Holidays and 6 months

Wow I can't believe another year has come and gone! Ever since Brynley has joined our family time has just flown by! I love how the end of the year is wrapped up in so many fun holidays. We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family this year and it was so nice! In past years we always got together with the whole extended family, but the last couple years it's just been our little family. I must say it feels so much more laid back and personable! We had a great Christmas this year as well! Although Brynley didn't really know what was going on, it was fun to watch her play with the boxes and wrapping paper. She also LOVED the Christmas tree, ornaments and lights. We went and saw Santa at the mall too! Luckily she was very good! I think she was so distracted by the decorations that she didn't really notice Santa, and she took a darling picture :)

Christmas Eve in her new bib
Christmas Morning...first gift: I got a glider :)

So festive in her new pjs and crazy hat

Tired from all her new toys

Sooooo spoiled!
So this month, Brynley turned the big 6 months! Haha I can't believe how fast a child grows. It's crazy! They learn so much in such a short time. Here are some of the things Brynley does:

She talks like crazy! She is already a jibberjabber and she doesn't know any words. She says mamamama, dadadada, rararara, and babababa. Even in the middle of the night while she is asleep we can hear her talking.

She likes to stare at the fridge. I don't know why. We first noticed it at my parents where there are a bunch of pictures of her and a big 8x10 of her face....maybe she just likes to stare at her sweet face! Who wouldn't right?! She does it at our house too, where again there are pictures of her. If you block her vision of the fridge she will twist her body and lean over so she can see. Haha so weird!

She has started on baby food! yay! She has already tried sweet potato, squash, banana, applesauce, green beans, and as of right now her favorites are pears, carrots, and prunes. I love watching her face when she tries something new, so far she hasn't hated anything...lets keep our fingers crossed!

She smacks her lips when she eats her carrots and other favorites.

First try of solids. I think this face is due to the texture, because she actually like rice cereal now. So funny!

Brynley is such a happy baby! She laughs all the time and makes us laugh non-stop! She definitley has both of us wrapped around her chubby little finger. It's no wonder our parents were willing put up with us when we were bratty, sassy tweens. She has been such a joy to have and I can't believe what an amazing blessing being a parent is. Every second of the day is so much fun and incredibly rewarding. What a fun stage she is in right now :) We are looking forward to experiencing everything more that she has to learn!

Life as you know it

Well I have become one of those bloggers who don't have time to update their blog. So much has been going on and Brynley is getting so big! She changes so much every day. It makes me sad at how quickly time goes by. Now that I have this beautiful baby growing in front of my eyes I realize how fast time actually goes. Before, I just took every day for granted. Being a mom is so amazing! It's a kind of love I never could have imagined! I came across this on BabyCenter.com and I couldn't believe how exact it is to my life. I couldn't have written it better. 42 things that change when you have a baby (I'm only writing the ones that are true for me)

The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.

You respect your body ... finally.

You respect your parents and love them in a new way.

You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.

You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.

Your heart breaks much more easily.

You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.

Every day is a surprise.

Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)(Wow is this one true for me! I cheer for her and give her kisses all over her chubby face :)

You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.

Your love becomes limitless.

You'd rather buy a toy more than those shoes that you've been dying to have.

You don't mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night.

You discover an inner strength you never thought you had.

You give parents with a screaming child an 'I-know-the-feeling' look instead of a 'Can't-they-shut-him-up?' one. (It's amazing how instant this changed for me)

You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you'll be late. (So true...just ask my work)

You learn that taking a shower is a luxury. (very much agreed)

You realize that you can love a complete stranger.

You find yourself wanting to make this world a better place.

You have to quit watching the news because you see every story from a mother's perspective and it breaks your heart.

You just plain love life more - everything comes together and becomes better because of one tiny person and your love for them.

You finally find out the real reason you have those breasts.

The support you get from other people surprises you, because the people giving it are not always the ones you'd expect.

Nothing is just yours any longer. You share EVERYTHING!

No matter what you've accomplished in life, you look at your child and think, "I've done a GREAT job!

You want to take better care of yourself for your child.

You can have the most wonderful conversation using only vowel sounds like "ahhh" and "oooo."

If you didn’t believe in love at first sight before, now you do!

My sweet little baby girl! Love you pumpkin!

Halloween!

What a fun Halloween we have had so far this year! It is so much more fun now that Brynley is with us. She had three costumes...yes we went a little overboard. Yesterday she was a ducky:

Zac was a bunny and she was a ducky


Last night she was a lamb, I was little bo peep, and Zac was a wolf



I'm spongebob for work...doesn't go with her pumpkin


And today she is a pumpkin!



Last night we had a halloween party at the Campbells and it was a blast! We had a nacho bar, desserts, costume contest, pumpkin contest, and games. We had a quite a crew this year.
Too many people to name


The hosts


Doogie


We played the newly wed game, which was so funny this year! And a cucumber passing game which our little team dominated and we won movie tickets! We also won $10, $5 for 3rd place for best costume and another $5 for Zac's pumpkin won 3rd place...I don't have a picture of it but it was the pumpkin throwing up if anyone has seen that.


We were at the party until 1 am!!! We haven't been out that late since before she was born! Haha and this is the result...she slept until 11:45 the next morning! Haha she is so sweet! Tonight we have a more laid back party, dinner and a scary movie with my family!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!

What can I say...

I have been so neglectful of this poor blog. So much has been going on and of course our laptop isn't working so I can't update it! Life is so amazing right now. Brynley is so much fun! I can't believe how much she changes every week. She coo's and makes the sweetest noises all day long! She belly laughs now, her back is getting stronger getting ready to sit up, she holds her head up SO well, she sleeps for about 8.5 hours through the night, and she is just the cutest thing ever! I am back to work but really part time. It's nice to get out of the house and have some adult conversations. I only work about 8-12 hours a week which is so perfect! I'm glad my work is being flexible for me. The first time I left her was so hard for me, I cried even before I dropped her off at the babysitters. But once I got to work I was better :) After my 4 hour shift I am always so ready to go home to this sweet baby:

she loves her fingers

sleepy head
tummy time in her new gym
loves her swing
found her toes I can't believe how much this little cutie has changed our lives. Everything is so much more fun. I'm even excited for Halloween because we have such a cute costume for her! I am looking forward to the holidays now to see Brynley experience them. We went to a pumpkin patch the other day to get her her first pumpkin and I went crazy with pictures! That's another post to come once I get our pictures up, this is it for now!