Cousins!

We had a visit today from Bryce's bro and sis-in-law and they brought their babies, Kyleigh's favorite cousins, mostly because she sees them often and knows who they are. Moses LOVES her! She's half his weight and he still wants to hold her and attempt to carry her around, which usually ends up with them both toppled onto the floor giggling :) So much fun!

This is cousin Moses with Kyleigh after one such toppling to the floor. Good thing she thinks its fun! :) It's pretty darn entertaining to the rest of us, ha ha :)




This is the first pic of Kyleigh with Moses and Megan. Meg is such a doll! She's 5 months younger than Ky, and is kindof a miracle baby being born about 5 weeks early. She was just barely over 4 lbs when she was born, and now at 3 months she is finally up to 9 lbs and totally healthy. Ky at this point thinks Megan is a little dolly, but she is so sweet with her and so gentle. Its fun to have 2 girlies so close so we can share clothes and toys and playtime and everything!

Cute, cute! :)

8 months old, ALREADY!

I know this might be getting old, but so is my baby! She's growing so fast, and so happy, and I love her guts (and the rest of her too :) )

She now has 2 teeth on the bottom, and we're waiting for a top one to pop out at any time. Her little ponytail is about an inch and a 1/2 long now! Wahoo! And she's decided, all by herself, that she likes to sleep on her tummy with a beanie baby dog my grandma gave me while they were living in Japan. Kyleigh loves it, and I do too because I'm getting a full nights sleep again because of that little puppy!

She's figured out how to scoot....backwards. We have yet to move forwards, but she's pretty good at getting around with her little roll-and-twist action. She can get just about anywhere she wants, with a little time and patience. She's been able to get into the crawling postion and back to sitting, so any day now she is going to figure crawling out, and then we'll be in big trouble! Also, this past week she's figured out how to feed herself cereal. She started out just playing with it, then she progressed to 2 hands to the mouth, and after about 5 pieces she decided she was ready to do it one handed. She's a genius!

She loves to go on walks, and the swings at the park. She loves swimming in the tub, and we can't wait to get to a pool! She loves the baby and the other mommy in the mirror, and once in a while another daddy is there too. She loves to "fly" with daddy, and to sing with mom. She loves to make friends and has lots of them.

She's the best :) We are so lucky we got her! :)

Kyleigh's newest friend (and mine too!) Thanks Grandma!

Gettin' in some practice...

What a fun day! We went for a walk with Jordan and Naomi and her little boy Tegan (what a doll-face!) Its so great to have good girlfriends to talk to, and who want to do things together. We had so much fun.

After Kyleigh and I got home, we were both so hot (it got warm today! I'm so excited about it!) But we didn't have a pool, at least not one that we would have to pay to use. Luckily, I am brilliant sometimes.

Christmas of '06 we had a big crack down the middle of our old tub, and so my brother-in-law bought us a new tub that is deeper and wider and awesome to take a bath in. Kyleigh is still small, and so I thought for her it would be the perfect "practice pool". That was fun, and she had a ball :)

I put her in her little swim suit, blew up her floatie, filled the tub as deep as it would go with cooler water (not cold though, it had a little warmth in it, like a real pool would. No freezie babies!) She talked and giggled the whole time, I think we were in there for about 40 minutes. She loved it, and it was so fun to watch her love it!

Yay for warm weather and swimmin' pools! I can't wait to get to a real one so I can swim too! Woohoo!! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

A little late in the day, but I'm getting it!

We had a fun day yesterday. My mom got to come down for a big Brown Family picnic in the park for Mom's day, and we got some way cute pictures.

I love my mom, and I love being a mom. What a blessing to have so many amazing women in my life who have set the perfect examples for me. They wouldn't say perfect, but they taught me exactly what to do, and to their credit, sometimes what not to do, and I learned. I'm still learning, and I hope that as she grows, Kyleigh will be patient with me as I continue to figure things out. My greatest hope for her is that I will be able to set the same kind of example of what a truely great mom is, and that she will be able to become one too.

Yay for moms!

This pic is so cute. I was trying to get a closeup, and couldn't get it. So Grandma took the camera and captured this! Great picture, Grandma!

Kyleigh and Grandma (my mom) at the picnic. What a beautiful day to celebrate Mom's, even though it was a day early. Every day should be Mother's Day!

With (my) cousins Sammie and Kamryn on Great-Grandma's swing. I'm the oldest grandchild too, so I have a lot of really young cousins, the youngest are a day younger than Kyleigh, their 2nd cousin! Fun to have so many close to her age, though. They love it!

