Awtry's Adventures

To My Dad

2010-11-04T13:28:00.002-05:00

Dad

I am so blessed to have had you for a dad. The past several days I've had several thoughts go through my mind. I wondered if you were comfortable enough while in the hospital or if you recognized us when you opened your eyes and looked at each one of us. I wondered why it had to be your time to go. But mostly, I have thought about all the wonderful memories I had with you and as a family. How grateful I am for those memories, for the time we had together on this earth, and what you have taught me.

I remember the first time I wanted to go running with you. Of course, my ability wasn't anywhere close to yours, but you ran by my side. Thank you for showing me patience.

You taught me responsibility at a young age through the paper routes. We had to wake up everyday at 6 a.m. You were right there with us folding papers, driving us around in the yellow truck, and helping us collect the money when needed. Thanks for teaching me responsibilty and how to manage money.

We had many good times sitting around the dining room table playing games. One of my favorite games was Rook. Thanks Dad for wanting to spend time with us.

I remember our family devotionals we had growing up. We all sat in the hallway before bed to read the Bible, sing songs and pray. Thank you for being the spiritual leader in our home.

I can't imagine having to buy a good, quality pair of running shoes for 4 kids 3-4 times a year. However, running is what we enjoyed and shoes are the most important piece of equipment for a runner. Thank you for being sacrificial.

At track and cross country meets, I always got so nervous standing at the starting line waiting for the gun to go off. Whenever I saw you or Mom in the crowd, I became more relaxed. Thank you for always being there.

As a grandpa, you always wanted to be present. I think about the time you and Mom woke up early to drive to Oklahoma for Brinley's birthday party. After the party that same day, you had to drive all the way back to Nebraska. I think about the time you and Mom kept 5 of the grandkids for a week for cousins' camp and this past September when you were in your garden with Brinley following you around. She loved eating the tomatoes right of the plants and helping you pick the peas out of the pea pods. Thanks for being involved.

Especially after having my own family, I often think about how good of parents you and Mom are and hope I can do as good as a job as you guys. You and Mom have been a wonderful example of what a godly marriage looks like. You loved Mom as Christ loved the church. You guys created a home that was loving and caring. Thank you.

Growing up, you taught me the verse Colossians 3:17. "In whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." You didn't just teach me this verse, you showed me how to live this verse. Whether it was through Christian education, what you chose to watch on tv, through your attitude, your speech, and how you treated others, you lived this verse. Thank you for being the Christian example you were to me. I'm going to miss you so much and I am looking forward to going for a run with you on the streets of gold someday! I love you Dad!

Love, Kristy

Dinner Time Prayer

2010-05-20T20:30:00.002-06:00

Usually Brinley starts saying the prayer for supper whether we are ready or not. Tonight Alex asked if he could say it and Brinley said yes. It went something like this:

Alex: Dear God, thank you for the beautiful weather. Tha...
Brinley: And thank you for the food (saying it like a reminder so he won't forget)
Alex: And thank you for the food
Brinley: and for Mommy and Daddy and Brinley and Brooklyn
Alex: Yes
Brinley: and for Stacy and Scott
Alex: Is there anything else you want to pray for?
Brinley: Pray for my pink cake.
Alex: (giving me a look like what is she talking about) You mean your pink juice.
Brinley: My pink cake.
Alex: And be with Brinley's pink cake. In Jesus name, amen.

On the way home from the babysitter's, Brinley was telling me how she wanted her birthday cake. It is going to be pink with Dora, Swiper, Boots and baloons. Her birthday isn't until September but she has been talking about her birthday since her last one.

Say Awww Brooklyn

2010-05-12T09:02:00.003-06:00

Brinley asked if she could finish feeding Brooklyn last night. I was trying to get supper ready and keep Brinley occupied at the same time so I thought sure why not. Brooklyn didn't seem very interested in her peas anymore anyway. I'll just have to throw Brooklyn in the tub after supper. I was surprised when she finished the rest of her peas for Brinley with very little mess. Both girls were occupied while I finished dinner. Maybe I should have Brinley feed her more often.

Say awwww Brooklyn.

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T14:54:00.004-06:00

We spent Mother's Day in Missouri with my Grandma. It was fun introducing her to Brooklyn for the first time and just spending time with her. I wish we could go visit her more often.

Brinley making Great Grandma a Mother's Day card.

Playing outside. She loved chasing the birds.

Brinley enjoying her second bowl of Grandma's strawberries.

What can $1 Buy

2010-05-10T14:33:00.005-06:00

I actually got this for $0.84! I'm still enjoying the couponing. I just wish my girls were older so they could help me cut the coupons. I'm very behind on that and so my coupons are very unorganized right now. But it is worth getting this stuff for basically free! The Scrubbing Bubbles is a product that I'm trying because I had a coupon. I think I am going to really like it (which is good because I stalked up on it). You just spray your shower after the last shower of the day and your done. It works excellent on soap scum. I also got a catalina for $3 off my next purchase!

On The Go!

2010-04-15T15:39:00.003-06:00

This video was taken about 3 weeks ago. She has gotten the army crawl down now. She has even been trying to get her knees under her. Last weekend, she had her belly all the way off the ground.

I'm going to have to change the way I do things now in the mornings. If I'm not ready for work by the time the girls wake up, Brinley usually watches Curious George and I sit Brooklyn on the floor of our bedroom with a toy where I can see her through the bathroom mirror. I do this out of fear that Brooklyn will get sat on, drug acrossed the floor, or picked up by her big sister. So I keep her where I can see her. This morning I was blow drying my hair while Brooklyn was sitting on the floor. I heard her kinda fussing, so I looked in the mirror toward the floor. It caught me off gaurd when I didn't see her. I poked my head around the corner and she was halfway out of the room!

This is what I saw when I walked into Brooklyn's room this morning. So cute!

Bye Bye Paci

2010-03-29T11:01:00.005-05:00

A couple weeks ago, we told Brinley when she was ready to trade in her paci for a toy to let us know and we would get her a toy of her choice. A few days ago right before bedtime, she said she didn't want her paci and was ready to trade it in. Then proceeded to get her paci and go to bed. The next day, we thought we would remind her about trading them in to see if she was really ready. After naming off a few toys she could get, she started to get excited about it. So Saturday, we took a trip to the store.

Ready to go to the store with her paci's.

She picked out a My Little Pony

She had no problem handing her paci's over to the cashier. But before we even got to the doors, she asked for them. I told her that they were with the cashier. If she wanted her paci's back, she would have to give her toy back. At this point I was preparing what I would say to the cashier. As if Brinley handing him a baggie of paci's wasn't awkard enough. Thankfully, she didn't want to give her toy up.

Giving Pinkie Pie a hug.

At bedtime she asked for her paci (that was the only time she got it). We told her it was at the store. She went to bed with her new toy and fell asleep fairly quickly. But about an hour later, she woke up screaming and kicking. I think it was because of her cold (she did this one other time when she had a cold). But she started yelling, "I don't want my little pony in my house." So I started to walk out of her room with it. Then she sobbs "I want my little pony!" I think she had a love/hate relationship for awhile. She still goes to the drawer where her paci's were kept, but she really hasn't gotten that upset about not having them.

I was kind of sad to see her paci's go. They were part of the bedtime routine. All we would have to say was "Are you ready to get your paci?"

She would run to get it and she knew it was time to get ready for bed. If she wasn't obeying while getting ready she would lose it. Now we have to figure out a new consequence that is going to be just as effective as her paci.

Couponing Again

2010-03-23T11:52:00.004-05:00

The server at work is down so I decided to go to the store again before the cereal sale ended. We are now set on cereal for several weeks. I bought all of this for only $3.42.

This is how I did it.

