Last week of vacation

Today starts the last week of my vacation. I am not ready to go back to work. I am so jealous of the teachers because they got off May 26th and don't go back until August 2oth. I didn't get off until July 12th and I go back August 6th. I get 3 weeks and they get 12 weeks off! This is me!

I am going to enjoy this last week as much as I can. I want to keep the house cleaned, go swimming, and just enjoy my little cuddlebug. I am not ready to go back to waking up early. Well, I still wake up early now, but I give her some milk and she goes back to sleep. So I don't typically have to get out of bed until 9-9:30! It's great.

Brynlee got so many toys, books, and clothes at her birthday party. She loves all of it. She is especially happy to carry around the plastic fork from her picnic basket. She tries to eat everything. Kitty for lunch? Sure, why not! She stabs the cat's stomach with the fork and goes, "MmMmMm". It cracks me up.

There's not much to update on!

Wonderful Weekend

I am just now updating because Saturday was such a busy day! My family got here in the morning and we spent the day buying groceries for the party, having lunch, and then setting up for the party. After the party, we invited my mom and David, Kyle and Paige, and Ashley and Mark over to play board games and hang out. We drank rum (and Scotch for the guys) and played Bezzerwizzer and The Big Bang Theory Trivia. Both were really hard games, lol. I guess I suck at trivia! I've watched every episode of Big Bang Theory many, many times and I still didn't know some of the answers. We stayed up really late talking and hanging out with my brother and sister-in-law.

The birthday party was a hit. We had lots of friends and family show up. The kids (and a few adults) all enjoyed swimming, we had hot dogs, and then cupcakes. Brynlee's smash cake was SO cute (pictures to come). I didn't take pictures because I thought my brother and sister-in-law were taking pictures with their nice camera, but I think they didn't have the memory card or the battery or something. I can't really remember what happened. We do have pictures, but they are from various phones and ipads, lol. I will get those from everyone soon.

We had a lot of food left over because lots of people who said they were coming did not show up. We also had friends who came up with last minute excuses as to why they wouldn't be there. One of my biggest pet peeves is for people to make a committment and bail with no explanation. I make it a point to go to things for my friends and it seems that I never get the same treatment. We've had multiple occasions where we have invited people to do things (such as a big BBQ at our house where we spent over $100 on the food, drinks, etc) and only 1 of the couples showed up. We had a good time with them anyway, but it was supposed to be a total of 10 people. Every couple said they were coming and then bailed with no explanation. It makes me so ticked off. /endrant

The people that really care about Brynlee made it a point to be there and that is really all that matters. She had a great time. She did not dig ino her smash cake like we thought she would though. She just barely dipped her fingers in it. It was as if she thought the cake was too pretty to mess up!

I think her party was a success. I promise to get the pictures soon. Here's a picture of Brynlee and her Daddy from the party.

Her 1st birthday pictures should be coming in the mail this week. I can't wait to see and post them!

Happy Birthday Beautiful

Today is Brynlee's 1st birthday! (Like you didn't know that already, lol) I want to write her a little letter that she can read someday. I did write her a card from Mommy and Daddy. I sealed it and put it in her Keepsake Box. I look forward to her reading all of her birthday cards someday. =)
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Dear My Sweet Brynlee Marie,

The last 12 months have been wonderful with you in my life. You have really changed my life in so many ways. Now I really know what it's like to truly love someone more than anyone else in the world. You have taught me how to be selfless. You've taught me what it's like to put someone else's needs ahead of mine 24/7. You've taught me what it's like to have someone NEED me. I have greatly enjoyed watching you grow. You've always been so happy, so friendly, so sweet, and smart. I love watching you learn and try new things every day.

Right now, you have 3 teeth and you almost have your 4th. You are such a copy cat! When we say "Hello?", you put your hand to your ear and tilt your head. You say, "Ello?" You're always playing with my phone and the remote control. When I ask where your belly button is, you lift up your shirt and point at your belly button and say, "There!" You point at cups and say, "Dink?" When I put my finger to my lips and say, "SHH!", you put your finger to your lips (and up your nose) and say, "SSSSSSSSS!" It's so cute! When I squint, you squint. When I stick out my tongue, so do you! When I clean the table, you grab something and clean the table, too. You like to point Rita Pita Pants and say, "Key Key!" You're not scared of Roscoe or Roxie and they love licking your cheeks and then you just giggle!

You're a GREAT eater and your love your milk! It was easy to transition you from breast milk to formula to whole milk. You learned to drink from a straw by copying me ONE time! You've been full blown walking since 9 months and 1 week. You took your first steps the day before you turned 9 months. It did not take you long to learn how to crawl and then walk. Now you are RUNNING! You are hard to keep up with! You love to play in the water whether it's in the bath tub or swimming at Nona's or Grandpa's. You just splash, splash, splash.

I've enjoyed my 3 weeks vacation so much because I get to hang out with you every day. Sure, sometimes you get on my nerves when you're in a bad mood, but I'm sure I get on your nerves, too. All I can say is that I have so much joy with you in my life. You're the most important person in my life and I love you so much.

