Bryn's 7th Birthday

Bryn turned 7 at the end of December and it was her "best birthday yet!" We normally do birthday parties every other year and it was her year for a party, but her birthday is a few days after Christmas and so planning a birthday party is never that appealing. So we made a deal: Instead of a party Bryn could have a special NYC day with Josh and get a Bitty Baby at the American Girl store on 5th Ave. Luckily, Bryn jumped at our proposal, so that's what we did...

The day before her birthday Josh and Bryn rode the train into New York City, spent over an hour at the American Girl store (all three floors of goodness!), got lunch at Shake Shack, and then rode the train home. Josh said Bryn was in heaven the entire time.

She had been saving up her money and anxiously awaiting the day she could get one of these dolls. Dreams come true!

So, so giddy with her new doll. She was killing us with her theatrics.

All set!

On her actual birthday we celebrated with her favorite pancake breakfast and a day full of playing with her Bitty Baby.

Happy Birthday to you!

 Bryn on her birthday, ages 1-6

 Oh, we love you, Bryn.

Mya Turns Three!

Our sweet Mya turned three years old on June 26th. She is the kindest, sweetest little girl and we love her so much. She gives the best hugs, loves to snuggle up and read, can draw for hours, has the best laugh, and gets surprisingly loud and sassy when she belts out pop songs or Disney love songs. 

 She wanted a "bright pink cake with bright purple frosting". Cakes are really not my thing, and all that bright purple food coloring gave the frosting a really strong taste. Oops. We kept this cake for Mya, but I ended up making a basic chocolate sheet cake as a back-up since cake #1 was kind of a flop!

 Mya is super into princesses and barbies lately, so this was the dream gift for her. 

(I scored this set for half off at Target a few months ago and have been giddy for Mya to finally get it! Her reaction was kind of anti-climatic, but she has played with these barbies nonstop since her birthday. Success!)

 Jake and Tyra's family joined us for dinner and cake and ice cream. Mya loves her cousins!

Our ward was having a movie night that night, so we ended Mya's birthday with the outdoor movie. It was a great day celebrating our favorite three year old!

Bryn Turns 6!

Bryn turned 6 on December 30th! We sure love this sweet girl. It was fun to celebrate her special day. We do birthday parties every other year and this was her "off" year, so we just had a fun evening as a family.

Bryn requested a birthday dinner of Chick-fil-A.

 Opening presents and giddy as can be about it

 Her favorite gift this year was a set of Disney fairy figurines. She is really into the Disney fairy chapter books lately, so she's had fun playing with these figurines and acting out the stories. 

 Bryn finished the night with a breathing treatment. The poor girl has had asthma issues for two months and has had to do albuterol breathing treatments 3-4 times every day. 

This is Bryn on her birthday the last six years :)

Bryn has been such a fun child. She has always been so full of energy and personality. She is constantly making us laugh with all her theatrics and silly ideas, but she is also such a sweet and thoughtful child. We love all the notes she leaves on our pillows and the pictures and cards she gives to her friends. She has such a big heart. I'm so grateful to be her mother and so proud of the good girl she is becoming. 

We love you, Brynlee!

32

 On October 3rd Josh turned 32! Woohoo!

We celebrated as a family with his favorite brownies and ice cream. Bryn added the ninja turtle, which was a really nice touch :)

 Josh is the best of the best. I am so lucky to be his wife and the girls are sure lucky to have him as their dad. We love you, Josh!

I surprised Josh on the night of his birthday by arranging a babysitter (My cute niece Abby - Thank you, Abs!) and planning a little date night. We had dinner at Cheesecake Factory and then we did some birthday shopping for him at the Short Hills mall. We hadn't been on a date since our move, so it was a really great night!

(I'm embarrassed at the huge plate in front of me vs. the little pizza in front of Josh- ha ha! What can I say? I'm eating for two!)

Mya's Birthday Date...a little late!

Mya turned two at the end of June, but it was a bit of a crazy summer so she and Josh didn't go on their birthday date until the beginning of Setptember! (Better late than never...)

Mya was so excited about her special date. She still talks about it all the time and asks "Maybe today Mya and Dad can go on a birthday date? Just Mya and Dad." 