Cereal was on sale 5 boxes for $12 (or $2.40 a box). If you bought 5 boxes, you got $5 off making it 5 boxes for $7. I had a coupon for 0.70 off one box (fruit loops), $1.50 off 2 boxes of frosted mini wheats, and $1 coupon off 2 boxes frosted mini wheats. This coupon doubled making it $2 off. Final price-5 boxes for $2.80.

Bottle water was $1.29 for a pack of 6 bottles. I had a coupon for $1 off 2 Nestle water packs. This coupon doubled making the final price $.58 for 2 six packs of water.

Freschetta Pizza was on sale for $5.99. I had a coupon for $1 off. The coupon double making the final price $3.99.

Cream of Chicken soup was on sale for $1 each. I had a coupon for $1 off 2 cans. This coupon double making it FREE!

I got the milk for FREE! I had a catalina from last time I bought cereal for free milk. I got 2 more after buying more cereal today!

I also got the bananas for $.01. I had a coupon for free produce up to $1 when I bought a box of Kellogg's cereal.

My total before the gum and any coupons was 24.10. I had a coupon for $5 off a purchase of $25 or more. So I grabbed the gum which was on sale for $1.

And that is how I paid $3.42 for all of this. A total savings of 94%. And I get to go get free milk again!

Couponing!

2010-03-21T22:22:00.006-05:00

I love couponing! Or should I say, I love saving money by couponing! If I only saved a few bucks here and there, I would never do it. However, I am learning how to cut down on our grocery bill quite a bit by couponing. I just bought a Freshcetta pizza, 5 boxes of cereal, 2 boxes of toaster strudels, Rhodes warm and serve dinner rolls, Philadelphia cream cheese, Cookies and Cream candy bar, a Lunchable, and Glade air freshener (air freshener and lunchable are not in the picture because I gave it to my sister). I only spent $6.25!!!!!!!! On top of that, at the register I got 2 printouts for 2 free gallons of milk! Any brand I want!

I don't know why this picture is turned sideways.

Alex likes the couponing too. He says that there is more food in the house then there ever has been. And I buy things that I normally would not buy because of the price. There is still room for improvement, but tonight has been one of my biggest savings yet.

Wherever I Go

2010-03-16T10:21:00.002-05:00

Music and lyrics by Brinley Awtry

Let's Try This Again

2010-03-11T22:21:00.005-05:00

I know I have probably said this before but I'll say it again. I'm going to try to start posting once a week. Mainly because I am not doing a very good job writing things down about the girls such as milestones and fun things they do. So I am going to attempt this once again. And I'll start right now with a post about Brooklyn. I wanted to do this in my last post but ran out of time.

1 Month

8 pounds 6 ounces

Brooklyn has been a great baby since the beginning. In her first month, she gained 2 1/2 pounds. By this time, she was sleeping 6-7 hours during the night. I would try to wake her up around 4 to 5 hours but was unsuccessful. The doc said since she was gaining weight really good to go ahead and let her sleep.

2 Months

10 pounds 2 ounces

During this month, Brooklyn started smiling. The first time I really noticed that she was smiling was December 6th. We were sitting in bible class. Brooklyn was laying in my lap with her pacifier in her mouth. When I looked down at her, she was looking at Alex with a big enough smile to see it past her pacifier.

3 Months

Around this time, Brooklyn started cooing, laughing and holding her head up. I love listening to her talk.

4 Months

12 1/2 pounds

Brooklyn had been been flipping over from her belly to her back randomly. Sometimes she would do it 3 or 4 times a night then not roll over again for a few days. On February 13, she started rolling from her back to her belly! From this day on she rarely stayed on her back.

On February 19, Brooklyn was able to sit up a little on her own.

2009-11-06T22:20:00.006-05:00

I have been on maternity for 2 weeks now and love being home with my 2 girls. Brooklyn is a great baby. She is an excellant sleeper and is getting bigger everyday. She had another doctor's appointment today and weighs 7 lbs 2 oz. She has gained 1 lb 4 oz since she was born just 17 days ago. It is great that she is gaining weight so good, but part of me wants her to slow down so she stays small just a little bit longer.

Alex was able to take a week off and we all enjoyed every minute of it.

Frozen yogart at Splash.

Checking on her baby sister.

Brinley wanted to put a bow on Brooklyn and decided to wear one too. Maybe this is the start of her wanting to wear bows.

Brinley was Tinker Bell for Halloween. She went to Haunt the Zoo with one of her friends and had a blast.

We took her Trick or Treating at the OC dorms with her cousins.

Briley and Brinley getting ready for a tea party

Reading to her baby sister.

She helped Brooklyn push the buttons on the book. Then she would get all excited and say "You did it Brooklyn!"

She is Here!

2009-10-25T14:46:00.004-05:00

Brooklyn Paige was born 9:51 Tuesday night. She weighed 5 lbs. 14 oz and 20 inches long.

Here is a quick recap of how the delivery went.

8:30 am to 6:15 pm I was having 3 (sometimes 4) contractions every hour.
6:15 my contractions increased to every 5 to 10 minutes.
8:30 we met my sister at Walmart to drop Brinley off for the night just in case we had to go to the hospital.
8:40 my contractions were coming every 4 minutes and more intense. Drove straight to the hospital.
At 9:15 we were checking in at the front desk. I was having trouble concentrating on the paper they were wanting me to fill out.
They took us to our room. I got my gown on and into the bed. Everything from here is kind of a blur.
Around 9:30, I made Alex go get a nurse. She checked me and I was at a 7. I asked about an epidural. She said she would get the anesthesiologist and go call the doctor.
Soon after, my water broke. I made Alex go get the nurse again.
There are 3 nurses in my room at this time. Setting up for delivery.
A few screams from me loud enough to wake up all the sleeping babies. Anesthesiologist walks in. Nurse tells him it isn't going to happen.
At 9:51 Brooklyn is born!!!!
Around 10:00 the doctor arrives.

Brinley waiting to meet her sister!

So sweet!

Getting ready to go home!

The wonderful nurse who delivered Brooklyn.

Brinley sharing her baby.

Look at those tiny legs.

We love you, Brooklyn!

Making Progress

2009-10-07T08:38:00.002-06:00

On Monday, I had another doctors appointment. I was expecting to hear what I had heard the last 2 weeks, but the doctor said I was almost to a 3. He is predicting our baby to arrive sometime this weekend!

I have also made a lot of progress on my list of things to get done before she arrives. I only have to clean and organize my office/new guest room and finish my clients! We finished Brinley's new room. We still have to hang stuff on the walls, but that can wait. I'm not good at finding stuff to put on the walls anyway.

The chair rail is one of my favorite parts about her new room. We painted it with magnetic paint. So now she can play with magnets, hang pictures from it, or whatever else she may come up with. We bought her the magnetic letters to give her when our baby his born. She saw them the day we bought them and was so excited but hasn't seen them since. I can't wait to give them to her.

Pictures

2009-09-27T20:38:00.003-06:00

Playing in the Rain

Wednesday she decided she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed!

Saturday, we moved her toys over into her new room. She put all her dolls in the closet for their naps.

Helping Daddy change her old bed back to a crib for the new baby.

Saturday, we went to Norman for Brinley's friend 2nd birthday. She had a lot of fun playing with him.

Today, we were getting ready to put the car seat in the car for when the baby arrives. Brinley really wanted to be buckled in. I think she realized she was a little too big for it.

Pregnancy Update

2009-09-23T07:35:00.003-06:00

I was starting to feel more confident on getting everything done I wanted to before our baby arrives. After the following conversation with my doctor yesterday, I'm not so sure anymore.

Doc - "You are 2cm. When was your first one born compared to her due date?"
Me - "About a week late."
Doc - "Not going to happen this time."
Me - "I was at a 2 for about 3 weeks with her."
Doc - "Not this one. She is going to come on her own. My guess is October 12th."