Happy 1st birthday beautiful!

Love,
Mommy
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We had a great family birthday for Brynlee. First, Brynlee and I spent the whole day together. We spent the morning cuddling in bed and just chatting (or blabbering). I made her breakfast and we played together. We (Joey, Brynlee, and me) went to Applebee's for dinner. Brynlee wore her HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! t-shirt. I was secretly hoping we would get a free dessert, but we didn't! Boo! We had dessert anyway, LOL. Here she is before dinner...

Tomorrow is her birthday party! I am so excited to see our friends and family.

Might as well beat a dead horse...

Not to....

But I still cannot believe that Brynlee will be 1 year old tomorrow. I never thought I would be one of those "Where has the time gone???" kind of Moms. Up until this point, I have greatly enjoyed each milestone, each step, every new thing that she has done. I still think that she gets cuter and cuter every day. I think she is so funny, so beautiful, and incredibly charming. I know she is very smart and so loving. I really never can understand the Moms who long for the newborn days. I DO NOT miss the newborn days. Sure, it was great cuddling with my little love bug. It was also cool that she slept for hours on end so I could, too. =P AND it was pretty nice when she wasn't so heavy! But I just love that she will hold my hand with her little, tiny hand and we can walk through the mall. Well, until she decides to start running. She seems to really like Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works.

Either way, tomorrow my big girl will be 1 year old. *Sigh* I got her a card so that Joey and I can write her a letter and put it in her keepsake box for her to look back on someday.

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You know what is incredibly annoying (and sometimes funny)? When someone posts a vague Facebook status complaining about something someone did that they hate and you think, "Wait, is she/he talking about ME??" Then you see a ton of other people comment and you realize that everyone thinks that status is about them. It becomes funny. OF COURSE it's not about me! I am not a shitty friend or person! I wipe the sweat from my brow, erase the incredibly hateful message I was typing, and go play a Facebook game. Then it gets annoying because the person who posted the status does that shit on purpose. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING! It's funny because we are really all self-centered and attention seeking people. We secretly WANT people to comment and like our updates or photos or think our vague bitch fest status updates are about them. I know I've been guilty of making a post, waiting to see who all responds, and then taking my time with my response. I do try not to make blanket status updates where all of my friends comment thinking that it is them though.

It's always in the last place you look!

Quick update on Joey:
He saw the GI doctor yesterday afternoon. Joey told him about the issues he's been having with his bladder since he had his 1st surgery. The GI doctor thinks that when Joey's colon was inflamed and infected that he thinks his colon and bladder had fused together. Now that part of his colon has been removed, there's probably a hole inbetween them causing the air bubbles and issues with his bladder. So he goes back next Tuesday for a colonoscopy and he's going to have a Urologist come in and do a scope of his bladder, too. He's currently scheduled to see the surgeon again on August 7th. Then we'll see if they okay him for surgery or not. We're hoping he does get the okay. By the time he sees the surgeon, he will have had the colostomy bag for almost 12 weeks. :/ At his 6 week checkup, the surgeon wanted him to have it for another 6 weeks. Hopefully 12 weeks will be his max, but I am not looking forward to him being in the hospital again (will be our 4th hospital stay since the end of March) or being in pain again. By that time, I will be back to work as well.

Brynlee lost my keys on Monday. Since I haven't left the house, I didn't know they were gone until today. My sister came over so we could go run errands and we searched for almost 2 hours. I called a locksmith and had them unlock my car. Then I got out the carseat, transfered it to sister's car, and then we ran our errands. I got home and was really stressing about finding my keys. I had gone through her toy box many times, searched under everything, in everything, behind everything, and even went through the trash *gag*. Finally, I decided to try and retrace Brynlee's steps. Let me tell you, that is hard when she is (almost) 1! That girl led me on a wild goose chase.

I swear if her feet were dipped in chocolate (or even poop) then my house would be even more of a disaster. By the way, we do have a toddler sized ravioli handprint on the edge of our couch. I wonder where that came from?! So I found the keys. I remembered that Brynlee was trying to climb on the treadmill while I was sorting out a clothes donation for the kids at school. I remember raising my voice at her because she had my keys. I found the keys underneath the treadmill. I had searched near there many times, but didn't look between the cracks.

I hate the saying, "It's always in the last place you look". If I found it, why would I keep looking?

Sneak Peek 1 Year Photo Shoot!

My little Brynlee will be 1 year old on Friday! Her birthday party is on Saturday. We're having a pool party/BBQ at my Father-in-Law's house. He has a pool and his house is close to our's so we decided to have it there. One of the teachers at school who is an awesome baker is going to make Brynlee's cake and cupcakes for me. She is making a ladybug smash cake to match the pink and purple ladybug theme. Then we're just having cupcakes for everyone else. We're expecting about 50 people (that is including all of the kids and babies) to be there. Eek! I have never had a party like that before. I am ecstatic to have it at my FIL's house instead of my own! I can't wait to see both sides of our family.

