ABC... West

Where Do I Start?

2011-02-21T22:20:00.000-07:00

The last month has pretty much been a whirlwind and has flown by. We've had some really crazy things going on and some have been life changing.

Each of these things will have their own posts but just so you have a quick glimpse of 2011 for the West family, this is some of what we've gone through so far:

* Chad had a horrible chemical burn on his hands in January and it was one of the scariest experiences I've been through.

* Chad's grandpa went in to the hospital for about a week and a half and had to have surgery.

* Brynn's first trip to the snow (we drove to California to see it!)

* Chad discovered that he has a brother and four other sisters. He's in San Diego right now for training for work and is there through Friday. Friday night, he's staying at his parents' house and then Saturday he's going to meet his "new" family.

* I had my wisdom teeth pulled on Friday.

* Brynn is growing up way too fast!!

Way too many things to blog about and not enough time to do it tonight!! Stay tuned!!

Toddler Cheerleading!

2011-01-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

Last week we decided to sign Brynn up for toddler cheerleading. She was super excited about it because we told her that she would get pom-poms during the class. :)

Last Saturday was supposed to be her first day of class. We showed up, along with several other families, but the "coach" never did. We hung out for about a half hour while the kids ran up and down the hallway after each other.

Today the class had a new coach and it was a lot of fun to watch. They learned some stretches, did sombersaults, worked on a couple of cheers and played with the pom-poms. We were proud of her for trying most of the things that they were working on, she did great. :)

Here's a picture of Brynn hanging out in the hallway last week.

Marriage and kids already?!

2011-01-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight Brynn told me she married a guy named Jakey Gaykey and they have a kid named Lakey. She met Jakey at WalMart. I told her that was fine if she MET him there while she was shopping, as long as he's a doctor.

Where does she come up with this stuff?!

Tangled

2011-01-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

This morning we took Brynn to see Tangled. It was so cute!! I really think it's one of my favorite kid movies. We watched previews for new movies coming out this spring and summer, we're pretty excited to hear that Cars 2 is coming out, along with Smurfs!!

Brynn watched most of the movie but wasn't feeling that great, so she crawled into my lap to cuddle for about half of it. Of course I didn't mind. :)

We were also excited to find out that on the weekends, movies before 11:55am are only $5 per person. I think we'll be doing that more often.

Awesome Husband

2011-01-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

I'm sure a lot of people think they have awesome husbands, but I really do have one.

Yesterday, I came home to a super clean house! Floors swept and mopped, ceiling fan cleaned, garage organized and some things cleaned up outside.

Thanks Babe, I love you!!!!

Another Goal

2011-01-04T21:40:00.002-07:00

I'm trying to bring my lunch to work more often than I used to. I know it will save a lot of money and I just need to take the time to do it more often.

My First Goal Of 2011

2011-01-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

Making it to work on time at least three days a week. I am horrible about getting to work on time.

Happy 2011!!

2011-01-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

Overall, 2010 was a pretty good year for the West family. Brynn turned 3 in July and has really grown up a lot this year. We flew to Ohio in September to visit my family and had an awesome trip. We went to Cedar Point, visited an Amish farm and restaurant owned by one of my distant relatives and went to the Columbus Zoo. We also got to spend some time with friends that we haven't seen for a few years. Brynn was Minnie Mouse for Halloween this year and it fit her perfectly. Thanksgiving was great, Chad's family came to visit from California. December was an amazing month for us. We went to California for Christmas and Santa brought Brynn the kitchen that she's been asking for since her birthday. It's EXACTLY like the one that we saw at Costco. Santa and his elves worked magic!!

In August, I became a Scentsy representative and it's been a lot of fun!! For more information on them, you can check out my website: https://amandawest.scentsy.us/

We still love Queen Creek and the house that we're in. It's perfect for us. This weekend, we're working on organizing Brynn's room and we're going to get her a "big-girl" twin bed soon. We're also working on taking the Christmas tree down and rearranging the furniture in the living room this weekend.

2011 is going to be a crazy year!! My new years resolution is to try something new every month. I have a lot to accomplish throughout the year. I promise to keep blogging!!

At the end of January, we're taking a trip to California and the main purpose of the trip is so that I can go to a Scentsy Spring Sprint event. I'm pretty excited about it because last month, my sister-in-law Ana signed up to be a consultant, so we're heading there together!!

