Seven Months

These monthly photo shoots are getting harder each time. I only got one shot where she isn't trying to eat the card. Brynlee loves chewing on anything, but especially paper. She is so smart at recognizing it. If I am reading a book while she's feeding, I have to be so careful to turn the pages softly because when she hears it, she reaches her hand back and clenches on to the pages, then whips her head around and tries to eat it. All in the blink of an eye. I can't ever get the mail with her anymore because she lunges for the letters or ads and squirms her strong little body until she's grabbed onto it and bent her head down to bite it.

Besides her love of paper, Brynlee currently loves sitting, rolling, scooting around on the floor, making silly noises and spitting, giggling, bouncing up and down, dancing with Josh, reading books, eating her little bowls of rice cereal and the few vegetables she's tried, sneaking licks of watermelon or other fruits we're eating, her nightly swinging at the park.

We love her!!! (Even if she's cranky from teething. Poor thing!)

Clarke Reunion

Josh had never been to the Clarke Reunion at Six Lakes before, so it was really fun!

A little cliff jumping.

Taking a bath in the sink. It made me think of getting baths years ago in my Grandma Pitcher's big white sink in her home in Canada.

Luckily, Brynlee LOVED my fam. It was so nice to leave Brynlee with my Mom or Marie for an hour or two, while Josh and I swam or played with the canoes.

Brynlee wasn't a fan of the cold hose water in the kiddie pool, but she faked a smile for the camera. Atta girl. Okay, okay, I'll stop. But I just cannot get enough of Bryn in her little terry hooded cover-up!

Brynlee with some of her second cousins. So fun to have little buddies!

I love my Clarke family and I'm so glad we were able to be at reunion this year!

Hawkins Reunion

We stayed at a beautiful cabin in Sundance and had such a blast with the Hawkins fam!

Hiked to Stewart Falls. We didn't bring Bryn's hiking backpack, which turned out to be a huge mistake. Carrying Brynlee the whole way up and down the mountain was not something we'll ever do again! But super fun hike anyway.

Playing for hours at Jordanelle. Surprisingly, the water was warm enough for Bryn to handle. It was so fun swimming and spending time in the sun. It was so great to be with everyone on the Hawkins side and for little B to spend time with her grandparents and cousins! Can't wait to see everyone at Christmas!

One Level Down, Two To Go

Remember how Josh studied for months for level one of the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exam, and then finally took the test two months ago? Well.......

HE PASSED!!!!

Only the top third passes, so I am really proud of Josh for working so hard! He'll take level two next summer, and then hopefully he'll take level three the summer after that. But in the meantime he's just beginning his studying for the GMAT in November.

It makes me really glad to be a homemaker, with no tests looming over my head!

VACATION

We are flying to Utah tonight to go here with the extended Clarke fam. To play in the lakes... (Thank you Marie) Run in the Altamont annual 5K... (Thank you Talon)

and hang out with my Clarke cousins. (Thank you Patrick)

Then we're off to the Hawkins reunion in Sundance. Can't wait!

Anniverary Recap

Our anniversary was wonderful, despite a few not-so-good things. My handsome husband. Good thing!

Chocolate covered raisins and pretzels. Very good things. Josh knows the way to my heart.

Did I really eat that whole bag? Definitely a bad thing.

Sugar headache that followed. Bad thing.

Pei Wei's Dan Dan noodle bowl. Spicey good thing.

Japanese teriyaki bowl with chicken and brown rice. Good thing. Mmmmm, Mmmmm!

Leaving this little cutie with a babysitter for the first time ever, so Josh and I could have a date alone. Good thing. Very very good thing. It's about time!

Coming home to a hysterical child. Bad thing. Very bad thing. Poor little Bryn. We've got to work on the sitter thing. Yikes.

Dropping Josh's toothbrush in the toilet (on accident, of course). Bad thing. Not quite sure how this one happened.

TWO YEARS!

Today is our two year ANNIVERSARY!!!!!

Jae took this picture of me right after my first date with Josh. I was giddy as can be. I knew right away what a catch Josh was (and is, of course). I'm even more smitten now! I am SO blessed to be married to Josh. These have been two wonderful years of marriage, and I'm sure we have even greater years ahead.

I Love These Two

Some days I am just so crabby and unpatient. What is the deal? It's like I'm a moody fourteen year old again. I have the best husband in the entire world, and the cutest little girl around. I have absolutely no reason to be sour. I need to remember how incredibly blessed I am, and recognize all the beautiful things around me -- that far outweigh any of the little details of life that seem to get me in a huff. By the way... Wonder why Josh is wearing a trash bag? Bryn started eating gerber fruits and veggies. And what does that mean for our little spitter-upper? Colored Spit Up. (And therefore, rainbow spotted carpet, clothing, blankets, etc.) You can always count on Bryn to spice things up a little bit. White spit-up was way too boring!

Popsicle

Trust me, I will not let this become a habit....but Brynlee sure loves a good popsicle! I don't usually like popsicles, but Mark brought over some Pineapple Guava popsicles that were amazing. Bryn agreed. Everyone always comments on how much Brynlee looks like Josh -- I think mostly for the blue eyes. But another identical feature their share is their hair! I just noticed in this picture that they have the exact same hair cut. Really short on the sides, longer on top. Look at it! Bryn just needs to put a little of Josh's hair product in her own hair to finish the matching look. I'm a big fan of the blue eyes that they share, but let's hope they don't always have the same hairstyle.