Cheering for BYU-Idaho with Uncle Jeff (my bro. :) and her best friend!)

On the swings with Uncle Jared (my youngest bro, and her other best friend :)

On Great-Grandma's swing with the Stoddards! From left to right my cousin Morgan, Aunt Becka, Kyleigh, Sammie, and Teagan. Too much fun!

Things we learned today...

As I'm watching Kyleigh learn as she grows, I decided to really take the day and realize everything that I am learning, too. This is what we learned today.

1. 4 hour naps are a blessing, especially after not getting a whole lot of sleep the night before.

2. It doesn't matter how big the bib is, baby food can fly everywhere!

3. It's okay to answer a knock at the door sometimes...you might just sell one of your extra junker cars, and who couldn't use a little extra cash when you are broke and need to pay some bills? Plus, I was planning on putting a "please steal me" sign on that car this week, so I'm glad this guy wanted it :)

4. Turning your regular walk into a nature walk is really fun, and collecting stuff you find for a scrapbook page later is funner.

5. This tree is crazy cool!






6. Springtime leaves are way better than fall leaves! They are still shiny, they are small, and bugs haven't had a chance to chew holes in them yet.


7. Going to the park is much more fun when you get to swing next to someone your own age and giggle the whole time! Yay for new friends!


8. Walking, and swinging, and giggling, and picnicing can really wear you out.



9. The world is full of crazy people! Thank goodness we weren't walking across that intersection when one of them drove through it and around the corner without slowing down at about 60 mph!


10. All babies have ADD, especially when they are anywhere but home. Its really fun when you go out to dinner and try to feed them liquified pears and there are people and new things everywhere. About half of it got where it was supposed to...


11. Mowing the lawn is a dirty job. Our lawn isn't very big, but it has patches of dirt that made me look like the kid with the cloud around him in the Charlie Brown comics. Good thing Aunt Gail was there so I could take a shower!


12. Baby teeth are very sharp, especially when there is only one. Thank goodness I'm not nursing!


13. This is something we've known for a while, but it still cracks me up. We love bathtime, but getting dressed is torture!


14. Pee flows faster than baby lotion....you really have to hurry faster with the lotion if you don't want to clean her up again afterwords.


15. Baby powder is faster than baby lotion, too. Especially when you squeeze the bottle...that was fun :)


16. We like bubbles, and cats, and birds, especially ducks, but we don't like bees, and car horns, and running water, and drunk people (you should see her glare at those drunk people, its kinda funny...)


17. The hour between 8:00 pm and 9:00 pm is a really long time!


18. Before I forget, we also learned how to clap today! She won't clap if it's pat-a-cake, but if you clap and say "Yay!" she's right in there with ya :)


19. The couch is no longer a safe place, although, it really never was. And the floor is not as soft as it looks. :(


20. My friends are the best. I love you guys, thanks for checking up on me today :) I really am feeling better :)


21. Our day was full of ups and downs, as every day is, but going through this list helps me realize just how blessed we really are.


And last but not least...


22. I could have had a V8!

First trip to the park!

We had a pretty fun day today, although the funness didn't occur until about 4:00 this afternoon. We decided to go for a walk, which we do frequently, but Kyleigh hadn't been to the park yet, and the weather was perfect, so we figured it was about dang time! It was busy in the park today, but it was so much fun! I didn't think she would like it as much as she did, but she loved it, especially the swings.

Kyleigh loved the swings. Just kicked back and let the wind blow through her hair. We were only there for about 20 minutes, but she was about asleep by the time we left.

Swingin' with dad.

I got a smile in this one. What a sweetheart :) We should do the park more often, especially now that the weather is so much nicer!

Me and Kyleigh at the swings. She kinda looks like a Kewpi Doll in this huh?

Took a little work...

I got one! It took a minute because her little tongue kept getting in the way (it happens :) ) But here is a pic of her first little tooth! So cute!

Growing Up!!

I don't have a picture yet (I'm going to have to sneak one in after she goes to sleep). She's been really whiney, and kindof annoying for the last week now. Part of it is she's started the stranger anxiety thing, but we figured out the major part going on....her first tooth broke through today! It's in the front, on the left side, bottom. Yay! I can't wait till it comes in all the way and we get those one tooth grins! Like I said, I will try to get a pic after she goes to sleep, she doesn't like me messing with her face, so we'll try it. Moving forward! Wahoo! :)

My new favorite...

