Bennett Family

BRYSTAL'S 4TH BIRTHDAY!

2011-10-31T14:19:00.022-06:00

Brystal turned 4 on the 27th! She has been looking forward to this birthday for a long time! Here is a little glimpse of what happened with the birthday festivities. I got brystal a train table and painted it to look like a garden for her dolls.

Hello Kitty kareoke player.

Hello Kitty helmet.

We went to lunch to McDonalds where she had to bring her Ariel doll that she got with the money that Oma gave her.

We met up with Brooke for lunch.

Boston helping me mke the cake.

Brystal talking to Grandma on the phone.

Tea set from Grandma and Grandpa Wood.

We had pumpkin pancakes for dinner!

Then we carved a pumpkin! Boston was new to this.

And Brystal was a pro!

The end result is supposed to be Malefisent from Sleeping Beauty. Brystal picked this out.

Brystal's birthday party began a couple days later with decorating princess hats and prince shields!

Here are her little buddies.

And here are the scary dragons!

The kids slayed the dragons with balloon swords!!

Then we dug for the royal treasure and filled our castle buckets up with lots of jewels and coins.

Nathan then joined us and made the kids balloon flowers and hats.

And everyone got their picture taken with their loot.

Then we had cake and ice cream and played the day away. Success! Brystal had a great birthday this year and we can't wait to see how she grows as a 4 year old!

OCTOBER!!!!!

2011-10-19T15:45:00.014-06:00

I love October!! I love the leaves, the fresh air, the cooking warm food, Halloween, pumpkins, everything! Here is what we've been up to this October!

Painting pumpkins. I figured this was easier than carving for the kids.

We went to the Hudsen Gardens here where they had a great fall festival with a pumpkin patch, a hay maze and other crafts and activities for the kids. Nate is lost in the hay maze. How will he ever get out?

The pumpkin patch was great! These weren't pumpkins you can take home with you, they just had a big pumpkin patch with giant pumpkins for climbing on.

Brystal got to plant a few plants and take them home.

Somebody was a little grumpy that day.

Family pictures in the pumpkin patch.

Brystal love her Daddy

My Boys.

Brystal's little friend Brooke.

Brystal and Boston lost in the hay maze. They loved the maze. We had an amazing time here and will definitely look forward to doing this again next year!

THOMAS THE TRAIN!

2011-10-18T15:00:00.006-06:00

TRAIN!!!!!!

And que the music! It's Thomas the train!! In the flesh! Or should I say steel!

In case you don't know Boston is a huge fan of Thomas the train and when we heard he was coming to town, we couldn't resist going. Boston was in train heaven all day long! It was at the Colorado railroad museum so there were trains everywhere. We even saw Sir Topham Hat.

Brystal checking out the firetruck.

You could ride the Thomas Train, we didn't cause it cost an arm and a leg, but it was just as good to stand on the side and wave to him as he passed. We could have stayed there all day it was so much fun and the kids loved it!

4TH OF JULY TRIP

2011-08-29T14:15:00.024-06:00

Over the 4th of July weekend, we met my family at Crystal Hot Springs where we camped for 2 nights. When we first arrived, after setting up our tents, the kids found a little cat walking around.

Boston LOVES little cats! He couldn't get enough of this little cat even though I wasn't a fan of him touching a stray cat.

Kristie and Zack just hanging out before we went for a swim.

There' little Alex!

Brystal and Lilie had fun playing dolls inside the tent.

Boston had fun running in and out of the tent.

Boston and Zack playing in the tent together.

Surprise!

We brought up a few little camping games.

Ladder ball.

Brystal is trying out a roasted marshmellow for the first time.

The next day we spent most of the day swimming.

Boston is ready for the pool.

We attempted to put a bag over his broken foot. It worked for a little while but lets just say Boston didn't do much swimming on this trip.

Exhausted after a long day at the pool.

Aunt Kristie brought a fun craft for the kids to make. Bouncy Balls!!

Our campsite was right next to the train tracks and Boston would get so excited everytime a train would come by. Nathan and Boston watching the train go by.

After our camping trip we went to the Kaysvill 4th of July Parade. Here is how Brystal watched the parade...

Here is how Boston and Zack watched the parade. Welcome to 2011.

LAZY SUMMER

2011-08-29T13:45:00.011-06:00

Though we have had a very busy summer, we've had a little bit of downtime as well. Here are just a few little lazy day pictures of the kids.

Brystal has become obsessed with makeup and loves especially eyeshadow.

She is always into my makeup and is often seen walking around with a black eye from her makeup job.

Brystal and Boston have become little buddies as of late. They play together all day long, and even though Boston doesn't say anything discernable, they manage to understand eachother and laugh at everything.

Sharing a snack.

Boston loves to do whatever Brystal is doing.

Bubble time!!

Getting better at the bubbles!

Brystal and her friend Jocelyn and Boston eating some Mac and Cheese on the front porch. Love the hair Brystal.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

2011-07-12T14:48:00.008-06:00

Ya my birthday was a couple months ago but it happened so I'm still gonna talk about it. I won't lie, it wasn't a birthday really worth remembering. I felt a little sick all day long and it was on a sunday. Nobody likes sunday birthdays. BORING! I had once told Brystal I liked mermaids in casual converstion so when my birthday rolled around, she assumed that I really wanted a mermaid party so this is what Brystal and Nate came up with for my birthday cake.
The kids were pretty excited about the cake and the candles.

Oh and did I mention Nate used to tie balloons for a living? Well he dusted off his old balloon pump and got to work for the birthday party and made me a balloon hat. What a great skill to have in your family around birthdays.

I turned 27 this year, and yes Nate put on 27 candles on the cake. The kids liked this part.

Sorry these pictures aren't the greatest quality.

We finished off the evening with balloon sword fights!!

FAMILY PHOTO SHOOT

2011-06-06T14:32:00.018-06:00

We found an awesome girl here in Denver to take our pictures and she did such a great job! Now I just need to decide which family picture to hang on my wall. Here is just a few of my favorites...

This is #1 I like this one the most except for Brystal not looking.

#3 Everyone looks cute, questioning the pose.

#4.

I can't decide!!!

Me and my girl.

Nate and his boy.

SWIM LESSONS

2011-04-19T15:06:00.005-06:00

I signed the kids up for swim lessons here at the rec center. I thought it would be a fun thing for them. I got Brystal in her own class while I took a mom and tot class with Boston. Thank goodness Nate was able to come for the first time cause Brystal struggled once it was time to go to her class and I don't know what I would have done.

Eventually she warmed up to the class and got in the water and joined them. I think she really liked it.

Boston of course LOVED it and is a little fish. He constantly wanted me to let him go so he could swim. He loves to jump in. He had no problem at all getting any part of his face wet. In fact when he falls in and goes under he just comes right back up and does it again without hesitating.

Trying to get away from me.

HAVING FUN WITH B AND B

2011-04-19T14:57:00.007-06:00

More often than not, you will find Brystal wearing this. She wears it everywhere and is in full character when she is dressed up. She will be addressed as princess Aurora, or Princess Rapunzel, or your majesty.

Boston went through a phase where he wore his stethescope all the time.

I made pancakes for dinner last week, and cut up some fruit and told them to decorate their mickey (or Minnie) mouse pancakes. Hoping they would actually eat their dinner, I'm think it worked a little.

A little bit of powder for makeup.

It's always fun to make dinner more interesting.

HOUSTON

2011-04-19T14:42:00.013-06:00

During the month of March, Nate had to work with his old client to finish up a project, so we all made a trip down there for a couple weeks to see old friends and Oma and Opa.

We took a nice Sunday walk at our old favorite park. We love the trails, the trees and the lakes here.

Spring was in full bloom in Houston with all the wildflowers everywhere.

Brystal picking some wildflowers.

And walking through the tall grass.

We took a trip downtown with Oma one day to Discovery Green park. We love this park and the weather was great!!

Boston loves to climb and had a great time climbing all over this park.

It is so fun to watch him discover the things around him.

And Brystal spent most of the time following around other little girls and chatting it up with them. Typical Brystal.

They have a giant water fountain right next to the park that the kids can play in. It was a little chilly, but Brystal braved it. Boston mostly just watched or, he walked around all the little fountains, careful not to get wet.

I have a picture of Brystal doing this same thing when she was a little baby here at the same spot.

Boston climbing on chairs and watching from a distance. We had a great time in Houston and loved visiting everyone.

NATE'S BIRTHDAY AND OTHER DADDY MOMENTS

2011-04-19T14:18:00.010-06:00

On March 2 it was Nate's birthday. This was the big 3-0. We are getting old. The kids helped me get ready for it by blowing up balloons and crate paper. We decorated the house as a "surprise" for him. Brystal was so excited to help.

Boston thought the balloons were pretty hilarious when the air blew out of them and they flew across the room, and when we stuffed them in his shirt.

Nice huh? Ya Nate was soooo surprised...

We went out to eat at a little burger place downtown called the Cherry Cricket, then came home for cake! I made a yummy banana cream cheesecake.

This was the first year that when I asked Nate what he wanted for his birthday, he actually gave me an answer besides, "I don't care" He wanted a golf bag for his clubs, so that is what he got. Piece of cake. No pun intended.

I also make this collage of all the years we've been together for him and got a nice frame for it. I wonder if we'll ever get it actually hung up on the wall.

On another day when Nate was home, he wanted to make a fort with the kids and watch a movie. The fort was a hit, the movie was not so much. Like they wanted to watch a movie after building this.

They had fun anyways!

Here is a couple more pictures of the kids enjoying their daddy. They don't get to see much of him lately, so when they do, they all just can't get enough of him. Here they are eating grilled cheese sandwhiches. I love these 2 pictures because Nate and Boston have the exact same face and doing the exact same things in them. Stuffing the sandwhich in their mouth...

Chewing up the sandwhich. And of course Brystal looks adorable with her dress on backwards.

WELCOME HOME!

2011-03-03T13:09:00.011-07:00

Well I know most of you are wondering what our new home in Denver is like. I tried to take a few picture when I could while the house was clean for 5 minutes. So I'll give you the tour... This is our cute little early 1900's bungalow home. It has a great porch for relaxing, though I don't get much relaxing when I'm chasing little kids up and down the side walk, but it COULD be relaxing. From what we have been told by many people about our home is that we live on a great block, and many of the neighbors here are so nice and friendly. We are block away from the zoo, the museum and many parks and Downtown is only a 10 minute drive. It's been great having Nate working a little bit closer.

