Adventures in Potty Training 2

I am going on my third day of insanity...oops...excuse me, I mean potty training Brylee Kate. I finally went to the store and bought some pull-ups, got candy ready, printed out a sticker chart, and we started 1st thing Monday morning. I took her every 20 minutes all day long. (Until she went to her Mimi's while I went grocery shopping, though Mimi still tried to put her on there a few times.) I got nothing out of her until after dinner that night. She started crying and grabbing at her diaper so I thought she had to poop or something. We rushed to the potty and SCORE!!!!! She peed! Which I was very glad for because I was seriously about to give up the first day!! Unfortunately I'm the type person that wants, needs, HAS to see results immediately! I think you might call that impatience?

Tuesday, again I took her every 20 minutes. My friend Chelsea and I always work out on Tuesdays and I'll tell ya, it could have very well been the longest workout ever having to stop every 20 minutes. Good thing Chelsea's a wonderful gal who understands! When I saw that she was wetting her pull-up and eventually pooped in it too, I changed the time frame to every 15 minutes. Boy did that make for a long, disappointing, exhausting day!! I got absolutely NOTHING from her yesterday! Like I said, it's a good thing she peed Monday evening. Otherwise, I definitely would have given up by now!!

Almost everyone I've talked to about potty training, swears by just putting them in big girl panties and seeing where things go!! This morning, I decided to brave it out and just do it! I changed the time to every 10 minutes though! Not long after changing to panties, Brylee came running up to me pointing towards the floor on the other side of the room saying "Juice, Juice!" I thought maybe she left a cup in her toy basket the day before and she wanted me to get it out or something. Well, no. There was a huge puddle of urine near her kitchen set. So I got her all cleaned up and then the floor and her little kitchen. Eventually, she finally peed in the potty!! Not sure if this was because of the whole "panty thing", or the fact that I moved her potty chair into the living room. Because today she has sat forever in that potty chair just watching TV. I don't know, either way, she did something!! The next thing you know, she had another accident. This time, she was sitting in one of her little chairs. Her chairs open up, and I store some of her toys in there. Well the pee had gotten all inside the chair and all over her dress up clothes! Once again, I cleaned up! And once more, she peed in the potty. So far today, 2 accidents and 2 scores! And probably a BIG F now.....

I've had a little trouble this morning with her pooping in the potty. Several times, I've caught her going to another room (which means she's going to poop) and I immediately put her on the potty. I'm sure I've given her "stage fright" everytime because she ended up not doing anything. I waited and waited until I couldn't anymore. So we got in the shower and then I was going to lay her down for a nap. About 5 minutes into the shower, I saw the "poop face" going on. Fortunately, I thought ahead and set the seat right outside the shower door. I quickly set her, soaking wet, on the potty as she cried. I wasn't quite quick enough because a little turd had fallen in the floor right in front of her. As my soapy body is standing there, trying to figure out what to do with this turd in the floor, Brylee goes to try and pick it up. "Ew chocolate!" I suppose she thought! Well I did what any mother would do if they saw there child about to pick up a piece of poop!! Yeah, I may have been a little louder than normal as I told her no and SHE FREAKED OUT!!!!!!!!! She jumped up from the toilet and ran back into the shower and grabbed hold of me. Which by the way, she had pooped the rest of it out in the potty. Yay! SCOOOORE! But I'm pretty sure she is scarred and will be too freaked out to sit on the potty now. She wouldn't stop crying and shaking (not sure if that was from fear or being cold). But after that, I laid her down for a nap and she is still sleeping. Not sure how she is going to react with the potty now. But with all our hard work the past 2 1/2 days, I'm hoping we can still continue! We shall see!

22 months

Why am I such a blogging slacker? Brylee turned 22 months May 7 and yeah, I'm just now posting about it. I read my friend, Audra's blog, and I love how she writes her blogs as though she is talking to her children so I am stealing her idea. Thanks Audra!

Brylee Kate,
-You have recently become infatuated with Cinderella ("Lella" is what you call her). I thought I had a ways to go before the "princess phase" but I was dead wrong! It looks as though that will be the theme of your 2nd birthday. You can now recognize Belle and "White" as well!
Here is a picture of you back in April in the back seat watching "Lella" while reading your "Lella" book!


-You are so good with your shapes. Your little shape ball thingy is probably your favorite toy. You bring it to me and say "shapes, shapes!" We take all the shapes out, I name off the shape, you grab it, and put it in the hole. Shapes you can identify: circle, star, cross, oval, square, triangle, pie (pizza pie you call it!), and trapezoid.


-You bow your head the whole time when we say the blessing at the table now.

