Me, My Girl & I

Oh Geez.

2009-12-23T11:39:00.002-06:00

Well, well, well, where to start. To say life has changed drastically over the past 8 months would be an understatement. The move went smoothly and we have been going non-stop ever since. I must specify that by "we" I am referring to Brynn and I. Tim and I separated and have been living seperately ever since we got to Utah and I have embraced my single mom duties. I absolutely LOVE every second I get to spend with this pretty little girl of mine and remarkably she has handled the situation wonderfully. It's amazing how resiliant kids can be. I also have never believed more in their power to sense their surroundings. Within weeks of being here Brynn was potty trained overnight, literally, and was sleeping through the night consistently, something she had NEVER done. Kids can tell when their parents are unhappy and Tim is a wondersul person, just not my wonderful person. He is a hard worker and an AMAZING dad to Miss Kaye, to say she adores him would not do it justice. He is my best friend and I thank him everyday for being who he is in my life. Also, I could not ask for better in-laws, they have been so generous and understanding of our situation and I will always be close to them if I have anything to do with it. Brynn loves her new school here and has learned so much in her short time there. I am working in health insurance, again, but this time for Molina Healthcare in Provider Contracting. They keep me very busy and it's so nice to be on the provider side of things like I was in Louisiana. I have been able to reconnect with old friends since coming back and it has been so great seeing all of their cute little families and kids. I have also made some wonderful new ones that will be around for a while I'm sure. I am hoping to get back into the swing of things with the blog. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! :)

Change is Good......

2009-03-30T10:14:00.002-05:00

So much is happening right now that this will be a short but sweet post. More details to come after this crazy week. Below is a picture of Brynn and her bestest buddy ever Hannah Klaire. (side note: in Brynns class at school she has a Mia Claire, Hannah Klaire, Madison Klaire and Addison Claire and all of them are said including the first and middle name) Anyway, Hannah Klaire is a very hyper little girl and she says Brynns name a thousand miles a minute so it sounds like she's saying Brilly-Brilly-Brilly-Brilly. Brynn has translated this to Billy and now goes by the nick name Bill. I call her that all day, I can't believe how easily it has caught on! If I call her Brynlee she corrects me and says her name is Billy, because obviously what Hannah Klaire says goes. This is a bitter sweet picture because this was taken at Brynn's pretend birthday party this past weekend. We made the decision a few weeks ago that we were going to make the move back to Utah and we actually start the drive this coming Sunday. It will be a lot of change in a very short amount of time. I had a "birthday party" for Brynn because she wouldn't be here with all of her friends when her real birthday is at the end of May. Brynn and I are going to miss all of the close friends we have made down here in the past 3 years and I am very sad to be leaving my job and the girls I work with. I know I had done my fair share of complaining when we first moved down her 2 1/2 years ago but there are quite a few things I will be sad to leave. I will write another post soon with more details and maybe some pictures of driving through Kansas and it's nothingness for 24 hours next weekend.

Odds & Ends & A Little Bit of Laziness

2009-02-21T21:43:00.003-06:00

I don't know if it's because the holidays are over or what but I have not been in the mood for blogging, and I haven't had much to say. (First time for everything:) So here are a few pictures. I have been terrible with taking my camera anywhere lately so there aren't many but you get the idea.
My baby girl has a slight obsession with Monster Trucks lately. Like many other things, she get it from her Mama. I have been fascinated with cars of all kinds, thanks Dave Romney, for quite some time. Love everything about them. My dream job was to be a Mercedes sales lady or one of the people on the car commercials where it says in small print at the bottom,"closed course, professional driver." I wanted to be the professional driver. Any-who, one day Monster Trucks was on TV and the rest is history. She has already obtained quite the mini-monster truck collection and we decided to take her to see them in person when they came to town. She LOVED the first hour where they do the 4 wheeler racing and the junkyard cars and the Monster Trucks just hang out and wait, but once they started the actual races with the big trucks she cried and cried that they were too loud, even with her goofy ear plugs in. No worries though, she still wanted to watch them on TV as soon as we got home.

This is what they do for fun down here before the show. In Salt Lake you could do a meet and greet with the Monster Trucks and the drivers, her you can pay $7.00 a person and they actually put you in the back of one of the monster trucks that will be racing and drive you around the track. It was pretty intense. I was just waiting for someone to come flying out of there.

This is how close our seats were and we bought them the night before. No safety concerns down here!

Brynn and I watching the Grammys. She was so excited when Taylor Swift sang with Hannah Montana it was hilarious.

One of her favorite bath time games for quite some time now. "swinging" from the shower rod before Daddy dries her off. So easily entertained.

Game Pics & A Brynster Update

2009-01-18T18:45:00.002-06:00

All of us.

I love her hair.

Brynn giving Aunt Lacie kisses.

While we were at the Utes game we were fortunate enough to have a home sick photographer sitting behind us. She has a 3 yr old that she had left back in Salt lake and of course fell in love with Brynn, she seems to have that effect on people. Anyway, I gave her my email address and she just sent me a few of the pictures she took and I had to share them. Her website is www.mckenziehansenphotography.com and from there there are links to her blogs and such.

I also had to tell you a few things Brynn has been doing and how her personality has been coming out so much lately!

**Her favorite toys right now are her baby dolls and her Little Critter books. She has 2 baby strollers and whoever comes to visit has to push the other one and follow her around the house to all of the different "stores." Aunt Dani taught her this game, she is this close to having her teaching degree and the little kiddos that get her as a teacher will be so incredibly lucky.

**Her favorite song right now is Womanizer by Britney Spears. She also likes Whatever You like by TI, So What by Pink, Love Remains the Same by Gavin Rossdale, Hot and Cold by Katy Perry, Put a Ring on It by Beyonce and Put On by Young Jeezy. And she doesn't just like them, she knows at least the chorus on all of these songs. Don't worry, we listen to the edited versions and we do listen to her Little Einsteins Sing Along CD as well but sometimes the girl just likes to jam. She get it from her Mama.

**Everyone has a "parking spot." If I am sitting on the couch then go to the kitchen and come back and sit in the chair I am scolded for not sitting in my original parking spot. Her cars all have parking spots in the middle of the living room, as does each stuffed animal and baby.

**Brynn is obsessed with talking on the phone right now. Anyone we talk to she has to talk to and whenever she talks she can't hang up without saying, "see you tomorrow, miss you love you bye." She now insists that Tim and I say the same thing whenever we get off the phone too so he usually has some explaining to do when he talks to the guys from work.

**She has discovered Ring Around the Rosies and we have to play it CONSTANTLY.

**She does not like babies. We went to the doctor on Friday for a follow up visit and the cutest little girl waddled over to me jabbering away and put her hands on my knees. Brynn seriously knocked her hands off and said "my mommy." Good thing there are no babies coming in the near future because she is kind of getting used to having all of the attention all the time.

**Everything comes in two sizes, way big huge and teeny tiny, there is no in between. We are attempting potty training the past few weekends and yesterday we were putting her panties on and she said, "I have teeny tiny panties and mama has way big huge panties." Her honesty does wonders for my self esteem. Haha! I have started to teach her that Daddy's stuff is way big huge but Mommy's is medium sized, she's not buying it. She has also started to make a mental note of gifts she would like from her Daddy, it includes: a teeny tiny water tower, a teeny tiny bridge, a teeny tiny horse, a white dog and a pink belt.

**She can dress and undress herself except for taking her shirts on and off and she wants to wear jackets with every outfit.

**She is obsessed with anything having to do with Dora the Explorer.

**We still don't know if she is left or right handed because she still does everything with both. Whenever we think she might have a dominant hand she will switch it up on us again.

This is the best age and we are enjoying every minute of it. She learns something new everyday and we are so much fun watching her absorb everything like a little sponge. She is such a blessing and we love her so much!!!

More Nawlins

2009-01-05T22:13:00.005-06:00

So the game was Friday night and we were only planning on staying that night but we had a fantastic hotel room and really didn't want to get back in the car again Saturday so we decided to stay an extra day. Tim hadn't been there before so I took it upon myself to be his personal tour guide. And Brynn is probably the only 2 yr old I know that can say she's been on Bourbon Street. I'm just glad we went during the day. Haha!
This is downtown New Orleans, obviously I didn't take this picture but the ones we took of downtown were drive bys on the freeway and they didn't turn out very well.
This is the view from our hotel room! I am a spaz for nice hotel rooms and with a little extra planning at just the right time I usually find a pretty screamin deal on them too. We were on the 14th floor and overlooked Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. This road is a Causeway that goes right through the middle of the lake. If you look carefully you can see the reflection of my camera in the picture. Oops!
This is a picture of a cemetery. Parts of New Orleans are actually below sea level so they can't dig graves. If you aren't cremated you are buried in one of these huge cement blocks. It's a little creepy.
This is a little tug-boat pushing a barge up the Mississippi River. Brynn LOVED the boats and watching the seagulls and listening to them talk to her.

Me and my girl.

Decatur Street in downtown New Orleans.

Jackson Square.

Tim & Brynn at Cafe Du Monde. My mom's favorite part of New Orleans. I don't think I've ever been to New Orleans and not come here. So yummy.

I love, love, love the architecture in this city. It's so pretty and they don't have anything like it anywhere else. It's one of those places you either love it or you hate it. My dad doesn't understand what all the hypes about and I don't think Tim did either but he played along.

Brynn at dinner. This girl was a gem the entire trip. We actually left home on Thursday and stayed in Jackson Mississippi because that was the halfway point. Then we drove another 2 1/2 hours to New Orleans on Friday and were up until almost 1am because of the game. Then we were doing the tourist thing Saturday so she didn't get a nap, again. And Sunday we wandered around downtown until almost 2 before hitting the road for 5 hours to get home. That is a lot of driving and stroller time and she was such a good girl the entire time. I absolutely love this age! I wish she could be 2 forever.

GO UTES!!!!

2009-01-05T21:54:00.003-06:00

So my dad is pretty much the best dad ever and scored the whole family tickets to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans last weekend. 50 yard line tickets I might add. We had a blast and Brynn cheered and clapped and was absolutely adorable as usual, even though she didn't get to bed until after midnight and had no nap. Such a trooper. The Utes won, as I'm sure you all know by now and the game was definitely worth the trip. Thanks again Dad!

They don't get much cuter than this little girl! A lady that was sitting behind us at the game fell in love with her because she had left her daughter in Utah to come down for the game. She took a bunch of pictures of Brynn and is emailing them to me. She makes friends wherever she goes and was hi-fiving everyone around her.

The gang! Brynn, Grandma Jillyn, McKell, Landen, Madison, Luke and Dwight.

Tim & I. (oh I forgot to mention that New Years Eve I had my hair darkened, it was time for a change)

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-28T17:55:00.006-06:00

Here are a few pictures of our holiday! We ended up going home early because Brynn was having some serious issues with her asthma but it was still so nice to see the family and have a little R&R.
These first of these pictures are of the light festival that happens on the river in Natchitoches where my parents live. People come from all over to see this thing! The little town seriously gets over 100,000 visitors during the Christmas season just to see the lights.

This is Miss Kaye playing with her baby dolls Christmas morning, she's such a good little mommy.