Monogram Project

I just finished making this B Monogram for Brynlee's room. I got the idea from Abby on A Feathered Nest. Then I just made up the layered flowers instead of using her bird. (Bryn's room is enough of an aviary with the bird mobile. She doesn't need anymore feathered friends). Anyway, this was an easy and fun project. I would have prefered slightly different colors, but I used what I had.

6th Month Stats

She just went in for her 6 month shots and check-up, and here are the stats: Height: 27.5 inches (93rd percentile) Weight: 17 pounds (62nd percentile) Just like last time, Brynlee was laughing all through her appointment, to the point where one of the other nurses stuck her head in the door to see what was going on. I don't know why Brynlee thinks the check-ups are so funny, but it cracks me up. She was still laughing when the nurse gave her the first shot, but her laugh quickly changed into a scream! Poor girl. Luckily she won't have shots again for six more months.

PIMCO Company Picnic

Last weekend was Josh's company party for families. It was great to meet his boss and his coworkers. The highlights of the night were getting Bryn's hand painted at one of the booths, and sharing her first popsicle with Josh. (Which I wasn't aware of until later on, of course.) Josh said she loved it!

Out Cold

In the short time it took me to mix up some rice cereal, my sweet girl had fallen deep asleep without a sound. Awwww.....

San Diego

Last week we almost got tricked into buying a bad car. We drove down to San Diego planning to drive home with a nice second car, but we drove home with our same little Acura. The car for sale was a 2007 Corolla for $8400. We should have known it was too good to be true. Here are some of the warning signs that made us think trouble was a brewin':

(1) The owner's silky shirt and pointy shoes, heavily greased and slicked hair, and extremely potent cheap cologne. This was definitely the number one warning sign.

(2) The owner, Frank, was overly friendly and a smooth talker, excited to seal the deal. (3) Frank saw Brynlee and said "Oh, what a sweet little Boy!", even though Bryn was dressed in all pink, and had a pink blanket and a doll in her carseat.

(4) The car had tons of extras like a GPS system, nice speaker system, IPOD port, remotes to the trunk, fancy wheels, and other things I've never heard of (but they sounded cool), but the owner was selling it for a couple thousand less that the bluebook value.

(5) The car smelled overwhelmingly of the owner's bad cologne. I almost passed out.

(6) Frank kept assuring us over and over "This car has never been in an accident!" "No accidents here, folks!" "You will not find a thing wrong with this car!" "Clean title!" "It's in perfect condition! No wrecks or problems whatsoever!" So much that it made us wonder.

(7) Frank had an unrecognizable accent (fake?), and unrecognizable ethnicity now that I think about it.

(8) The owner had a shiney gold tooth and a fake mustache.

Okay, this eighth one isn't true, but the first seven are.

Luckily, we checked the VIN number of the car and the results.....

SALVAGE TITLE! It had been in a wreck and was involved in a theft. Great. Thanks a lot Frank.

Well, we learned our lesson. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

We were, however, able to stop by the San Diego temple and walk around the grounds. It is a really stunning temple! Josh and I will have to do a session there sometime.

Play Time

Sometimes Bryn doesn't need any toys to keep her amused. She just plays with me, squirming around, laughing, making noises, and cuddling with all her focus on me. I love those moments with my sweet girl. But I think Bryn loves rolling around on the ground with her toys, just as much as she likes one on one time with me!

Wet Bag

This weekend while the boys were gone playing frisbee golf and Brynlee was napping, I made a bag for wet things. I'd been meaning to make one of these for a while, but I just got around to it. It was my first time doing a project with a zipper, and I still need some practice! But this was a pretty simple pouch. It will be great for trips to the beach, major spit-up messes, or soiled clothes. I used to just cram them into my diaper bag, but then it would get everything else wet or dirty. Now I'll just slip the items in here and everything will stay clean. And the vinyl can be wiped down with Lysol! With Bryn's spitting up, I'm sure I'll be using this tons! And I'll be making a second one for our beach bag!

4th of July Weekend

My brother Jae drove down from San Francisco to stay with us for the holiday weekend, and it was such a treat! On Friday morning we played 18 "holes" of frisbee golf. It turned out to be a lot of fun, so much that Josh and Jae went back again and played on Saturday, too! Just look at that form.

We debated whether we should take Brynlee down to the pier with all the chaos and crowds, but it turned out to be great. Brynlee loves being part of the action.

I neer seen Huntington Beach so crazy! Brynlee had her eye on a handsome little toddler down on Main street. She couldn't take her eyes off him. And of course he was smitten, too. They plan to look for each other next year on the 4th.We sat on the beach and watched the huge fireworks show, while Brynlee was sound asleep in her stroller. She was a champ!

Brynlee wore her festive little outfit to a 4th of July program that our stake put on. The children stole the show with their confident solos and the 50-states-catwalk. Josh and I decided we have to stay in Huntington Beach at least until Brynlee is old enough to be one of the states in the catwalk. It was hilarious!

No 4th of July is complete without a little BBQ. Ours included grilled brat sausages, turkey dogs, and grilled corn on the cob - our new favorite!

Brynlee has perfected the cheeseball smile. I love it!

Bryn, like Josh and I, wished he could have stayed longer! But we'll take what we can get!