A trip to the farm

This weekend, we were fortunate enough to have a visit from Grandma and Papaw! They joined us for a trip to a local farm where we got to see LOTS of cows, some bunnies, goats, chickens (eww), a donkey and some small horses. We didn't spend lots of time there, but enough to get the feel of the farm (and the smell). It was surprisingly busy but we took a hay ride to learn about the dairy operations, went through a small hay maze, tried to feed some of the animals in the small petting zoo and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. What a great weekend to hang out outside!

We sure are lucky to have such wonderful Grandma and Papaw come to visit often. And when they come, they are always very helpful around the house too!! Thank you both - love you!

Photography by Brenna

While Jamie and Rylan were visiting, we were making every attempt to get a great photo of B & R. Unfortunately, we are not professional photogs and the pics aren't all that great. Regardless, they are still cute. When we got done, I wanted to have a picture of me and Jamie so I handed the camera to Brenna (you should've seen how her eyes lit up at this action) and asked her to take a picture. The first one was a little low...but then - wow! Jamie and I both love this picture of us!

So, this morning, I decided to see what other great shots B could take. Here's what I got - some are really fun and she loves this project :)

Random stories

I really do have the cutest little 3-year-old ever (and the smartest). No offense all of you with 3-year-olds - and there are a lot of you. I'm sure you have smart and cute kids too...but this blogger is biased.

Brenna got a cash register from Santa this Christmas and she loves to play store. She gathers things from the pantry, her bedroom, wherever and gets grocery bags too. We take turns playing clerk & shopper. She loves it! When she is the clerk, she says, "how are you man?" - she means "ma'am" - but doesn't know the difference. She asks if I have a kid that will like the things I'm buying (usually the stuff she likes) and is so nice and friendly. What great customer service skills :)

She also got some Barbies for Christmas and loves to play with them too. There are 2 of them, so they swap clothes (not shoes though, one of them has GIANT feet - weird right?) and go shopping together after they've eaten dinner on the table that Aunt Mamie bought. The other night, I figured the Barbie's should talk to each other and she thought this was hilarious. After just a couple of minutes she says to me "you be the baby, I'll be the mommy." The barbies are the same age - but whatever. I agree to this arrangement. (side note: I've been trying to keep Brenna from crawling in my bed each night at about 2:00am and convince her that she's a big girl and needs to stay in her bed) She says - through her barbie "oh baby, I love you so much, you can sleep in my bed tonight" so I respond "oh, but I'm a big girl, I can sleep in my own bed." She wittingly responds, "I just love to cuddle with you, so you can still sleep in my bed." What?? She is trying to manipulate me through the barbies?? See, I told you - smart. But, it didn't work. I still make her stay in her bed. And she's doing great!

For the last few nights, she has wanted to read this book (she LOVES this book and I have to limit it - I can only take so much). So, after we read it, she wanted to take it to bed with her. I agreed. When I went to check on her and turn the light all the way out - this is what I found. So precious. I love hanging out with her and seeing that little brain working - she is super smart, funny and passionate! Love that little booger.

Valentine's Day

This year, I decided to do something cute and fun for Brenna for Valentine's Day. Since she will be at her daddy's on the actual day, we celebrated a little early. We had a themed dinner (breakfast really, but at dinnertime since that is when I have time) - all pink & red! We had pink pancakes, strawberries and pink milk. We ate on pink plates too! Brenna loved it and thought it was fun. She also got a little present - I decorated a little metal mailbox (from the $1 section at Target) and gave her some v-day candy and hair bows and also a cute little pink/green cupcake outfit. She was so excited to see the present and loved her mailbox (complete with a "B" for Brenna). We had a nice night playing together - it was a nice early Valentine's Day!

How do we get to the zoo?

