We're so Artsy

Bryn loves to color with her crayons, but what she really loves is making things out of her crayons. She organizes them by color or size, and she recruits me to do "crayon projects" with her. I like it, too. It's fascinating to watch Bryn work so intently and meticulously, and it also puts my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree to work. Right? Ha. This is Bryn's favorite arrangement and everyday I hear "Mom make Crayon Octagon with Bryn!?" I make the shape with the colored pencils and then she and I fill it in with crayons. There's a right and a wrong way to do it, and if I put down the "wrong" crayon she will replace it immediately with the "right" one. And when we're tired of doing shapes, then I lay out the colored pencils and she matches it with the other crayons of that color. I love silly, little projects like this, and I'm lucky to have a little pal to do them with.

Neighborhood Stroll

Last night for our Family Home Evening activity we went for a little stroll around the neighborhood, and it was so funny to see Bryn push her little stroller around. It wasn't until about the third time around the block that she figured out how to push it straight. Initially, she was running so fast and the stroller was zig-zagging out of control. But now she's a pro. This is Bryn's favorite doll right now. She's a beauty. Bryn named her "Buck-a-no"(?) and I hear about Buckano all. day. long. ("Mom! Buckano need a bath! Buckano need a snack! Buckano has a stinky diaper! Buckano being so silly!")

Bryn kept stopping the stroller ride, giving Buckano kisses, and saying "You happy Buckano? You having fun? You see those pretty flowers, Buckano?...." I love that Bryn's getting into the motherly stage with her dolls and stuffed animals. So cute. I've always loved little walks around the neighborhood, but they are even better with Bryn pushing her stroller and cracking us up.

Children's Books

When I put Bryn in her bed for a nap, her bed doesn't have any books in it. But every time I peek on her she always has a bed full of books. Sometimes I find her asleep completely on top on the books and it cracks me up.

With this week's cooler, windy weather, we've spent a lot of time inside reading. I'll share a few of our favorites lately. (I always love hearing about great children's books from friends). I'm a sucker for good illustration, so I always love finding children's books with beautiful illustrations. I usually prefer clean, simple pictures. We love anything by Eric Carle. "The Mixed Up Caterpillar" is one of Bryn's favorite Eric Carle books, but we also love "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". His pictures are always colorful and bold, and I'm a fan. A new favorite author/illustrator that we love is Leo Lionni. We don't own any of his books, but we've been checking them out from the library. "Inch by Inch" is probably Bryn's favorite. She's got it memorized, and I have to hide it from her after the tenth time reading it each day. I love the simple illustrations. And another Leo Lionni book we love is "Little Blue and Little Blue" It's a cute little story where the main characters are colors, and the illustrations are so simple and clever. We also love books by Ezra Jack Keats. I love his flat planes of color and his patterns. "Peter's Chair" is a cute story. And our favorite Ezra Jack Keats book is "Snowy Day". Love it. Lois Ehlert also has awesome books. We love checking out this one from the library. Bryn loves this book! It's teaching her all her vegetables, even funny ones like jicama and kumquat.

We also love Lois Ehlert's other books like "Color Zoo" and "Fish Eyes". She's also the illustrator for Bill Martin's book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom", which is a cute book. Anyway, these are a few of our favorite books with beautiful illustrations. I'm definitely not the pro on children's books or on illustration, so what are your favorites?

Curtains

This week I returned the maternity clothes I had gotten for Christmas and my birthday, and of course it was a little sad. But it's alright because I used the money to order this lovely little fabric that I'll use for curtains in Brynlee's room. I wasn't kidding about sewing therapy. It's been a good distraction!

I'll admit, I was so sad when I had to take down the crib in Bryn's room and accept the fact that she won't have a little sibling to use it for another year (or whenever the time comes). But I've been trying to make Bryn's room cute and convince myself that Bryn is fine without a roommate for a while. Right?

