Brenna!!

Brenna turns 3 tomorrow, but I think we are done celebrating! Jeremy is out of town, so we had a little celebration on Sunday with him. We had my mom and my grandma over and my cousin and her family for dinner, then just opened presents from us and Grandma and Grandpa Smith. We gave Brenna Tangled, and she LOVES it! We have watched it almost every day since! Grandma and Grandpa got her some really cute clothes and a miniature pillow pet. Now she has a giant tiger and a tiny one that are both pillow pet knock offs, and she loves her mommy and baby tigers!

Then today we had her party with friends. My friend Olivia was nice enough to let us use her backyard since mine is all rock. We had a little pool, a sprinkler, a slide and a water table, and I think all of the kids had fun! We also had a pinata, which I made and didn't really get any good pictures of accidentally! We had presents and cakes and ice cream and then started cleaning up! I tried to take good pictures, but I am a little disappointed that I didn't get more! Here is what I have though. There are some cute ones of your kids if you were at the party, they are just tiny though, so you'll have to click on it and look at it bigger!

Brenna is growing so fast! I can't believe sometimes that I've been a mom for 3 years! So 3 years ago tomorrow morning at about 4-5 AM I woke up, threw up, and then laid in bed for an hour or two trying to sleep before I realized I might be in labour. After 12 hours of medicine-free labour, Brenna was born very fast, and my life changed. She is a beautiful little girl, and I love watching her grow every day. Even on the bad days. I hope I can teach her the things she needs to know, and that she will always have a desire to serve her Heavenly Father.

Brenna's favorite things right now are: Tangled, pizza, dinosaurs, princesses, and parks/splash pads.

Brenna is approx. 37 inches tall, and somewhere around 30-35 lbs. (we will find out for sure on Tuesday at the Dr.)

Brenna LOVES playing with friends and especially her cousins whom she adores. She is getting more and more social these days.

Brenna is starting a gymnastics class next weekish which we are excited for!

Brenna loves to dance and sing too.

Brenna is a very picky eater, which is a constant battle for us. She definitely knows what she wants though and is stubborn as anything!

Brenna is also a sweet big sister. She loves her little brother so much, and if she even THINKS someone is picking on Mason, she gives them a piece of her mind!

We love her so much!! Happy Birthday Brenna!

Ok... I'm going to work backwards since.. I'm too lazy to switch all my pictures. That is blogger's biggest flaw if you ask me... I NEVER remember to upload my pictures in reverse order so that they show up in the right order... who does that?

So, on Wednesday night, we all (me, jeremy, the kids, my mom, my grandma, and my aunt and uncle) went out to this pizza place for dinner. They had heard about this place called Organ Stop. It is apparently well known that their pizza is only so so, but while you're eating, a big organ comes out of the floor and plays all sorts of stuff. This guy playing was incredible, and he had Brenna pretty mesmerized! There were also all sorts of stuff around the room.. Brenna was in heaven. BUT she requested Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and he didn't play it, so she was disappointed in that.

Earlier that day, I went out to Mesa and spent the day at my Aunt and Uncle's place with everyone. We went swimming in the morning, our first swim of the summer! The kids loved it and we stayed a long time! Then after naps, we walked over to this park and played and took lots of pictures!
I have been getting so many comments lately when we go out about how blonde Mason's hair is. I guess the sun is lightening it up!
New super cute outfit from Grandma Smith for her birthday, and a super cute girl to wear it!
Prior to all that, on Monday evening, we went to Desert Ridge to swap my mom and grandma, and to eat dinner. It was windy and actually a little chilly (if you're wet, it was freezing!) but the kids loved it anyway.. they played even though their lips were purple and their teeth were chattering. They finally got too cold though and we ate and went home! They were honestly happy as ever playing in these though, it was fun.
Ok, this is from a little while ago, and I know the picture is nothing special, but I love it because..... they can do this now! They can finally sit together and not hurt/cry. I made Jeremy take this picture and he said... "It's not very cute.. why?" and I said (pretty emotionally might I add) "They're happy together! It's beautiful, and I need proof!" Generally speaking, Brenna is unable to resist the urge to hug (squeeze the life out of), kiss (crank head and squeeze cheeks), or pick up (squash and then drop) Mason for long enough for them to have much positive interaction, so this was beautiful for me!