-You are also getting good with your colors. You know yellow, purple, blue, pink, white, green, and black. If you see a color you know, you yell it out so proudly!

-You love sidewalk chalk. It's usually the first thing you go for when we go outside. When we got home from Gulf Shores this weekend and got you out of the car, you headed straight for the chalk! You have gotten in trouble a few times for writing on Mommy and Daddy's cars with it!

-Your counting "1-2-3" is "2-8-6". It's the cutest thing! When you start to jump or run you say "2-8-6" We'll get our counting in order eventually!

-You pretty much always have a boo boo on one of your knees. Once it starts to heal, you fall again! I'm starting to think you do it on purpose just so you can wear a princess band-aid on it.

-We are starting to see your kind and caring heart. You come up to mommy and daddy lay your head on our lap or wrap your arms around us and say "aaaw!" You pick up your babies and bounce them and say "shh shh shh." You are going to make the best big sister some day!

-Ketchup has become your favorite thing in the world. Unfortunately, you want to dip everything in it. One day Mommy was cutting up an apple and you said "chechup!" I wanted to gag! But luckily, it's become a good way to get you to eat your green beans and carrots!

-I can't believe how big and independent you are getting. It makes Mommy sad that there are some things I no longer have to do for you. One of your favorite things to say is "Kate do it!"


Here's a video of you identifying a few of your shapes and then you got a little distracted with your chalk!


I cannot believe the big girl you are becoming. In just about a month and a half I am going to have a crazy little 2 year old running around! I love you so much my sweet girl!

Mommy

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures!

For those of you, if any, who actually read my blogs, you may have noticed in some of the pictures the band aid across Brylee's face. If you didn't, then observation is not your strong suit because it's pretty obvious!

It's been well over 3 weeks now that Brylee scratched herself on the face. I take total blame for it since I'm the one responsible for keeping her nails clipped. It's such a hard thing to do though since they grow so fast. Well after scratching it she continued to mess with it and open it back up right when it started to heal. Soon I realized I was going to have to start using bandaids. It was such a hard spot to put a bandaid (right near her eye) but it had to be done. Soon she learned she could just peel them off. We have gone through so many of those round bandaids it's not even funny. And I find them everywhere!!! Under her bed, in her hair, on her clothes, in OUR bed, in a cup she was playing with, you name it!!! After all this is over, I NEVER want to see another round bandaid again! I even tried regular bandaids. It was pretty funny to see those ginormous things across her face. She peeled those off too. It has truly been a nightmare because over 3 weeks now and this sore is not getting any better and one day she's going to wonder why she has a huge scar on her nose. She does well during the day when I am around but when it comes time for nap/bed time, the picking begins! I tried scotch taping the bandaid on but she peeled the tape off. I tried liquid bandaid and that was also a huge failure! Ben thought we should try putting another bandaid somewhere on her face thinking she just wanted something to pick at and she'd forget about her actual sore. Also a failure! The next morning she woke up with our normal bandaid gone and the other random one we put on her cheek was still there! Some people have said to use super glue but I'm scared the way that she picks at those bandaids, she would have even more scratches from trying to pick at that glue. So I resorted to my desperate and hopefully, final remedy. I've been talking about it for like a week now but haven't been able to bring myself to do it. I psyched myself up for it last night though because I am so tired of dealing with this! Hopefully, with a little duct tape and a pair of socks her face will be good as new in a couple days! Yes that's right, I duct taped socks on my child's hands. I thought for sure I'd wake up this morning with the socks somehow gone and the tape still around her wrists but nope, all still there! I actually thought it would make her mad but she just stared at them! She wanted some milk before bedtime and I had to end up holding it for her like she was a baby again because her cup kept slipping out of her hands. Those grippie things on socks, in fact, do not work when it comes to trying to hold a sippy cup! FYI:This is only for sleep time. I don't make her go around like this all day long!!!

Cleaning up and gettin dirty!

I'm baaaaaack! It's been a while :-)

Wow was that storm crazy last night. Here's what happened in our neck of the woods!


Had to get my cutie patootie in there!

Weird thing about this is a couple weeks before this a limb fell in the very same place and trampled my forsythia. I told Ben it just wasn't meant to have any sort of bush or plant there because last week I planted something there to take its place and now it's crushed too!

This fell on the other side of the driveway.


Oh the joys of living near lots of trees! Brylee and I got out this morning and picked up all the small branches out of the yard and swept the driveway. Brylee did a super job of helping me out!!