Well, you mapquest the address and it gives you step by step instructions for getting there :) So, that's what we did this last weekend while Papaw was here visiting. Gramma went to CA with Appy Debbie for a family funeral, but Papaw stayed for a few nights with us. It was a beeeeyoootiful day for the zoo - and we had a great time. It's been awhile since our last visit so we were excited to see our old animal friends. Since the weather was nice, lots of the animals were out and we got to see most of them! Of course, we saw the old standards, but even visited the Arizona section for much longer - and learned exciting things about the animals that Papaw hunts. Brenna is not a fan of the animal heads that hang in Gramma & Papaw's house, so Papaw showed her the real (live) thing - maybe that will make her less scared. Although someday I'm sure she'll wonder why just their heads are hanging there...and why they aren't moving....oh well, that's for another day. We also saw the javelina and I think Papaw could watch them all day. Brenna and Papaw fed the ducks while mommy stood at a safe distance behind them (hoping the birds would not come too close to her) taking pictures and ooh-ing and ah-ing over the $10 bill that she found on the ground (well, that Papaw found). Score! It was also the baby orangutan's birthday, so there were free cupcakes and I've never seen Brenna enjoy a cupcake so much - she usually doesn't even like cake (I know, who's kid is she?) They came with animal rings on them too - Brenna loved the "hippomuspoto" one. Anyway, here are some fun pictures of the day. Brenna loves her Papaw and had a great time with him (as did I) but we missed Gramma. We hope next time that she can come to the zoo too!

Like, totally

So, I think that I've had a light bulb moment while having daily conversation with Brenna. Apparently, I use the word "like" a lot (as in, "this tv show is like dumb" or "you are like so funny"). I admit that I do that - I have known this for some time, but thought that it was probably getting better as I got older - I am 30 after all. But, apparently, it has rubbed off on Brenna. The other day while putting on her jammies and socks (home socks, keep in mind), she says "Mom, these socks are like stained" - I laughed because it was cute. Then today she says "this book is like loud." I've noticed it a few other times as well. So apparently I've created a valley girl :) We do live in the "valley" right? Oh well, just like every other thing that we need to work on as parents, I guess I'll add: improve use of proper grammar.

A very merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas this year. The snow in Show Low was beautiful and fortunately, we had a window of no-storm travel time that allowed us to get up the mountain. We enjoyed lots of time with family and friends and although it was cold, we loved the snow (from inside). Brenna got what she wanted from Santa (including the mermaid Dora, some barbies and even a guitar when he visited Daddy's house) plus some! She must've been a very good girl this year! We were very thankful to be able to celebrate with Grandma, Papaw, Aunt Mamie, Uncle Josh and Rylan! Rylan was so much fun to be around (except for the spitting up) and Brenna loved to love on him. She sang to him and made him smile and we loved experiencing Christmas with them. We also did some annual traditions like doing puzzles and playing games - and of course eating!! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!

Christmas traditions

Today we celebrated the season by baking some Christmas cookies and writing a letter to Santa. This was the first year that Brenna has written a letter to Santa and we are "emailing" it to him so it will get there in time.










Brenna loves helping me in the kitchen and always wants to stir or pour or touch whatever it is that I'm making. We baked cookies together last year and now it will hopefully be something we do together every year. When we first got started, we forgot to put on an apron, so she wiped floury hands all over her pants, then we got the apron out! She was very happy to roll out the dough, rub the flour on the cutting board and use the sprinkles. Can you tell which ones she sprinkled? :) The best part was getting to eat one at the end! After all the cookies were out of the oven and cooling, we went into the living room to write a letter to Santa. We attempted to visit him the other night, while Fry's was having a "Night out with Santa" event, but although she showed lots of interest, when it came time, she was not so courageous. But, I did get a picture of both of us with him! Here's her adorable letter to Santa (transcribed by mommy). Also, notice where she signed it, she knows the "B" and "r" but from there, it doesn't much resemble the letters of her name. Still precious!

