Home Sweet Home

Here are a few pictures of our apartment. We've been in California for five weeks now. We still have a few little projects for the apartment, but we're pretty much all settled in.

The entryway and dining area.

The little kitchen. (I miss the walk-in pantry from our old apartment!!! But I knew it would be hard to find that much storage space in our next apartment.

Front Room. Notice the dangling things from the counter. I put that up to entertain Brynlee, but Josh actually enjoys laying under it to. He starts kicking and blowing bubbles just like Brynlee. Everyone can use little visual stimulation once and a while. Ha ha.

Front Room

Brynlee's Room.

Bryn spends a lot of time here.

Our bedroom. Notice the beautiful statue in the corner of the room. Josh's pride and joy, right after Brynlee and I. It's a statue from Bolivia. He wanted it in the front room. I didn't want it in our house at all. (The figure is in a loin cloth!) We compromised.

And that, my friends, is our apartment! (I don't have pictures of either of the bathrooms, linen closet, etc.)

We really love it here. Our apartment is perfect for our needs right now. The apartment itself isn't amazing, but we couldn't have asked for a more perfect location-- Surrounded by LDS families, and such a great spot in Huntington Beach. We're really grateful things worked out so well!

Three Months

Our little girl is a quarter of a year old! I can't believe she's this old. She is such a sweet little girl, so content and happy. We're lucky to have such an easy baby. Here are a few of the things about Brynlee at this stage:


-Sleeps for 9 hours a night (She's always still wide awake when we lay her in her crib, but she just talks herself to sleep. It's so cute.)
-A good little eater
-Really smiley and happy
-Loves to make little noises
-Loves to blow little saliva bubbles
-Loves to touch and look at colorful things
-Loves to stand (with our help!) and look around the room
-Strong, chubby legs that love to kick
-Getting a little better at tummy time
-Loves to cuddle with Mom and Dad

We love you Brynlee!!!



P.S. My aunt Lila made this cute skirt for Brynlee. In fact, she designed the fabric and everything. (It was hard to get good pictures of Brynlee because she kept grabbing her skirt and staring at all the colors and patterns!)
Lila is a fabric designer for Moda. To see more of her work, check out her blog: lilatuellerdesigns.blogspot.com or click on the "Lila Tueller" link to the right.

Brynlee Loves....

...smiling,

moving her hands around,

laying on the couch,

fuzzy blankets,

and morning time

...among other things.

Miss Talkative

Lately Brynlee has become quite the little talker. I love listening to all her little noises. Of course, she never does it very well on camera. That's always how it goes, I guess. But here are some of the cute noises she makes. Like the last video, this is a little long. But once again, it's mostly for my family who hasn't seen Brynlee in a month :(

FHE

Last night Brynlee asked if she could be on "Talent" for Family Home Evening. She performed a little dance with Josh's help. A little accident prevented her from finishing the whole dance, but she was just nervous. Can you blame her?

(Sorry, I know the video is a little long. This is mainly for my Mom!)

Could Life Get Any Better?

After her morning feeding Brynlee and I set out on a little walk around town, ending up at the beach. Brynlee had requested to take her morning nap somewhere with a warm breeze and the sound of rolling waves behind her. So as she napped in her stroller, I sat on a bench and read. We stayed until lunchtime and then made the short walk back home. I love being a stay-at-home mom and I love living in Huntington Beach!

Shots!

So today Brynlee had her two-month check-up and her first round of SHOTS! I was nervous about how it would go. She weighs 12 lbs 8 oz and is 22.5 inches long. I don't what percentile that is in, but the doctor said everything looks good. Brynlee did surprisingly well with her shots, especially since she usually eats at noon and by the time she got her shots (three hours after I arrived at the facility) it was 1:30 pm. I thought it would be a nightmare, but she didn't even react until the third shot. Then she got a little scared, but not too bad.

I thought she might be fussy today because of the shots, but she's been cheerful as ever. I snapped a few shots of her waking up from her nap this afternoon. I love hearing her make noises in her crib when she's just waking up. Then I go in and see her big smile. She's such a cutie!