Kyleigh loves bathtime, and really has from the very beginning. It is so fun now that she is sitting up because she loves to splash and scream and play with the toys, she has so much fun in there!

This is my new favorite picture. As sad and yet hopeful as I have been the last few days for little Charlie, I smile and feel better every time I look at this picture. Its set as my desktop so it pops up every time my comp comes on. I can't help but laugh. I love this little girl, how lucky am I?

P.S. She made this funny face because she is trying to figure out what this flashy silver brick thing is that I pull out every time I see her. She really wants to play with it, along with the remote control, and anything that has buttons or something that can be pulled. Too funny!

So gutwrenching...

So, I was checking blogs from friends, because, yet again, I'm having trouble sleeping. And one particular site I checked referred me to a site called http://www.charliecooperjackjack.blogspot.com/ . My heart fell out of my chest for this family, they are living my worst nightmare.

Kyleigh and I caught that wierd flu about a month and a half ago and were both sick for about 5 weeks. It slowly evolved into sinus infections for both of us, and tapered off to colds, but it was a long 5 weeks. I don't sleep when she is sick, which might explain why I'm having a hard time now, because my schedule is all thrown off. It was bad enough one week that she spent 3 days sleeping in the swing in the living room (me on the floor) because it was the only thing that would sit her up high enough to breathe. We even had to go to the respiratory therapist at UVRMC to have her nose and throat "vaccuumed" out so she could breathe properly, and eat a little more. I think she lost about a pound and a half during that time because she just couldn't get enough air through her nose to be able to eat.

That vaccuuming thing is killer. I had a hard time because I was the one that had to help hold her down while the therapist did his part. He had to stop a couple of times because I just broke down bawling because she was so scared. The second time we went she actually went into panic mode, and her heartrate jumped to about 170. It was, so far, the scariest thing we have been through, and I am sure there will be more.

I just hope that when those times come I can have 1/2 the faith and and trust and strength that this family has. It just breaks my heart, so much, that a baby can be fine one day and the next be so sick. I hope that Bryce and I never have to go through that, because I don't know if I would be able to hang on like this family has. They are truely amazing and beautiful people, and I pray that their little Charlie Cooper "Jack Jack" will be able to kick this.

(p.s. I did go back to the beginning of their story to find out what he has and it is Pneumococcul Meningitis, which is one of the diseases that all babies are immunized for at 2, 4, and 6 months. For some reason his body couldn't recongnize how to fight it off, but he sounds like he is a fighter. I hope and pray that things will improve and that the Lord will continue to bless him and his family.)

Still Here!

Sorry it's been so long, we've been busy! Well, kinda. I've been working on Kyleigh's journal/scrapbook, and it is going so good! Slow, but good! I can't help but feel a little proud of what I've done, even though I'm still about 6 months behind. I got the first month, from birth until her blessing all done, plus Christmas and Easter. I just need to fill in all the missing in between stuff, but I'm getting there.

I found this cute cute website that is all scrapbook layouts and ideas, because I need help, that's why it's taken so long to get as far as I have. But if any of you need ideas, go to this site....www.BeckyFleck.com....she puts together new ones every month and they all work together and make the cutest book. Its so fun! Not only that but I have also been journaling with every little section, so that's part of what is taking me so much time. But its good, and moving forward!

We will hit the 7 month mark this week, Thursday, and it is so fun! She's figured out how to sit up, loves to eat, and, as a hairdresser this made me really excited, she has enough hair for an inch long ponytail, right on top of her head! YAY! What a doll, I love being a ma!

K, I need addresses...

I'm going to do it, girlies, and boylies.....I'm gonna take my blog a little more private. I have addresses for a couple of you, but not all of you. Please please please, if you want to be able to see my page, and I would love for everyone I know to be able to, please send me addresses so that I can add you!

I'm going to give it 2 more weeks so that everyone who wants to can respond and I can get all of your info, and Jordan! Lunch! Anytime! Just let me know when because my schedule is ALWAYS open! Really honestly, anyone, Lunch! Anytime! Just let me know when because my schedule is ALWAYS open! Teehee! Love you guys, I'll post again soon :)

Easter!!

Ok, so it's a day later than yesterday, but here is our fun Easter :)


Kyleigh's new butterfly towel! I accidentally bought the giant towels to make this with, so she will be able to use it til she's about 6 or 7, AT LEAST!








Hangin' out with daddy. This pic is so cute, it had to go on here :)

Great-Grandma Schiers! We were so excited she could come and see us :) Mostly because it wasn't planned, and we didn't know that she would be able to come from Boise to spend Easter with us. This is Kyleigh's first picture with her other Great-Grandma.