Brynn is a VERY spoiled little princess. This is her first set of wheels, a barbi jeep that she got from Santa, (thanks Grandma Carla!!!) She loves this thing and she got the hang of it pretty fast. She just has no idea that you have to take your foot off the pedal to stop and she puts her hands on the steering wheel but doesn't turn so she crashes quite often.

More Brynn and the jeep! I love that she buckles the baby into the front seat. So funny.

Sitting with Grandma Jillyn & Grandpa Dwight on Christmas Eve!

The Christmas Eve toast with my fam. We have done this for as long as I can remember. Everyone goes around the table and says something they are grateful for that happened during the year. My mom is a traditions freak which is so nice. I am so excited to have my own traditions with Brynn.

All of my family, (minus Dani & Cody, we missed you guys!) This is the Christmas Eve PJ picture for 2008. My dad is the Stake President so the guys on the left are the two missionaries assigned to their area. My mom bought them PJ's too. They are such cute guys.

Brynlee & Me

2008-12-20T19:25:00.005-06:00

So the day I got hope from Utah, Tim received a call that his grandma on his dad's side had passed away from complications from colon cancer and Alzheimer's disease. The circumstances obviously weren't the best but because it was our turn with my family this year it worked out nicely that he was able to head back to Utah and spend the weekend before Christmas with his family.
On a lighter note, it has been so great to spend some time with my girl all by myself! We have so much fun together and I really couldn't believe how much she had changed in just the 5 days that I was gone! Here are a few of the things we got to do:
Mommy & Me pedicures WITH stickers on her big toes. She loves these things and is becoming completely high maintenance.

She has played this game for probably over a year. She lays her stuffed animals all over the floor then covers each of them with a blanket and sits in her chair and sings and stares at them all. I'm pretty sure she does it because it's what the teachers at her school do at nap time. I'm just glad she got over making us lay on the ground face down so she could cover us up and make us lay there until nap time was over.

I realised I didn't have one picture of Brynn by the tree so I had to get a few. The girl is classic entertainment and I love how much better her teeth are looking since we took those binkies away!!!

Look out world!

2008-12-10T09:27:00.002-06:00

Look out world!! Michele Ann and myself will be arriving in Salt Lake tomorrow for a little girl time and some R & R. Hallelujah!! ( This is of course if my flight isn't cancelled due to the freezing rain that is supposed to be in Jackson tomorrow morning. Since when is there freezing rain down south?? Just my luck while traveling!)

Where does the time go??

2008-12-04T21:45:00.003-06:00

I have been a complete slacker lately when it comes to blogging. I even took my camera with me to my moms for 5 days for Thanksgiving and didn't take one picture! Sad. So here are a few pictures of what we have been up to.
These are my new slippers from Victorias Secret and I love, love, love them!
My sweet mom bought this big girl bed for Brynn as an early Christmas present, (or a half birthday present if you ask me:) We wrapped her crib pad around the top because the first time she slept in it she got her leg stuck in between the bars. So far so good with this one! I'm trying not to jinx it though like last time.
The tree!!!! Christmas is my most favorite time of year and if I had my way I'd decorate after Halloween. The tree is my favorite part and mine is always beyond dead by the time Christmas actually gets here but I don't mind because then I get to vaccume up all the yummy smelling pine needles.

Brynn and I with Santa! I have no idea why the picture is so grainy but you get the idea. This is much better than last years picture of her screaming. Aunt Dani had the fabulous idea of having her sit on my lap instead of directly on Santa's and it worked like a charm. Love this girl.

While Tim and I were walking around looking for christmas present ideas Brynn decided to occupy herself with the stickers she got in her happy meal and this is what she came up with. She's so creative.

It's Official

2008-11-12T19:08:00.002-06:00

We are binkie free!!!!!! Yes you heard me right. We have been trying to filter them out for a while so she was only having them at nap and bedtime but when I picked her up from school Monday she had one in her mouth and I had had it. We got home and I had her throw them in the garbage, keeping one for emergencys of course, and she has done really well at night! Knock on wood. Nap time has been a different story but she goes to sleep eventually. I have no idea why I haven't done this sooner.

Poor Girl

2008-11-05T19:52:00.003-06:00

This looks like the face of a girl that has pneumonia right??

After a day of doctor visits and chest x-rays it was confirmed that Brynn's cough she's had for 6 weeks has turned into pneumonia. Gotta love school! We have been to the doctor every 2 weeks since September because the girl can't seem to kick this cough she has and every time we go it has turned into something different. First it was just a cough, then it was from tonsillitis, she was diagnosed with having asthma, and now the icing on the cake, pneumonia AND an ear infection. I convinced her the x-ray was a big camera and sat up there just grinning away. You'd never know anything was wrong with her. It was harder on me than it was on her because they made her wear an admittance bracelet! I know we were only there for a little while but no mom wants to see one of those on their baby.

Then & Now

2008-11-01T13:44:00.003-05:00

A few people have wanted to know if Brynn looks like I did when I was little. The first picture is me at age 3, the second one is Brynn at 2 1/2. As for the comparison I'll let you be the judge! I personally think Brynn is much cuter but I do see the resemblance!

My Little Punkin

2008-11-01T13:24:00.005-05:00

What is this face????

Brynn and her new buddy Adam! Tim and I both took a liking to this little kid. Don't you love his scarecrow costume??

Daddy and Brynn! He ended up carrying her more than she walked.I have to warn you that I was a terrible picture taker this holiday. One of the little boys we were with had his face painted and Brynn was terrified so she wouldn't stand by the rest of the kids for a group picture. They were all adorable though! This was Brynn's first real Halloween trick-or-treat experience and I think she had a great time. We went to my friend Shanna's house and went trick-or-treating around her neighborhood. They go all out, I had never seen anything like it and there were so many people! We all had a great time. Thanks to Shanna for being the hostess with the mostest!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

2008-10-27T20:15:00.005-05:00

Today is Miss Michele Ann Hunter's birthday and lucky for her I happened to have access to a scanner today! :) She is the ripe old age of 27 and it's hard to believe I have known her for half of her lifetime, crazy. We have been through pretty much everything together: hook-ups, break-ups, stalkers, long distance relationships, weirdos in the armed forces, boyfriends in jail, (yeah we know how to pick 'em), living together, almost burning down our apartment, and being so broke that we had to chose between food for 3 days and going out on friday night and we always chose going out. We might not have always had our priorities straight but we always have eachother. She is one person I can say I trust 100% and she is the closest thing I've ever had to a big sister. They don't get much better than this girl.

This is us at Club Manhatten. If you haven't been I highly recommend you go. We were friday night regulars and we knew how to have too much of a good time. One thing that always amazed me was that it would close around 2:00am but we never seemed to be home before 4. To this day I have no idea what happened in that time because I know we weren't at Del Taco for the whole 2 hours. :)

This is where we could frequently be found on Sundays. Napping. We were professional nappers back in the day. And we would watch some of our favorite movies, Bring it On or The Sweetest Thing. We must've seen them a thousand times. They say that living with someone can make or break a friendship and it definitely made ours. To this day I don't think we have ever fought and honestly I don't think we ever would.

I hope you have a great day Slut and I wish I could be with you to celebrate! Thanks for being the bestest friend I could ask for, you're fabulous. :) Love and miss you way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pumpkins, Dora & The Bag

2008-10-24T21:26:00.004-05:00

This is the bag. It's a Jessica Simpson quilted croc shoulder bag on Victoria'sSecret.com and I lub it mucho! Hint hint to anyone wanting to buy me a gift in the near future. :)

This is Brynn with the Dora doll my friend Amanda bought her. She loves this thing and drags it around the house all day. I always wondered what would be Brynn's show; Barney, Sesame Street, Sponge Bob, it's official her show is Dora. We have at least 6 saved on our Ti-vo and the movies and a back pack like Dora's. It's so funny to watch her get all excited about it. Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that she's only 2!

We finally got around to carving our pumpkins and I think I did a pretty good job! The spider one was pretty tricky but worth it whe Brynn wanted to sleep with the pumpkin in her bed. I love this kid.

100 Things...

2008-10-11T19:40:00.007-05:00

I've seen this on a few other blogs and I am challenging myself to do it so here we go:

1. I hate wet counter tops. After I wipe them off I have to go back and dry them.

2. I won't let Tim make the bed. I like it to be made a certain way.

3. I am never happy with my hair. I always wish it were darker, lighter or longer.

4. I love to tan even though it's terrible for my skin.

5. I am extremely passive. It takes quite a bit to get me worked up.

6. I pay no attention to details.

7. I hate sitting at home and I will think of any excuse possible to get out of the house.

8. I don't have a favorite color. It changes depending on my mood.

9. I love to sing in the car.

10. I loved being pregnant.

11. I never thought I wanted to have a lot of kids but having Brynn has definitely made me rethink that.

12. I do and always have loved babies. When I was little I would sneak out of sacrament meeting to help calm the babies in the foyer.

13. I have freakishly huge man hands. My wedding ring is a size 9 1/2. Trippy I know.

14. I hate my broad shoulders.

15. I have accepted that any shape I want, including a waist, I will have to pay for.

16. I am convinced Brynn is a genius because I took Lipil when I was pregnant.

17. I wish my sisters and I were closer.

18. Michele Ann Hunter is my bestest friend in the whole wide world and I never get to see her enough.

19. I was a stay at home mom for 18 months and I hated it.

20. I love to work and I love what I do.

21. No matter how hard I try, patience is not a trait I seem to posses.

22. I hate when people miss a belt loop or wear black shoes with a brown belt.

23. I like my eyes.

24. I only weigh 6lbs less than I did at my 6 wk check up after Brynn was born.

25. I wish I were motivated to work out more.

26. I believe in soul mates and that there is one person for everyone.

27. No matter how much money I had I wouldn't want a big house unless I had enough kids to fill it. Who wants a bunch of empty space??

28. I loved growing up in a big family.

29. I want to be living in Utah again eventually.

30. I have the best mother-in-law ever!

31. I have always wanted a big sister.

32. I don't think it's possible to truly be in love in high school.

33. Tim thinks I like football more than I really do.

34. I hate Kobe Bryant.

35. I feel more comfortable around guys than I do around girls.

36. The first time Tim and I went out we had to go to the 10:00pm movie because Michele and I were watching the University of Washington vs. Washington State game and it went into triple overtime.

37. I forgive too easy and I never forget. Which is probably worse than me never forgiving you in the first place.

38.My mom is my hero.

39. There are qualities in each of my sisters that I wish I had.

40. My biggest fear is not marrying my soul mate.

41. I am so addicted to celebrity gossip that I have breaking E-News updates texted to my phone.

42. I want to make a meal from scratch that only I know the recipe to.

43. I don't care how hot it gets during the day but it has to be cool, meaning below 50, at night.

44. I hate humidity unless I'm on vacation.

45. I love really high heels.

46. I am a jeans and t-shirt girl but I love to get dressed up.

47. I am addicted to gummy bears.

48. I try to drink a gallon of water a day.

49. Tim is in charge of buying Brynns toys and I buy the clothes.

50. I like to golf. My game was at it's best when I was 9 months pregnant.

51. I fell down the stairs 3 days before I went into labor.

52. I have thought numerous times about writing a book.

53. When my sister Madison was hit by a car I had a weird vision of it before it happened.

54. I wish I were closer to my dad's side of the family.

55. I wish I were more active in the church.

56. It's hard for me to take someone seriously if they have bad teeth.

57. I always wanted to get married on a beach.

58. I have taken it upon myself to be Tim's fashion consultant. He's from Price Utah, he doesn't know any better.

59. I didn't go to college but I often think about going to get my degree in Psychology.

60. Lazy people that expect everything to be handed to them drive me crazy!

61. I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up.

62. I am still a big daddy's girl.

63. I don't wash my hair every day.

64. I am a text-aholic.

65. I wouldn't watch any TV if it weren't for our Tivo. We bought it when I was pregnant because I kept falling asleep during my favorite shows.

