Two Weeks Ago

My family came to visit for six days.

(The whole crew, minus Elder Clarke in AZ). And it was the best six days of my summer.

I'm trying to convince them come back sometime soon.

Like, maybe Labor Day.

More pictures to come.

Eight Months

Showing off how she stands on her own now. Not very safe when she's on a chair and I am three feet away taking pictures.

Trying to dive over the front of the chair. Eight months is a really great stage. Brynlee's personality is developing more and more each day. She is so curious and fascinated with her surroundings, particularly outdoors. Some of the tricks she's learned since last month:

crawling,

going from the laying position to sitting upright,

pulling herself up to furniture,

feeding herself cheerios,

laughing herself silly when we tickle her neck or make funny noises,

drinking from a straw and a sippy cup,

saying little words like "Mama" "Gaga" "Baba",

mimicking noises that we make to her,

somehow finding hidden paper in every room and sneaking it into her mouth,

and signing her name in cursive.

She is just way more MOBILE lately, and much better at communicating. She's our little buddy and we love her more and more each day!

H.O.T.

We don't function very well in this 90+ degree weather. (Without AC in our apartment or car). The ocean breeze, as our sole cooling system, just doesn't cut it. Just look at Bryn. She's nearing heat exhaustion.

Poor B just isn't the same in the heat. Her face is red and moist, her hair is sweaty and wild, and her facial expressions and mannerisms are just a little kooky.

She wakes up from her naps with such a red face, leaving a wet spot in her crib where her sweaty head lay.

But at least she's keeping herself hydrated.

Bryn's New Routine

(1) Stand.

(2) Fall.

(3) Repeat.

My very favorite today was when she stood herself up against the vaccuum, then it rolled forward, she fell, hit the button with her arm, and turned the loud vaccuum on. She just stared at it with a "Woah!" look on her face. Then tried to stand up again.

Help!

I had a little cell phone mishap on Tuesday and lost all of the numbers in my phonebook! ugh! Family members, high school friends, college friends, Huntington Beach friends, everyone. (The only numbers I remember are Josh, my Mom, and my Parents home phone. Pretty pathetic!) I've finally got a replacement phone, so Please, please, pretty please text me, call me, email me (hawkinsart@gmail or if you have my personal email address), send a letter in the mail with your phone number. Or you can send me a large package of goodies in the mail and just include your phone number in the package. That option is fine, too. THANK YOU!

Oops

Brynlee is becoming more and more curious lately. She's not interested in toys anymore, only crawling around the room looking for things that are off limits. Today she found a bright pink scrap of paper and of course tried to eat it while I wasn't looking. She was caught red handed when I saw the pink line (of ink!? yikes!) across her face and on her hands.

Balboa

Today was such a fun day for Brynlee and I. We went to Balboa with my friend Michelle and her cute daughter Maddy. We got lunch at a pizza place, rode the ferry, played at a cute little park on Balboa Island, rode the ferry back, took the girls on the merry-go-round, and then stopped at a little candy shop to top it off. Despite Brynlee's bored face in the picture, she LOVED the merry-go-round once it was going. It was so cute to see her giggle and smile so big as her horse moved up and down.

On the Ferry.

Michelle and Maddy. Brynlee and Maddy both wore pink and blue, and Michelle and I both wore coral. Good thing, because color coordination is really important to me.

Bryn came home and took a wonderful, looong nap because she was so worn out. She woke up with warm rosy cheeks, awesome bed-head... ...a sagging, full diaper, and her belly hanging out from the elastic waist of her shirt. Maybe this is only funny to me, but this was the highlight of my day!

Cute.

This is Brynlee and I with our sunburns from being out in the sun all week. We look more red in person. It's sad that I didn't give Bryn enough sunscreen, but it is a tiny bit cute to see her little red cheeks.

Brynlee used to say "Mama" all day long. Really. Then on Sunday she learned "Ga-Ga" and she replaced "Mama" with "Gaga". I was "Gaga", Josh was "Gaga", everyone and everything was "Gaga". I wanted her to show my family (who is in town! woot!) how she says "Mama", but nothing. She hadn't said it even once. Until....

