Doctors Orders...

The doctor said that it's time for Brynlee to start doing some big girl things like eating rice cereal, pureed fruits and veggies, trying apple juice and time to Roll over!  So far Brynlee is having none of it.  I told the doctor I didn't think she would be rolling over any time soon because I hardly ever put her on her stomach because she screams when I do.  The doctor said "Well good, that will give her motivation to roll off of it."  Ha ha.. I thought that was pretty funny.  See for your self:

Awww... thanks mom, much better.  

  And no, she didn't roll off it herself ;)

Brynlee's first bites

Well, with Brynlee being 4 months now, I just had to try out some rice cereal on her.  I started my other girls around this age and they were all ready and loved it. Before I started, Brynlee was so comfy in her high chair she was about to fall asleep I think, LOL!  At first she was wondering what mom was trying to put in her mouth.

She's starts to wake up and is trying to decide what she thinks....

And she decides it's not that great, what's all the fuss about rice cereal anyway?

She decided her fingers tasted much better than that stuff ;)

Guess we will try again in a few weeks and see if she likes it any better.  While I was trying feed Brynlee we hear Hailey over on the floor saying "NICE, NICE!"  We look down to see that she has ripped off her shirt and is rolling around on a sample of fur.  Ha ha.... for anyone that knows Hailey they know how much she loves soft things!  She makes me laugh.

Breads n' Threads

Kayla just finished up the last day of her Breads n' Threads camp on Tuesday.  I love that camp because it teaches the girls to do things that a lot of them don't learn anymore.  Primarily they sew a bunch of different projects and they bake several different types of breads like rolls, breads, pull a parts, cinnamon rolls, etc.  This year Kayla's friend Lindsey and Brook also went to the camp, so it was even more fun for her than last year.  We headed over to the park to play for a few minutes after camp since it was a cool 84 degrees vs. the 96 degrees it was the day before!  It felt nice to play outside for a little bit, it's just been too hot to do to much of that lately.  

After we got home, I got them to show off all of their sewing projects.  They did such a great job!

Their handmade purses!

 And one of Brynlee, just because she was so cute laying on the floor.

One missionary comes home, and another one leaves

Uncle Ross came home from his mission in Mexico last week and all the girls were so excited to see their uncle they had missed so much.  Callie was a little unsure at first and acted shy, but by the next morning she was saying "Where's uncle Ross, Where's uncle Ross!" Ross couldn't believe what a chatterbox Callie was and also how much Kayla had grown!  He also got to meet his new little niece, Brynlee.  We sure have missed him.

My In laws and Ross were over for Family Home evening last night, and the missionaries stopped by.  Elder Warren announced that he would be leaving the area and getting transferred.  We are sad to see him go, but know he will do a great job wherever he goes.

Fishing Derby, Aiden's B-Day and Pool time

Today while Kayla was at another day camp, the smaller girls and I decided to pull out their new swimming pool.  We seem to get a new pool every year, and each year it gets smaller and smaller even though our family gets bigger and bigger, LOL!  I guess it's because I learn more each year what a hassle it is to put pools up and change the water out so often.  So this year we just have a smaller plastic one, but the girls seemed to love it.  Our patio umbrella fit just perfectly over the pool to shade the whole thing.

Summer has been good so far.  I was nervous how it would be having four kids home.  But it really has gone well so far, so I can't complain.  We've been staying busy enough so that has been helping too.  On Saturday we went to the Lonoke fishing derby in the morning.  And the rule is that each child can catch 3 fish.  So you know Brad was having Hailey do some fishing. It was pretty funny once when the ranger went by Hailey had actually caught one on her poll and the rule is that they have to be able to reel it in, so Brad was trying his darndest to get Hailey to reel in that fish.  It was pretty funny, because there was no way she was going to be able to pull in a big ole catfish!

Hailey's fish that Kayla ended up reeling in.