 Josh is the best dad and our girls are sure lucky to have him!

 As per tradition, the birthday date was a special trip to the bookstore where Josh and Mya read books and Mya got to choose one book to take home. She chose the book "Ten Apples Up On Top", a Dr. Suess book that she has read over and over with her cousin Leah. 

 Josh said Mya was giddy and cute the whole night. 

She sure came home with a big smile on her face!

Utah: Mom's 50th

My beautiful mama turned 50 while I was in Utah and it was so fun to celebrate as a family. My mom is truly the best!

 So fun to be with my mom and sister Marie! Marie scanned tons of old pictures of my mom and we put together a book for my mom with notes from my siblings and dad with 50 of our favorite memories and lessons we've learned from mom. It was fun surprise her with the book :)

On the night of her birthday we got a sitter for the girls and my nephew and we had a wonderful child-free dinner at Cheesecake Factory. 

 (My picture of Jae and Amy at dinner was blurry...oops!)

 We hadn't all been together since 2012, so it was the best to have a fun night with everyone in town at the same time. My family is the best!

(This was also the night Marie announced her pregnancy with baby #2! She's due just a couple months after me and I'm so thrilled our little babies will be so close in age!)

Mya's 2nd Birthday...a little early

 Mya turns 2 years old later this month, but we decided to celebrate her birthday early while my family was in town because this month is going to get so crazy with our move. We celebrated with cupcakes and icecream and a very simple family party.

Mya didn't want to get her fingers dirty by touching the frosting, so she used a spoon the whole time :)

 The best part of her "birthday" was spending with with her grandparents and two of her uncles. 

She opened up her presents early... so that we can pack them. This little train was one of her favorite gifts.

We love Mya so much and are so grateful to have her in our family. She is the sweetest little girl, very tender, cuddly, sensitive, easy-going, and so easy to love! She is talking a lot now and cracking us up with her little sentences all day. She says so many cute things, but one of my favorite things is what she calls me- all day she grabs my hand and says one of these two phrases "Come on, Mamasita!" or "Come on, Sweetheart!" She is usually pulling me towards the couch with a pile of books in her arms. 

We love you sweet Mya girl!

Mya's Birthday

 Mya's birthday started early! 5:45 am early! The girls woke up with squeals and Bryn belting out the birthday song with as much gusto as it's ever been sung. While I missed that extra hour of sleep, I must admit their excitement was pretty darn cute. Bryn was so darling and just kept hugging Mya and saying "Mya! It's finally your birthday! You're finally a one year old!"

Our first item of business was to do a little Google+ Hangout with Josh from his office at Google :)

I felt so bad that Josh couldn't be here for Mya's big day, but luckily they had a cute video chat. I don't know who was more smiley and excited to see the other, Josh or Mya!

 Mya got a walker as her birthday gift from us, and she had fun testing it out.

That evening we had a very low-key birthday party with a few families from our neighborhood.

Bryn was the mastermind behind the decor. She and I sneakily told Mya on the eve of her birthday that we were going downstairs "to read one last bedtime book", but instead we blew up balloons and hung the crepe paper. Bryn loved being a part of the surprise and was giggling the whole time we worked, saying "Mya is going to be so surprised when she comes downstairs tomorrow! It's going to be hilarious!"

Some of our wonderful friends

(Bryn's pose is so typical! The popped hip!)

 Pink and purple birthday treats

Mya was not sure what to think about the whole cake thing. The whole time we sang to her and brought her the cake she had the most perplexed look like "What in the world is going on here?"

She wasn't a big fan of the cake. It didn't help that it was a really dense cake with stiff frosting (my bad), so it was quite a feat to actually break into it. 

 The only part she enjoyed was when she tipped it over and all the kids laughed :)

 She was, however, very interested in her birthday presents! 

We didn't go all out with gifts, but she got some cute little things from family members and friends and she had so much fun playing with them! I didn't think a one year old would even care much about gifts, but she was so happy unwrapping little things and looking them over.

 Awww....love this birthday girl.

 What a fun day to celebrate one of the sweetest girls around :)