I'm 4 Months Old

Brinley is 4 months old now! She loves to coo and will smile at anyone, especially children.  Her fingers and fists are her favorite things to suck on with blankets coming in a close second.  She now falls asleep on her own for the most part. (Yea!)  Brinley weighs 16 lbs and is 24 inches long!  She is growing so fast!

Happy Tickets

I got this great idea from my sister Lori. 

Happy Tickets

Every day Makena and Brody earn happy tickets for different reasons.  Makena earns them for getting dressed before breakfast, brushing her teeth, sharing, reading to us, making her bed, picking up her clothes and toys, being a first time listener, etc...Brody gets them for sharing, being kind, letting us brush his teeth without being fussy, being a first time listener, picking up his toys, etc...  They also loose tickets for arguing, not sharing, being told twice, etc...  I did this system because it helps to motivate them and we all need motivation.  (Think about, we get paid for our work..SAHM's think of this: ryan once said to me,"you still get paid, I just took a (insert large # here) paycut."  Meaning, I am still paid for my job at home.  I thought that was a great way to look at it.  Thanks Babe!)  Anyway, back to the Happy Tickets...It has been so fun rewarding them for doing all of the wondeful, sweet things they do and rewarding them for going out of their way to remember to pick up/put away/share.  To celebrate all of their tickets, we are having MOVIE NIGHT at our house.  (Yes, this idea was Lori's too.  She is full of great ideas.)  The kids will turn in their tickets to buy a movie ticket, popcorn, gummi worms, popcorn seasoning, juice box, and ice cream.  (I wanted this to be a big deal to help motivate them for next time.  Plus with someone gone, they needed something special to look forward too. Plus my kids are not big movie watchers so we don't do this very often.) All of us are excited for movie night!  I am going to make the movie tickets and pull out the cute popcorn tubs that they haven't seen before.  But the most important thing I am going to do is to continue to find ways to praise and reward my two big kids!

Mother's Day 2010

I had a great Mother's day!  We went to Brinley's dedication and then to eat lunch.  (Ok, so I am posting this and can't remember what else I did...) We took some fun pictures!   I LOVE being a mommy and I LOVE having three kids.  It is so fun and a busy but it's life...my life and I LOVE it!  Plus I have an AMAZING husband so that helps...a lot! :)

Brinley's Baby Dedication

Brinley's dedication was on Sunday, May 9th.  It was a great way to celebrate Mother's Day!  She woke up early so when I laid her in her crib to watch her mobile, she fell asleep!  (notice the bib around her....she was safe but I don't normally put one on her if she is going to sleep!)  Makena and Brody went on stage with us at church.  They thought it was neat to be in "big church".  Ang and Kevin came and all of our friends and neighbors who attend our church were there.  So when our Pastor asked everyone who came for these children, Brinley had a big crowd stand up!  Yea!  It is so great to have all three of our children dedicated! 

Baby Girl

Brinley looks so adorable in these soft jammies.  I love them!  I took lots of photos of her in this outfit and this last one became the picture on the big screen at church for baby dedication.

Discovery Science Center

We went to the Discovery Cube with our great friends, Jessica, Jake, and Melissa!  They had bubble fest which is amazing!!  The kids had a blast learning all about science: friction with hockey, bubbles, air and weather, dinosaurs, and more!!

Easter Photos

Those are all we took!  There is no family shot or one of Bryn in her dress....oh well!

Community Egg Hunt Photos

The Egg Hunt in our Community was eggs-llent!

Rub-a-dub-dub, Brinley's in the Tub