Brooke's Halloween Party

Brooke had some of her friends over for a super fun Halloween party! I had accumulated so much awesome stuff the past couple years in anticipation for the day Brooke would be old enough for a party. And it didn't disappoint! We had a ghoulish lunch with mummy hot dogs, vampire apple teeth, pumpkin poop (cheetos puffs), witches's brooms (pretzel w/ string cheese), and eye balls (grapes), decorated sugar cookies, made a picture frame craft, played pin the hat on the witch, read Halloween stories, and "broke" a pumpkin pinata (with some serious adult help..haha). 

I was a little worried with 8 little people, but with the help of my mom and a couple of the kids' moms, everything was great! It seemed like the kids had a lot of fun, and Brooke loved handing out the goody bags and telling everyone thanks for coming. I only made a dent in our Halloween goody tote so we might just be having another party next year...

Our Utah Trip (back in October...)

The girls and I got back last week from a two and a half week trip to Utah. And we had FUN! While we were there, my mom, sister and I went to an awesome Pinner's Conference, where my sister-in-law presented a class on Journaling. It inspired me to be a better journaler, but since we've been home so far I haven't actually followed through with my big dreams! So here's to better documenting my daily ins and outs, feelings and happenings!

Our Utah trip was filled with fun. One of the things I love most about being a mom is the energy my little girls bring into my life. Brooke has an excitement for life that fills me with joy! As fall approached, she noticed every changing leaf, and pointed them out to me so excitedly. And she had so much fun playing in the leaves with her cousins. I am so grateful for the fun we had with my sister and her family! The time went so fast because we were busy having such a good time. After the kids were in bed, we played games, something I've really missed (we haven't done it often since having kids). We went to the dollar movie theater a couple times with the kids (they were in heaven), and Brooke now loves the Smurfs (I thought it was a little weird, but I was just glad she wasn't scared!) Bryn learned to say/recognize "Jeshus" while we were down there after looking at pictures of Jesus in the hall during church (yes, we spend some time in the hall with that curly haired cutie!). Much of our fun was documented in pictures, as always!

The BYU Homecoming parade...so awesome! The kids were way into it and loved the candy! My mom and I were able to go to the homecoming game that night with Troy and Tyler and it brought back so many memories from "the good ol' days." (Thanks Alyssa and Spencer for watching my girls). There is such a fun excitement with homecoming weekend and we loved being a part of it all! 

The kids played dress up, and had some serious fun in the leaves! 5 kids made for some pretty crazy bath nights. Cousins are just so much fun! (It took Brynlee a while but she finally {kinda} bonded with her uncles! Ohh how she's a momma's girl!)

There was so much to do at Hee Haw's farm..a hay ride (Brooke's personal fav), a corn maze, awesome slide, corn pit, petting zoo, horse ride...ahh so much fun! We also enjoyed making/decorating sugar cookies and haunted houses. And we might have liked eating them too :)

We knew Boo at the Zoo would be insane (and it was) so we went to the Zoo on a calmer day to see all the animals. Brynlee learned what a monkey says and if you ask her, she says, "ah, ah, ah." It's quite adorable! It was a gorgeous day and we loved enjoying the sunshine! Zoos are always so much fun with the excitement of kids. 

Way too early in the morning we threw some costumes together from the dress up box and headed to the Zoo again. Seriously, it was INSANE! SO MANY people. If I lived there, it would be more like a every few years thing (long enough to forget how crazy it was) but we were glad we went. The kids loved trick-or-treating and the cats were out on the prowl (something that apparently doesn't happen often.) It was pretty awesome to see the tiger pacing and hear it's growl. Brynlee was totally unamused that we woke her up for such chaos and her expression showed it for a good half hour (it's the longest she's ever stayed still for haha). The kids loved their candy and we were {mostly} glad we woke up at the crack of dawn for it :)

After the zoo, we just weren't quite worn out enough (ha!) so we stopped at my favorite temple to "bride watch" and enjoy the lovely views. Brooke really loves the temple and it's always fun to take her there and tell her about when daddy and I were married.

Our entire trip was so full of fun! I love hanging out with my sister and niece/nephews. And it was fun with to see my brothers as well. Grandma spoiled the kids during the trip and Brooke is always talking about going to Utah again (although I'm not ready for the drive again anytime soon!) Thanks James' for the fun trip!!

