Summer's Here!

We've been having so much fun lately and I am LOVING the warm sun! I wait for those 100 degree days so I can play in the pool and watch Braelyn run around in her cute little swimsuits. 

We've had an eventful few weeks of celebrating Ben's 30th birthday (yep, that's right the big 3-0), flying out to San Antonio for my brother's dental school graduation, and of course loving the pool.

We had to make Ben's favorite chocolate chip cookies for his big day. Braelyn helped me with the ingredients. Apparently she thought Chex cereal and Sancho's leash would go well in the batter.

The best part of making cookies is licking the beaters!

After the cookies were done, we spent some birthday fun at the swimming pool. I think we all need to work on our tans, except Braelyn. That girl is dark!

 She sure loves the swimming pool!

This is my favorite swimsuit! She seems so dainty when she prances around in her little tutu. It fits her personality perfectly because she doesn't like to get too wet or wild in the water. She's turning out to be a little prissy. I better gear up for those teenage years!

The steal of the year! I found this adorable playhouse at a garage sale. There are two parts to the house and it comes with a sink, oven, washing machine, baby changing table, and cradle. She loves playing with it! Her favorite things to do are pretending to wash her hands in the sink, knocking on the door and then saying, "boo!", and rocking her baby in the cradle.

She's baking cookies in her oven. After she put them in and closed the oven door she said, "hot hot!" and wouldn't take them back out. I don't let her touch the real oven, so I think she was a little confused!

Best buds sharing a ride together!

It was so fun to see my grandparents in San Antonio! They flew out from Georgia to attend Taylor's graduation. I haven't seen them for over a year and they hadn't met Braelyn yet. Thank you so much for coming Papa and Grandma!

Braelyn loves her "La La!" which is Landon. Landon loved playing with Braelyn all weekend and I enjoyed getting a little break while he was around. I love this picture where she just has her little hand on his shoulder.

Congratulations Taylor . . . uh I mean Doctor Taylor!!! We are so proud of you! I can't believe your done with FOUR YEARS of dental school. Now another three years and you'll be a prosthodontist. What a smarty pants!

It was a long day at graduation and Braelyn just couldn't take it any longer. Her poor little head starting bobbing up and down during dinner and then landed smack on the table. I could see it coming and slipped a blanket on the edge of the table before she was completely out. She stayed this way for about twenty minutes. Poor little pooper was tapped out!

That is until dessert came! This kid is all over ice cream. She's just like her mama!

Braelyn was such a good little traveler. This is how happy she was at 11 o'clock at night when our plane was delayed an hour and a half in Denver. The people at the airport couldn't get enough of her. She was saying "hi!" to everyone she saw.

I guess our new little hobby is baking cookies together. She gets so darn excited when I ask her if she wants to make cookies. I end up freezing more than half the batch because there is no way we can eat them all, but they're just so fun to make with her. She's my little baking partner.

Our family is loving our life together. I feel so blessed lately to have such a wonderful husband and beautifully healthy little daughter. We couldn't ask for more!

Oh and on a side note, I guess we should officially announce that we are moving. Yep, that's right our time here is up. I'm really sad to go because I love it here and I absolutely love our friends, but Ben has found an amazing opportunity in pharmaceutical sales. We're going to be moving about an hour south of where we are now to Gilbert, AZ. So I guess we won't be too far away, but it is still a big change for us. We'll be heading out there the end of August when our lease is up. With that said, I'll be living it up at the pool everyday until we have to leave this wonderful place!

Thanks to all the people we've met here. You have all been a big part of our lives and our growing family. We'll miss you!

Bestest Friends!

Everyday all day I hear, "Doo?! Doo?!" which means, "are we going to play with Drew?!" Braelyn loves spending time with her little buddy. She probably sees him at least five times a week going on walks, eating dinner together, or going to the park. Today was another wonderfully typical day going on a walk and heading out to the park.

 

Playing "peek-a-boo" with a random stranger that was acting like a monkey. I'd be pretty entertained too!

This daredevil loves slides. She calls slides "wees" because that's what you say when you're going down.

She's not sure whether to go play in the water or finish off her peanut butter and jelly goodness.

Drew loves the water! He could show Braelyn a thing or two about getting wet.

 

This is Braelyn's idea of playing in the water. She not quite as adventurous as Drew when it comes to getting wet.

There's nothing better than crawling through the tunnel. Oh, if life could be so simple! Slides, tunnels, best friends, and water parks . . . where's the grown up version???

Fun in the Sun!

Today was the perfect day to venture out to Desert Ridge and play at the splash pad. Plus, there's so much great shopping to do out there! What a great excuse for Ben to take me shopping before Mother's Day. Of course I ended up with stuff for Braelyn instead. She's just too tempting to shop for.

We met Jana for the day and it was such a blast. Thanks Jana for making the effort to see us and attempting the bus ride out there! Hahaha! I'm glad we were there to rescue you. =)

Braelyn loved the splash pad and was a bit more adventurous with the water than she usually is. As daring as she is, for some reason she shies away from water, which she calls "blah blah". I have no idea where she gets that word from, but every time she sees water or hears someone mention the word, that's what she says. All of her other words are pretty close to sounding like the real thing. It's cute!

