Brynlee Ann's First Christmas

The Christmas season has always been my favorite time of year - not only is it fun to decorate and sing lots of fun Christmas songs 24/7, but it is absolutely amazing to me to watch people celebrate the birth of our Lord. To me, at least, I felt like more people openly proclaimed Christ as the "reason for the season" this year than any other year. Maybe it's because I'm placing such a high importance on Brynlee Ann learning to love Jesus from an early age, or maybe (and hopefully) it's just because people, in general, are truly seeing the love & sacrifice God made to send His ONLY son to be born sinless into a sinful world and die for each of our sins.

This year I had a hard time getting into the "Christmas spirit" at first. At the beginning of December I was packing for a move to our new city and I missed out on having decorations put up the day after Thanksgiving. As soon as we had access to our new home I put up the Christmas tree, and one of the first things I unpacked when we fully moved in was Christmas decorations. Even after doing all that and getting so very excited about hosting our families for Christmas at our new home, I still was still just not feeling it. One day, while taking a quick selfishly long bath in our luxurious new tub I realized that although I had gone through the motions of celebrating JESUS's birth, I hadn't taken it to heart & paused to celebrate His life myself. As soon as I did, the lights turned out in my head, the Christmas decorations were a bit sweeter, and my enthusiasm for teaching Brynlee Ann about the true meaning of Christmas was second to none!

We started off our Christmas celebration time by taking Brynlee Ann to see Santa at our local mall. I was so impressed with the sweet ladies who were helping Santa at his little village in the mall and Santa was just too cute! He was so sweet with Brynlee Ann and held her like a pro! Brynlee Ann was unimpressed and didn't really care about smiling, but considering she wasn't spitting up, pooping, or screaming for a bottle during the whole Santa encounter, I think this is a winner! *Praying for next year to go smoothly*

Next, we got ready for Grandma & Granddaddy, and Papa John & Granny Nanny and Uncle Matthew to come visit! Brynlee Ann traveled with us for all of our shopping, visiting friends, and even experienced sweet caroler kids from our neighborhood coming to our door to sing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer!

On Christmas Eve we got all dressed up for church and visited a great church just down the road from us! We enjoyed how they incorporated beautiful music, media effects, and especially children into their Christmas Eve service! (We'll definitely be going back to try out their Sunday morning service!)

After church, we went over to Aunt Hildy's house for her traditional Christmas Eve dinner - tamales & chile...I was in HEAVEN! After we got home from dinner, Mommy & Brynlee Ann left out ginger bread cookies for Santa - those are his absolute favorite kind of cookies!

I would say he enjoyed them because the cookies were gone and the glass & plate were in the dishwasher when I woke up on Christmas morning :-)

Now begins the plethora of pictures from our Christmas morning. A tradition that we wanted to begin with Brynlee Ann is receiving a letter from Santa explaining her gifts and then having her open those gifts first. Here is Brynlee Ann's letter from Santa:

(if you'd like a copy of this letter, just leave a comment & I'll email it to you)

Here is Brynlee Ann with her 3 gifts from Santa - her gold gift (representing gold the wise man brought to Jesus & a gift that brings her joy), her silver gift (representing Frankincense & a gift that will bring her closer to Jesus), and her red gift (representing myrrh & a gift that will cloth or protect her).

 Excited to find out what Santa brought her!

Her lamb that plays "Jesus Loves Me", piggy bank to store "bag money" from Granddaddy, and a breathable crib bumper to protect her in her crib.

Her favorite gift by far is Sophie the Giraffe! If you have a teether or little one who likes to put things in his/her mouth, Sophie is PHENOMENAL! Have not known a baby who didn't love it. Brynlee Ann is OBSESSED!

While we waited on lunch to be ready, the guys joined in a friendly game of Texas Hold 'em -- new tradition?

We all ate a yummy lunch while Brynlee Ann napped in her swing. Aunt Hildy brought over twice thrice baked potatoes and beef tenderloin, my mom brought a ham, and I cooked scalloped potatoes, broccoli & cheese, yeast rolls, and mint brownies for dessert. Brian also picked up a Mrs. Smith's apple pie from Kroger to add to dessert. 

I had seen a video circulating around Facebook of a house near us who had dancing Christmas lights to the Aggie War Hymn. The YouTube video said the town where the house is and I found out it was only 20 minutes from our house so we tracked it down! Brynlee Ann & Papa John really liked this memory.

