Christmas Dresses

Grandma Murphey got the girls beautiful Christmas dresses! Usually by the time we get home from church, we are so ready for nap time that we never get cute pictures of the girls all dressed up (and taking pics before 9am church..umm yah right!) But since it was their Christmas dresses, we attempted some pictures by our Christmas tree. With not the most cooperative subjects, I'd say a couple turned out alright! And when I look at them, I'm reminded how challenging it is to get a picture of only 2 kids! 

Thanks Grandma for the dresses! We had a wonderful Sacrament Meeting the Sunday before Christmas, with lots of beautiful musical numbers. Christmas music has to be one of my most favorite things about the season! Despite wrestling these two beauties (one of whom spilled Cheerios EVERYWHERE in Sacrament Meeting), we felt the Spirit testify of the divinty of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He really is the reason for the season and we are forever indebted to him for his life and sacrifice for us. 

Snow!

A week before Christmas, we finally got some snow! Okay, I wasn't actually that excited about it, but Brooklyn sure was. And so we spent like half an hour getting all our winter gear on to play in the snow for about 20 minutes..haha. But it was worth it! The girls loved it and the snow didn't stick around too long so it was good to get some use of it right away!

 Brooklyn Rose

 Brynlee Ann

Brooke loved making snow angels! The snow was too fluffy for a snowman, so we attempted sledding down the little hill in the backyard. After a crash into the rocks and a bruised bottom for me, we stuck with playing in the snow :) Brynlee enjoyed trying to slide down the hill on her bum. Love that these little girls help me find joy, even in things I'm not usually excited about. It's so fun to see things through the eyes of a child! 

Disneyland!

Better late than never...We had an awesome summer vacation! The Barnes' took the whole family (except Curt's brother/wife who couldn't come) to Disneyland in August! Seriously, so fun! I loved Disneyland before kids, but it was so magical with our little girls. We stayed in a hotel right across the street, which was so nice! We got to CA on Saturday, ate lunch at In n' Out, shopped a little, went out to dinner and relaxed. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday were our Disneyland days. We pretty much opened the park, and closed it up (except the first night), and loved every minute! 

Lovin the airplane ride! She had fun watching movies on the itouch and listening with her new Minnie Mouse headphones! 

Monday morning Brooklyn and Kylee got to go to the Bippity Boppity Boutique, where they got their hair, nails and makeup done. Brooke had been SO excited about these, and had being doing chores to save money for it for months. (And she did an awesome job at her chores, for the record!) They were so adorable in their dresses that nana made, all prettied up! And they loved it. Then it was time for some rides. Brooke is quite timid when it comes to "scary" things, so we had some tears, some kicking and screaming, but we made her go anyways (P.S. Snow White's "Scary" Adventure should not have been so traumatic..haha). But when we went on Dumbo (all five or so times), she was in heaven! She loved the teacups, the Ferris Wheel, meeting the characters, and especially having lunch with the Princesses. We would totally do that again. It was SO fun! Brooke was so full of energy, I was amazed! Curt took Bryn home each day for a nap, and 2 of the 3 days, Brooke and I stayed and rode rides and had fun. She was in such a good mood the whole time, no whining and was in awe at everything around her. She never got impatient waiting in lines and was so excited and happy the whole trip. She is seriously so much fun to have around. She's easy going, fun loving and genuinely is excited about pretty much everything. We tricked her into going on Radiator Racers in Cars Land..there was no crying, but there was also no way we could talk her into going a second time, haha. Tuesday wasn't exactly ideal as Curtis got sick (like throwing up super nauseous sick), so he missed out on the 2nd half of the day, but the rest of us had fun (even though we wished he were there). Nana and Papa helped a ton with the girls (we had two strollers, so I couldn't have done it without them), and we had fun riding rides and watching the fireworks.

On Wednesday, our "relax" day, we went to Huntington Beach. We were so excited to lay on the beach and chill, but we didn't anticipate that it might be windy. Like really windy! So after a few minutes of playing in the water, and building a sand castle, we decided being chilly and pelted by sand wasn't our idea of a relaxing time. So we packed up and walked around some shops and had lunch. Not the beautiful day at the beach we had anticipated, but memorable nonetheless! Bryn loved the ocean and Brooke had fun doing sand angels, so what little time we did spend at the beach was fun. 

Thursday was our last Disneyland day and we lived it up. We hit up all Brooke's favorite rides, filled up her autograph books by meeting lots of characters, and sweated in the 97 degree weather. It was HOT! But we were so busy having fun we didn't really notice (if it weren't for iphones, I wouldn't have guessed it was THAT hot!) We made sure everyone was drinking lots. I haven't mentioned Bryn much. That's because she mostly just hung out in the stroller. One day we even forgot to bring her shoes into the park so really didn't walk around at all, poor girl. She was such a trooper, and had fun looking at all the fun things going on around her. Next time we go (not for a while I'm sure), she'll be able to enjoy more of the experience. For being a very busy little girl, she sure was an angel and {mostly} liked the rides she was able to go on. She was most definitely NOT a fan of characters though..it's crazy how young kids learn to be afraid of things..almost innate. She wanted nothing to do them, especially Chip and Dale. The firework show on the last night was bittersweet. Bitter because the magic was coming to an end, but sweet because of all the memories made. I might have cried a little during the firework show :) We are so grateful for Nana and Papa for the wonderful trip. Brooke talks about it all the time, and loves looking at the pins she traded (one of her favorite things to do at Disneyland), and even asked one morning after she woke up "What are we doing today? Going to Disneyland?" Oh how we wish we could :) 

Friday we took the girls to Build-a-Bear in Downtown Disney to make a bear for a souvenir. Guess what bear Brooke picked?! Princess! haha. She had a lot of fun doing it and soaked it up. Bryn on the other hand..didn't care. And we knew she wouldn't but we still wanted her to have a memory (and she does love her bear). Brooke named her bear Aurora (very creative..since she picked out the Sleeping Beauty dress..ha!), and we named Bryn's bear "Pookie bear" since that's what Curtis affectionately calls Brynlee. We had a relaxing final day in Anaheim, albeit a bit bittersweet. We shopped a bit and just relaxed before getting everything packed up and ready to go.

We flew out Saturday (after a stop by Chick-fil-A on the way to the airport..my first time), and everything went smoothly with getting home. The trip was magical! I hope I always remember the look of excitement and wonder on Brooklyn's face, how she basically ran everywhere because she was so excited. How she noticed every detail around her and especially how her dreams came true meeting the Princesses in real life. Much of her little world revolves around Princesses and that was a highlight of the trip for her. We have told her that we hope to go back in the next 5 years...not sure if that is even realistic, but we will try our best! I love how the excitement and energy of children is contagious! 

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...