Bad Girl

Josh jokes that Brinley is a Bad Girl. Lately I would have to agree with him. When I feed her she takes some bites and then blows raspberries while she has a bite in her mouth, spraying food on me and everywhere! I'm not a fan! Here are a few pictures of the cute little miss in action!

Look'n cute eating her cracker

blowing raspberries with food in her mouth

oh, and she closes her eyes sometimes when she does it! silly girl!

'Chris-Chris So Fun!'

I LOVE Christmas time! I LOVE the lights and decorations. Thinking of others, the fun magical feeling and the memories that are made.

Having kids makes all holidays so much fun! They get so excited about everything! Everything is so fun and new and magical. I LOVE it! This year we have tried to do something Christmas oriented every day. We read books, sang songs, decorated, made treats, wrote letters to Santa, played in the snow, took treats to our neighbors and friends, made a mini Christmas tree and put ornaments on it for the kid's room, sat on Santa's lap, donated toys to Toys for Tots, and made Christmas pictures.

As I put Hayden down for a nap one day I told him all the fun things we were going to do when he woke up..."we are going to decorate the cookies with frosting and sprinkles" He said in an excited voice, "Chris-Chris SO fun!" I LOVE this little man & his little sister and I LOVE this time of year!

his hands were so cold!

I was putting things on the tree so I guess Hayden thought he should too.
If you look close you can see Thomas in there too!

making Christmas pictures

decorating a rice crispy Christmas tree

His letter to Santa

sitting on Santa's lap

look at the cheesy smile! love it!

Hayden & Tyson after seeing Santa

We get the kids new ornaments every year. These are their ornaments this year.

Cute Little Mess

We had spaghetti for dinner the other night, so Brinley got to try some. I don't know how much actually went down, but she sure did make a mess!

Cute Girl

Brinley is getting so big. This is how we find her after her naps or night time. Up on her knees looking at the door waiting for us to come get her! So cute!

Erie, PA

We went to Erie, PA for a few days so that Josh could take his dental boards. When we got to the hotel the first night both kids were tired and a little nervous about their new sleeping environment. They both cried. Hayden was easily consoled and went right to sleep. Brinley had slept in the car on the way there and was not fond of the pack and play she was supposed to sleep in. She cried and cried and cried. She cried when I held her. She cried when Josh held her. She cried when we layed her down. She cried when I rocked her, bounced her or tried to feed her. She cried for 2 hours. She NEVER does this! When she finally fell asleep in my arms I tried to lay her down and she woke up an cried more. Finally at 11:30 she fell asleep and stayed asleep when I layed her down. We woke up the next morning had breakfast and dropped Josh off at his testing center. I took the kids back to the hotel and they played and took naps until it was time to go get Josh again. It was SO cold in Erie! We live in Buffalo where it is freezing and we thought we were going to die in Erie! It was negative temperatures with wind chill! The lady at the hotel front desk told me it gets much worse than it was while we were there! Holy cow, NO thank you!

Brinley practicing getting up on all 4's

Hayden loved the hotel phones. He kept picking them up and talking.

playing and watching some cartoons



On the second day I took Hayden to McDonalds while we waited for Josh. This was Hayden's first happy meal. I think he was just as excited that he got a new "guy" as he was that there were toys to play on.

On the second day Josh's test only lasted part of the day. After he was done we got lunch and then drove the 1 1/2 hours back home.

I'm sure Josh did well, but we will anxiously be awaiting his board scores.

Grandma's Back in Town

Grandma Ricks came back for a few days to finish up her dental work. We had lots of fun while she was here.

READING BOOKS

SHARING CARROTS WITH GRANDMA


VISITING THE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT HOUSES

Here in Buffalo there is a Darwin Martin Complex. It consists of 3 houses and a garage with an apartment above it. Darwin Martin was a wealthy man that hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design his home. Frank Lloyd Wright used unique design such as long bricks, no rain gutters, garden areas, walkways, etc. Darwin Martin later lost all of his money in the stock market. After he died his wife tried to sell the house, but couldn't so it sat vacant for 17 years. It is currently being renovated to remove asbestos and bring it back to it's original design.

Darwin Martin Home

side view where the flower garden usually is

Barton Home
Darwin Martin had Frank Lloyd Wright build this home first to see if he liked his designs.
He later had his sister and her family live there.

Gardner's House
This house was smaller but had a really cool open design.

BUILD A BEAR

We had a groupon for Build a Bear so while Grandma was in town we went there.

Hayden picked out a monkey, who he named Curious George

Brinley got a dog. Hayden named him TT after our dog Teton


Stuffing the animals


adding some love

giving it a heart

giving them a bath

looking at the accessories...or trying them out!

cute little miss watching

Grandma got stuck in town because of the snow. She had to stay an extra day, but we had to go to Erie for Josh to take his Boards so we left her alone for her extended night and she had to get a cab to take her to the airport. We felt bad, but we couldn't change his boards.

9 Months Old

Height: 28 1/4 in ~ 75th percentile
Weight: 19 lbs 12 oz ~ 75th percentile
Head Circumference: 17" ~ 25th percentile

Brinley is now 9 months old! Seriously, where did the time go?! She's such a cutie! We love her to pieces! She is now army crawling everywhere and recently got up on her hands and knees and rocked. She LOVES to sit and play with the toys. I can set her down by the toys and she'll play for quite a while, and she has a good time. She pulls all the books out of the bookshelf, just like Hayden used to. She is SO happy all the time. She gets excited when she hears her daddy's voice and she loves it when he gobbles her. She loves to put the blanket over her own face and have us play peek a boo with her. She loves her feet! She pulls her socks off all the time. She also puts them in the air and plays with them and puts them in her mouth. She loves cheerios, graham crackers and yogurt, and is starting to eat some table foods. She takes 2 naps a day. Morning and afternoon. She sleeps best in her bed. If we are out and about she has to be exhausted before she will fall asleep. She doesn't like to snuggle like she used to. It makes me sad, but it's a good thing too. I will hold her and rock her standing up and sing to her and then lay her down and turn on her music and she will fall asleep. At night she will snuggle with me and while I rock her and feed her a bottle. She also doesn't like to be swaddled anymore, she wiggles out of it. I wrap her up now but she usually likes her arms out. She loves it when her brother plays with her. She thinks he is so funny. I love dressing Brinley up! Josh teases me that our kids are my dolls. I don't care, it's fun!
We love ya little girly!

Playing with her feet

Playing in her bed when she is supposed to be sleeping.

army crawling

cute little miss all dressed up!

Playing