Soto Stories

Merry Christmas from the Sotos!

2011-12-19T20:40:00.002-06:00

What a great year this has been! God has blessed up tremendously this year with our health, our jobs and our family!

Just a little recap of our year -- Bobby continues to work at DBU as the Director of Undergraduate Admissions, as well as teaching a Freshman Foundations course. I am still teaching Hillcrest Child Development Center, two days a week, where Brenley also attends school. We love it and love the people I work with! I also, just recently, started working for DBU, part time, from home for DBU's Online Education Department. It was truly a blessing and answered prayer to be given this job! Brenley continues to keep us busy as she is now entering her TWOs! :) She is full of energy, personality and laughter, which keeps us busy, amazed and laughing as well! I feel super lucky and blessed to be able to stay home with her and am so thankful for God's provision this year.

Excited about what's to come in 2012!

Merry Christmas from the Sotos!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Brenley!

2011-12-12T17:46:00.005-06:00

Yesterday my baby turned TWO! I cannot believe it! I mean, how can this be? I still remember every detail of her delivery and here we are two years later with a little toddler on our hands!

We had a great time celebrating Brenley basically over the course of a week and a half! :) It started with her school party last Thursday! There are 3 kids in her class with December birthdays. It actually turned out to not be a great day to have the party, but we had to move forward with it since we were providing lunch. Joshua ended up being sick so he didnt get to celebrate with us and then Jae's mom ended up not getting to come due to a family emergency, so I was the lone mom trying to get pictures of Brenley and her BFF, Jae Beth!

Love these little girls!!

Then last weekend we celebrated with a birthday party with her friends. We had the party at Nova Gymnastics and the kids had a blast!!!

Here she is with her friend Joshua who couldn't make the school party! He was all better by the weekend.

This girl sang every word to herself! I think we had been practicing for about 3 months. :)

The party decor

Cupcakes by Aunt Kara

Bren and Momma dancing -- she looks scared! ;)

The parachute was so fun!

But the trampoline was her favorite!!!!

Then we had an "after-party" at our house with family!! More presents!

Then this past Saturday we hung out at my Nanny's house and she got to open one gift! She loves her singing Minnie :)

Oh and she had to have an Elmo balloon! :)

Candles in Ice cream!!

Then on her real birthday (yesterday) she woke up to more gifts! :)

She was a pro by this point.

Then we had to go out for Hamburgers for her Birthday lunch -- and of couse top it off with ice cream! This girl loves her ice cream!

We love this sweet TWO YEAR OLD!!!

Sweet Brenley,

It's hard to believe how fast these two years have gone by, but they have been so fun and I wouldn't trade them for the world! You have learned so much and sometimes your Dad and I just look at eachother in amazement at some of the things you remember, do and say! You are talking so much and remember things that I didn't even know you heard me say! Just tonight you pointed at a triangle on the computer and said "Triangle!" You are so smart. Your Daddy loves to teach you things and is constantly quizzing you, counting with you or saying your ABC's. Speaking of, today at the store, you sang the ABC song over and over! It was so cute!

You are such a good eater! Every meal we sit down to, you eat like you have never eaten before, especially if it is Mexican or Italian. You love beans and rice!! You also use a little spoon and fork like a pro!

Your favorite thing to say right now is "Brenley do it!" or "No, momma, I do it!" You love to put on your own shoes, zip up your pjs, and brush your teeth! You are so good at putting on your socks and shoes. I can even tell you to go get them out of the closet and put them on and you will! Miss Independent!

I love getting your bear hugs and kisses and you are now asking to be held a lot. And all of a sudden you are attached to your blanket and want to have it draped over my shoulder to put your head on it when I rock you. You also love your baby dolls and you have quite a collection now after your birthday!

You are so fun and full of life! You truly make your Daddy and I so happy and we love you so much!! You are Daddy's "pumpkin" and Momma's "Doodle-bug".

Love,

Momma

First Week of School!

2011-09-11T15:08:00.005-05:00

This week we started our second year at Hillcrest Child Development Center! Well, last week we I had our Teacher in-service week and Brenley just had childcare, but this week started actual school. I am sad to say that she missed her first day (Tuesday) -- she had a nasty cough all weekend and half of this week and had a rough night the night before so Daddy stayed home with her that day. But she was ready to go this morning! I am so excited her class and her teachers and I know she is going to learn so much!

I now have the 3 year old class and love it! They are such cuties and so sweet and innocent! Oh and they can go to the bathroom all by themselves. :)

I do have to tell one funny story about Brenley though -- Thursday was her first official day and she had to sit in Time out!! Well they call it "Quiet time" but she had to sit out for a minute during playground time because she was hitting and pushing other kids!! Can you believe it? HA, it makes me chuckle, but at the same time I want them to discipline her so she will learn that it is not ok! Oh my, I hope we dont have a bully on our hands! :)

Well, here's to a great school year!!!!

Summer 2011 - RECAP

2011-09-08T20:02:00.005-05:00

WOW, I can't believe this summer is over! I can honestly say that this summer was one of the best of my life! I enjoyed spending everyday with my little girl and watching her smile and laugh and just have fun! We spent MOST of our days in the sun and water and I wouldn't have the summer any other way!

Here is a little recap of what we did this summer and few pictures too!

We took THREE trips to Beaumont to visit my parents

We celebrated my THIRTIETH birthday! I must say I am really enjoying being 30!

I did a bootcamp for 6 weeks and LOVED it! Wish it was still going on. :)

We went to Possum Kingdom lake with the Hubbarts and had a blast!

We went to Lousiana to celebrate Kristy and Ryan's birthday! Overnight fun with no kiddos! :)

We spent a lot of time with Aunt Serena - or should I say "Re Re" as Bren calls her. She hung with us on most Mondays and Fridays. It was nice to have the help and Bren loves her Aunt ReRe!!

We celebrated two big birthday bashes for my dad - one in Dallas, one in Beaumont

We hung out and played with my Nanny atleast once a week. Love seeing her and so does Bren!

We spent many afternoons playing in her little blow up pool at the house! Anything to stay cool in the heat!

We also stayed cool by playing at the fountains at Uptown Village!

We went to Hawaiian Falls weekly with our friends, Melissa, Tanna, Brooke and their kids. It was a fun group each week. Yay for season passes. (The pic below is actually when we went with Cara and Berkley)

We had playdates with friends!

We played and played and played!

We hung out a lot with our friend Jae Beth. I kept her some this summer and Bren enjoyed having a friend at the house!

We swam at Melissa's mom's house a couple of times with Tatum and Cade

We enjoyed popsicles! Again, anything to keep us from dying in the heat!

This summer was a blast! - And to be honest we enjoyed spending many days at home just playing, napping and doing the daily things of life - but I would not trade it for anything!!

(we are now back in our routine of me teaching Preschool and Bren going to Preschool. I love being back, but who doesn't look forward to another summer?!?) :)

Girlfriends - from birth!

2011-08-05T14:23:00.005-05:00

Before I ever got pregnant, I prayed that I would have a friend to be pregnant with so we could talk and bounce questions off of eachother. Well God heard my prayer and instead of just one friend, he blessed me with THREE friends who were all pregnant at the same time as me -- literally all due with in a month of eachother and all having GIRLS!! Fun, right?!?

So pregnancy was fun because we were always asking questions or comparing stories via text or facebook and of course that didn't stop once the babies got here either. There was always someone who was going through the same thing or had already been through it. Basically we were all sleep deprived, zombies all trying to figure out this "mommy" thing. :) All four of us went to DBU, but not all of us were close at the time, but pregnancies and birth will sure bring girls together! :)

So, the end of 2009 was busy and fun with some exciting deliveries of all these girls!!

Cara had Berkley on November 21st, I had Brenley 3 weeks later on December 11th, Janae had Jae 2 weeks later on December 25th and Rachel had Presley 2 weeks later on December 30th! Whew!!! Yep that is a new baby every 2-3 weeks. :)

It is hard to get all of our schedules to coordinate especially since we are all spread out in the metroplex, but when we can we love to get the girls (and mommies) together for a playdate! Here are some pictures from the last year and a half of playdates, the most recent being today!

Jae-3 weeks, Brenley-5 weeks, Berkley-8 weeks (Presley was only 1 week old so she did not come) :)

But here is when Berkley and Brenley went to go and meet Presley at the hospital!!

Berkley, Brenley, Jae and Presley -- They are about 3 months old here

Here we are at Berkleys 1st birthday!

And then at Presley's birthday!

And Jae's birthday!!

Playdate (minue Jae) -- about 13 months

Today! Jae, Bren, Pres and Berk

19-20 month olds!!

They are getting so big, fun, cute and sassy! AND they are all over the place now. Girls, thanks for being so fun and helpful during our pregnancies and during the last almost 2 years! Can you believe it, our 'Baby" girls are almost TWO!!

So thankful for the friends (and their babies) that God has blessed me with. Love them all!

FUN in Shreveport!

2011-07-25T16:39:00.007-05:00

This weekend, us and 20 other of our friends, went to Shreveport to celebrate Kristy and Ryan's birthdays! Ryan turned 29 on Wednesday and Kristy turned the big 3-0 on Thursday! So we did it up big and headed to Louisiana on Saturday around 1pm and got back yesterday around 2pm. Most of the couples have 1 or 2 kids so we were all able to find sitters and have an adult-only 24 hours! Ahhh! It was so nice to enjoy meals without distractions and not have to be worried about being home at a certain time! But I must say I was ready to see my girl when I got home!!

Here are a few pictures of the weekend that I took on my phone...

Kim, Cathy, Kristy and Me

Mel, me and Corey at dinner

Me and the birthday girl! This girl and I have been through 19 birthdays together! Yep, friends since we were 11! Love her!

Me and my hubby

All the ladies!

What a fun weekend! Thankful for great friendships!!

PK Lake!

2011-07-12T16:03:00.008-05:00

This past weekend we enjoyed some R&R and some fun at Possum Kingdom Lake, with our friends, The Hubbarts! We met Riane and Case while we were students at DBU and have been friends all these years. We dont get to see them very often, so a weekend with them at the Lake was so fun!

We headed out there to meet them early Saturday morning and left EARLY Monday morning. Our days were filled with a little bit of everything, so here is a recap in pictures!

Water trampolining - a new sport for toddlers (yes, the trampoline is in the ground so perfect for whobbly toddlers)

Momma's water baby

Naked babies -- Dax is 2 yrs old and he and Bren had fun together!

Had to beat the heat with some popsicles! Yum!

The lakehouse was so nice and on some great property. Daddy and Bren enjoyed some swinging on the tree swing!

We set the baby pool up to help keep them cool

Here are the Hubbarts on the jet ski

Daddy and Brenley in the lake -- Momma was not a fan of just swimming in the lake water :)

Daddy took Bren out on the Jet ski but I think they only went about 5 mph :) Momma was nervous.

Then we all went out for a bit

We also got to go out without kids for a couple of hours on Saturday, while the babies slept. We jet skied and also rode the tube behind the jet ski -- so fun! We just kept the monitors outside and someone was always on monitor duty. Worked out great! :)

We saw quite a few deer on the property in the mornings and early evenings. We put out Deer corn for them to eat and they let us get so close to them!

Look at this big girl!

Brenley + Dax :)

All the kiddos -- Brenley 1 1/2 yr, Dax 2 yr and Tanner 5 1/2 yr

This trip was definitely much needed and I actually wish we were still there! :) Thanks again to the Hubbarts for the invite!

Fourth of July!

2011-07-07T15:45:00.004-05:00

We had a great Fourth of July weekend! Bobby took off on Friday as well so it was nice to have Daddy home for 4 days! Majority of the weekend we did not do much, but on Monday, the 4th, we went over to the Grime's for a little grilling and water fun for the kids!

A little 4th of July photo shoot
This is her "happy face"

Brenley and Daddy

"Weeee"! She loved playing in the pools!

And you gotta have an ice cream sandwich!

She ate that whole thing!

What a fun, long weekend! Why can't every month have a holiday?? :)

30 and THRIVING!

2011-07-05T15:13:00.006-05:00

So June 20th marked my 30th birthday! I still can't believe that my 20's are over and I am now in a new decade. I was a little uneasy about turning 30, but I am beginning to embrace it and I am excited about what my 30's will hold!

A few days before my birthday a group of my friends got together at Javier's for dinner. It was a fun night of celebrating!

The birthday girl!

Lindsey, me and Melissa

The girls side of the table :)

All of the girls! Thanks for coming out to celebrate!

A couple of days after my birthday we had a "family" celebration! I was lucky enough to have my parents come in for the week!

My two loves - wish Bren would have smiled. :)

Happy Birthday to me!

Something was really funny!

I am trying to look at 30 as a fresh start and change some things in my life. I started out small and have stopped biting my nails. This is a huge deal for me because I have been biting my nails literally as long as I can remember! My next change is with my health and my physical appearance. Lately I have felt very out of shape and still have some pounds hanging on after having Brenley, so I started running and excercising on my own, but then a bootcamp totally fell into my lap! It was definitely a God-send and I am loving it! It is H-A-R-D, but it is so good!

Here are a few pics of me at bootcamp (pics courtesy of our bootcamp trainer, Tanna)

Yep, we push, flip and run with TIRES!

We do pushups, situps, squats and lunges, galor!

This is just some of our group (we were missing some that day) trying to look mean. :)

I pray that my 30's are a time of change and growth in my marriage, motherhood and Spiritual life.

Goodbye 20's, HELLO 30's!!