This is our front room, with a cozy fireplace that we have no idea if it even works. And though you can't really see it well in this picture, it has beautiful wooden beams on the ceiling that is my favorite part of the house. This is actually my favorite room in the whole house, it has that old charm of the house still in here and has that cozy feeling that makes you want to just cuddle up. Though we don't spend too much time in this room, I do like to sit in here when it's nice and quiet when I'm reading a book.

Turn around and this is the other half of the room. A cute little dining area with some built in drawers and cupboards. I love how it has the ledges along the walls so that I can set pictures along the ledge without nailing them into the walls. That closed door you see leads into the family/tv room. That open door you see there is where we will be heading next.... the kitchen and family room.

To your left you see our cute cozy little family room. We spend most of our time in this space. It rarely ever looks this clean since there is usually toys or pillows all over the floor. It's a constant battle, but that's what happens when you have 2 little kids.

Turn around from that room and here we have the kitchen which has nicely been updated. It is a great kitchen for cooking and it overlooks into the tv family room.

Just past the kitchen and family room we have the upstairs and downstairs. Upstairs we have a nice big loft room. We have our guest bed here with a love seat sofa and a rocker chair...

And there is a little cubby space here where Boston's crib and changing table are kept, tucked away. This is a great room and we spend alot of our evenings up here before bed playing and reading books before the kids go to sleep.

Downstairs we have this nice big play area, behind me in this picture is where our desk and computer are. Behind those doors is an unfinished basement where we store all of our goods, it is actualy pretty big down here. So far we haven't spent too much time here when it's cold, but as the weather is warming up, this space is getting used up a little more.

Back upstairs on the opposite side of the house there is a hallway that leads to the spare bathroom and Brystal's room. I don't have a picture of Brystal's room on here, but it's cute, it's right next to this bathroom.

And across the hallway from the upstairs and the downstairs is our master bedroom which has a great window with great light. The master bathroom is next to our room.

This is such a great house and even though it is only temporary, it is working out great for us! We love the space, and the neighborhood, and all the fun things around us. We hope we can stay here as long as possible til we sell our house in Houston and find a permanent place here in Denver.

WHATS NEW IN DENVER

2011-02-28T11:23:00.016-07:00

Well it's been awhile since I've updated, lets just start off where we are right now. We've been really busy here in Denver finding new things to do and what awesome things there is to do in Denver. This is a view of the city with the mountains in the background taken from the Museum.
We live just meer blocks away from the museum of Nature and Science, so we have a pass which lets us go there whenever we want! Brystal loves the space section the most because they have a little play space ship where you can dress as an astronaut, run the ship, and even hunt for moon rocks.

Hunting for moon rocks

When it snows we try to get out and enjoy it. Everytime it snowed Brystal would always ask if there was enough snow to build a snowman, so this time when there finally was, I took her out to build the biggest snowman she had ever seen because after all, I am a pro. Well it turns out, I'm not a pro. The snow was way to soft this day and Icouldn't get it to stick together for the life of me. This was the best I could come up with. Blueberries for eyes and buttons and a carrot nose. Brystal doesn't know the difference, she was just excited to build a snowman.

Within a week or so of a major snowstorm, it usually clears up and melts and we have had amazing weather. We've taken advantage of this weather and hit the mountains. We found a great trail called Red Rock Trail which was great for the whole family! The kids had a blast.

Here is the view from the start of the trail.

I wasn't sure if Boston was going to like sitting in this thing, but he just sat there the whole time taking in the surroundings. He was quite the trooper.

There were many places to stop and climb on rocks so this is where Brystal and I had the most fun finding holes in the rocks and exploring.

We did let Boston out for a little while. He was so cute to stop and look at every little branch and bush.

At the beginning of the trail Brystal was a little nervous to do this on her own but by the end of the hike, she was an expert explorer, here she is walking down a hill after I taught her to bend her knees and creep down.

The weather has been so great that we try to get out and find new parks. The kids are really enjoying the parks here and we love to just get out.

Over the last weekend, we decided to pack a lunch and go find another park. This is Washington Park which is a huge park with lakes and trails and a playground that is in a cute little urban neighborhood. This seemed to be the happening park, there were runners, bikers, dogs, and everything else you'd expect to see in Colorado. We ate our picnic here at the table and soon squirrels started coming from everywhere to beg for food. When we started feeding them, the word got out and soon the geese showed up too.

So far we are really enjoying the great outdoors here in Colorado and are so excited to learn and do new things here. Boston and Brystal are learning to how to explore and learn about the things around them.

DISNEYLAND!!!!!!

2011-01-11T12:49:00.025-07:00

We're here!!! I was so excited I could pee my pants. We were all so excited to be here. I hadn't been since I was 4 and so this was practically a first for all of us.

They really had the place decked out for Christmas. It must have taken forever to decorate that place the way they did. In fact when it got darker, they would dim the lights and play a song on the speakers, then fake snow started falling from the sky! It was so magical I almost cried.

We started out with sleeping Beauty's castle, which ended up being really dark and scary and Brystal was begging us to get her out of there.

After coming out of the castle, we saw her... the moment we all had been waiting for. Brystal's favorite princess, Sleeping Beauty herself. When seeing her in person, Brystal was suddenly a little nervous about meeting her, but as soon as we walked away from her she said "lets go see someone else!!"

I could barely hang onto Boston during the Carousal ride. Actually that describes the whole day with Boston.

Next was the classic Dumbo ride. This was the first real ride we went on. I was pleasantly surprised that both kids loved it!

see.

Then we waited in line at Pixie Hollow for what we thought was going to be a crazy adventure, for about an hour. Turns out you just walk through some big grass and flowers to take your picture with Tinkerbelle. Anyways, Brystal was excited to see her. Here she can see her through the thicket of grass.

Boston kept us busy by trying to either run away, or climb on everything he could reach.

Before we met Tinkerbelle, we ran into her friend Fawn. She was really pretty, (that's what I was thinking anyways.) She had a little thing for Boston.

Once again, Brystal got a little nervous to get close.

Finally after waiting forever, we got to Tinkerbelle's house. She was so nice and polite. I commented on how cute her shoes were, then we tried to get Brystal to come get her picture taken with her. At this point I was starting to think that I was going home with a bunch of pictures of ME and all the Disney Characters.

Then it was the Christmas Parade! We saw all of our favorite people.

Cinderella....

Snow White.....

Belle and the Beast....

And Woody!

Brystal watching from a distance.

The finding Nemo submarine.

Our favorite ride was the Buzz Lightyear ride.

In toontown we got to see Mickey and Minnie's house, and all the places they shop and play.

Mickey's laundry room.

And of course, I could not go home without riding the teacup ride. Before the ride started, Brystal sat there really still, I touched her arm and asked her if she was so excited, then without moving she says "Quit touching me." Ok.... I think she was just a bit nervous of what was about to happen. She ended up thinking the ride was fun, but her little comment was funny.

They finished the night off with fireworks and the castle had snow and ice cycles on it to give it that winter Christmas look. That is just a glimpse of how the day went but it was so much fun and so magical. I can't wait to take them back when they get older!

OCTOBER UPDATE

2011-01-11T09:35:00.008-07:00

I know what you all are thinking, Didn't we just have Christmas and New Years, and your posting October? Well I've been a little busy lately, so don't judge. I just needed to get these cute pictures from Halloween up and other happenings.

For Halloween Brystal was a witch. A cute witch of course.

Boston was a Dragon. He was so cute in this costume. I loved it.

This is my attempt to get them together. Good luck with Boston holding still. You get what you get with him.

A couple weeks later as we were packing up the house, I stepped out onto our front porch and found a big envelope from Fed Ex. Hmmmm, what's this I thought.......

10,000 DOLLARS!!! Well not quite 10,000, they took out taxes, but I'll take it.

It sure feels good to be holding that check.

Complete with a cheesy autograph from Tom Bergeron.

What's Boston up to? Oh nothing much, just getting cuter by the day. He gets into everything he is not supposed to. He keeps me on my toes. But how could you ever get mad at this face?

What's new with Brystal? Brystal got glasses! I started noticing one of her eyes turning in while looking at things up close. She has a crooked eye which the glasses will hopefully fix and make stronger over the next few years. Doesn't she look adorable in them? She is such a trooper, and has such an imagination. She loves to play princesses. She is my little princess.

AMERICA'S FUNNIEST VIDEOS!

2010-12-22T10:52:00.014-07:00

We had the opportunity of being chosen as a finalist on America's Funniest Home Videos! They called us up and I was so shocked and couldn't believe they wanted to fly us all out there expenses all paid for to be on the show. This was also Brystal's first time on an airplane, (well the first time she's actually known she was on an airplane.) She loved it and was great. She was so excited for this trip.

We got to our hotel and were greeted with an envelope telling us our schedule, and a big wad of cash for us to go out to eat. We felt like throwing the money in the air and rolling around in it. It was roughly about 750$, just for food!!

The kids were excited to just lounge around. We were 2 hours ahead, still on Houston time, so the kids went to bed at 6 and woke up at 5:30. Ya, hotel stays with kids aren't really relaxing sometimes.

We took a tour of the hotel grounds which were pretty amazing, Brystal laid out on the chair and soaked up a little sun.

We don't get out very much, as you can tell that this is very exciting for us.

Sunny California, wasn't really all that sunny while we were there. In fact most of the time it was overcast and a little rainy. But we made the most of it and went to the beach, actually we just looked at the beach from the pier. We were on Manhattan beach. We saw a few surfers, and just enjoyed watching the waves, which were way better than the waves we see in Galveston.

Me and my little babies. They had so much fun just walking up and down the pier.

Boston always loves a chance to get out and walk around by himself without mommy running after him and taking him away.

Brystal, well she's just cute.

Since we were 2 hours behind on time, the kids were exhausted by the time it was time for us to go to the studio for the show. We had to wait in the Green room the whole time since kids aren't allowed in the taping. Bosman finally konked out for a little while, but they were both still really tired.

Brystal was cute as always just chatting it up with all the AFV staff, she was of so cute and cheerful up until it was time to go out on the stage to announce the winners. So if you missed the show, you missed Brystal not being happy. I think she was just overwhelmed and didn't really know what was going on. There were bright lights and make up people, and the audience was all staring at us, it was overwhelming for me too.