That's less then 3 weeks! Might be able to get most of what I need to done. I wasn't completely unsure until he said, "See you in 1 week or sooner."

I'm a list maker and love crossing things off my list. So here is what I have left to do (in whatever amount of time I have left).

I have 2 clients to finish (if I get everything but the one of the reports written, I will be happy).
Finish Brinley's new room: Paint chair rail and put it up, put together her dresser, storage unit and book shelf, move all her stuff over to her new room, convince her to sleep in her new room (she loves going in there just not to sleep yet).
Get ready for the new baby: convert toddler bed back into crib, wash all her clothes and put them away, put car seat in the car.
Pack a suitcase for the hospital.
Clean up my office/new guest room (it has been filled with baby clothes and everything from the guest room that is now Brinley's room. So my office has been in the kitchen the last couple weeks.

Brinley is 2!

2009-09-06T23:02:00.006-06:00

I can't believe Brinley turned 2 today! My whole family was in town to celebrate her birthday.

This is the cake I made for Brinley (with the help of my sister-in-law). We had to make some adjustments to the original plan, but I think it still turned out pretty good.

2009-08-30T20:33:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I know I am not the best blogger. Last pregnancy, I was giving updates a lot more often. I think I have only done a pregnancy update once this time. So I guess it is long over due. Everything is going great. The baby is growing good and moving a lot. She is up in my ribs a lot more than Brinley ever was which makes sitting at my desk to work very uncomfortable sometimes.

Picture at 33 weeks.

I can't believe I only have 7 more weeks. This pregnancy has gone so fast. This is a list of what I still need to get done before she arrives.

1. Plan a birthday party for Brinley. Her birthday is in 1 week and the only thing I have done is found a picture of the cake I am going to attempt to make and bought the frosting for the cake.

2. Now that our guest bedroom is no longer being occupied, we need to make it into Brinley's new room. Painting, putting bedroom furniture together and decorating it.

3. Finish all my clients before I go on maternity leave. I've started on 3 of them and have 1 that I haven't even started yet.

4. Get all the baby stuff and clothes back out and ready for when the baby arrives!

Here are some things that Brinley has said or done lately that we thought was cute, funny, or has surprised us:

She is really excited about having a birthday party. She will sing Happy Birthday and then pretend to blow out the candles. Sometimes out of nowhere she will just yell out "my birthday party". I hope I don't disappoint her.

She has started saying the prayer at dinner time. This is how it goes. "Dear God, thank you. Amen."

Even though she screams at the top of her lungs when she walks into a room with a sleeping dog in it, she was the first to volunteer to hold a little slimmy squirmy lizzard.

Alex had his shirt of the other day. Brinley grabbed her hair brush and started brushing the hair on his belly.

Last weekend, we took Brinley to get her first professional haircut (mainly to fix what we had messed up the first 2 times we cut it). She did great!

Hiding Spot

2009-08-20T15:13:00.003-06:00

Brinley's new hiding spot is behind the kitchen curtain. I saw her as she was crawling behind it one day when the sun wasn't shining in. If I didn't see her crawl behind it (and if she could keep from giggling when someone is looking for her) I don't think I would've been able to find her. Thank goodness for giggles and sunshine.

Not So Pleasant Looking

2009-06-26T12:40:00.005-06:00

This is what Brinley looked like when she woke up this morning. Actually, the picture doesn't look near as bad as what it does in person. Her belly, arms legs and all around her little toes are covered in some kind of rash. At first they looked like misquito bits, but then some started getting bigger and bigger. It looks like it could be painful and very uncomfortable but she is her same energetic self. The doc said it is a viral rash and is contagious. Of course, we had a trip planned without her this weekend. Now she gets to tag along.

Haircut!

2009-06-09T21:08:00.007-06:00

I had been contemplating cutting Brinley's hair for quite some time now. I had heard people tell me that I should cut it and also people say that I should just let it grow. Well, tonight I finally got brave enough to attempt cutting it. We put Elmo in to help keep her distracted and she did really good for the most part.

I wasn't really sure what I was doing but how hard can it be, right?

Snip! Snip!

This was my attempt at cutting Brinley's hair. I had to try to even it out a few times...

then Alex took over and evened it out.

It doesn't look like we cut a whole lot off, but it does look better!

Alex had been thinking about letting me cut his hair. After tonight, that is no longer an option.

Second Time Around

2009-06-03T20:29:00.003-06:00

I am now 20 weeks pregnant and finally took a belly photo. People always say you grow faster with the second pregnancy. Oh my! How true it is!

20 weeks pregnant with Brinley

20 weeks pregnant with Baby Girl Awtry

Trip to the Zoo!

2009-04-30T12:03:00.005-06:00

Saturday, we took Brinley to the zoo. When we asked her if she wanted to go see elephants and lions and monkeys she just shook her head and said "no". I then asked if she wanted to go see some bears thinking I would get a different response because most of her favorite books are about bears. I was wrong. Finally, after asking her if she wanted to go see snakes she yells "yeah!"

Juggling Act

2009-04-13T10:57:00.004-06:00

Brinley's New Potty!

2009-04-04T14:52:00.006-06:00

We went to the store to buy Brinley a new potty today. She was so excited about it she wanted to put it together as soon as we got home.

Hopefully she will never try to use this as a hat again.

She carried it to the bathroom and I asked her if she wanted to go potty. She answered yes. And much to my surprise, after she sat down I heard a tinkle, tinkle, tinkle.YEAH BRINLEY!!!!!!!!!!!

We'll see how things go from here.

Dinner Time!

2009-02-17T16:58:00.004-05:00

It's so nice to have a child who likes to use table manners.

Unfortunately it doesn't happen very often.

Christmas!

2009-01-13T15:03:00.006-05:00

Christmas at the Awtrys!

Brinley's Uncle Allen made her a cool motorcycle!

Cute little Rowen!

Best Christmas present ever!!

(According to a Steelers fan)

Brinley trying to escape through the doggy door.

Christmas at the Collins!

All the cousins together again!

Zoom Zoom

After the kids went to bed, it is the adults turn to open their presents!

Out of all the fun Christmas presents Brinley received, this one has been her favorite. Alex and I got her a Kitchen and her favorite part about it is . . . .

the box of course!

Tagged

2008-12-08T14:44:00.004-05:00

8 TV shows that I watch
1. Biggest Loser
2. Lost
3. One Tree Hill
The rest are shows that I might be interested in if I had time to sit and watch TV. We are getting DVR tomorrow so that I might be able to start watching more shows!
4. Pushing Daisies
5. The Office
6. A show about a bad day. Alex was watching it last week and I saw about 5 minutes of it and it looked really funny.
7. ummmmmmm....
8. that's about it

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Bravo (Good Pesto dish)
2. Charlestons (Really good salmon)
3. Pei Wei
4. Panara (when I'm in the mood for soup)
5. Runza
6. Red Robin
7. My Mom's Kitchen
8. And of course....Jimmy John's

8 Things that Happened Today
1. Stopped working at 1:30 a.m. to go to bed but couldn't fall asleep
2. Put in a movie to help me fall asleep
3. Got up at 6:45 to get ready and take Brinley to the babysitter
4. Worked for a few hours
5. Left to go get lunch at McDonalds then changed my mind to Wendy's then to Jimmy John's and then ended up at Pei Wei
6. Saw 2 workers using leaf blowers in the Pei Wei parking lot on this windy Oklahoma day.
7. Went home and ate my Honey Seared Chicken.
8. Decided I needed a longer break from looking at cash reconciliations and general ledgers so started looking at blogs

8 Things I Look Forward To
1. Being done with the client I am currently working on and the other one I have left to finish
2. Picking Brinley up from the babysitter
3. Spending time with Alex
4. Someday having more kids
6. A day when I have time to start exercising again
7. When Brinley gets more hair. Then she won't get mistaken for a boy anymore.
8. Heaven!