And, just prior to all that, we went to a diamondBacks game! Last time we went was a spring training game last year, and it didn't go well with the kids, so I was hesitant to take them again, however this time was so much better! Brenna was so excited to see the ball and the guys trying to hit it (although this particular game was VERY slow and we only saw like 3 hits in 6.5 innings!) We eventually did have to leave after 6 innings because Brenna kept trying to run off to climb the stairs (which are scarily steep! We were up like as high as possible in the nose bleeds.) and Mason wanted to play too, but we had a lot of fun while we were there!

What I Did Today

This is what I did today (and last night). I did the skirt last night, and today during nape time, I did the dress and the tutu. I did the dress and the skirt from old, small shirts of mine. Nothing is that exciting or extremely cute (the shirts I had were pretty ratty) but it was fun to do, and sort of exciting! The tutu is for her birthday... but we'll see... so far, she's not a huge fan of wearing it.

These two things were done from tutorials found here. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this blog, and there are still quite a few of these projects I want to do. I seem to be on a spree now, so maybe I should go get busy since the kids are asleep.

This was supposed to be a pink AND a yellow tutu.. like two tutus, but I needed a lot more tulle than I thought, so now it's one with an odd colored ribbon! haha oh well, I like it still... does anyone know how to get it to be less wrinkly though? Steam it in the room while you shower? There are quite a few wrinkles in some of he pieces.

Sick Day

A couple of weeks ago, we were right ready for church. Jeremy had gone early for a meeting, and I had all my bags on my shoulders, Mason was at the door, and I was just putting Brenna's shoes on. Of coarse her hair was done and her dress was on. Then, with no warning whatsoever, as I'm doing up her shoes, she barfs. It was all over me, her dress, the floor... everywhere. YUCK! So I called Jeremy and told him I wouldn't be coming to church, as I remembered all of the responsibilities I had that day. I am the nursery leader, and nobody knew I wasn't coming, and also I had all the supplies and the responsibility to set up a Relief Society display that day. So, I was a bit stressed, but I had to take care of my baby! I took off her dress, sat her on a blanket, and we watched a lot of church movies (veggie tales counts, right?). She was a sick little girl and threw up one more time, followed by some even less pleasant symptoms. Jeremy stayed after church for a couple of hours doing some young mens stuff, and by the time he got home (of coarse) Brenna was feeling all better. I took some pictures of Mason since I had actually done his hair and he was looking so cute! and some of poor sick Brenna. And Some of the kids wearing my warrior hat from the race I'd ran the day before. So the day wasn't a total loss... I got to spend it with an unusually calm and sedated Brenna and two cute as can be kids! And got some cute pictures! Hopefully we don't have to do it again for a while though.

I just realized that I forgot to write about Jeremy on his birthday. This goofy guy brings a lot of happiness and fun to our family, and we all love him so much!

On our recent trip to DC, Mason has moved away from his mommy's-boy stage a bit and turned into sort of a daddy's-boy! It is cute to see how much the kids love and adore him and thrive on the attention he gives them. I also love him very much and have a lot of fun with him too!

This is the cake I made for him since he likes Oreos. Too bad for me he's not big on icing, and this cake has a moderate-large amount.. haha but it was still yummy and a fun experiment for me too!

Picture Perfect

Something that keeps coming to my mind lately.. and it's really simple. There's not a lot of explaining to do, but I am a stay-at-home mother of two kids, which can be stressful, emotional, rewarding, frustrating, insanity. Lately though, when I've been frustrated, the thought that keeps coming to my mind is: This is what you wanted! And then I realize how true that is. Just over 5 years ago, this is what I used to dream about. I used to wonder and day dream all the time about what my future held, and all I wanted was for a handsome husband, with beautiful kids who I got to stay home and take care of... I wanted to cook, clean, care and learn, and that's it. That's all that I hoped for. And look at me now! I have a very handsome husband, who I love. I have two exceptionally beautiful children who are my life, and I get to stay home and take care of them every single day. I must be the luckiest girl in the world!

Now I just need to remember that all the time because it really does help me be better!