Three Cheers for Jae

We've had lots of visitors lately! Last week we had my older brother Jae stay with us and it was so fun to have him stay with us for a bit!

 This is right when he arrived, meeting his new niece. Mya's staring him down, trying to figure out if she can trust a man with a mustache. I was wondering the same thing. 

 When Jae came to visit at Thanksgiving he brought his recorder (elementary school style). When we saw him at Christmas he had his banjo. This time he brought his....portable piano?? He and Bryn got their instruments out, their shades on, pulled up youtube, and played along to classics like "Call Me, Maybe".

 Mya slept right through the band practice. 

Look at those thunder thighs! 

 One of the days when (I remembered my camera) we went to the Great Park in Irvine

 Our plan was to ride the hot air balloon, but it was about 1000 degrees outside and we couldn't bare the heat, so we took a few spins around the free carousel and then took off!

 Bryn's red face and blank stare says it all....too HOT to function.

We headed to the Spectrum in Irvine and Jae read book after book to Bryn in Barnes and Noble. 

 Jae introduced us to toasted marshmallow shakes....Yum!

You toast the marshmallows under the broiler, add vanilla ice cream and milk, and then blend it all up.

 So, so good!

(This was about the 5th dessert of the week. I'm obviously not starting my post-baby "diet" yet! Ha!)

Jae's girlfriend was in Newport Beach for the week, so it was also fun meeting up with her a few times!

Bryn was in heaven with all the attention from Jae and Amy. She was crying so hard when he left for the airport! And so was Josh! Just kidding...but maybe?

Thanks for coming Jae!

Movie Night

Last night was family movie night in Bryn's room...

It wasn't a great idea right before bedtime because it got Bryn totally silly, but it was a fun night!

 My handsome husband...

...and the two sweetest girls around!

Five Years

July 21, 2007

I love you, Josh!

Woohoo for Family!

 This week my sister in law Marilee and her family were staying in Newport Beach, and it was so much fun hanging out with them while they were here. Mar was the one who lined up me and Josh, so I'll forever be indebted to her :)

 Bryn was so, so excited to play with COUSINS!!! She had fun dancing with Sarah and Maren and running around with the other kids.

Sarah claims Mya is the "cutest baby in the whole UNIVERSE!!!" 

And I totally agree :) 

 Maren is about a year and a half older than Bryn, and she's so sweet to her!

(I didn't get any pictures of Uncle Brandon, David, or James. Oops!)

We hung out at their condo a couple times, met up for dinner, went swimming, and spent a day at Balboa Beach (Mya and I skipped out on that day....we're not ready for beach days quite yet!).

It had been almost a year since we'd seen them, so we loved hanging out with them!

I wish we lived closer!!!

Mya Girl

Mya had her two week appointment today and I guess she's eating well, because she's gone up to 

9 lb. 12 oz. (89th percentile) and 22 inches long (97th percentile).

So far she's been a pretty easy baby, and sweet as can be!

Baby Swing Cover

I think it's going to be a while until I have the time to craft and sew as much as I used to! But I did manage to squeeze in a little sewing time while my mom was here last week and whip up a new cover for our baby swing.

Someone gave us their old baby swing when Brynlee was born...I can't remember who it was! (If it was you, thank you!!!) The cover was a little dated and worn out, but it worked fine for Bryn. Then we had a leak in our garage that dripped right onto the baby swing and left the swing cover smelling kind of stale and gross. 

So a new cover was in order!

 This project really intimidated me since I had to make the new cover fit around the form of the swing (scary!) and I had to do button holes for the straps! (It probably wouldn't be that hard for most people, but I prefer simple sewing projects!) Anyway, yada yada yada....I finally sat down and figured it out and ended up with a new cover isn't totally perfect, but it smells and looks a lot better than the old one :)

 Mya is a little too young to fully take advantage of the swing, but hopefully she'll put it to good use these next few months!

Happy Birthday Rie!

My favorite (and only) sister is turning the big 21 today, and I wish I could be with her to celebrate!

Marie is four years younger than me, but I's so glad that we are such close friends! I hope Bryn and Mya are as good of buddies as Marie and I have been. 

Hooray for sisters!

Love you Rie!

The Girls

We just can't get enough of this cute little face!

It may appear like Bryn's doing an evil witch cackle, but she actually really loves Mya and has been really sweet with her!