In July, I am turning 30 and we're planning a trip to Vegas to celebrate. Chad's turning 35 a month later, so we'll celebrate his birthday too!!

In October (tentative date), my friend Rayna is getting married and she asked me to be in her wedding. Chad and I are also celebrating our five year anniversary that month, I can't believe how fast five years have flown by. Then in November, Ana is getting married!!

Fingers crossed for a big raise at work, we're going to need it this year!! :)

I know, I know

2010-12-19T11:15:00.002-07:00

It's been way too long since I've posted on the blog!! I'll be back soon, I promise!!

Backyard Visitors

2010-05-30T22:34:00.001-07:00

Since we've moved out to Queen Creek, we've seen all sorts of wildlife that we weren't exposed to when we were living in town. There are lots of little ground squirrels, bunnies, hummingbirds, coyotes, roadrunners, a million other kinds of birds and the newest discovery tonight was a huge toad!! Apparently toads are toxic to dogs, so Chad moved it out of the yard with a broom.

Brynn said that the toad was dirty and yucky. We asked her why and she said "Because he poops!"

Here are a few of the pictures that Chad's taken since we've been out here.

I Agree

2010-05-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting enough lately. I don't know what the heck I've been doing, but apparently I've forgotten about the blog again.

Brynn is growing up so fast. She's amazing, actually. She's potty trained (and has been for the last two months) except for an accident here and there. I don't think I've heard another two year old speak as clearly as she does. She has a memory like you wouldn't believe. She remembers EVERYTHING. She's doing pretty well at the new sitter's house and is learning lots of new things. She loves to paint. She loves babies and everything that has to do with pink and purple. She knows all of her colors. She knows most of her ABC's but mumbles through "LMNO", sings "double-ooh, S, Y and Z". She loves to pick out her outfits, mostly consisting of jeans, flip flops and whatever shirt she finds. Her flip flops always match something she's wearing. Her favorite song is Jingle Bells (still!). She says Allie is her best friend. She tells people that she's shy when she doesn't feel like talking to them. She loves to drink milk but she won't ask Daddy for it because she knows that he doesn't drink it so she asks Mommy for it instead. She's pretty good about saying please and thank you. She wants her ears pierced because she's a big girl now.

The next week is going to be crazy, so you won't see many posts. We're heading to California for our niece Kalynn's first birthday. Brynn's super excited to see her.

We're all settled into the new house, we love it here. We have great neighbors, who we knew before we moved in. Over the weekend, we decided that we could no longer stand our black "pleather" couches that we bought just before Christmas, so we bought brand new great quality chocolate leather ones. I haven't ever sat in a more comfortable couch than the ones that we bought. They are AWESOME. The other ones were cheap and the cushions wouldn't break in, they were still rock hard and were the most UNCOMFORTABLE couches I've ever sat on. We also ordered a new dining room table, which should look super cool too. (Our neighbors bought our old couches.)

I promise, I'll start posting again soon. Here's an awesome picture that we took of Brynn yesterday when we were furniture shopping. We decided against microfiber couches, you'll see why after you look at the picture...

Wings

2010-04-29T23:07:00.000-07:00

Close Up

2010-04-28T23:07:00.000-07:00

Emilee & Kelsey

2010-04-27T22:56:00.000-07:00

Crack

2010-04-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

One of Seventeen

2010-04-25T21:54:00.001-07:00

This is one of seventeen outfits Brynn dressed herself in yesterday.

Note: One pink flip flop, one purple flip flop, rainbow striped shirt and pants with pink and purple flowers on them. She insisted that she matched because everything had pink and purple in it. :)

Inspired By Heidi

2010-04-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

Heidi posted an awesome story on her blog a couple days ago and it made me want to do some searching for poems. It inspired me to want to put something together for Brynn that she can hang on the wall for years to come that will remind her of how much she is loved.

I came across this one and it reminded me of Bri. Next month, she's going to be graduating with a Masters Degree in School Counseling. She's anxious for the changes to come and is ready to get out into the working world. Our fingers are crossed that she finds the job that she's searching for so that she can check one of her stresses off of her list.

Bri, here's a poem that I found that reminds me of you:

When the road seems too long
When darkness sets in
When everything turns out wrong
And you can't find a friend
Remember ~ you are loved

When smiles are hard to come by
And you're feeling down
When you spread your wings to fly
And can't get off the ground
Remember ~ you are loved.