After cleaning up the storm stuff, I decided to pick my weeds for the 77th time this season. FYI: Preen doesn't work. Seems like it made my weeds worse! Though it could be the fact that we need mulch like crazy. Anyhow, Brylee of course wanted to help out with that too. She got in that flower bed and pulled dirt and then realized I was pulling the green stuff so started pulling up my monkey grass!! She got super filthy and looks like a complete redneck in these pics and I love it!!! At what point I heard the crazy loon gagging and I turned around and saw that she was eating the dirt!! Yuck!

Brylee at 20 months

4 months till #2? Are you serious? Brylee actually turned 20 months a couple weeks ago. I've just been slacking on my blogging here lately. Ben and I have had a hectic past couple of weeks. Brylee is just turning into this "little lady" and it kind of makes me sad. She is saying so much and she amazes me every day. Before I was keeping up and writing on the calendar every new word she would say. But I quit that because I wasn't able to keep up with her! She is my little loud mouth hooligan and she keeps me entertained and laughing! Here are some milestones:

-She is now in size 5 diapers and size 6 shoes. I am hoping that this warm weather stays consistent now because I don't think I can squeeze her big ole feet into her size 5 fall/winter shoes anymore!

-She loves marshmallows, chapstick, putting on lotion, and playing "weeeee" with Daddy. He basically just swings her up in the air and back down between his legs time after time. She loves it. She walks up to him constantly with her hands out saying "wee, wee".

-She has recently become a big fan of "The Fresh Beat Band". I would say it's now running a close race with "Yo Gabba Gabba."

-She is off the bottle and has been since, oh, February. We had no problems what so ever. The passy, that's going to be a whole different story. The girl is attached! Just when we were trying to ween her off of it, she decided to give it a name: "Pa Pa".

-She likes to count things but she hasn't actually gotten it down just yet! Haha. She points to things and says "Two, Eight" and then starts speaking jibberish numbers!

-She LOVES shoes which I think I've mentioned before though she doesn't like to wear them in the car. Almost every time she takes them off. Around the house, she'll find shoes and want to put them on. Last week, she went from rain boots, to slippers, to tennis shoes, to flip flops, to flats in about a 45 minute time frame! She's such a girly girl!

-She LOVES outside. "Side" is what she calls it and heads to the door.

-She not only gives regular kisses, but butterfly and eskimos now too!

-She and I have recently came up with this new game. She hides on one side of the bed while I sit in the floor on the other. I count to three and she runs as fast as she can to me on the other side and "tackles" me and we fall over. And then she goes and hides again and we do it over and over again! The other day she was going a bit too fast and fell too early and she face planted right into my collar bone! Oops! She cried for a bit but it didn't stop her. She still loves to play!

-She can say her name now. Most of the time she just says "Kate" but every once in a while she'll come out with "B-kate."

I have done a terrible job at taking pictures of Brylee this month. I have seriously not picked up the camera! I've only taken a few random pics with my phone and when I do that, she's usually in her pjs looking pure redneck! I've got to stop slacking on the picture taking! Here is a picture of her from Saturday. My brother and sis-in-law watched her while I got my hair done so she was able to play with her cousins, Madi, Zoe, and Mya. From the looks of the picture that my brother sent me, I think she had a blast!


I had to add these pictures too because they just crack me up! Every time Brylee plays in the playroom she HAS to put on this hat. And then goes about her business playing while wearing it. It's the funniest thing!



Guess that's all for now. See you at 22 months!

Thankful Thursday

Wow, I'm actually posting this on the day that I'm supposed to! This week I am thankful for:
1. My mom finally joining the texting world. Now I don't have to call her SO much. Or maybe I still will ;-)

2. The sweet little voice that speaks through that passy every morning that says "Momma!" when I stick my head in her room. How I wish that could never end!

3. A husband who still flirts with me :) Even though I was a little irriated when he poured cold water on me in the shower this morning, I realize he's just being my "junior high boy." I love him for that because things would probably be pretty boring if he wasn't that "boy."

4. The urge to mop my kitchen floor this week. Something that should be done probably every week with a toddler around yet I don't. I can't stand it. I think it's more so the preparation before mopping and having to move stuff. It's almost as bad as ironing.

5. The sunset Tuesday afternoon. Did anyone else see that? Thank you God for your beautiful creation!!

6. My garage last night when I came home from bible class in that heavy down pour!

What are you thankful for this Thurday?

"This is the Stuff"

Yesterday I heard Francesca Battistelli's song "This is the Stuff" for the first time and I loved it. I immediately downloaded it on iTunes. The first 2 lines reminded me so much of myself. I can't count how many times I've had to search for my keys. And one time I actually had to get on Facebook and tell someone to call my phone because I couldn't find it! Here is a link to the words and song on GodTube. It was a great reminder for me of how God works in our lives. The little "annoyances" that drive us insane are the very things that God is only trying to help us with. "Might not be what I would choose. But this is the stuff You use to break me of impatience, conquer my frustrations. I've got a new appreciation. It's not the end of the world!" Today at Kroger I had to remember this song in my head as I experienced one of my biggest pet peeves!