Boston trying out the golf cart.

We didn't really have a chance to talk or get a picture with Tom Bergeron but I snooped around and found his dressing room and took a picture of it. That's as good as it gets, He was a really nice guy though.

In case you did miss the show, the Bennett's (us) won the 10,000 Dollar first place prize!!!!!! Woo hoo!!! We were so excited to have a little extra cash, and now it means another opportunity to go back and do it all over again for 100,000! We are just thankful for such a fun experience! Man it was such a long day of just waiting around for 5 minutes of fame, but it was worth it, obviously. And as Tom Bergeron says, "If you get it on tape, you could get it in cash!!!" And that we did.

WE'RE MOVING!!!

2010-11-01T17:20:00.003-06:00

Just in case you missed the memo, we are moving to Denver!! Nate is transferring with his firm and we are starting a new adventure in Colorado. We have loved living in Houston and we are really going to miss it here. We love living by Nate's parents and we love all of our friends here but we hope to make lots of new friends in Denver. We are really excited about the weather there and all of the fun activities we can do with our family.
Nate is really excited about this job and it seems that it is really going to fit him perfectly. Less hours hopefully, and room to grow!
Our plans for moving will probably be the week of December 12th. Just before Christmas so that we can get settled in before Nate starts up busy season. Does anyone want to come spend Christmas with us? Anyways, we are really excited, and a little nervous at the same time to start a new adventure in a new place. We'll keep you posted!

BRYSTAL STARTS DANCE

2010-11-01T13:38:00.008-06:00

Brystal started up baby Ballet in August. She is loving it and having a Blast!

She gets to dance with bears...

They also teach with musical instruments to help her learn rhythm...

They have a princess chair that they get to sit in after they finish walking across the balance beam. Notice how she is sitting with her legs crossed and her hands in her lap. She is learning to be a little lady.

Sometimes they get to wear cowgirl hats...

And "ride" across the balance beam...

She learns to point her toes...

And at the very end they choo choo their way across the room and get a cute little sticker for being so adorable. She is such a natural at everything in the class, she always listens (occasionally cries) and does so well at keeping her toes pointed and balance. She loves her class!!

More Summer Fun

2010-10-22T12:14:00.018-06:00

Well over labor day we got to go back up to Utah and spend the weekend with the Family. We were able to make it down to the family cabin in Zion's National Park. I haven't been for years, so this was a real treat for me, since the cabin brings back many memories and traditions.

Tradition number one: 4 wheeling. In this picture you may be wondering why everyone is gathered around the 4 wheeler. Nobody knew how to put it in reverse. So it was a group effort to figure it out.

Tradition 2: Lot's of fun with cute babies and family. Hello Kristie and baby Zack

Tradition 3: Shuffleboard. It is tradition to always have a shuffleboard contest. Here is Nate and Clayton battling it off.

Crafts for the kids. I brought up some little birdhouses for the kids to color and hang out on the deck which reminds of Tradition 4: Always dump your left over food over the balcony for all the squirrels and deer.

Brystal's first time 4 wheeling. She was a champ!

Boston hanging out with Grandpa Wood!

"Hey you guys!!! I just went 4 wheeling with my Dad for the first time and it was AWESOME!"

Me and baby Alex. He's the one born the same day as Bosman. Except he is sweeter than Bosman. He's so cuddly and adorable.

Brystal just hanging out with her Daddy on the balcony.

Boston watching football with Daddy.

This is a really old old bathtub that has been out behind our cabin in the forest for years and years. You can often find deer drinking out of it, or dead beavers in it.

View of the back of the cabin.

We stopped by to visit my Grandma and Grandpa. It was so good to see them. I haven't seen them since Brystal was a little baby. We love them and love to visit with them. This is our efforts to get our family picture taken with them. We did our best.

Love my Gpa and Gma.

After all the cabin happenings, we had to make the trip back home. But we made a quick pit stop through Denver. Nate was meeting with his firm in Denver, so me and the kids went to a nearby park downtown to just chill. "Hey Brystal scoot closer to your brother!"

There that's better.

Here is a view from the opposite side of the park. I like this picture because you can see the city skyline in the background.

This is me and Boston just chilling on the grass enjoying the beautiful summer weather in Denver. Sure beats the Houston heat!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOS MAN!!

2010-10-22T11:32:00.009-06:00

Well it has taken me 3 tries to get this post up in the last 2 months, lets see if it will finally work! Yes this is a late post, but Boston turned the big 1 on August 20!! We had a great party for him in his honor and invited friends over for a BBQ.

Boston is about 20 pounds and 23 inches long. He is the happiest little boy in town. He loves to climb on, in and around everything. He has the cutest little raspy laugh. He loves food just like his daddy, he'll eat pretty much anything I hand him. He loves to play with his sister, and loves his mommy. Of course. He is such a special guy to have around. We love him.

Here are the cupcakes I slaved over. In case you can't tell they are cookie monster cupcakes!!

Singing Happy Birthday. He didn't know what to do with the cake for a little while, but he eventually got into it.

There was lot's of fun with the sprinkler, and the pool and the slide for all the little kids. Brystal had a blast with all of her friends.

There we go, now he's into it!!

Here is the after shot of Boston. We decided to just wash him up in the pool. It was easier that way.

The after shot of the cake. He loved it.

All in all it was a great first birthday party. And even though he'll never remember it, I will and I'll never forget the day that he was born and what a happy lady he made me that day. One year has gone by already. I'm so excited for what he'll be like in the future. He is my little man.

SUMMER HAPPENINGS

2010-08-16T13:21:00.020-06:00

Here is my second attempt to try and post this update. Our internet has been slow the last couple weeks, and there is a bad storm blowing in right now, so hopefully I get this posted before our power blows out. Anyways, we have had a busy summer. I haven't updated in so long, I don't even know where to begin to catch up. So I'm just going to give a quick lowdown on what we've been up to these days....

One day it was raining during the day and still sunny. Brystal got to see her first REAL rainbow! She loves rainbows! She was so excited, and she almost cried when it went away.

She ran and played in the rain and had so much fun.

She even busted out the umbrella after she was already completely soaked!

I went to girls camp this year and had such a blast being the 6th year leader. It was so hot and sweaty I can't even describe the discomfort, but at the same time, I am always so amazed at how wonderful and strong the Young Women are these days and love to hear their testimonies as it helps mine grow too.

Brystal got Pink Eye. Something I have been avoiding like the plague since I HATE eye stuff. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Isn't she the cutest little stink eye you've ever seen though?

Boston is growing up so fast. He is all over the place and starting to get into everything. He has a mind of his own and won't stop moving! So wiggly. Something that I never had to deal with with Brystal. But I just love him, he is so laid back with a smile on his face all the time. He melts my heart.

I turned 26 years old this year on May 15th. I can't believe I'm getting older. It seems like just yesterday I was 16. Now I'm a Laurel Adviser over the 16 year olds.

Doesn't this cake look tasty? This is my birthday cake that Nate and Brystal decorated. I thought it looked like a circus threw up on it, but it tasted pretty good. It was just cute to see Brystal getting excited to decorate the cake.

We upgraded to a bigger car. We sold the truck for this crossover Ford. We love the space and loved driving up to Utah in this car.

We love to take the kids to the Waterway fountains when it isn't a million degrees outside. I love to watch Boston's reaction when the water shoots out of the ground.

I have the cutest kids in the world. Don't I? They are so fun and are starting to play more together. They love to laugh together in the car, and are learning share, key word, learning.

Brystal sprays Boston in the face in the back yard.

Boston loves balls, and loves to throw them, just as a little boy should.

Our cousins came to visit from Austin last week and we had fun playing in the baby pool with them. Brystal also loved to spray them.

Boston is a slippery pig when it comes to bath time, he slips and slides all over the place and doesn't hold still for a second! It is hilarious! This little guy is so funny in everything he does.

Brystal learns to put on makeup. Doesn't she look beautiful? Notice the bandaid on her arm. She fell off the slide and almost broke her arm causing us to go to the hospital and get x-rays. Turns out it was just badly bruised and she was able to use it again within a couple of days, but insisted on keeping the band-aid on it to make it better. I think it helped.

Brystal in her cute swimsuit. Ready to play in the sprinklers.

We have had a pretty good summer overall and just got back from a 2 week trip to Utah. We had our family reunion there. We also got our car broken into and our camera stolen with my purse. So all pictures that were taken on that trip were lost. I am so disapointed since we had so much fun going to Bear Lake and hanging out with family in Farmington. I have some pictures from family members from the reunion that I will try to get up as soon as I can. So Andi Hyldahl if you are reading this. You probably won't be getting all those lovely pictures I took for you at Bear Lake, since they were stolen. Please don't hate me. Anyways, I'll do better at updating. Sorry this one is quick. I had to get something up since I'm getting sick of our anniversary post.

ANNIVERSARY 2010

2010-05-04T09:37:00.011-06:00

7 Years ago Nate and I were married in the Bountiful Temple after meeting eachother at Utah State University. Who knew that after all that we've been through together and all the years together that we'd be more in love that we ever have been before? We decided to get away this year, so we left the kids with our friends overnight and we went to Galveston to enjoy the beach!! We had such a great time taking long walks (and runs) on the beach, eating out and just enjoying each others company in the car.

We went to the local Wal Mart to pick us up some beach supplies. This Walmart was filled with all your beach necessities. We shopped for a boogie board for our plans of body surfing! The waves were great this weekend so it was perfect.

We ate at the Rainforest Cafe which I have never been to before, but it was one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend! It was such a cool experience just to eat there with all the fish tanks and the animals. The animals weren't real but every 10 minutes or so they would all come to life and make noises and swing from trees and shake branches. It was amazing!

They had great food too.

This is a bad picture but this is the inside of the restaurant. It was like eating in a rainforest! Well duh. Hence the name.

After lunch we treated ourselves to a few drinks at the bar and sat on these funny stools. Ok we didn't really have any drinks, we just sat on the funny stools cause we're cool like that ok?

Here is the boogie board I picked out. I was so excited because I don't usually get to play in the water since I'm usually on the beach with the kids. And it's not really as fun playing out there by yourself.

I can't wait for another million years with Nate!

SHAMU!!!!!!

2010-05-04T08:33:00.022-06:00

Nate FINALLY had some time off so we took advantage of it and took a trip to Seaworld San Antonio!! Brystal was so excited to see the animals. We told her about the whales, and the dolphins, and the seals, and the sharks and the penguins. She couldn't wait!