Greenbluff 2013

At the beginning of October, we went to Greenbluff. We went with grandma and grandpa (Curt had to work so we tried not to have too much fun without him!) We loved going through the hay bale maze, watching chunkin pumpkins, picking out a pumpkin, eating pumpkin donuts and picking apples. Brooke even got to go on her first horse ride! We went after grandpa's half marathon but he was a trooper! The girls loved it all.

Grandpa rocked the half marathon, coming in under 2 hours! And we loved cheering him on along the way!

Greenbluff fall festival is one of our favorite annual traditions. We had so much fun (but don't tell Curtis!)

The Winter Sickies

Usually I blog about how life is just peachy (and it usually is pretty dang good), but winter sometimes gets the best of us. As I write, it kills me to hear my little girls coughing so hard during their naps. Sick kids make me so sad. Brooke has been spiking a fever randomly (like 4 times in like a month), so I took her to the dr. today to see if it's something more severe than just a virus. I haven't heard yet, but I'm sure it's just that winter just kinda stinks. Between the two girls, I have been awake no less than 5 times every night for the past week. It's taking a toll on my mental health and I'm often on the verge of tears. And even when I try to be nice in the middle of the night because I know they are sick, I don't always succeed. Sometimes I'm just too tired to deal with it the nice way. But..on the flip side, I am so so very grateful that I get to be the one to snuggle this precious little girls when they need it most. I feel blessed that I am so needed in their lives. A few nights ago, Bryn was having a rough night and I went in and scooped her up her body just molded into me. It was honestly one of the sweetest feelings I've ever had. I felt enveloped by her love. I rocked her and my heart was full. So amongst the sickness and sadness that comes with sickness, I'm grateful for the ray of sunshine. For the extra snuggles and hugs, and especially how it has helped me to appreciate the times when we are healthy (which is most of the time, thankfully). I'm really trying to work on figuring out what I need to learn, in the midst of a trial. Not just waiting for it to be over. It has helped me to see the love of our Heavenly Father during hard times and to be grateful for this life of growth and progression. I have a long way to go, but I'm grateful for the journey.

If this is any indication of what is to come...

Brooke convinced Grandma that she had already napped when she came over to watch the girls {I finally got my hair cut..first time in 8 months!} and man, it made for a 'fun' night! Our sweet little Brooklyn turned into a psychotic, crying, out-of-control little person. She. was. crazy! If this is any indication of what she'll be like as a teenager...we're in trouble! She was crying so hard that even after she stopped, she had a hard time catching her breath. She said, "My hiccups won't go away." Ha! I tried to stick to my guns and not tuck her back in like I had threatened, but I. Just. Couldn't. Do. It. Parenting is so hard! I just had to snuggle her to help her calm down. And then I let her call grandpa. She told him, "I can't skip my nap anymore." And because she's spoiled, grandma and grandpa came up to tell her goodnight. She went right to sleep after that. I'm so not good at tough love...I'd rather have cuddles. I love being a mom, but sometimes I  feel torn between helping my kids feel loved vs. teaching a lesson. One of the many challenges of parenting! Sure do love sweet Brooklyn and hoping she'll be back tomorrow after a good night's sleep!

Mother's Day

{Super late post..but I figured I should finish it!}

I had such a lovely Mother's Day this year! It's always a whirlwind with 9 o'clock church, but Curt and the girls made me breakfast, and after church, he took some pictures of me and my girlies. And I was able to write letters to Brooke and Bryn. It's a tradition I started this year, and gives me the chance to tell them all the reasons I love being their mommy! We were also able to see both our moms on Mother's Day, and we are lucky so close to both of them.

I'm so grateful to be a mother. Sometimes, when Brooke calls me "Mommy" it seems surreal. And when Bryn lights up and her little legs go kicking when she sees me...these are the days. This is the life! I might not think that every moment, because there are definitely hard things that come with motherhood, but the beautiful moments that arise in my every day life as a mom make every sacrifice, every sleepless night, every poopy diaper, SO worth it!

Sometimes I feel a little guilty about working (because home is really where I want to be), so I make sure that Brooke knows that my favorite job in the world is being a mom. I asked her the other day, "What is my favorite job in the whole wide world?" Instantly she responded, "Being the bestest mommy!" It was so sweet and reminds me that that's exactly what I want to do in life..be the best mom that I can to my beautiful children. I love being a mom, and am so grateful for my mom and the millions of sacrifices that she has made (and continues to) for her children. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful example to look up to. 