We did her one year photo shoot on Sunday morning. It was SUPER hot outside. The high for the day was approximarely 103 degrees! We did her pictures at 9:30 in the morning and the temperature was about 88-90 degrees. It was really toasty out there. I was surprised that Brynlee held up so well through 3 outfits and then her smash cake pictures! The photographer, K. Rathbun Photography, was awesome. She traveled over an hour to get to us (she was recommended by some mutual friends). She brought her son to help make Brynlee laugh. He did such a great job. She has wonderful ideas and cute props. She wasn't sure what props to bring since she was going to be taking pictures at a location that she had never been before.

She posted a few sneak peak pictures on Facebook while she edits the pictures for the CD. I figured I should show them with you loyal followers. =) I think they turned out great and I am incredibly excited to see the entire CD!


Here she is in her hot air balloon and 1st outfit.



Here is Brynlee hugging her "Brynlee Doll".



The beginning of her smash cake pictures!


I am so in love with the pictures so far. I absolutely loved her hot air balloon idea with the basket. There's more pictures of her in and out of the basket as well as close up pictures so I cannot wait to see them all. I am in love with the picture of her hugging her Brynlee doll. The thing that amazes me is that it wasn't one of the planned shoot ideas. I had changed her outfit and she was just sitting on that rock while we waited for my husband and the photographer's son to bring more props from the car. I handed her the doll to keep her occupied and the photographer just started snapping pictures. My heart melted when I first saw that one. <3

We took a few pictures of her in her Texas Tech tutu, but she wasn't happy about more picture taking at that point so I am not sure if the photographer got any good pictures or not. By the time we moved on to the smash cake pictures, it was HOT HOT HOT! You can see that her cheeks are a bit rosy! I was very worried about her getting sunburned out there in that Texas heat. :/ I put a little sunscreen on her in the morning after her bath. She didn't get sunburned so maybe it helped!

At first, I don't think she really knew what to do with the cake! She kinda put her right hand in it, looked at me for half of a second, and then ate it. It was a cute cake, too and only $7.98 at Wal-Mart! Her little bloomers are adorable. I ordered the bloomers from Ashlyn Grace Design on Etsy. They are SO cute. I asked the photographer to take pictures of the bloomers. She took a lot of pictures and then said, "Okay, I think I took a lot of pictures of her butt." LOL So hopefully I'll have a picture or two to share of the back of the bloomers!

I will definitely use this photographer again and I will share more pictures when I receive the CD!

I'll log on tomorrow and update you guys on other areas of our lives.

Brynlee is almost 1!

I am such a sucky blogger (this statement is starting to sound really familiar). Here's some updates for you.

I was in Austin last week for a work conference. I learned a lot of valuable information, but the conference definitely has lots of room for improvement. I sure did fill out quite the evaluation, too! Hopefully they will actually adjust the conference based on the evaluations because I know a lot of other people felt the same way I did about the conference. Anyway, I was away from Brynlee for 4 days and 3 nights. I had a pretty rough time with it. She has spent the night with people (as in ONE night at a time) before, but I had never been that far away from her for that long. (Austin is a good 5.5 hours away.) She was with Joey, but still. He's not the same as MAMA!

As far as Joey: He found out on June 28th that he will have the colostomy bag for at least another 6 weeks. Argh. He's already had it for 6 weeks so I know he was very disappointed to find out that he would have it for so much longer. His surgeon's reason is that since Joey is finally feeling good (or okay) then the doc wants him to "feel good" for a bit longer before they do surgery #2 and he feels crappy again and has to recover. So I can understand his logic, but it sure does suck. We can't really do much. No swimming (for him), no baseball games, camping, Six Flags, water parks, or any of our other summer activities since he has to worry about how and where he will clean and change the colostomy bag. He also has to have another colonoscopy with his GI doctor before the surgeon will do surgery #2. So he sees his doctor at the end of the month and then sees the surgeon on August 7th.

As far as me, my working out sucks. My eating sucks. My mood sucks. I went to the dentist about my TMJD and now I have to get a mouth guard (for night). If that doesn't help then I'll have to get fitted for a day splint. So I hope the night mouth guard helps. I've also been going to a chiropractor. Hopefully that will help.

I've also been planning Brynlee's birthday party! I cannot believe she will be 1 year old in 3 weeks. *sniff sniff* She's such a big girl now! She has been walking for a couple of months, she's almost completely off formula, she waves and claps, she plays games, oh man the list goes on and on! I scheduled her 1 year pictures for July 15th and I cannot wait. I ordered her some super cute outfits and a SUPER cute diaper cover for her smash cake photos. I just hope she cooperates, lol. I usually have to take like 15 pictures in order to get a few cute ones of her, lol.

Here's some recent pictures for you :)

Here she is modeling her new outfit.



This is her newest facial expression, lol. It cracks me up!



Here she is in the "Air Force Princess" outfit Grandpa got her. He's retired Air Force.



4th of July outfit :)

Cutie Patootie! :)

Here she is today with her crazy pigtails.

I hope you had a good 4th of July! I only have 6 more days of work before summer vacation and I cannot wait.