Fun at the Zoo

Last week we went to the zoo with Jaxon and his Mom (Ashley). There were a lot of other people there too (no school that day), but we had fun looking at the animals and chillin' with our buddies!

She did What??

No, we did not teach her this. Nor does she watch tv, and so maybe saw someone else do this. She is just very, very creative and curious, I guess. And yes, I was a little freaked out.
By the way, she's potty training, hence the nakedness.

Late Valentine's Day

Brailyn Loves her Daddy


Cover Girl

Our Valentines Day was pretty uneventful and stressful. But Brailyn did make a Valentine for Daddy and some of her friends and family. She's getting to be such a big girl. And there'a a picture of Brailyn modeling Momma's shoes...

Check out my slideshow

2 Year Journal Entry

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAILYN!! You’re already two years old, and we are so glad that you are our daughter. You have learned so much and grown into quite a big girl. We are living with Kenny and Tia right now, and you love them so much. Sometimes you prefer them to Momma and Daddy! You are talking so much, and we’re surprised every day with what you say. You finally learned to jump, but you still prefer to keep one foot on the ground. Your favorite book right now is Where’s Waldo. You love to play “where’s the…” with every book, and this one is the best. You are practicing your letters and numbers all the time with your fridge letters and your number cards. You can already recognize number 3, 5, 8 and 0, 90 % of the time, and the others you do pretty well at too. You like to sing the ABC’s and the pizza song, sunbeam, and some others. You love music makers (we went every week while we were in Glendale) and now that we’ve moved, Momma is going to have to get her own group going so we can start singing again. But we still listen to the music a lot and you love to dance to it. We trying to use the potty, and it’s going pretty well. You go after breakfast, most of the time, and you’re going #1 in the potty a lot more. But you love to wear your panties. You are a good playmate- you are nice to other kids and never push or cry. Only when you miss Momma. We still have some separation anxiety every once in awhile, but that’s okay. You love to say prayers at dinner and after we say “amen” you clap and shout “yay!!” It makes everyone laugh. We are waiting for Daddy to get a job, and then decide where we’re going to live. But even though Momma and Daddy are stressed sometimes, you are happy, and make us happy and feel better. But we do need to be careful what we say around you. Sometime when Momma and Daddy are arguing, and we say “crap” or something, you like to repeat it in the same tone of voice. Monkey see, monkey do. Hopefully this summer we can learn to swim and have lots of fun. Momma is training for the Boston marathon in April, so you like to see momma running. It will good to go swimming a lot after the marathon and give momma a break from training! We hope you know how much we love you. We really do. My life wouldn’t be as good if it weren’t for you. Being your momma is what makes me happy, and I hope to be as good a momma as I can. I love you.

Happy Birthday Brailyn!

I think I'm going to cry. Okay, I won't, but my little girl is 2 years old!! I can't believe it. You know all of the cliches- time flies, they grow up so fast, seems like only yesterday- but they're all true. Two years ago today are sugar pie joined our family, and changed our lives. I always knew I wanted to be a mother, but through school and my young adult life, I was trying to find some other job that I would like- should I go to med school? should I work in the fitness industry? should I teach piano/swimming lessons? But when Brailyn was born, all of those questions disappeared. I was finally able to just tell myself, and everyone else, that I was a mom, full time, and that was what I wanted to do. I don't want to sound corny or molly-mormony, but for me, right now, this is really all I want to do. I don't have this nagging career voice in my head. I don't have to struggle with career v. family. I know there are plenty of women who do it all and do it well, but for me, I just want to be the best darn mom I can. I love teaching Brailyn and watching her learn. I love taking her to activities and playdates. And I love being the boss of my schedule (of course it revolves around Brailyn) and doing what I want. So, happy birthday Brailyn, and thank you for giving me my callig in life.
Okay, enough smushy stuff. Things about Brailyn:
1. She LOVES Minnie Mouse and will test her Daddy's patience every hour of the day with "Wa do?" a game where she wants him to talk for Minnie and play Simon Says or something.
2. She loves puzzles and books. And I'm going to brag because she loves story books, long ones, not just the kiddie books, and she's pretty good at 9 piece jigsaw puzzles.
3. She (still) loves broccoli and other veggies. I'm very proud of her healthy diet, something that is very important to me (almost to the point of obsessive).
4. She loves to cuddle in the morning. She usually crawls in our bed before the sun comes up and finishes sleeping. But when we wake up, she just wants to snuggle
5. She is very sweet with other kids. She doesn't boss, push, bite, etc. She's meek yet she knows what she wants.
6. She loves her uncle Kenny. Always asking where he is.
7. She has a great imagination. She loves to play with her kitchen set at Gamma's, or the Playmobile figures (supervised, don't worry) even though they're for bigger kids. We also "make" meals with a bowl and spoon, then enjoy "eating" them.
8. She loves to color.
9. She's doing pretty well on the potty training. Every day she'll go #1 and #2 at least once, more if we're home all day.
10. She listens to Momma, and rarely gets into trouble. If I tell her a cupboard is not for her, she won't play in it. I noticed this difference when a little boy was playing with her at Gamma's house and he got into the hutch in the dining room, every one in the kitchen etc. It's probably her first child syndrome.
11. One more brag- she already can recognize some numbers and letters and we sing ABC's pretty well. She loves to play "where's the" with anything- Waldo, letters, any picture in a book.

Brailyn, we love you so much, and can't wait to see what we do this next year!!