When time runs out ...before you're through
And it's over before you begin
When little things get to you
And you just can't win
Remember ~ you are loved.

When your loved ones are far away
And you are on your own
When you don't know what to say
When you're afraid of being alone
Remember ~ you are loved.

When your sadness comes to an end
And everything is going right
May you think of your family and friends
And keep their love in sight
A thank-you for being loved.

May you see the love around you
In everything you do
And when troubles seem to surround you
May all the love shine through
You are blessed ~ you are loved.

Abby Cadabby

2010-04-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

When Did She Get So Big?

2010-04-22T22:35:00.000-07:00

Drama Queen

2010-04-21T23:00:00.004-07:00

Painting

2010-04-14T21:25:00.002-07:00

Peek-A-Boo

2010-04-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

For Uncle TJ

2010-04-12T21:16:00.006-07:00

She's playing her guitar AND she's wearing a Cleveland Indians t-shirt!!

Sick

2010-04-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, I haven't felt well this weekend!! Don't worry, I'll post again soon. (And then cheat by backdating my posts and deleting this message so that a year from now you don't realize that I didn't technically post every day!!) Shhh don't tell!!

Quite The Sandwich

2010-04-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

She'd kill me if I told you she ate the whole thing.

(She didn't!!)

Brynn & Auntie Bri

2010-04-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

Babe The Bug Guy

2010-04-05T22:46:00.001-07:00

With our party on Saturday night, we also had a lot of uninvited flies. Chad tried to suck them up with the sweeper, but it didn't have enough suction... so he whipped out the shop vac. That did the trick!!

Happy Easter!!

2010-04-04T23:02:00.001-07:00

Tom!

2010-04-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

This is Tom. He's Brynn's buddy from Chad's car club. We had a bunch of people over on Saturday night and Brynn was hanging out with him pretty much the whole time they were here. She was chasing him around with her stroller, they were playing with her dolls and she even let him hold her Abby Cadabby.

Blue Gasses

2010-04-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

The pink ones are here favorites, these are her back up pair.

Love This!!

2010-04-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

Braids... By Auntie Bri

2010-03-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

Like Mommy Like Daughter

2010-03-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

Ammie and Brynn

2010-03-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

Bubble Chine

2010-03-27T23:25:00.000-07:00

Not a bubble MAchine, it'a a "bubble chine".

So Helpful

2010-03-26T23:12:00.001-07:00

SO CUTE!!

2010-03-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

Fake Smile

2010-03-24T23:03:00.000-07:00

What a weirdo!!

Gasses

2010-03-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

Brynn's gasses (glasses) came in!! She told us she can see better when she wears them. What a relief. Hopefully she'll keep wanting to wear them. A picture of the blue/purple pair will be posted soon too!!

Photo Credit: Ammie

Mimi's Buddy

2010-03-22T22:05:00.001-07:00

The Culprit

2010-03-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

Mom and Mimi have been cooking and baking like crazy while they've been here. Well, one night Mimi made homemade pizza and it just didn't taste quite the same as it usually does. Then, Mom made chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies and they didn't turn out the same as they normally would have either. This morning, I caught Mimi using pancake mix instead of flour when she was making biscuits and gravy!!

I wondered why the pizza crust was so much thicker than it normally is...

Budding Photographer

2010-03-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

Fishie Lips

2010-03-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

For Lindy. :)

Outside Of Goodyear Baseball Stadium

2010-03-18T00:05:00.001-07:00

Arizona Sky

2010-03-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

Photo Credit: Mom!!

Desert At Night

2010-03-16T22:24:00.000-07:00

Mom borrowed our camera tonight and took this shot... about two miles from our house. Awesome.

Kangaroo Ride

2010-03-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

Hangin' Out With Daddy

2010-03-14T15:41:00.000-07:00

Where'd Brynnie Go?

2010-03-13T23:06:00.000-07:00

Two Car Garage

2010-03-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

One Car Garage

2010-03-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

Ammie vs Garbage Disposal

2010-03-11T22:24:00.001-07:00

The garbage disposal won. (Actually, Chad fixed it!!)

Grrr...