18 Months!

2011-06-13T14:13:00.006-05:00

HAPPY 18 MONTHS to my baby girl! Brenley turned 18 months this past Saturday and it is still so hard to wrap my mind around her being 1 1/2 years old! I decided to start just doing a birthday blog about her with her chair picture every 6 months now.

Here are a few of her accomplishments and things she is doing these days!

The first thing she does in the morning when she wakes up is call roll while she points -- "Mama, PoPo (Polo), Dada (even though he is at work), and MEEE!" Sometimes the door, her bows and Elmo get thrown in there too. Gotta make sure everyone is accounted for!

She loves to say "Hi" to everyone in the house -- it is more like "iiii mama"

She is afraid of bubble baths and one bubble bath caused her to be deathly afraid of any bath for 2 weeks!

She knows the color yellow and says it so cute!

She has a little obsession with Elmo and all things Sesame Street. She can name Big Bird, Elmo, Ernie, Bert and Abby.

She loves to eat eggs, cheese, oatmeal, peanut butter crackers and sandwiches, applesauce, fruit snacks, chips, crackers and most recently blueberries and blackberries! She also loves Ketchup and can dip almost anything into it!

She can also name quite a few farm animals and say their sound!

Some of my favorite words that she says are "turtle, wuv you, puppy, bear, big bird, door and of course Popo.

She loves swimming and just today let me put her head under the water! She also loves the hose or sprinkler outside!

She is telling us when she goes poopoo, so I will try and sit her on the potty when she tells me but it is just to get her used to it...she hasnt gone in it yet!

She gives great hugs and kisses and will give lots of them when she is in the mood too!

She loves to dance and can do the motions to "This little light of mine", "If you happy and you know it", and "He's got the whole world in his hands" -- Thank you to her school for most of these!

Her favorite activity is to chase Polo and pull at her and hit her. Polo is such a good sport!

She can name all of her facial features and Mama's and Daddy's too!

She loves to take off her shoes and works really hard to put them back on. This keeps her busy for a while!

She goes down around 7:30 and wakes up around 7:30 or sometimes can even sleep til 9! She usually takes 2 naps, but will chose to skip the afternoon one if she has the choice!

Here are some pics over the last month or so!

Can you believe this little girl started out looking like this...

and now she looks like this!!!!

And wants to pose like this instead of sitting down!

She loves her little pool!

Being a little ham with mommy! (taken from phone)

This stinker went and got in my parent's neighbor's sprinkler with her clothes on! (Video below)

Here she is reading on her potty! :)

Video of her sprinkler mischief!

This girl lights up our world and we can't imagine life without her! She is getting more and more fun with each day! Can't wait to see what she will be doing in the next 6 months!

Summer is here!!

2011-05-29T20:56:00.005-05:00

Thursday wrapped up our first year of Pre-school! I finished my first year of teaching and Brenley finished her first year of learning. She had a blast and learned so much and I loved my kiddos and the ladies I worked with! We are ready and thankful for a few summer months off, but I know we will love going back in the Fall!

Here are a few pictures of her End of Year program! Her class did two songs and were so very cute!

(kinda blurry, but that is her in the middle waving her scarf)

The whole school

She was so excited when she saw that Daddy and Nanny were there!

Her little class

We have officially kicked off summer with an afternoon at the pool yesterday and fun with the waterhose tonight! She is so fun these days!

Her smiles and giggles were contagious!

Yes, I let her drink out of the hose! Hey, I turned out ok! :)

Looking forward to more fun this Summer!

What have we been up to??

2011-05-24T19:21:00.009-05:00

Wow, it has been 2 months since I have last blogged so I feel like I have so much to catch up on! What better way to do that than with pictures!! Here we go...

Easter was forever ago, but we enjoyed celebrating our risen Savior and also loved watching our little girl with her goodies and in her dress!

Looks like they are plotting something!

Oh this cutie pie!

This girl is loving purses, cell phones and brushes! :)

Eating at her big girl table!

She loves to swing outside!

We have hung out with my Nanny! They love eachother so much!

We have fed the ducks at DBU!

Our sweet friends, Heather and Steve moved and we had a "See ya later" party for them!

College roomies (minus Rachel)

(The next few pictures are small cause they are from my phone and that is just they way that sent)

She had farmer day at school!

We celebrated my Nanny's 89th birthday!

We celebrated Mother's day!!

We hung out with our friend Jae!

We have enjoyed just being a kid outside!!

And we have danced and played in our playroom!

This girl is keeping me so busy these days and her little personality AND attitude is coming out! :) I will update everything on her in her 18 month post! Our last day of school is Thursday and we are ready for a break! No big plans for the summer but we are looking forward to sleeping in (hopefully), hanging out with family and hopefully lots of pool time!! Until next time...

Spring Break '11 - Part 2

2011-03-20T10:46:00.006-05:00

Well as I posted below, Monday was filled with fun times with friends! Tuesday was spent getting Brenley's 15 month check up, lunch with Daddy and visiting Nanny! (Bren's stats - 21lbs 6 oz and 30 inches long - she has slowed down in her weight gain but dr is not worried -- she is really active!) :) Wednesday was spent at home and running errands! Thursday was a LONG day -- Bobby's Uncle passed away last weekend and so Thursday was the funeral in Killeen, TX (near Austin). So Thursday morning we loaded up and made the 3 hour drive to Killeen for the burial and then another 1 1/2 to Buda, TX (South of Austin) for a family reception. Then around 7pm we got back on the road for the 3 hour trip back home! It was a sweet time with family (even meeting some for the first time for me and Brenley), but it was a LONG day of driving in the car. Brenley was beyond ready to be home. ;)

Daddy with his girl

Bobby was off on Friday as well and we ALL slept until 10:30!!!! Yes, even Brenley! She was so worn out from the day before. So we enjoyed a late pancake breakfast and headed to the park to enjoy the weather! It was so fun to watch Brenley run around.

I think the swing made her sleepy ;)

Slidin with Mama

Bobby has this girl playing soccer like a pro - and she loves it!

Although she had the most fun chasing Polo around :)

Oh and her other favorite thing was the rocks!!

And of course we had to end the park fun with some ice cream! ;)

Mmmmmmmm!

Brenley crashed when we got home, I cleaned and did laundry and Bobby painted (he has been painting Brenley' playroom!). We finished off the day with a visit to Gigi's and Lito's (short for Jualito, which is short for Abuelito - which is Spanish for Grandfather...ha, got it??) :)

Well that pretty much sums up our Spring Break. This week we will be back in school (Tues and Thurs) and keeping Jae (MWF). The week will probably fly by!

Hope everyone is enjoying the Spring weather!!!!

Spring Break '11 - Part 1

2011-03-15T00:26:00.006-05:00

Today we had a fun day with some friends we do not get to see very often! Cara and Rachel are friends of mine from DBU and we all had girls within a month of a eachother. Berkley (Cara's daughter) is 3 weeks older than Brenley and Brenley is 3 weeks older than Presley (Rachel's daughter). Since Cara is a teacher we only get together when she is on a break, so this week was perfect. We met in Southlake at Chik-fil-A and then headed over to Safar Park which is a little indoor playground.

Brenley and Berkley enjoying their Chik-fil-A!

Love this little face!!

Such a little dare devil! She LOVES to climb!

Oh the trampoline was a big hit!

Brenley going down the BIG slide! Yeah, I just sent her down it...she liked it the first time, but not so much the second time. :)

This was after the first time!

Climber!!

Three VERY sleepy girls!

It was a fun day! So glad to have some some friends with babies the same age!

Catch up time!

2011-02-24T15:25:00.005-06:00

I really wish I was motivated and disciplined to blog every week, but I am not, so I am now catching up for almost a month of not blogging. So what better way to catch up, than by doing so in a few pictures!!

While we were in Beaumont, and Brenley was better from the pneumonia, we went to dinner with my mom and some of her friends!

We got to keep Gage Erwin for a day and we had so much fun! Love that little guy!

IT SNOWED! Earlier this month we got quite a bit of snow and Daddy got to stay home for a few days -- so we had to go out and play! This year she liked the snow a little bit better than last year...

(Haha! She is 2 months old here and she was not liking the cold!)

Walking through the street

Daddy with his two girls!

I think she likes playing inside, in the warm, just a little better. :)

This girl loves to read!

Happy Valentine's day! She looks so big in this chair now!

I am watching this sweet girl, Jae, for 2 months. Lunch time!

Such a happy girl!

She is now 14 months old and here are a few things she has done -- or SAID in the last 2 months...

She says the following words -- "Dodo" = Polo, "Cookie", "Meh" = more, "Duckie", "ball", "uh oh" and of course "Mama" and "Dada"!
She shakes her head "no" when she does not want to do something or is done eating.
She shakes her bottom or whole body when you tell her to "shake her bottom" :) SO CUTE!
She can follow commands like, "take it to Dada", "close/open the door", "sit down", "come here"
She loves to climb in her rocker and ROCK!
She can point to her nose, mouth and eyes!! This is the big accomplishment of the week!

So proud of this cute, smart, growing girl! She makes me smile everyday and I would not have it any other way!!

ICE Day at Home!

2011-02-01T20:22:00.009-06:00

Brrrr, it is C.O.L.D.!!!!! Texans are just not cut out for these low temperatures...my toes cannot seem to get warm! But, one good thing about this weather is Bobby got to stay home from work today and we were so glad to have him home. Brenley and I did not have school either; however I was kinda looking forward to it, since we missed all last week. Oh well. We have enjoyed our day, but Brenley is trying to decide if she wants to be sick or not. It all started last night....

At 10:30 last night I realized we were down to 4 diapers and with the bad weather coming, I knew we would not want to get outside today, so I nervously told Bobby because he was sleeping on the couch (oops), but he was happy to go -- you know, anything for his little girl. So he went to the store and maybe a run by Whataburger (since it was 11pm by this time). Right before we were about to go to bed, I hear Brenley fussing/whining. I go in there and discovered something that I have been dreading as a mom since I had her...she threw up! My poor baby! So we quickly cleaned her up and stripped her bed down. Then everything settles and I am rocking her back to sleep, it happens AGAIN--all. over. me.! In fact I leaned her toward me because I would rather me, than the upholstered rocking chair! :) After that clean up she finally went to sleep (in the pack-n-play). She slept great and woke up happy and hungry! Yay!

However, today she took two 2 1/2 hour naps -- ya'll this is long for my baby. I am usually happy to get 1 - 1 1/2 hour each time. But she was happy and playful in between. When it was time for dinner she did not eat much and had a low tempurature. Soooo, I am not sure what is going on in that little body of hers. Hopefully with all the sleeping, she is fighting off something. If she wakes up with a fever, then we will call the Dr. I prayed hard for her tonight -- gotta get this girl well!!

Other than all that, we had a great, productive and relaxing, family day at home!

Our cute girls checking out the snow/ice/sleet -- whatever it was

This is pretty much what she did all day! :)

An EVENTFUL trip to Beaumont...

2011-01-28T13:54:00.015-06:00

Kinda long, but had to document all of the details...

What a week this has been!! It all started last Friday--Brenley and I drove down to Beaumont to visit my parents, fun, right? Well it was not all fun, but it was eventful, to say the least. Bobby stayed back in Dallas because he is super busy at work. So Brenley and I left around 7:30 Friday morning. She acted great during the drive -- slept, ate a few snacks, played toys, etc. So we get there around 12:30 and eat some lunch at home with my mom. I noticed Brenley was not eating very much, which is odd for her, but didn't think too much of it. We also noticed a little later that she felt a little warm, so we took her temperature -- it was 100.5. Hmm...so we gave her some tylenol. She also had a little loose cough, which she had had for a few days, but no other symptoms, so there was not much the Dr or I could do at that time. So now, we have a cough, fever and lack of appetite all in the first few hours we are at my parents -- nice! BUT, she is acting completely normal and happy as can be!

So dinner rolls around and again she does not want anything I give her...hmmm! I decide to give her a bath and get her in her PJs. By the time this is all done we notice her breathing is very shallow and fast. This is what really concerned me. By this time it is about 6pm. I knew I would not sleep good knowing she was not breathing right, so we decided to take her to an urgent care facility. Of course, no one is really a fan of these places, but let me tell you, we get there around 6:45 and the place is completley empty -- no waiting! Praise the Lord! And on top of that, the staff is so nice and helpful! They get her in, check her breathing, ears, throat, etc and decide to take a chest xray.

The nurse practicioner comes and drops the bomb (in a nice, gentle way) that she has pneumonia and he recommends we take her to the ER to be admitted to the hospital...WHAT?!?! All at once the motherly emotions came out of no where and I started to cry. Thankfully my mom was there to console me! He shows us her xray and explained everything so great. Next they give her a steriod oral medicine and a breathing treatment! It was all happening so fast!

So I call Bobby and my most calm, yet urgent tone I tell him what is going on and try to keep him from freaking out. He tells me he has to let me go so he can start packing...and he got on the road at 9:30 to start his 5 hours drive (which really only took him about 4 :) ).

We head home to get a few things and make our way to the ER. After a little while in the ER we are taken back, checked out and sent to a room. It went downhill from there. My mom had been telling me, "you just tell me if you need to step out and I will stay with her"...I really didnt understand fully why I would want to step out, but when those nurses (plural) started HOLDING down my daughter to take blood and give her an IV (which took TWO tries), I looked at my mom, lost it and ran out in the hall to my dad! It was awful!!!!! After things settled, I went back in to hold my baby! She got an IV, blood drawn, got tested for RSV and got an oxygen mask put in her nose. She was so worn out from everything, plus it was probably 11:00pm by now.