After a very DISTRACTING shopping trip with Brylee, I got my groceries in the car and then put her in her seat. After putting her in, I was standing outside the car rummaging through the coupons that I didn't use that I carelessly threw in the diaper bag during our trip. As I'm trying to find all of them, I get this whiff of coffee. Ironically, several of those coupons I didn't use were coffee coupons and for a slight second (remember I just said a slight second!) I thought to myself, "Mmm, I'm guessing some companies are scenting their coupons now!" I had NO clue where the coffee smell had come from. That is until I went to PUT MY BASKET WHERE IT BELONGS. I saw that "Mr. or Ms. Lazy" had not put their basket in the little "doodad" (what are those things called anyway?") Note: Whomever "Mr. or Ms. Lazy" was, was obviously only about 5 feet from the "doodad". So you're asking yourself, "What about the coffee smell?" Well, while I was rummaging through my "coffee scented coupons", "Mr. or Ms. Lazy's" basket ran into my car. "Mr. or Ms. Lazy" was also too lazy to throw away their coffee cup that was still FULL of coffee and coffee spilled down the side of my car. Note to self: They are in fact, NOT making coffee scented coupons. I was highly frustrated. Yeah, sure it's no fun when a basket runs into your vehicle and it's certainly no fun when you get coffee spilled down it but that's not what I was frustrated about. It was the simple fact that this person could not walk 5 more feet to put that basket where it belongs!! "This is the stuff that drives me crazy!"

When I got home and started thinking about that song, I realized I just needed to thank God for this situation. Because in this situation he was only helping me "conquer my frustrations" and realize "it's not the end of the world" when someone doesn't put their basket up! Thank you Lord!

Adventures in Potty Training

Warning: One might get grossed out from the picture in this blog. If you think you might, do not read any further!

We started "potty training" about a week ago. I say that in quotes because I haven't actually started hard core potty training. For about a month or so, Brylee has been saying "I poop" either before she is about to do it or after she has done it. Which the latter is more often the case. Since she's been doing that, I thought she might be ready. Plus I want to get her familiar with it. We don't have a potty chair right now so I decided to borrow Ben's old school one from when he and his siblings were little. This is actually the seat I am wanting to get. ::Potty Seat:: Ben isn't too keen (and I'm really not either) on paying 50+ bucks for a potty seat but it's the only one I can find with a tray. I can just put snacks or little toys there to occupy Brylee while she tries to "poo poo" or "pee pee" and I can leave the room if I need to without her getting up and running around naked tail! My mom used one with a tray when we were little and oh how I wish we still had it! I can still remember the picture of me sitting in it, fast asleep, with a Burger King crown on my head!

Anyways, about the third day, I put Brylee on the potty first thing that morning. That's when she tends to do "her business." Well by golly as soon as she sat down:


Why yes, I took a picture of my girls' ginormous turd! Just call me Kate Gosselin! Hey, I've got to have something to turn the boys off of her some day! She chose to do it the one day Ben took off work too! We were so excited.....and a little grossed out! Mommy, of course, had to clean out the potty bowl, and I really came close to gagging. Not sure why because I've changed hundreds of diapers. I thought, "Why is this using the potty stuff so exciting because it's no better than changing a diaper!" It made me second guess on that potty chair real quick and maybe consider getting a seat to put on top of the toilet so I don't have to worry about that mess! That same day I was good about putting her on the potty quite frequently. ::and the discouragement begins:: One of the times Ben took her. As soon as I entered the room, she wanted to get off. I fought her for a second to stay on there until Daddy says, "Aw Mommy, she doesn't have to go! Let her get off!" So I did, and started a bath for her. Not even 10 seconds later, she wets all over the bathroom floor! Because of my hubby's comment right before that, I let him clean it all up!!

She hasn't done anything since. We have spent lots of time on the potty and we get nothing! Until we get off and 20 minutes later it's in her diaper! I guess that's partly my fault because I haven't been consistent in taking her. I need to read up or ask other mommies because I have no clue how often to take her, how long to keep her on there, etc. I do know that Mommies deserve a crown though because this is way harder than I ever thought!

One and a half!

Well I officially have a one and a half year old. Brylee turned 18 months last Friday and it's crazy. I remember just taking pictures of her when she turned 6 months. I know I say this in just about every blog but I really wish time would slow down! I only have 6 months to plan her 2nd birthday!! Haha, I know, I know I have plenty of time but when it comes to making her photo book, I really gotta get on the ball! Here are her 18 month updates. This is probably something no one cares about but I like to add these things so I can look back when she's, oh 18 years old, and read these kinds of thing. Lord knows I'll forget them!