Still hangin' out with daddy. She is so much a daddy's girl already, but I'm so glad she knows and loves him so much.






Uncle Jeff! Ky is the first Grandchild on my side, and therefore also the first niece. My brother loves little kids, and he is the first to come and take her away from me when we walk through the door. This last week was so fun! Kyleigh got to spend lots of time with her uncles, Jeff and Jared. They really didn't want me to take her home. :)






Our snow storm! Those flakes were about the size of golf balls! The storm lasted for about 4 hours and dropped about 4 inches of snow, on top of the foot and a half already there. The snow hill in the picture is about 7 feet high. Idaho had lots of snow this year!

To invite only, or not to invite only....

I've been thinking a lot about what Chante' said on her blog, about it being an invite only blog. I guess I'm looking for opinions, but as I've been thinking about it, there are A LOT of wierdos on the internet, and I'm not sure about how much I want a bunch of weirdos to know about my family, especially my babe, ya know?

In the meantime, Easter was so fun! We spent it in Idaho with my parents and my brothers and sister and her hubby. I won't have pictures to put on here until sometime tomorrow (Kyleigh and I got to stay for the week) but we got some super cute ones, so I'll put at least a couple on here, including our blizzard that came around on Wednesday! That's Idaho for you!! But its still March, so there ya go...

Anyway, until tomorrow then :) Hope you all had a great Easter!

I should have known...

Ok, so my blog on Tuesday was just the beginning! Kyleigh's roll-over wasn't an accident! I should have known better-nothing she does is an accident at this point, because she's learning. It's so much fun though :) I walked out of the room this afternoon to make her a bottle, and when I came back she was about 6 feet away from where I left her. IN 2 MINUTES!! I was impressed, but it means I really need to get my bootay in gear and get to baby-proofing, or at least baby-safetying my house. That's not a word, I know, but that's really what I am going to be doing.

I love this growing up thing, but I'm a little sad too. I still want her to be tiny, but she is so much fun. We went to the nutritionist yesterday at the WIC office and got official permission to start big-girl food, well, sorta. But her new favorite, 2 days running, are those Biter Biscuits. She likes juice from a cup too, but we are still figuring out the cup thing. And her favorite veggie is the mashed carrots with rice. We've tried squash and sweet potatoes, and she'll eat them, but she inhales the carrots. What a mess! I love it! :)

Those blue eyes are killer! She will be able to get away with just about anything!

Staying at home, with some stuff on the side...

I figured this would be the easiest place to answer this question, then everyone who wants to know will know, ya know?
I am a stay at home mom, and I love it! I can't stand even the thought of having to find a babysitter or daycare for my babe (I worked in it too long, and even though it's not a bad place for them to be, parents miss out on too many things). Needless to say, I don't want to miss anything, so going back to work is the worst thought to me.
But, since I need a little extra every now and then, I am doing hair at home. Thank heaven for a big kitchen! Eventually I would like to have my own house that has an unfinished basement so that I can put a little salon in it, but for now, the kitchen is great! And I can stay at home and not miss a thing. It's fabulous :) My awesome Grandma has also offered her kitchen every month to do hair for family, so that will bring in a lot, I hope, because they are all over the place! Thank heaven for Grandma's too! The fun part with that will be spending time with all of my fam every month. They are all close, but I just can't see them often enough. :)

Too Fast!

Well, we've hit the 6 month mark! It's come out of nowhere! It really doesnt seem like this little angel has been with us for 1/2 a year already. It was just yesterday we were headed to the hospital. Kyleigh has been growing so fast. She's doubled her weight, and added 3 inches to her length. She rolled all the way over for the first time yesterday, but I think it might have been an accident, she was watching me. She's kinda started the clingy thing so I can't go too far :) We've graduated to size 2 shoes and size 3 diapers and although she still fits in some of her clothes, we will shortly have to upgrade to 6-9 month clothes. She loves to play, is learning to sign, and is trying to figure out my toys (i.e. the camera, hence the look of "What is that thing?" written all over her face, teehee) She's a gorgeous girl, and so happy that most people can't tell when she's not feeling well until she coughs or sneezes. She is so much fun! I love watching my little girl grow!

4 Generations

This was taken a couple days after we brought Kyleigh home. We went to my Grandma's house and she and my mom insisted that we needed a 4 generation picture taken "Right Now!" So we did! I'm not really a fan of me in the picture, just because I really just threw clothes on that day, but for the most part it is a really sweet picture. That is my Grandma Brown on my right shoulder, my mom on the left, and then me and Ky in the chair. Awwwww...