8 Things I Wish For
1. Safety over the holidays
2. That Brinley does good with all the traveling we are going to be doing in a couple weeks
3. Good health for family and friends
4. That I get to see all my family and friends in Heaven
5. To be a godly wife for Alex
6. To be a godly mother
7. To go to Europe someday
8. For a white Christmas. I'll be in Texas so I'm not getting my hopes up.

8 People I Tag...
Ummm....I think Amy took care of that.

November Pics

2008-12-03T21:34:00.006-05:00

Oklahoma City Thunder Game

We went to Nebraska for Thanksgiving and had a great time. My oldest sister from Colorado surprised us by coming for Thanksgiving. It was the first time all the cousins had been together at one time.

The 4 babies 9 months apart. This was the best picture we could get.

Camdyn passing out puffs.

Playing outside.

Alex, Chase and Brinley

Brinley using the walker as a jungle gym.

We had a birthday party for Briley 2 weeks early since we were all together.

My parents have train tracks right behind their backyard. Everytime the kids heard the whistle blow, they had to run, jump on the couch and watch the train go by. It didn't matter what they were doing.

Carter jumping off the stairs (almost all the way up).

Walmart was having free photos with Santa Claus while we were there. It was a good thing they were free.

Pumkin Patch

2008-11-03T22:07:00.014-05:00

The petting zoo at the pumkin patch.

Brinley didn't like the lama...

or the pony...

or the goats...

or the bunnies...

Oh, what's that!

Chickens!

We couldn't get her to walk away from them.

Leading the way in the corn maze.

Vacation!

2008-10-10T19:33:00.005-06:00

I didn't actually go on vacation, but last week Brinley's babysitter did. So I took the week off and got to spend the week with her! We had a lot of fun. We went on a run everyday (loved it), played outside a lot, and one day we went to the zoo with her cousins. She didn't really get excited about seeing any of the animals but she did watch them. Next time we go she will probably be more interested in them.

We played with chalk a lot when we were outside. Brinley is quite the artist!

Friday, Alex and I went on a couples retreat with our friends to Quartz Mountain Resort. It was nice to get away for a couple days. I think Brinley wanted to come with us, but kids weren't allowed. It was our first time leaving her and she did great (I guess I did too).

This is the resort we stayed at. This picture is taken from the mountain we hiked (an oklahoma mountain anyway).

Bows Bows and More Bows

2008-10-01T09:53:00.004-06:00

This morning Brinley kept reaching for her bows and wanting me to put them on her head. She ended up with six at one time. This is completely opposite from a few weeks ago when it was a struggle to keep one on.

Ice Cream

2008-09-11T20:34:00.003-06:00

This is Brinley eating ice cream for the first time at her birthday party. It took her 4 or 5 bites before she got used to it being so cold. For Jeremy and Scott, her head really isn't as big as what this picture makes it look.

Brinley is 1!

2008-09-07T12:06:00.009-06:00

Brinley turned 1 year old yesterday and I can't believe it. This past year has gone by so fast. It is amazing that just one year ago we brought home this 6 lbs 12 oz little bitty baby girl who relied on us for everything. Now she is about 23 lbs, walking all over the place and she wants to do things herself.

We had a polka dot birthday party for her. She had cake and ice cream for the first time and loved it. The top tier was all Brinley's. It took her a minute to dig into it but eventually made a pretty good dent. Her daddy fed her ice cream for the first time too. She wasn't so sure about it being so cold but she kept asking for more. I forgot to empty my memory card before the party and by the time she started digging into her cake it was full. So I don't really have any pictures of that yet. But here are some that I did get.

A funny thing happened last night after Alex and I went to bed. Alex would say a scary thing happened. About 1:30 in the morning we are awakend by a thud thud thud thud.

My side of the story: When I was awakened, I immediately thought about right before I went to bed. I walked out of Brinley's room to ours when I noticed the balloons from Brinley's party in the hallway. I thought a couple things...either they floated into the hallway some how or Alex put them there trying to scare me if I had to get up in the middle of the night. Knowing Alex, I assumed he was trying to scare me and didn't want to tell him that I knew they were there. So immediatelywhen I heard the thudding, I knew it was the balloons getting hit by the ceiling fan and said "how did the balloons float into the room?" Seconds later I hear Alex say "GOOD GOSH!!!" as he jumped. At the same time, I see an outline of a balloon right by his side of the bed. It wasn't until this morning when I realized how much it scared him.

Alex's side of the story: When he was awakened and heard me say something about the balloons, he knew the balloons in the hallway were weighted down and didn't think the balloons in the living room that weren't weighted down could possible make it into our bedroom. The only way it could possible make it down the hallway, around the corner, duck down to make it through the door way and into our room was if someone was carrying it. Seconds later, he saw an outline of a person's head popping up from the side of the bed and yelled. After his eyes adjusted, he could see the dots on the balloons.

We are still puzzled how it made it into our room, but we had a good laugh.

Pictures From Last Week

2008-08-24T11:06:00.004-06:00

Brinley's sleeping. Alex is at Work. What a perfect time to clean the house. Better yet, update my blog. Here are some pictures from this past week.

Brinley loves brushing her teeth. If she could talk, I'm sure she would remind us to brush them whenever we forget which is probably a little to often.

This is a lot more fun than eating with a fork.

Brinley is walking everywhere now.

Swimming with Jack (only long enough to take a picture).

Brinley's awake. So much for getting any cleaning done.

11 Months Old!

2008-08-06T09:32:00.009-06:00

I cannot believe Brinley is already 11 months old! I went through all her old clothes Sunday night to get them ready to pass to the Mullins if they have a little girl next week. I forgot how little she actually was. This is a pair of pj's that she wore when she was first born next to a pair she wears now. It is amazing how much she has grown.

Some of her favorite things right now are books, babydolls, bananas, playing peekaboo, and playing chase. She is walking now, but still crawls a lot. She is very alert and takes in everything she sees around her. The other day Alex was getting a 2 liter of pop from the top of the fridge to drink for dinner (we haven't had a 2 liter for months). He poured it in his glass and puts the 2 liter back on top of the fridge. Then Brinley looks at Alex, does the sign for more and points up to the 2 liter. She has never had pop before, but I guess she wanted to be like her daddy. Even as cute as she was, she didn't get to try any Big Red.

Brinley's first black eye.

I was giving her a bath last night, when her hand slipped from underneath her. She hit her eye on the edge of the tub. It bruised up right away.

I've been meaning to post these pictures for awhile now. They were taken by Kerri Tindle about a month ago.

4th of July

2008-07-08T11:13:00.008-06:00

For the 4th of July, we piled in my sister's Expedition (4 adults and 4 kids) and headed to Nebraska. Once we figured out a good seating arrangement, the trip wasn't to bad. Brinley in between her two cousins . . . not good. When we got to my parents, we had a little birthday party for Camdyn. That night we set off a few of our own fireworks and watched what we could see of other peoples. The City's firework show was on the 3rd. A little strange, but I'm sure they had a good reason for it. Saturday, we filled up the little pool for Brinley to go swimming. She loved it.

Whenever we go to my parents, my mom always cooks really good meals for us. In the summers, they have lots of fresh veggies from their garden. Yummy! The day before we left for Nebraska, I told Mom that Alex had surgery on his mouth and was only able to eat soft foods. So she had some mac and cheese, pudding, etc. for him. Saturday night she fixed a big steak dinner. As we were sitting down at the table getting ready to eat, she sat a plate with a big juicy steak right in front of Alex. He sat and stared at it for a few seconds before my mom realized he couldn't eat it. While everybody else was enjoying their steaks, Alex was eating mac and cheese for the hundreth time. You can tell how swollen his check was in the picture below. This was a couple of days after it was at its worst.