Later that day we headed up to Little Rock to attend the Birthday party of Brad's cousin Kelly's little boy, Aiden.  It was at the wonder place.  The girls had a blast.  Hailey was pretty fussy the second half though, and I kept apologizing for how whiny she was being.  I didn't know what had gotten into her.  Well it turns out that she dislocated her elbow sometime in there.  And I had no idea.  I thought that she had hurt her hand or wrist because she wouldn't hold my hand and she was crying and holding her arm up.  But when Brad and I went to load her in the car to take her to the ER, she started using her arm a little.  So we decided to wait.  Well the next morning after she was still acting pretty hurt, I took her in and it turned out to be dislocated.  Poor little baby, I hate that we waited.  She is doing a lot better now though.

Thanks for inviting us Aunt Mary, we had a blast and you threw a great party for Aiden.

Hailey Grace

My sweet Hailey... oh how I wish I could keep you this age forever.  You are nothing but beautiful.  Your smile lights up my life and brings me so much happiness.

  I love your chubby little cheeks, your soft wispy hair, the sound of your voice, and the way your face lights up when you see something unexpected.

  I love the way you say "HEAR IT!?!?" everytime you hear anything out of the ordinary (like a shoe tapping or a bird chirping). 

 I love how when I ask you if you pooped in your diaper or did something else you shouldn't have, you quickly say a million things to try and change the subject, like: "I love you!"  You are to smart for your own good, just like your big sisters ;)  

I love how you don't cry every time I tell you" it's time to go" or tell you "no", your so patient and understanding even for a toddler.  I hope those are qualities you never lose.  

I wish I could keep you little forever so your sweet innocent spirit never has reason to change.  I love you and am writing all of this down so I won't ever forget all the things that make you so special right now.  

I know someday you will grow up... someday we might disagree, you might dye that beautiful hair, you might plaster mascara and eyeliner all over your baby blue eyes, someone might break your heart or try to take away your smile. Life is hard like that.  But for now you are innocent, precious, sweet and beautiful and in my eyes perfect.  And I hope I never forget.

Love,

Mom

Fads that come and go...

I remember when I was younger, going through all the different fads.  Thinking back I can remember a lot of them.  Where do I begin?  The side pony in elementary school, the "fluffed as high as you can get them bangs" in middle school, followed by these little clips that we would use to tie the side of our t- shirt to the side.  Then there was also this one where we would roll our jeans over to the side and then roll them upwards a couple times, so they looked tapered in in the bottom.  I'm also thinking I'm remembering coolats and MC hammer pants in there somewhere ;)    Yikes!  I'm glad my mom didn't have time to take a lot of pictures of me :)  Some of those things I don't want to remember.

Well, Kayla started into her "fad years" this year.  We've gone through several already, and it seems like each fad is lasting for a shorter and shorter period of time.  I can't remember all of them but the ones I know we've gone through this year are: "silly bandz", "duck call necklace", "pop bottle necklaces and bracelets", "Tom shoes",  "jelly watch", "magnet bracelets" and now we present the newest and coolest fad.... THE FEATHER.  Yes you read that right, Kayla came home asking for a feather in her hair.  I think I said something like: "You mean like an Indian?"
 She said "No MOM!  A feather!  They are so cool, you go to a hair salon to get them put in."   So then I asked how much it cost.  She said $15-$20 per feather.  So then I had the bright idea and said "Kayla, your dad has all kinds of feathers, I bet he could fix you up a nice one."   Ha ha ... I knew she would like that idea (note the sarcasm).  Brad thought it was a great idea too, so Kayla let her dad make her one after agreeing that we would buy her a real feather if she tried out our feather first.
Here is Brad's feather:

And the professional feather she got the next day.

You look very pretty Kayla, and thanks for always being such a good sport :)

Kayla's Volleyball Camp 2011

Summer has started and the camps have begun!  Kayla has been going to her second year  of volleyball camp.  I secretly hope she takes a real liking to the sport, because I think she would make a great volleyball player in seventh grade.  I would just love going to all her games, I used to have so much fun playing volleyball.  This is Kayla with her friend Lindsey.  

Kayla is just going to love it when she sees how good this next picture turned out.  I was just sure she would want me to post it for everyone ;)