Christmas Approaching...

With Christmas just around the corner things have been pretty busy around our house! Last weekend I hosted my 3rd annual cookie party with about 15 girlfriends. It turned out to be a great number of people, perfect space, and the treats... oh yah, they were amazing and might have added a pound or two to the scale because of it ;) Its always worth it around the holidays though!

This weekend I am hosting my work Christmas party at my house. Monster doesnt sponsor a Christmas party, instead they just give us a budget to work with. Rather than spending money on a place, we opted to do it at my place with my entire team and spouses, and get it catered! Yum, cant wait!

Next weekend is of course... CHRISTMAS! Ryan and I have decided to host this year... 24 people! O.M.G. It's going to be madness in my house and I have been looking into house cleaners lately so I dont have to do the cleanup after all these partys.

On the Christmas Dinner Menu is....
Stuffed Pork Loin
Chipotle Raspberry Ham
Garlic Green Beens
Cheesy Hashbown Bake Potatoes
Creamy Corn Casserole

yummmmmm...... pics to come of all these holiday festivities! So much fun! :) Happy holidays!

Getting so big!

Oh my sweet little Brynlee... you are getting so big. We had your 9 Month appointment about 2 weeks ago and you did nothing but impress the doctor. You weighed in at 20lbs 4.5oz and were 27.5 inches long. According to the doc, after 20lbs the infant carriers really aren't safe so we upgraded you to a big girl carseat! To say the least... you LOVE it. I think you can see so much better and now I can finally see you in the mirrors we got back when you were an infant that didnt work. So I love driving and looking in my mirror to see you being silly and looking out the windows. It looks so much more comfortable for you! It did make make me a little sad to see the infant carrier go, but I am happy you love your new seat, and you look like a rockin big girl! 

Lookin so cute in her big girl seat!

This week has not been one for the books and I would be 100% okay if I never really had to look back on it. You were sick for the first time and it really sucked. On Monday we took you in to find out you had a upper respiratory infection and then Thursday had to take you in again, to find out you had a double ear infection. BOO! It really was a bad week. Then Sunday, of course it couldnt end 100% well, we gave you Cinnamon Maple Puffs, and you broke out in hives. And then after bath, you pooped all over your dad. It's just been that kind of WEEK.

Glad it is in the past now, and lets hope this week is better for all of us! Christmas is 2 short weeks away and I cannot WAIT to give you all your presents. We really spoiled you this year, and I think Santa is going to, too. You've been a great girl, ALL YEAR!

Love you to the moon and back :)

Brynn's First Thanksgiving!

This years Thanksgiving was one for the books. It was Brynn's first Thanksgiving! We had a smaller crowd this year. Usually we have about 20 people and this year we were missing my sister, Connor, Jeff, and my cousin Brad. Thanksgiving Day started out like it usually does with football and family... We had an amazing meal that concluded of the usual, turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, rolls... and I made my first ever Pumpkin Pie & Chocolate Banana Cream Pie! They were a huge hit and even my dad who doesn't like coconut, loved that pie! I am sure I will be the pie maker for Thanksgiving going forward. They are really not hard at all to make and SO much better than store bought or frozen. As the day went on... the beer was flowing in the family, and for me, so was the bottle of wine! My mom, aunt, cousin and I maybe had one too many cocktails and ended up Christmas caroling to some of my mom's neighbors... yeah, people probably thought we were NUTS. (Which we kind of are!) but we had so much fun just walking my moms neighborhood, practicing our song and singing to random neighbors.

As far as Brynlee goes, she LOVED mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. And I think the sweet potatoes gave her a little sugar rush... haha!

This year, I am SO extremely thankful for my baby girl, my amazing husband, my family the things we were able to do this year, like go on vacations, build a house and much more! And my amazing friends. You know who you are!

Here are some pictures of our fun holiday! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Yummm, someone liked their sweet potatoes!!!

Thanksgiving 2011... Brynlee noshing on some mashed potatoes!

Gorgeous baby girl in her cute sweater dress!

Love her!

Thankful for you baby girl, you make my world GO ROUND!

Brynlee meets Santa...

This weekend we got together with a mommy group that I started on Facebook to meet Santa. I started this group about 5 months ago with just 15 girlfriends, I told them to invite people they knew with kids and it has somehow grown to over 185 members! Crazy, right?!