Here she was on her half birthday!


And now 1 and 1/2!



-Her vocabulary is just growing! She is amazing me everyday. Her vocab now includes: Momma, Dadda, Hi, Hello, bye, Nana (my mom), Papaw (my dad), Mimi (Ben's mom) Dadoo (Ben's dad), baby, thank you, bath, whoa, shoe(s), no, eyes, eat, more (more-more), night-night (she learned from her sing-a-ma-jig!) keys, bible, sock, boot, cup, two, corn, bow, teeth, toes, I poop, I toot, clap-clap, book, hot, cold, when we ask her who made mommies and daddies she says "God did", and when we say "Jesus loves..." she'll point to herself and say "Me!" Lately, she has liked adding the artice "a" to words. She's so funny!
-2 of our New Year's resolutions for her were less bottle and less passy. She is only taking a bottle at bed time now and it's been quite easy. Come February we are going to try just a cup at night. We'll see how that goes. She is quite attached to the passy and at times I found myself just giving in. Just when we're out in public though. She only takes her passy when she lays down for nap or bed time though sometimes she'll find one sitting somewhere and the next thing you know she's walking up to me with a passy in. Like I said, she's quite attached!
-She has started saying "I pooped" when she has pooped and sometimes before she does it. I started putting her on the potty yesterday but so far, nothing!
-She is down to one nap a day.
-She's up to 24 pounds now. She is like picking up a ton of bricks it seems like. She is so solid! She is in size 18-24 months and yesterday she was actually wearing a 2T shirt! She is in size 5 shoes. Size 4 diapers.
-She pats anything leather and says "bible." ie: Her uncle's wallet. It was the cutest thing.
-She discovered oranges a couple weeks ago and LOVES them. And orange juice too.
-She loves to dance.
-She is becoming such a loving little thing. She'll just come up to me and lay her head on my leg and pat me. I eat that up!
-Her favorite thing to do here lately is stick her booty up in the air and put her head on the ground...kind of like she's doing "down-dog". We call it her yoga move so whenever I say "Do yoga!" that's what she does.
-Whenever she sees a number she says "two". Every number is two in her book!
-She started using a spoon the other day and did quite well! There is a video at the bottom.
-She is still a mommy's girl 100%!!!

Adventures in Mommyhood-The Poop Incident

Warning to those who don't have children. You may not want to read any further.

Just recently, Brylee started enjoying showers just as much as baths. I bathe her every other day, so on "bath days" I sometimes just put her in the shower with me to "kill two birds with one stone." A couple weeks ago was one of those days. I was actually questioning whether or not I was going to put her in that day because she had not had one of her daily bowel movements. I went ahead though, and braved it! I was busy doing my thing and Brylee's was busy doing her thing playing with her bath toys when all of a sudden she stands up and she gets the "poop face" going. Turning red, eyes watering, and grunting. Yall know what face I'm talking about! That's when I began to freak out. I started looking for something, anything to try to catch these turds! I thought for a second that I would get out and get some TP and catch it but I was scared I'd be too late. Plus geez, I was soaking wet. So I just quickly went for MY wash rag and held it under her booty. Well I'm guessing my freaking out gave her what you would call "stage fright" and she didn't do anything. I quickly finished up my shower, skipping the whole shaving legs thing! Thank God she didn't do anything the rest of the time. We were safe!

That's not the end, my friends!

Yesterday was another one of those let's "kill two birds with one stone" kind of days. Again, one of those days where she had not pooped for the day. AND once again, I went ahead and braved it. Oh silly silly me. This time I wasn't so lucky. And this time, she gave me no "poop face" warning. I finished up my shower and then washed and rinsed her. All was fine and dandy! I turned the water off thinking "We did it once again. We're safe!" I wrapped her up in her towel and picked her up and she decided to lay her head on me, and she was just so still and quiet (what I thought was just cuddling). Which she doesn't do often after bath time because she hates being wrapped up in a towel. So I thought "Aw, so sweet!" That was until I smelled something. I said out loud "Girl, do you have gas? Let's hurry up and get a diaper on before you do something!" WAAAAAAY too late for that Lisa! We stepped out of the shower, I looked back and there was her surprise loaf she left Mommy on the shower floor! And apparently, stupid me, didn't have her booty covered up well enough with the towel that she was leaving a couple poop trails on the way to get her cleaned up and a diaper on her! After doing that and then getting the floor cleaned up, I noticed I had dried poop marks on my thigh, I guess where she was leaving poop trails and it hit my leg and I never felt it. Aaaaaaah the wonderful joys of Mommyhood. I say it often and I will say it again, I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world!