Here is the video I took of the dancing lights to the Aggie War Hymn:

Pretty cool! 

We then traveled to a downtown area next door to our town and watched their fun Christmas lights. These were REALLY fancy dancing lights and I could've sat there for hours watching them, but alas, family was getting tired, Brynlee Ann needed diaper attention, and it was getting late. So we headed home and called it a night on our Christmas celebrations!

The really fun part? Mom & I and later Brian, Brynlee Ann & I went "day after Christmas shopping" and got some AWESOME deals -- including a new tree for next year! Can't wait to share next year's Christmas celebrations with Brynlee Ann as she begins to understand more and more each year!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas filled the the TRUE spirit of Christmas, celebrating the birth of our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ!

20 & 21 Weeks!

Where have the past two weeks gone?! With the hosting our family at our new home for Christmas and all that entails, I have gotten behind on blogging! I did remember to take pictures, just never quite got around to posting them so these two weeks (which were a blur anyways) will be combined in this post!

(sorry for the cruddy quality - I can't find my camera charger!)

 The past 2 weeks Brynlee Ann:

• Began sleeping in her new-to-us crib!! I'll be posting a nursery tour in a few weeks :-)
• Celebrated her very first Christmas! A whole post coming on that soon! 
• Entered the constantly needing to be held of wanting attention stage -- I will GLADLY take it while I can because I know she will so be an independent young lady before I know it!
• Has started exploring her new town with Mommy
• Is beginning to outgrow size 1 diapers and 0-3 clothes! Check out this picture of her wearing this outfit a few weeks ago:

Here's a sneak peak at our Christmas:

19 Weeks

This week Brynlee Ann:

• Has started resisting naps....naps begin with either 10 minutes of sleep then an hour of crying until I get her up for her next feeding, or an hour of crying and 10 minutes of sleep before she wakes up for her next feeding...poor baby is SO tired, but she is just so excited about this new world!
• Did lots of decorating and unpacking in the new house...or watched Mommy & Daddy do that from her bouncy or swing
• FINALLY met "Uncle" Kelby and "Aunt" April!!
• Loves.Loves.Loves bath time!
• ROLLED OVER!! We were a little concerned at her last check-up that she wasn't rolling over yet and Wednesday Miss Brynlee Ann decided that she would just plop on over from her tummy to her back! So proud of our precious girl!

 I think she kind of likes Uncle Kelbs! 

 

Bath time with Daddy!

18 Weeks

This week, Brynlee Ann:

• MOVED TO A NEW HOUSE!! YAY!! 
• Got her own room!! YAY!!
• Said "see ya later" to lots of good friends, but definitely not so long!
• Got her 4 month shots :-(
• Really loved eating her fingers, twisting & turning (but still not rolling!), and watching "Miracle Baby: Jonah and the Whale"

 Our sweet friend, Sophie, holding Brynlee Ann! Sophie came and helped me out on Saturday as I was working around the house trying to pack. Can't wait for her to come visit us soon!

4 Months

4 Months Stats:

• Brynlee Ann weighs 10 lbs 13 oz, 5th percentile
• Brynlee Ann is 23.37" long, 25th percentile
• Brynlee Ann's head is 15.5" round, 10th percentile
• Overall, weight-for-length, Brynlee Ann is in the 5th percentile

This month Brynlee Ann:

• Started rolling to her side from her tummy and her back - she just hasn't desired to flip all the way...yet!
• Puts EVERY THING in her mouth - hands, toys, blankets, mommy & daddy's fingers, and more! 
• Still wears size 1 diapers and 0-3 clothes. Some 0-3 onesies/body suits are too short, but 3-6 are GINORMOUS width wise! 
• Began supplementing with formula - our petite angel just isn't gaining weight like she should. Still nursing in the morning, one time during the day, and then an evening feeding, but formula bottles after and in between.
• LOVES her daddy - she follows him with her head if he's in the room and when he walks into her room in the mornings I watch her smile so very big on the monitor and it melts my heart!
• Started pulling her socks off of her feet
• When she's laying on her back, she will hold her neck up like she's trying to sit up
• When she's at a 45 degree angle, she'll hold her shoulders and neck up like she's trying to sit up (where did my infant go?!?!)