In case you can't read it:

"Dear Santa, Hi dear Santa. Can you bring me a Barbie for Christmas? Can you bring me a mermaid doll for Christmas? A Dora mermaid doll. And a Christmas Bobber the Bill Christmas movie. Can I have a guitar, please can I have a guitar? Hey, I saw you at Fry's Santa. Why you were at Fry's? I was afraid when I got my picture. MERRY CHRISTMAS! Love, Brenna"

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving with family this year. We visited Jamie (who started a blog while I was there, but has no posts, so no link yet), Josh and Rylan along with Grandma & Papaw, Appy Debbie, Chelsea and Rick. We all filled our bellies and enjoyed each other's company. It was raining most of the time, so we were inside, but had a good time. It was amazing to see how much little Rylan has changed - I snapped a cutie patootie picture of him too. Grandma & Papaw followed us home and stayed with Brenna while I worked on Friday. We ventured out to shop a little on Saturday and spent the day getting Christmas decorations set up - the tree is up and lights are on outside. It's beginning to feel like Christmas (except for the warm weather, I don't think I ever get used to that occurring in November/December). Sunday we visited a park to get some fun pictures taken. Chelsea took some great ones of me & Brenna. I'm saving the best one for the Christmas card. We had lots of fun while we were there. We walked around the park, then took a ride on the train (Chelsea's friend hooked us up for free!) and on the carousel. We also fed the ducks before leaving (not my favorite part as there were lots of icky pigeons around too and it was nearly my worst nightmare when the all took off flying at the same time - eeewwww). As we were leaving, I had some car alarm issues and was very thankful that it happened then (with Chelsea) and so close to Appy Debbie's house - phew! All was resolved though and we made it home to finish up with Christmas decorations. What a crazy, busy, fun weekend! Can't wait until we have another fun one.

I'm all out of kisses

Here's the conversation Brenna and I had as we were playing tonight:

M: Can I have a kiss?
B: Nope, I'm all out.
M: What? Can you make some more?
B: Sure. (she proceeds to stick her finger in her mouth and "stir"). Ok, I have more now. (She kisses my cheek)
M: Thanks!
B: I have some hugs too if you want some of those.
M: Yes please! (she proceeds to hug me)
B: Ok, now I have to get more at the store.
M: When are we going to the store?
B: On Thursday
M: We have to wait until Thursday?
B: Yep

I sure do love that girl!

P.S. "M" is for mommy

History!

Brenna predicted history the other night when I asked her who would be elected president. Although I only recall mentioning both of the candidates' names to her once (pointing them out on tv since they were on tv a lot), she retained the information and repeated it back to me! Imagine my surprise when she tells me one night "you're Barack Obama and I'm John McCain!" I asked her who they were and she replied "for president." So I got the video camera - and I didn't talk about my vote with her. I interviewed her about 4 times - she was split even for them - twice she thought Obama would win and twice she thought McCain. Every instance after that, she would mention them both. Either way, I was shocked that she remembered their names after just one conversation, but now she recognizes their faces. It was amazing to witness a history-making moment last night. I am hopeful that we are all in for an improved America under Obama's leadership! And whether you voted for him or not, it is a pretty inspiring time - to see racial barriers knocked down (or at least knocked over) and I think it says a lot about how far we've come as a nation.

Halloween 2008

Halloween was a lot of fun this year - Brenna was counting down as soon as we got the decorations out around the house! She had the trick or treating script memorized early in the month and was very excited to be a fairy princess - what else? She got to wear glittery wings, glittery shoes (thanks to Appy Debbie) and glittery nail polish - perfectly fitting for her this year. There were lots of fun activities for this holiday including a festival at daycare, pumpkin carving with mommy and of course - trick or treating! Daddy came over to our house for trick or treating (as we get used to doing things a little differently) and we walked around the neighborhood. Pretty quickly that bucket was getting heavy and she was asking us to "go home." All that walking with a heavy bucket - just exhausting right? She anxiously waited for more kids to come to the house so she could hand out candy the rest of the night while we watched a Halloween cartoon and then visited with our friends and neighbors! Stay tuned for fun election updates with Brenna!

Laughter makes life full

You know those people who have really great laughs? The kind that you remember forever, that every time you hear it, you can't help but laugh too? My daughter is one of them! I absolutely love her laugh. When it is a really good belly laugh - a geniune laugh - it is one of the greatest sounds. I can think of a few people in my life who have these laughs and even though some are people that I haven't seen or talked to for YEARS I still remember the laughs in my head - and they still make me laugh. Genuine, fun, contagious laughs are the best! I finally got a good video of Brenna's great laugh - I am tickling her like crazy to keep it going - so here it is for all to enjoy.