First we stopped to see the penguins. They had a penguin out of the aquarium to show everyone. Brystal thought that was so cool, and as we left she turned and waved "goodbye penguin!!"

Boston and I waiting for SHAMU!! He was such a trooper and enjoyed the shows just as much as Brystal did.

And the moment we've all been waiting for. Brystal still talks about how the whales splashed everyone.

She liked pointing out all the whales as they would come out of the water.

Here is the Dolphin cove where we looked at the dolphins play with their toys.

The fish tank was nice and cool and a great break from the heat. We saw sharks and sting rays, and Brystal was looking everywhere for Dori. I don't think we found her.

Here is Brystal's signature wink!

Take 2

We ended the day at the splashpad. We forgot to bring swimsuits for the kids so me and Bos man watched while Brystal just went in with her clothes on. That's why we saved this for last.

She loved it and had the time of her life in there!

Up until she got shoved out of this tube to the left of the picture and landed on her face causing a major bump and skid mark on her forehead and under her nose and cut her lip open causing her to bleed profusely all over the place. And that was the end of Seaworld. She still talks to this day about how that girl pushed her at Seaworld and how that wasn't very nice. How traumatizing.

But we had a great time, and it wasn't traumatizing enough that Brystal didn't have a great time. She keeps reminding me that she had fun at Seaworld. We'll definitely be back later this year.

Instead of heading home, we went out to Austin to visit Nate's sister Karen and their family. We have lived in Austin for 3 summers before we had kids and we love it there. There is so much to do and so beautiful. We decided to take it easy and just go hang out by the lake. Boston took a little snooze under the tree with his bottle in his mouth.

The water definitely was too cold for swimming. This was as far as Brystal went in. But still a nice day to play in swimsuits.

I just love little bum cheeks.

Ohhhh baby!! That's my stud muffin husband! He's the one that keeps my heart beating fast.

Where have we seen this face before?

Daddy's got her starting young. She loves to do what daddy does. And he's hoping she'll really love sports. She was tossing the ball back and forth, and playing frisbee with everyone. She saw me taking her picture and wanted to take a picture herself...

Here is what she got.

At the end of the day, she passed out on Nate's lap. We had dinner with Karen's family and stayed the night, then headed home. We had a great trip. It was so good to get out together as a family.

RANDOM UPDATES

2010-04-08T12:26:00.015-06:00

Boston is 7 months old now can you believe it? He is so adorable I just can't stand it sometimes.

He pretty much always has a smile on his face. Everyone comments on what a happy little guy he is.

Brystal is getting so funny and creative. She is starting to do "pretend" play, and it just blows my mind of some of the things she thinks of sometimes. She has finally figured out how to "drive" her car, before she just sat in it and opened and closed the door.

She loves to drive to the store to pick up "monkey snacks" aka fruit snacks.

And I love how she tried to fit her keys into the ignition.

Brystal as you know loves her Daddy, who hasn't been around alot lately due to his busy work schedule. The kids don't get to see much of him during the first 3 months of the year, but when he is home Brystal loves to read stories at bedtime with him.

And of course Boston has a smile on his face. He is starting to look alot like a little Nate at times.

Now that Boston can finally sit up, he can take baths with Brystal. Makes life alot easier on everybody! Especially mommy. Although Brystal still gets really nervous around that bunny towel, we have started to use the lizard towel instead which is much less scarier. ??

Brystal loves to dress up. She sometimes layers her dresses so that she has on 2 or 3 at a time. She is definitely a girly girl. Loves dresses and loves pink and loves to paint her nails and do her hair, and wear stick on earings, and bracelets... you get the picture. And everytime she does one of these things she says "just like mommy". She likes to pretend like she is Kacie when I am fixing her hair. I don't really get why she calls herself by my name instead of Mommy when she is getting dressed up. Oh well, I like it that she wants to be like me.

By the way Boston learned to crawl about a month ago! I was shocked because Brystal was a bump on a log til 9 months old. Boston mostly does the army crawl, but he can usually do a few "steps" on his knees before he resorts back to army crawling. And now he does things like this...

He gets up on his knees and plays with toys, or pushes buttons on the stereo.

He occasionally tries to get up the first stair.

Once again, always smiles for the camera.

I really wasn't expecting to have to baby proof the house for another couple of months, but I guess he is curious and ready to explore. This just means I have to keep my floors clean more often. Yea, more work for me. I am so excited at how fast this little guy is learning.

WHAT THE?

2010-04-08T12:21:00.002-06:00

We got this in our weekly ad last week, and when we opened this up, Nate and I laughed so hard at this picture. What is going on here???!!!

I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE

2010-03-25T14:23:00.002-06:00

IT'S OFFICIAL, I DIDN'T WANT IT TO COME TO THIS, BUT I AM GOING PRIVATE. I HAVE BEEN GETTING SEVERAL ANONYMOUS COMMENTS ON ALL OF MY POSTS THAT EITHER MAKE NO SENSE ARE ARE REALLY INAPPROPRIATE. I HATE IT, SO I AM GIVING MY BLOG ONE MORE MONTH OF BEING PUBLIC SO THAT I CAN GET EVERYONE OUT THERE WHO WANTS TO KEEP UP WITH US A CHANCE TO SEND ME THEIR ADDRESS SO I CAN INVITE YOU TO OUR PRIVATE BLOG. AND FOR ALL YOU CREEPS OUT THERE, GO AWAY! SORRY, I HAVE TO DO THIS, BUT IT IS BETTER FOR OUR FAMILY. PLEASE SEND ME YOUR ADDRESSES IF YOU WANT TO KEEP UPDATED ON US.

DOWN ON THE FARM

2010-03-21T09:35:00.011-06:00

The last couple of times I've taken Brystal to the farm, she was kinda grumpy that day, and not quite old enough to appreciate it. Well finally, she had a great time at the farm. I told her we were going to the farm the night before as she was going to bed and she said, "to see the baby chickens?" Of course!

She wasn't too fond of going in the pens to pet the animals, she was content just watching from outside the gates.

Here is Brystal and James waiting in line to ride the pony. She had to go potty as we were waiting in line as you can see, so we ran to the bathroom as fast as we could...

When we got back, she wasn't so sure about riding on the pony anymore. Once she actually sat on the pony, she was positive she didn't want to ride the pony.

Her favorite part was the pigs, she kept saying "oink oink oink" at them. She actually did go in that pen to see them.

She saw some of the other kids feeding the donkey. She wanted to try it, but as soon as that donkey licked her hand she squeaked and jumped back 5 feet.

Holding hands with Alesy.

Bos man and I had a good time watching Brystal play on the playground.

Bak bak!!!!

Down the slide!!

A successful trip to the farm!! Woo hoo! She loved it! Even though I couldn't get her to smile in the picture. She' s still cute though!

GUESS WHO'S.......

2010-02-24T21:06:00.003-07:00

6 MONTHS OLD!! Can you believe it? This kid is already 6 months old. How time has flown by. He is such a joy in our family. I will admit he gave us a rough time the first 4 months with his crying all the time, but we finally figured out he's got acid reflux so he's on some medicine for that and now he's the best baby in the world!! Oh I just love having a little boy around. I can't wait to see how he grows.

We took him to the Dr yesterday and he is 16.6 pounds and 29 inches long. He is perfectly healthy and cute as can be of course. He loves to roll around, spit rasberries, and smile at the ladies. He smiles at anyone really, but mostly the ladies. He's a ladies man. He is almost sitting up now, and just got 2 teeth last week. He loves his food, except for peas.... he hates peas, he gags on those. Just like his mommy. He laughs at Brystal who plays peekaboo with him in the car. He loves having her around.

And then there is Brystal....Brystal, Brystal, Brystal. What can I say, she's 2. She is giving us a run for our money these days. Rule #1 Don't ever pass Brystal up on the stairs, you muct be right next to her, or behind her, or she will flip out. Rule #2 Don't leave a room without telling her that you are leaving or she will flip out. Rule #3 Don't run upstairs to grab something without inviting Brystal to come along, or she will flip out.These are just a couple of rules that go on at our house. Does anyone else have kids who won't let them go anywhere without them? What is up with that? Besides that and the normal 2 year old tantrums, Brystal is such a joy to have around and is learning so much. She loves to sing and dance, and she is starting to think of funny things to say. She loves her little brother, and likes to tell random people that this is her brother. She also likes to tell random people hi. Gotta keep an eye on this one, she is a bit too friendly sometimes. She loves to cuddle, especially with her daddy of course. I think her new favorite food is Mackie and Cheese as she calls it, she ate about 4 bowls of it today.

Things are pretty busy around here doing nothing with these 2. Crazy but fun. I love them both, and love that they love eachother I'm excited to see how their relationship grows together as the years go by. I sometimes look at them and can't believe they are mine!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY 2010

2010-02-24T20:53:00.005-07:00

Valentines day was great this year with Nate planning a big day and night for us. He managed to drag in a few of our friends to play along. First the guys let all of us ladies go out to the spa and get facials, then go shopping and out to lunch. When I got home he told me to grab my "going out to a nice place" clothes and I went to my friend Michelle's house where we were told to "get ready". Then we left the 2 babysitters with all 6 of our kids and went to our house. When we walked in the guys had decorated the whole place with crate paper and twinkling lights all the way up to the ceiling, and they MADE US DINNER! What did we ever do to deserve all this besides take care of their children and clean their house and dishes, and clothes?

Here is everyone eating dinner, I kept asking the girls who's table cloth that was, because I had never seen it before. Come to find out, it is one of our old sheets. Nice. Gotta give Nate a little credit here, he did think of everything else. He even had little dinner conversation starters like where did we all meet. It was fun to hear everyone's story.

Once again a really bad picture of both of us, but here we are, in love on Valentines day.

After dinner the fun began with a dance party. No I'm not kidding, we really had a dance party. Nate whipped up some old music from high school that we all danced to.

It was awsome! Then we went out and got some desert and visited with everyone. It was so fun to pretend like we were going to the prom again and get all dressed up. I can't believe Nate thought up of all this himself. He is such a great husband, and a really great Valentine. The babysitter mentioned that she never wanted to have 6 kids under the age of 4.

