Ever onward

August is quickly coming to an end and I am, again, realizing I have really dropped off in this whole blogging thing since becoming a mom of two! The bad part about waiting this long is knowing where to begin...

Braysen has changed dramatically since my last post. He began crawling at the very beginning of this month. The day after I got back from my girl's weekend! Phew! I would have been so sad had he started that without me being there to watch his chubby little hands and legs coordinate to move. But, let me tell you, the boy is loving his new freedom! He crawls so fast and makes this excited panting noise. It is probably one of my favorite things ever! I love crawlers. I think it is such a cute little thing! He also has acquired 2 new teeth. Man, those things look painful! He woke up today to a mouthful of blood! So scary for a Mommy to find her little 10 month old crying in his crib with blood all over his sheets. But, it was just those nasty teeth pushing through. I have never seen a baby bleed from teething. That is some violent teething. He continues to be a total bear cub. He is so happy and gives kisses and waves and chatters. But, when he gets angry (which is often) he flexes his legs straight out in front of him and clenches his tiny little fists and yells! It is actually really cute right now. I could see it losing its cuteness in a few months though! He is such a little buddy and I love watching him grow and change. I just cannot believe how close we are getting to his first birthday already! I feel like his baby months are slipping away before I can even capture a moment in my mind. The constant pull of parenting in wanting to see you children grow and experience life but also wanting to push pause so you can stay just where you are for a little bit longer!

Brylin is my busy little mini-me! I just watch her to see how I am acting throughout the day. Yesterday I was sitting in Braysen's nursery nursing him and I could see her in her room with her babies. She was "nursing" them and putting them in their crib, tucking them in, turning on the sound machine, saying I love you before closing the door. What a little punkin! She is just a total joy to Brad and I! And, she is so good with her brother. I keep watching for signs of jealousy but she just seems to accept the fact that he takes up a good part of my time now too. I try so hard to make her feel special and know that she gets time with me too. But, I feel like God has just given her a spirit of contentment most of the time and I am grateful for that! Yesterday I was coaching basketball practice for a little girl's team here in town. I looked at the sideline at one point and there was Brylin watching me diligently and doing everything I was asking the girls to do. At one point she yelled across the gym, "Mommy! Mommy! Watch this!" I looked over and she threw the ball up in the air and came to a perfect jump stop like I was working on. She had the happiest look on her face! Man, she just melts my heart!

And, in other news....drum roll please....THE BASEMENT IS FINISHED!! Just today the final staple went in our new carpet! Ahhhhh! We went down as a family and just laid on our new carpet and smiled because our house just doubled in size! And, it looks so awesome! Brad is just so talented! We went and bought new furniture today to go down there and is should be coming next week! Hooray! I will try to post pictures soon of the finished product. It is such a blessing! I have just been thanking God for such a great, extravagant gift!
Ever onward...

More July Events

Well, besides Brylin's birthday we have had lots of other activities on the calendar. My whole family got together at my parent's for the 4th of July. Despite the ban on all fireworks (boo!) we had a great time. The kids played on the slip and slide, swam in the pool, played with water guns and just had lots of fun cousin time. There are 9 cousins with one more due in a few weeks so there is always someone to play with. I love, love, love my family and it is always such a treat when we can all get together.

Both of my kids are crying really hard in this picture. That's why Lauren is laughing! No, Rachel is not training for a marathon, she just found Grandpa's sweatbands upstairs right before we took the picture!

After all the family left we came home for 3 days. Brad packed up for his 12 day adventure in Alaska and we did laundry so we could return to my parent's. It was so hard to say goodbye to Brad because, not only was he leaving for 12 days, but he had no phone service so I couldn't even talk to him the whole time he was gone. It was painful and made me realize how much I really love my husband and how much his daily presence fills my heart. But, he had an amazing time and came back with great stories of brown bears and lots of salmon so it was a success! I am so happy he got to do that trip and I am also so happy he is now home!

We spent the week with my cousin, Kara, and her 3 kids as well as my Aunt Linda and my Mom. All of us usually get together a couple times a year and we always have such a fun time! I am so thankful for those 3 women in my life! And, I am so thankful they were there to distract me and keep me sane with the kids all by myself while Brad was gone!

Little Braysen also celebrated a milestone this month. He turned 9 months old! I cannot believe he is 3/4 of the way through his first year. He is such a little bear cub! He is usually one of two extremes...blissfully content and smiling or so angry his cry goes glottal! One minute I feel like I can just eat him up he is so cute and the next minute I am pretty sure he is not entirely human in nature. But, when he's on his game he is unmatched in cuteness. He claps all day long. Any time he hears you say "yay" or the word "clap" he starts to clap. He claps when he's happy. He claps when he sees Brylin. He claps when he rolls the ball to you. He is my little clapper. He has also began to wave. Another super endearing thing. No crawling yet but he rolls at warp speed around the room. Last night Brad and Brylin went outside to shoot a rabbit (it deserved its death I promise) and he rolled across our living room and laid at the front door until they came back. I seriously don't hope he thinks that is an adequate form of locomotion! Honestly though, for all his high jinks and craziness he is so super lovable and awesome and I just love him more every day!
Happy July!!