66. I think Brynn likes the smell of cigarette smoke and it's quite disturbing.

67. When I fake smile I stick my tongue out a little.

68. I can live on very little sleep for about 5 days at a time.

69. I spend way too much on things to make my house smell good.

70. I have to have my personal space pretty much all the time.

71. I love cars and I used to subscribe to Car& Driver.

72. I have no plans for getting pregnant any time soon but I am convinced that we don't make boys and I already have my next girl name picked out.

73. I won't wear a blue shirt with blue jeans.

74. I love being a mom.

75. I have a slightly new obsession with the mango-orange-banana Vivanno's at Starbucks.

76. I was 7wks early when I was born and I still weighed 6lbs2oz. I would've been a ridiculously huge baby if I would've gone full term!

77. Once Michele and I put two frozen pizzas in the oven and fell asleep we almost burnt down our apartment.

78. I don't have a favorite food. There are a lot of things I like but I don't think I could pick a favorite.

79. I am a terrible decision maker.

80. I procrastinate everything until the last minute.

81. I do not have a creative bone in my body. Lets hope Brynn has her Aunt Paula's artistic ability.

82. I don't mind doing laundry but I hate folding it so it ends up in the dryer being "re-fluffed" all week.

83. I hate socks unless I'm working out or wearing boots. Tim says I must have been an Indian in another life.

84. I hate cats.

85. I love the mountains. I always have, but I love them even more now that I've had to visit Utah to see them the past 2 years.

86. I love to go on long drives all by myself. I used to drive up Parley's Canyon and down Emigration Canyon frequently to clear my head.

87. I love cake but I hate frosting.

88. I never thought I was claustrophobic until I went snorkeling in Honduras, it was horrifying.

89. I am not a republican or a democrat.

90. I used to chew the feet off my barbie dolls and cut their hair, so weird. A therapist would have a hay day with that.

91. I bite my nails uncontrollably.

92. I love to read but I am very particular about the books that I'll read and I wish I had more time to do it.

93. I gave myself pedicures when I was pregnant until the day before my water started leaking.

94. When I drive in bad weather I have to listen to my music really loud or talk on my phone so that I'm distracted or I will think way too much about what I'm doing.

95. I had always been a night owl until I had a baby, now I'm lucky if I stay up past 10.

96. I love Brynn more and more the older she gets. I don't know if it's because we can communicate better now or what but we did not get along when she was little.

97. I don't like hot baths or hot tubs because I hate being hot.

98. I am very good at being alone as long as I have Brynn but I don't depend on anyone else for anything.

99. I am the most unorganized person ever. I have good intentions I just can't seem to get everything together.

100. I can't buy my Christmas presents until a few days before Christmas because I get too excited and want to tell you everything you will be getting. I was the little kid that wouldn't go to sleep until I went downstairs to peak at all of the Santa presents.

This was exhausting but I loved it and would definitely do it again. I highly recommend it but you better block out your evening because it takes a while! Enjoy!

September/Family Pictures

2008-10-04T22:48:00.005-05:00

Tims mom, Aunt Paula and sister Taylor came to visit last week and we had so much fun! Brynn was rediculously spoiled, as usual, and so were we. Tim's mom brought her camera and took a few family pics of us at the park. We went to some great restaurants, did some shopping and had an overall dandy time. We miss his family so much!!

Brynn & Aunt Taylor, it was so much fun having her around! She couldn't do anything without Brynn wanting to tag along, just like last christmas.

Brynn with her Build-a-Bear elephant in it's Ariel halloween costume! Thanks Grandma Carla!

Strike a pose...

RACE FOR THE CURE

2008-09-15T20:25:00.004-05:00

Over three days this coming November, I will be walking 60 miles in the Breast Cancer 3-day walk being held in Phoenix, AZ. This walk will be much more than 'just a walk' - it will be raising money to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund. I will be walking with my friend Michele, her Aunt Becky that was diagnosed with breast cancer in November of last year, along with other friends from high school and their moms. It is sure to be something we will never forget.

According to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, nearly 40,000 American women will die from this disease, and more than 200,000 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. I have 5 younger sisters that mean the world to me and even though we don't have a history of breast cancer in our family, the chance is still there that one of us could be diagnosed. Only 5-10 percent of breast cancers are due to heredity, the majority of women with breast cancer have no known significant family history or other known risk factors. That's why I have chosen to walk 60 miles, to do something bold about breast cancer.

I know this is totally a random post but I am really excited to do it AND an extra bonus will be seeing my bestie Michele and her cute mom and aunt. Fun had by all!

Bored

2008-09-03T18:20:00.002-05:00

How does one entertain a 2 yr old for 4 days when it won't stop raining?? We make a fort under the kitchen table of course! I remember when I was little my brothers and sisters and I would make our whole family room one big fort and sleep in it. Sometimes I would even make a little one next to my bed so I could sleep in it. (I always loved sleeping on the floor when I was little, weird I know) Anyway, I put pillows in there so that she wouldn't bonk her head on the chair legs and she thought that they should be used for naptime with all her favorite animals. She's so funny. We ate in the living room for 3 nights just because she refused to let me take it down.

Let There be Rain

2008-09-02T20:00:00.003-05:00

This is our backyard, you can't even see the grass. Our house is surrounded by broken branches and parts of trees. Four hours after I took this picture you can't even see the back patio.
This is the yard at a church down the street from our house.

This is the ditch right in front of our house. A lot of rain is not unusual for the south so pretty much every main residential road has a 3-4 foot deep ditch on both sides of it for the water to sit in. They aren't drains they are just somewhere for the water to go. Ours has only filled up one time the whole time we've lived here, until this hurricane. I took this picture about 4 hours ago as well. Now the water is so high it has actually gone across the street and reaches the median. We have a police officer parked in our driveway with his lights on so that people will slow down.
Tim thinks I'm crazy because in the middle of a tropical storm I decide I want to drive around the neighborhood to get some good pictures. That's also why the next few pictures are blurry. This picture is of a golf course we go to.
This is a side road a block away from our house.
This is a circle subdivision across the street. You can't even see where the road and their yards and driveways start and end. I've never seen rain like this before, and it looks like it's not over yet. Like I said I took these pictures hours ago. I really need to invest in a camera that will take better pictures at night because you would not believe how much more it has rained. I drove down the street that Brynn's school is on and the water was so deep it came more than halfway up the door of the truck. Tim was so mad, he thought for sure I'd flood the engine. Our power went out at midnight last night and wasn't on again until 1 this afternoon. To say the house was hot and muggy would be an understatement. We are very fortunate though because I know there are people even a few houses away that are sweeping water out of their house. It's crazy how fast this stuff can happen!

Hurricane Gustav

2008-09-01T14:27:00.003-05:00

So we are feeling a little unprepared. Maybe it's because we didn't take all of the warnings seriously or maybe it's because we have never been remotely close to a natural disaster but we weren't ready for what we saw at the grocery store yesterday. Everyone there was stocking up on gallons of water, the bread shelves were empty, one lady even had her cart full of every type of frozen meat you could buy. (an odd choice for natural disaster food but they do everything different down here) From what we heard the hurricane was supposed to miss us completely and we were just going to get some rain. We had 10 inches of rain in August so hurricane rain wouldn't be much worse than that right?? The good news is that now that it's actually made landfall it doesn't look as bad as the weather channel thought it would be so I'll keep you posted on the after-shock, if there is one.

Madison & Luke's Reception

2008-08-24T20:21:00.004-05:00

Kell & Brynn driving grandma's car. She loves to sit in there and push all the buttons and jam to the stereo and she will only do it with Aunt McKell.
Timmy & I at the reception

My sisters Lacis and McKell. Lacie has always had a different, exotic look that none of the rest of us have had but we just realized that these two are starting to look a lot a like!
My beautiful sisters and I!

Danielle and Cody, the other newlyweds.
So we had Madison and Luke's Louisiana wedding reception this weekend so we stayed down at my parents. We have had a lot of family time the past few months and we are loving every minute. I have no idea what I am going to blog about now that all of the weddings are over, I guess you'll just have to settle with hearing more about Brynn.

Not so Good

2008-08-19T08:45:00.003-05:00

I forgot to mention that while we were in Utah at Madison's dinner after the wedding, Brynn choked on a jellybean. I mean really choked. Like I had to rip her from Dani's lap and throw her over my lap and hit her on the back with the bottom of my palm. It was terrifying. She cried and cried after so we were walking around the halls of the Lion House and when she calmed down she was so mad at me! The first thing she said when she stopped crying was, "Don't knock me over and don't hit Brynee." The poor girl didn't understand that I was helping her get the jelly bean out, she thought I just decided to rough her up a bit. Isn't that so sad?! Now I totally feel like a mean mommy because she thinks it's funny if we are out to dinner or at the store and she will just start yelling at me for knocking her over and hitting her. It's terrible and so embarassing. I can only imagine what people think.

Teeth Brushing

2008-08-17T21:37:00.004-05:00

This might not be appropriate because she isn't a a baby anymore but Brynn climbed up on her stool to brush her teeth tonight and I thought it was adorable, I think everything this girl does is adorable. I give her pedicures every time I cut her toenails, I even put flower stickers on her big toes and she loves it. I love the toes picture because if you know miss Brynlee she is always walking on her toes, she has calves of steel!

More Up Down

2008-08-17T18:47:00.005-05:00

I might be totally biased but I had to take this one morning because I thought Brynn looked so pretty! And it's very rare to find her without a binky in her mouth while sleeping. Oh and you will notice she is back in her baby bed. She has always loved her bed and has never once attempted to get out so I'm thinking the big girl bed was a rush on my part. She has been pretty much wonderful sinse we changed it back so unless she comes kicking and screaming that she absolutely HAS to have a big girl bed she can sleep in this thing until kindergarten if she wants.

Fun at the park! We actually attempted to go this morning because it wasn't 95 at 9:00am. It was a lot of fun to see how excited she was, but it warmed up pretty fast so we only lasted about 30 mins.
More on the Up down! Our mall was just remodeled and they added a huge two level carousel and Brynn loves it. We have to ride it at least once while whenever we go there. They even have an elephant she can ride, which happens to be her favorite animal along with tigers and alligators. The best part is that 2 weeks ago she would scream and cry and not even sit on the animals. At this age I'm pretty sure has no idea what wants. My mom jokes and says welcome to life with a teenager, wonderful. That means I only have 16 more teenage years ahead of me.