YOUNG WOMENS REMODEL

2010-02-24T20:41:00.004-07:00

As some of you know, I'm working in the Young Women's in church now which of course I LOVE! And they decided that our room needed a little bit of an update, or in this case, it just needed anything. They put me in charge of all the decorating for this room, which I used alot of my vinyl to do and pictures. Here is a few before and after shots. I wish I could have gotten more, but I put alot of work into this and I think it turned out pretty good.

Side A of the room. As you can see, not one single picture hanging up, not even one!

Side B, once again... nothing!! Can you believe this place? Nothing!

On Side A of the room, I put the them for the year along with all of the Young Women values and their colors beneath it. Along the other wall which I did not take any pictures of, I made a frame for each of the 3 rooms labeled with Beehives, Mia Maids and Laurels. Which was so cute.

Here is Side B, we moved the piano to this side of the room. Notice that we also made curtains for the windows. This place really needed some work so we went all out. I made the quote, "We are Daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us, and we love him." on this wall here, with the theme, and torch and the picture of Christ with the girl in the red dress. So when we come to YW now, we face our chairs to this wall so that we can see this beautiful arrangement. It makes the room so much more uplifting to be in now, and the girls really loved it. Anyways, just the latest of some of my creations.

ME AND MY LITTLE MAN

2010-02-02T15:42:00.006-07:00

I just can't get over how much I love this little guy. I think he is just reaching an age where everything he does is so fun! Plus he is freaking adorable!!!! He is 5 months old now if you can believe it and he is the apple of my eye right now.

Go Aggies!!!! Who wouldn't want to squeeze the guts out of this little guy!

Hello miniature Nathan... This is just half the reason why I love him so much. Wink wink.

Boy is he going to be quite the ladies man someday. He's already got that charm in his eyes. Just like his Daddy, hey wait a minute, that must be what attracted me to him so fast. This kid is in trouble.

We came home from Utah and he was freakishly too big for his swing, so we graduated up to the jumparoo. Here he is trying it out for the first time. He loves it now!

And of course he is my little cuddle buddy. I just love cuddling with a sleeping baby.

DORA'S HAIR, AND FINGERNAILS

2010-01-21T13:53:00.001-07:00

As you know Brystal has been potty training. Which she has been doing very well at by the way. So yesterday after getting out of the tub, she had to go potty and went in my bathroom. She turned back and looked at our trash can while sitting on the potty and looked back at me and says
"It's Dora's hair!"
What? I was confused what she was saying.
"Dora's hair!"
Well when I looked at the trash can I remembered that I had given Nate a haircut a few days ago and his clippings were in the trash...

I guess it could pass as Dora's hair. I asked her how did Dora's hair get in the garbage?
"I don't know" was all she could answer.

I've been letting Brystal play with markers while I sit at the computer and she usually scribbles on a piece of paper. Well this day she said "Look mommy!" I look down and she shows me her fingers. "I colored my fingers!" Well yes she did and she did a mighty fine job of it too if you ask me, but I had to put the marker away after that. Who knows where she'll start coloring next.

Then after that she built these out of her blocks and told me they were snowmen.

WE'RE BACK!!!!

2010-01-13T09:32:00.027-07:00

Boy it's been awhile, but we just returned home from Utah on Monday and we had a great trip, so prepare yourself for a full blown update!! We drove up to Utah with us and our dog Sophie, Sophie was more of a problem than anyone, besides Brystal throwing up, Sophie also threw up. Sometimes, I just want to throw her out the window, but she is a good dog. Anyways, we got there on the 18th of December, and spent the whole time with family, going to concerts, playing lots of games, going bowling, and skiing, and sledding, and eating lots of good food, and just spending time together. We also got a much needed updated family picture since we had 3 babies born this last year.

We had a hard time getting Brystal to cooperate, it was freezing outside though so we were all in a rush.

Here is my family. My little brother leaves on his mission next week so this will be our last time all being together for a couple of years.

Boston has the prettiest big blue eyes. I don't know where he got them from. Not me.

I also had a chance to catch up with my good old high school friends. We always have a little gift exchange and I went home with these lovely red and green striped slippers, thank you Emily Bott. I always love getting together and laughing about old times and remembering people from the past.

Christmas Eve, we have a tradition of having a great big dinner by candlelight. It was nice to have everyone there.

This is Brystal and her cousin Lilie, they are also eating by candlelight, just a little battery operated candle.

This is Alex. He is Boston's cousin who was born on the same day he was. They are just 5 hours apart. Here they are meeting and playing for the first time.

After dinner all the kids rounded up around the tree and Grandma read them The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck. The kids loved it and were completely still and quiet until Brystal announced that Zack had bugers in his nose, then she noticed that so did Grandma.

On Christmas morning, everyone was so excited and ran to their presents and stockings, but not Brystal, She ran straight over and ate the left over cookies that Santa didn't eat.

Brystal got some fancy new princess heels for Christmas. Maybe these will replace mommy's shoes.

I surprised Nate and got all his diplomas framed for him. I am so proud of all the hard work he has done going to school, it deserves to be hung on the wall.

We tried to take Brystal sledding. It was like pulling teeth to get her to come. She could barely walk in all this snow get up. She was in a pretty bad mood about it, but later lightened up a little.

If looks could kill.....

Sophie had more fun than anyone, she had the time of her life!

Here is my brother Dustin. He was always so nice to come and hold and play with my kids.

Doesn't he look so grown up? He is looking more and more like Nate.

Here is all the Grandkids. Starting on top: Jaxon and Lilie, Brystal, and on the Bottom: Alex, Zack, and Boston.

Here is Boston spending some one on one time with Grandpa.

and Grandma.

Here we are saying our last goodbyes as the trip is coming to an end. I am here with my Dad. I spent alot of time with him at home on this trip.

This is my little brother Tyler, he is going on his mission to Sweden next week so this was the last time I will get to see him in 2 years. He is such a great kid and I know he will do amazing on his mission and we will miss him very much.

Tyler and Boston.

On our way out of town we stopped in Springville to visit Kristie. I love Kristie, she is my favorite sister, and she is always so cute and funny. I always laugh when I'm with her.

Well that's it. We had a great trip, it was awsome, and it's good to be home and get back to normal, but we already miss everyone and look forward to our next trip up there.

DECEMBER HAPPENINGS

2009-12-06T09:55:00.008-07:00

Christmas is around the corner, and we are getting ready to make our trip up to Utah this year, but mostly we are just enjoying the cold weather here in Houston. It snowed the other day and I loved it!! It is so cold here, I got to put on a coat. Unfortunately all of our plants are dead. On a brighter note, here are a few things happening around here the last couple weeks. Brystal loves to color on her magnedoodle. She mostly just makes scribble lines and tells me it's a monkey.

There is nothing I love more than a naked baby fresh out of the bathtub.

What is Brystal doing here? Looking for pennies in the couch? Nope, she's sleeping. Don't ask me how this happened, one minute she's watching Dora the next minute she is doing this.

Boston is learning how to grab toys now so he is able to entertain himself a little more. He just gets cuter by the day.

See what I mean?

Brystal came down with a terrible cold and ear infection this last week. It was torture for all of us. No sleep for anyone, but she still managed to look cute regardless. Despite her scraggly hair.

We like to go on family jogs. Nate jogs and pushes one kid in the stroller, and I ride the bike and pull the other kid in the trailer. Boston looked so cute in his new jacket all bundled up for a chilly ride. We are so excited for the Holidays coming up and hope all you Utah people will be able to see us while we are there.

THANKSGIVING 2009

2009-12-06T09:38:00.006-07:00

We spent this Thanksgiving with Nate's sister and her in-laws along with Nate's parents. It was a great day to spend with family. This is my favorite moment of the whole day... My cute husband being a cute daddy holding our sleeping babies.

Other cute moments of the day included Nate playing kick ball with Brystal...

And Brystal getting tickled by Grandpa Bennett.

Enjoying a conversation with good family, this is Nate's mom.

And Boston's first Thanksgiving with us. It was a pretty cold night and it was fun to get bundled up together. He was a very good baby on this trip.

We found Brystal playing with blocks all by herself just enjoying the evening. We also watched football and cuddling. I love Thanksgiving so much and it makes me remember how thankful I am for my family, and the one that we are creating.

WHO WANTS TO SEE A CUTE BABY!?

2009-11-17T13:27:00.010-07:00

I DO I DO!

Boston is getting so big now. He will be 3 months old this week can you believe it? he weighs around 13 pounds and is getting bigger by the day. Brystal never was this big at this age. He also gets to wear cute outfits now! Here he is ready for church in his little sweater vest. I could just squeeze him!

He sometimes like to just chill out in his bumbo.

And he likes watching us work around the kitchen or carve pumpkins.

Another adorable little outfit that I will cry when he grows out of. Thank you Jordan Frazier.

This is the face that I love the most. His crooked little smile that he gives me. He is starting to smile more and laugh. It takes alot of work to get him to laugh but he does it and it's adorable.

Like my undies?

I DID IT!!!

2009-11-17T13:01:00.009-07:00

Brystal is growing up so fast now I can't even believe it. She is not a baby anymore and is turning into a little girl. Here is a little bit about what Brystal is up to these days.

Brystal likes to take things like her dolls, or her little people, and the silverware when we are doing the dishes and line them up. Then when she's done she says one of her classic sayings..."I DID IT!!"

Brystal has lots and lots of friends who love to play with her. She is still learning how to share and play nice sometimes, but most of the time she is nice to play with.

This is her friend Samari, they are playing with sidewalk chalk and decided to hug eachother.

Brystal loves her little brother. She is so helpful with him now and when he cries, she grabs his binky and puts it in his mouth for him and pushes on the bouncer to bounce him and make sure he is happy. He fusses alot during the days, but he always stops crying when Brystal plays with him. She'll say, "it's ok little guy" when he get sad. She also comes and tells me that Boston is sad when he is crying.

Brystal loves the park and is not a big fan of the big kid swings. I finally am able to trust her on them.
And for some reason the last week or so, "somebody" has had an influence on her because she randomly begs me to watch football. She'll say "I wanna watch fooball!!" I don't get it. I have no clue where this came from but anytime she sees any kind of sport on TV with a ball, she exclaims "FOOTBALL!"

Brystal loves to color!! She'll color a page and everytime she uses a new color she'll say "Look mommy!!" and she'll bring it to me for me to see the color she used. Sometimes she colors where she shouldn't....like the floor.