17 Weeks

This week Brynlee Ann:

• Celebrated her very first Thanksgiving - once with Grandma & Granddaddy and once with Great Grandma & Great Grandpa!
• Got to Skype with Uncle Blaine!
• Was a VERY good baby while Mommy was sick! PRAISE THE LORD! What a blessing she is...
• Got to meet Carrie, Nicki, and Amelia for the first time! Carrie is my junior high/high school best friend's mom, Nicki is her sister, and Amelia is Nicki's daughter (and she is pretty cute!)
• Helped Mommy pack by playing nicely by herself! 

 Amelia was smitten with Brynlee Ann! Isn't she the cutest?!?!

 Skyping with Uncle Blaine in Korea

 This smile melts my heart!

 Our little family of 4!

Pintervention Party II

It's that time of week again! I love this little "party" Stephanie & Nicole are hosting! It's so fun to see others' ideas that they found on Pinterest and their interpretations of the ideas in their own home!

We're in the middle of moving, so all of these things are things I've done in the past and I don't have too many left that I didn't share last week. Rest assured, after we move, there will be TONS of fun projects going on! The majority of what I've had time to do is recipes...YUMMY!

Source: laaloosh.com via Sarah on Pinterest

This is the.very.best jambalaya I have EVER tasted! Double bonus? It's a weight watchers recipe!! I will definitely be making this again very soon :-) YUM!

Source: laaloosh.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Aside from the fact that the pie looks nothing like this picture (particularly the crust), and I added 4x the amount of salt needed (1 tsp instead of 1/4 tsp...oops!), this pie came out REALLY great! It's also a WW recipe and at only 3 PointsPlus a slice with some fat-free cool whip...DELISH! It seems like at first you notice the absence of fat & calories, but the texture is wonderful and after that first bite (and if you don't eat a bit of "real" pumpkin pie right after), you don't notice the difference! 

Source: laaloosh.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I am not a fan of cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving or ever, really (I know, *GASP*), but my sweet husband can't have Thanksgiving without and and the canned stuff is just not good enough for him. A few years ago, I sought out to learn how to make it...the first time was like cranberry soup and the second time turned out great, so I decided I could explore a new recipe. This recipe uses Splenda instead of sugar (I used 1/2 cup of the Splenda/Sugar blend) and adds in some spices. Brian said it was the best cranberry sauce he had ever tasted...will keep this "recipe" around for a while :-)

I think that's all for this week, but I promise there will be more exciting things to report in a couple of weeks! I will probably sit out of this fun little party next week, but will be sure to jump back in after we settle in and I have time to do some GREAT things around the house that I've pinned!

What have you done? 

16 Weeks

This Week Brynlee Ann:

• Got to visit Aunt DD and Karley in Marshall!
• Met Uncle Craig & Cass for the first time! 
• Began taking naps in her own bed (2, 2 hour naps, with a 1-1 1/2 hour nap in between)
• Visited Auntie Nita & cousin Kelsey in San Antonio :-)
• Slept through mommy & daddy & Grandma Kaki screaming in excitement for Baylor beating OU for the first time ever! Sic 'em Baylor & Sic 'em RGIII!

We are blessed with two beautiful girls! Karley K & Brynlee Ann playing on the floor!

 I think someone is smitten...instant bond between those two! Gotta love Uncle Craig!

Pintervention Party

My friend, Stephanie, is hosting a fun new way to get encouraged by Pinterest - a Pintervention Party where we get to share all the fun things we actually do from ideas we find on Pinterest.

I've done a few things from Pinterest that I have LOVED and a few that just didn't turn out well. Here are a few inspirations & final products.

The buttons on my creation show up more white/solid, but the flash made them look translucent. This will go on Brynlee Ann's new room (that she gets in 2 weeks!!)

Source: Uploaded by user via Sarah on Pinterest

Inspiration

 

My creation

Making pillowcase dresses requires having tons of ribbon. I had just been throwing the spools (do you still call them spools when their on this big thing?) in a bag and grabbing them out when I needed to use them, but how simple is this? It only cost all of $3 to be organized!

I don't have a picture of this, but I made this bow with ribbon the exact same way as it says to make it with paper and it turned out awesome!

 

Source: aphradeedesigns.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

And just one more thing for today...

Source: rufflesandstuff.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Inspiration

 My creation

Happy Pinning - now get out and do!

What have you made?