I'm going to make the room SO cute and colorful that I won't even notice that there isn't a crib in there, and I'll be SO distracted by the cuteness that I'll forget that I want another baby. What do you think? Maybe it could work?? I'll tell you... it won't. BUT I'll be left with pretty curtains, so my efforts will not be in vain.

And all joking aside, I've become more and more grateful that I already have one beautiful child to spend my time with and sew curtains for. I am blessed, and I really can't complain.

BEST Valentines EVER

Well, Josh is super-husband!!! For Valentine's Day he surprised me and hired the most amazing photographer, Michelle (who also happens to be one of my very best friends) to take pictures of Brynlee. The best part is that he arranged it all without me knowing, and he even picked out her outfits, shoes,and everything....which totally makes me laugh, picturing him going through her closet! And doing her hair!

Anyway, it was the best gift ever!!!! I love the pictures! I LOVE Josh! And I love the sweet little girl in all these photos. Sorry for the photo overload, but I'm just a little excited about them :) And if you want a good laugh, check out the photos Michelle took of Brynlee a year ago! It's so funny to see how much she's changed in one year!

Our Favorite Part

There aren't too many good things about having a miscarriage. But one that does come to mind is that you get TEN free days of eating any treats you want. (Josh and I established this rule with our miscarriage in Sept and it had great results... not so much on my stomach, but for my general well-being). My friends have supported me in this by supplying me with Trader Joe's kettle corn, Cheesecake Factory cheesecake, and Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Tomorrow is day 10 of my no-questions-asked treats, so I've got to enjoy it while it lasts!

Today's treat was Brynlee's idea: banana muffins. I loved Bryn's response when I asked her how we make muffins: "We dump the flour. We dump the sugar. We dump the bananas. We stir it. We put it in the oven. THEN WE EAT IT!!! And that's my favorite part."

She is definitely my child. That's my favorite part, too.

Special Date

My sister-in-law Marilee told me about the cutest tradition she does with her kids, so I had to copy! Each of her kids gets to go on a "date" with their Dad for their birthday. They go to the bookstore and get to pick out a new book each year. Brynlee's birthday was 5 weeks ago, but it's been a crazy time for our little family, so Bryn and Josh just barely went on their little date tonight. It doesn't help that Bryn's birthday is Dec 30th, right in the middle of the holiday craziness. Bryn had been looking forward to her "Special date with Dad" and was so excited about it today. She kept saying "Time for special date with Dad? Bryn get to buy one new book! Mom can't come. Only Bryn and Dad. Dad coming home from work now?" Anyway, she had a blast and they were gone for so long! Ha ha. I loved picturing them on their little date. All day she said she was going to pick out a mermaid book, but she ended up choosing The Little Red Hen. They were going to get a treat afterwards, but Bryn fell right asleep in the car. Too much fun for one night! So cute! Thanks for the idea Mar!

Fabric Therapy

To keep ourselves busy and distracted from the miscarriage, Bryn and I pulled out the fabric box every day last week and worked on projects. Bryn's favorite fabric project (besides dumping the fabric box and wrestling in it) is making "beds" for herself and her animals. It's cute. And it keeps her occupied forever because she's so particular about which fabric goes where and who gets to sleep on each bed. While Bryn did her thing, I sewed some pillows for her new toddler bed. I'm not a quilter, so this was my first attempt at "piecing" little squares together, so that was fun. (That probably the wrong sewing term. I don't know.) They're a little wild with Bryn's bedding and everything else going on in her room, but they're kind of fun. And Bryn loves her "new, special pillows" and her "new, special bed" so three cheers for that!

Thank You

(I found this in the kitchen a few days ago. Bryn's been making me smile all week with simple things like this.)

I must say how much strength and comfort I've received from all of your kind words in regards to our miscarriage. It's a great reminder of how blessed I am to have such wonderful family and friends. I appreciate your kindness and love, more than I can say. Thank you, thank you!