We are trying a little bit of this. It's not really going great, but we are getting a good start. For now she just enjoys sitting on the potty in hopes that she'll get a pee pee treat when she is done. And when she does go she yells "I did it!!" and then she can't wait to get her treat, but then, she is totally done and doesn't want to do it again. Oh well. It's a work in progress.

Brystal likes to help me cook sometimes. She especially loves to stir things. This time I let her scoop out the chicken mixture and put it in the rolls for Chicken Squares. She actually did a pretty good job.

She is so smart I can't even believe all the things she can do now. She knows all her colors, can count to 11 ( I know random) She loves to sing songs, and loves to listen to songs when she goes to bed. Her favorite thing to do is watch Dora the Explorer, She loves to give mommy hugs when she is "sad" so that she'll be happy, She likes to say "I'm a Big Girl!" She loves nursery, and "monkey snacks" or fruit snacks. She is changing so much, it is so fun!

HAPPY LATE HALLOWEEN!

2009-11-05T20:22:00.006-07:00

It is a week after Halloween but things have been crazy around here and I haven't gotten a chance to get on here. But I know you all wanted to see what Brystal was for Halloween so here she is. My Dad brought her this outfit back from China before she was even born, and now she fits in it so she was a little China doll. Isn't she adorable? And no that is not a juice stain on the top of her lips it's lipstick but it's hard to make perfect lips with a 2 year old.

She loved getting the makeup done cause she watches mommy do it everyday....until she turned around and saw what it did to her face and she had the biggest look of surprise on her face, and she wouldn't let me touch her up after that. So it's a good thing I got her mostly done before I showed her.

I tried to put Boston in Sophie's Spider costume. It didn't really work out. So he was just a cute little baby for Halloween.

We went to the Ward Trunk or Treat, and they had a little parade just before, so here she is walking in the parade. Then we walked around and did all the trunks, she didn't really get it at first and if we slowed down at all she would stop to eat some candy. The big kids kept pushing her aside to get the candy so that was annoying, but once we got home and did some Trick or Treating, she shined. She was the cutest one out on the streets and she learned to say "trick or treat" and everyone thought she was the cutest little thing they had ever seen, and I'm sure she got a little bit of extra candy for being cute.

Here is the Fam. Yes Nate and I walked around all night with these bread slices on and got plenty of comments on them as well. And for those of you who have been wondering about our brilliant pieces of bread, made by Nate, It's cardboard. 2 pieces of cardboard with cardboard on the sides for the crust, painted cream and spray painted crust. Looks pretty real huh?

2 YEARS OF BRYSTAL

2009-11-01T20:02:00.026-07:00

I can't believe my little baby is 2 years old!!! October 27th we celebrated Brystal's 2nd birthday. So lets take a trip down memory lane and remember Brystal and see the changes she has made in 2 years..........

1 Day old

1 Month Old

2 Months old

3 Months...

4 Months...

5 Months.....

6 Chubby months....

7 Sneaky look Months.....

8 months...

9 Surprising Months!!!

10 Adorable Months...

11 Happy Months...

12 Months.....

13 Funny Months...

14 Months... 15 Months!!!

16 Pretty months....

17 Playful Months...

18 Months...

19 Creative Months... 20 Months of Random....

21 Months of Getting Bigger... 22 Months......

23 Months..... and....... 2 Of the best years of my life!!!!

We love Brystal so much and can't wait to see what the years ahead will be like with her. Happy Birthday Little Brystal!!!

HALLOWEEN PARTY 2009!

2009-10-26T13:11:00.004-06:00

What do you get when you take a piece of bread.....

And spread a little bit of PB on it......

And a dab of J?.........................

A PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWHICH!!!

We went to a Halloween party over the weekend with some friends and there was a contest for the most creative costume, so we spent all day whipping these babies up, and yes you guessed it, WE WON!!! We Rock!!

A SPECIAL DAY

2009-10-22T15:06:00.014-06:00

On Sunday October 18 we blessed Boston into the church. He was such a good little boy and didn't cry during it. Here is his little outfit which he is a little long for, but you can never get clothes to fit just right with babies so oh well, he's cute anyways.

My cute little man.

Here are all the men who stood in the circle. Uncle Clayton, Grandpa Wood, Daddy, and Grandpa Bennett.

3 generations of Bennett boys.

I just can't get enough of the little guy. He makes me so happy

And he makes his Daddy happy too, but he likes his mommy more.

Next up while we had everyone there, we decided to celebrate Brystal's birthday a week early. She doesn't know the difference so it was the perfect day to do it. Here she is waiting for her presents.

She got a new cd of nursery rhyme songs from Grandma Wood which she listens too at night.

A new potty, which for now just sits there and looks fun in the bathroom. It hasn't gotten any real use yet.

And cleaning cart with a broom, mop, dustpan and broom, spray bottle and vacume. Now I can get a little help around here. She also got a puzzle and a Dora doll from Kristie and Clayton which she absolutely loves.

And of course the birthday cake!! She was so excited for the cake. Can you believe she is 2!?

VISIT FROM COUSINS

2009-10-22T14:47:00.008-06:00

My sister Kristie was here along with my dad and her husband and of course baby Zachary. I had never met baby Zach until now. He is 5 months old and Boston is now 2. It was hard to get a picture of them that wasn't blurry cause they are both so wiggly.

This is just a picture to show you how long Boston is. He is a very tall baby, which everyone notices. Nathan likes it cause he'll be a good basketball player someday.

Swimming in October? That's right we swam in the baby pool it was a little warmer for these Utah folks so they wanted to get baby Zachary in his suit before the season was over. Not so sure he liked it.

But he is still cute anyways.

And Brystal of course is a pro.

And a time with Kristie is never a dull moment. We are always acting stupid. I had a good time with her, we got to go shopping together without the guys and talk about babies and what we had been up to.

I am so glad that they all got to come and visit. It really meant alot to me since we don't get to see family too often. I only wish I would have taken more pictures because we did alot more fun things than just sitting in the baby pool. Oh well, we'll be up there for Christmas so I'll do better then.

A LITTLE BIT OF BRYSTAL IN MY LIFE

2009-10-13T22:00:00.005-06:00

Who doesn't love a 2 year old I ask you? There are some difficult times I must say, bust mostly times like these that make me love her the most. She is getting such a cute and fun personality now. She turns 2 this month, I can hardly believe it has gone by so fast.

Swinging on the big girl swing now. She loves the park now, especially swinging, which means I get to stand there and push her while the bugs eat me alive.

She loves her little brother, and talks so cute to him when he's sad. She says, "hey there little guy" and gives him little kisses when he is sad. She likes to remind me that he is sad when he starts to cry.

All ready for church. Unfortunately church is right when nap time is supposed to be. It is hard to keep her happy the whole 3 hours, but most of the time, she LOVES nursery, especially singing time.

All worn out after a long day of playing. I made her this tu tu and she requests that I put it on her every chance that she remembers. She is such a girlie girl. And I love her for that.

BABY SMILES

2009-10-13T21:51:00.006-06:00

I am so excited because little Boston is finally getting some more personality. He is smiling so much and starting to coo at us. I just love it. It is so hard to get a baby smile on camera, but here are a few of my attempts. This one looks like he is waving hello.

He looks so stylish in this one has he runs his fingers through his hair.

Here he is getting a good laugh at...I mean with Daddy.

Look who can sit in his Bumbo seat all by himself.

He is getting ready for the tub. He loves the tub, and his mommy.

This is my favorite time of day, just before bed when things are calm and it's just me and Boston, we have many good conversations together, and he loves to smile at me and make faces at me. I could just squeeze his guts out!!!

BOSTON'S PHOTO SHOOT

2009-10-02T08:44:00.010-06:00

We had a little photo shoot for Boston when he was 2 weeks old. I can't help it if I wanted to put all of them on here to brag about how cute my little man is, but I picked out all my favorites for you to see whether you like it or not.

He is getting so big and cuter by the day.

BRYSTAL LEARNS TO HOPSCOTCH

2009-09-26T22:00:00.003-06:00

The other night Nate drew a hopscotch on our driveway and taught Brystal how to do it. She loved it and did it for the rest of the night. Though she isn't quite coordinated enough to really do it, she thinks she is doing it, and is so proud of herself for it. Sorry about all the videos, but I couldn't resist.

FUTURE AMERICAN IDOL

2009-09-25T19:54:00.002-06:00

This girl is a born performer. She is always singing a song or dancing to some music. One day I heard her singing her usual songs, and I came around the corner and found her sitting in a laundry basket with her dolls. Here is a combination of Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam, If you chance to meet a frown, and of course her favorite song which she sings all day long, Twinkle Twinkle. Enjoy.
This one is for you Amma Wood.

DORA THE EXPLORER

2009-09-15T21:39:00.006-06:00

Today was Dora and Diego day at Chic fil a. Brystal is obsessed with both so we went. Here is how it all went down. We show up and this is what we see, first of all, this Dora is kind of a white trash Dora, she is all scraggly and looks like she is wearing a space suit.

Brystal is a little nervous and doesn't know what to think of this lifesize Dora.

Daddy takes her in for a picture. She is not so sure she likes this.

Now she is really sure she doesn't like this.

Clinging on for dear life...

Ok Dora has officially creeped her out and so we are outa here. Too bad, I was hoping she really would like it but maybe the cartoon version will have to do for now. It was funny while it lasted.

BENNETT HAPPENINGS

2009-09-15T21:14:00.007-06:00

Not to much is going on here, I've been pretty much laying low for the last 2 weeks since I don't really dare to go to far from home yet. So here are a few pictures of what has been going on. Boston is getting bigger by the day. He is starting to show his true colors by being so good all day long, then from dinner til bed time he demands that I hold him for the rest of the evening til bed time. If I had all the time in the world, I really wouldn't mind that a bit.

Today he smiled at me for the first time. It was so adorable, I can't wait to see what his personality brings to our family. It is so weird to think that Brystal used to be just like this. He is starting to look at his toys and mobiles. Such a big milestone in a young baby's life. I can tell he is getting bigger, and that makes me a little sad inside, but I can't wait to see what he will be like especially when him and Brystal can play together.

I would like to think that Brystal has a special personality about her, and here is proof of why I think that. Here she is watching Go Diego Go, just chillin on the couch with her sunglasses (or eyes as she calls them) on. If they are not on her face, she pushes them up onto her head which she sees me do apparently. By the way, now that she has discovered Dora and Diego... she's obsessed.