We were then wheeled up to the Pediatric floor where we BOTH climbed into the hopsital CRIB bed and waited for "Dada" to get there. He finally arrived around 2:00am and my parents went home. She slept off and on, ON TOP of me that night and the next night. How can anyone sleep when nurses are bothering you every hour....boo!

Saturday was pretty low key in the room since she had to stay on the oxygen. We were able to take a few walks, but not for long. Saturday night was rough again. The tubes were on her nerves and MINE and she could not breathe through her nose. So I asked the nurse to do a nose suction -- "niave" me thought it would be that little blue bulb, but oh no, 3 nurses came in (at 4am!) and brought this big electric nose suction...we all held her down while they sucked everything, but her brain! It was so horrible, but it was so much better when they were done, she could BREATHE! Oh and her oxygen levels had been up so they had turned off her oxygen, but left the tubes in her nose (taped to her face) in case they needed to turn it back on, BUT this mama took matters into her own hands at a 3:30am I pulled that thing off of her face (nicely of course) because she COULD NOT sleep with it in. I did not even care if the nurses got mad -- but they didnt! :)

Sunday she was more alert and active and so glad to have those tubes out of her nose. So now we could walk around longer and play a little...yay! So we went on many walks around the pediatric floor! They also had a playroom, a wagon, and Barney DVDs...so those entertained us, I mean her, also. :)

By Monday, this girl was ready to be home. We were all tired of the IV and breathing treatmenst that she was having to get every 4 hours. I think I counted that she got about 16 treatments total. She was bouncing (literally) around in her bed! Thankfully we got released around 11:30am! We had some lunch and Bobby headed back to Dallas that afternoon. Brenley and I stayed in Beaumont until yesterday, to rest and actually visit my parents in a normal fashion for a few days.

We are home now and so glad to be in our own beds and back to NORMAL! It was a scary time and I am so glad it is over. I have not stopped kissing my girl since all of this happened. Makes me so THANKFUL for a healthy girl. We are off to get a follow up with our pediatrician this afternoon.

Here are a few pictures from our stay...

First night - she looks so pitiful

Saturday morning -- so glad to have Daddy there

Playing in her bed

Taking a walk around the hospital with the G-parents

Weee -- she loved the wagon!

Hi mom!

Daddy and her IV pole

More toys in bed

The nurse brought her a sucker...she still was not a fan of her though :)

WE ARE OUTTA HERE! (excuse the no makeup and Bobby's shaggy face -- we didnt really get dolled up in the hospital) :)

Thanks to all our family and friends for your prayers, thoughts, calls, texts, etc. The Soto family appreciates you so much! (and a SUPER DUPER thank you to my parents who sacrificed their whole weekend to spend it at the hospital with us. I could not have done it or handled it without you both!)

Brenley's FIRST Birthday Party

2011-01-09T20:52:00.009-06:00

I am so late posting about Brenley's first birthday party, but now that I am chasing around a 1 YEAR OLD, my blog is kinda being put on the back burner. But I HAVE to post these great pictures that Bobby's cousin, Taylor took for us so we could remember her big day! We had a blast and I think she did too! I could not have asked for a happier baby during her party! We are so grateful for the family and friends that came to help us celebrate!

Our little one year old!

She loved her cake - one lick at a time :)

Happy Birthday my sweet girl! You are the joy of our lives!!

Just had to put this in here -- this our girl on the same day, one year ago!

A Jolly Good Time - Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T22:31:00.007-06:00

Whew, what an eventful, fun and busy couple of weeks this has been! Lots of family, fun, food and memories! Let's see if I can recap all that we did over Christmas...

Well in the week leading up to Christmas, Brenley got pink eye...yuck! And the sweet daughter that she is, decided to share it with me! And then, hers decided to flare back up again for a couple of days, but after a trip to the doctor and two perscriptions we have finally conquered the pink eye!

Here is my poor baby on day 2. It looks awful, but thankfully she ate well and still smiled!

The day before Christmas eve, my parents took Brenley to a little train in Cedar Hill. My dad, Bobby and myself decided to cram in there with her. :)

Then on Christmas Eve we all went to see ICE at the Gaylord Texan. Very cool and VERY COLD! EVERYTHING is carved out of ice. If you have never been, I recommend it, but bring gloves!

Brenley actually fell alseep while we were in the nine degree area!

They have ice slides too -- so fun!

Later that night we had Christmas with Bobby's family.

She was pretty good with tearing that paper!

Family pic -- excuse the no eye makeup -- still getting over the pink eye

Christmas morning we discovered Santa had come!

Brenley in her new rocker!

She loves DVDs, well, mainly just carrying them around :)

Later that afternoon we went to my Nanny's to celebrate with my side of the family

Getting some assistance from Nana-D

She loves her sock monkey!

Playing with the cousin's Toy Story figures

Her very own wagon!

Well I think that about sums it up! We had a great time and really enjoyed Daddy being home for 6 whole days!

So grateful for family and their love - we made some great memories this year!

12 Months

2010-12-15T21:10:00.003-06:00

ONE YEAR!! One full YEAR since this little girl changed my life! I cannot even wrap my head around the fact that it has been a year because it has flown by so fast, but on the other hand if I think back to certain memories, they seem like forever ago. Very strange. But the hospital, delivery and bringing her home are so fresh in my mind and I pray they never leave!

This year has been so fun, yet so hard...so rewarding, yet so challenging. I have learned so much about being UNselfish in the last year. It really is ALL about Brenley and her needs and that was hard for this Momma to learn. (i.e. I love my sleep!) But when I look at that sweet face and see those hands reach out for me, it is ALL SO WORTH IT! Ok, before I start crying, let's get to the fun stuff...here is what my "baby" is doing these days...

SHE IS WALKING! Early in the month she was just doing a few steps at a time, but over Thanksgiving she started toddling around everywhere. Not much crawling anymore for this gal!
She got two more TEETH! So she officially has 8 teeth now.
She said 2 WORDS-- "Dadu" = thank you (must be prompted and will only do occasionally), and "uh oh"
LOVES on her baby -- she will rock it, hug it and pat it. Funny thing is, we did not teach her how to do this. Love how the Lord instills this in little girls.
She has started HUGGING us when we pick her up and I love it.
Met SANTA for the second time (the first time she was just 5 days old) and was not scared! :)
She is drinking COW'S MILK and did great with the transition. She is also done with bottles and has moved to sippy cups only. She did this pretty much on her own.
She starting to take longer naps -- Thank you Lord. They will last 1 1/2- 2 hrs at home and she takes one in the morning and one in the afternoon. She is also sleeping about 11-12 hours a night!
She is eating pretty much everything, although she recently started spitting out vegetables. Might need to pull out some tricks!

Well I think that is about it. We are having so much fun with this little girl. She is the highlight of her Daddy's day! Can't wait to see what this next year holds!

P.S. We had her party and it was chaotic fun! Bobby's cousin took pictures of it, so once she sends them I will dedicate a whole post to her party!

Look at her go!

2010-12-03T10:07:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it, but my little baby that I had just 11 SHORT months ago is walking around this house! And best of all she really started "taking off" over the Thanksgiving week while my parents were in town! So both grandparents got to see her new ackomplishment last week. So fun!

Here is a little video of the big girl!

On another note -- we started brushing Brenley's teeth last night. She currently has 6 teeth and 2 growing in..so it was time. She loved her toothpaste!

Serioulsy --is she growing up this fast!?!?

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-03T09:49:00.004-06:00

We had a great time with family over the Thanksgiving week! My parents were able to come into town for a whole 8 1/2 days!! We filled it with DBU Homecoming events, a Turkey Trot, a trip to the Dr office for my Nanny who fell and hurt her knee, cooking, eating, more cooking and more eating! It was fun!

Brenley enjoyed her first Thanksgiving mainly because she could eat ALL that was made and she loved every bite!

We spent Thanksgiving day with Bobby's parents eating and playing games and then Friday was spent at my Nanny's house with my side of the family. So glad we were able to spend time with both sides. Here are just a few pictures of our Thanksgiving!

Shoveling it in at GiGi's

Gigi and Jualito

Nanna-D introduced Brenley to a new game at Nanny's house, but some how Mom was the one that picked it all up when she was done. Hmm..

Brenley's cousins LOVE her!

More shoveling at Nanny's house

I think she is all practiced and ready for Christmas dinner now! Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

11 Months

2010-11-11T22:15:00.005-06:00

Well my baby is turning 11 months on 11/11! Fun, huh? 11 months, wow, well I don't want to think about what next month means, so let's just enjoy this 11 months while we can!! :) This girl is changing, growing, and learning so much everyday and it truly amazes me! Here is what my girl is doing these days...

She has taken 3 STEPS!! That is a record for now, but I am sure that will grow in the next month or so.
She is officially WEANED from nursing and it taking formula bottles 4 times a day. I have TRIED the sippy cup but she just bats it away -- strong willed? I think so!
She is eating lots of things these days including, Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets and she got her first taste of chocolate icing and sugar cookie at school!!! She LOVED IT!
She is starting to make some cute little faces these days and her personality is really starting to SHINE! That includes her little TEMPER as well...yes, I know this cute little girl, can sure get mad and arch that back...is it supposed to start this early? The strange thing is...she only does it for me...payback? probably.
She went Country/western DANCING when she stayed with my parents...she loved it and so did they!! This girl has music in her soul!
She POINTS her finger at different things!
She is still on the same sleep schedule and is doing good with her naps, especially on school days!! :)

HAPPY 11 MONTHS LITTLE GIRL!

(Can we make this month last as long as possible!!?)

Bienvenido a Miami!

2010-11-11T21:16:00.008-06:00

Bobby and I just returned from a trip to Florida!! We were in the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area and we had a great time! Brenley and Polo stayed with my parents in Beaumont and I am not sure they wanted to come home -- they had such a great time!

Here is a recap of our trip...

Tuesday night we drove down to Beaumont to drop off our babies and we spent the night, but headed out bright and early to Houston to fly out to Florida. That afternoon/evening we spent driving down the coast down to Miami. It was so pretty! Thursday we had to go to a convention center to attend a college fair. (This was the real reason for the trip -- Bobby had to go and work at this college fair). So we spent all of Thursday and Thursday evening at the fair. Friday, we drove down to Corral Gables (near Miami) to drive around the University of Miami campus. Bobby loves UM (their football team) and wanted to see the campus. That afternoon we drove down to Key Byscane, which is a really pretty little island thing -- the ocean was beautiful!! Saturday we went to the University of Miami football game. As I mentioned before, Bobby loves their football team (the Hurricanes) and has always wanted to attend a game, so this was the perfect time! It was our first time to attend a college football game and it was sooo fun! That night we went out for a really nice dinner at this Irish eatery -- it was yummy! AND I got Bobby to try shrimp and crab meat...he does not like seafood, or so he says, but actually thought it was "ok". :) Sunday we flew to Houston, drove to Beaumont, saw our girls (which was the best part), ate a yummy steak dinner at my parent's and stayed the night so we could drive home bright and early Monday morning!

Somewhere on the coast!

Bobby and the beach!

Driving into Miami -- the palm trees really are everywhere!!

University of Miami

me and my love

It was so beautiful out there!

Ready for the game -- except for appropriate shoes...sunny Florida, turned into chilly Florida!

The Hurricanes WON! Yay!

We missed Brenley and Polo, but it was nice to just spend some one on one time together...it might be a while before another trip alone! ;)

Halloween 2010

2010-11-11T21:02:00.004-06:00

I know it has been almost 2 weeks since Halloween, but I have been busy. :) Halloween was really fun this year with a little girl to dress up and tote around! We took our little hula girl to our church's fall festival. I think she was teething or something that night, so she was a little solemn, but still a cutie!!

P.S. Daddy requested she wear a onesie under her coconuts for church! :)

The cows can take over from here...

2010-10-27T16:05:00.003-05:00

Well, all the nursing bras, tanks, hooter hiders, boppy pillow and pumps are put away...yep, she has officially been weaned.

Very bittersweet -- bfeeding and I had a love/hate relationship. :) Those first 2 weeks of Brenley's life I thought it was going to get the best of me and I thought it was all I was going to do for the rest of my life. But day by day it got better and less time consuming/painful and became a special time for me and my girl. Although there were days I wanted to give up, I stuck to it and I am glad I did. I had hoped to make it to 12 months, but Bobby and I are taking a little trip to Florida, without Brenley, and lets just say, I was not going to carry around a pump while I was there!! So 10 months it was!

She is doing great with a bottle and so is mommy!

Until the next baby...

(p.s. no pictures for this blog! :))

First Pumpkin/Costume Party!

2010-10-24T15:47:00.005-05:00

Our friends Melissa and Jon hosted a Pumpkin Party last night and we had so much fun dressing the babies up for their first Halloween activity. I am not sure if the babies had as much fun as we did, but that's ok!

Brenley is a Hula girl this year for Halloween. I could not decide what she was going to be and then my parent's went to Hawaii and my mom calls me from an Island and tells me they have some super cute Hula outfits for babies, sooo she snatched one up for Brenley!

Daddy allowed her to go shirtless this night!

C. U. T. E.

Adorable babies!! Brenley=hula girl, Tatus=Minnie mouse, Gage=Tiger, Avery=Bunny, Kennedy=Cowgirl!