P.S. you can really see her top teeth here - for those of you who haven't really seen what they are like following her cleft palate repair - you can see that she'll need braces eventually, but they are not so bad!

Cousin meeting

Brenna met her new baby cousin Rylan this weekend. She was so excited - we had a countdown going all week. Saturday morning we woke up and headed south to Tucson. We had a great day of visiting and giving kisses to that precious boy. He is pretty mellow and it was fun to hang out with Aunt Mamie. Jamie and Josh are also doing well and adjusting to parenthood pretty well I think! We didn't get to visit too much with Josh, but will next time. Although it was a mellow day, the time really flew by. I finished the scrapbook I'd been working on for him and we had fun watching Brenna tackle some new puzzles (she is really good at puzzles). If we would've had more time, I think we could've started a blog for him, but things didn't really work out. Some day though....

Here are some adorable pictures of the proud big cousin. Some of the adorable things she said as we prepared to visit: "Mom, I have to squeeze him soft, I can't squeeze him too hard." and "I can't touch his face, just tickle his feet and hands." When I asked what she thought of him, she said "he's pretty." Too cute!

Problem: I washed a pullup

Problem solved: salty cycle

Yep, this weekend when doing laundry, I washed a pullup. I never knew what a pullup (or a diaper for that matter) was made of. I never bothered to care either as long as it served its purpose. These days, we barely need pullups. Brenna wears them at night still because I'm paranoid and don't want to have to be changing sheets in the middle of the night (I actually really enjoy sleeping through the night). Most mornings, well really all mornings for quite awhile now, Brenna's pullup is dry when she wakes up. Sometimes they are recycled for the next night (it is dry after all) but apparently this week, one snuck its way into the hamper with some jammies. I didn't see it when dumping the clothes in the washer. BUT, when I moved the clothes to the dryer, I was horrified to find lots of little balls of gel EVERYWHERE! I panicked a little, not knowing what it was. I initially thought it was one of those little silica gel packets that you find in a new purse or something (I frantically searched the internet for what to do and how dangerous they could be when opened). Nothing found...nothing helpful anyway. So I did the next thing that most people would do - I called my mom. But, busy helping with new baby Rylan, she didn't answer her cell. So, I called my dad. I asked for advice. They didn't know what was in a pullup either and didn't know what I should do. So, I did the next think I think most people would do, I googled "I washed a pullup". Luckily, I was not the first one to do this. I found a blog (on blogger even) where someone posted that they'd done this and fortunatly all of her friends gave some helpful tips. The one that seemed the most promising (translation easy and quick) was to run an empty cycle through the wash of water and salt. So I did that (after I scooped up the gel goop from the washer tub first. While that was running, I shook out the soiled clothes in the back yard. Then, I checked the washer - hooray, gel was gone! Put clothes back in washer, did not add detergent, but added salt. Ta da! It worked. Ran clothes through wash again and dried them...gel free! Quickly told Brenna not to put pullups in the hamper anymore - they go in the garbage can. She agreed and knew that it was not good to put a pullup in the "dishwasher".

Rylan is here!

My baby sister had a baby! Rylan Kae Silliman was born at 4:53pm on September 17, 2008. He weighed 7 lbs, 15 oz and was 21 inches long. I got to go visit them today and he is the most precious little boy (easy to say since I don't have a boy). He is very mellow and alert - he was looking around at us quite a bit. He makes adorable little noises and entertained us all - at under a day old! We can't wait to see him grow and play with his cousin (Brenna didn't come along because she'd been battling some sniffles and a cough and we didn't dare expose Rylan to that). I just know that she will love him so much and smother him with kisses! We all think that he looks like his daddy - but has his mommy's nose. Regardless, he is adorable!

Congratulations Jamie and Josh - you are already fabulous parents!! Love you!