I love the picture where she is just chilling with the french fry and her ball with what looks like giant feet! Just call her big foot. =) Between the In n' Out french fries and the Paradise Bakery chocolate chip cookie, I'd pretty much say she was in toddler heaven.

Oh the days of summer have begun and I am loving it! I am definitely a summer girl and that pool/water park is calling my name.

My Little Hambone

Braelyn is such a little jokester. She sure has a sense of humor this girl! What is so funny is that she has picked it up on her own. Sure, I tease her every once in a while by playing games, making silly faces, and tickling her. But I tell you, this girl is hilarious and comes up with her own jokes. She has this classic "made you look" joke that she plays all the time. She points up in the air and smiles just waiting for you to look up. If you don't look up right away, she will look up pretending that there is something amazing up there. The second you fall for the joke and look to the sky, she starts laughing. Seriously, where did that come from?! I just missed her pointing her finger in this picture, but you get the idea.

Her new thing is also to kick Sancho out of his own bed and sit there herself. She likes to read her books in his bed. The best part is that Sancho's bed is shaped as a couch, so she totally looks like she is just lounging around in her own little Lazy Boy.

Last of all, she is a cupcake fiend. By the way, "kuh kay" is added to her vocabulary. I think that means I bake them too much if she's already saying that. Oh well, a little sweetness for my little sweetie! I made cupcakes for a friend's daughter's birthday party. Don't worry, the following pictures are not of Braelyn eating her own cupcake, but a random kid's cupcake that she stole off the table after already downing her own. What a little sneaker. She sure loved it though. What's a little sharing of germs when they're so darn cute?!

Oh dear, this kid keeps me on my toes. I sure do love her, though. I feel especially grateful around this time, with Mother's Day coming up. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing daughter that has such life and personality. I hope that she never loses this sparkle. We are so unbelievably grateful for Jana to have given us this wonderful gift. We'll love her forever!

Easter!

Holidays get better and better with kids! It's so much fun to be able to start traditions with your own family and see the smiles on your child's face with all the exciting festivities. Plus, it's always nice that most holidays include candy that you can smuggle from your child. That's my guilty confession. Easter for us lasted almost an entire week starting with packages from grandparents all the way to spending an awesome Easter weekend getaway at a friend's cabin.

Braelyn was excited about all the loot that Grandma Kaye sent. She especially liked the chocolate Peeps. You can tell how much she liked them by the chocolate ring around her mouth! I'm usually a stickler for no sweets before meals, but that rule goes out the window with holidays. How could I resist this little face asking for "bite bite!" and "more more!" even if it was before dinner?!

We wanted to invite Jana up for Easter but then we got an invite to go to a friend's cabin. So, we had Easter early with Jana and invited her up for dinner and an Easter egg hunt. Plus we wanted Braelyn to practice hunting eggs before we went up to the cabin so she could scout out all the good candy for mommy and daddy. She got the concept of finding the eggs, but then she got a little distracted with eating the candy inside. By the way, Starburst jelly beans are soooooo yummy!

And then the festivities really began when we headed up to the cabin. Easter morning was a blast watching Braelyn and her little friend Drew ooh and ahh over all the candy and toys in their baskets. I think Drew really fancied the bright pink Easter hat that Braelyn got.

The boys, I mean men, all went shooting with their coveted guns while the women chatted. Uh, yeah right! I got in there and shot too, I just don't have a picture to prove it!

We had another Easter egg hunt where Braelyn got even more candy to add to her loot.

The boys also had a hard boiled egg eating contest to see who could chew and swallow an egg the fastest. Ben lost! The second it started, he laughed chunks of egg came flying out of his mouth.

It was so nice to just hang out in the great outdoors. Braelyn especially loved going for rides in this wagon. She couldn't get enough of it.

We were really good, and even went to church Sunday morning. Pat on the back for us. Braelyn had the cutest Easter dress that my mom bought for her and the most adorable green shoes that I found for free at a garage sale!

Braelyn has been the best little travel bug lately. She just chills in her car seat and eats her snacks.

And of course, when we got home we had yet another package waiting from Grandma Kaye with more presents. Kaye makes the most beautiful jewelry, which I am so lucky to receive! This jewelry was actually my "early birthday" gift but Braelyn seemed to think they were hers. She put them on herself. Smart little girly girl!

So needless to say, we had a wonderful Easter week. We couldn't have asked for a better vacation. I am so happy to be a parent to be able to teach Braelyn the importance of holidays like this. Besides all the fun and games, Ben and I know that Jesus is the Christ and our Redeemer. He lives and loves us. We are responsible as mother and father to teach this to our children and I know that Braelyn feels the love that Jesus and her Heavenly Father have for her. Her little spirit is closer than you think to the Savior. It's so cute and we never taught her this, but every night when it is time to go to bed she points up to the picture of Jesus on our wall and says, "bye Zeezus" then waves and blows a kiss. She is such a sweet little spirit and I hope that she keeps this innocent testimony forever.