Well anyways, one of the girls on there put together this amazing event. She knew somebody who was a retired vet that dressed up as Santa! She decided $10 was a fair amount to take your OWN pictures with Santa, at a lovely park here in Gilbert. It was an amazing idea, we raised over $340 for an Angel family, and also had tons of canned goods and clothes donated. Thanks again Karen, for putting this together!

As for Brynlee meeting Santa... she did surprisingly, GREAT! She didnt cry at all. Just had a very serious look on her face then entire time and would just stare at him like who the heck is this guy?! She really did good! I was proud of my lil munchkin. She was one of the few, who didnt happen to scream her head off. Most babies do though, so I get it :) My little one on the other hand, is just as curious as ever! Here are my favorite outtakes!

Trying to figure him out :)

She loved the teddy bear that Santa gave her!

So cute. She liked him!

Waiting in line to meet Santa

Family Pictures

We had such a great time taking our family pictures! Our photographer was Mary Lessig and you can check out her blog at http://marylessigphoto1.blogspot.com. She is an amazing photographer. We took our pictures at The Groves. It was actually a pistachio grove! So neat and totally not Arizona! I had one friend ask if we went up north because it looked like we were in the woods... totally the look we were going for, success! 

Enjoy :)

Whats Happenin?

How could we pass this adorable little hat up????

Happy Friday!!!!

So glad the weekend is approaching! Did you not die when you saw the picture above? Pssssh someone is ready for wintertime! We snagged that adorable little hat at Old Navy for winter and for our trip to Michigan! We also got her some snowpants and a puffer jacket. Its going to be so cute to see her all bundled up!

This last weekend we had our housewarming party and things went great! Minus the fact of me getting super sick from too much wine and no food... it was a blast! We had a great turnout with a lot of people, food was gone (which is always a good sign in my eyes), and everyone said they had a great time! It was fun to hang out with all of our best friends for the evening. Having the housewarming party really pushed us to get the house done just in time for Ryan's parents to get here! They come next Friday and stay for I believe, 9 days!

I started back at bootcamp 2 weeks ago and I am loving every second of it! I can already feel my body toning up and I have already lost 3 pounds! And did I mention I am back to my pregnancy weight less a pound or two? Woop woop!!! I start an 8 week challenge tomorrow and I am not going to lie, I am pretty nervous about it. It's definitely going to be challenging but they claim to see amazing results over 8 weeks. On average women loose about 15-25lbs. I am going to do my best at it, see if I can keep up with it and we will just go from there. I know one thing, I wont ever kill myself over a diet so if I start it and feel like its not for me, I will continue on just with the bootcamp. The whole goal of the challenge is to slightly change the way you eat (while still eating what you like) and going to camp at least 3 times a week which I am doing already right now. So might as well give the eating thing a chance and see how it goes! I will keep you updated ;)

 This weekend we have a 1st birthday party, family pictures tomorrow and hopefully a pumpkin patch on Sunday! Woo hoo! Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!! Enjoy some pics!

Such a cheeseball! Ugh, I am so in love with our girl!

Love this picture of my mom and her... I think she will love it someday too!

The night of our housewarming party :)

It's Friday!

 

Happy Friday Everyone!!! I dont know about you, but I am loving the new Blogger dashboard. So much easier to use! Anyways, this weekend we are going to enjoy the cooler weather together as a family! We plan to assemble our patio set, let Brynn play in the new grass a little and enjoy some wine outdoors! We might even try to hit up a pumpkin patch this weekend to get some cool pics with Brynn for fall. Love weekends with very little plans. Lets us relax and play every hour by ear. Hope you all have a great weekend and now that there is this new blogger, I will probably be even more motivated to do the post on the headboard. 

Cheers and Happy Friday!

Cheers to the freakin weekend...

Haha love that song. And once again, its been to long since I've blogged.

I honestly think about it all the time, but lately I just really havent felt like writing! There is so much to say but once you get so behind you feel like you cant catch up with these things!

So starting FRESH.

