Monday, February 21, 2011

15 months

Brinley is now 15 months old! Well, actually she turned 15 mo 3 weeks ago. I am just a little late on this one.

At her 15 mo appointment Brinley weighed 22 lbs and was 32 inches tall (although I am not sure how accurate those measurements actually are).

Some of Brinley’s favorite things right now include:

Climbing. Climbing off the bed, onto the couch, and from one piece of furniture to the next. She really likes to climb onto our coffee table and stand right on the very edge.

Talking. Brinley jabbers all day long. She doesn’t say much you can recognize although she has come a long way in the last couple weeks. She mimics sounds all the time. She says momma, dadda, go, bye, and dog. She also roars when she sees pictures of bears. Most things she says don’t really sound like the word she is actually saying though.

Brinley loves going to the park, mostly just to play in the sand, but she also loves going down the slides.

Whenever we put on her shoes and her coat she will go and wait next to the door until you let her outside. She LOVES being outside. She cries when we have to go in. Recently she has started to try to get the door handle. I just hope she doesn’t grow too fast so I don’t have to worry about that.

Some of her favorite foods include pasta with red sauce, graham crackers, yogurt, mandarin oranges (she will definitely down a whole can in one sitting if I let her), and pretty much anything else but vegetables. The only vegetable she’ll eat is green peas. When she is hungry she now will just go and bang on our pantry now. Funny girl.

Brinley is fascinated by animals of any kind, but she especially loves dogs. She is also fascinated by babies and gets excited if she sees one in a book or on t.v., or even better, in real life.

Her favorite place in our apartment is her book corner. She used to just hang out in her toy area, but now she really spends most of her time playing with her books. All of her books with animals in them are her favorite (go figure).

She loves laying down on any blanket, but she has decided that one blanket she has in particular is her favorite and she now won’t leave her crib without taking it with her. She also loves to blow kisses and has finally caught on to a few signs.

Here are some recent pictures:














We are amazed daily at something she decides to do. I have to say that this is definitely my favorite stage yet (although I think I say that at every stage). She is just so much fun to be around and to laugh with. Love you Brin!

Quiet Morning

I don't have school today so my plan was to sleep in until 7ish and then I would get up and do some work and be productive until Brinley woke up and began being a cute little distraction. Instead I found myself picking up Brinley at 5 something this morning as she screamed. Thankfully she went back to bed after a little while and a sip of milk.

Then I found myself not tired anymore because my body was used to getting up by now anyway. I realized I have some school work to do, but yesterday I was looking at a Time article online that posted the top 50 websites of 2009. In the darkness and quiet of the early AM I looked back at the article and found a website called inbflat.

It is an artistic compilation of Youtube videos that amazed me. I clicked on whatever videos I felt like clicking on and started new ones whenever until I had played them all. Not just listening to all the music, but watching all the videos I felt a real sense of the amazing talents and abilities all of God's children possess. Seeing that many people do different things at the same time helped me glimpse what it must be like to be our Father in heaven, looking down at all of us in a symphony of sorts.

It was a very calming and relaxing morning and I thought I'd share. Now on to the work!

Brent

Thursday, February 17, 2011

My momma

This last week my mom came into town to spend some time with us. What a treat it was! I was kind of having a hard time missing my family so my mom decided she was going to come, and a few days later she was here! It was amazing to have a break from the daily routine. I even felt like I was the one on vacation. We spent a lot of time touring Mississippi and Arkansas, visiting antique stores, shopping, eating, playing games, and camping out in our living room. My mom was a champ and spent the whole time sleeping in our living room on an air mattress (and if you know my mom this is quite unusual). She has only been gone for a day and I already miss her. Thankfully we’ll be headed out to Utah in just a few weeks!


Brinley hanging out in my mom's suitcase.



My mom was here on Valentines Day so we had a blast cooking up our Valentines dinner this year. Every year since we have been dating Brent and I have gone to a Thai restaurant for Valentines Day. Best place to go on Valentines Day by the way, no lines or crowd and the best food ever! However, this year we happen to live in a place where there isn’t a Thai restaurant within 100 miles. Since my mom was in town anyway we decided to cook up a Thai meal. It turned out perfect! We had yellow curry, cashew chicken, and mangoes with sticky rice. My ideal meal.



yellow curry

Cashew chicken

Thanks mom for everything! We love you!