Chapstick, Attitude & Don't Touch my Daddy

2008-08-11T21:27:00.004-05:00

Miss Brynlee has a slight obsession with chap stick, thanks Aunt Dani! She has at least 4 in her purse at all times and puts them on non-stop. It really is a little weird, good thing she's cute! And she has decided that Tim and I can no longer be affectionate. If we kiss or snuggle she will run up and try to push me away or pulls on Tim's shorts and says "my daddy". She seriously gets jealous, it's so funny. Oh and her hair looks the way it does because she had a home with daddy day today. Love those days! And I have learned that vacationing to see Grandma and Great Grandma and 5 of her Aunts has it's down side. Brynn has a new phrase, "Don't tell me no." Disciplining doesn't happen when I am that out numbered.

Weddings, Lagoon and Lots of Grandma Time

2008-08-11T19:00:00.005-05:00

Aunt Madison and Uncle Luke- Mr. and Mrs. Storrs!
Brynn with Aunt Dani, they are bestest buddies.
My cute girl in her pretty dress. She looks so grown up!
Dinner with the family at Asian Star for Haeli's 18th birthday. From left: Haeli, her boyfriend Kennan, Landon, McKell, Grandma Jillyn & Brynn, Lacie, Dwight, Me, Dani and Grandpa Dwight.

Brynn and I went to visit my old roommate Dallas and her way cute baby Gavyn.
Brynn loves to swim! Here she is swinging at Lagoon-a-beach and walking through the lazy river with Grandma Jillyn and Aunt Lacie.
She LOVES the up-down, up-down (merri-go-round)

Choo-choo trains are her ultimate favorite so we had to ride this a few times.
Stylin in my shades! I have taught her to say "I get it from my Mama" because our personalities are so much alike.
Chowing down on corn on the cob, the only veggie she'll eat.
Headed home! It was a short but sweet trip and we are always sad to leave. We were so busy our entire trip between Madison's wedding, Haeli's birthday, visiting with friends and extended family and trying to get in the yearly trips to Lagoon and Park City we had a lot to accomplish in just 4 days! I'm sure we left someone or something out but i vow to be back soon.

Damn Airlines (yes I said damn and you'll see why)

2008-08-11T18:13:00.005-05:00

Brynn looking out the window for the first flight. It was the first time she had her own seat and she LOVED it. She's my little jet setter.
Jammin on Aunt Dani's I-Pod while we are waiting. Notice that she is just in a diaper, her mom was completely oblivious to changing her and she peed through onto her pants so we had to dry them under a hand dryer in the bathroom. Poor kid.
We convinced her the moving walkways were a way fun ride and we had to ride them constantly for at least 3 hours. Fun stuff!

So we did what we were supposed to do. We bought the tickets months in advance, we kept our bags under the required weight limits and we showed up 1 1/2 hours prior to departure time. Only to find out that they cancelled our first flight because of weather problems in Houston so we were moved to a later flight which of course throws our second flight back. The original flight was supposed to leave at 3:22 and get into Salt Lake at 8:35. We left Monroe at 5:55 and got into Salt Lake at 1:10am. Yes you heard me right, AM!!! Now that is pretty rediculous to me when all they need to do is get me there on time, with a 2 yr old and all of her stuff, that's not asking too much. We were in the houston airport wandering around for almost 6 hours. I have to admit that I am pretty lucky because even up until the 11:30 take off out of Houston Brynn was smiling and waving at everyone that walked past her seat. It was a rough start to the trip but my girl was amazing.

Lizards & Princess Jammies

2008-08-04T22:02:00.004-05:00

First, the princess jammies. My mom bought this for Brynn the last time we went to her house and she loves it. We wash it 3 times a week because she wants to wear it everyday. Second, not only do we have to deal with the nasty southern roaches that do not go away but we found 2 lizards in the house today. The first one was sitting in the door frame so I slammed the door and was scared to go in until Tim came home. Weak, I know. The second one was in my dishwasher! Yes you heard me right. Sorry for all you lizard activists out there but because it would literally impossible to catch a 2inch lizard in your dishwasher, we just turned it on. Ooops. I was not going to dig him out!

Summer Fun

2008-07-29T19:18:00.009-05:00

Swimmin at the MAC, thanks for the cute swimsuit Grandma Carla!
The girls that I work with and I before a fun night on the town!

Reading with daddy.
CHEESE!!!!
Loves her baby and stroller!
Summer is definitely here in the dirty dirty! It has been in the 80's sinse February but the past month the temperatures haven't dropped below 95, with 90% humidity. Now don't get me wrong, if I'm on a beach in St. Thomas humidty is perfectly ok with me but when you get into bed at night and your sheets are damp, that's not ok. We have spent A LOT of time at the pool or inside because it is just too hot to be outside! We went to Grandma Jillyn's last weekend for my sister Madison's wedding shower and we are heading back to the SLC next week for the wedding. No humidity! Woo-hoo!! And the fabulous food, I can't wait to eat.

Backfire

2008-07-22T08:09:00.002-05:00

So the big girl bed seemed like a good idea at first but it has completely backfired. She has decided she wants nothing to do with her bed at all now and only wants to sleep in the full bed in the guest room. Fabulous. Hopefully we don't have any visitors soon because they will have to sleep in Brynn's big girl bed.

Big Girl Bed

2008-07-16T12:43:00.002-05:00

Don't let that pretty little face fool you. This girl has been quite the handful lately! Between Tim & I and Brynn's school we decided that because she's so advanced mentally maybe we should start treating her like she's a big girl because she is getting bored with things her age. One of the things we decided to try was making her crib into a big girl bed. (it's a transitional crib so we basically just take the front bar off) So far so good with that! The first few nights I jumped up and ran in to make sure she hadn't rolled off but now I think we are all comfortable with the idea. She loved that she can crawl into it anytime she wants and I'll find her lying in there singing to herself often. I will still take any advice anyone can give when it comes to the terrible twos though! Oh and I think she looks so much like my mom in that bottom picture, so funny because I don't look anything like my mom.

RIP

2008-07-11T10:29:00.003-05:00

I think I know why I've never had a pet and why the plants in my house are not real. I kill them all. Our dear friend Fishy, the Beta we have had for only a week has passed away. I'm pretty sure I overfed the poor girl. She would get so excited when I would feed her that she would almost jump out of the bowl and Brynn loved to watch her eat and talk to her! It wasn't an overnight thing either, she really hadn't moved for the past 2 days, she put up a good fight. Of course we aren't going to mention the death to Brynn, I am going to Petsmart in a few minutes to get a replacement Fishy. So bad I know.

Jackson, Mississippi

2008-07-06T18:04:00.005-05:00

This monkey was hilariously camera shy!

This is Brynn's post crying for 5 minutes face because I forced her to go on the carousel that she kicked and screamed to go on. I don't know who this girl is but I'd like my sweet baby back please!:)
Brynn loved the elephants, we had to stare at them for a good 15 minutes.

Fun at Chuck-e-Cheese!!

Playing on the slide!
Brynn playing slam-dunk with her daddy.
Tim's most favorite stop on the trip.
As you can probably guess we made the 2 hour trip across the Mississippi to visit Jackson for the weekend. We packed a lot into our 48 hour mini-vacation but it was fun to visit somewhere new! First I have to point out that Brynn has made some good and bad changes since she made the big leap as a 2 yr old. Good change- she FINALLY sleeps through the night on a regular basis! Bad change- the girl is a pouter/whiner/drama queen!! Everything is an issue to her and gets blown way out proportion. If anyone else was on the elevator at the hotel the girl would lose it, if her shoe is buckled the way she wants it to be she will lose it, if the elephant wouldn't look at her it was the end of the world! I love her but we all have our limits. We did manage to drag her to a lot of places we thought she would love. We had heard alot about the zoo in Jackson and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. We also took her to Chuck-E-Cheese because every kid has to go to Chuck-E-Cheese, little did I know that my husband was deprived as a child and had never been either so he was pretty excited too. She warmed up there pretty fast then she was able to sleep the whole way home. It definitely made me want to see more of Jackson one day, next time I think we might make it a mommy and daddy trip though.

New Addition

2008-07-01T17:50:00.003-05:00

So we have a new member to the Hopkins family! Brynn is on a crazy fish kick lately so I thought what better to get her than her first pet. She picked which fish she wanted as well as the stones and alligator. I told her to smile in the middle picture and that's what she did. Quite and improvement from what she usually does when I say to smile for the camera. (she puts her head down and puts her fingers in her mouth) The fish doesn't have a name, we just call her fishy. She isn't very creative when it comes to naming her toys. Her stuffed bear is named Bear and she calls her build-a-bear monkey Monkey. This morning in the car she kept saying, "Have a great day Fishy!" "See you later Fishy!" "I'll be right back Fishy, then we can play in Brynnee's room." The girl has personality for days.

Our Entertaining Judicial System

2008-06-30T21:57:00.005-05:00

So back in April I got pulled over as I pulled into my driveway, aparently I was speeding earlier down the road. He wrote me up for 15 over, I know there's no way I was going that fast, and I was really not happy about it. I haven't had a speeding ticket in 6 years! So when my court date came I was ready and I realized really fast that they mean business. No cell phones, no leaving to use the restroom, if you have a baby with you that starts crying you have to leave but you aren't allowed back in the room, no shorts allowed and all guys had to have belts on their pants, their pants at their waist and their shirts tucked in. Thank goodness the names were called in alphabetical order because there were easily more than 200 people in there. So the judge called me up and asked what happened, I told her I have a 2 yr old that was distracting meso I wasn't paying attention to how fast I was going. Then to my surprise she said all of my fines and costs were waived and I was free to go. First time ever in my life that I got out of a ticket! The judge must've been a mom.

Family Fun

2008-06-30T21:31:00.006-05:00

Timmy & I

Feeding the alligators at the alligator farm.

Brynn and her cute cousin Reynolds, they are only 3 weeks apart!
Me and my favorite cousin Heather.
Aunt Dani & Uncle Cody, their first reunion as Mr. and Mrs. Fueger.
Lacie, Madison, Me, Dani, cousin Geneal and cousin Heather
Lacie & Jon, or Mr. Smooth as Dwight likes to call him. We love Jon.

We spent the weekend down in Natchitoches, where my parents live, for the annual Cahoon family reunion and there was no lack in entertainment. Brynn loves to go to grandma's so that was my bribe all week to get her to do anything. She caught on to me after a few days and just started telling me I couldn't go to grandma's if I didn't do what she said. My parents are amazing and somehow managed to find a way to house and feed 30 of our closest family members for 3 days. We went boating, (thanks Jon), to the alligator farm, swimming, dancing and seriously didn't stop eating. Brynn liked the alligator farm but she LOVED the horses. (they were actually goats that you could feed but she decided they were horses and the babies were cows) Lacie's boyfriend Jon hooked us up with a great boat to cruise along the river in all day Saturday and we all had way too much fun. His nickname was Captain Smooth after that. That night a bunch of the cousins went dancing and that was definitely a new experience for me! If you want some good Louisiana people watching then go dancing, or go to court but I'll put that info in a different post. Long story short, thanks again for everything mom and dad and everyone else, you did not disappoint!