I think this is the only time you will see a Hula girl with a big belly! ;)

Then the girls decorated cookies!

It was a fun night!! Thanks Grimes!

Dallas Arboretum

2010-10-24T15:22:00.003-05:00

We had some "Fall" fun at the Dallas Arboretum the other day with our friends Andrea and Luke! The pumpkin patch there is so beautiful and it was nice to just walk around and enjoy the weather.

Bren was not really in the mood for a photo session that day, so this is the best we got! :)

P.S. yes, we are getting alot of wear out of her Halloween onsie -- thanks Nana-D. Also, thanks to Andrea for the invite!!

These made me SMILE!

2010-10-21T23:38:00.004-05:00

Stylin in her boots!

She has discovered the rails in her crib!

ICE CREAM IS COOOOLD!

Getting brave with that cruising!

Hope they made you smile too!!

Green Meadows Petting Farm

2010-10-18T20:40:00.004-05:00

A little over a week ago, Brenley and I went with my MOPS group to the Green Meadows Petting Farm. It was a fun day and Brenley enjoyed looking at all of the animals. She was not a fan of the hay though! ;)

10 Months

2010-10-12T21:16:00.006-05:00

Whoa--we are now in the double digits and it is really so crazy to me!! This little girl is growing so fast and I think I have a love/hate relationship with it! :) Sometimes I look at her and still see that itty-bitty baby and other times I look at her, I see a "big" girl! She is one busy girl and amazes me everyday. Here are some things that she is doing at 10 months old...

She has 4 TEETH on top and 2 on bottom! Those top ones just came in so quick and when she smiles she looks so old.
Is eating more and more SOLIDS -- I usually pack turkey and cheese pieces for her lunch at school -- that is not a baby's lunch! She also like chicken pieces, actually banana chunks, spagetti meat and noodles, bread, and tortilla!
She can STAND on her own for a few seconds at a time! Sometimes she doesnt even know she is doing it. It still amazes me everytime!!
She is getting faster and braver with her CRUISING!
She visited the ZOO for the first time! She loved people watching and occasionally looking at the animals. :)
She finally had to have her TOENAILS CLIPPED! Yes, 10 months old and just had her toe nails clipped for the first time. Crazy, huh? They just were not long enough until recently.
Sat in a real (little) chair at a little table at school -- she looked so big and independent! :(
She had pumpkin cookies for the first time -- this is a "Fall" must in my family! She smacked them -- smack=love
She can CLAP ON DEMAND which is so cute! She also loves to mimic us smacking our lips!
She now gets a bottle for her morning, 11am and 3pm feeding! Yes, I am slowly WEANING her. I just took out the morning nursing yesterday and it is kinda sad that I only nurse her once a day now. (I NEVER thought I would say that!!!) She does great with the formula and usually takes about 8 oz, 4x a day!
She is sleeping so good these days -- 11-12 hours with 2 naps a day around an hour each.

Whew, I am so proud of all that she is doing and cannot wait to see what the this month will hold!

Happy 10 Months!

Just had to add this cute one!

Fun days around the Soto House!

2010-10-09T17:10:00.006-05:00

What a fun month it has been! Brenley is doing some many things and her little personality is really shining through! She makes my heart smile everyday! Here are just a few fun pics I thought I would share...

Brenley standing on her OWN - well for a few seconds anyway!

Nude reading, anyone??

Bobby had another day off yesterday and we went to the park for the first time with Brenley. We may have had more fun than she did! ;)

Swings are serious business

Today Cedar Hill had their annual "Country Day on the Hill" and we went to the Parade this morning to watch Bobby's sister and her cheer squad walk in the parade!

Ready for some action!

"Throw me some candy!!!"

Go Trinity! (Serena is the front on the far right)

I love fall and I love the stage Brenley is at right now...can we just freeze time?!?

Zoo, Weenie Races, and Anniversary - whew!

2010-10-07T16:10:00.011-05:00

In the last week or so we have had some fun days! Last Friday, Bobby took off work and planned a day for us to go to the zoo! Our anniversary was that Saturday, so this was kinda our day together - with a baby! :) It was such a great day...Brenley slept til 8:00, we were lazy around the house, packed our lunches for the day, got ready with no rush and made our way (15 mins) to the Dallas zoo! Neither of us had been there in years and it was so nice. They have done a ton of renovations and added so much. We knew that Brenley would not be able to "comprehend" alot of what was going on, but we loved it and thought she would enjoy looking at things! She did so great and did not get tired until it was almost time to leave. It was pretty much a PERFECT day!

Ready to go in!

So stylish!

She gets so excited!!

Loves the view!

Bren just "monkeying" around ;)

Later that night, my mom came in town! She came in mainly to see her grand-dog run in the Weiner Dog Races in Southlake! That's right, Polo ran in the Weenie races for her 3rd year in a row!! It was so fun! She again, won her first race and then lost in the semi-finals. :( My mom is a weenie dog lover too and loved getting to see over 200 weenie dogs running around. It was fun cheering Polo on, along with Kara and all the boys, Nanny and of course, Brenley! Brenley was so proud of her sister and so were we! You can read about her past Weenie Race experiences here and here! :)

Nanna-D, Nanny and Brenley waiting for the races to start!

Getting ready!

Saturday was our sixth wedding anniversary! We really did not do anything by ourselves (we went to dinner with my mom and Nanny- haha), but we are looking forward to a trip, by ourselves, to Florida the first week in November! We cannot wait!! I can't believe it has been six years -- so much has changed, but I can definitly say God has blessed us beyond what we could have wished for! We were talking about all that we have done and been blessed with in the last 6 years and it blew me away and the timing on all of it has been perfect! We haven't always seen it as perfect, but God knew what we needed, when we have needed it! We are so grateful and look forward to many more years to come together!!

It has been a great week and Brenley turns 10 months next week! ahhh!!! :)

9 Months

2010-09-14T20:19:00.007-05:00

I can't believe it...Brenley is now 9 Months old...that is how long I was pregnant and let me just say that having her here for 9 months has gone by A LOT FASTER than my pregnancy! :) She is doing so many great and fun things these days! In the last month, this girl has had so many "firsts". It seemed like everytime I turned around she was doing something new!!! Here are a few updates on my 9 month old...

She is WAVING! It is the cutest thing ever. It started out with one hand and now she does it with both hands at the same time.
She said "DA-DA"...Bobby loves this! She doesn't always say it TO him, but it is sweet anyway!
And as of tonight...she said "MOMMA"!!!!!! I am so happy...she doesn't say it to me either, but it is good enough!
Both of her TOP TEETH started coming in. AND I just looked in her mouth tonight and THIRD top tooth is coming in. She will have 5 teeth soon!!!
She is CLAPPING! I worked so hard with her on this one and a few weeks ago she got really excited and started clapping and then I think I scared her because I got so excited that she did it.
She likes to DANCE/BOUNCE to music...cutest thing ever.
She is CRUISING around the furniture and walking behind her walker toy!
She started sporting a new hair style...half ponytail on the side! Gotta keep that hair out of her face.
Started going to "school" -- I started working part-time for a preschool at Hillcrest Baptist Church, 2 days a week, and she goes to the infant class. She LOVES it and her teachers love her! It makes me happy to know she is enjoying it!
Nanny and Nanna-D painted her toenails for the first time - without my consent or knowledge...haha, but it was cute!
We had to BABY PROOF all of the cabinets because little miss is crawling everywhere!
I recently started giving her a bottle for her 11am feeding, so I am down to 3 nursings a day (4 feedings for her). She eats cereal in the morning, some food for lunch, and a dinner (meat and veggie)
Her new favorite food is tortilla pieces and refried beans...she is going to be a Mexican food lover like her Momma!! We just started cheese too and she loves it. She is started to feed herself too!
She is not sleeping as well as she used to...with all the teeth coming in, she has had her nights of waking up a few times. She also seems to get up earlier these days...yuck! She sleeps a good 9-10 hours though!

Whew...this girl is doing a lot these days and sometimes I just need her to slow down! She just blows me away. I love our days together and I love picking her up when we have school...her smile melts my heart! A lot of people are saying she looks like Bobby these days and that is just fine with me cause he is not too bad lookin! ;)

I am one proud MOMMA!!!!

Water, Ponytails, and Sleeping

2010-08-27T16:00:00.004-05:00

Kind of a random title, I know, but it sums up the blog pretty well! This little girl of mine is growing so fast and learning even faster! She has had so many "firsts" this month, but I will save those for her 9 month blog. She is so fun to be around and I can't get enough! Just thought I would share some sweet little pictures to show you what I mean...

We went to the fountains in Uptown Cedar Hill with Melissa, Brooke and the kids. Here is Brenley splashing in the fountain!

It has been so hot lately so I just had to put Brenley's hair in a ponytail! Ahh, so cute, but she looks too old! :)

I also started doing this hair do with a bigger bow -- had to stop with the small bows cause she was taking them out and sucking on them. She looks like such a little girl!

(this makes me laugh -- looks like she is trying to hide the fact that I am kissing her!)

I have found her in some odd sleeping positions lately during nap time. Here she is asleep with her hand on her music machine.

And then here she fell asleep sitting up! :)

Wow, she makes my heart happy! Oh and we are both starting Mothers Day Out next week. Well I am teaching a 2 yr olds class and she will be going to her little class! Next week is a training week for me, so she will go 4 days in a row -- yikes and then just Tues and Thurs after that. I am a nervous mama, being that she has never done any childcare other than the nursery. I am praying all goes well -- for the both of us!

8 Months

2010-08-11T12:37:00.007-05:00

My Brenley Bear is 8 months old today!! She is getting so big, so fast! If I think back to December 11th and picture that sweet, tiny newborn, it is crazy to me that she just layed there and now 8 short months later, she is crawling, pulling up and getting into everything!! Even as I type this, she is trying to crawl over my legs to get to the laptop and bang on the keys! Babies change and grow and learn so much in the first year of their life!

Here are a new things that Brenley is doing at 8 months of age...

She knows her name and will turn around when she is called. But now we know that when she does not turn around, she is ignoring us! :)
She is officially CRAWLING everywhere! And she is getting fast too! This makes our days a lot more interesting.
She is PULLING UP - on anything she can get her little hands on. This also means she falling and hitting her head on things also -- this of course makes mommy and daddy sad!
She got her FIRST HAIRCUT! It was not much, just a little snip, but it needed to be cleaned up a little. :)
She hears the words "NO-NO" a lot during the days as she tries to get into things that are dangerous or as my Nanny says are "none of her business" :)
She has tried some new foods like blueberries, watermelon, potatos and cheese. Oh and ice cream and Sweet tea! :)
We moved her mattress down since she is now pulling up! I love to see her standing in her bed with a huge grin in the morning and after her naps.
She is enjoying the summer swimming and visiting friends!!
She still nurses 4x a day and eats a fruit and cereal in the morning, and a veggie/fruit in the evening. She likes to drink water from her sippy cup too!
She is still sleeping great -- about 11 hours!

I love this little girl more and more everyday and she has changed our lives forever! I hate that she is having some "stranger anxiety", but I do LOVE that she reaches back for me and gets excited to see me! This next month will have some changes as I start my part time job at Hillcrest church as a Mothers day out teacher and she starts in her class, but I think we will both enjoy it! Each month is more and more fun and exciting!

I love you Brenley Marie!!!

8 Months!!

Tired of the photo shoot!

Just thought this was cute -- I guess she wanted to do her laundry! :)

Life on the Move

2010-08-08T16:01:00.005-05:00

Well Brenley has been full out crawling for almost a month now and our lives are more "exciting" these days. She keeps me busy chasing her around and getting her "unstuck" from places! She is also pulling up on things so that keeps me always watching as well. Here are few pics of her new adventures lately.

Help, I am stuck!

Uh oh, I am caught!

Hmm, what is back here!?!

This could be more fun than bath time!

A little video of her crawling and "playing" with Polo

And here are just some random shots from the last couple of weeks...

Headed to a wedding with Daddy

Mmmm, Nanny loves to give me drinks of water. I wear more than I get in my mouth :)

My friend Gage Erwin!

My new bath seat -- thanks Jill! Mommy loves that she can be hands free!!!

Love this giggle face!!

Well that is about it for now...8 months old is in just a few days...where did the time go!?!

Beaumont with the Family

2010-08-01T11:35:00.006-05:00

A little over a week ago, Bobby, Brenley, Polo and I loaded up the Jeep and headed off to Beaumont to spend a week with my parents! We had a great time and did some fun things. My brother also came back from Greece while we were there, so it was good to see and visit with him also!

Here are some of the fun things we did while we were there!

Well the first BIG thing we did was get Brenley's haircut! We got it cut by Louise - she used to cut my hair when I lived in Beaumont! Brenley was great the whole time!

We also made a trip to G-Daddy's office! This is Brenley playing the mail bin. :)

Taking a bath in Nana-D's sink!

We took a FUN trip to Kemah!! We rode rides, ate yummy food and just enjoyed the evening! Oh yeah and I got pooped on the head by a bird -- grrrr!

Bobby and I got to go on date while Nana-D and G-Daddy babysat!!

She enjoyed looking out the backdoor!

We went to visit my old neighbor, Sarah (on the right) and her new baby! (her mom is on the left)

We also went to Houston to visit my long time friend, Shara and her new baby, Emily

Here are our moms holding their grand-daughters. 29 short years ago, they were holding me and Shara like this!! :)

Brenley enjoyed checking her facebook while we were there! :)

We had such a great time while we were there! I still love going back "home"! Can't wait to do it again. Thanks G-Daddy and Nana-D for having us -- and spoiling us!