Can you believe our sweet girl is going to be 7 months this weekend??! I cant! She is getting SO big. Things are really moving to fast for my liking. She started crawling full force at 6.5 months (a little advanced for her age, thats for sure) and is now pulling up and wanting to stand on everything. She is quite the rascal. When we try to change her diaper it takes about 10 minutes most times... bc she wants to roll over, crawl and escape from us! It is aggravating some times but usually it means I get to see her cute lil butt cheeks! Not only is she fully on the move but she is getting her own personality perfected. She is quite the drama queen at times! She fake coughs and cries... and knows exactly what to do to get attention! Most of the time we just laugh at her or fake cry/cough with her so that she knows it ain't workin. She usually smiles back, just the diva in her! She has been on solids now for a while and she loves them and she doesnt. I started making my own food which started out great... but as time went on, I realized, she really doesnt like MY food. When we went to Michigan we bought a few jars of food for the trip, and she ate those down with no problems at all. I guess thats the American in her, we like the stuff that ain't necessarily good for us. Not that its bad, but I like the idea of my food being raw and not sitting on the shelf. Sooo we have been playing with both my food and some jarred foods. She also has been having a hard time going potty so we have to only feed her foods that start with P! And also giving her pear or prune juice in the mornings and night to help her little tummy work through these solids. Poor thing! She cracks us up on a daily basis, still loves to snuggle on me sometimes (which of course melts my heart), and can make any bad day, better. I dont know what life was like without her and I dont want to remember life without her, because she just always makes it better!

Our house is really coming along and we are almost done with the beginning stages of it being "done". I feel like our house will never be "done" because we will constantly make changes to it I am sure, especially as our family grows. But as far as moving in... and getting settled in, we are almost there. A few more things to do and we will be good. Then I can really start getting crafty! We are getting our backyard done next week and I cannot wait to see what it will look like with grass, trees and rocks back there! Maybe I will open my windows more often ;) We are having our housewarming party on the 15th so I need to buckle down and get things moving!!!

Ryan and I... well we are great as always. Love my husband more than anything as he is my support, my rock and my best friend. I wouldnt want life to be any different than where we are right now!

Oh and I promise, I will post how I made our headboard... SOON! Hopefully this weekend... if I can find the motivation :)

TGIF!

Michigan Bound!

Tomorrow morning we are headed to good ol' Michigan! I am SO excited. This will be Brynlee's first airplane ride, and I am getting pretty anxious about it! She is such a great baby so I think she will do great, but I just hope what I think, becomes true!

Some things I am really looking forward to...

• Seeing all of our family... Nana, Nonno, Grandpa Jim, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins etc etc
• Seeing our friends... Pete, Kay, Dave, Dee, Nick, Emily etc etc
• Cooler weather, supposed to be in the 60, low 70's ALLLLL week!
• Hot tubbing with my inlaws... we always have the best time just hanging in the hot tub, drinking some wine, good conversation and bonding! We are bringing Brynn's monitor so we can hot tub while she naps and sleeps at night, woo hoo!
• Jimmy & Tiffany's wedding! They are getting married Saturday and Ryan is in the wedding of course. I cannot wait to witness their special day... and to get Brynn all dressed up of course too, she will be a highlight of the night I am sure!
• Shopping in downtown Royal Oak... LOVE the shops there and hoping to find some cool art for our house and maybe some goodies for our cute little muffin, B, too!
• Seeing my in-laws new house! They remodeled their house from a 1-story to a 2-story and I cannot WAIT to see the progress and how its coming together!! Oh and we get our own bedroom this time, woo hoo!!

All in all, I am looking forward to a great week! I will of course miss our best friends, Bre & Mike & Cash too, who we have just so been happening to be seeing EVERY weekend. Now that we live close it rocks and the babes love to play together. We have good times, every single time with them. Never a dull moment and always a good laugh!

While traveling if I can get wi-fi I will do the post on the bed frame too, sorry its taken me forever!! If not, I will do it as soon as possible!

Pics to come from our amazing trip!!! :)

Brynlee's 6 Months!

I cannot believe my baby girl is 6 Months!

My oh my has she changed in 6 months and I cannot believe we are already halfway to her first birthday!! Some of her latest tricks are fully sitting up on her own unsupported, holding her own bottle and knowing exactly what it is. I swear, she see's it and whines till it's in her mouth, cracks me up every time! She is trying and VERY close to crawling. I am so proud of her since she is such a young crawler! She lunges forward and has reverse action down like it's nobody's business. Oh and rolling over and over and over and over again until she can't roll no more. The girl I tell you... is crazy. She cracks us up on a daily basis and always has a way to put a smile on my face. I was sick for a week in August and for some reason everytime I was around her, I felt perfectly fine. She was my medicine. There is nothing better than picking her up from daycare and seeing her smile and put her arms out for her mama. She know's it's me and thats the best feeling in the world. I am hers, and she is mine.

