Life as I know it: September 2012

There really is a FIRST TIME for everything and last week we had LOTS of them!

Brynlee is 5 months old

Brynlee's FIRST day as a 5 month old was Monday! The little stinker is trying to get her FIRST tooth I think and also got her FIRST cold this week :( Poor thing can hardly breath and has been keeping both Kyle and I up a lot in the night. Thankfully she has been doing better the last couple days and last night I only got up with her 3 times. Brynlee likes to squeeze and give "kisses". She'll grab my face with both of her hands and pull as hard as she can and give me big open mouthed kisses. It's sweet when she's not scratching my face and neck all to pieces, haha. I got out all of Hayden's old fall/winter clothes this week and Brynlee is in 6 month stuff already. I think she'll be in them for a while but still...my little baby is growing up! B also got to try out the Johnny Jump Up this week. She seems to like it so I think when she gets a little bigger she'll really get into the jumping part of it :)

Brynlee's baby dedication

Brynlee celebrated another FIRST...we had a baby dedication for her at church last Sunday. Pastor Larry did a great job of challenging us as parents to raise her in the Lord as well as challenging the congregation to help hold us accountable in that promise to the Lord. We are very thankful for our church and so humbled to have the job of raising such beautiful little girls. It is our prayer that we serve the Lord and follow Him 100% when it comes to training our children in the way they should go.

My big girl on the first day of Preschool!

Tuesday was a FIRST for Hayden. Her FIRST day of preschool! I am doing a few things with her at home on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have only 2 days done so far but she is loving it and mom/teacher is hoping it stays that way :) It has been a learning experience for both of us and I hope I grow in my teaching as much as she grows in learning. She has been practicing the "A" sound and trying to draw them. She can trace but likes to finger paint letters instead (go figure, lol). She drew pictures of things that start with "a" and also worked on following directions with coloring, and finding smallest/largest items. She does really well but has a hard time following instructions. She would much rather do her own thing than have me tell her which color to use, or what shape to color, etc. That's where the learning part comes in for both of us. She learns that you have to follow directions once in a while and I learn that it's ok not to be a neat freak and perfectionist when you're 3! In all honesty though, I love her independent spirit. She is so creative and would much rather make up her own story when she "reads" or make up words to a song about whatever is on her mind than sing a "real" one. She thinks outside the box and doesn't let others interpret her world. A personality like that can do great things for the Lord if trained in the right way. I pray God helps me train her right even when her personality can be so different from mine and I don't always understand where she's coming from. Sometimes I don't know what to do, but He does; so I pray...a lot :) My goal is to do a letter a week for 26 weeks as well as go over numbers. We will do lots of coloring with crayons, colored pencils, chalk, paint. She gets to use scissors, glue, do worksheets, sing songs and all the other fun preschool stuff. We even do "home ec" and she gets to help me open cans and mix ingredients together. I am not doing a lot of structured time with her just because she is only 3 and we do a lot together when she's not "in school". She still has another year after this one before she will start Kindergarten.

A-ligator and a-pple. She is wearing an apron that used to be mine when I was little :)

We also had our FIRST day of MOPS on Wednesday and Hayden was so excited to go play with her friends! Towards the end of last year right before Brynlee was born she started getting really clingy and didn't want to go, so when she went with such excitement last week I was so happy. A friend took her down to her class and she went without a second glance back. I gotta say, I love MOPS so much and miss it terribly over the summer. It's such a blessing and rejuvenates my spirit every month when I go. I love being able to get together with other moms and spend time with other adults that are in the the same stage of life as I am. And not having to deal with kids for a couple hours is also an added blessing :) Brynlee did great and slept in the nursery the whole time and when I got Hayden afterwards she was all wound up and had to tell me about everybody she saw and everything she did. One of the MOPPET workers told me that Hayden is her little song helper. She always stands up front and sings and does all the actions with her. Love that girl! :)

Wednesday was a busy day for us because Hayden had her FIRST day of Cubbies too! We got the verses she was supposed to have ready for the first day in the mail and had been working on them every day before nap and bed time and she was READY! You were supposed to be able to say the first 3 verses and the Cubbies motto before you could get your book and bag. I was thinking, "Three verses AND the motto? She's never going to get her book!" Oh me of little faith! Hayden had them down no problem and got her first Cubbies book and bag on the first night. I was so proud of her! I am also helping with the Cubbies for the FIRST time this year. I have helped in other areas of Awana for many years and even subbed once for Cubbies, but this is the first year to be a Cubbies leader. I was a little nervous at first. I have a hard time handling all the chaos of 3/4 year olds but everything went really smoothly. Hopefully every week will be like that! (Ha, riiiiiiiiight! But I can dream.)