First Haircut

2010-07-22T22:02:00.004-05:00

Brenley got her first haircut today -- well it was just a trim, but it is something to document! She literally only got less than half an inch trimmed all around the edges, but it just evened everything up. I think it actually made it curl a little more. The average person probably cannot tell, but Mama knows! :) Oh, and of course we saved the little pieces of hair -- I had too -- those were the hairs she had when she first came into this world!!

She did so good and Daddy and I were so proud! It was also fun because the lady that cut it, is the person that cut my hair when I lived in Beaumont and she still cuts my mom's hair. We love Louise!

I am currently in Beaumont and forgot my camera cord, so I cannot download my pictures, BUT I was able to get my video uploaded. (And, yes, she is playing with a roller! :) Anything to keep her happy!)

Bringing back Kickball!

2010-07-15T16:59:00.005-05:00

When the world cup was going on, Bobby's office decided to do a little "Office Cup"of their own. So a couple of weeks ago, they split the office up and played a friendly game of soccer. This past Monday, they changed it up a bit and played Kickball! Bobby asked me if I wanted to play and I said of course -- I am always up for some competition! It was a lot of fun and our team WON!

I thought it would be fun to dress Brenley in a shirt for her Daddy, so here it is!

Daddy's #1 Fan!

She was worn out from watching the game and you can tell from her shirt, just how HOT it was! She downed her bottle and some water!

On another note, I think this pic is cute of Brenley. She definitely loves to put things in her mouth. :)

7 Months

2010-07-12T11:20:00.006-05:00

Really, I think this has been the fastest 7 months of my life! This little girl keeps up busy, entertained and on our toes at all times, but we would not have it any other way. I can honestly agree with each mom out there, that each month does get better and more fun! It is so crazy to me how much they grow and learn in the first year of life.

Here are some of Brenley Marie's milestones of month 7:

Baby food is in full swing and she has tried many things! Some that we introduced in the past month are squash, prunes, peaches, blueberries and apricots. We have also given her Gerber puffs (which she loves), refried beans, the occastional ice cream bite -- shhh dont tell the Dr! :)
She is ON THE MOVE! She has been semi-mobile for about a month now, but just in the last couple of weeks, she is really making improvement and can make it across the room before I know it. She takes about 4-6 real crawls and then will fall on her tummy and scoot. I can't say I am really ready for this, but I dont think I have a choice.
She is very interested in Polo and Polo's bone -- however, I am not sure Polo enjoys the attention!
She BOUNCED TO MUSIC! She has only done this once, but it was so cute and surprised us all when she did it. My mom was playing a musical toy for her and she just started bouncing - on beat. So cute and funny!
Had her 6 month check up -- She has gained 9 lbs and grown 5 1/2 inches since birth!
She can sit back up from the crawl position. This surprised Bobby and I one night, when she was on her tummy one minute and sitting back up the next!
She moved up to the crawler room in our nursery at church! She loves this room so much better than the infant room. :)
Watched fireworks on the fourth of July!
Still nursing 4 times a day and has cereal in the morning and a veggie and fruit at dinner time.
Sleeps 11-12 hours a night with 2 naps (1 hr each) during the day! However, 2 days last week she slept til 10am (13 hours), but I think she was exhausted from her fun with Nana-D!

She is really fun right now and I LOVE to hear that giggle! She plays so well and loves when her Daddy comes home! I think this month is going to be interesting as she is getting more mobile, but I love how each day is different!

This face cracked me up!!

Happy 7 months baby girl! We love you!!

Time to Play Catch Up

2010-07-11T21:27:00.013-05:00

I have meaning to post for days now and I am finally making myself do it. :) The past few weeks have been busy and fun and we have lots of pictures to prove it!

A couple of weeks ago Brenley had her 6 month check up and all was great! Little girl had to get some shots, but was such a champ and only cried for a minute. She weighs 17lbs 10 oz and was 26 1/2 inches long. I can't believe how fast she is growing!

She really LOVES Dr. Towns - and so do I! (p.s. he was my pediatrian back in the day! :))

This kept her VERY entertained while we waited for Dr. Towns. It was quite hilarious!

It has also been very hot in the last few weeks so we broke out Brenley's little pool to cool off one afternoon. She loved it and I secretly wished I could have fit in there with her. :)

I just had to put Polo in there to see how they would act. Polo quickly jumped out. oh well!

My little fish!

The last week in June, my mom came in town to stay for a whole week. Then the following Friday, my dad drove in to meet up with her. We had a very fun, busy, and exhausting time while they were here! We shopped til we dropped, literally, ate way to much food and just enjoyed eachother's company. During the weekend that my dad was here, we went to Stonebriar mall in Frisco and G-Daddy was not going to leave until he let Brenley ride the Merry-go-round. It was fun!

Getting ready to get on!

I think she was more interested in the strap than the actual ride. Maybe next year!

That same weekend was also the 4th of July. We had a great time spending it with family. Sunday, after church, we headed over to my brother's house for some good food, then we headed to see fireworks! Since we were out in the Keller area, Rachel and her family met up with us. It was fun to see Presley and Brenley hang out together.

All ready for church in her Red, White and Blue!

My All American Girl!

Nephews watching the fireworks! (I love my Nanny's face in this pic!)

Brenley even watched them for a bit!

Rachel with Brenley and me with Presley

BFFs! Such beauties!

Then last, but not least, my best friend, since 6th grade (and college roomate), Kristy, had her baby boy, Gage Ryan Erwin, on June 27th. This was my third or fourth time to see him, but I finally remembered to take a picture this time. So glad that she is now a mommy and so glad that Gage and Brenley will grow up together! Congrats to the Erwins! Your little man is so handsome!

What a handful!

Brenley looks so big next to little Gage!

Love this girl and I cannot believe we are both Mommies!

Well I think that about catches me up, although Brenley turned 7 months today, so that means I need to get her 7 month milestones and her chair picture on here...hopefully tomorrow! Speaking of tomorrow, my good friend, Melissa is having her baby girl, Tatum tomorrow. So many friends for Brenley...I love it! That's all I got tonight!

Birthday and Father's Day!

2010-06-21T15:07:00.008-05:00

Wow, Sunday was a fun-filled day of celebrating!! It was my 29th Birthday and Bobby's first Father's Day!

The Birthday celebration started out on Saturday with a fun trip to Stonebriar mall in Frisco with Bobby and Brenley. Then later that night we dropped Brenley off at my Nanny's and enjoyed a fun dinner with friends at Pappasitos - delish!

Sunday, Brenley decided to get this Birthday Girl up at 7:15am, thanks baby girl, but it was good because it gave us time to get ready and do some gifts before church. We also got to the nursery early so Bobby could do "Donuts with Dad" with Brenley. Bobby had a donut, Brenley some banana. :) Bobby can never wait to give me my present on my actual birthday so I got it the day before, but he did atleast save his sweet card til Sunday morning. He recieved all of his Father's day gifts Sunday morning and he loved them!

We headed to church, where Bobby embarrassed me by announcing to our class that it was my birthday and they all broke out into song! Gotta love him! I did love that he got to stand up this year in our service and be recognized for being a Daddy. I was so proud!

After church, we met Bobby's family for lunch for more celebrating! After a huge meal, all I wanted was a long nap and Brenley gave me the best present ever -- she slept over 2 hours, so that meant I slept for almost 2 hours!! THANK YOU! After our naps we headed over to the Soto's for some swimming! We had a blast! Oh and Sherry made me Chocolate cupcakes with no icing - my fav!! AND my little brother called me from Greece, where he is doing Mission work all summer. Sadly, I missed his call, but was so surprised and honored to get his voicemail!

We wrapped up the night with baths and relaxation! I must say this was a very fun birthday and I think Bobby enjoyed his first Father's day as well!!

Polo's Escape

2010-06-21T14:46:00.007-05:00

So last Friday I had a huge scare!! Polo got out from the backyard and it took me 10 VERY long minutes to find her. I had just gotten home from a friend's house and Polo needed to go outside (in the back). As soon as I opened the door she went flying out and ran straight over to this small hole at the bottom of our fence. I am assuming she saw something go through it...but I really don't want to think about what it was. Anyways, I yelled at her to stop and go potty. So she did and seemed like she just wanted to wander around. So I closed the door, put Brenley down for a nap, did a couple of things around the house and decided she needed to come back in. I yelled out the door, but she didn't come -- pretty normal, so I put some food in her bowl...I think she would be able to hear this from Canada and always comes running, but NOTHING! I thought this was strange so I went outside and started looking for her...NOTHING! I went back in, thinking maybe I had let her in not realizing it...but NOTHING! I went BACK outside to check again...and then started to panic!! I called Bobby and immediatly started crying saying "Polo is gone!". He told me he was on his way and we hung up. I decided to go back outside to search but this time around the corner behind our house. AND WHO DO YOU THINK I FOUND!?!? -- a little brown weenie dog sniffing around in our neighbor's yard!!! I called for her and started to walk toward her and she took off running (GRRR!), but luckily some people were getting out of their car and Polo can't resist people so she ran straight to them. The lady could tell I was trying to get her so she picked her up and held her until I could get there. Let's just say after she was in my possession, she got about 6 spankings! As soon as we got in the house, she ran straight for her bowl to eat the food that I had put in there earlier (darn it, she probably thought she was good or something) and then went and hid under my bed for 30 minutes! Oh and I called Bobby to tell him she was found! Whew, it really had me scared! Our only guess is that she got out through that hole she was sniffing at earlier. I think she broke some of the wood and made it bigger, but it was still really small, so she must have really sucked in!! The neighbor behind us only has a fence on 2 sides of his backyard, so once she got in his yard it was FREEDOM!

Sooo, later that night, Polo got a new necklace! And Daddy will be patching the hole soon!

Here she is hiding under our bed!! :)

6 Months

2010-06-11T11:24:00.008-05:00

Well I cannot even believe I am writing a post about my little baby being 6 months old -- A half of a year!! She has changed and grown so much in these 6 short months, it is crazy! Six months ago today we were blessed with a gift. If you would have asked me then if I would love her this much, I don't think I would have thought I could. What a fun and challenging ride it has been!

Here are a few milestones and accomplishments that Brenley has done at 6 months...

She is eating BABY FOOD! She has had bananas, peas, sweet potatos, green beans, pears and apples. She loved the sweet potatos and pears and hated the green beans! :)
She has TWO TEETH BUDS! We felt them a couple of weeks ago and they are slowly growing in together!
She is wanting to CRAWL! She gets into position and just rocks back and forth. I think we will have a mobile baby sooner than later!
She can STAND WITH ASSISTANCE. We stood her in front of the couch and let go and she stayed up there!
She SITS IN HER HIGHCHAIR! The one at home and in restaruants. She loves that she can see what is going on now.
She SITS IN THE STORE BUGGY! She really likes riding this way so she can see what is going on and smile at people. :)
She is down to 4 nursings a day. We were doing 5, but just recently we started substituting the 5:30 feeding for baby food. (If you would have told me this back in December I would have laughed -- of course we were doing 9 feedings then!)
She sleeps 10-11 hours a night and takes 2 good naps during the day. She has started napping 1-2 hours at a time. Such an approvement from the 30 min cat naps. THANK YOU!

She is such a good baby and I really could not ask for anything more. Her hair is getting so long and ponytails will be a must for the summer! I love that I am home with my sweet girl and I think she likes it too! ;)

Here is our 6 month picture -- and a few others for your enjoyment!

She look like such a big girl!

So serious

Oh I had to put this one in there!

Um, Bren, let's not play with Polo's bone please!

Rocking some shoes!

Happy 6 months baby girl!!

First Swim!

2010-06-09T16:40:00.003-05:00

Today Brenley and I headed over to Melissa's mom's house to swim. We were a little disappointed because it rained half of the day, but it let up just long enough for us to get out there for about an hour. It was not sunny though, but still nice enough to swim. This was Brenley's first time to swim in a big pool and she loved it. Of course she was a little nervous at first, but she definitely warmed up to it and was all smiles. AND, of course she was just sooo cute in her little swimsuit.

Ready for the pool!

Let's jump Mom!

WEEEEE!

Fun float!

Whew that was so fun!

We look forward to many more fun swimming days! Thanks Mel!

Video Catch Up

2010-06-08T19:44:00.003-05:00

I have been meaning to post some videos of Brenley and keep forgetting...so this post is dedicated to Nana-D (my mom) who has requested to see her grand-daughter in action!

While I am doing this I might as well start from the beginning. Don't worry, I am not uploading all the videos I have, but here are a few from over the past 6 months. I don't want to bore anyone out there, but I just wanted to get these on here. Watch if you want. I know Nana-D will! :)

I love this video - this is us bringing Brenley home from the hospital. Polo's reaction is priceless. Brenley looks so tiny!

This one she is a little over a month old.

Another old one -- Daddy getting her to smile. This is when smiling was a "new" thing for us!

She is about 4 months in this one - really getting her to giggle here!

Skipping to more recent - we got this toy monkey for her the other day and she loves it!

Here she is eating her dinner - veggie and fruit. Such a good eater!

And finally, this is her trying to crawl!

WOW - she has changed so much over the last few months! I hope to get better at posting videos -- they sure are more fun than still pictures! :)

Faster than I can blog...