On another note, my sweet girl woke up that night (at midnight) throwing up! It broke my heart. This was her first time to throw up and I'm sure she was more scared than anything because she didn't know what was happening to her. I couldn't have done it without my wonderful husband who actually cleaned up the first puke, it being the biggest of them all, all over our living room floor.

16 Months

Since it's been 2 months, I thought I'd give a little updating of Brylee. My little lady turned 16 months last week.
-She is one hot mess. Her uncle said the other day that she is a very strong-willed child. Oh boy! She definately knows what she wants and she will make it known.
-She is still loving books. I go around the house to pick up after her and all I pick up are books. She's going to be my little nerd! Her favorite book here recently is her Yankees 101 book. Every time I turn around she's handing it to me. I think she just wants to hear mommy sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."
-She plays so well by herself most days.
-She loves italian food. Spaghetti, lasagna, ravioli, you name it and she's going to tear it up!
-We have been having a hard time with vegetables but mommy found a way around that. Vegetable soup! I made it a couple weeks ago and she loved it. I think it's the tomato juice. So from now on, when I want her to eat vegetables, I'll just pour some tomato juice on it!
-She is your typical female because she LOVES shoes. Loves wearing them and LOVES saying the word. It's the cutest thing. She'll find one around the house, come find me and hold it up saying "Shoe! Shoe!" She also likes to try to wear my house shoes and today I found her in Daddy's closet trying to put on his shoes.
-Words-Momma, Dadda, Hi, Hello, bye, Nana (my mom), Dadoo (Ben's dad), baby, thank you,and bath, whoa, shoe(s), no, eyes, eat, more.
-She loves to dance and she's really quite good at it too! You know she's really "getting jiggy with it" when she starts shaking her head back and forth. It's the funniest thing.
-Along with a bath, she now enjoys taking showers. Ben or I will sometimes put her in with us. And she doesn't mind at all having the water spray in her face. She's going to love the water just like Daddy. She'll be skiing before we know it! lol
-She has recently started liking Veggie Tales after we went to go see them live and we bought her the "Sweet Pea Beauty" DVD. Though, her favorite it still "Yo Gabba Gabba"
-She loves closing doors. I can hardly have time to get anything out of the fridge or pantry before she's closing the door on me!
-I haven't counted her teeth lately mostly because it's just too hard and I don't want to get bit. So let's just say she's got lots! She has one molar all the way through and several others trying to make their appearance. Bring on the snotty nose and fussiness!
-Her favorite cabinet is the tupperware cabinet. The majority of my day is cleaning up tupperware off my kitchen floor!
-She likes playing the game: "Where's your ::body part::"? She can find her hair, head, ears, eyes, nose, tongue, belly, belly button, hands, fingers, elbow, knee, feet, and toes. The cutest is when she looks down for her belly button.
-She now holds Mommy and Daddy's hand when we pray and knows not to let go until the prayer is over. It is so sweet and a lot of times I find myself opening my eyes to take a peak at her doing it and I can't help but tear up!
-She is starting to understand commands and it's so fun to see this. We will be reading a book and I'll tell her to go put it up and get another one and she does exactly that. I will say "Let's go change your diaper" and she goes straight to the spot where we change her and lays down. It's so cute! And her favorite, "Let's go take a bath!" and she practically sprints to the bathroom!!
-She is becoming so independent. She no longer needs help getting out the door that leads out to the garage. Where she used to hold out her hand for Mommy's, she has figured out to hold on to the door frame and step down. Then she heads straight to the other side of Mommy's car and waits at the door for me to get her in. ::sniff:: Bittersweet! It's nice that I no longer have to make several trips carrying her out first and then going back and getting everything. But it makes me sad that she no longer needs Mommy's help for some things. She's getting so big too fast!

Sometimes it's so time consuming to add pictures to my blog so for any pictures, visit our shutterfly site! Halloween pictures to come soon :-)

Adventures in Mommyhood!