2010-03-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

Tall Guy, Blue Sky

2010-03-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

Chad doing an inspection over the weekend. Won't tell you who will be moving in there until everything is finalized, I don't want to jinx it. Fingers crossed!!

Discovering The Tortoises

2010-03-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

Scentsy Fundraiser

2010-03-07T09:58:00.004-07:00

Last week I posted something on FB and on my blog about a 15 month old girl named McKenna being diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma. She's at the Phoenix Children's Hospital and was just diagnosed in the middle of February. One fundraiser that they are doing is for Scentsy products. SCENTSY IS AWESOME!!! They're wickless candles and they have some really amazing scents. Pomegranite is my favorite. I recommend medium or large warmers.

One of their reps are offering to donate 100% of their commission to McKenna's medical expenses through the end of March. Shipping charges are +10%. Please check them out!

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT HER WEBSITE AND TO ORDER SCENTSY PRODUCTS FOR MCKENNA'S FUNDRAISER!!!

Reflection

2010-03-07T09:20:00.000-07:00

Jetta-Jetta

2010-03-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

Smelly Melly

2010-03-05T10:33:00.000-07:00

Allie-Lallie

2010-03-04T22:27:00.000-07:00

Getting Organized

2010-03-03T22:15:00.000-07:00

Front Entry

2010-03-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

That's Spike, Chad's bearded dragon, on the right.

Buddies

2010-03-01T23:19:00.000-07:00

Brynn with her sitter, Brenda... a.k.a. Brenna.

Tortoises

2010-02-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

From what I understand, our landlords own about six acres and they built four houses on the land. One of the houses is ours, one is theirs, and we have friends that live in the other two. There is quite a bit of land between each house. Just on the north side of the fence in our backyard is where these guys live.

There six tortoises that are enclosed by a big circle of pool fencing. They have quite a bit of room in there and have burrowed a hole that's about 3-4 feet deep into the ground. The landlords own them and their kids feed them and they mentioned that we can if we want to as well. We can give them lettuce or really finely shaved carrots. (I haven't read up on tortoises yet to find out what else is safe to give them.)

The dogs haven't discovered them yet, I'm anxious to see how they'll react.

Brynn's Bathroom

2010-02-27T20:22:00.001-07:00

"Room" # 2 that I'm proud of.

DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO FIND A CUTE KIDS' SHOWER CURTAIN THAT MATCHES TEAL COUNTERTOPS?! TWO MONTHS!!

I have a few other things that I want to hang up in here but we're not really to the decorating stage of the move yet. We're to the clear-it-out-of-the-garage-so-Chad-doesn't-go-crazy stage.

Pantry

2010-02-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

"Room" # 1 that I'm proud of so far.

Look at how organized it is!!!

Strawberry Blonde

2010-02-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

What's That?

2010-02-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

The Santan Mountains. Pretty much the view from Brynn's bedroom.

Keys Please?

2010-02-23T23:35:00.000-07:00

We picked up the keys to our new (rental) house tonight!!

Massage Time

2010-02-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

Help for McKenna!!

2010-02-21T10:21:00.001-07:00

We're going through a lot of our "stuff" right now trying to get everything packed up for our big move next weekend and I decided to sell a lot of Brynn's ladybug things from her room. I put it all on craigslist and shortly after, I received an e-mail from Kristine.

Kristine has some family friends who received some devastating news a couple weeks ago. Mike and Brittany's daughter, McKenna, was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma. Kristine (and others) are trying to put together some fundraising ideas and one of them is a raffle. We're going to give her Brynn's ladybug stuff for the raffle instead of selling it.

This is McKenna:

HERE IS A LINK TO MCKENNA'S STORY.

HERE IS A LINK TO MORE INFORMATION ON NEUROBLASTOMA.

They are from Chandler, AZ and McKenna is only 15 months old. For some reason, this hit really close to home for me. Maybe it's because she's such a cute little girl? Or because she likes ladybugs? Or because she's not too far away from us? Or because Brynn's had two eye surgeries at the Phoenix Children's Hospital where McKenna is receiving treatment? Or because they're my age? Or maybe it's just because if I were in Mike and Brittany's situation, I don't know what we'd do. From what I understand, Mike also lost his job in December.

On the link to McKenna's story, you can make donations. Or if you aren't comfortable doing this, I would be more than happy to accept the donations for you and make sure that they get to Kristine or McKenna's family. I really want to do what I can to help this family out.