Brinley's personality is developing more and more everyday. She is getting really close to walking. She can take 2 or 3 steps before she lunges for whatever she is trying to reach. A couple weeks ago Amanda, Brinley's babysitter, told me she pulls all the baby dolls off the rocker, grabs the same baby doll and carries it around with her throughout the day. One day when I was picking Brinley up, Amanda handed her the baby doll and Brinley put it over her should and started patting her back. That night we took her shopping for her own baby doll. She was very picky on what kind of doll she wanted. It had to have plastic arms, legs and head and a soft body. She didn't seem interested in any of the other dolls we were showing her.

Standing Up

2008-06-16T20:47:00.003-06:00

Sorry it is sideways.

Back To Real Life

2008-06-04T20:53:00.003-06:00

Brinley is all better now! She just had a real light case of the chickenpox and they didn't seem to bother her too much. She did want to be held a lot more than usual especially during naps and she rubbed her eyes a lot, but that was about it. I really enjoyed staying home with her last week besides the fact that we couldn't go anywhere. One of my favorite things about the week was when I almost had Brinley asleep for her nap, Alex came home to say hi to us real quick. Of course when he left, she was wide awake. So I sat her down on her floor to play quietly. I layed down on the floor to watch. She crawled up to me, layed down next to me, put her arm around my neck and her check on mine. She stayed like that for only a few seconds, but it was so sweet. This week she is back at the babysitter and I am back to work.

The Diagnosis

2008-05-27T20:55:00.006-06:00

Well, today Brinley went to the doctor and she does have the chickenpox. Of all times for her to get them, this was not so good. Over the weekend we went to Missouri to see my brother, sister-in-law and their 3 month old baby, Chase. That is when the bumps started multiplying. Hopefully Chase does not get them.

My niece, Camdyn, went with us to Missouri. She has had the vaccine, but there still is a chance she can get the chickenpox. Camdyn loves holding and playing with Brinley so we told her she might get the red dots if she touches Brinley. So every time Brinley touched her, Camdyn would come running to me all concerned she was going to get the dots. To make it okay, we had to clean the spot she was touched with a wipe. Anyway, the worst part is that Laura, Camdyn's mom, is going to have a baby any day now. We were supposed to take care of the kids if she went into labor. Now we can't even be around them for the new baby's sake.

I have done some reading about the chickenpox. Brinley's doctor said he has seen 4-5 kids with the chickenpox in the last month. So here is what I have learned. It takes about 14-16 days for the rash to show up after someone has been exposed to them. A day or two before the rash, some symptoms are loss of appetite, fever, tiredness, headache and sore throat. Some kids don't get any of these symptoms. Once the bumps appear, the will blister up, burst, dry and then crust over. It can spread from 2-3 days before the bumps appear until the last bump crusts over. This whole cycle usually takes about 10 days.

By the way for those that go to Bible class with Brinley, we didn't go last Wednesday so no need to worry.

Spots

2008-05-26T08:13:00.008-06:00

We are not for sure what is causing Brinley to break out. We have a couple of ideas, but we will see what the doc says tomorrow. Thursday she had one or two stops on her belly. We figured it was something she got bit by rolling in the grass the night before. Friday, she had a couple on her head. By Saturday, she had several spots on her head and a few on her back. After the spots appeared, they would kind of blister up and then turn into a scab. We started to wonder if she had the chickenpox. More and more spots were showing up mostly on her head. She probably has ten to fifteen on the rest of her body. She doesn't seem to be to bothered by them. She has been a little fussier than normal, but she is also getting more teeth so it is hard to tell what is really bothering her.

On the Go!

2008-05-18T15:21:00.009-06:00

Brinley is very mobile now. She is constantlly moving and staying busy. In fact since she has become busier, she has not been wanting to take naps. On average she probably sleeps for about an hour total during the day. At least she is still in a good mood for the most part.

And of course, along with moving and exploring comes bumps and bruises. In the past 2 days, she has gotten 2 bruises on her head. Both from bonking her head on the kitchen tile. She is a very tough little girl though and hardly cried at all. Her first bruise is above her right eyebrow (it's kind of hard to see in the picture). You can also see her two little teeth.

This bruise she got today on the side of her forehead Also, look how much hair she is getting!

Saturday, we trimmed our trees and planted flowers. We are very limited on what we can plant in our front flower bed because it gets around an hour of sun first thing in the morning and that is it. As I was finishing up planting the flowers, our neighbor came over and wished us luck. He said he planted caladiums and they already died. That would have been good to know a couple hours earlier. I guess we'll see how it goes.

Brinley has been pulling herself up on things for a couple weeks now, but Thursday she discovered she can pull herself up in her crib too. It makes putting her down for naps a little more challenging.

Brinley and Daddy reading books before bed.

The Month of April

2008-05-04T19:43:00.015-06:00

Brinley is constantly changing. I know I say that almost every post but she is either growing or doing something new every week. She has 2 teeth now. She is getting more and more hair everyday. It is very fine and light so it is hard to see in pictures. She started crawling almost 2 weeks ago. She is a little slow and doesn't go very far unless she has something motivating her. She likes to pull up on things and stand up. She actually perfers to stand up on the outside of her exersaucer rather than sitting in it. She also started clapping last week. It is so fun to see her learn and develop. Here are some pics from April.

Brinley when she was trying to crawl.

A walk in the park.

For Alex's birhtday, I got him ranger tickets. His brother and his brother's wife were going to be in Arlington the same day so we met them for lunch.

Brinley and Adam playing at the Arts Festival.

Brinley dancing to the music with Matt at the Arts Festival.

Catch Up Time!

2008-04-01T20:25:00.011-06:00

Okay, so I am way behind on posting. A lot has happened in the past month and Brinley is changing constantly. So here is what Brinley has been up to.

Brinley started eating solids, but a couple days later she caught a nasty cold and didn't want to eat anything for about a week. Two days after she started feeling better, she ran a fever for about a day with the peak being 103.7. Again, she didn't want to eat anything for a couple days. She has now tried all the vegetables and pears. So far she has loved everything she has tried. Her favorite so far has been the pears. They have been my favorite too because of the faces she makes when she eats them. She also got her first tooth this past weekend.

Brinley eating pears.

Brinley has started moving around a lot more. She rolls all over the living room. She can get on her hands and knees now. It won't be long before she starts crawling.

This was her first time to swing at the park. We went with her cousins and she loved it.

We spent Easter with the Kings. She had her first easter egg hunt and found 2 eggs filled with money! I just realized I didn't get a picture of her in her easter dress.

Since I have told a lot of Brinley's "firsts" in this post, I have to mention a certain first for her daddy. Monday was her first opening day for baseball. Go Cubbies!

Here is some pictures from the past month.

Starting Solid Foods

2008-03-09T22:28:00.008-05:00

We started feeding Brinley cereal about a 1 1/2 weeks ago and she loves it! I think her babysitter enjoys it too. She hasn't had a blow-out since she started eating cereal. At least 3 days a week, Brinley was in a different outfit when I picked her up from Amanda's. Last week, she stayed in the same outfit all week!

As you can see from the picture below, she likes to grab for the spoon and feed herself. We usually end up playing tug-of-war. If she isn't grabbing for the spoon, her fingers are usually in her mouth. We're going to have to work on her manners.

Brinley is into the grabbing everything in reach stage. Saturday, I was about ready to feed her some cereal while I ate my sandwich. I ran into the other room to grab a bib. When I got back into the kitchern, I was surprised to see Brinley trying to eat my paper plate. I walked to the other side of the counter and there was my sandwich all over the floor. Before we know it, she is going to be getting into everything.