I feel like it was yesterday we were heading to the hospital as my water broke and knew our baby was on her way! I will never forget that moment and wish I could relive it 10 million times over! Time goes incredibly too fast. You blink your eyes and they go from being this snuggly little newborn to almost crawling, eating baby food and sitting up, in the just 6 short months! I dont even know what a year will bring but I am sure within 6 months, I will be running after Brynlee! :)

And this blog title finally makes sense to me... Let them smile, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle... they get so big so quick and life is too short! I strive every day to be the very best mom to Brynn. She has my entire heart and I would do anything for you baby girl!

Look at our little peanut at 1 week old... Love her little chicken legs here!!!

And now she has transformed into this crazy little girl that I am so in love with...

I love you Brynlee Madison, cannot wait to see you continue to blossom into a little girl. Love you to the moon & back...

Quick Update...

Hey guys! I told you it would be a while, didnt I? Well we are all moved in (kinda sorta)... the house is coming together but very slowly. I have been trying to unpack and organize at the same time so I dont have to go back and reorganize once it is all out of boxes. Therefore making this unpacking a PROCESS. The good news is, is my hubby got our new desk, dining table and entertainment center assembled and the DirectTV is installed, sweeeeet! Now that the furniture is put together we can slowly start putting the rooms together, but again were not moving at a super fast pace just to rush through it.

This house is HUGE. Well, so much bigger than what we were used to. I almost dont know what to do with all the space. I am sure I wont be saying that in about 5 years when we have 2 kids running around and all the closets are packed to the max. But for now, I am enjoying the extra storage space and it actually not looking cluttered with stuff. It actually looks like our house is somewhat "clean" when in reality its not... that part is goooooood about the new place!

I will post pictures soon, just too embarrassed right now to show you the mess of the new place... but I promise, once I start hanging some art or get some rooms "completed" I will post for you guys!!!

Until next time ;)

Closing in 6 Days!

Sorry I have been MIA for a while. Things have been busy as usual and I often want to blog and then never find the time to do it.

Its official, we are closing in 6 DAYS! We will move in next Friday but we have our final walk thru and closing on Tuesday! It cannot come any quicker and I could not be more excited to be in our home!

We have lived with my sister and Jeff now for almost three months and we cannot thank them enough for opening their house to us and letting us live in their space. But let me tell you, I cannot wait to have my own space back! It's crazy how much you under appreciate your space till you loose it and your living in just a tiny room and out of a suitcase, literally! So we will be moving in on Friday, our packrat unit gets delivered Thursday sometime and the movers come on Friday morning to help unload the heavy furniture. We hired them for 2 hours and once that 2 hours is up, all the rest is on us! Hopefully they can at least get all the heavy pieces upstairs, without damaging the walls or our furniture haha!

I recently bought some nightstands on Craigslist 2/$25 dollars, couldn't pass it up! I am hoping once the weather cools down some and I can stand to be outside for more than 10 minutes, I will refurbish them and our bedroom makeover will be on! I plan to DIY a headboard, refurbish the nightstands, and go from there! The color scheme in the bedroom is a mustard yellow, with taupe, brown and gray accents. I hope everything pulls together just right!

Building a house has been such an amazing process. It feels like we have been building forever but when I say we are moving next week, it sounds like it went so fast! I never thought at the age of 24 I would have built a house! We plan to raise our kids in this house so we are preparing to be there for at least 15 years! This house is going to withstand a ton of memories, good and bad. I am so excited for the years to come in this new chapter in our life.

We are going to have a housewarming party probably in October so I have lots of unpacking and decorating to do until then!!!

I might be MIA again for a bit till we get our internet up and running in the new house and I can find some spare minutes to do a post, but maybe next week after the walk thru and the house is sparkling, I can post some pictures of the final product!

Until next time... :)

Things I can't wait to do to our new house....

There are SO many things I cannot wait to do to the new house... There is an order of importance though, or I guess an order of where we want to start... What better way to write them down then to share my ideas with everyone!