No need to go to the movies! Just come watch Lisa and Brylee in Dollar General! Monday night, I made a run there. My mother-in-law had found some cute fall dish towels and rags for cheap. When I got there, I figured I would just carry Brylee instead of getting out the stroller or wiping down a cart. It wouldn't take me but a second to look at that ONE thing. HAH! I can't ever go in anywhere and get just one thing! Who was I kidding? I remembered Ben needed some plastic ware to take to work with him in the morning so I went and grabbed two bags. Then I found the towels and realized, "I don't want them now." I am the world's worst about that! Walking towards the front to check out, I realized I needed a dessert for a meeting at the church the next night. So I go and grab some brownies. I get to the front and see the Rachael Ray October magazine. So of course I had to get that too. So you're thinking, "that really isn't much" but keep in mind, I also was holding my wallet and phone. Not to mention a 20+ pound wiggly toddler too! It's finally our turn to check out and thankfully it didn't take until then that Brylee starts slipping out of my arms. So I thought, "what the heck, let me put her down." HUGE mistake! As I'm standing there, Brylee is clinging on to my clothes just like she ALWAYS does. Not complaining though. I'm glad she likes to stay near me instead of trying to escape somewhere. Anyways, Brylee some how begins to lose her balance. She decides that she is going to try to save herself by using MY shorts!! Ah, yes, I got half-way "pantsed" right there in Dollar General. I luckily had on a t-shirt so I DON'T THINK much was seen. AND luckily I was quick enough to grab on to my shorts and pull them back up before they reached my knees. In the mean time, trying to save myself from complete embarrassment, I selfishly let my child land flat on her back right there in the nasty Dollar General store floor! I picked her up and of course she was screaming crying all while I was trying to swipe my card all red faced wondering how much of my "wears" were seen. She finally settled down when I handed her my phone and she began "talking" on it as though nothing ever happened! As I walked out, I yelled, "Hope all of you enjoyed the show!" Okay not really but I wanted to! Hey the positive in this situation. I was able to be good birth control for the young fella checking us out!

The BIG 1-4...Months that is!

First I must say, my girl looks like white trash but the cutest white trash I've ever seen in that picture. I had to get her hair out of her eyes yesterday at breakfast so I ran and got what I could. Her parts not even straight, the holders don't match, and her hair well, she obviously just woke up! Brylee turned 14 months yesterday. Yes, I actually remembered this month. I have been good about remembering her "month birthdays" but last month was the first time that I let it pass me by. I actually didn't even realize it either until like the 9th or 10th! August was just a bad month for me I guess! I was going through my August pictures yesterday and saw that I had only taken 15!! Shame on me! I guess maybe August is just not a real exciting month or something! That will be my excuse!

So wow, 14 months. Can someone please remind me where the time is going again? I don't do this often so I have a lot of catching up to do. It only took Brylee about 14 months to start walking. Kind of. She is still crawling about 75% of the time. She actually took her first steps almost 2 weeks ago at the hospital while we were waiting on her baby cousin, Gavin, to arrive. She picked a perfect day. I guess she realized she wasn't going to be the baby anymore so she had no choice but to learn. I wish I could get the video on here but for some reason my computer is not reading my phone when I plug it in. This past weekend we went to the lake and that's when she really started picking up on the walking. I guess she saw all her cousins doing it so she had to also! It was funny because all weekend she would crawl to this little ledge that leads to the table where you eat. It's a teeny tiny ledge but she would get to it, then stand up, and just stare at it. She was determined all weekend that she was going to walk off of that thing. She is such a little dare devil. She never did it but she did try to step UP on it and fell. Speaking of falling, this weekend I believe she fell and hit the back of her head on the floor...oh 76 times?! I'm just waiting any day now for the bruises and scratches all over her face so people can stare and wonder if I beat my child.

Brylee is still just a little jibber jabber. She loves to pretend that she's talking on the phone. Again, another video I wish I could put on here though some of you saw it on my Facebook. It is hilarious. And she has now figured out the word "hello". She has this little purple play phone that she will pick up and start talking away on. Every time she does it too, she sounds as though she's getting really firm and angry with whomever she's talking to. I have to tell her to be sweet to "the person" and then she'll just hang up on them without saying "bye". It's pretty entertaining! It doesn't just have to be the purple phone that she pretends with. She's used a puzzle piece, Mommy's fingernail file, remote control, her hand, her mini baby doll, you name it and she can make it into a phone!





She is now at the point where she will sometimes repeat things you say. (Look out Mommy and Daddy! No more cursing! JK!) There is this book I keep where I change her diaper so she can look at it and "read" it. It's some Bambi book that my mom got her in the dollar spot at Target because she didn't want to put it down! Anyways, I'll look at her and say "Bambi" and she'll stare at my lips and say "Babi". The other day I was trying to get her to say "I love you" She got the "I" part just fine but when it came time for "love" she just stared at my lips and it's so funny to watch her figure out how to get her mouth, teeth, lips, just right to say a word. She never did say it! The other day my brother said something to her about being hot and she said "hot". Too bad I missed that one! Her consistent words now are Momma, Dadda, Hi, Hello, bye, Nana (my mom), Dadoo (Ben's dad), baby, thank you,and bath.