Playing Outside

2008-02-18T14:50:00.008-05:00

Last Saturday when it was really nice outside, I took Brinley out to play. She absolutely loves it outside. She had fun watching cars drive by and listening to all kinds of different sounds.

I sat her up to play with her toy.

"Look Mommy, no hands!"

After sitting up for a minute or two she toppled over. She caught onto sitting up quickly and loves be able to look around at what is going on.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

2008-02-14T10:12:00.001-05:00

Giggles

2008-02-09T11:42:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this is my final attempt at this video. Go to the link below. Hopefully it works.

http://s243.photobucket.com/albums/ff236/kristydawn/?action=view&current=MVI_2004.flv

Brinley's New Accomplishment

2008-01-05T12:28:00.000-05:00

Brinley rolled over for the first time Wednesday night. She had only done it a few times since then until this morning. Now when I lay her on her back, she is on her belly in no time. For the first time this morning, she rolled from her tummy to her back. She was bare bottomed so I didn't get that on video.

Wow! Three post in one day. It would be wonderful if I can get caught up with everything else I am behind on.

Christmas at Grandma Cosby's

2008-01-05T11:06:00.000-05:00

We met my family at my grandma's house over New Year's and had our Christmas. We had an exciting time. Brinley got to meet her Great Grandma and her Great Great Grandma for the first time. The picture below is of 5 generations.

Brinley also got to meet my oldest sister's family for the first time. They have a brand new baby that we got to meet too!

Christmas at the Awtrys

2008-01-05T10:57:00.000-05:00

We went down to Midland a few days before Christmas to spend some time with Alex's family. We had Christmas with them on the 23rd and had a great time. We found out that Brinley is going to have yet another cousins. That makes 5 new cousins in about 6-7 months. Congrats Andy and Tammy.

2007-12-27T17:11:00.000-05:00

LET IT SNOW!!!

3 Months Old Today!

2007-12-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

Brinley is 3 months old today! This is a picture from the day she was born. Followed by a picture taken a couple of days ago. We have enjoyed watching her grow and develop. It is amazing how much she has changed and learned.

The past 3 months have been full of many . . .

bath times...

goofy faces...

naps (not for us, just Brinley)...

tummy time...

not so happy times...

lots of smiles...

learning new things like holding onto her bottle without help...

and just today she started sucking her thumb instead of her whole fist. It was neat to see her finally do it, but we don't really want her to be a thumb sucker. She still likes her pacifier a lot and hopefully she will continue to perfer it over her thumb. We have really enjoyed the past 3 months and are so thankful for Brinley. We are excited to watch her continue to grow and learn new things.

The Month of November

2007-11-29T22:22:00.000-05:00

A lot has gone on this past month. Brinley had her 2 month check up November 6th. She weighed 11 lbs. 14 oz., 23 1/4 inches long, and as healthy as could be. She also got 4 shots and she did great. She screamed when she got stuck but when I was able to pick her up she calmed down and stopped crying. It didn't seem to bother her the rest of the day.

I went back to work on the 12th. Right now I am going into the office on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and working from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is a HUGE adjustment. To get everything done in the mornings and to work by eightish, I have to get up around 5:15. The days I don't go to the office I try to get up no later than 6 so I can get some work done before Brinley gets up. By the weekend, I am exhausted.

After a week of being back to work, I took the week of Thanksgiving off. I wanted to get things ready for Thanksgiving at our house. Monday I got the grocery shopping done and that was about it. I got sick on Tuesday and layed around the house pretty much all day. Wednesday wasn't much different. Alex wasn't feeling the best either but he cleaned most of the house for me still. He did great. Thanksgiving day, I was in bed most of the day. Alex and Craig smoked the turkey and it was soooo good. We are definately going to have to use our smoker more often.

On Friday, my brother and sister-in-law came to see Brinley for the first time. It was fun to see them and we can't wait to meet their baby boy in February! We also found out that Brinley is now going to have a new cousin in June. That makes 4 new cousins in about 7 months.

That pretty much sums up our month. Alex is feeling much better. Last night, Brinley finally slept through the night again for the first time in almost 2 weeks! She would wake up because it was hard for her to breathe from being so congested.

Here are some random pics from the month.

A few pics from Thanksgiving Day.

Happy Halloween

2007-11-01T13:44:00.000-05:00

When people asked me what Brinley was going to be for Halloween, I would say I hadn't really thought about it much. Later, we got a ladybug costume (borrowed from Laura) and a Pumpkin costume (borrowed from Tara). The ladybug was a little big for her, so plans were to wear the pumpkin. Well, about 2 weeks before Halloween, Alex and I were at the mall. I was getting my haircut and we were just going to walk around. We went into Children's Place just to look. I decided to scan through the costumes and saw a turtle. I thought it was so cute but couldn't bring myself to pay $10 for something she would only wear a couple of hours. The next week, I kept thinking how cute the turtle costume would be. On the 27th, our bible class was having a Halloween party. The kids were supposed to dress up. So that afternoon, I decided to see if the turtle costume was still there. It was! But not in Brinley's size. I decided to run to Penn Square mall to see if they had one her size there. It wasn't until I got there that I realized they don't have a Children's Place. When I got home, I was disappointed that I didn't get the turtle costume. I then started thinking about the other costume that the Children's Place had. It was a duck. It was cute, but not as cute as the turtle. Two hours before the party, I decided to go get the duck. When the cashier rang it up, I was surprised when she said it was $5. Here I was expecting to pay $10 and I only had to pay $5. Then the turtle popped back into my head. There was a size 6-12 month turtle left. It is only $5 right? So I went ahead and bought it knowing very well that she probably won't be able to wear it next year. Oh well, no matter what time of year our next kid is born, we have a Halloween costume.

Sunday after church, we had the Fortes and Carnageys over for lunch. I had to to put the turtle costume on Brinley to show them. Thanks Amy for the pics!

The last 2 weeks

2007-10-28T14:28:00.000-05:00

When I was about 10 weeks pregnant, my boss anounced that they were taking us on a cruise. It was scheduled for 6 weeks after my due date, so I was out. I was the only one who was't going so I got to go work while everybody was snorkling, swimming with stingrays, eating lots of food and having a great time. Okay so it wasn't that bad staying behind. My wonderful boss gave me a little something since I couldn't go and my main job was answering phones and getting the mail. I also get to stay home with Brinley an extra week! I got to take Brinley up to the office with me and she did great.

Friday after we got home from work, we left for York. Brinley got to meet her great grandma Collins.On Saturday, it was a nice day outside so we decided to do a photo shoot with Brinley.

Brinley is getting a personality now. She likes to smile a lot.

Here is a preview of pictures about the next post.

Husband Tag

2007-10-28T14:08:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by Elizabeth

1. Who is your man? Alex
2. How long have you been together? 5 years (married for 3 1/3 years)
3. How long did you date? 1 2/3 years (engaged for 10 months)
4. How old is your man? 28
5. Who eats more? I do. Alex tends to skip lunch a lot if he is busy at work.
6. Who said "I love you" first? Alex
7. Who is taller? Alex
8. Who sings better? Alex
9. Who is smarter? depends on the topic
10. Whose temper is worse? Alex
11. Who does the laundry? Mostly me, but sometimes he helps
12. Who takes out the garbage? both of us
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do
14. Who pays the bills? I do
15. Who is better with the computer? Alex
16. Who mows the lawn? Both of us
17. Who cooks dinner? Mostly me
18. Who drives when you are together? Alex
19. Who pays when you go out? Alex most of the time
20. Who is most stubborn? Alex, but I am not far behind.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Alex (I never have too. I am always right!)
22. Whose parents do you see the most? I would say we see them about the same
23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me
24. Who asked who out? He asked me
25. Who proposed? Alex
26. Who is more sensitive? Me
27. Who has more friends? Alex
28. Who has more siblings? same
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Good question

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

2007-10-10T14:59:00.001-06:00

Okay, so it is more like huge, scary spider. Alex was doing yardwork one day and came across this spider on our fence. We found out it is a banana spider and completely harmless. So we decided to let it be. When the Hobbs were at our house, we showed them our new little friend. Tara told us we needed to throw a grasshopper in the web and watch it catch its prey. Later, Alex and I were outside and we happened to see two grasshoppers. So we caught them and took them to the backyard. We were amazed at how fast the spider worked.