{My Girls}

 Brynlee Bug--14 months

Where to start with this girl?!

I can't get enough of this girl's smiles and zest for life. She is a happy girl! She loves to explore and loves wandering around playing. Constantly on the go means no time for snuggling..except for the past week she's realized that is she snuggles me at night I have a much harder time putting her down, thus momentarily prolonging her bedtime. She is an awesome sleeper and has been since I stopped nursing at 9 months. If she wakes up at night, which is like never, something is actually wrong (ie teething, sick, diaper rash..etc). She is also a great napper, making my afternoons peaceful! She loves to be tickled, and most of all, she loves hugging her sisters. One of Bryn's favorite things is to run into Brooke's bed in the morning or after nap and wake her up. It seriously makes her laugh. Last week, she wasn't down for nap but Brooke was and before I knew it, I heard her laughing upstairs and ran up to find her trying to wake Brooklyn up. Luckily, she was too tired to wake up. It was pretty cute actually. She lights up when she sees Brooke! They mostly play really well together, although Brooke sometimes gets frustrated with her taking toys and such...pretty normal I suppose. Bryn has 4 top teeth and 4 bottom, and at her year appointment, she was 40% for weight and 90% for height, taking after her dad, not me :) She loves talking, and can carry on a pretty sweet conversation, one of her most used being being "ya." Hasn't learned "no" yet and hope she never does, haha. She loves to imitate sounds and actions. She is a TOTAL binky girl. Taking away Brooke's binky at 13 months was painless and so I thought "oh we'll do the same thing with Bryn." Well.....we haven't tried yet. She is SO attached to her binky! Like tries to take it out of her bed every morning and after nap, and is looking for it before she'll go in her crib. Needless to say, it will be a painful process. But I'm in no hurry. She is also a blanket girl, and loves to rub it on her face and carry it around. Brynlee bug has a determination and stubbornness I'm learning to appreciate. If something hurts her, she seems to learn not to do it again. If she gets in trouble for playing in the toilet (i.e. frequently), she thoroughly enjoys having her hands washed, and will sneak into an accidentally left open bathroom door every chance she gets. Luckily Brooke is super responsible and is good about closing the bathroom door. She loves playing in cupboards, especially pulling out dishrags and water bottles. She loves toys, especially princess ones (could it be because 90% of our toys are princess related?), and LOVES outside. She had so much fun in the pool this summer, always laughing and having a good time in the water (and enjoyed intentionally swallowing water as well :)  We love this sweet smile and absolutely could not imagine life without her. She has the same activity level that I did as a toddler, and for that I have gained more appreciation for my mother :)

Brooklyn girl--Almost 3 1/2 years

I thank my Heavenly Father every day for sending us such a calm, sweet, appreciative, sensitive, responsible girl. She is such a joy to have in our family! One of her most used words is "fanks" (aka thanks..working on the -th- sound), and she has an excitement for life that makes me so happy! It's the little things that make her the most happy. She is such a good big sister, always looking out for Brynlee's safety and giving her hugs and playing with her. Sometimes I can't believe how grown up she is. She is such fun to talk with because she is an awesome conversationalist. She loves to have her nails painted and her hair done and sits so still while I'm doing it. She is into matching her clothes and is surprisingly good at it. She loves to draw and color (and I wish she had a better art teacher..I'm the world's worst artist), and she could listen to us read books for hours. Of course, she loves movies as well, but we try to limit those a bit. When you ask her her favorite thing, it's always whatever we are doing, eating, playing, watching, reading at the time. This is indicative of her personality..happy and content. She has an amazing memory, which forces me to be careful what I say. She wakes up in the mornings and asks, "What's the plan for today?" She loves parks, dolls, friends, nursery, and climbing into our bed in the middle of the night. She loves learning and I'm always amazed with her knowledge of the gospel...which is why we bit the bullet and spent the large amount of money on the Living Scriptures DVD's. She saved up money to pay for half of the Bibbidi Boppity Boutique before Disneyland by doing her chores and she did them so well! She loves to save money in her bank for "tollege" (working on the "c" sound also), and is excited to go to "BYU" when she gets bigger. She is a pro staller at bedtime, going to the bathroom, switching blankets, repositioning, talking to herself, but is so sweet in the process you can't even get mad at her. The word she uses the most these days is "Say?" Whenever you say something to her, before she even tries to process she responds "Say?", meaning "What did you say?", but shortening it to a much faster and easier question. We're working on getting her to listen before she says, "Say?" She loves to jump on the tramp, ride her bike and run (I think we might have a cross country girl on our hands in a few years). She was a total fish in the pool this summer, and spent many hours in the pool on her noodle (she didn't like life jackets and was pretty good at listening so we let her get away with it). She loves jumping off the diving board on her noodle, but never loved the slide...maybe next summer? When she wants to learn something, she is very motivated and can write a "B" and an "r". She LOVES preschool and was so excited to have the show and tell bag yesterday. We can't get enough of our princess Brooke. She will not give into peer pressure..if she doesn't want to do something, no one can talk her into otherwise, and I hope that never changes. 3 1/2 going on 13...