#1. Paint Brynlee's room- Painting the entire room a soft pink again. Then I am going to get all crafty on you guys and I am going to Stencil for the first time ever!! We are going with this pattern:

We plan to accent one wall with that pattern to incorporate the other colors in her room. It will consist of hot pink, lime green, and brown. This should tie the entire room together! I am super excited to stencil and I hope it turns out good. This is a really cheap way to spice up any wall and a lot cheaper than wallpaper. And the best part? You can paint right over it if you mess up or have a change in decorating heart down the line! We will end the painting spree in her closet, which we will most likely paint a soft lime green. Not a neon lime green, but a more subtle green. I got inspiration on another blog to paint the closet and it really pulls the entire room together so I am excited to try it in Brynn's room!

#2. Next thing on the list... Kitchen Backsplash! I will give you a sneak peak to what we have in mind... :)

We have never done backsplash ourselves so keep your fingers crossed!! :)

#3. Change mirror in downstairs bathroom, possibly do a stencil design (depending on how Brynlee's room goes!!), and decorate.

#4. PLAYROOM! We are going to make the extra bedroom upstairs Brynlee's playroom until baby #2 joins us. This way its an easy transition into a future nursery! Think gray with a white wainscoting... and bright accent colors!!!

#5. Master bedroom makeover. Lots of stuff in the works for this. I want to either DIY a headboard or buy a reallllly tall headboard. New nightstands, and dresser. We need a new look! This will be a work in progress for sure!

#6. The backyard! We are pool hunting right now. Talking to some pool companies, getting bids etc. The last house had a pool and we loved it and decided we cannot live without one. Especially with 2 kids down the road! Once the pool is in, we can landscape. No sense in landscaping before the pool just so they can dig it all back up again. We are hoping the backyard is finished in the first year, thats my goal! My hubby think I am ambitious, but I disagree :)

#7. The office... No idea what we want to do in there yet. We got a new desk... but have lots of extra space... ideas ideas?

#8. The loft! This will be the official game room. We are using our old table up there for games, crafts etc for the kids. There will be some framed pics of us at Red Wings games, Tiger games or in Tiger gear, and of course... MICHIGAN!! This room will just be FUN to decorate, cant wait!!

And my list goes on and on and on.... the first two things on the list we hope to finish within the first 2 months... then we will decide the order of priority. Clearly this house is a heck of a lot bigger than the last one... so lots more room for inspiring rooms and decorating... this girl cannot wait!!! :)

Brynlee's bathroom....

Why oh why am I posting about Brynlee's bathroom? Welll because I cannot wait to decorate it! I am such a nerd! I really cannot wait to decorate the entire HOUSE but so far, Brynlee's bathroom has won the ticket for items purchased so far! So I wanted to go for a more "grown up" bathroom with a girly flair... Being that it will be the most used bathroom upstairs when we are in the loft etc, I wanted something that was versatile, but also Brynlee. So rather than pastel type colors we went BOLD.

I found these storage bins at Target (large for $9.99, small for $7.99) and snatched them right up! These were the beginning of my inspiration...

Since then I have spent WAY to much money on a shower curtain that I care to discuss... but I will share the picture... and maybe you can find it online and know the price.... or maybe you wont? Anyways... we bought it in the teal color... isnt it GORGEOUS?!

I loved it mainly because it isnt screaming, HI IM A PINK SHOWER CURTAIN... but its so girly but yet grown up as well.. exactly what I've been searching for! This way I can accent with magentas, oranges, greens and teals...

At hobby lobby I was inspired by their glassware that just so happened to be 50% off...

These aren't exactly what I bought but as close as I could find on their website... picture this with a wider opening... one in orange, the other in magenta... for cotton balls and qtips!

And one of these in a frosted magenta... going to take the cork out and fill with some flowers for the counter top... love!

I snagged 2 of the top ones, the one for the flowers, and another small one for her tooth brush... for under 10 bucks! I wanted to do something different and I think I am going to achieve that with these accent pieces...

As for the color in the bathroom... it will remain a khaki that our whole house has already been painted for now... I think the bold accents and shower curtain will bring out enough color!

All I need are some towels and a rug, and I am good to go!!! Cant wait to show you the live pictures once its completed next month!! :)

Worst Blogger Ever?

Sorry I have abandoned you all the past few weeks... I have been busy but also kind of lazy... Not going to lie!

Everytime I go to blog I would think of something else to do... like maybe hang out with this girl?
Isnt she just the cuteeeeest?!?!? We definitely think so! And by the way that picture is from Fathers Day... which I promised a post on so this post will be a complete update for everyone!