A couple days ago, Alex went to go check on our little friend. She was nowhere to be found, but left us a little gift. It was a huge egg sack. We didn't want hundreds of little banana spiders and decided we couldn't keep the gift.

Quit the Traveler

2007-10-06T14:08:00.000-06:00

We were on the road a lot last week. We left on a Wednesday to go to Kansas so Alex could take care of some work. We planned to be back around 4 or 5 Thursday afternoon. However, some unexpected things came up and we didn't leave until 10 p.m. That put us getting home around 1:30 in the morning. Thankfully, Brinley did great in the car! I stayed up until 4 getting things ready for our next adventure to Midland.

We planned on leaving around 8 or 9 Friday morning. It was closer to 11 when we finally got around to it. The high school that Alex went to was having their 50th aniversary celebration and homecoming so we decided to go for that. We arrived in Midland about 6 that evening. We then went straight to the homecoming parade followed by the pep rally where we ate BBQ sandwiches while we waited until it got dark. Brinley got to meet 2 of Alex's brothers and their families for the first time too.

We had another busy day on Saturday. We went to our nephew's soccer game then to the homecoming football game. It was a close game and Midland Christian ended up winning! That night we stayed at the house. Alex's brother and his family came over and we just relaxed the rest of the night. Our nephew Hayden loved holding Brinley and didn't want to give her up. It was so cute!

Sunday afternoon we celebrated Allan's birhtday. We ended up leaving Midland around 6 p.m. and arrived back home around 2 a.m. Brinley did great on this trip too. She slept almost the whole time we were in the car. She is such a good baby!

Our friends had there baby September 26. So on Monday we drove to Norman to go meet Adam. There is 20 days difference between Adam and Brinley. I didn't realize how much Brinley had changed until we saw Adam. Adam was born 1 pound 4 ounces more than Brinley and I couldn't believe how much bigger she was than he. Good thing this was the last of our travel plans for a while because Brinley was starting to get really tired of being in her carseat all the time. She wasn't very happy on the way home from Norman.

2 weeks old!

2007-09-20T20:58:00.001-06:00

I can't believe it has already been 2 weeks since Brinley was born. Before we left the hospital, we found out that she was tongue tied (the skin underneath her tongue went all the way to the tip of her tongue). When she was 5 days old, we got her tongue clipped. She did really good and is eating so much better now. Monday we took her in to get weighed and she was already 7 lbs. 13 ounces.

She has been a busy little girl. She has met many friends and family and she can't wait to meet the rest of her aunts, uncles and cousins.

Our new little family!

When people first meet Brinley, they are amazed at how long her fingers and toes are.

Brinley and her friends.

Cousin Carter layed down next to Brinley and had to position his feet like she had her feet.

Brinley Grace Awtry

2007-09-09T18:18:00.000-06:00

Brinley Grace was born Thursday afternoon at 12:38. When we got to the hospital a nurse got all our information and started hooking me up to an IV to help keep me hydrated and a very low dose of pitocin. At 8:30, Dr. Houk came in to break my water. The nurse also up the pitocin. About 15 minutes later, the contractions were getting pretty strong and I was wanting the epideral. I had to wait another hour becasue the anesthesiologist was in a c-section and one more person was already waiting. After I finally got the epideral, I felt soooo much better. About 10:15, a nurse came to check my progress. I was dialated to a 6 and almost all the way efaced. Alex asked if he had time to run to the cafeteria to get a bit to eat. The nurse said he had plenty of time and that I probably had a few more hours until it was time to push. While he was gone, I started to feel a lot more pressure so the nurse decided to check my progress. By the time Alex got back, I was almost to a 10. I was relieved when he made it back to the room. The nurses called Dr. Houk to see if he wanted me to start pushing. He wanted me to wait until he got there. While we were waiting Linda, one of the nurses, said I just might be able to laugh that baby right out. About 12:15, Dr. Houk showed up and I started pushing. While we were waiting for a contraction, Linda told Dr Houk to tell a joke so I would laugh. So a few knock knock jokes were told in between contractions and we were all laughing, even though the jokes weren't that funny. At 12:38, Brinley Grace was born. She was a healthy 6 pounds 15 ounces and 20 inches long. She has the skinniest and longest fingers and toes I have ever seen on a little baby. We came home friday night and doing well. Just a little sleep deprived.

3 Days Past Due

2007-09-03T08:03:00.000-06:00

Still no baby, but we do have a car. Thursday night we looked at a 2000 Infiniti I30. It has 95,000 miles and very well taken care of as far as we can tell. According to Autocheck it had one previous owner and no reports of any accidents. Even though it was kind of inconvenient, it has been a blessing. We now have a better car and no money out of our pocket.

Friday night, I started having stronger contractions but nothing consistant or very often. Our next appointment is Wednesday. Our doc said if we made it to our appointment, we would schedule to be induced probably on Thursday. Hopefully, we won't have to wait that long.

Still Waiting

2007-08-29T20:20:00.000-06:00

We had a doctors appointment Monday and there was not much that changed from the week before. At least we have been busy the last few days and not just sitting around waiting. We have been car shopping the past 4 out of 5 days thanks to the effects of tropical storm Erin.

The night that it rained for serveral hours during the night, Alex got a call from one of his managers about 5 in the morning. He had been sick all night, so around 6 o'clock in the morning Alex made his way to one of his Norman stores to open. It was still pouring down rain and dark outside. About 2 blocks away, Alex couldn't tell how much water was covering the road until it was too late. As he noticed people waving at him to stop and not go any further, his car died. The guys helped push his car out of the water and about the same time workers from the City came and placed road closed signs out. What great timing! After getting the car to a mechanic, they said if we tried to fix the car more than likely it would have problems a month or so from now. So they declared the car totaled.

Car shopping has been kind of frustrating. Usually we would take our time to find something that we really like and fits our budget. However, I don't really want to find out what it is like going car shopping with a new born baby. I'm afraid that is how it is going to be though. Whenever we find a car that appears to be well taken care of, it has already been sold. Hopefully we will find something soon.

Any Day Now

2007-08-22T20:24:00.000-06:00

So I haven't kept up with posting once a week. Sorry! We had an appointment today and things are progressing well. I am now dilated to 2 - 2 1/2 and over 50% effaced. We are just waiting now and wondering when the big day is going to be. She is still constantly moving. Tonight during church, she was the center of attention for those sitting next to me. About 4 or 5 people were watching my stomache move all over the place. Besides having a cold/sore throat last week, I have been feeling pretty good. The worst part right now is sleeping. I wake up several times a night to trying to get comfortable.

39 Weeks

We finally finished the nursery about a week or two ago.

I guess you can say I was in the nesting stage last night. I spent about 3 hours cleaning and getting things ready for Brinley's arrival. We got the car seat base put in my car and the play yard put together.

I will TRY to be better at updating the blog, especially when Brinley comes. I am sure we will have lots of pictures to post.

What! July is almost over?

2007-07-29T19:26:00.000-06:00

I can't believe how fast July has flown by. Alex and I have been busy with softball games on Mondays (don't worry I just watch), birthing classes on Tuesdays, and church on Wednesdays. Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays we try to get caught up on house chores and maybe rest a little unless something else come up which usually happens. We also helped with the Capital Hill VBS the 2nd week of July that our Bible class at church helped coordinate. It was very successful and the kids enjoyed it a lot.