The Screwtape Letters

Why didn't I read this book sooner!? The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis has been on my list of books to read for years! It finally made its way to the top of my list and I just finished reading it. Wow. What an excellent book. One of my very favorite books is Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, but The Screwtape Letters gives it a run for its money. Here are a few (of the many) quotes that I loved:

Page 54 “Do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy [God]. It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”

Page 59 “The Enemy [God] wants him [man], in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favor that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbors talents – or in a sunrise, an elephant, or a waterfall.”

Page 104 “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means, at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky.”

My new book is Uncle Tom's Cabin....another book, like The Screwtape Letters, that I'm embarrassed I've never read before!

CuDdLe MoNsTeR

One more perk about living in California: Bryn can wear short sleeved jammie sets to bed...in the winter. She'd be wearing long-sleeved fleece jammies if we were still in Utah. This little set kills me! I love the little elastic waist with her full belly hanging over. Way too cute.

Bryn

I can't get over how cute and feminine Brynlee looks on Sundays. I love dressing her up. I totally have mom pride. All during church I look at Bryn and think "I have the cutest baby girl in the ward! Actually, I have the cutest baby girl in the entire world!" (Repeated fifty times). But I'm sure that's how every mom feels, right?

Long Walks Along the Beach

The weather has been so nice this past week, so I've been able to go on some long walks with Brynlee. I LOVE it and so does Bryn! My Uncle Mark has been soo nice to show me different parks and beach trails in the area. One of my favorite walks so far has been the beach trail that goes from Newport Beach down to Balboa Island. Soo pretty.
Another place we've been is Central Park in Huntington Beach. It is a nice, large park with a great trail. One funny thing at Central Park is this little "Fitness Challenge" thing. At various parts along the trail, there are bars and instructions on how to do the particular challenge. Beginner and advanced options are available. It was so funny to me. Some challenges look manageable, but others look impossible! Brynlee and I didn't attempt any of them, but I really want to take Josh to this park and see if we can do them! I'm sure it would be pretty comical!

Two Months Old

Brynlee was born on December 30th and February only had 28 days, so I didn't know when to celebrate Brynlee's two month mark. We decided to do it today, March 1st. Brynlee is at such a fun stage! She's growing up and getting so much bigger. Look at her full belly! She's getting so chubby. Her chunky thighs are the best! She's so smiley, but when we get out the camera she just stares at it and gets really serious. Oh well. She's still the cutest thing ever!

Bryn's First Time to Church

Brynlee went to church for the first time today. She was great. She was awake for a little bit, but she mostly just slept through it. It was soo great going to church as a family. I really missed that the last few weeks. Josh and I would each go to half the block and then switch and watch Brynlee for the other half. It was great to attend the whole block and be there as our little family.

We're Here!!!

Well.....we made it! We are here in Huntington Beach and so far it has been so great! We love it. Let's back up. We rented a U-haul on Monday and filled it with everything we owned. It was such a weird feeling. Sad but exciting! We slept at Josh's parent's house on Monday, then took off 4:00 am on Tuesday morning. The drive wasn't too bad. Brynlee was an angel. She didn't fuss at all. Just hung out between Josh and I in the front seat of the truck. We rolled into untington Beach around 3:30 pm. About ten guys from the elder's quorum in our new ward helped us unload the truck. It was soo great having their help. I felt so grateful for the instant network of help that the church offers. So nice! Since then, we've just been unpacking our boxes and getting the apartment in order. We're not totally unpacked, but we're getting there. My uncle Mark lives less than a half mile from us and he has been so helpful. We've seen him everyday and he has been so generous. One of the highlights of the week was going on a nice walk with Mark and Brynlee in her first stroller ride. Our apartment is exactly a mile from the main pier on the beach. I can't wait to go on walks to the beach everyday with Brynlee. There's a great beach trail that will be awesome! We are just loving being here in Huntington Beach. Our apartment is great (pictures to come), and in such a perfect location. I won't have a car during the day, so luckily we are within walking distance to the beach, the library, grocery stores, the bank, the post office, the city pool and gym, and several parks. Basically, it couldn't be better. I feel really blessed for how things worked out.