Princess Brenna

She's been a princess since the day she was born - sometimes even a "baby queen" around Papaw. For her birthday this year, she recieved many princess related gifts and she LOVES them. Most of the time, she prefers to be in her dress up clothes rather than her regular clothes and very often she changes as soon as we get home. Sometimes the princess outfit is even put on top of her everyday clothes. If she can't be in her full outfit, she at least has the shoes on. She plays in her princess outfits, eats in them and even naps in them. She is very aware of using other princess items, such as her princess plate (a request at nearly every meal) her princess ball, her princess cup, princess washcloth and her princess toothbrush. Of course we regularly watch princess movies too! Thank goodness for her sweet nature - she is truly a treasure to me. She is quite the trooper as we go through some major adjustments and is so innocently optimistic about things that have quite a different effect on me. Without her kind, giving spirit this would be a much more difficult time for me. Thank God for this beautiful angel! Outside of being a princess, she is also quite the performer. She'll go on for quite awhile singing various songs and doing different dances - and if I'm videoing, she'll do even more (she also really likes watching herself). So, enjoy the video below. This one was one of the last in a concert she gave last weekend. Before I started recording, she said that she was going to sing "Old McDonald had a Farm" but it is important to note that the song just before was "B-I-N-G-O". Cutie patootie if I do say so myself!

Happy birthday Brenna!!!!

Crazy at it may seem, our little bundle arrived THREE years ago! She has been such a joy in my life and makes me laugh on a daily basis. She is loving, smart, playful, beautiful and the shining sun of my life! Since we had some family already in town for the baby shower, we decided to have a small gathering for her birthday the next day. Both sets of grandparents visited and some friends too. Brenna got lots of fun dress up clothes, puzzles, clothes and books - all of her favorite things these days! She also got her first bicycle! We wrapped the helmet for her to open first and when she opened it, the conversation went like this:

Brenna: "It's for my bicycle"

Mommy: "Do you have a bicycle?"

Brenna: "No"

Daddy: "I think there's one more present outside"

Upon walking (okay running) outside the front door - Brenna: "I DO have a bicycle!"

It was absolutely one of the most precious moments in her life and made us all laugh. She immediately tried it out before having some cake. It will take some time to develop those skills, but it sure was cute to watch her try! She also gave me an interview for her birthday - something I will plan to make an annual tradition and it is posted below. I can't wait to see what other fun she will bring me in the coming year!

Baby shower!

Last weekend I hosted a baby shower for my baby sister! She is expecting her first little bundle of joy in September and we had a great party for her. I was pretty proud of my ideas and games and had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for the party. I took ideas from the decor that she has planned for his (yes a boy!) room and stuck with the blue, brown, stars and circles for as much as I could. I made some fun centerpieces, tried my hand at an "edible arrangement" and made a train veggie tray. We played fun games including: Guess the baby food (no tasting involved), My water broke (plastic babies in ice cubes), Nursery Rhyme jeopardy and baby items on a tray. Jamie got lots of great gifts and good company! Brenna was nice enough to share her birthday to have a party for Mamie's baby and all turned out well. Brenna loves hugging Aunt Mamie's belly (Jamie may not like me for posting this picture, but it is sooo cute). We are all looking forward to baby Silliman making his appearance and can't wait to see what it's like to have a baby boy in the family! Brenna is most excited to meet her baby cousin too and talks about him all the time. Congrats to Jamie and Josh - hope I can get them to start a blog too =)

Cake and a puppet show

This weekend, Brenna helped me make a cake. She got to pick out the flavor of the cake and the frosting (white and lemon) and then helped get it ready. We decided to use our new pan that can be used in the microwave - to keep from heating up the house and it was fun. I learned some new lessons about the microwave cake - it needed to cool in the pan for longer than I allowed it - we lost quite a bit of the frosting unfortunately. But, Brenna had fun and that's what matters. She didn't really want to try it afterward, she wanted candy, not cake. Go figure.

Then, we went to a birthday party for blog friend Jason! It was at the puppet theatre, so it was Brenna's first puppet show! She got to make her own brown bag puppets, decorate a cute little hard hat (it was a boy party), watch a puppet show, touch one of the puppets, eat some snacks/cake, and play pin the tail on the donkey (a blow up version!) She had a great time too!