Brynn's 4th Birthday

Brynn asked us for a year to have her birthday party at sweet and sassy.  She wanted a princess party of her very own and so we obliged.  First of all the place takes care of every detail and all we  have to do is show up and 2nd of all her 3rd birthday party was rained out so we were happy to have a fun party for her.

We were able to invite 8 little girls so we invited her friends from the neighborhood, her cousin Ali who was in town and her best friend Michelle from school.

Brynn and her Bestie Michelle from school

Again- this is not the cake I ordered.  I give up.

A beautiful birthday gift- Fancy enough for Brynn

Another fancy approved dress 

Spring Break

For spring break Gigi came in town to spend the week with the girls and help take care of them because lucky me had surgery to remove my gallbladder.  The surgery went well and I was up and moving around that evening, but it took me a full 2-3 weeks to fully recover and not have any pain.  

I put it off for as long as possible hoping that I could find an alternative to surgery, but it had gotten to the point that I couldn't put it off any longer.  The great news is that I have not had any further issues and it has not caused any other upset.  Some people have told me they've had other issues after having it removed, but luckily that has not been the case for me, phew!

I went to work a few days later but realized that it was way too soon and took the rest of the week off to recover.  On the last day of the week the girls were tired of being cooped up in the house so we went with my cousin Courtney and her family to the Oil Ranch out here in Hockley.

It was freezing cold, and muddy but the girls had a blast.  They rode horses, rode on a train, got to milk a cow, play in a barn filled with hay and see all sorts of farm animals.  Best of all they got to play with their cousins.

Gigi, Brynn and I left early to go eat lunch and rest, but Ava opted to stay and play with her cousins longer.  Courtney and Trevor said they were cracking up on the way home becuase Ava is such a one upper.  Anytime Trent would say something, Ava had a better one, had already done it, or had done it better.  We had to have a long talk about one upping and how obnoxious it is and I'm happy to say that I THINK we have gotten it under control!

On the last day we spent the day in Galveston to see Gigi's new house she and Papi are renovating.  It's just two blocks from pleasure pier and we can't wait until it's all settled and ready to go.  

This is our Crab we got at Murdocks-  Unfortunately Crabby Patty died a week later

Brynn taking her baby doll for a ride

Ava riding her bike with no training wheels for the very first time!!  

I'm baaaaaack....

Having two very active kids in school, a full-time career, and a husband leaving me very little free time to even get a clear thought out has kept me away from the blog for a few a months, but I have not abandoned it!  I'm about to update you on the last several months so get ready...

Since my last post we have:

• Celebrated Brynn's 4th birthday with a princess party at sweet and sassy.  
• Celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary with a romantic trip to the wine country
• Ava learned to ride her bike with no training wheels.
• Ava was promoted to intermediate tumbling and Brynn started wee gymnastics (she was promoted from yellow to green in just one week!)
• Had the last day of school as a 1st grader and a pre-schooler.
• Enjoyed a wonderful but quick summer filled with some nanny time, birthday parties and some summer camp adventures.
• Celebrated Ava's 7th birthday with a slumber party.
• Taken a family vacation to Destin, Florida one of our favorite vacation spots.
• Started the 1st day of school as a 2nd grader and a Pre-Kindergartner
• Started our 1st year of Cheerleading as a cheerleader for the Vikings football team.
• Steve interviewed for and securied a coveted and much sought after position at his company.

So get ready for the pictures and updates because here they come....

The Tooth Fairy has finally visited Ava

Ava finally started getting  a loose tooth a couple of months ago.  It didn't seem like it was getting any looser though and one day I noticed that her permanent teeth were growing in behind her baby teeth.  I read that when the permanent teeth don't come in under the baby teeth that the root on the baby teeth is not dissolved and this is why the teeth weren't coming out like they were supposed to. Gigi confirmed this when I sent her a picture.

We made an appointment at the dentist and they were able to pull the baby teeth right there in the office.  Ava was so excited that she was finally not only losing one tooth but two teeth!  The tooth fairly left her $5 per tooth in her very special tooth fairy pillow that grandmother made her.

I was so proud of how well Ava did at the dentist.  She wasn't scared at all.  We are so happy with our dentist, they were so good with her and really do everything in their power to make the experience for kids as stress free as possible.  I've heard horror stories about bad pediatric dentists that just make my stomach turn so I refuse to go to a dentist that doesn't allow me in the room with her.  I feel blessed to have found a great pediatric dental practice for Ava and Brynn.

A month in the life of Brynn

Brynn is getting so close to 4 years old.  Where did my little baby go.  I really feel like her baby and toddler hood is a blur.  I don't remember details like I did with Ava, it has gone by so fast!  Recently she got a tummy virus.  Everyone who knows me knows that vomit is my kryptonite.  I absolutely hate vomit.  When she started she was up in Ava's room sleeping with Ava.  Poor Brynn had no idea what was happening or what to do.  I was surprised that she knew to run to the bathroom though.  Thanks to my sister in law Kristin I have discovered essential oils.  I will say that either Brynn is a trooper or peppermint oil works wonders.  I rubbed peppermint oil on her tummy and diffused it in her room and she was fine for the rest of the night and most of the rest of the day.  It also helped calm my queasiness.  Then I spent the entire day disinfecting the house with thieves oil (diffused it in Ava's room and all throughout the house), vacuumed, did multiple loads of laundry, shampooed the carpets in Ava's room.  Made everyone put thieves oil on when they got home and luckily nobody else got sick!  Phew!!!  Vomit crisis averted.

She was fine here, but woke up as few hours later vomiting.  Only her 2nd tummy bug ever so she was shocked and didn't know what to do.

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ice cream face

IHOP with mommy-breakfast date.  She LOVES "the pancake place"

Her "Belle" dress that she picked out herself

Playing dress up-My ballerina princess

Capturing Brynn's unique personality

Being a trooper during her stomach bug

Brynny is at that stage in life where she realizes she has her own free will and can't stand not having control over what she wants to do.  Luckily she isn't as bad as Ava was at this age, but she can still be quite challenging.  She enjoys taunting Ava and calling her names, so we are working on that.  She's also fiercely independent and doesn't really need or want us as much as Ava did.

I went in to cuddle with her in her bed and talk about our days and she said "mommy can you get out of my room"
I'll ask her questions about school or her day and she'll say "let's talk about that later or we can talk about that later"
Sometimes at night when it's time to say our prayers she'll say "I'm too shy, you say it for me"
I asked her why she wanted to have her birthday party at sweet and sassy and she said "because it's fashion and they have beautiful dresses"

Right now she loves My little pony, littlest pet shop, dress up and her baby dolls.  She loves playing mommy.  At night she lays in bed and tells herself stories and sings songs until she falls asleep.  She's still very attached to her big purple blanket.  We take it to school every day and thank goodness it makes it back home as well.  I've looked all of the internet to find another one as a back up but I guess it's discontinued now.

Steve's 40!

We can't believe it, but Steve turned 40 in February!  Of course his introverted self chose to forego the big 40th birthday bash and said that all he wanted to do to celebrate was to go to a nice dinner with me and then go home and spend the evening with the girls.  So we went to Trulucks for a yummy dinner and then home to the girls.  Just our speed these days :)

At dinner with my man

The girls making Daddy's birthday cake

Brynn the car worker