You can mail donations to me at:
Amanda West
PO Box 1512
Queen Creek, AZ 85142
Thank you!!!

Brella

2010-02-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Jetta-Jetta

2010-02-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

Brynn's nickname for Jetta is "Jetta-Jetta". I can't remember exactly when she started calling her that, but they're buddies. She's the only one of our dogs who actually listens to Brynn, maybe that's why Brynn likes her so much!!

I See You

2010-02-19T00:01:00.003-07:00

Luke Turned 3!!

2010-02-18T05:43:00.003-07:00

Bird's Nest (Read: Bed Head)

2010-02-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

So Sad

2010-02-16T06:52:00.001-07:00

It's official, Chad sold the Bug. It really is sad, we've made a lot of great friends because of it. At least the friends and the memories don't go with the car. :)

We received a deposit on it about three weeks ago, received the final check about a week and a half ago and the car was finally picked up last week. It's new home is in Hercules, CA. The guy who bought it hired a company to come and pick it up for him. The first truck that they sent was a regular car hauler and because Chad had lowered the Bug, there's no way that it was going to be able to get it up the ramps without doing some serious damage. The ramps were also too far apart and wouldn't have worked anyway.

The following day, the same company sent another truck that worked well. The crazy thing is that when Chad was starting up the car to let it warm up, it ran out of gas. He thought maybe that was a sign that the car wasn't meant to leave.

We're sad to see it go, but we're using that money to pay off some of our debt so that in a year or two, we'll be able to buy another house and add another member to our family. So technically, the money is going to a really good cause. :)

Here's one of the last few pictures of Brynn and Chad that we took in the Bug last week:

Using Her Curlin' Iron

2010-02-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

Challenge

2010-02-15T10:15:00.003-07:00

As you know, Chad and I bought ourselves a Nikon D5000 camera for Christmas this year and have started to get the hang of how it works. We've taken quite a few pictures, but we haven't done a whole lot with them yet.

My goal is to post one picture a day for the next year.

Enjoy!!

Caged Up

2010-02-13T23:00:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago, we switched the food that we were giving the dogs and because of that, they all gained weight. We switched them to a new food and we've been trying to control the amount of food that each of them are eating, so we've been feeding them twice a day in their cages.

Brynn LOVES to help us feed the dogs. We count out the amount of scoops that they get in their bowls and she even remembers which dish belongs to each dog.

A few nights ago, Mel's dish was all the way in the back of her cage, so we sent Brynn in after it. Mel didn't really know what to think!!

Daddy Scratches

2010-02-08T21:32:00.002-07:00

I found a HILARIOUS blog tonight... reminds me of a male version of Dooce. I added it to my sidebar if you want to check it out.

Pups

2010-01-31T10:02:00.000-07:00

This month has been outrageous when it comes to money that we've spent that has anything to do with the dogs.

1. Allie got hurt somehow in our backyard three weeks ago. She has a 3" gash in the right side of her neck and a puncture wound in the left side. We have no idea what happened, but we're guessing she got hurt on some of the VW parts that Chad had in the backyard. Total cost: $320

2. Due to Allie getting hurt, we took the doggie door out of our sliding glass door so that the dogs wouldn't be able to go outside while we were at work. We kept Allie in her cage, so she wouldn't be able to rough house with Mel and Jetta. While we were at work one day, JETTA or Mel decided that they wanted to eat Chad's PS3 remotes and the remote for our cable box. Needless to say, that night we went and bought them cages too. We bought one from a friend and another from Petsmart. Total cost: $230

3. We got Mel and Allie shaved last month and Chad decided to brush Mel yesterday. When he was brushing her, her hair started falling out and he noticed some sores on her back that looked like mange. We freaked out (after doing some online reading about mange) and Chad took her to the vet. They ran some tests and we'll probably have some results later in the week. It's not mange and at this point, without knowing the test results, they think it's her allergies that are causing all of her issues. We already give her 4 Benedryl at a time, twice a day. They also told him that she was really overweight and she's gained 6 pounds since November. They said that for every pound she gains, it's like 10 human pounds. So basically that's like us gaining 60 pounds since November. They sent Chad home with a bunch of different medications and some sample dog food packets. Total cost: $450

I think that we should be able to deduct pet medical expenses from our taxes, just like we can deduct our own. This is crazy.