Happy Birthday Brylin

Our sweet Brylin turned 3 on the 14th! It is so hard to believe she is already 3 years old. We had a great birthday celebration with her. We went up to the Springs and spent the day at the Focus On The Family head quarters. It has this super cool kids area where Brylin played with my cousin's 3 kids for several hours. After that we checked into our room at Embassy Suites and let the kids swim in the pool until it was time to get ready for dinner. We had a really yummy dinner with a bunch of family and got home to a somewhat sleep deprived night. Actually, for having 4 kids and 2 moms in one room it turned out fairly well! The next day we headed to the Cave of the Winds for a fun tour. Brylin and Braysen both loved it! Brylin insisted she saw several bears in the dark corners of the caves and Braysen "oohed" and "ahhed" (literally) the whole way through. I am just so fascinated by caves and the amazing creation of God when I am in them. They are spectacular!
We headed back to my parent's after that and got a bit more sleep and woke up to Brylin's official birthday! It is such a fun day for me. Something is very rewarding for a mom when their kid turns another year old. I think you just see so much of your life and work entangled in theirs that it feels like an accomplishment to watch them celebrate another year. We made a ladybug cake that Brylin had been planning for months and my Mom made her a birthday dinner of her choice (pork, corn, and pasta). She got some great presents including a brand new bike and helmet and the day came to a close. I cannot begin to express my gratitude to God for giving me such an amazing daughter. She is a joy in our lives like we never could have anticipated. She is happy and funny and smart and talented. God has really blessed her little life with so much good! Today, they screened Brylin for her 3 year levels and she was exceptional in communication and gross motor skills. She was above average in fine motor skills and problem solving. Not one of her scores fell below the average mark. What a gift! I am so thankful for the awesome little girl God gave us 3 years ago!
Some things I would like to remember about Brylin at age 3:
1. We call her "Jumper" because she jumps off of everything!
2. Her favorite color just switched from green to red.
3. Her favorite animal is a zebra.
4 She corrects me often on how I speak to her and Braysen. Just last week Braysen pulled my hair and I yelled which, in turn, made Braysen cry. Brylin said to me, "Mommy that was not helpful. What you should have said was, 'Braysen, please stop pulling my hair' but what you did was not helpful and now he is crying."
5. She names everything Shiloh. Her fish, her new baby from Mammaw, the baby growing in her tummy ??, etc.
6. She loves to rhyme and she spends the whole day rhyming every word she can.
7. She loves the country song "Stuck Like Glue" and sings it in the CUTEST voice ever!
8. She randomly holds up the "I Love You" sign from across the room at me and it melts my heart.
9. She reads constantly. She has books piled all over the house because she reads in every room. I often hear her reading to her babies. Sometimes verbatim of what the book says.
10. She thinks everyone is her friend.
11. She can pass and spike a volleyball with perfect form!

Summertime!!

We are officially in summer and I love it! Summer is such a fun time with kids! We spent this morning running through the water in our front yard and it was awesome! Braysen cheered from the sidelines while Brylin raced back and forth through the water squeeling the whole time.
I am trying to get this post done today because in about 5 days we leave for my parent's house and are basically gone until July 17th...literally. It is going to be a fun time of lots of friends and family. Another reason why I love summer. So, let me try to update what's been going on with our family.
As I type this, there is a man in my basement doing our tape and texture on the recently hung dry wall. It is exciting to see the progress being made and it finally is starting to feel like our basement is actually going to be a real, living space at some point! My hope is to have Braysen's first birthday party in the basement so that gives us a little over 3 months to get everything done. We'll see if my dream comes true...
Braysen is just becoming a little boy. He is wearing 18 month clothes now and they are none too baggy on him! He loves to clap and laugh. He started dancing this week which is so hilarious. He does this kind of body roll thing while he sits on the floor. It is adorable. He thinks Brylin is a stand up comedian I believe. Anything she does is so funny to him. He especially loves when she says "Ouch!" really loud right in his face. 

No crawling yet. He needs to crawl. He gets so angry when he is left alone in a room and it would be so much easier if he could just follow us when he wants to. Instead he just sits and yells in the other room until Brylin or myself go back to keep him company! Crazy boy! I do have a prediction that he will crawl in the next month though. He is trying. He just ends up going backwards and he has now found he can roll to his intended destination if it isn't too far. I'm not too worried though. Brylin crawled at 10.5 months and she turned out fairly coordinated!

Speaking of Brylin...our little girl is about to be 3 years old! Unbelievable! What a little munchkin she is! The thing I have really been noticing about her lately is her fearlessness. She always tells me how brave she is and I agree with her 100%! I love that about her. She is pretty much up for anything as long as someone tells her it is okay to do. When we were at the Royal Gorge this weekend with Brad's family we road this gondala that spans the Royal Gorge. Her Grandpa Bill was holding her as she leaned out the window. I honestly thought I was going to faint from my fear of heights and not being able to tell if Bill was really holding on as tight as I would like. Brylin just looked around with a smile on her face. At one point Bill turned and said her little heart was beating a mile a minute and I realized she probably was a little scared but not scared enough to miss the awesome view! Needless to say, Bill did not drop her out the window and Brylin loved the trip!

We had a great Father's Day weekend with Brad's family at a vacation home just outside of Canon City (nice drive for us!!). It was a fun weekend of hanging out with family and a seriously awesome game of Catch Phrase. Plus, us ladies tye-dyed t-shirts for all the dads and wrote super cheesy sayings on them and then made them all wear them (at the same time) to the Royal Gorge. One of my favorite parts though was watching Brylin and Braysen with all their cousins. There are 8 cousins 3 and under right now and it was so much fun to see Brylin play with the "older" cousins and Braysen play with the babies. I am looking forward to  years ahead as they all grow up together. And, now we are heading to my parent's house where there are 7 more cousins with one more coming in August so it will be more time for family fun!

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!