1st Day of Preschool

I've been overwhelmed by the, oh 4 months of life that I haven't posted on. So maybe someday I'll back blog, but for now, I'll actually be in the here and now! 

This pretty face had her 1st day of Preschool today. She was super excited all summer, and even more so after the orientation this past weekend. She didn't miss me for a second! She told me all about it when I picked her up. About the show and tell bear that the teacher passes around, playing with playdough, riding the roller coaster toy in the backyard..from what I gathered, she loved every minute and is excited to go back tomorrow. I might have been a little sad that she didn't even remember to tell me goodbye when I dropped her off..but really I'm so happy she loves it and adjusts quickly to new situations. Brynlee and I will miss her, but it will be nice for us to have some alone time together, and since Brooke loves learning, it's a win-win!

 And I couldn't blog without including some pictures of my little miss busy pants. Brynlee is so full of energy and loves life! Her curiosity leads to many emptied drawers, and a few too many dips in the toilet, but I'm learning to appreciate her way of learning and exploring. She adds a lot of zest into our lives and keeps us on our toes! We love her and her spunk!

And we are soaking up some of the last days of beautiful summer weather. Boy are we going to miss these gorgeous days! But we will savor them while they last.

BFF's!!

One of the main reasons we went to Utah when we did was so I could catch up with my best friend, Lisa, who was visiting her family from Ohio. And I'm SOOO glad I got to see her! We met in college and became best friends for life. And even though we hadn't seen each other in almost 3 years, we picked up right where we left off! Thank goodness for cell phones and Skype we could keep in touch other ways, but in person was so. much. more. FUN!!! We were able to meet up with 2 others of our best friends from college (Karlie and Allie) and party like the good old days! (We only wish the rest of our peeps could have been there). I'm so grateful for the awesome friends I made at BYU and for the awesome examples they are to me. Hopefully we can get together sooner the next time around!

We had a delish dinner at Brick Oven and then took some werido pictures for old times sake on our old stomping grounds of BYU!

Brooke's Birthday Bash{es} #3

Brooke's birthday was fun from start to finish!! We started off the day with breakfast of her choice..strawberry oatmeal! Then the girls had fun licking the beaters from the cupcakes. Grandma had a tea party with the kids (per Brooke's request) before we headed to Brooke's FAV place to eat..Panda Express!

We celebrated Brooklyn's birthday full-on princess style while we were in Utah. She was so excited to celebrate with her cousins, and even got spoiled by aunts, uncles, Grandma Murphey, and Great grandma and grandpa Bell! The party was so fun, and Brooke was very spoiled with love and gifts! (And thanks to grandma and the James' for all the help with the party!)

Back in Washington, we had yet another party (since daddy and the other family here didn't get to party down in Utah), and it was another perfectly princessy party! This time we celebrated with Daddy, grandma and grampy Murphey, Nana and Papa, Barbara and Ernie, Lucy and Titan, and the Pittengers. Brooke loved her Princess Ice Cream cake and soaked up all the attention. She had so much fun opening presents and gave lots of hugs and Thank-yous, and was of course, way too spoiled!

This girl is too easy to spoil because she is so gracious! She is such a happy girl and gets so excited about things. She is so fun to surprise and is so fun-loving. Honestly, we are so so grateful to have had her first. Heavenly Father knew what He was doing! She is such a special, sweet spirit. So quick to forgive and quick to repent. She is so close to the Spirit and is always watching out for the safety of little sis. Sometimes she can be a bit bossy..but isn't that what big sister's are for?! We feel so blessed to have our little April Fool's girl as our oldest child, to be a righteous example to her siblings. Love our spunky, sweet, social little babe!