2010-06-07T13:58:00.000-05:00

This little girl is growing up faster than I can blog about it!! Everyday she does something new or looks a little older. I really cannot handle it and wish she would slow down just a bit. It is fun though to see how much changes in just a week or two. One thing I love to do is write down all the new things she does or tries in this calendar my sis-in-law gave me. (Thanks Kara!) She did this for her boys and I just had to do it for Brenley. I write things down like when she first slept more than 3 hours at a time (ha!), to when she first sat up and everything in between. It is so fun to go back to December and January and see how far we have come. (Especially in the sleep dept!)

As I write, she is jumping in her jumper (talking to herself) and it amazes me that she is the same baby that used to just lay there. :) Six months is right around the corner and I cannot believe it. She is so fun right now and I know it will just get better!

Here are a few pictures from her recent adventures and some firsts...

Brenley's first Ponytail!

First time in the highchair at home!

Playing with my new snail toy - courtesy of Nana-D and G-Daddy

She is trying so hard to crawl - it will be any day I think!

Two teeth coming in!

First time in the highchair - at chickfila!

I Love my Daddy!

We had a play date with 3 of my college friends - (Cara, Janae and Rachel) and their daughters

We all had girls with in about 8-9 weeks of eachother!!

Berkley was born at the end of November and Bren, Jae and Presley were all born in December!

First time in the store buggy - she loved it!

She is so interested in Polo right now and Polo loves the attention and loves licking her...YUCK!

Well I am off to play with my girl who is now fussing in the jumper! :)

May Happenings

2010-05-27T11:28:00.000-05:00

Quite a bit has happened in the last couple of weeks! We have been busy! Well just a few days after my last post, Bobby was admitted to the hospital for a staph infections in his knee. This was quite a shocker to us, especially me, who did not believe him when he called to tell me he was on his way to the hospital. He started noticing a bite of some sort a few days before Mother's day. It kept getting worse (looking infected) so I adviced him to go to the doctor, but of course, being a man, he thought he was fine. Well luckily on Mother's day we ate with his mom and she adviced him to go the Dr as well and he listened to her...hmmm. :) So on Monday he went to the Dr. and he put him on an oral antibiotic. He took this for 2 days and went in for a follow up on Wednesday. The dr sent him straight over to the hospital because he stated that it looked worse and the medicine was not taking care of it. So long story short, he was in the hospital Wednesday - Friday morning. I was a crazy woman trying to wear the "wife hat" and the "mother hat". Brenley could not be at the hospital (which was 25 minutes away!), so I was finding people to keep her and nursing/pumping, and going home at night to stay with her. It was a whirlwind, but we made it through and it gave me a whole new appreciation for Bobby!! Thanks to my Nanny and Bobby's parents for keeping her those 2 days!!

We were supposed to go down to Beaumont on that Thursday night, but with Bobby being in the hospital, that was not happening. Our plan was to be in Beaumont for my brother's graduation on that Saturday. So we played it by ear and luckily Bobby was released around 8:30 Friday morning. He felt good, so we packed and hit the road by 11am! We had a great time in Beaumont with all of my family, celebrating Kendal's graduation! The plan was to come back on Sunday, but when I found out my parents were going to be coming to Dallas the following weekend, I asked Bobby if he would mind if Brenley and I stayed the week with my parents. Being the sweet husband that he is, he said yes! So Brenley and I stayed the whole week in Beaumont relaxing and spending time with my parents and brother. It was wonderful! So then, Bren and I headed back to Dallas on Friday night with my parents and we were so ready to see Bobby and he was so ready to see "his girls"!

Saturday was then filled with many activities - Nephew's soccer game, youngest nephew's bday party, friend's son's bday party, then our friend's bday get together!! Whew! Sunday was church and then a baby shower. Needless to say we were pooped from our week and weekend, but it sure was fun!

Oh and then I have been dealing with an eye allergy/infection for a month now! It started out with my contact really bothering me, so I went to the Dr and discovered I had a bad infection from allergies in both eyes (one worse than the other). So I have been out of my contacts and taking drops for a little over a month now. I went back today for my 4th check up and it is still there but much better, so I can wear my contacts occasionally and still continue my drops. Not fun!

Hopefully our little family is on the mend and things will slow down for us a little bit in the next few weeks. Glad summer is here, but I hate the HOT! Here is to many days in the baby pool (which Brenley hates) :)!

Pics to come from Graduation and our week in Beaumont (that is a hint to my mom to upload and send soon!)

Happy Thursday!!

Resemblance? I think so...

2010-05-11T21:35:00.000-05:00

This is Nanna-D (my mom) at 3 1/2 months...

And Brenley at 4 months...

My mom again...

And Bren...

I think they are both pretty darn CUTE!!

5 Months

2010-05-11T09:55:00.001-05:00

This day really snuck on me...I almost forgot it was her 5 month birthday! I really cannot believe this is going by so fast, but everyone did warn me. Brenley is changing and learning new things everyday and some days I cannot believe she is mine! It seems like forever ago that we were in the hospital, but then again it feels like yesterday...wierd. Here are some of her accomplishments at age 5 months!

She is ROLLING OVER - both tummy to back and back to tummy. She accomplished the back to tummy first and then started the tummy to back in her sleep.
She is SWADDLE FREE! A few weeks ago we found her on her tummy in her swaddle. This scared me so we did away with the swaddle. I was so nervous, but she has done pretty good. That first week had some early morning wake ups, but she is back in her routine!
She is still sleeping a good 10-12 hours.
We had her 4 month appt and she weighed in at 15lbs 13oz and was almost 25inches long.
We started CEREAL! I started her out at 1 tablespoon, but last night she ate almost 3 tablespoons!
She is SITTING UP! I think this is kinda early to be doing this, but she is and has gone as long as almost 10 minutues without falling over. Even for her birthday pic I tried to sit her back against the chair and she kept sitting herself up and forward. We practice this new trick everyday!
She went on her first DADDY/DAUGHTER date! Mommy went out with some friends and Daddy and Brenley went to Chick-fil-A. The only instruction from Mommy was, NO sweet tea for Brenley!
She has been waiting 2-3 days in between poops, so this has caused some pretty BIG diapers...YUCK!

We are having so much fun with our little girl and I pray the next 5 months do not go by as fast as these have. :)

Happy 5 Months, Brenley!!

First Mother's Day

2010-05-10T12:06:00.000-05:00

It was my first Mother's Day this year and it was so fun! I loved that I had a reason to celebrate Mother's Day for myself this year! Bobby, Brenley and I went out for Mexican food on Saturday night and Bobby surprised me with a "MOM" charm for my charm bracelet! Love it! Then Sunday they gave me a card (with a very sweet message) and a gift certificate to go and get a mani/pedi! After church, we met Bobby's family for lunch at Johnny Carinos (YUM) and then I went and got my mani/pedi while Bobby watched Brenley. It was so nice!! Then we just hung out and were lazy the rest of the day and it was just what I needed! It was so fun to be acknowledged by family, friends and a church family. (I got to stand up this year when they recognized all the moms...yay!)

My little family

Me and my girl

Such a sweet gift and creative too!

Relaxing with my favorite little girl!!

Just want to give a shout out to my mom for being so great and encouraging me, answering silly questions about Brenley, and just listening to all my stories! Mother's Day took on a whole new meaning this year and I truly can say thank you and Happy Mother's day to my mom this year!! You are the best!!!

Thanks Brenley and Bobby for being the best little family a Mommy could ask for! Love you both!!

Catch up time - through pictures

2010-05-10T11:52:00.000-05:00

I have learned to sit up on my own - atleast for a short amount of time.

This is my new favorite toy -- thanks to Kara for letting us borrow it...it is way fun!

I got to meet my Great Great Aunt Annettte from Austin!

With my Daddy - isn't he handsome

My Daddy was feeding me cereal

We went to Melissa's shower and here are some friends I hung out with - Presley and Isabelle

Just hanging on the couch

Here are the mommies - hurry Gage and Tatum, I am ready to meet you!

Just hanging with two of my favorite people!

My Polo sister - I am really noticing her these days and I think she is so funny!

Two crazy weekends and some fun in between!

2010-04-25T13:03:00.000-05:00

The last 10 days or so have been so fun and SO busy, I feel like I need a day just to get myself together. It all started last weekend when my parents came into town. They got in Thursday night and Brenley and I spent the night at my Nanny's with them so we could get up and go the next day. Friday was filled with shopping, pictures and eating with more family. We met Chris, Kara and the boys for dinner that night to celebrate my Nanny's 88th birthday!

Bobby acting crazy with our nephews

Corbin and Cohen Kara and Brenley

Saturday we were supposed to watch the boys play soccer, but their game was rained out. :(, so we just slept later and went to my Nanny's to hang out. That afternoon we ran some errands and went our separate ways for the night (my parent's had a party to go to!).

G-Daddy and his Grand-Daughter

Sunday was Dedication day for sweet Brenley. My family and Bobby's came to our church and we prayed that Bobby and I would be parents that would raise Brenley in a Godly home and that Brenley would come to know the Lord. It was a very sweet time. And you know we had to follow that up with some good ole Mexican food!

Then the family headed home and Brenley and I had to make our way to help host Kristy's baby shower. Kristy and I have been friends since 6th grade so it is so fun and kinda wierd that we are now both mothers! We had a great time showering her and Gage and visiting with friends.

Baby friends - Presley, Whittaker, Brenley and Kennedy

Then the week started and we filled our days and nights hanging with friends, including Corey and Whittaker who were in town from Jasper! I think Bobby, Brenley and I were out every night this week, therefore, Brenley has been way off of her bed time schedule! Here are a few pics from the week!

First time in the jumper!

Sisters!

We met Bobby at work to head to dinner with friends

Friday, Brenley had her 4 month check up and all was perfect. YAY! My "little" girl weighs almost 16 lbs and is in the 80th percentile. :) Then we headed over to Kristy's to hang with Corey and make babyfood! Corey has a great babyfood maker and we made 5+ ice trays full of peas, green beans, pears, apples and sweet potatos. Brenley is gonna love it! OH and she had her first taste of cereal this weekend too and she did so good. I think I will have a good eater on my hands.

Saturday I attended the Beth Moore simulcast at our church and it was SOO good. Bobby had to work that day so Gigi, Jualito and Aunt Rena (Bobby's parents and sister) kept her all day and she did great! We came home changed our clothes, breathed for a minute and then headed to Kristy's (again) to celebrate Andy's 30th birthday. It was a fun night with good friends eating lots of food, playing washers, taking care of babies and girl talk/boy poker!

That brings us to today and we are TIRED! Although Brenley slept great last night and even took a 2 hour nap today...I know she was tired! I hope this week slows down just a bit, but we sure did have a good time with everyone!! Thank you Lord for good friends and family!

4 Months

2010-04-13T13:51:00.002-05:00

Brenley hit the 4 month mark on Sunday, April 11th. I really cannot handle how fast this is going by! The other night I looked back at her newborn pictures and she has changed SOO much. Not only has she changed in her looks, but she has come so far in her abilities, strength and interactions. She amazes me everyday.

Here are some 4 month highlights...

Rolling over -- she has rolled over a few times...tummy to back and back to tummy. She really gets frustrated on the back to tummy because she turns her lower body over very fast and then gets stuck with an arm in the way and gets so mad.
Pushing off -- When she is on her tummy she is starting to push off, if I put my hands behind her feet. She really wants to start scooting.
Grabbing her toys -- she is really great seeing her toys and grabbing them. She holds onto them really well and everything goes straight into the mouth! Her favorite toy is "Bob the bluebird" (named by her daddy). It is one of her toys that hands on her carseat. It keeps her occupied on many car rides.
Squealing -- She has found her voice and loves to squeal and scream when you least expect it. She is all girl!
Talking -- she loves to talk and coo and we have some great conversations!
Giggles -- we can really get her going sometimes and it melts my heart everytime
Wiggle Worm -- she is becoming a little wiggle worm when you hold her in your lap...she wants to stand up, face out and move around.
Eating and sleeping -- she is still on her same schedule (eating every 3 hours duing the day) and goes down around 8:30-9 and wakes up between 7-8:30. I can't complain!!

Here is her new trick - Holding her bottle

for a few seconds on her own. It makes her

look too old so we do not do this trick often. :)

Mommy and Bren

4 MONTHS!!

Happy Resurrection Day!

2010-04-05T15:07:00.000-05:00

Well this year we had a fun Easter since we got to spend it with our little girl! I must say that I was so proud and excited to have a girl, so I could dress her up and see her in a cute little dress! She was a DOLL!

Saturday we went up to our church for the Annual Easter Egg hunt. She got to see some of her friends and got a coupld of eggs. :)

Sunday we went to church, had lunch with Bobby's family, went to Nanny's for a bit and had a Easter Egg hunt at home. I think Bobby, Polo and I had more fun than she did, but next year she will LOVE it!

We cannot for get the real reason for Easter - Jesus died on the cross and ROSE again. Thank you Lord! BTW-I had "Arise My Love" in my head all day. :)

One Year Milestone

2010-04-05T14:52:00.000-05:00

I meant to post about this on Friday and I forgot, but Friday, April 2nd was the one year anniversary of us finding out we were pregnant!! I cannot believe the time has flown by, but 9 months of pregnancy, 2 days of delivery, and 3 1/2 months of parenting have all come and gone and what an AMAZING ride it has beeen! I don't think I could have even imagined what this past year was going to hold, but it has taught me so much! I LOVED being pregnant and sometime I really miss it. Hold on...I am not saying I want another baby anytime soon, but I really enjoyed being pregnant and miss the little kicks, nudges, my big belly and the anticipation of wanting to hold that baby so badly. BUT, now I really do get to hold that baby and it is so awesome!