Brystal likes to play mommy now, she wraps her babies up in blankies puts them in her stroller, puts a keychain which she thinks is her keys in her purse, hops in my highest heels and struts around the house. She has also learned to put her babies in time out, hmm where did she get that one from. She acts out her baby doll hitting another one of her stuffed animals and yells No No! then puts her in time out and says "Sit down baby!" and walks away. Luckily, she goes back and makes the baby say sorry and gives her a hug and a kiss. At least she is learning something good from time outs.

After bath time is when Boston finally gets some Daddy time. I think Nathan is really excited for him to be big enough to play with him. Babies can be boring at first for men I think, but for now, he can cuddle with me all day long and I won't mind a bit.

Last week we went to the beach and hung out for a few hours. We set up a tent so Boston could hang in there and not get all sandy and sunburned. We had a good time. I am starting to feel a little more brave and daring to go out more by myself now that Nate is back to work. Being a mom of 2 is harder, but not as hard as I thought it would be. For now anyways....

PROUD MOMMY

2009-08-31T10:30:00.009-06:00

It's been a little crazy around here, I haven't been able to get on the computer for awhile, but things are going pretty good around here. My mom and Nathan have been here this week helping me out which has been so nice since I had a bad couple of days and couldn't really get around normally.

As always Nate has been such a good little Daddy helping me out with what he can, mostly playing with Brystal and keeping her busy so I could rest and take care of Boston.

Brystal has been doing surprisingly very well so far with Boston. She loves to hold him. This is the first time she held him when we got home. She has had a few little outbursts of jealousy, but this was expected. I'd say she is doing 50 times better than I ever imagined.

Here is the man of the hour. He has been such a cute little baby. He just thinks he has to be eating every time his eyes are open. Just like his Daddy.

Brystal loves to give him kisses.

Here is the little dude just after a bath, doesn't he just look so dapper?

I have a good feeling these guys will make a great team someday. Brystal is so good to be so soft and gentle to him. All those weeks of training her to "don't poke eyes" have paid off. She is good to touch everything but the eyes.

Getting a little sleepy.

Grandma was here for a week and we loved it. She was so helpful to play with the babies and help me around the house. I got lots of rest and a clean house and lots of good tips. We were really sad to see her go. I've got one more week with Nate home then... I'm on my own.

BOSTON NATHAN BENNETT

2009-08-20T19:17:00.006-06:00

He's finally here!!! After being a week over, he was making me so miserable waiting for him, so I was induced this morning at 5 a.m. August 20, 2009. What a great birthday! As soon as they broke my water for me around 9 things went really fast from there, and he was born at 10:55 a.m. Holy cow, it went by so fast and so easy. I got an epidural and was only really uncomfortable for a little less than an hour or so.

Little Boston weighed in at a big 8 pounds 6 ounces and 21 and a half inches long. Over 2 pounds more than Brystal!! I guess that's what happens when they get a little overcooked. He has been such a good little baby though.

I can't really tell who he looks like. He is different than Brystal, but still looks alot like the both of us. I just can't tell. He is just his own little person.

He has some pretty cute hair.

This picture makes him look pretty big. We aren't sure how Brystal feels about him yet, she came by once today and checked him out, but didn't really seem too interested, she was more into the new doll we got her. I'll keep you all posted on that, I"m a little nervous about it.

The funny story is that my brother Dusty and his wife who were due next week went into the hospital this morning and had their little baby boy today too! So we both found out we were pregnant on the same day, and now we had them together on the same day. Isn't that crazy?!! We are really enjoying him right now and look forward to adjusting to 2 kids now. Wish us luck.

WHAT DOES A PREGNANT GIRL SEE

2009-08-07T09:35:00.002-06:00

This is the view from my eyes every day. I am so big, I am wondering what my feet look like since I rarely get to see them. Things here are just dragging along. I am now in my last week of pregnancy, and it is so hot here in Houston, so I stay inside most of the time. I am finding it very hard to move around, especially keeping up with a toddler. I'm pretty much exhausted.

Things are looking good for me though, my last Dr's appointment on Monday they said I was fully effaced and dilated to a 3 so hopefully labor will come soon and will be quick. I hope. For the most part everything is ready to go. It's a little harder getting prepared this time cause once I clean something or get something out for the baby, it's messed up again in 5 minutes. But I think it will all work out. So we are expecting something to happen any day now. We will definitely keep you all posted!

BRYSTAL'S FRIENDS

2009-08-07T09:27:00.004-06:00

Brystal has many friends here. She is quite the likable girl. Here she is with a few of them. This is Samari, and Poppy.

Here is her friend Izzy, She is a year and half older than her, but they get along and play together really well.

Here is her friend Nita from Mexico City that is visiting her Grandma that lives across the street from us. She will be here the whole summer, they are about a month apart, and they play so well, it will be really sad when Nita goes back to Mexico.

MY BABY IS ALL GROWN UP

2009-08-07T09:26:00.000-06:00

Brystal's hair is getting so long and curly. I don't know where these curls are coming from because they aren't from me. She is getting so pretty and grown up now. I can't believe how much she has changed. She will seem even bigger when the baby gets here. We have been teaching Brystal about the baby, and how to hold her baby dolls and how to be soft with them and DON'T POKE THE EYES. She pretty much has no clue what is about to happen, but I'm sure there will be some jealousy issues at the first but I hope that she'll adjust quickly and be a good big sister. She is 21 months old now and she is full of life and curiosity. She is starting to talk up a storm now. When she does something by herself she'll say "I did it!!"
She has learned how to work the remote controls for the tv and we often find her flipping through channels and turning off and on the tv. She has also figured out the computer and I'll find her clicking away on the mouse.
She LOVES shoes and I find her putting on my shoes everyday and walking around the house, and they aren't just any shoes they are my high heels. I must say she is pretty good at them.
She doesn't like vegetables, I'm still trying to figure that one out, but I am trying.
She LOVES popcicles, the otter pop kind, she begs and begs for them everyday.
Many times I will find her sitting at the piano playing songs and singing her heart out.
She knows alot of primary songs and all the actions and loves to sing them.
She is learning to help us say prayers.
And she loves to snuggle with us.
I could go on and on about her, she is changing so fast. I don't want to miss a thing. But this is just a brief update for you all, oh and while I was typing this I realized I left her alone too long, and found her dumping out all the salt and pepper from the salt and pepper shakers. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me.

WHITE TRASH THURSDAYS

2009-08-07T08:55:00.004-06:00

This is one of those crazy frantic moments that a mom doesn't know what to do but just laugh. Nate was mowing the lawn so I got Brystal in her swimsuit and let her play in the baby pool while I fixed dinner. Well I don't usually put swim diapers on her to just swim in the baby pool cause she usually only swims for just a little while anyways so it's a waste. I went out to check on her and it appears she's got poop all over in her swimsuit. Oh no...what do I do. I'm trying to think. Ok, so I go and take off her swim suit with poop dripping all over in it, and it's so gross, it's getting everywhere, so I run to the front yard to turn on the hose so I could just hose everything off. When I come back out to the backyard, here is what I see.

Brystal is following Nate all over the backyard while he mows, naked. And probably with poop stuck to her bum. Oh man, I don't know what else to do except grab the camera. I managed to get her hosed off and brought her inside before things got to crazy.

Hopefully the neighbors didn't see anything. We really aren't white trash.

THE ROOMS ARE COMPLETE!

2009-07-27T12:34:00.009-06:00

Well I finally was able to finish my room projects. These rooms have been a work in progress for months now, and I am happy to say that they are pretty much done. After we found out we were having a boy, we basically had to redo 2 rooms instead of one since Brystal had to move to a big girl bed and everything. So let me walk you through our finished product. I only wish I had taken before shots. Oh well.

This is pretty much what you see when you walk into the baby room. Here is the crib and the changing table, which has to be there cause we are still keeping a queen size bed in this room until my mom leaves after the baby comes and we need to use the room more for the baby. So furniture is a little tight. This beautiful shelf that goes across the wall was hand built by my handy man husband. He cut the wood, and painted it and figured out how to get it onto the wall. I think it looks really great!

Here is the baby bedding. Last time my mom was here in April, she helped me make this. I can't take all the credit for making it because I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to sewing, but I did do a good chunk of this. So thanks to my mama for helping me with this, it goes so well with the room. We are going for a vintage look in here, with the vintage colors, old books and wagons and stuff like that.

This is hard to see, but I found some really cute animal alphabet cards with vintage looking animals on them, so I have them draped across the wall here.

Here is a close up of some of the cards.

And last but not least on the opposite wall from the crib where eventually the changing table will go is this adorable little quote. I hope we have a little pirate man who likes to dig for treasure.

Now onto Brystal's room. Across the hall from the baby room you walk in to see this. Once again my super handy man made this chair rail all around the room, and once again with the help of my mom when she was here, we painted this half pink and half brown. And though you can't see all around the room, I have made little flowers sprouting out of the floor with vinyl.

Here is Brystal's new bed, and dresser and bedding. She loves her new bed and loves to show it off to people and friends who come over.

I made this little sillouhette of Brystal at about 18 months.

And here is what hangs above her bed. The 2 canvas paintings I painted myself to match her bedding. I tried to save as much money as I could on decorations by trying to make things, but actually it makes me feel pretty good when I look at them and think that I made those myself, so I have a little pride in them, even if they don't look that professional. And this concludes the tour of the rooms!

BY POPULAR DEMAND

2009-07-17T13:52:00.002-06:00

Here I am in all my roundness! As much as I love showing off how much bigger and bigger I'm getting, I have finally managed to get myself dressed one day and remember to take a picture. So for all you out there, here I am, 36 weeks preggo and getting bigger by the second. I believe that I have suddenly hit the nesting phase of being pregnant, meaning, I'm freakishly obsessed with getting everything organized and put in place and trying to get the house in order so that little baby doesn't come out ashamed that his mother is a slob. Things are getting alot harder to do around here, I long for the day when I will be able to bend over again. I can't tell you how many times a day I pick up the same toys over and over. And keeping up with a little toddler is rough when you can barely move. We keep fairly busy, but I'm just slower. I do think overall I feel better this time than I did with Brystal, but just more tired since I am chasing her around and lugging this body around. I've got 4 more weeks to go my friends and I'm counting down the days. I'll start going to the Dr weekly from now on, and we even get one more ultra sound for a sneek peak at the little guy. But not much is happening around here other than waiting. I'm not going to lie, there are times, that I am nervous about having more than one child, if anyone has any advice on the transition from 1 kid to 2 it would be much appreciated. But only if it is good and your not out to freak me out.

