NEW FAVORITE

I may have mentioned this before, but our little girl loves to help in the kitchen.  She gets in the fridge, the dishwasher, the cabinets, the trash can.... she just can't help herself.  And what kid can really?  The kitchen is just so fun!  It does make getting things done a little tough sometimes though.  Which is why we are super excited to be adding to our baby toy repertoire an adorable little Brinlee-sized kitchen!

I say we're adding it.  Really, we are inheriting it.  The darling woman who taught kindergarten at the school where my mom teaches is changing grades next year and was looking to get rid of some of her littler kid stuff.  Luckily she thought of us, and we could not be more thrilled.  

This kitchen is the cutest, came with a ton of great stuff, and Brinlee loves it!  Sandy, we will love you forever.  You have made one happy little baby!

So Tough Being One

Today Brinlee had her one year old big girl doctor's appointment.  No surprise, she looks perfect!!!  And, also no surprise, she is underweight.  In the last three months she has grown 2 and 1/2 inches, but has only gained 2 ounces.  Apparently it's not necessarily uncommon, but the doctor did want to check her iron level to make sure she doesn't have anemia.  So, after getting picked on at his office, she had to go across the street to the hospital for a quick blood draw.  It was so sad!  She really did awesome actually, poor little thing.  She hollered, but she held nice and still.  Her one little arm didn't give them enough, so she ended up with a hole and a big bandage on both arms.  She looked like a little war hero.  For being such a brave girl (read: producing big crocodile tears, looking really pathetic, and making the nurses feel really bad), she got to take home a cute little teddy bear, which she immediately latched on to and wouldn't let go of for anything.  It's in her crib now.

She spent some time cuddled up with us and teddy on the couch watching Pooh, but she recovered surprisingly quickly and after an hour or so she was back to her old, busy self.  We won't get results of the draw for a couple more days.  What we can say for now however, is that we have one tough baby!

Sweet Little Family

This post is coming to you from Boise, which means, yet again, we got some pictures done!  I know, I know, I'm a little obsessed. But this time, I think, is totally rational.  Brinlee turned one.  That means our family now has a little girl, not a baby.  At least, that's what it feels like.  If that doesn't need pictures I don't know what does.  As always, thanks Jaylene!  She got SO many great shots, here are just a few of my many many favorites.

And here are a few that give away the way the photo shoot actually went... our photographer is so patient  :)

It may be not so humble to say, but we have the sweetest little family!  SO in love with this charmed life!

Water Baby

The other day we decided to have a picnic lunch down at the "lake" in Blackfoot.  Tim thought it would be a fun idea to see how Brin did in the sand... it was a mess!

And, it was a reminder that our little one needs some summer gear.  So, we bought her a cute suit, found some nice weather, and tested it out.  I thought 75 degrees would be too cold for her to enjoy the hose, but that was not the case.  She loved it, and we loved watching!  

I still love playing with the hose.  It is pure happiness and really defines summer, doesn't it?!  Drinking hose water is still one of my favorite things.  It takes me back to red popsicle-stained lips, running through sprinklers, and bare wet foot prints on the driveway... pure happiness.    

Eventually, she did get the shivers.  But she was a trooper, and she even let me put sunscreen on her without a fight.  Such a cute little summer babe.  Hopefully we can find some warmer warm weather soon and really enjoy some sunshine and water-play.

Visit from Carson

Our nephew Carson is in the 3rd grade and a couple months ago he asked us if we could help him with a school project.  Who doesn't love 3rd grade projects?!  We gladly accepted, he sent himself to us in paper form via the mail, and for the last several weeks we have been taking him around with us snapping photos.  Here's a small sampling. Eastern Idaho isn't the most exciting... but we had a lot of fun!  Flat Stanley got a little jealous, but we loved having Carson!  Any one else want to come visit?  We know how to throw a serious paper-people party.

One Whole Year

Yesterday our sweet little Brinlee Bug had her first birthday!

It is hard to believe that it was a whole year ago that we were first looking at her darling little face.

Time sure goes by fast.  Every day with this little angel has been so much fun!  She blesses our home with so many smiles and so many laughs!  She is getting so big and is growing way too fast, but she is so much fun!  We are sure in love with our little peanut  :)

Her day was perfect.  She could not have been any cuter!  She was cute waking up, cute "opening" her presents, cute eating some pizza, cute destroying a cake, cute clapping her hands, cute crawling around cuddling with everyone... you get the idea.

Some of my family was able to come, which was fun. She got a ton of awesome presents, and would you believe she took her first step, without help?!  So perfect.  Love love love!!!

Happy birthday to our big one year old, we sure love you Brin!

Turning 25

On Friday I turned 25...
...yup...
...1/4 of a century.
 I can't believe it.

Year 24 was awesome!  We saw so many blessings and smiles.
And year 25 is looking good so far.  I was supposed to work Thursday night, which would have meant a birthday celebration of mostly sleeping off a night shift.  But, lucky I got to stay home instead.  So, Friday I spent a relaxing morning eating waffles I didn't have to make, an afternoon cuddling my baby, and an evening enjoying some Olive Garden. Tim surprised me with gorgeous flowers, new socks (an odd but true love of mine), and Les Mis, my sister and mom showed up later that night with new clothes, a cute picture frame, and tickets to a concert for later this month, and my dad and Dianna practically doubled my movie collection with several of my Disney favorites.  So fantastic!

So far, I love being 25!