It was right around this time that we were having the fun of telling all of our family and friends. In fact, we told my brother and sis-in-law on Easter Sunday last year. It was so much fun!

I am just still shocked that it has been a year, since we got the news that would change our lives. What a ride it has been and I don't want it to end!!

(if you want to read the story of how we found out and told family/friends, click here.)

She went from this...

to THIS!!

Reminiscing...

2010-03-28T23:43:00.000-05:00

So I am sitting in bed listening to my husband snore (haha) and I am reminiscing about Brenley's birth day. I know it was only 3 months ago, but man, sometimes it feels it feels like it was 3 years ago. It started earlier this evening when I was watching some videos on Bobby's phone that he took the day she was born. After 3 months, I still had not really watched them. I vaguely remember Bobby showing me a few in the hospital, the day I had her, but I think I feel alseep while he was showing them to me. :) So anyway, I started watching them tonight -- one of her first bath in the nursery, one of her heel being pricked, one of her just being checked out. It was so amazing to watch and try to think back to that day. I am kind of sad because I don't really remember a lot from that day, or the few that followed. Having a c-section rocked my world and I am sad to say that I don't even remember even holding Brenley for the first time. It was just a crazy time. Anyway, I just love to sit and think back to that day, going into labor, the hospial, the first few weeks at home. I find myself thinking about it all alot because I don't want to lose those memories. I have a knot in my throat now, just thinking about it all!

Brenley has changed our lives and sometimes I can't fathom how much I love her. Now I would be lying if I said it was easy or fun all the time, but I would not trade her for anything. I look at her sometimes and cannot believe that she is a part of me and Bobby. Oh I wish she would stay small forever!

Here are just a few things I love about being a mommy...

that I get greeted with a smile in the mornings! (This can make any "non-morning" persons day!)
that sometimes when she is crying she just wants ME to hold her
that she recognizes my voice and will turn her head to me when she hears it
that she will grin from ear to ear just from hearing me say "HIIII"
being able to kiss her cheeks any time I want to
getting to tell people her name and/or age when they ask (dumb, I know, but it reminds me that she is MINE)
hearing this from my husband (and partner in this parenting-thing) right before he fell asleep tonight-- "Thanks for being the best mommy to Brenley, I appreciate it and so does she!"

Well that is all, a little random, but just speaking from the heart. :-)

P.S. and to all my Mommy-to-be friends out there---enjoy the rest of your pregnancy, write your thoughts and memories down. Try to soak up everything in the hospital and the weeks that follow, even though you will be so tired, AND reminisce often. :)

3 Months!!

2010-03-11T16:24:00.005-06:00

Brenley Bear is 3 months old today -- I can't believe it! Part of me is so ready for her to be bigger and sitting up, etc, but then another (huge) part of me wants her to stay small!! I know all mothers feel this way and I have been told by so many to cherish these moments of her being small. Today I had a moment that I will cherish forever. Early this afternoon, she was being really fussy and I could tell she was just tired, so I was holding and bouncing her around and she finally fell asleep. I tried to lay her down on the couch about 3 times and she cried every time so I just decided to hold her. I had turned off the TV and radio and was just sitting in silence with my baby girl as I watched her sleep. I started praying different things for her and reminising about her birth, etc. It was a very special moment that I hope I remember forever!

Like I said. she is 3 months old today and she is growing so much everyday! I am guessing she is probably 13-14 lbs now -- my little "chunk"! Here are a few things she is doing at 3 months...

Sleeping 10-12 hours at night! I know, I am counting my blessings. I put her down about 9pm and she gets up between 8 and 9am. Every night I wonder if this will be the night she converts back and wakes up every 3 hours. I will be ready if she does. :)
Eating 5 times in a 24 hour period. I cut out her 10:30-11pm feeding and she still sleeps great. So I feed her for the last time at 8 or 830pm and put her down. I love this because it gives Bobby and I some time to just relax together - OR go to be EARLY!!
She loves to smile and does at almost anyone who smiles at her.
She is starting to giggle, but has only done it a few times. Yesterday; however, while stuck in traffic, my Nanny had her giggling so hard. It was awesome!
She takes a "real" nap around 10am and 4pm everyday in her crip, in her swaddle. These last about 1 hour. She also takes some cat naps in her bouncy seat around noon and 6ish.
She does not like her tummy time too much, but I make her do it atleast once a day.
She is starting to grab her blanket and sometimes her toys.
She looks like she is getting close to rolling over from her back to her front. I know it will scare her when she does. :)
Her favorite songs are "The wheels on the bus", "Patty Cake" and "This little piggy" - I get huge smiles on these!

She is so fun to be with everyday and I would not trade it for anything! I love the sunny weather and cannot wait to start going on walks everyday! Here are a few pics from the today and then her birthday pic!

Daddy came home for lunch!

Playing on my toy mat

My BALD spot :(

3 Months!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE GIRL!

These should make you smile...

2010-03-05T16:10:00.006-06:00

Here are some random pictures of Brenley from the past week or so. If they don't make you smile, I don't know what will! :)

Yes he does!

A little playtime

Watching TV!! lol!

Rockin her sweatsuit and sneakers!

Mommy is so funny! Love those onesies!

All dressed up for church

First time in the church nursery!

Love that giggle!!!

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!!

What's been goin on...

2010-02-26T12:43:00.003-06:00

Things are going great in the Soto house. I finally feel like I am getting the hang of this "mommy" thing (although it is still an ongoing learning process) and am even starting to get a routine in place. Brenley is sleeping SO GREAT (8-10 hours a night), so it definitely makes me feel alive everyday! Just this past week I have tried to get her on a napping schedule. She can be the ultimate "cat napper" and I think I figured out why. I was letting her just fall asleep whenever in her bouncy seat and she would just wake up after only 20-30 minutes. I think she was doing this because she would hear things in the house or startle herself with her arm movements, so I decided to start swaddling her and putting her in her crib for her naps -- and WHALA! - she now sleeps for 1-2 1/2 hrs in her crib twice a day! (9am and 3pm) I am glad because I know she needs the rest and I need the quiet and productive time! :)

She is also eating really well and if you have seen her lately then you can tell - she never misses a meal. She could pack a gallon of milk in those cheeks! :) Her smile makes me fall more in love with her everyday and Nanna-D even got her to do her first giggle last weekend. (she has yet to do it again -- I guess I do not have the touch) :(

We also made another trip to Beaumont last week (this time with Daddy and Polo) and had a great time just hanging with my family. It went by way to fast though!

OHHH - and I officially resigned from my job last week! It was a very bittersweet time writing that letter because I love the people I have worked with for the last 6 years, but I am so excited to get to stay home with Brenley!! We have been enjoying our days at home and running around town. She is such a good girl and I am truly thankful that I can stay at home with her.
Bobby and Polo are doing well also. I think Polo is still a little confused as to why this little human is still in "her" house, but she will learn eventually! :)

I think that is it for now...I will leave you with a few sweet pictures! Happy Weekend everyone!

The Soto Family of 4

My little Valentine!

Daddy reading to his girl...he is so great at this!

Winter Wonderland

2010-02-11T19:47:00.003-06:00

It is snowing...in Dallas...can you believe it!?! And it is gorgeous! Bobby came home a little early today because we had Brenley's Dr appt, so we decided to act like kids again and play in it a bit. So while Brenley napped, out we went with our other daughter (Polo) to play!!

With my little snow bunny!

She was not having very much fun...sorry girl! (yes those are target bags wrapped around my shoes...ha!)

Daddy and Polo with Mr. Snowman

The snow was almost as high as her!

So Pretty!

Here is a little video of Polo playing...

2 Months

2010-02-11T13:33:00.008-06:00

Brenley is 2 Months old today -- wow how time is flying! Everyday with her gets better and better and she is such a joy to be around. I must admit those first few weeks with her was rough...mainly on my part, but I am so glad to finally say that things are so fun now and I would not trade her for anything!

And who would have thought that it would be SNOWING on her 2 month birthday!? I mean REALLY snowing!! We have recieved about 6 inches of snow and it is still coming down! It is absolutely beautiful outside! Polo has loved getting to go out there and jump around in it. I took Brenley out there to take some pics and as you can see below, she was not liking it to much. Oh well, maybe next year!

"Mom, get me back inside, quick!"

With the 2 month birthday, comes the 2 month Dr. appt and the 2 month SHOTS! :( She survived them, but it broke this momma's heart! She checked out great and is in the 90th percentile for weight and height -- ha we have a big girl! She is 12lbs 12 oz and 23 in long!!

Battle wounds

Here are a few things Brenley is doing at 2 months...

Sleeping 7-10 hours...yep, that is right. She actually slept 10 hours last night an she only woke up because I WOKE HER UP! I know, why would I wake her, well it is called breastfeeding and momma needed to do it. :) She is still in our room, but that is changing this weekend! I ususally feed her between 10-11pm and put her down and she wakes up between 6-8am...I am so proud...and rested!! :)
Smiling like crazy! Mainly in the morning when she wakes up...could she be a morning person like her daddy?? She also smiles when Daddy gets home and at night just hanging out. I love when she smiles with her squinty eyes. :)
Cooing and "talking"...we have some fun conversations!
Eating 6-7 times in a 24 hour period -- about 4 oz at a time.
Napping about 3-4 times a day. Some are long and others are cat naps.

Some days we love just staying at home and relaxing and other days we love getting out and seeing friends...oh and of course, she LOVES Target. :)

She is growing and changing everyday and I love spending my days with her.

Happy 2 Month Birthday, Brenley Bear!

Fun Adventures and New Friends

2010-02-03T20:27:00.011-06:00

Over the last month Brenley and I have been visiting lots of places and people. She had her first road trip to Beaumont to visit her Nana-D and G-Daddy and has met many new friends around town.

In mid-January, we took the five hour journey to Beaumont, just the two of us! Nana-D, G-Daddy and Uncle Kendal were anxious to see little bit and we had a great time just being spoiled! Let's just say I got a full night sleep and hardly changed one diaper while I was there! Here are just a few things we did while we were there...

went to G-Daddy's work
went to Nana-D's work
went to Uncle Kendal's work
went shopping at the mall
met and had lunch with Nana Ds friends and met Moses (born just a week before Brenley)
went to Houston to see Shara and her little man, Jude
RELAXED and enjoyed our time with family

Chillin on the couch

Shara with Brenley and Me with Jude

Bath at Nana-D and G-Daddys

Stephanie and Moses, me and Brenley (6 weeks and 5 weeks)

Nana-D and Brenley (sorry G-Daddy, we didnt get a picture with you!) :(

We had a great time and can't wait to go back in just a few weeks!

Then the next week, we got together with my friends Janae and Cara and their little girls. Cara's daughter, Berkley, is 3 weeks older than Brenley and Janae's daughter, Jae, is 2 weeks younger than Brenley. So they were all born within 5 weeks of eachother. We all became close during our pregnancies and now have fun sharing stories of motherhood. We all got together at Janae's and had a great time talking, asking questions and of course trying to take pictures of our 3 girls -- not an easy task, as you can see below! It was fun!

Berkley, Brenley and Jae

"Mom, HELP!"

She LOVED this toy!

Our next visit was with my best friend since High school, Tandra, and her daughter, Rachel (16 months). They came and stayed with us one night and we had a great time catching up and she loved getting to meet Brenley! We also introduced them to Babe's Chicken -- YUM! It was so fun to watch Rachel walking around here and talking. Gave us a great look into the future of what Brenley will be like -- it will be so fun!

Tandra holding Rachel and Brenley

Tandra and her girl

Rachel loved Brenley

I can't believe we are Moms! :)

Then this past Monday we went over to my Nanny's and my brother, Kara and four nephews came over too! Those four boys just love their cousin and love to hold and kiss on her -- so sweet! Kara and Chris couldn't wait to get her hands on Brenley either! And of course Nanny loves her Great-Grandaughter and could just look at her all day!

Cohen wanted her out of her seat ASAP!

Aunt Kara

Nanny - the ultimate entertainer

Uncle Chris and Cohen

Cohen LOVES his cousin!

Cousin Callen

She had her first bath in the famous "Nanny sink". We have all bathed in this sink!!

So fresh and clean!

It was has been a fun month and we look forward to many more adventures and visits with fun friends and family!!

1 Month

2010-01-15T22:06:00.004-06:00

January 11th marked Brenley's 1 Month Birthday! What a crazy and fun month it has been with our little girl. She has gone lots of places and met lots of people and has changed our lives forever.

At 1 month of age she is eating ever 3-4 hours (somedays every 2, if she is extra hungry!) and just in the last week she has started doing a 5 hour stretch in the night -- which gives mommy about 4 hours of solid sleep -- thank you. She loves to sit in her vibrating bouncy seat and bats at the toys that hang down. She also smiles alot, but I am not sure if she really knows that she is smiling. It sure is cute though! She is a trooper about going places with mommy and loves to snuggle with her Daddy at night.

I plan on taking pics of her in her chair each month to see her growth. Here is her first!

Polo wanted in on the photo shoot, but got kicked out due to licking the birthday girl!

Brenley's First Christmas

2010-01-15T21:58:00.005-06:00

Christmas seems like a blur to me...I guess because I had a 2 week old and was VERY sleep deprived. But I know it was fun and was a good time spent with family. Brenley slept through most of it, but had fun being passed around by all of the family members.