Swimmin

2008-06-11T20:29:00.003-05:00

So we have this really great pool and baby pool and fountain area at our gym and we have been trying to get Brynn to warm up to it. Last year she was a little fish and she would run and jump in from any angle but this year she is scared to death. She was alot better this time than she was earlier in the week and really got into the fountains, it was so funny. She started out fully clothed and we finally convinced her to lose the shirt but she wore her skirt cover up the whole time. Oh and I couldn't pay the kid to gain weight, she just gets longer and she's solid muscle so she is wearing the same swimsuit from last year, it's 12-18 months. Nerd.

The Turtle

2008-06-07T15:49:00.003-05:00

So I bought Brynn a shirt a while back and it has 2 pink turtles on it, a mommy turtle and a baby turtle. She loves it and begs to wear it everyday, it's either that or the Kobe jersey. Anyway, we were driving on this random side road because that's basically all we have here and I see what looks like a rock in the middle of the road. The closer I get I see that it's moving and realize it's a turtle so thinking Brynn would be as excited as I was I pull over and rip her out of her carseat to go chase the turtle across the street. We get up close and she starts climbing over my shoulder freaking out that it's not a turtle because it's a brown one not a pink one. Then he sucks all of his arms and head in and she was really confused. "Where it go?" she asked over and over until I told her he was sleeping. Then she procedes to tell me he's ugly. I have no idea where she learned the word ugly so I thought it was pretty funny and becaause of that she calls everyone ugly now. Fabulous. Oh and she has taken a liking to Mariah Carey's song, Touch My Body and will break out in song whenever we are in line to buy something. Her dad hates it. This is why we try to stick to Little Einsteins sing-along cd's.:)

The UTAH

2008-06-07T14:56:00.010-05:00

Michele & I (old picture but sad that it's the only digital one I have!)
Brynn watching her show at the hotel
Grandma & Brynn checking out the elephants at the zoo.
"2 Grandmas" with Brynn at the zoo.
Brynn LOVES bears!

Brynn & Grandma Carla
Tim, Aunt Camille & Grandma Carla

Our trip was filled with ALOT of family time. Before we flew into town Tim's sister Camille came down to Louisiana and stayed with us for 10 days. Brynn hadn't seen her sinse christmas but she fell in love with her all over again and it was so cute to see. We started wedding stuff as soon as we got into town and my bestest friend ever Michele came into town the same day so we were pretty much always busy. Tim's mom came up to visit from Moab and so did his best friend Randy so Brynn was on people overload but it was so much fun. I never wanted to leave as usual! We went to some great places to eat; Cafe Rio, The Dodo, McGraths, Training Table, all so yummy. Tim did alot of golfing and went fishing with his step-dad and Michele and I went shopping and got our nails done. My mom took Brynn to the zoo one day and she loved it. We took her last year but she was too little to get it so this year it was really fun to see her get excited about the animals! So nice to get away but so sad to leave. Good thing we get to go back in August for Madison's wedding! I start a new job in a few weeks that I am really excited about. It's with a health insurance company and that's what I did for 6 years before we moved here so it'll be nice to be doing what I know!

Dani and Cody's Wedding

2008-06-07T14:30:00.004-05:00

Dani & Cody
Lacie & Jon
Great Grandma Cahoon & Brynlee

My kids
The Fam
So we made the trek to Utah last week and I loved every minute. Our main reason for going was to go to my sister Dani's wedding. The wedding was beautiful and we are so glad to have Cody as a part of our family. Brynn was the flower girl and her dress was actually a replica of Dani's, so cute. One problem though, Brynn hates dresses and tights and bows in her hair. She likes tennis shoes and jeans and pony tails. The only way we could get her into her dress was by giving her gum, terrible I know, and she wore her jean shorts and her Nikes under the dress. Classic. She actually did pretty good because Aunt McKell walked with her down the aisel but of course she wouldn't put down the binkie. Oh and at the end the gum caught up to us and she ended up puking on the patio, what a lovely way to spend the evening. She looked beautiful and I was so proud of her. Oh and congragulations Aunt Dani and Uncle Cody! We love you!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYNLEE

2008-05-25T20:27:00.008-05:00

It's hard to believe that 2 years ago today, after 23 hours of labor, Miss Brynlee Kaye Hopkins was born. She has been quite a little trooper sinse day one. When we moved across the country she was only 4 months old, poor girl has moved 3 times in the past 2 years! She has been quite the little traveler though, she has been on an airplane 21 times in her short little life. A little spoiled to say the least but that might have something to do with her mom being a little ADD and not being able to stay in one place for long. She is incredibly smart and can carry on a complete conversation, so cute and very rare for her age so we're told. She loves balls, school busses, Shrek, Winnie the Pooh and the Little Einsteins sing along CD. That's the only thing we are allowed to listen to in the car because she repeats everything she hears. I know I'm a little bias but I can't go anywhere without someone telling me how beautiful she is and I couldn't agree more, she is pretty darn cute! She has grown up so fast, it's so fun to look back and see how much she's changed and developed. I love my little Princess!

Fun Brynn Pictures

2008-05-16T22:09:00.004-05:00

I just had to share these pictures of Brynn. The girl gets more funny everyday. I'll post more later this week because my baby will be 2 next sunday!

Mother's Day

2008-05-11T14:58:00.003-05:00

It's so sad but this is the only picture I have of me and my mom. I need to get a scanner because I have alot of old ones but this is the only one that's digital. Anyway, it's a 4 generation picture of Brynn, Me, my Mom, and my Mom's Mom at my wedding. Notice Brynn's hair, it looks like she's wearing a bad tupe'. Even though my mom is internet challenged, she can run Quickbooks like a pro but is the only person I know that doesn't have an email address, I wanted to tell everyone else how great I think she is. I've always known my mom was super woman. She raised 8 kids, she never missed a soccer practice or dance lesson, she can pull off dinner for 50 like it's an everyday event, she does at least 15 loads of laundry a week, she knows the grocery store like the back of her hand and she's married to my dad, enough said. And even though I've always known these things about her, I noticed it alot more once I became a mom myself and I can honestly say I don't know how she does it. I used to watch the kids for a week or 2 while her and my dad would go out of town and I always forgot at least one proctice somewhere, never cooked and had a nervous breakdown when it was laundry time. She has helped me so much with Brynn, there is nothing she doesn't know or hasn't been through when it comes to kids. I have called her on numerous occasions at midnight to find out what the best thing is for a fever or teething or just because Brynn was crying and I didn't know what to do. She has probably saved me hundreds in doctors bills! When I was pregnant everyone would ask if I was scared to be a mom, and honestly I never was, because I learned from the best. Love you mom!!!!

More Fwingin

2008-05-10T15:24:00.003-05:00

Yes there are aleady alot of pics of Brynn at the park. The truth is that's all the kid wants to do! We were there at 8:00 am today. The good news is the pool at the rec center we go to opens today so look forward to many pictures of Brynn fwimmin. She has and issue with saying words that start with sw so she says fw. Also, Tim's sister, Aunt Mogi, is coming to visit next sunday! We are all very excited. Brynn loves her Aunt Mogi.

Sleeping Habits

2008-05-03T21:51:00.003-05:00

Ok so Brynn has been falling asleep so well by herself lately. After bath she will climb up on the couch and lay down and she's out in a matter of minutes. Well last night she was extra wiggley and was acting like she just couldn't get comfortable. This is how she finally fell asleep. Very comfy looking if you ask me. Nerd. Love this kid.

Disturbing

2008-04-24T14:51:00.007-05:00

Cities with the Worst Teeth
Rank / City Name
100: Lubbock, TX
99: Philadelphia, PA
98: Spokane, WA
97: Salt Lake City, UT
96: Jackson, MS
95: El Paso, TX
94: Portland, OR

I found this article on MSN and I was very disturbed by it. I always thought Utahns overall had lovely teeth so imagine my surprise when I see that out of 100 cities Salt Lake is ranked #97! It was in no way reassuring to see Jackson, Mississippi ranked one number higher. I will post pictures of the type of teeth found in Jackson and you tell me if you think this report is accurate.

Seriously!!!!

2008-04-23T12:41:00.006-05:00

I don't know about the rest of you but I have been counting down for tomorrow sinse January. I understand that the writers strike was to promote fairness for all involved with the production of our favorite shows but what about the viewer! Unless it's summer there should be no reason for Grey's Anatomy to not be on every thursday. I don't even care if they show reruns because I could watch every episode over and over. Tim calls it my library time because I ti-vo it and as soon as Brynn goes down the TV is mine and there will be no talking unless it's a commercial. And for those of you wondering, no I am not a big couch potato, this is the only show I am like this with.

UPDATE: Last night's episode was worth the wait. Though Nurse Rose makes me cringe. They should have no more kissing scenes between her and McDreamy and I can't believe she said she loved him?! No one has told her she's just the rebound girl.

Louisiana

2008-04-22T11:36:00.007-05:00

Here is an update for everyone I haven't talked to forever about how we ended up in Louisiana. My dad randomly owns 18 Jiffy Lubes throughout the state. My family moved to Louisiana in August of 2004 and I swore I would never live there. It's an ok place to visit for a few days but that's about all I could handle. Well then little Miss Brynlee decided to come along in May 2006. I worked for Selecthealth (IHC) for 6 years up to that point and loved every minute of it. Tim on the other hand hated his job. In August my dad said he had a manager that would be leaving and offered Tim the position and said that he would pay him what we were both making combined. Good deal right? There was a catch, we had to be there by October. So not only did I have a newborn, I was going to be leaving the best job ever, leaving the only place I will ever consider home and moving 2000 miles away from everything I have ever known. Oh and for those that don't know, we weren't married at the time but that was another thing we added to the list when we moved. Now, I consider myself an adaptable person. I lived in Costa Rica for 2 months and that does not even compare to how much of a different world the south is. The first year I stayed home with Brynn. I love my baby girl but I damn near lost my mind. The weather is miserable, I knew no one and I was not working for the first time sinse I was 14. It's safe to say I went a little crazy. I started working last September and that did take the edge off but Brynn has been sick literally sinse the day she started school. Anyway, this totally sounds like a depressing post. One good thing I have learned by reading alot of blogs that pretty much everyone that grew up in Utah ends up back in Utah at some point and I'm sure that time will come for me at some point. That should update all you newbies, yes there are alot of surprising facts in this, feel free to ask questions. I promise the next post will be more happy!

The Game

2008-04-14T19:30:00.006-05:00

I would like you to know that I am aware of how bad my lazy eye is in the following picture. Beautiful. Ok so on saturday night we went to an arena football game, a first for both of us. It was the New Orleans Voo-doo vs the Dallas Desperados at the American Airlines Center. Honestly I think Tim was more excited knowing that his Lakers beat the Mavericks in that same center just 4 days before we were there but we still had so much fun! We had really really good seats and those Dallas fans definetly love their football! One thing kind of terrified me a little and that was the halftime show with a bunch of 6-10 yr olds in cheerleader outfits. It sounds innocent enough but when the music started and they were basically booty shaking and bumping and grinding all over the place my mouth just dropped! I should probably point out that down here in the dirty-dirty halftime shows are nothing like they were at Highland High. These 'dancers' (I say that losely because some them probably do dance for their profession if you know what I mean) come out half naked 'dancing' to music you would never want your mom to hear, bad words and all. And I really do think poles are required for their practices. But back to the game, Dallas ended up winning and after the game I had the kicker sign my hand with a sharpy. then we went out on the town to explore downtown Dallas. I must've been pretty tired when we got back to our room because I forgot to wash the autograph off my hand so I woke up with a stamp of it on my face. Lovely! It was a great trip and I can't wait to go back!