Friday brought another FIRST for the MMC football team. The Eagles won their FIRST homecoming game in a decade! It was the FIRST homecoming win for the seniors and obviously Kyle's FIRST homecoming win as head coach. It was against a huge rival, Remsen-Union, and the game was definitely charged. It was a hard fought battle, but in the end the Eagles won 31-22. I love experiencing all these firsts with Kyle and the team. I am so proud of him and all he has accomplished with the team this year. God has blessed him so much and I love seeing him so excited :)

Homecoming 2012!

I just can't believe how time is passing by so quickly. My little baby girl is 5 months old already;Hayden is 3 and going to Cubbies and doing preschool; my husband is a head football coach. I never would have guessed even a year ago when we moved here where our family would be right now and what we would be experiencing in our lives. I feel so blessed every month (ish) when I update my blog and remember all that God has done for us. I am so thankful I started this blog (self absorbed as it is) so that I, and even my family members, can go back years from now and see all the things that we went through and experienced. Gotta love this kind of technology :)

This is way past due since it's now September 2 and Brynlee will be 5 months next Monday...but better late than never!

She is growing up sooo fast! Her 4 month check up was on Aug. 13. Shots went well (she was a champ!) and she is growing and gaining weight well. She is in the 50th percentile, weighs 13lbs 14oz and is 24 1/2" long. I changed her cloth diapers to the medium setting and she wears size 2 in disposables now. Compared to Hayden at the same age Brynlee is about 1 1/2 lbs lighter and 1 1/2 " shorter. She seems so big but compared to Hayden she is a petite little thing!

Milestones: rolled over just shy of 4 months on Aug 7. Went front to back :) She also rolled from back to front in her crib on Aug 30. First laughed on Aug. 10. (Even got video, it's soooo cute!) Had her first taste of cereal on Aug. 15 (got a video of that too) and she did great! She now eats cereal most mornings and every night before bed.

Fun events: We went to the Marcus fair the day Brynlee turned 4 months. She got to enjoy a parade and see her sister ride on some rides for the first time. Last year Hayden was a little short to ride most of them so she was pretty pumped this year :) Football started the end of August! We have had 2 games so far and Brynlee has done great! She is awake most of the time and squirms, squeals and jumps through the whole thing. It's like she knows something exciting is going on. A little plug for my hubby: MMC is 2-0!!! The boys have done great! I am so proud of Kyle, the whole coaching staff and the team :)

Our daily routine: Brynlee wakes up somewhere between 8:30 and 10am. If she wakes up early, I feed her cereal and then nurse her around 9. If she wakes up late I usually just nurse her. She goes down for a nap around 10 or 10:30 and wakes up for "lunch" at 1. Another nap at about 2 and sleeps until 4:30 or 5, nurses again and is usually up for the rest of the evening. Once in a while I can get her to take a short half hour nap after supper but I can't always count on it. Evening is also her crabby time, she gets tired but won't sleep so she just cries. It's not too bad though and I can usually distract her by going outside or playing with her.

B is still on Zantac and is doing great with it. I tried taking her off of it for a couple days and decided not to do that EVER again. The doc says we'll try again around 18 months :) I have finally figured out the whole dairy thing I think. I stay away from straight milk and and NO ice cream. I can have milk in things, SOME cheese and I even get to eat a candy bar once in a while :) My next step is to try some cream soups in things and see how that goes over. That will, thankfully, reintroduce a LOT of foods that are off limits right now. Thank the Lord for doctors/nurses who know what they are doing. I am sooo thankful that Brynlee has meds that help her! She is a very happy, smiley baby :)

Brynlee likes her exersaucer, bouncy and Bumbo seat. We rotate between the 3 of those throughout most of the day. Playing with her feet is also a big past time :) Who knew feet could be so much fun?? She is a BIG mama's girl and if something is wrong only mom can make it better. On the one hand that's kinda fun and flattering but on the other hand it would be really nice if daddy would work too :S She is also a pretty big homebody and likes to stay in her routine. She is very timid around people at first and gets nervous quickly. Once she warms up she does fine but she wants to see everybody and take everything in in the comfort of mom's arms :) Peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake are her favorite games to play. She is VERY ticklish and squeals and laughs when you kiss/blow on her neck. Although Brynlee has slept through the night once in a while since she was a couple months old she has been consistently sleeping through the night for the past 2 weeks! Once in a while I will have to get up and put the pacifier back in her mouth but most of the time I don't have to do that even! Love it! :)

Hayden and Brynlee get along REALLY well. Hayden loves her so much and says so all the time. She likes to hold her and play with her and Brynlee likes watching her big sister. She always has a big smile for her whenever she sees her. As a mom, that completely warms my heart. I hope it stays that way forever! I am so proud of Hayden and how grown up she is. I couldn't ask her to be a better big sister :)