Brenley and Santa

"My First Christmas" Outfit

Cousin Cade

Cousin Corbin

Cousin Cohen

Uncle Chris

Brenley and Polo's stockings

Polo loved her present

Brenley's first Christmas present

Brenley's present to Daddy

White Christmas at the Soto house!

It was a fun Christmas and we look forward to 2010! Next year will be fun chasing a 1 year old around. :)

Brenley's First Photo Shoot

2010-01-15T21:50:00.006-06:00

Brenley had her first photo shoot when she was 12 days old. Our friend Rachel Ledbetter came to our house and did them and we are thrilled with how they turned out. Thanks Rachel!

Brenley Marie has arrived!!

2010-01-15T21:41:00.004-06:00

I cannot believe it has been 5 weeks and I am just now blogging about our little girl's entrance, but better late than never, right?

I am so happy to finally say that our little girl, Brenley Marie Soto, has arrived into the world. She was born Friday, December 11th at 10:56am, weighing 8lbs 10 oz and 21 inches long! She started to try and make her entrance on Thursday, the 10th, which was her actual due date, but time slipped away and she did not come until the next day. It all started around 3;45am on Thursday, when I woke up with some light contractions. At first I thought I was dreaming about having contractions and then I realized they were actually real. They were so light that I did not want to wake Bobby up about them yet. So I layed there and continued to have them. Then around 4:30am I grabbed my computer and starting timing the contractions online. They were very inconsistent, but I knew they were probably the real thing. Around 5:30 I decided to go ahead and wake Bobby up since he would be getting up for work soon. As soon as I told him, he asked if we needed to go to the hospital yet. :) We decided to go ahead and get up and get ready for the day, but I asked Bobby if he could work from home that day in case things progressed. He agreed, but did run up to work for a couple of hours to get some things to bring home. So, the rest of the day consisted of me having contractions and with the computer near by (so I could time them), while watching TV and Bobby working at the kitchen table. To say the least it was a LONG day.

The contractions got worse throughout the day, but were still inconsistent in their timings. My nurse said they needed to be 5 min apart for an hour before we headed to the hospital, so that is what I was waiting for. Finally around 4pm, they starting to come every 6-7 minutes. To me that was close enough and Bobby and I decided to head to the hospital. By this time, the contractions were pretty hard and were making me grab the nearest object to brace myself. :)

We arrived at the hospital around 6pm and were admitted. By the time I was "checked" they said I was at a 5! I was really surprised at this for some reason, but happy at the same time. I recieved my epidural about an hour and a half after we arrived and it made life much better. :) Slowly, but surely our families started to arrive and we just waited for progression. Around 9 or 10pm that night I think I was at a 7. Things were going slower than we all had hoped, but they were not going to give me Patossin until the morning. So we continued to wait and Bobby and I slept off and on -- our families in the waiting room did not sleep however...in fact they stayed up all night in the waiting room.

So then morning came and I was given Patossin to try and speed up my contractions. By around 7am, I was finally at a 9, but Brenley was still positioned really high, so they had me try all of these crazy and uncomfortable positions in the bed to try and help her drop lower. The doctor also finally came in and broke my water. We thought once this happened that I was would for sure progress to a 10 and Brenley would be on her way. Well...after staying at a 9 for 3 HOURS and Brenley not dropping low enought to push, the recommendation/decision was made to have a C-section. So after 31 hours of labor, Brenley came via C-section at 10:56am.

I must say that was not my plan, nor a decision I wanted to agree with, but by that point, I was just ready to have her in my arms. I was a wreck during the surgery, but Bobby was so great and helped me breathe and kept me calm. All I really remember is the doctor pulling her out and saying "she is so big and has so much hair!". I thought to myself..."great, I have a big, hairy baby" ;) Bobby went and checked her out and was able to show me some pictures of our 8lb 10 oz girl, with a FULL head of dark hair. I was thrilled she was finally here!!

Our life has been a whirlwind the last 5 weeks, but definitely in a good way! I have learned that Motherhood is hardwork, babies eat and poop a lot and I DO NOT do well on little sleep! :) I am finally getting the hang of this "mom thing" and Brenley is getting better with her sleep so things are on the up and up!

We love our little girl so much and think she is the CUTEST thing in the world. Her hair and eyelashes are to DIE for!! Eat your heart out boys!! -- well not too much or her Daddy may get you!! :)

Create Your Own

How far will the shirt stretch?

2009-11-22T22:02:00.004-06:00

That is the BIG question...no pun intended. 37 weeks and it looks like Brenley may be in there til the end. :) Doctor appts are every week now, but no progression has happened so far. I am feeling pretty good and actually sleeping well...so I am feeling pretty lucky. I am ready to see my little girl, but I know that God has his perfect timing for her big arrival! Updates to come...

Brenley's Nursery

2009-11-07T22:03:00.007-06:00

The nursery is finally to a point where I thought I would post some pictures! I have to say Bobby has worked so hard on Brenley's room, while I feel that I have just been the "supervisor". :) He has painted, put together furniture, hung frames and a mirror and unpacked a rocker. Anything for his little girl, right? It has been a lot of fun watching it all come together and I cannot wait to bring her home to her room! Thanks babe for all your hardwork!

Showered!

2009-11-07T21:36:00.011-06:00

Bobby and I feel so blessed to have so many people that already love and pray for our daughter, Brenley. Over the last couple of months, we have had 3 baby showers and have recieved so many fun and needed things for our little girl!

Our first shower was hosted by some lovely ladies in Beaumont that are dear friend's of my mom and are moms to many of my Beaumont friends that I grew up with! It was so great to see many of them and also see a couple of my girlfriends from Beaumont that I do not see very often.

Our next shower was thrown by Bobby' aunts! All of Bobby's extended family and my family came, so it was a fun time of just being with family! We played some silly games ate some great food! Everyone is anxious for Brenley's arrival!

A couple of weekends ago, my college girlfriends threw us a fun shower also! These girls really know how to put a shower together and they give such cute things! Brenley got some great outfits and I can't wait to dress her up in them!

Since there are so many pics, I thought it would be more fun to just put them in a slideshow...enjoy!

Create Your Own

THANK YOU to all who hosted and attended a shower! We feel so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives. Thank you for loving us and thank you for loving Brenley!

Weenies, On your mark!

2009-10-14T21:00:00.005-05:00

This past weekend, we participated in the 8th Annual Weiner Dog Races at Oktoberfest in Southlake. After having such a good time last year, we just HAD to go again, plus we were hoping Polo would pull out a win this year! We got to the races around 10:15 to check in and waited as all the weiner dogs started to arrive. We were also able to practice in the lanes and get Polo warmed up. (which was needed because it was chilly out there!!) Nanny and Serena also joined us and were able to get a good seat to watch the races. It is a lot of fun to watch all the dogs show up. We saw red ones, black ones, fat ones, skinny ones and believe it or not a HOT PINK one! Yes, one poor dog was spray painted pink for the races. No wonder she didn’t want to run. :)

The races got started around 11am. They give you all a number and you race in groups of six. It was finally our turn and we were ready to go! I was at one end of the lane with Polo and Bobby was at the other end ready to catch her. Before the race began he would show Polo a cookie and her bone and then walk to the other end. Once this happened, Polo was REALLY ready to go. In fact, she got so wiggly, she slipped from my hands and had a false start. Oops! Then it was “1, 2, 3, GO” and off Polo went – and SHE WON! So this meant she would move onto the Semi-finals. After a few more races, the semi-finals started. Again, Polo was raring to go and ran really fast. She was neck and neck with another dog and the finish was a hard determination. A couple of the judges had to talk it out and they determined that the other dog won and Polo was second. BOOO! She literally lost by a whisker! Ha.

We were still proud of our Polo-girl! In fact, our neighbor stopped by the next day with a copy of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and to our surprise, there was a picture of our Polo running hard in the race! (We remembered a guy that said he took a pic of her and he got our names, but we didn’t know he was with the Ft Worth paper!) She was also on the website along with some other pics from the event. Check them out.,, http://www.star-telegram.com/photos/gallery/1676452.html#

The hot pink dog!

The lanes

Supporters - Nanny and Serena

It was a lot of fun and we look forward to going again next year…with Brenley in tow of course!!

Maternity Pics

2009-10-14T20:41:00.004-05:00

I mentioned earlier that the weekend of our Anniversary we also had our maternity pics done by our friend Rachel. We met up on Saturday in Irving and drove to a couple of “random” places to take the pics. I am SO happy with how they turned out. Here are a few of my favorites.

Oh and we experienced some excitement when Polo decided to take a “dive” into a fountain! She has never been fully submerged in water and I don’t know what got into her to just jump into the fountain before we could all blink. Bobby quickly pulled her out and we had a cute, wet dog on our hands. :)

5 Years...

2009-10-03T18:52:00.013-05:00

*UPADATE* Rachel uploaded a few of our pics to her blog, so click on the link below for alittle sneak peek!

This past Friday, Bobby and I celebrated our 5 year Anniversary! I can't believe it has been 5 years since we said our "I Dos", but it excites me to know how far along we have come in the last few years. Sometimes I miss those days when we were first married and living in our 3rd floor apartment, but other times, I am so happy where we are now and where we are going. I never thought we would have waited 5 years to have a baby, but I know we will be so grateful we have had this "alone" time together.

This weekend we celebrated by having dinner at Javier's in Dallas on Friday night. On Saturday we had our Maternity/5 year/family pics done by our friend Rachel. We had a great time taking the pictures and I will post some one once I get them. Later that afternoon, Bobby and I went to the Dallas World Aquarium. We then had Chipotle for dinner and checked into a hotel near Northpark mall. We figured we would just get away for the night and enjoy a little R&R. Lets just say I was an awesome wife and hung out in the hotel with Bobby while he watched a college football game for three hours. :) One good thing was we left during halftime and got some Pumpkin Cheesecake to go from the Cheesecake Factory. YUM! (Side note--Pumpkin Cheesecake is just a little taste of heaven. If you have not tried it then you should and hurry because it is only available Oct-Nov). We slept in today and enjoyed breakfast in our room!

Here is where it all began...awww

5 years later--Dinner at Javiers

At the aquarium

Chocolate covered strawberries and Sparkling Cider in our hotel

A toast to many more years!

The glorious Pumpkin Cheesecake - delish!

It was a great weekend with my man and I look forward to many more - of course in the future we will need to find a babysitter. :)

10 Weeks to go!

2009-10-03T18:42:00.003-05:00

It is hard to believe that I only have 10 weeks to go before we have our baby girl! I really did not think that these months would go by as fast as they have. My pregnancy is going well, but I must admit things are getting a bit uncomfortable. Things like walking long distances, climbing stairs and sleeping are becoming a bit more challenging. :) Not to mention this belly of mine keeps bumping into things. HA! At our last Dr. visit we had a sonogram and everything looked great, so we are very grateful for that. We are both getting very excited and the nursery is coming a long nicely. Pics will come once we get a few more things done. Here is my most recent progression picture. Wow - I definitely grew in the last four weeks. :)

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-09T22:24:00.009-05:00

(I know this post is kinda late, but hey, better late, then never!) Who doesn't enjoy a 4 day weekend?? Ours was great...very busy, but great! My parents came in town and I took Friday off as well. So Friday, my parents, me and my Nanny all headed to the new Cowboy stadium to take a tour. We really enjoyed seeing all of the "over the top" things...such as 3,000 flat screens, 800 and something concession stands, the enormous TV over the field, and the Cowboys locker room! My Nanny is a HUGE Cowboys fan so she was in awe the whole time. :)

Outside of the stadium

Tony Romo's locker

This is the locker room i really wanted to go into but we couldn't

The massive field

Nanny loves her Romo!

On Saturday we went rocker shopping and then the nephews, Chris and Kara came out to my Nanny's for some family time. Sunday was filled with church, more baby shopping/registering and then we topped it off with dinner at Babe's Chicken. Can I get an "Amen"? My dad had never been so we had to introduce him of course. It was love at first taste for him!

Me and my parents - why do I look so big here...maybe it was the Babes!

Bobby and I spent our Monday off "laboring" around the house. I cleaned and he painted the nursery. By 6:45 I was so spent from the weekend that it was time relax!!

Bobby's supervisor - Polo!

Bobby decided to get creative

Working hard!

It was a fun, long weeekend, but I think I need another....

Catch up!

2009-09-09T22:12:00.003-05:00

Well I will be 27 weeks pregnant tomorrow. Time really is flying by and I am excited, anxious and nervous all at the same time. I feel like there is so much to do in the next 3 months. Things like finishing the nursery, birthing classes, and showers will fill our days and will make the time go by quickly. She will be here before we know it!!

Since I last posted we have picked out baby furniture, bedding, paint and curtains. Bobby is painting as I type. He is so good! And 2 weeks ago he spent a whole Saturday putting the furniture together. He said "anything for his baby girl!". :)

I have been feeling good, but have been getting tired and achy in the last few days. By 8pm, my body is done! I also deal with a pain/numbness right below my rib cage on the right side. The doctor said it is pretty normal and is probably because of her position and that she may be sitting on a nerve. It is pretty painful during the work day when I am sitting a lot, but I can endure it for the end result! :) Other than that, I am just growing everyday and still look in the mirror and think "is that really me?!?". She is VERY active these days and it if fun to feel and watch my belly "pop" up when she gives a good kick or punch.

Below is my latest progression pictures, with the last being at 26 weeks. That shirt is still stretching!! :)