DALLAS

2008-04-14T18:43:00.006-05:00

First I have to point out the picture of our rental car...... right....... this thing is worth more than our house. Tim and I went to Dallas for the weekend and I came home kicking and screaming. I love the city, any big city, Tim says I'm obsessed with concrete. Anyway, I had never been to Dallas except for a few layovers at the airport and with it being just 4 hours away I've decided we need to go back much more often. It was so pretty and the weather was great and my parents watched Brynn so it was a much needed break. When we got into town friday we decided to get ready for dinner because we had made reservations at a sushi restaurant called Fuse and we were pretty famished after the drive. I found the restaurant on restaurant.com and we were very pleased to say the least. We had such a great time and the food was fabulous! Easily the best sushi and calamari we have ever had. Saturday we woke up early and had breakfast then we went golfing. It was so much fun! Neither one of us gets to go very often sinse Brynn was born though we have become regulars at the driving range in Natchitoches. Anyways, I'm wishing I would've gotten more pictures of the course because it was so pretty! It was in the middle of a hoity toity hilly (because there really aren't mountains there) neighborhood and it was just the break we needed. After that we went to lunch then got ready for the game! Pictures of that will be on the next post. We just wanted to say thank you to Grandma Jillyn, Grandpa Dwight, Aunt Lacie, Aunt Dani and everyone else that helped out with Brynn so we could go. She had such a good time we just might have to make it a regular destination!

April Showers

2008-04-06T18:51:00.006-05:00

Well this week started out pretty rough for us. Brynn wasn't sleeping at all and if she did sleep she would wake up screaming more than once during the night. My mom said it looked like she was getting her 2 yr old molars and she had been walking around rubbing her cheeks and she had a mild fever so that's what we figured it was. By wednesday we were exhausted so we took her into the doctor and she is definetly teething but she also has a raging ear infection in her right ear that they had to give her a shot for because it was so close to rupturing. Needless to say once we started doping her up, motrin, antibiotics, ear drops and allegra (she has bad allergies) she started sleeping like a champ wednesday night. Thank goodness. About that time my throat started to bother me. I've never had allergies but I just it wasn't anything serious so I blew it off. By friday morning my throat was hurting really bad, I could barely swallow. My sister Dani came up friday night to watch Brynn and Tim and I went to dinner and I couldn't even swallow. Long story short, after and hour at the doctor and an hour at the pharmacy my fear was confirmed, it was strep. Tim put me on immidiate bed rest, but that didn't last long, and I think I must've had a sinus infection too because ever sinse I started the antibiotic my nose just drips. It's always something at this house! Now I am just praying Brynn doesn't get it because she is going to stay with my mom this weekend. That would not be fun for them!

ABC's

2008-03-31T12:48:00.003-05:00

A: ATTACHED OR SINGLE? Attached
B: BEST FRIENDS? Michele, Tim and Brynlee
C: CAKE OR PIE? Definitely cake! Any flavor, preferably chocolate, but no forsting, I hate frosting.
D: DAY OF CHOICE: Saturday and Sunday because I get to spend more time with Tim and Brynn and not at work.
E: ESSENTIAL ITEMS: Binkies, cell phone, Baby Einsteins sing-a-long CD
F: FAVORITE COLORS: Depends on what it's for. I like to wear certain colors but I like to decorate and stuff with other colors.
G: GUMMY BEARS OR WORMS? Gummy bears! But I like to dump them out of the bag on a plate and leave them out overnite to get hard, Tim thinks I'm crazy. Yummy!
H: HOMETOWN? Salt Lake City, UT, oh how I miss thee!!!
I: FAVORITE INDULGENCE: Me time, whether it's the gym, hot showers, a good book, tanning(yes I know it's bad for me), I just like to get away from the madness that comes with having a 2 year old for a while.
J: JANUARY OR JULY? I would have to say January down south but July anywhere else in the world. This place is the worst place ever in July!
K: KIDS? Just Miss Brynlee Kaye for right now but I would love another one soon, they grow up too darn fast!
L: LIFE ISN'T COMPLETE WITHOUT..... Family
M: MARRIAGE DATE? October 28, 2006
N: NUMBER OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS? 5 sisters and 2 brothers
O: ORANGES OR APPLES? I love Clementines so I guess I would have to say oranges. I like apples if I can dip them in the yummy cream cheese fruit dip.
P: PHOBIA OR FEARS: My biggest fear is marrying the wrong person. I also really, really, really don't like bugs, any bugs. I don't mind them if I'm camping because there are supposed to be bugs when you go camping but I don't want them in my house and down south all bugs are monster-sized!
Q: QUOTE: "You can't call me a whore," it's the start of a wonderful speech that Meredith gave Derek on Grey's Anatomy 2 seasons ago. I can't wait for new episodes next month!!!!
R: REASONS TO SMILE: Brynn is getting her 2 yr old molars so she's been extra snuggly(thats a good and a bad thing), I lost 3lbs last week, I'm going to Dallas with my hubby in 11 days.
S:SUPERMAN OR WONDER WOMAN? Wonder woman
T: TAG 3 PEOPLE: Callee, Nan, Sarah
U: UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME: I've never broken a bone and I've never had the chicken pox
V: VEGETABLE: Peas, corn on the cobb, sweet potato fries (do those count?)
W: WORST HABIT: Biting my nails. I really wish I could stop but I seriously don't know how! I'll bite through acrylic and bite them even if they have that grossI tasting stuff on them that's supposed to keep me from biting them. Also, I critique house flippers on house flipping shows because I know sooo much about anything that has to do with houses. Right......
X: X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND? Definately ultrasound . . . 3D ultrasound of Brynn at 37 weeks to be specific. That was the best thing ever. And the funny guy that did mine could barely speak english and said, "she has brain, is good". We still laugh about it.
Y: YOUR FAVORITE FOOD: Lately, sushi from Samurai. I can't get enough. I dream about it. I also love alot of foods I only get like twice a year now when we go to Utah: Cafe Rio pork salad, turkey sandwich and house salad from the Dodo, walnut shrimp from Asian Star......... mmmmmm so good. Oh and anything from Del Taco, random I know but I don't have one of those down here either!
Z: ZODIAC SIGN: Pisces, though it doesn't fit me very well, I do not have a creative bone in my body and I guess that's a big thing for Pisces.

More Easter Pictures

2008-03-27T21:42:00.002-05:00

Sears.com

2008-03-25T15:03:00.003-05:00

Ok, I think that I am a very passive person, it takes alot to get me upset and when I do it doesn't last long. Tim has a 3 strikes rule with most places we go, meaning, every restaurant or store or whatever has 3 chances to prove they don't suck. Well lets just say sears.com used all 3 of their strikes at one time. My very sweet, loving, genrous, best mother-in-law in the world tried to surprise Tim and I and order us a new washer from sears.com because we have been having major problems with ours. She placed the order online on March 11th and even paid for delivery and pickup of our old washer. (did I mention she's the best?) Anyway, last week neither she nor us had heard anything from Sears regaurding setting up delivery or anything else having to do with the washer. She contacted them and they wouldn't even answer the phone, I called them later and they said they had no record of the order. Carla (my mother-in-law) called back and talked to someone and they said everything was figured out and fine and they sent me an email confirmation saying the estimated delivery date would be March 25th and that someone would be calling me the night before to set up the exact delivery time. Well this morning (the 25th) we still had not been contacted by sears so I started calling as soon as the store opened at 10. I called 13 times before someone actually answered!! Then they told me that they still had no record of our order. She told me the delivery manager would be in at 12:30 and she took my information and told me the manager would call me then. Well 2:30 comes along and I still had not heard from anyone so I start calling again, now no one will answer. So I call the general store number and talk to an operator. This young man goes on to tell me that this is a special order and that Sears would not be delivering in, fabulous, more idiots to deal with. He then gives me another 800 number and tells me to ask for a shipping specialist. So I call the number,to say this nicely it was not in America. I could not understand anything the woman I spoke with said and I'm pretty sure she could not understand me either. We finally came to the conclusing that she would transfer me to a delivery specialist, close enough I guess to the shipping specialist I was looking for. Thankfully I end up with someone in America but after I gave this lady all of the information I have she tells me she has never heard of me and refers me back to the store! This was the last straw for me. I hung up the phone and told Tim to see if we can cancel the shipping altogether and we will take the truck and pick it up ourselves. It's rediculous because they turned a nice jesture into a huge pain in the butt! As of right now I don't know if we will be getting a washer or not but one thing I know is that I am NEVER buying anything from sears.com again. I have never dealt with a more incompetent company in my life. I guess it's true what they say, if you have a good experience with a company you tell one person and if you have a bad one you tell anyone that will listen. So, thanks for listening.:)

Easter Weekend

2008-03-24T11:05:00.004-05:00

We went to my parents house for Easter weekend and Brynn had a ball. We haven't been there forever so it was fun to get some down time. They watched Brynn so that Tim and I could go to lunch and go golfing which was so nice and the weather was perfect. Aunt Dani and soon-to-be Uncle Cody came down also and Brynn can not get enough of Dani.

She was extremely spoiled for Easter, just like she is with everything else. She got alot of new books, a play vaccuum (because she is terrified of them so I'm hoping having a toy one will make them less scary), a little people school bus with little people in it, an Easter dress and alot of snacks that I ended up hiding from her so she wouldn't eat them all at once. She loved the Easter egg hunt and was very annoyed when there were no more to find so we just kept taking the ones out of her basket so she could find them again. Grandma also bought her a little shopping cart that she pushes around everywhere and has decided she wants to ride in even thought there is no way her chunky butt would fit in it. She has become much more brave around Ragan, my parents big, fat black lab. She will follow her around all day and tell her what to do and attempts to mimic all of the sitting and laying positions the dog does. So funny. I'm sure she has a buddy for life.

I forgot that one bad thing did happen. Brynn has pretty bad allergies and has been taking a prescription everyday for a few months because the pollen is so bad down here, anyway, I thought it would be nice to bring my mom an Easter lily. I guess it would've been smart to buy the lily once we got into town but I'm a little slow and had it sitting in the car with us the whole 2 hour drive. Brynn basically had an allergy attack all night on friday because I trapped in the car with a flower for an hour. Poor girl. Other than that it was a very nice weekend and we can't wait to go to Dallas in a few weeks. Thanks in advance for watching Brynn Grandma Jillyn and Grandpa Dwight!!

The Binks

2008-03-19T20:04:00.003-05:00

My name is Brynlee and I am a binkie-holic. I'll take them anyway I can get them in any color shape or size. I never go far without one and I am usually carrying 3 or 6 at all times. Yes my parents own stock in them. Seriously though, I get so sad because everyone has pictures of their smiling babies and mine smiles but you can't see her cute crooked smile because there is always a binkie in her mouth! These things are her livelihood. She takes 3 to school everyday and won't go to bed without at least 4. I hear horror stories about how they are going to mess up her teeth but I don't dare take them away. Everyone has told me that if I just have her throw them away she'll get over it in a few days. I'm thinking that this is an obsession I'm not going to mess with but I'll take any helpful hints I can get!