She has now figured out how to take her diaper off. A while back she discovered the little velcro tabby thing that closes the diaper. I've always been around to tell her no. Most of the time it's just when I'm changing her diaper and she starts messing with it. Well yesterday, she awoke from her afternoon nap. I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and I could hear her talking. A lot of times, if I'm busy doing something and she's not crying I just leave her up there until I can get to her. Well that was a mistake this time. By the time I got up there she was still just talking and hanging out. Hanging out NAKED! I let her sleep in just a diaper. Something we won't ever be able to do again. Her diaper was just lying there in her crib and her sheets were completely drenched!! All the while, Brylee's just smiling at me! I couldn't help but laugh! Now had it been poop, that's a different story! I don't even want to think about what I would have walked in to had she pooped. ::gagging::

Other things:
She has 7 teeth now. 4 that are completely through.

Her favorite foods recently: ANY fruit, deli turkey, nutrigrain bars, pickles, cheese, yogurt, fluffernutters, anything with tomato sauce ie:pizza, spaghetti, bagels with cream cheese, fruit snacks (Daddy has to hide from her when he wants a bag!). We are struggling with vegetables.

She still loves taking baths, taking medicine, and getting her teeth brushed.

She shakes her head "no" though I'm not sure she completely understands what that means yet because sometimes she'll do it for no apparent reason.

She loves shoes. She will find hers and try to put them on!

She has figured out how to get Mommy soaking wet when taking a bath.

She loves stepping up to the bottom step on the stairs and hanging on to the gate Mommy and Daddy put up.

She gives kisses but is VERY stingy with them.

She has a "Yo Gabba Gabba" and "Blue Clues" video that she watches over and over in the car. She's also a fan of Jack's Big Music Show.

She is now going to the nursery at church without crying.

When she's sleepy she sticks her arm up under her neck like she's trying to cuddle with it and I think it's the cutest, sweetest thing.

Her favorite song is Train's "Hey Soul Sister". Every time we play it she dances and claps and smiles real big! It's the funniest when we'll be driving along and she'll be super sleepy and in a daze and we start to play it. Without fail she dances every time!

She is a Momma's girl and I'm trying to eat every bit of that up because I know that some day it will be Daddy's turn and it will stay that way!

She is one hot mess!


Lisa E

Brylee's 1st Birthday Party

So the first birthday party has come and gone. ::tear:: It wasn't all that stressful. I started planning kind of early. I'm what you would call a procrastinator. I am notorious for waiting till the last minute for everything. Birthday cards, birthday gifts, Christmas, shower gifts, etc, etc, etc. And then an occasion will just sneak up on me. For example, my dad's birthday was last Sunday and I stopped on the way to worship to get a card. This is no offense to my dad. It's just how I am unfortunately! For Brylee's party though, I told myself I wouldn't. I decided that with all the cousins she had, we would have it at our church building. That way kids would have room to run wild and do whatever they wanted! I ended up buying some hoola hoops and jump ropes for the big kids and I borrowed a little Dora ball blow up thingie from my sister-in-law for Brylee and her little friends to play in! Brylee ended up wanting to play with both!

Jumping rope with her cousins!

Sitting so lady like!

I decided to do a ladybug theme. This is really special to me because my grandmother (who passed away in November) would always call me and my cousin her little ladybugs :) Before Brylee was born my nickname for her was "My Little Lady." For her cake I used a woman that did my best friend's wedding cake and Brylee's Welcome Baby Shower cake. The cake turned out super cute but I was a little disappointed because the cakes were so dry. I'm not sure what happened because the lady does a great job and usually her cakes are delicious. I guess things can't always be perfect! Speaking of imperfect, I also made some little ladybug and 1 cookies. Yeah, I'm not a professional!

She got so many gifts! Clothes, toys, books, and Mommy and Daddy got her a swimming pool, 1 year photo book, and "Violet", her talking pal.

Cake time! She barely made a "smash" in her smash cake! She was really excited to see it at first but my little girly girl wanted no part in touching it, and when her Daddy decided to give her some "war paint," she was so mad at him!

Brylee enjoyed all of her guests coming to celebrate in her big day! Thanks to all who came!

Brylee in her new swimming pool with her friends. From left to right: Grant Brummet (who was having so much fun crawling out of the pool!) Bennie Massey (Brylee's future hubby), Reagan Tartt, cousin Brody Eddlemon, and Brylee (Missing Violet Cooper who left before picture time!)

Brylee in her swimming pool with her cousins. Front: Brody Eddlemon Left to right: Mya Jourdan, Jaci Eddlemon, Zoe Jourdan, Madison Jourdan, Phillip Chism, Jadyn Eddlemon, and Brylee (Missing: Azlyn and Aymish Pierce)

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