Fathers Day started with presents first thing in the morning. I couldn't wait much longer than the instant daddy woke up! So on each present I wrote a special note from Brynlee herself. The biggest gift she bought him was a circular saw and the note read "Hi Daddy, I saved up all my pennies for this present and I hope some day you can build me a playhouse, I know this will help!" He also got a picture frame and a new pair of Converses that he lost while I was giving birth to Brynlee, he lost them in the hospital :(. Next year the boy will not be so spoiled!! Geesh! After presents I told him we were heading to the diamondback game! He had the choice to either drive there or we could take the lightrail. Lightrail it was! That picture is from the lightrail above, Brynlee's first ride!! We went to breakfast at some little spot in downtown that I cant remember the name. The game was good, a boring game, but a lot of fun.

This is how we rolled in our seats... Brynlee with her shades on because most of it she was napping, Chillin in her Bjorn :)


And that was pretty much our day! It was very busy and lots of fun!! Brynlee is sooo very lucky to have him as a daddy and we both love you very much honey! Hope you had the best first fathers day EVER! :)


Since then I have been busy hosting a surprise engagement party for my sister and Jeff. It went amazing and surprise went PERFECTO. They had no idea and we had about 30 people show up! I am so excited for her wedding planning over the next year and so excited that I get to be her Matron Of Honor. Her wedding is May 12, 2012!

And we have also been busy with SWIMMING LESSONS! Brynlee goes once a week to swimming lessons and she seriously loves it. We do all sorts of different routines and usually there is about 5 other babies there! We have a ton of funs and its a great way for us to get out of the house and do something as a family on Saturdays!

Doing her sideway routine, dipping the shoulders in and going side to side!

I love swimming lessons! Cant you tell?!

A quick house update... its coming along GREAT! It's official crunch time with 1 month to go exactly!!! We close August 16th, woooo hoooo! Everytime we go there its like Christmas! We show up and something has been done or added to the house, and its so awesome. I seriously feel blessed that we are able to build a home. It is the coolest thing EVER to see your home be built. Especially knowing we plan to raise our kids here and be able to show them the construction of their house some day! We are in the market for a last few items for the house including a box spring for our bedroom... I plan to make a custom headboard so I need a boxspring for the bedframe since we wont be using the current frame/headboard we were using before. And we are in the market for new nightstands and a dresser for our bedroom! Time for a makeover and I cannot wait!! No rush on these since we have time to shop around and I really want to find good deals and might even thrift store shop and refurbish... I dunno?!

Once our house is done I hope to update you guys on makeovers to each room so you can see the before and after and how we decorate. I am really going to try a different approach in this house and hope to be able to do a lot of DIY. Since I am a blog reading, ETSY loving, Pinterest FREAK. I think I can do it!!!

Anyways, sorry for the forever long post, It's been a long time coming!!! Hope you all had a great 4th of July and are having a good summer!

1 Year Blogiversary!!!

365 Days

25 Official Followers
(not including my Facebook followers)
110 Posts; Average of 9 Postings a month
And a TON of memories later........

WE HAVE REACHED 1 YEAR OF LET THEM SLEEP IN THE MIDDLE!

Wow! I cannot believe I have been blogging for an entire year! It seems like just yesterday I started this thing. I never thought I would actually enjoy writing as much as I do! I started this blog the morning after I found out we were pregnant with miss B. I woke up that morning and told Ryan, I wanted to start blogging about my pregnancy. I had enjoyed following blogs in the past and thought, I can do this! I remember starting my blogger account and feeling so lost and overwhelmed, but knew after time I would get it down! And I must admit... it looks a whole lot better that it does when it first started!!! If only I would have kept a shot of that look :) On a side note, since I started blogging, I follow 73 blogs........ um I think I have a slight obsession eh? Im a blogaholic, what can I say?!

When people ask me what I blog about... I guess just life right? Not that my life is thatttt interesting but for me, its more of a journal. I already printed one copy of the blog when 2010 ended. I plan to print one every year at the end of the year :)

I know I have been slacking lately and I am sorry! It's been a busy couple months and everytime I go to blog... I have this cute little girl that for some reason NEEDS to snuggle... I mean... look at her:


Who wouldnt want to snuggle and kiss on those cheeks?!?!?