Bryn and Josh hanging out in the U-haul during one of our breaks in the trip.
Lately Brynlee has loved being propped up on this pillow, so she can watch us unpack boxes. And we love snuggling her up with her little doll... keeping her company, of course.
We also love to snuggle her up with her doll and her little animal friends at night. Actually this only happened one night. Bryn seemed to like the company because she fell right asleep. It's so nice having Brynlee in her full-size crib. It was too big for our apartment in Provo, so we hadn't used it until now.
Bryn has been cuter than ever these last few days. She is getting more and more fun. She smiles so much more nad makes the cutest little "coo-ing" noises and squeals. It kills me. I love her so much. My favorite thing is to make her smile and make those little noises. It melts my heart. I am so grateful to be a mom. What a joy!!!

Bryn's Blessing and the Move

Last Sunday was one of the best days of my life....Brynlee's blessing day. Josh gave her such a beautiful blessing. It was such a neat moment. She's not quite old enough to go to church yet, but we wanted to bless her before we leave for California. We ended up blessing her in the evening with many of our Utah relatives.

Four Generations. I hope I can be as awesome of a mother as my mom and grandma are!

Brynlee's Hawkins grandparents and Clarke grandparents

My Clarke grandparents and Tueller grandparents with their newest great-granddaughter.

What a special night!

This is our living room right now. (You can see poor Brynlee in her swing, surrounded by boxes. She's been so good and content as I have been busy packing). As you can see, we've gotten quite a bit of our belongings packed up and ready for the move. It has taken so much longer than I had expected to get things all packed. But I'm nearly done. The apartment is looking pretty empty! It's making me a little sad, but also really excited. We move out on Monday, then take off early early in the morning on Tuesday. I can't believe it's so close!!!

Bryn has been a little angel as I have packed. I just move her around from room to room with me and either make her a little spot on lay on...

...or I prop her up to look around the room. I would be a lot more productive with the packing if I wasn't so distracted by my beautiful daughter! She is at the cutest little stage right now. She makes little noises and smiles as she looks around the room. It will be great to be all moved into our new apartment, so I can just focus 100% on Brynlee.

I Love This Girl

I Love This Girl

Hawkins Girls Lunch

Yesterday I went to Paradise Cafe with my Mother-in-Law and five of my sister-in-laws. (Of course, I forgot to pull out my camera, so I had to resort to a google image of the restaurant). Anyway, it was so fun! I am so lucky to have married into such a great family! My mother-in-law is amazing and I will really miss her when we move to California. And I will also miss my awesome sister-in-laws! I have loved living so close to most of them, and getting to see them so often. It was so great to get together on Thursday, and hopefully Josh and I can squeeze in more time with family before we leave in a week and a half!

On a side note, the food was great at Paradise Cafe, but the music was so strange! The restaurant was packed with mothers and tables of women, but they were blasting scary, hard core rock music! There was a big speaker right over our table, so I think we were getting the brunt of it. It was so loud that finally we asked a worker to turn it down. It was quieter for a few minutes, but then it was turned up again. We endured it for a few more minutes, but then asked again if they could turn it down. It was turned down, but about thirty seconds later another worker must have cranked it back up. We gave up at that point! Although we were still confused why a cute, little Bakery/Cafe that serves "girl food" would be blasting the heavy rock music!

Even Cuter!

I am such a proud little Mom. I swear Brynlee gets cuter and cuter every day!

Taking a Sunday afternoon nap with my Dad. She always sleeps with her arms raised if they aren't swaddled tight against her body.

She was being so silly this morning when she woke up. She was kicking her feet like crazy and look all over the room. I just sat there laughing and taking pictures of her. I love being a mom!