BRINLEY BRINLEY BRINLEY

taken at 2 months

So I realized I really haven't posted much about this sweet little girl with all that's been going on this summer. She is already 3 1/2 months!! Where does time go?! This little girl makes me so HAPPY. She just has such a funny little personality and makes me laugh. She started smiling at about 6 weeks and its been so fun to watch her personality develop since then.

Things I love about Brinley:

• Her little happy squeals. She doesn't really coo like most babies--she just squeals and blows bubbles.
• When she smiles, everyone smiles. Its impossible not to.
• Her big cheeks and HUGE double chin (really, whats not to love?)

• She sleeps good. I've decided that its harder to love your baby when they don't sleep. Luckily for us, my babies have slept good. Lots of LOVE. :)

taken 5 minutes ago

• She rolls already.
• She does sit ups. (more like crunches, but its quite amazing)

one of her first rolls, kenzie's good at helping her flip back over.

YES, its true. She started rolling just before her 3 month birthday. I don't think Mckenzie rolled till almost 5 months so this was quite a shock to us. But honestly, its because she does all these crunches. She is STRONG. I'll show you some pictures. She probably does AT LEAST 100 crunches each day. And its not just one here and there. She'll do sets of 10-15 in a row.


Talk about a BABY SIX PACK!! She has rolls everywhere else-LOTS of them, but not her stomach- the stomach is firm. I really did feel her stomach today while she was doing some sit ups and it was hard. Harder than mine. (not that that's saying much right now, but still) I think we might make a baby workout video. It would pretty much be awesome!


Even in her car seat--she is trying to sit up. She never just "chills". Always, trying to move and get somewhere. :)

I SO LOVE this little Brinley!

ADVENTURES and BIRTHDAYS

While we've kind of been in transition mode still, we've been trying to take advantage of Russ being home and have been exploring our new turf. The great thing about where we live now is there are tons of trees, hills, and thus more recreational type activities. Its been fun going on lots of little "adventures" as Kenz calls them. :)


This is a little place that we've found that is pretty much awesome. Its this little natural pool/lake in a little cove that you have to hike into. Its great because it has a beachy area with some shade, or you can hop in and swim when it gets too hot. When there is not a major drought, I guess there's usually a big waterfall that falls in the back of the little cove, which would make it even more sweet, but we've had fun going here a time or two.


This is Kenzie with her cousin Ben. She LOVES Ben. And by this I mean in love with him. :) She's so cute; she's always talking about him. And he is SO NICE and good to play tag and hide and seek with her. Such a GREAT cousin to have. I really think he might be her first crush. (which is kinda cute now, but we'll have to discuss this a little if it lingers as she gets older.)

You can't see very well in this picture but this is downtown under a bridge where every night at dusk MILLIONS of bats come out from under the bridge. Its CRAZY. I HATE bats. REALLY I HATE bats. But this is so crazy to see.




AND not to be forgotten, we celebrated RUSS'S BIRTHDAY on the 19th! Happy Birthday Russ!
I am so LUCKY to have such a great husband! He is such a HARD WORKER. I am always in AWE of the direction and VISION he has on life. He KNOWS what he wants, and if he wants something--he goes out and FINDS A WAY to get it. I actually really love that about him. It takes me a lot longer to make a decision and carry it out. He knows me so well and USUALLY what I need without me telling him. He has always had this ability which is another thing that drew me to him in our youth. :) AND he is a WONDERFUL DAD. And I mean WONDERFUL. I honestly couldn't find a fault there if I tried all night. He makes me LAUGH(which I also love), INSPIRES me, and makes me a BETTER PERSON. And he brings out a competitive edge in me--which is good because it gives me drive--but makes it ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE to play games together without a fight. :) He makes me HAPPY and will do ANYTHING for me. Like I said I am SO LUCKY to have such an AMAZING husband.



We went to dinner at a place called the Hula Hut on Lake Austin for his birthday. Its such a fun place that overlooks the beautiful lake.

It was fun to have Bryan and Laurie over to help us celebrate! Its great to still have family nearby!!

A TOUR OF TEXAS

My family flew in for the week of Russ's graduation and it was jam packed full of fun! We went to San Antonio and drove around some areas where we used to live, went to the Riverwalk, went to Sea World, explored our new area here, and then up to Dallas for a Rangers game, graduation, Rodeo and more fun! It really was all SO FUN! We couldn't have fit more into one week! We unfortunately forgot our camera when we went to Dallas so I don't have pictures of some things.



Sea World was so FUN and so HOT! You can probably tell from our "glow".

Trying to COOL down.


At the end of the day, grandma SURPRISED the kiddies with their own little Shamu stuffed animals. Honestly, I've never seen kids more EXCITED about anything! It was so CUTE, the icing on the cake. They packed those things around everywhere with them the rest of the trip. ( And don't worry- Shamu still goes everywhere with us.)



Some pictures of us at the San Antonio temple. Its so BEAUTIFUL!


Brinley's SWEET moments with Grandpa!


Those water fountains outside the temple are for playing in right? :)


Lots of FUN, and a little TIRING. Looks relaxing doesn't it?

CONGRATS RUSS!!

Graduation was something we thought would NEVER come! CONGRATULATIONS again to you Russ! HOURS and HOURS of studying, literally HUNDREDS of tests, LONG nights, and lots HARD WORK. It all finally PAID OFF!! It was such a FUN day.

My mom, dad, and sister Lindsey flew in from Utah, and Russ's brother Brian and two boys drove up, and of course Jon and Lisa and boys came to CELEBRATE with us! Thanks to everyone for making the trip--it made for such a great day. We're so PROUD of you Russ! :)

So Hard To Say Goodbye!

It's so hard to say goodbye..to yesterday....NAME THAT TUNE. :) I was going to put this post to music..but lets be honest--only time for the basics when you're so far behind! :)



We celebrated PIONEER DAY by packing up and trekking about 3 hours south. YEP--we've moved. I was a little SAD and sentimental about this move. I usually LOVE moving, but this one kind of tugged on my strings a little. We have ABSOLUTELY LOVED the past 3 years, even though it had its HARD times--especially for Russ being in school and all--but I feel that we've GROWN a lot over the past few years and we've had a lot of FUN, and made some really GREAT FRIENDS. Its been so AMAZING living so close (literally, next door for 2 years) to my brother Jon and his wife Lisa and their little boys. They are such GOOD EXAMPLES and friends to us. AND its been such a DELIGHT to watch the little cousins grow up together and be such good friends as well. We will definitely look back on this phase of our lives with SWEET MEMORIES. We are, however, really EXCITED for this next chapter in our lives.

Jon and Lisa were so nice to throw a little farewell party for us at their pool. It was fun to see some friends one last time. And lucky for us--its only a 3 hour drive to go visit every now and again. :)

Kenz with her friends--Preston, Asher, Madi, and Riley
Just can't hold back the tears. :) (I'm sure in reality she is crying about something else-but its appropriate for this "goodbye picture".