Future Hygenist

2008-03-19T19:58:00.002-05:00

This is for you Aunt Mogi! Tim decided to pick his teeth with his straw after dinner, I know, such good manners. Anyway, Brynn of course then has to pick Tim's teeth with a straw too. I thought this picture was so funny because she looks very focussed on her work! I can just imagine what she would be saying outloud, "yes I see the problem is right here with your bottom right bicuspid, and you need to floss more". (I have no idea what I'm saying so sorry if I butcher the dental lingo) Another thing that is so funny about Brynn is that she looovvveesss spicey food. She will eat blazin hot buffalo dorritos until the cows come home and tonight she decided she's taken a liking to guacamole. Everything I give her to taste hoping she won't like she ends up loving, it's so odd.

Birthday Cake Pics

2008-03-19T19:56:00.003-05:00

Look how sweet my hubby is! He made me my favorite, dark chocolate cake with cool whip on top! ( I am not a fan of frosting) I hate this picture of me but Timmy worked hard on the cake so I gave in and posed. So lovely.

Husband Tag

2008-03-19T13:46:00.003-05:00

What is his name? Timothy Robert Hopkins
How long have you been married? 1 year and 5 months
How long did you date? Hmmm we were friends for a year before we dated then we did that off and on thing for a while but I'd say we dated about 2 years total
How old is he? 30
Who eats more? I think I eat more often but he eats more in one sitting
Who said I love you first? Tim did, over the phone while I was in Costa Rica because he couldn't wait for me to get home!
Who is smarter? depends on the subject, Tim thinks he's more street smart but he's from Price and they only have like 5 streets so I think I win that one hahahaha
Who's temper is worse? I am short tempered and Tim holds it in then explodes so that probably isn't good for either of us!
Who does the laundry? I do it generally but I don't think Tim likes it when I do it because I hate folding so I end up leaving everything in the dryer for days at a time. Poor guy.
Who does the dishes? Tim usually does but that's because I cook
Who pays the bills? He makes the money, I write the checks so we both do
Who cooks dinner? I usually do unless I'm having a lazy day or Tim surprises me and cooks me dinner! So sweet.
Who drives when you are together? Depends on whose seat Brynn says is the driver seat that day. She thinks everyone has a designated seat in the car.
Who is more stubborn? I would have to say I take the cake on that one. Sorry babe!
Whose parents do you see the most? Mine but only because they live so close, we would LOVE to see his family much more often!
Who proposed? Tim
Who has more friends? I do
Who has more siblings? I do by quite a few. Does anyone have more siblings than me?!
Who wears the pants in the family? He would hate to admit that I do so I'll let him have his moment and say he does. You're welcome honey:)

SHOUT OUT!!!!

2008-03-18T15:46:00.003-05:00

I know my bestest friend ever Michele checks the blog every once in a while even though she isn't a blogger herself. I found this picture on her niece Kaia's website and it made me miss her sooooo much!!!!!!! We are meeting in Utah the last week of May and I am counting down the days. Even though we text pretty much every day I wish we could live closer and see eachother more. I haven't seen her since last April! So sad. I miss you slut! Can't wait to see ya! (oh and for those of you that don't know, this is her cutie boyfriend Iron, they have been dating for a few years and he is a great guy and super adorable!:)

Unfamiliar Territory

2008-03-18T13:35:00.003-05:00

Poor Brynn. This weekend she experienced something she's never had to before. Constipation. I guess I should be counting my blessings that she didn't have it the first 22 months of her life but it's still so sad to see! She was such a little trooper, even when I had to use a supository. Yuck. It's kind of funny because it's times like this I would love to be a fly on the wall and see how Tim would handle the situation. I admit that being the oldest of 8 has given me a very unfair advantage over him when it comes to kids but this is the kind of thing that would've given him an anxiety attack. Sometimes I'll stand back and watch him handle rough situations and just wait for him to ask me what to do, then I'll call my mom. Hahaha He is so cute with Brynn and the poor guy can not get a break lately. She is going through a "daddy do it" phase and as much as I hate to admit it I'm really enjoying it! Brynn will not let me change her or feed her or dress her or bathe her, she wants Tim to do it all or she wants to do it herself. She is deffinately a little daddy's girl and she wants everything to be done the way daddy does it. (I just have to add this on here. My daughter has never been a big fan of smiling when you tell her to but we have finally found a sure fire way to make her laugh while I'm taking a picture. Tim has to pretend he is going to stick his tongue in my ear and she will die laughing. She's such a ham!)

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-03-15T19:15:00.004-05:00

Let the fun begin! My wonderful hubby bought me a gift card to a spa for Valentines day and this was the first chance I had to use it. So I got off work early and had a massage, a pedicure a facial and had my hair done. I can honestly say it was the best 4 hours of my life! Then Aunt Dani and Uncle Cody came to watch Brynn so Tim and I could go to dinner all by ourselves at my favorite sushi restaurant here in Monroe. We had an amazing waitress and discovered a new favorite drink, the Nunchuck:) They even brought me a cake!! (see picture) I can't wait to see what the rest of the weekend brings!

UPDATE: The rest of my weekend was so great. Tim bought me some new shox and other shoes and clothes that I wanted, he also made me a cake! It was so cute and he did a really good job at making my birthday extra special. He set the bar pretty high for his birthday next month! I have pictures I'll add of the cake and Brynn finishing off the extra cake batter.

Footsy Jammies

2008-03-14T09:56:00.002-05:00

I love love love footsey jammies! I told Tim I am going to order us all some for christmas next year and the picture is going on our christmas card. Brynn says they are jammies with socks and she won't wear any other kind. I took this picture one morning this week hoping that the flash would wake her up because this time change is killing her! She wants to stay up way too late and she will not wake up in the morning. I'll open her door and turn on the hall light and she'll start screaming,"shut it! no light! Brynnee sleeping! Shut it!" It really is pretty funny, she's like a teenager already. I think that's why I love the footsy jammies, they make her look so little! So different from the 5 year old she thinks she is. Oh and I don't know if you can tell but we bought her a crib pillow when we bought her new bedding and she lays it next to her and still uses her bear as her pillow. I am going to have to ask grandma Trish where she found him because the world will stop if anything ever happened to him.

House Pictures

2008-03-12T11:50:00.003-05:00

Ok impatient Callee, here are a few house pics. You will notice there are no pictures of the walls because I haven't hung everything yet. There is part of the living room furniture, (including my favorite ottomans), a picture of our room, the theme for the kitchen and Brynnee helping me measure where to put pictures. Now remember guys, this is an old house, not a new house. (we are reminded of that daily when we find little defects lol) I'm just posting the basics, maybe one day I'll get it all together and when I do the blog will be the first to know.

Leaves, Sidewalk Chalk and the Squirel

2008-03-10T13:12:00.006-05:00

Well in true Louisiana fashion sundays weather was sunny and in the 70's so Tim and I decided to bag the leaf piles that have consumed our backyard for the past few weeks. We still have two piles left, the back half of the backyard to rake, we haven't even started the front yard yet and we have already filled 24 bags! Brynn has discovered a few little friends in the backyard. Thanks to the 7 giant trees we have there are alot of birds and alot of squirels. One in particular will let her get within a few feet of him and then she is usually the one to run away first! We call it Brynlee's zoo and she thinks that's pretty neat. And I know it's really hard to miss our ghetto neighbors full for months plastic swimming pool in their backyard. You can't leave stuff like that around your yard down here or who knows what will end up living in it! If we see any snakes in our yard I'll know where they came from. Tim found her some sidewalk chalk so she made some beautiful pieces of artwork all over the back patio. And yes she is very smart but I wrote her name in the picture. LOL She loves the chalk but she has a hard time understanding why she can't bring it in the house to color on the floor. And last but not least, we have a potty update! Brynn went potty in her potty 2 times last week! It is sensored and plays a song when she goes and the seond time it scared her so bad she started running away in mid-pee. We are actually lucky there was a second time because the first time between us making a big deal about it and the song scaring her to death she was pretty terrified to go anywhere near the potty for a few days!

Brynlee's Spoiled Weekend

2008-03-10T13:00:00.003-05:00

Grandma Jillyn came up to visit Saturday night and we all got a little spoiled! She bought me the ottomans I have been wanting forever for my birthday and the runner that matches my living room rug to go in front of the fireplace. Brynn got a new pair of pants, an adorable chair that I have been looking for for months, a swimsuit, new Nike's (that were on clearance for $9!!), and 2 books! My goodness! She loves her new chair and she told me yesterday that the reason it doesn't rock like daddy's is because her's is too big.... of course..... My mom also took us to one of our favorite restaurants, Tokyo, for mine and Dani's birthday dinner. It's alot like Benihanas but the salad dressing isn't as good. Brynn was clapping and telling the cook he was doing a good job the whole time. It's always good to see the family and we are excited to get down there for Easter in a few weeks.

Friday

2008-03-10T12:39:00.004-05:00

We had quite the eventful weekend! Friday it actually snowed here, yes you heard me right, snowed. Nothing even stuck to the ground and it was a balmy 27 degrees outside but that put the city of Monroe in a state of panic! They closed the schools before noon and I was even sent home from work because of the "hazardous weather". I was excited because I had the rest of the day off and Tim was on a mission to find logs for the fireplace, which we didn't find until 6 stores later! I tried to get a picture of the snow but the flakes weren't even big enough to see very well with the camera. It's so funny to hear people talk becuase they haven't seen weather like this in 10 years. Hahaha!

BIRTHDAYS!!!!

2008-03-03T13:48:00.003-06:00

Well all of you know I'm a little obsessed with my birthday. Yes this is one of the only times during the year that I act like a typical girl. I will find any excuse possible to be able to celebrate for the entire week of my birthday. I'm actually thinking that because my birthday is on a sunday this year, (the 16th in case any of you forgot:) that I should be able to celebrate the week before AND the week after! I don't think Tim will be up for it but it's worth a try. I will be the big 26 and I still consider myself safe because I'm still in my mid-20's, once I hit 27 it's all down hill from there! J/K Tim will be turning 31 on April 16th and I am taking him to Dallas for 3 days to see the Dallas Desperados take on the New Orleans Voo-Doo in arena football, am I a great wife or what?? The trip will actually be for both of us. We are hoping to do a little golfing and sleeping in as well so I'm counting down the days. Then in May Brynn turns 2 and Aunt Dani is getting married! We have a busy next few months but that's how I like it.

Tim's Big Challenge

2008-03-03T13:32:00.004-06:00

Well Tim decided to be brave this weekend and tackle the leaves that have overcome our yard, (our yard, that's so fun to say!). You can tell by this picture that we have alot of bagging to do. Brynn wanted to be a big "helper" but she was way too stressed out from the dirt on her shoes and the bug she found on a stick. We ended up in the house watching Shrek and I think we were more help in there then if we would've stayed outside with Tim. The good news is I think she is starting to get used to the house which is so nice because my 21 month old is finally sleeping through the night again AND we got her on a prescription for her allergies so she's finally healthy for longer than a day, YAY!!! Oh and one more random thing, Brynn's favorite teacher at school just told us she wants to start babysitting on the weekends. This is such good news because Tim and I need all the time away we can get and Brynn llloooovvveessss Angela!