We had family and friends come to visit us the past 2 weekends. Both our parents came into town last weekend for a baby shower. The girls that put it together did a wonderful job. Thank you all very much. We are pretty much set for Brinley to come now!

When I showed Alex everything we received, he was most excited about one thing.

The "Spit Happens!" bib.

We had a doctors appointment about 2 weeks ago. The doctor said she has dropped and is head down. He said at this point it is rare for a baby to move out of this position. I am definately able to breathe a lot easier now! Our next appointment is a week from Tuesday. I will start going every week after that. It is getting close! I will try to post once a week now. Sorry it has been awhile.

35 weeks

2007-07-07T20:41:00.000-06:00

My brother and sister-in-law, Jeremy and Hannah, came to visit from the St. Louis area. It was nice spending time with them this weekend. My neice and nephew, Camdyn and Carter, were so excited to see them. We had a lot of fun! Today we got the slip-n-slide out. Jeremy and Craig even had some slides themselves. One time Camdyn started sliding a little too early and went right into the mud. Of course, nobody had a camera handy.

Alex is having some fun of his own. Friday afternoon he left for Arlington, TX to surprise his dad at a couple of Ranger games. His dad was really surprised when he showed up at the hotel. He is at one as I am writing actually. That brings me to this next topic, the baby.

Everybody was over at my house this afternoon (Jeremy, Hannah, Laura, Craig, and the kids). They all left about the same time and the house got real quiet real fast. So I decided to update my blog with my 32 week picture. Just one problem. I'm the only one home. So I decided to take the picture myself.

After everyone left and I sat down for a little bit, Brinley started moving a lot. So without anything better to do, I started recording my belly moving. Below is a short video.

Okay, so the video isn't working. I will try to figure it out later.

My work had a shower for me on Monday. We got lots of good stuff including a car seat, a bouncy seat and a running stroller! They even got Dairy Queen icecream cake which is one of my favorite cakes.

We started our "Birthing Healthy Babies" class on Tuesday at the hospital. Even though there might other ways we want to spend our Tuesday nights, we learned a lot of interesting things. I think it will definately help us feel more prepared when Brinley decides to come. Only 8 more weeks to go!

Getting Bigger!

2007-07-01T14:01:00.000-06:00

I am now at 31 weeks and feeling pretty good! The picture is when I was at 30 weeks. I feel like I am getting bigger and bigger everyday. Two weeks ago at my appointment, the doctor said that the baby is growing right on track and everything is looking good.

Alex and I have decided to name her Brinley. We have not yet decided on a middle name. It is between Brinley Paige or Brinley Grace. Of course, I lean more towards one name and Alex likes the other.

We worked on the nursery a lot yesterday. We bought a recliner and a changing table. Alex put them together when we got home. It is starting to look more like a nursery!

Sorry this is the only picture we got of our furniture. Just about the time that we are going to be taking pictures on a regular basis, both our cameras stop working. One doesn't work at all and the other decides when it wants to work. So this is the only picture I got of our furniture we bought.

I also started to make a wall hanging using Brinley's name. Again, I was not able to take a picture of the final product. The picture below is a VERY rough draft. I took it when I was trying to decide how I wanted to make it.

Yes, the pink round thing at the bottom of the picture is my belly!

28 Weeks

2007-06-10T21:19:00.001-06:00

We are 28 weeks along. I am feeling pretty good besides a little back pain. She has been a very active little girl lately especially when I am sitting still. It is entertaining to watch my belly when she is moving around a lot.

We have made some progress on our nursery the last few weeks. The ceiling and walls are all painted. We received our crib on Friday. I put it together before Alex got home from work. There is a piece that was damaged so we have to get a replacement. When Alex got home and saw the crib he said, "Whoa, we are going to have a baby!" It is becoming more of a reality to him know. Only 12 more weeks to go!

24 Weeks

2007-05-13T21:26:00.000-06:00

I am now 24 weeks pregnant. I am feeling really good for the most part. My biggest compaint is that my lower back hurts a lot more than before. I guess I have it pretty easy.

We have been working on the nursery a little bit. We are painting the walls green. On Saturday I was standing up on a ladder edging by the ceiling. I was at a point where I couldn't reach any further and had to move the ladder over. As I was stepping off of the ladder, I was surprised by a wet, slimmy feeling on my foot. I reacted quickly and placed my foot somewhere else. I realized I had started to place my foot in the paint can. When I quickly stepped on the floor, my foot was dripping in green paint and was just a couple inches from the edge of the drop cloth. It was a close one.

For those of you interested, I have posted some more pictures of our Cabo trip.

Cabo Trip

2007-05-08T20:13:00.000-06:00

We got back from our trip Saturday night. Tim and Kelli Barker and their two kids went with us. We were in Cabo for 9 days and the time flew by. We spent most of our time at the beach, the pool, and eating. The food there was good but we decided we like the Americanized mexican food better than the more authentic mexican food. One exception was the guacomole. It was delicious! We also ate a restuarant called Edith's where they made a caesar salad in front of us. It was the best caesar salad we have ever had. Another restuarant we ate at was called The Office. It was on the beach and we decided to go on Mexican Fiesta Night. The entertainment for the night was a game similar to musical chairs and a pinata.

Dinner at The Office

We spent most of our mornings at the beach. We went on walks, played in the ocean, built sandcastles and watched the waves. The last couple of days we were there, the waves got really big and loud. Sometimes they were so big and loud they would shake the condo. We built 3 different sandcastles. Each time they got bigger and better. Thanks Kaden for sharing your sand toys with us!

Playing at the Beach

The building in the background of the picture is the condo where we stayed. Click on the picture to view slide show.

Our afternoons were mostly spent relaxing by the pool. My time was spent reading while Alex played in the pool with Kaden and Jack.

Alex also enjoyed taking pictures of landscaping. The picture below is one of his favorites!

I finally got some more pictures on here. For those of you interested, I will let you know when I get Alex's landscaping pictures posted.

Fun in the Sun!

2007-05-01T09:36:00.000-06:00

As most of you know, Alex won a trip to Cabo through a competition at work. He has been working hard and it has been very nice to relax for awhile. The scenery is beautiful. We have enjoyed watching the waves, playing in the ocean, building sandcastles and relaxing by the pool. I will post more pictures when we get back home.

Pregnancy Update

I am now 22 weeks (and 4 days) along and everything is going good. We haven't done anything more to the nursery, but we have bought the bedding. The theme is going to be ladybugs and dragonflies.

20 Weeks

2007-04-14T20:04:00.001-06:00

We are half way there and I am finally starting to look pregnant! I can feel her move everyday now and we have even seen her kick.

Today we started on the nursery. We took down the wonderful wall size mural the previous owner kindly left us for our viewing pleasure. Much to our surprise, underneath we discovered a blue wall with stars.

18 Weeks

2007-04-02T21:08:00.000-06:00

Today, we had an appointment to find out if we are having a boy or girl. The baby was being a little camera shy so we didn't get very good pictures, but we did see the little hands and toes. We were also able to see that we are having a little girl! Everything was measuring right on schedule. We are very excited and can't wait to start thinking about names and to work on the nursery.

We Are Pregnant!

2007-03-28T19:41:00.000-06:00

As most of you know, Alex and I are going to have a baby! Our due date is August 31. We are about 18 weeks along. I had a doctors appointment today and everything is measuring where it should. I have started to feel the baby move around! Alex has even been able to feel a kick every now and then.

12 weeks

16 weeks 4 days

We are finding out what we are having on Monday, April 2! My gut feeling is that it is a girl and Alex thinks we are having a boy. Soon we will see if mother's instinct is right.