I have a few blogs I still need to write... like Fathers Day, Update on the house and of course just the general updates... I promise after this long weekend of fun I WILL do it.

We are going to Fort Mcdowell for the 4th of July, the annual trip! It will be tons of fun and super HOT. So here's to hoping we keep cool, drink beer and see some awesome fireworks!

Hope you guys have a great 4th of July!!!

The happenings lately...longggg post!

We have been SO busy it seems like lately!!

Brynlee of course always keeps us on our toes and she is so talkative lately. I swear I could listen to her and watch her all day. She is so funny! She found her tongue so is constantly sticking it out at you. She has also learned to "mock" us so when we do things she loves to follow with the same movement back. We will have lots of conversations after work about her day with Grandpa and she loves to tell me stories.

One of my favorite things is in the morning before I leave for work I always ask her to give mama a smiles, and she has NEVER failed me! I always get the biggest cheesiest grin! It's awesome and makes my day every single day! Speaking of work, going back to work is getting a little easier. I wouldn't say its easy to leave Brynlee, ever. But it is becoming more "normal" and we definitly have a routine down these days. She eats and naps at the same time practically everyday. She is sleeping 8 hours solid during the night which of course makes me smile :) She goes to bed at 10pm every night and wakes up like clockwork at 545. I know her bedtime is late, but its when we go to bed and wake up, so it's working for us. As she gets older we will of course scoot her bedtime back, but for now, it works.

She started swimming lessons today! It was so much fun. There was about 7 other babies in the class. Brynlee was the youngest one there at 3 1/2 months but there were some close followers at 4 months and 4 1/2 months. The oldest was 5 1/2 months... and shockingly... oh wait, maybe not... Brynlee was the BIGGEST baby! Youngest baby there... and the biggest. hahah! We have a serious chunker on our hands. The instructor warned us prior to the class that she may not make it the whole 30 minutes that most babies only last 10-15 minutes, but of course Brynlee showing off... made it all 30 minutes and then some! We were soooo proud of her! The point of swimming lessons this young is to get them accumulated to the water. They do do submersions but for now we opted out, until we get comfortable with it and she gets used to it more. The place is awesome, indoors and heated pools! So Brynlee had no problem with the water at all! Proud mama and daddy!

Our house is coming along... they are finished with the insulation and started drywalling last week! When we go next weekend it will probably be all stucco'd! Then once that is done things will really start to move... they will do flooring and cabinets, then all the small details! We are still on schedule to close August 15th! We have been contacting pool companies for bids, figure, might as well start workin em now! I am in sales and I know the longer I drag them along the lower my price will be :) We hope to start building the pool in November! Our goal is to have the backyard completed by Christmas. Well... that is MY goal... Ryan thinks I am being ambitious, but might as well shoot for the stars and if we come up short, then I guess January will do!!

Anyways, sorry for rambling but its been a while!! Hope you all have an amazing Fathers Day tomorrow! I know we will! Post about that coming soon!!

Anniversary Weekend

I know, I know... I am a little past due on this post! We've had a busy busy week and now that the babes is asleep I am finally getting some time to do a few posts!

Last weekend we spent our anniversary at Talking Stick Resort, like I had mentioned in the previous post.

We had an AMAZING time. We started the day by dropping of Brynlee to Gma's and Gpa's for their first slumber party!!! We headed to the resort around 12 and checked into our room early. We had an amazing view from the hotel... Looked a little something like this:


We spent the day by the pool and accompanied by buckets of beer :) It was so nice to get away and not have to constantly be concerned about Brynlee in the sun for too long etc. We headed back to the room which was followed by a nap on the patio "bed" that they had outside. I passed out for like an hour, woops! I guess that's what you do when you are baby free... sleep!

We got ready for the night after the naps and went to dinner at Orange Sky. We both got steak for dinner, I had a lobster bisque to start and Ryan had a yummy salad. It was an amazing meal!

{Us before dinner}

After dinner we decided to head down to the piano bar, which honestly was boring, haha! So we made our way up to the "club" they had there and did some dancing and people watching. It was like cougar central because Thunder From Down Under was at the resort that weekend. So a lot of crazy older ladies dancing, haha!

All in all, it was a great weekend! We reminisced about our wedding day and how we wish we could do it all over again. While getting ready we played back some music that always reminds of us our special day, and I had shed some tears for sure. That day was so amazing and I wish I could do it a million times over!