No More Minivan

2010-01-17T17:33:00.001-07:00

It's official, I am no longer a minivan mommy. This means that Chad will no longer be embarrassed to drive my car. :)

We are the owners of a 2009 Chevy Malibu. I used to bash them because they looked like cars that old people drive but they're actually kinda (sorta) sporty (you know, on the inside).

Exciting News...

2010-01-11T22:42:00.001-07:00

We're moving!!

We're heading out to the country! Kind of... more like the middle of the desert!!

We want to buy another house, we're talking about buying out in Queen Creek. It's a smaller town, southeast of Mesa. I lived in QC several years ago and really liked it. Back then, the main roads to get to and from QC were only one lane each way. I drove ten miles to the grocery store. There was no pizza delivery.

Times have changed. Now, there are two lanes of traffic, plus turning lanes. Grocery stores, WalMart and Target have been built. There's a Papa John's now. All of this has changed in five years.

I never thought I'd move back, but the housing market has really taken a turn and there are a million houses for sale in QC. Chad's never lived so far out of town before, so we thought we'd rent there for a year or two and if we like it, then we'll buy.

The people that we are going to rent from have two other rental houses in the same neighborhood. Our friends are actually renting out those two houses, so we'll know our neighbors!! That's how we found out about the house that we're moving in to. It's probably close to 2000 square feet, 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms, with a three car garage. It's more like a 3 1/2 car garage though. It's HUGE.

I grew up in a small town and moved to Mesa when I turned 21. Over the last couple years, I have really missed that small town feeling. Chad's from Westminster, CA which is jam-packed with people, so he's never experienced it before. I think this will be a pretty good test for both of us to figure out where we'd like to raise our little family.

We've put a deposit down, turned in our notice to the landlord of the house that we're living in now and we're planning to move at the end of February. We've even started collecting moving boxes. Here's to a new adventure for the West family...

Wish us luck!!

Maintenance

2010-01-11T22:22:00.000-07:00

UGH... Stay tuned. My blog is broken and I can't figure out how to fix it!! When I pick a layout that has my links on the right side of the site, they all go to the bottom of the page. When I pick a layout that has my links on the left side of the site, it works but everything is smooshed together and my pictures don't show up as full size.

What the heck do I do?! I can't go back to how I had it set up two days ago and I can't figure this dang thing out!!

Dress Up

2010-01-10T15:15:00.003-07:00

For Christmas, Bri sent Brynn a handmade tutu, boa and some gloves that she can play dress up with that belonged to my Great Grandma Lehr (I'm not quite sure what my Great Grandma was thinking... they kind of look like gloves you'd use to clean the bathrooms with!!). Here are a few pictures that we took of her the night she opened the box from Auntie Bri!!

Vacuum vs Sweeper

2010-01-04T21:44:00.004-07:00

Tonight, while watching an Oreck commercial:

Chad: What is that Brynn?

Brynn: Vacuum

Chad: What is it?

Brynn: Vacuum

Chad: What does mommy call it?

Brynn: A beeper

Ok, ok. I admit Chad won this one. The funny thing is, when I ask her what it is, she calls it a "beeper". Babe, you and I will never get past this. It's a sweeper, not a vacuum. I love you, even with your weird Californian ways of speaking.

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

We had a great Christmas this year. Chad and I bought ourselves our new camera and Brynn got a million new toys and clothes. We don't buy her toys very often throughout the year, so we tend to go a little crazy for her birthday and Christmas. Chad called me from the store one night asking if I thought Brynn was big enough for a bike... she's only two and a half!! He was really excited to make her Christmas special this year.

Santa brought Brynn her pack-pack, since she was such a good girl this year!! She opened a few of her presents and then we handed her one from Santa. She was SO EXCITED!! Here are a few pictures from Christmas morning:

Christmas Cookies

2009-12-24T23:01:00.003-07:00

This year, I had planned to make a few different types of cookies for Christmas and of course, nothing went as planned.

I ran out of time for everything. I was so wrapped up in work this year, I didn't realize how fast time flew by. I did a lot of my shopping on Christmas Eve and should have spent a lot more time at home with Chad and Brynn over the holidays. I promise I won't let it happen again next year!!