Just to add a bit...

These videos are way fun, but I should mention that with little babies, I would definately recommend the baby videos. They are way simple compared to the others, SUPER simple! :) They are basic words that they do really one at a time to help little ones understand them. We have one of the videos for the bigger kids and its almost too fast for me right now. I'm sure the more we watch it we'll be able to pick it up, but yeah, anyway. The baby videos do one at a time, and the older videos do 3 or more at a time so you can use them in sentances. They are pretty fast, fun, but fast. :)

One of Our Favorite Things

At 6 months old, its amazing to me how fast the time is gone and how fast my babe is growing. I love being a mom! What a blessing she is to me and her dad! There are times I wish she was still my little tiny baby that wanted to cuddle all the time and needed me for more than she does now, she's becoming so independent, but at the same time it is so fun to watch her grow and learn! She is learning so fast!
One of our favorite things is the Baby Signing Time series. We were walking trough the mall around Christmas time, so Kyleigh was 3 months old, and we found one of those little vendors that was selling these sign language videos and the lady popped in the Baby videos for us. I still am amazed at how simple they are designed, but we got the first on for her for Christmas and she's watched it every day for the last 3 months, at least 1 time. She's learned that this is her movie and she gets so excited when she hears the songs, it is so fun! She's starting to watch me sign simple things like "fish", "milk", and "cat", and she recognizes what they are! She can't sign them back to me yet, but in the next couple of months I will keep you posted on what happens.
Honestly I would HIGHLY recommend these videos. They've won over 55 national parenting awards, so I think that was what really caught me. But she loves them! Also, although this might only matter to those of us that are LDS, they were created by Lex de Azevedo and his daughters, who are pretty big in the LDS music scene. His daughter Rachel is the "host" of the show I guess you would say, and she does such a great job at making it fun!
I'm going to try to create a link so you guys can see what they are all about. It starts with the Baby Signing Time videos for ages 3 months to 3 years, and then there are the videos for the bigger kids that are a little more advanced. Hopefully if Kyleigh can sign back to us during her toddler years we can avoid a few temper tantrums because she'll be able to tell me exactly what she wants :) Like I said, I'm going to try to create a link so that you guys can see what they are all about :)

Holidays!

2 Months old! We spent Thanksgiving down in Cannonville with Grandma and Grandpa Fletcher. That was a fun weekend, because Kyleigh got to meet her cousins Ryan, Will and AnnaCa for the first time, and that was fun for all of us!
This picture is so cute :) I wonder what she was thinking...

3 months old! We spent Christmas up in Idaho with Grandma and Grandpa Schiers. That was so much fun! Uncles Jason, Jeff and Jared were there and so were Aunt Nancy and Uncle Heath. We got lots of new pictures taken. Kyleigh got new jammies from Grandma, and an new baby that she sleeps with every night. Her favorite new toy was her GloWorm. He lights up and plays music, and all you have to do is push the button and she smiles and falls asleep so fast! It is so cute! That was such a fun week :)




Happy Valentine's Day! From our favorite little cherub! Kyleigh turned 5 months old in February, and she took some cute pictures to send to Grandmas. I can't believe how fast she is growing!

First Introductions

Our First night in the hospital. It wore us all out! But Bryce was so proud,

he took so many pictures. What new daddy wouldn't?

Hangin' out with Uncle Jared! This was taken the second day in the hospital. They were so cute :) Jared is so excited to finally be an uncle!

I wish that this picture had turned out clearer. This was such a sweet moment, because mom couldn't make it the day that she was born and this was the first picture we got

with just Kyleigh and her Grandma. Oh well, it's still such a cute picture; Ky was about a week and a half old in this one. My mom calls every week to tell me that

Kyleigh needs her grandma. I agree! We need to be closer! :)

Angel Baby!

These pictures were taken at 2 weeks old, and the photographer did so good we had a hard time choosing which pictures we would keep and which we would have to leave behind. Well, I couldn't leave any behind, so we took the option of being able to look at them online. And then I cheated! I downloaded them all onto my computer, so I have ALL of them! Yay! You just can't turn away pictures of this little angel, it's not possible :)

The Boys

We've had Ghost (black) for 3 years and Buster (white) for 2. They are like our kids, 2 little obnoxious, playful, cuddly boys. We love them so much, our house wouldn't be the same without them here!