We woke up the next morning at 9:30 to find out Brynlee had a rough night of sleep. Not shocking since she was out of routine and her mama didn't read her her bedtime story!! So we headed home early because of course, we missed her DEARLY and couldn't wait to get home!!

Until next time, xo!

Celebrating One Year!

Sunday is mine and my hubby's 1 year Anniversary! I cannot even believe one whole year has already passed us by! People probably thought we were nuts last year honestly. In one year a lot has changed in our lives but I couldn't be a happier person.

Since we have been married we have, gotten pregnant, had a baby, sold our house, started building a new house, and traveled like crazy! People always ask me how do I do it? How do I live such a busy life? Honestly, I get bored when I am not busy... so I like change and I like being constantly busy. Of course every now and then some R&R is needed but for the most part, we are on the go type people!

I will never forget June 12th, 2010. It was honestly, the BEST day of my life. Having Brynlee comes in at a tie, but honestly, my wedding day was just perfect. We were surrounded by all the people we love, our family, our friends. I remember when the night ended I started to cry. I couldn't believe it was over. I remember thinking, you plan your wedding day for an entire year, just for one day. And its the best day EVER. (also the most expensive day ever haha!). And I couldnt help but think that we will never have the same people in the same room all together like that, ever again. It made me sad. But I also knew that this was only the beginning of our great life together.

Shortly after we got married... literally. We got pregnant with Miss B! When I say shortly... I mean honeymoon baby. So within the month of June we were married and pregnant, insane!!!

Ryan, I love you more than words can ever slightly describe. You are my best friend in the entire world and I cannot wait to share eternity with you. You make me the happeiest person in the world and you are the best father to our baby girl. Our family will get bigger someday, and our life will change, but I will never ever ever forget the day we said I Do. The day that changed our lives forever. You are my rock.

Happy 1 year Anniversary Honey!!! I love you so much!


To celebrate the anniversary we are spending the weekend at Talking Stick Resort Hotel and Casino. We plan to lay by the pool during the day, go to dinner on the 15th floor overlooking the city at night, and maybe do a little dancing after dinner! It will be our first night away from the Brynlee but I cannot wait to share some quality time with the man of my dreams!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, I know we will! xo

Happy 3 Months Baby Girl!

I cannot believe our baby girl is already 3 months old!!! Time seriously flys! Since going back to work I can honestly say, absense makes the heart grow fonder. When I am away from her I miss her like CRAZY but when I get to see her, its the best feeling in the world and I can honestly say I appreciate our time together so much more. She has been doing so well. According to BabyCenter, we read her milestone charts every month and she is fitting into the Advanced category... I dont mean to brag, but I am seriously so proud of her...

Child's Age	Mastered Skills (most kids can do)	Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)	Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
1 month	Lifts head when lying on tummy Responds to sound Stares at faces	Follows objects briefly with eyes Vocalizes: oohs and aahs Can see black-and-white patterns	Smiles, laughs Holds head at 45-degree angle
2 months	Vocalizes: gurgles and coos Follows objects across field of vision Notices his hands Holds head up for short periods	Smiles, laughs Holds head at 45-degree angle Makes smoother movements	Holds head steady Can bear weight on legs Lifts head and shoulders when lying on tummy (mini-pushup)
3 months	Recognizes your face and scent Holds head steady Visually tracks moving objects	Squeals, gurgles, coos Blows bubbles Recognizes your voice Does mini-pushup	Rolls over, from tummy to back Turns toward loud sounds Can bring hands together, bats at toys
4 months	Smiles, laughs Can bear weight on legs Coos when you talk to him	Can grasp a toy Rolls over, from tummy to back	Imitates sounds: "baba," "dada" Cuts first tooth May be ready for solid foods
5 months	Distinguishes between bold colors Plays with his hands and feet	Recognizes own name Turns toward new sounds Rolls over in both directions	Sits momentarily without support Mouths objects Separation anxiety may begin

You can see at the 3 month category what the Advanced Skills are, and she is doing all three of them!! On Memorial day she rolled over for the first time and we caught it on video!! So awesome. I truly believe having her on a good schedule, giving her play time everyday has really helped with her advancements!

I love my baby girl soooo much. I have never been so happy in my life. Happy 3 month's baby girl!! Momma and Daddy love you more than words. <3