While I was working on my last minute shopping, Chad made the cookies. (Thank you Babe!!) Chad made the awesome sugar cookies first and then attempted chocolate chip cookies. I have no idea what the heck happened with the chocolate chip cookies... I'll just reitterate that the sugar cookies were amazing!!

We all had a blast decorating the cookies, Brynn did about 80% of them herself. She kept putting all of the sprinkles in one spot!!

Santa Cause

2009-12-23T22:22:00.000-07:00

Brynn calls him "Santa" or "Santa Cause". This year, she kept telling us that she wanted a "pack-pack" (back pack) for Christmas, so we told her that if she wanted one, and if she was good (meaning that if she was nice and she listened to Mommy, Daddy and Brenda, at daycare), Santa might bring her one. She had to be the one to ask him for it though.

The first time we went to see Santa (at Bass Pro Shops!!), there was a three hour wait, so we left. The next weekend, we went to breakfast with GGMa and GGPa for GGPa's birthday. We invited them to come along with us to try to meet Santa again. We ended up getting to BPS about an hour and a half early, so we colored pictures and stood at the very front of the line while GGMa and GGPa did some shopping.

Brynn did a great job when she finally met him. She seemed a little scared at first, so I held her while she told Santa what she wanted, but I told her that he couldn't hear what she said, so she had to sit on his lap and tell him. She gave him a hug, told him "Merry Kissmas" and said "thanks".

Here are a few pictures that we took that day!!

Maybe next year we can get her to smile for the camera? :)

My Famous Mom

2009-12-23T20:53:00.002-07:00

Click HERE to watch my Mom when she was on tv!!

New Camera - Merry Christmas To Us!!

2009-12-18T23:49:00.004-07:00

We bought a new camera tonight as a Christmas gift to ourselves. We've been wanting to get a digital SLR for a long time, so tonight I was really excited that we actually left a store with one. It's AMAZING.

Nikon D5000 with an 18-55 lens that came with the camera and then we also spent the extra money to get an additional lens that is a 55-200.

I am really happy with it. We haven't had much to take pictures of yet, but stay tuned. I swear, I'll be posting more!!

Night Out!!

2009-12-13T21:09:00.003-07:00

For our anniversary, Chad and I decided to go to Howl At The Moon. I have a friend who lives in Texas who has mentioned several times on Facebook that it's an awesome place to go, so we decided to check it out. They had just opened one in Scottsdale the previous weekend. We were only there for about an hour but we had fun.

The day of our anniversary, I went online and signed up for their mailing club or whatever, and about a week later, I received an e-mail saying that I won a happy hour party for 100 people!!

Well, Friday night, we had the party and about 30 people showed up. WE HAD A BLAST!! Here's a picture that our friend Jeannie took of us!!

I Love You!!

2009-12-05T10:43:00.003-07:00

My family always says "I Love You" in sign language. It's just one of those things that we've always done. I'm not quite sure how it started, but we've done it since I was little. We've been trying to teach Brynn how to do it for a while and usually she has her own version that she does, but she's finally getting the hang of how you're supposed to do it.

This is the best picture that I've been able to get so far:

Dingle Bells

2009-11-30T22:11:00.003-07:00

We've been trying to teach Brynnie how to sing Jingle Bells and she keeps singing "Dingle Bells, Dingle Bells, Dingle Bells, Dingle Bells oh all da wayeeeeeeeeeeee-yuh". Then she just goes on and on and on making up her own words and sometimes adds "dingle bells" back in there somewhere.

Oh and then she tells Chad it's his turn and he sings "Jingle Bells, Batman smells...." and she says "No way Daddy!!".

I love my little family. :)

Hair Tut

2009-11-29T09:26:00.002-07:00

This was a mobile upload from a couple months ago when we got Brynn's hair cut at the salon. I thought it was a great picture!! She looks like such a big girl!!

Oops!

2009-11-29T00:24:00.001-07:00

She fell backwards into her "Pull-Pup" box!!

Big Smile

2009-11-29T00:18:00.003-07:00

Daddy On Little Chairs

2009-11-27T22:49:00.002-07:00

This is where Brynn told her Daddy he should sit when we were at her doctor's appointment on Monday.

Super Bean!

2009-11-27T22:47:00.002-07:00

This is a picture that Bri took when she was out here visiting a while ago and I love it. It makes her seem like she's super speedy. :)