the time rolling around in the back seat. The kids aren't in car seats which is actually nice for a change because I could nurse him and let him lay happily on the seat. He was oblivious to the crazy animals around him! Other than that, we mostly stayed at home and let the 3 girls play to their heart's content. They are the best of friends and it is so much fun to watch Brylin love her cousins so much! The last night we "adults" got to go on a double date and spend some time without the kids hanging out. Very fun!
One of our days in Texas we were able to head north to Dallas to see Nathan, Kim, Hayden, Pierce, and baby Ruthie who was only 5 days old. Although we only got a few hours with them, it was so nice to be able to see our new niece and talk to Nathan and Kim for a bit. They were plugging along like they had had 3 kids their whole lives! Brylin is happy to finally have another girl on the Gomer side to play babies and tea party with!
The kids were awesome on the plane! It was a bit hectic with security and me losing my wallet and having no identity to fly, but the kids just were great and made the trip so much more fun! Brylin was super cute with her little backpack trecking through the airport and Braysen sat and drooled and cooed at all the right times!

Braysen is now 4 months old and a total gem! We went through a tough spell with sleeping for a couple of weeks, but once we got home from Texas I implemented a much stricter approach to his shananigans and we is doing really great again. Praise God for how quickly that recovered! He is weighing a little short of 20 pounds and is 27 inches long!!! He's a big boy! He's the size Brylin was at 6 months and I always thought she was a big baby! But, he is so happy and healthy (except for the repeated runny noses he is picking up from the family). He plays in his exersaucer and his jumparoo and sits in his Bumbo and just smiles and talks. The second you make eye contact with him with bursts with this huge grin and starts to "ooh" at you. One of my favorite memories of him so far happened while we were in Texas. He was in the back seat on a longer trip home and he was fussing. I got out and sat beside him thinking he might need to nurse. He wrapped his little hand around my finger and just stared at me and sighed and fell asleep. He just wanted to hold my hand and then he felt safe to drift off. It melted my heart! Love that little guy so much!

Brylin is just as busy as a little 2 year old can be! She is definitely going through a time of more correction (to put it nicely) as she is trying to figure out just how much she can get away with. But, when she is on her game, she is the cutest, smartest little thing I've ever seen. Brad and I are constantly sharing stories about something she did, said, or remembered. She brings up stories from many months ago that we haven't talked about and will recall vivid details of it. The other day she wrote "6" and said, "Look, Mommy I wrote a six!" I applauded her thinking she was just scribbling and it was an accident. Then, she wrote a "7" and said, "Now look Mommy, a seven!" Crazy little girl! She amazes me! We are getting ready to start her in gymnastics which should be super fun. I know she is going to think she is the next olympic gymnast after her first day. We won't tell her the average height of gymnasts is 4'10''!
On a more serious note, Brylin has to go in Thursday for a pretty yucky test as she has had 3 bladder infections in 3 months. Please pray for her Thursday morning as the doctor describes it as a very uncomfortable procedure. Also pray they can find out what is causing all these infections. It is no fun to watch your kids hurt!
Tomorrow will be March already! I cannot believe how time is flying by already in 2011! It's going to be a fast, exciting year I imagine!

First Post

This will be my first official post on our new blog. I haven't written anything since Halloween on the other blog so there is so much to write about! We had an awesome Thanksgiving and Christmas! There was lots of time with family and it was really fun to watch our kids in their different stages as we celebrated the Holidays!
Braysen is now 3 months old!! He is such a good baby I can't even begin to describe him. He sleeps really well. He is sleeping from about 7:30-7:30 at night and then (as long as we are home) taking 2 really great naps of at least an hour. If we are out and about he doesn't fare so well! Of course, now that I am typing this, he will probably change his patterns and begin to not sleep well at all! He is a total chunk and eats constantly! He is so chubby and round and his little round face just makes me smile. He has started laughing which is hilarious. He smiles constantly and my very favorite thing about him right now is the "conversations" he will have with us. He oohs and aahs and coos and gurgles. He will talk for awhile and then stop and look at you and raise his eyebrows like, "your turn" and then sits and watches you while you talk. Once you've finished talking he begins again! He is just so awesome!
Brylin has gone through another tough streak. She got another bladder infection which means more testing to figure out why. Ughhh! Poor little thing. We spent the entire Sunday last week in Urgent Care as she had spiked another super high temp. We knew immediately what it was but had to spend the whole day waiting for them to tell us we were right! So, we are on antibiotics now and waiting to schedule our appointment to see what's next. Please pray for Brylin and all the un-fun stuff coming up for her!
Other than that she is just her smart, inquisitive little self. She is really into reading her Bible right now. She loves to have the stories read to her and then she will re-tell them to her babies. The other day she was telling the story of Jonah and the fish to her baby and I had the privelage of hearing it. It started out with some mumbling which is what she does when she forgets a part. And then, in a loud voice, she says, "And Jonah saw the fish and Jonah said Eeeeeehhhhh!" I had to laugh because I got to thinking that was probably exactly what Jonah was thinking when that huge fish was swimming towards him. I had just never thought of it until Brylin told the story from a 2 year old perspective. She has also fallen deeply in love with her Daddy! She talks about him constantly and the other day we were watching a wedding show and she said, "Mommy someday you can get a beautiful dress like that and get married." I told her I already had a wedding and married Daddy. She told me, "No, I am going to marry Daddy in a beautiful dress!" I told her he was already taken and she said, "But, I really love Daddy too!" So cute to see her adoration for her Daddy!
Brad is still working on the basement. He passed the first inspection yesterday. Of course he did, he's a total perfectionist. The guy doing the inspection kept talking about how he couldn't believe how precise Brad's work was. Obviously he doesn't know Brad. It is looking awesome! We also had the plumber come and set the tub and put some pipes in for other water stuff (very official plumber lingo there).
This weekend we head up to Breck to see my brother marry his beautiful fiancee, Kate. We are excited to see them get married and spend time with family and friends. Breck is one of my favorite towns ever! I'll try to post more frequently and figure out this new system soon!