TWINKLE TWINKLE

2009-07-17T12:28:00.003-06:00

After church we were waiting in the lobby for Nate to get out of a meeting. The place was pretty much empty except for a few stragglers and so Brystal started practicing her singing. She is normally alot more easy to understand than this when she sings this song, but you know how hard it is to spin in circles and sing at the same time.

NOT MUCH OF ANYTHING

2009-07-17T12:14:00.008-06:00

I know you all have been waiting for an update, but nothing too exciting is happening around here, so I'll just throw in some random pictures just to humor you people. This was on the 4th of July. We had a great BBQ with friends, then headed out to watch the fireworks.

This is how Brystal feels about sparklers.

I really hate how big I look in this picture. But hey I'm 9 months pregnant so give me a break. This was after the firework show was over, it was the lamest firework show I'd ever seen, but it was good to be in good company. Brystal had about had it for the day, she was so tired.

This is what we do when Brystal wants to go swimming and I'm too fat and lazy to take her to the pool. It is so hot outside here, so we swim in the bathtub as an alternative. She still gets the same kicks out of it.

And here is Princess Brystal wearing her eyes just after performing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star after church. She's taking a water break.

After we got our new double stroller Brystal loves to sit in it and refuses to get out, so we just park her in front of a movie and that buys us lots of time to get things done.

Brystal wearing her hat that she'll only wear for 2 minutes at a time, But she's cute. So this is what we've been doing alot of lately, just lounging around waiting for the baby to come. I'm so exhausted to do much of anything else.

BENNETT FAMILY REUNION 2009

2009-06-09T11:45:00.014-06:00

We just got back from Corpus Christi Texas from our Bennett Family reunion. We had such a great time with all of Nate's family who traveled down here. The weather was nice and everything went perfect. Beware, this has alot of pictures.

This was our last night before we left. We had a bonfire on the beach and roasted mellows and talked.

We spent much of our days on the beach enjoying the sun. We did some boogie boarding, (yes even me and my big belly tried it) and building sand castles and eating great snacks.

Brystal liked digging.

She was a little freaked out by the waves and the water, if anyone remembers what happened to her last time we took her to the beach in Galveston last year, that may have something to do with it, I don't know.

So instead she enjoyed staying far away from the water and digging in the dirt...

and laying around in the hammock...

I could always find her sitting by one of her older cousins. If they were sitting on the ground she would take her food plate or drink and go sit by them.

Each family had to do a talent. Our talent was to have Brystal sing Popcorn popping on the Apricot tree with her little cousins, she ended up being the only one who DIDN'T sing it.

Here she is again eating her ice cream cone with her big cousins.

We had some fun games that we played outside with everyone. Here is everyone lined up for a potato sack race...

Guess who lost?

Then a water balloon fight broke out. Nathan doesn't look like he has any mercy for those poor little kids.

What a great trip we had and we love to see Nathan's family since we rarely get them all together at once so it is a special treat to see them all. I just wish we could see them more often.

BIG GIRL BED

2009-06-08T12:35:00.002-06:00

We have had Brystal's big girl bed in her room now for about a month so she can sit on it and get used to it being in her room. Today I tried to put her down for a nap in it just to see what would happen, and if she did well, we'll move the crib out of her room. So see for yourself.

I think she'll adjust well, but I will keep you all posted on what happens. She is still asleep now, and this is only day one of the bed.

WHAT WE DID THIS WEEK

2009-05-31T20:30:00.010-06:00

Nathan has had the last week off of work, so we decided to hop in the car and take a little trip. First we headed to Fredericksburg which is a little German town outside of Austin. They had lots of fun little shops and German history there.

Even though Brystal was not being very nice to us that day, we insisted that we eat at a German Restaurant which we later decided would probably be one of the last times we go out to dinner with Brystal again for a long time.

Here is the little place we chose to eat at.

They had some good authentic German food. Here is Nathan with his Schnitzel which is just practically like country fried pork. It's tasty though. It is always fun to go to German places with Nathan so he can feel like he knows more than me for once.

Thank you. Come again.

Off to San Antonio! The next day we spent the day in San Antone. Here is Brystal trying on a new pair of "eye's".

After spending half the day at a stupid time share presentation, (I was getting pretty mad this guy was wasting my day, and if he went on for one more minute I was about to give him a piece of my mind) but we got our free stuff they promised us for staying, and went to dinner on the river walk on them! So our table was next to this chocolate shop with a giant bear outside. Kind of a dumb picture, but we had to do something to keep Brystal occupied, remember how we vowed we wouldn't go out to eat with her again? How did we end up going out again the next night? She did a little better this time though. I think it helped being outside.

Along with free dinner we got a free carraige ride around town. Here is our horse Marshmellow and our driver Juan.

A nice pieceful smelly drive.

Brystal wants to wear her "eye's" just like mommy.

An attempt at a family picture. It was so nice to get away for a couple of days. Now we are off to a family reunion this week so prepare yourselves for more fun updates!!

WHAT ARE THESE GUYS DOING?!

2009-05-31T16:21:00.003-06:00

Here is the look on Brystal's face when a mariachi (or however you spell that) band decided to come over and serenade Brystal with a song.

WHAT'S BRYSTAL BEEN UP TO LATELY?

2009-05-31T16:15:00.002-06:00

A little bit of this... (which by the way she loves these sunglasses, or in her words, her "eyes".)

And a little bit of this. She is growing up so fast now. She is not a baby anymore, she is a little girl. Sniff sniff.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

2009-05-31T10:03:00.009-06:00

We had a great Memorial Day. We took Brystal too the park and then had all of our friends over for a bar b que at our place. I ran to the grocery store to grab a few things before the guests arrived and left Nathan home to fire up the grill and set up the baby pool for all the kids. And I come home and find this....

Who is watching Brystal? Nathan said he just turned his back for a second and then there she was. Not only that, but she took her baby into the pool with her, which isn't a doll that can get wet. Oh well I thought, at least she is having a good time. So I took off her clothes to put on her swimsuit and before I could blink she was back in the pool like this...

Ahhh! Nathan says, "we are not white trash and we don't let our kids run around naked in the backyard" I of course agreed and quickly put her swimsuit back on. Let the party begin!

Now here is Brystal having herself a HUGE peice of watermelon. I couldn't believe how much food this girl ate that day. She ate all her food, then if anyone else left the table, she would eat theirs. This watermelon is not hers. She stole it.

Brystal loves playing with the bigger kids. Here they would line up against the fence then run across the yard to the pool.

Here is a little handful of people I managed to squeeze into a picture. The Carlsons, Nate, Jed Flint, and Ryan Black.

Here are all of Brystal's little buddy's in the pool together. These kids had the time of their life with this baby pool!

I always hate having other people take my picture cause they always say, "that's a great one" and it's the only picture they take and when I get it back, I have crazy eyes. Oh well, Nate looked pretty good in this one which rarely happens, so I'll take it.

Everyone had a great time relaxing by the pool and enjoying good food and good company.

HAPPY BARF-DAY TO ME

2009-05-18T14:21:00.002-06:00

Well my birthday was last Friday, I wouldn't exactly call it one of my top 10 birthdays or lets just say it wasn't even on my top 20 list, and since I am 25 this year, that's not saying so much. I spent the week last week dealing with Brystal throwing up with diarrhea and by the time I woke up on my birthday I wasn't feeling so good myself. Nate was home from work that day, we were supposed to have a great fun filled day together that day but instead it was spent on the couch watching movies and sipping 7up. So I decided that Saturday would be a redo birthday.

Saturday morning I woke up and felt starving. This was a good sign since I practically ate nothing the day before. We had eggs and bacon for breakfast. Mmm good. Then we were off to the Strawberry Festival! Nathan got me my very own GPS lady for my birthday which I have been begging for since we moved here. Well I pretty much know my way around here now, but for little trips like the Strawberry Festival on the other side of town this was a perfect opportunity to use her. I programmed her to have a british accent, punched in the address and off we went. We had a great time there, except my camera battery died so I have no proof that I was there. They had this big huge strawberry cake the size of my back yard there that you wait in line for and they cut you off a piece. They had some pig racing which Brystal loved, she sat right in front of the gate where the pigs run by and saw all the other kids clapping so she knew that this is what you were supposed to do when the pigs ran by. ( please imagine this all in your head since I have no pictures) We ate some really good food and looked at some cool vendors, and Nate got a free massage. Oh why didn't the birthday girl get one you ask, because she is pregnant and couldn't fit in the massage chair. Dang it! Nate promised me a good birthday massage at home, so when we got home we watched a movie and then Nate announced that the strawberry cake he ate earlier was not settling too good and he was sick, but I think he was trying to get out of the birthday rub. Don't worry I'll get my birthday rub.
So the redo birthday ended up being a million times better than my original birthday. Yea!

SUZY HOMEMAKER

2009-05-13T20:49:00.002-06:00

In my attempts to be a bit more crafty, I decided to start with something simple. So here is a little something that I coughed up a couple weeks ago that I am so proud of. I have really been wanting some coasters for our coffee table and end tables so that I could quit yelling at Nate for using our books and getting water rings on them. So I decided to make these. I found some cloth napkins on sale at Pier One, and slapped a small slice of batting in between and sewed them up. And now, I have coasters.

BEACHED WHALE

2009-05-11T12:53:00.003-06:00

Here is me pregnant with Brystal the same week as me right now.

Why am I already starting to feel like a giant beach ball. I know they say you get bigger faster with the second kid, but man I just exploded and I still have 3 more months to go. Somebody tell me that I will stop growing so fast and it will start to slow down soon so that I don't look like a beached whale in a month. I'm only 26 weeks. Why do people keep giving me the pity look when they find out when I'm due. Am I really that big?

WORKIN AT THE CAR WASH

2009-05-11T12:49:00.003-06:00

"Wash wash wash"

Gotta get those rims.

She loves to be with her Daddy even if it's cleaning the car.

HELPING DADDY WASH THE CAR

2009-05-11T12:31:00.004-06:00

We've been teaching Brystal how to do a few chores around here such as dusting and wiping, and picking up toys. So here she is learning how to wash the car. She had such a fun time helping her Daddy wash down the cars on Saturday. We gotta teach her while she's young right?