Brynn being Brynn

2008-02-29T20:42:00.007-06:00

Here is my cute little girl! She has been hillarious lately when it comes to talking. (I know I said I'd post house pics next but they are quite ready so be patient!) Because our house is redone it still has a few things that keep it a little dated. Take the entire mirrored wall in the dining room, it has become Brynn's favorite new toy! She talks to herself like there was another person there, it's so funny! ( and if you look closely yes she does have her finger up her nose) There is one of her laying on daddy's chair with Bear that never leaves her side and one of her sitting at the table like a big girl, she's growing up so fast!

MOVING DAY!!!

2008-02-21T10:31:00.002-06:00

Well it's finally here, the big day. I am so excited and anxious that I've totally forgotten to pack! Ok I didn't forget but I haven't been motivated to pack. Maybe it's the cold that I've had the past 3 weeks..... We move tomorrow, finally no more apartment. No more dogs running over our head, no more drunk girls outside our window fighting with their boyfriends at 4 am, no more college guys blasting their stereos and leaving cigarette butts everywhere, the list goes on and on! Tim has been so sweet and let me buy alot of new things for the new house so that has me even more excited. I love new stuff, I get bored with things pretty fast so I like to change it up quite often. Poor guy. I wasn't kidding when I said I have not packed one thing. I've taken everything off of the walls but the moving truck will be there at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning and I am soooo not ready. The good thing is we have until the 29th to clean and get every last little thing out of the apartment so as long as we do the furniture tomorrow we should be ok. I'll deffinately post new pictures of the inside as soon as I get it all decorated, that could be a while because I'm such a procrastinator so be patient! Poor Brynnee will go to daycare tomorrow morning and when we bring her home she will have a new house. She loves it though and gets so excited to go over there and "kick a leaves" as she says. I think it will be a good move for all of us and we couldn't be happier.

Valentines and More!

2008-02-19T08:48:00.004-06:00

Well Tim, Brynn and I had a really good valentines day! Brynn got to take Valentines to school so we went to walmart and she picked out scratch & stink Shrek valentines and wanted Shrek fruit snacks to go with them but we settled on Nemo gummies instead. I bought her a little bag to carry them in and she was so excited! She loves to do everything herself and help with anything I'm doing, even if I'd rather not have the help. She will pull on my leg and say "Brynnee do it" or "Helping" until I find something for her to 'help' with. I am the worst mom ever but you know the cards that sing when you open them? I found one for Brynn that had Shrek on it and I was so excited...... one problem though, when you opened it it didn't sing, it burped. Brynn thinks that burping is a hiccup and she thought it was hillarious! She broke it that day because she opened and shut it so much. Tim bought me a gift card for a spa day at a new spa in town and I am so excited! I think it's his way of getting out of giving me back massages. I told him he might not want to open this door or it'll become a monthy expense: Pay the cable, the power, the water and Teresa's monthly massage.:) I bought Tim a new wedding band. The one I originally bought him didn't turn out the way we wanted and it was too big. He loves it and says it is so much more comfortable than the old one. Aunt Dani also came over from Ruston for the night so we went to dinner and did some much needed shopping for the house. It was so nice to be able to take our time! We really appreciate all the help we get from Grandma Jillyn, Grandpa Dwight and Aunt Dani. We also reserved our trip to Jamaica in November! YAY!!! I can't wait! I'm pretty sure I'm going through beach withdrawls. We love our Brynlee but never got the chance to go on a honeymoon so we are pretty excited to have a little time alone. Now I just need to get my butt in shape!! Hopefully this will be the motivation I needed to get myself to the gym.

Sunday fun & More!

2008-02-12T18:49:00.000-06:00

Here are yet more pics of Brynn. As most of you know she is bug obsessed so here she is checking them out after she sqwishes them. She also got her own camera from Grandma Carla and she is using it to take pictures of the cute dog Grandma Jillyn bought her for Valentines day. There is also a pic of her in her car seat and playing with her ball. And if you are thinking she looks a little chunkie you're right! My petite princess has gained 2 lbs in the past 2 months!

Brynn Pics!

2008-01-28T21:51:00.001-06:00

The house

2008-01-18T12:59:00.002-06:00

Well I think we made up our mind! This first picture is of the house we are moving into at the end of February!! I am so excited and it is going to be a long 5 weeks of waiting but it will be worth it to be out of apartment living. It is about 2000 sq feet, has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a den and a HUGE backyard. Tim will be a leaf ranking fool! And it has storage!!!!! Something we so desperately need. It's a little older but the guy renting it to us has redone all of the flooring, countertops, fixtures and has repainted everything. After we move in I'll post pics of the inside. We are only renting because I can't bring myself to commit to Louisiana more than this so enjoy it while it lasts.:)

Geaux Tigers!

2008-01-13T20:18:00.001-06:00

Here we are at Miss Tracy's during the LSU game! Brynn isn't a big fan of smiling for the camera, that isn't going to go over well is she is going to win the photo contest.... We had so much fun seeing all of our friends and Tracy was the perfect host like always. We ended up leaving during the 3rd quarter but we were able so watch the Tigers win from home. YAY!!!

Slam Dunk!!!

2008-01-11T08:19:00.001-06:00

Tim is pushing this basketball hoop on Brynn pretty hard. He bought it for her for christmas and she has learned to love it. She can't quite say basketball so she calls it slam dunk and anything round gets "slam dunked" into the hoop. It really is cute to watch and it makes Tim's day because I think between all of the estrogen in both of our families having a boy won't be an option so he's more than happy to have his little tom boy. She loves the jersey Aunt Mogi bought her. Of course it's Kobe Bryant, that was Mogi's husband in a past life. LOL It goes great with her Alex Smith 49ers jersey, Saints Reggie Bush jersey and her LSU jacket, quite the collection for a one year old! She is a big fan of football and enjoyed going to Miss Tracy's house to watch LSU take the Championship! Everytime we score she would say "Go Tigers! Rawr!" and make a claw with her hand. So funny, we've trained her well.

Potty Time

2008-01-11T08:09:00.002-06:00

I might get in trouble for posting this because Miss Kaye is half naked but I couldn't resist because she's so darn cute! We bought her a potty yesterday. She has been facinated with Tim and I going to the potty for quite some time so we are going to get her used to have her own potty around. She doesn't quite get the concept though. Yesterday she pooped and then ran in and sat on the potty. This could be a long process......

Update...

2008-01-08T13:53:00.000-06:00

So Tim and I have been getting along much better lately. It's still too early to say what will happen in the future but as of right now things are looking up. We updated his resume and he has joined me in the search for employment in Utah so cross your fingers for us! While we are waiting to see if he gets any bites back we are also looking for somewhere else to live here in Louisiana. He gives a little, I give a little:) We aren't very happy in the place we live now so we are trying to see if there's something better out there without having to become homeowners. I guess our lives could go in two different directions any time soon but we will most likely remain down south for a little bit longer. So much going on and we are only one week into the year!

New Years!

2008-01-08T13:30:00.000-06:00

Well, Tim and I had a really good New Years. My parents had Brynn for a few days because we both had to work and her daycare was closed and lets just say it was a blessing in disguise. We went golfing and to a few restaurants we've been wanting to try and shopping and that was all before New Years Eve! On New Years Eve we got a hotel room and went to dinner then we went out with friends and had such a good time. We haven't been alone for longer than a meal since Brynn was born so we more than needed the break. Thank you Grandma Cahoon, Grandma Jillyn, Aunt Dani, Aunt Lacie, Aunt Madison, Aunt Haeli, Aunt McKell, Uncle Landen, Uncle Dwight and Grandpa Dwight for taking such good care of her! She had so much fun, as usual.

Things that Make me Happy

2007-12-31T13:36:00.000-06:00

1. The sun! I love to be outside or in a tanning bed, it's the only kind of therapy I'll ever need.
2. Shopping. There is no problem too big that a little retail therapy can't fix.
3. Anything that makes Brynn smile.
4. Grey's Anatomy. TV seriously doesn't get any better than that.
5. Driving. I have a car obsession and a need for speed.
6. Snow on christmas morning. It's not christmas without it!
7. Talking. I'll talk to anyone anytime and I'm pretty sure I was a therapist in a past life.
8. Music. I love music of all kinds. Brynn loves music too but mostly rap music. I was so worried about her becoming a redneck down south that now she thinks she's black.
9. Being out of the house. I love to be outside and I hate sitting doing nothing. That could be the attention deficit disorder talking...
10. Traveling. I love to visit new places, preferrably on a beach or any big city or Portland because Michele is there!
11. My family, immidiate and extended. We are more than a little disfunctional but that's what makes us us:)

Christmas Time

2007-12-31T10:47:00.002-06:00

I have to explain the santa picture. Brynn really does actually like him!...... as long as he doesn't touch her. She will wave and reach for him and give him fave and say "santa's nice" but the second I put her on his lap he loses it. Every kid needs at least one of these pictures!

This year we went to my most favorite place for christmas, Utah of course!! Brynn was completely spoiled like usual but Tim and I didn't do so bad ourselves. Last year we stayed in Louisiana with my family so this year it was Tim's families turn so we were in Moab for 5 days. You might be asking yourself what does someone do in Moab for 5 days in December?? I'll tell you..... not a whole lot! We did get to go to the mall in Grand Junction Colorado and see Carla's mom and dad so that was nice. Tim went hunting a few times but never found anything, unless you count the turkeys..... long story. It was nice to get out of Louisiana but do you ever feel like you need a vacation after a vacation? That's how this was. Brynn was sick alot of the trip, (I forgot to mention in my opening post that even though I'm happier to be working Brynn has been sick non-stop for the past 4 months and has had everything in the book at least twice.) She had an ear infection the day we got into town and threw up 5 times christmas day. Fun had by all! We really were spoiled though. My parents and Tim's parents went in on a tv for Tim and a laptop for me and that's how I am able to express my unbiased opinions to all of you today! Brynn got her own little laptop, teddy ruxpin, a play camera, the shrek trilogy, babies, bags for camping and going to grandmas, a little tykes car AND a play kitchen. She also got a basketball hoop and 2 jerseys! So spoiled! That's what happens when she's the only grandchild and has 10 aunts. She's so loved it's a little rediculous but I couldn't ask for anything more.

First Time

2007-12-31T09:18:00.001-06:00

So I had never really heard of blogging until my friend Callee and to me it appears to be a public family journal. As you all know my own little family has been having more than it's fair share of issues so I decided why not share it with the rest of y'all! I might even disclose a little information about my immidiate family but then they wouldn't be allowed to read this! Who doesn't love a little drama??:) All joking aside the past 15 months have been the hardest of my life hands down. Quitting a job I loved, leaving behind friends and family, becoming a stay at home mom, getting married and moving 2000 across the country is not my idea of fun. One thing I learned on maternity leave is that I do not like to stay at home. I love my Brynlee but when it comes to being a stay at home mom I am not cut out for that. As you all know I am very social and I talk alot so when there are no adults around to have adult conversations with I pretty much lose my mind. I'd be lying if I said that didn't happen more than once during the past year! Because of that, I started working this September for the local hospital billing office. I love the people I work with and it has made Louisiana a little easier to deal with. I do miss being home with Brynn but I needed to do this at least temporarily for sanity purposes.:)