P.S. That second picture was taken very first thing in the morning...which explains Bryn's ragamuffin look. Mom, I promise she didn't look like this heading off to church :)

Silly

Three and a half is a really fun stage! Bryn has been so cute lately!

She is super into make-believe, dress-ups, and getting all fancy....especially when it comes to wearing high heels. Bryn has a wide foot, so she really has to jam her feet into these high heels, but that doesn't stop her from wearing them every day and click-clacking around the house! Something about seeing her in little high heels just makes me laugh. 

4th of July

Most of the time I love living in downtown Huntington Beach, so close to Main Street, the beach, and the pier, etc. 

But the 4th of July is not one of those times :) 

From about July 1st to July 4th, it's like living through a bomb raid with all the booms of fireworks in the alleys, constant car alarms going off, bright flashes of light, dogs howling, children crying, grown men wailing....okay that last one isn't true. 

I'm sounding dramatic, right? But it's actually pretty crazy down here for those few days!

I stayed inside the whole day of the 4th and just snuggled my cute 1-week-old baby, but Josh and Bryn braved the war zone and walked to the pier for the firework show.

I'm sure Josh didn't intend for these pictures to be blogged, but these two are such good buddies and these pictures make me smile!

 Bryn had never seen real fireworks before, so she was so giddy to stay up late and go the firework show! 

She has nothing else to compare it to, but she claims it was "the best firework show EVER!!!!"

 Cute cute cute. 

I love these two! 

The difference between Brynlee and Mya...

Mya has hair, but no neck.

Bryn had a neck, but no hair.

 Mya

Bryn

Our first week with Mya

 Josh is such a good Dad! I love seeing him hold Mya!

 Bryn is figuring things out. She was a little hyper and silly the first few days, but now she is back in her regular routine and is generally really sweet with Mya. It's so cute to hear her talk to Mya and get her blankies and things. I can't wait for these two to be good friends!

 This dress is too big, but she wore it for a few minutes on Sunday to celebrate her first Sunday :)

 I love this little face!

Mya has been a great sleeper and only eats every 4-5 hours at night...I think she's got milk stored up in those chubby cheeks! 

 Mya has loved her sponge baths and Bryn totally loves being involved. Her favorite part is the "slicking" job, where she can shampoo Mya's hair and "slick: it from side to side. 

 My mom was here for the first little bit, and was so so so helpful with entertaining Bryn, doing housework, making delicious meals, and helping me feel confident as a new mama of two! 

 Reading time with the two girls

I love this little girl!

My mom's birthday was on Monday, so we ventured out of the house and had a fun lunch to celebrate. She left for Utah that evening and there were definitely a lot of tears shed! Oh man. Bryn and I were crying with my mom, but luckily Josh (and Mya) held it together and passed out the kleenex. We have survived two days without her here, and I think we're getting the hang of our new little life as a family of four! 

Baby Mya is Here!

 On Monday morning I had a doctor appointment and I was "looking like I'd go into labor soon". My mom booked a flight for the next morning, and sure enough- I started into labor on Monday afternoon. We went into the hospital around 6:30 pm and Mya was born Tuesday morning at 2:42 am!

 The labor was a lot easier this time around, except that I waited too long to ask for my epidural and it didn't come til I was a 9. (I'll never make that mistake again! Ha ha!) But all in all, it was pretty smooth.

 Holding Mya for the very first time! So sweet!

 Bryn and my Mom came later that morning to meet her and it was really cute to see Bryn's reaction.

 After three and a half years of being the only child, I'm sure it's going to be an adjustment for Brynlee to share the spotlight. But so far it's been okay and Bryn's been sweet.

Mom with her two grandchildren

 I am so, so grateful my Mom is here to help with everything and to cuddle little Mya.

 Mya was 8 lbs, 3 oz and 20 inches long. So she's shorter and chubbier than Bryn....and we are LOVING the rolls and chubby cheeks!

We are so completely filled with gratitude for this sweet little girl. It was a long road getting here with the miscarriages and all the shots and pills with this pregnancy, but all of that immediately faded into nothing as soon as she was born. She's a little miracle girl and we are so happy to have her in our home!

Magnet Boards

I made little magnet boards for all my young women when I got released as YW president. I got the metal boards at a shop in Utah, then just added the ribbon so they could hang. Each board had a picture of a young women activity, a picture of the Newport Beach Temple, a quote from Elaine Dalton, and a personal note. It was fun to make something for the girls, but sad to think that it was a "goodbye gift"! 

Oh man, I am going to miss these girls like crazy!