Today I left for 3.5 hours to do a temple session with my parents and Jae. Marie and Logan babysat Bryn and what did she say while I was away? "Mama". Yes! Now I'm home and she's been saying it ever since. So proud. So very proud. Someone's getting extra applesauce tonight, my friends!

HB

I absolutely love Huntington Beach. If it wasn't for our families in Utah (okay, and the ridiculous cost of housing, too!) I would want to live here forever. I love our beautiful location, the weather!!!, the constant sea breeze, the neighborhood, our amazing Relief Society and ward, our friends, Josh's work, the list goes on. I know this is where we should be right now and I'm really grateful to be here.

This is the nice park at the end of our street. I go with Brynlee at least once a day. It's such a great spot for Josh and I to talk or read. And Brynlee loves being outside, swinging on the swings, watching the other children, rolling around on the blanket, and trying to sneak grass and sand into her mouth. P.S. I guess this little dress wasn't feminine enough because she was called a boy about eleven times this day. Ha ha. Someday she'll have hair.

Visitors

We've been lucky to spend time with lots of family the last week and a half. First we spent a few days with Dave, Margaret, and Ben. It was so fun to get together for a BBQ and other meals, softball, ping-pong, and time at the pier. What a treat to spend time with them!

Then Becky and Hema and their two cute kids came. Little Hema was so good with Brynlee. Just really sweet and gentle. Hopefully Bryn is as good with her future siblings and cousins. We had so much fun hanging out the pier, swimming at the beach, and going to the park a few times. It was so nice to be with family!

Next up: My family (woot woot!) will be here all of next week, for their first trip to Huntington Beach since we've lived here. I am so excited to be with them!

To Little B

Dear Brynlee,

I love you so very much, and I am so lucky to be your mom. But.....is there any way you could work on the spitting up thing?

Love, Mom

So Pleased

What is Bryn's favorite word to say? "Mama!!" Her first real word! Woot woot! Don't worry. I've been recording it all. day. long. I'll post a video soon. I am LOVING it!!!!

Heaven.

Second Hand

I have a hard time buying furniture and other things brand new if I think I can buy something for a better deal second hand. Here are a few things we've scored in the last six months.... $350 for the couch on KSL classifieds. I'm always nervous when it comes to buying anything second-hand that is fabric or upholstered, but this came from a smoke-free, pet-free, child-free home, and it was practically new. I think I could have found something even better, but this was my first purchase from craigslist or the classifieds. I was an amatuer.

$30 on the KSL classifieds for the Ikea Poang chair and ottoman. This has been such a comfortable chair for the nursery!

$150 (give or take a little. I can't remember) on Craigslist. This dresser sells for $280 at Ikea. We bought it brand new for $150. Still in the boxes, unopened, brand spanking new.

$50 for the set on Craigslist. I wanted a small table for four that was solid wood, simple lines, sturdy, and under $100. Got it! It had a few scratches, so I bought a $3.00 can of matching stain and touched it up. I didn't want to buy a nice new kitchen table, since we'd just have to upgrade to a bigger 6 or 8 seater down the road.

$10 on Craigslist. I saw this same exersaucer new on Amazon for $110. I snagged it ten minutes after it was posted for sale. Then promptly took it home and drenched it in Lysol! It was from a really nice home, but I was still nervous.

$75 on Craigslist. Front wheel can swivel or lock straight. Bryn's car seat snaps into it (which was great when she was too small for the regular seat). I really wanted to find a used jogger for under $50, but I could never find one for that amount that had a swivel wheel and was in good condition. Oh well.

$150 on the KSL classifieds. 2004 model. Works like a charm. I'm still so proud of this purchase.

There's nothing like the feeling of getting a good deal!

Baby Proofing

Since Brynlee isn't quite crawling yet I haven't baby-proofed our house. But she's rolling and scooting around enough to still get into trouble. (Mostly involving rolling towards paper and sticking it in her mouth). Yesterday I found her playing with two large wooden dowels, swinging them around and knocking things over. Why were there even two dowels in the front room anyway? I don't know. All I know is I think it's time to baby proof!