Brynna, Our Two Year Old....our baby

The last two (almost two and a half) years seem to have flown by when we look at our little Brynna. There is very little baby left in her, though she will most likely always be our baby, and she wakes up ready to take on the world each day. Brynna has brought so much excitement, fun, joy, amazement, and love to our family. She is one determined little girl who is capable of so much more than we would imagine possible for her two years. She is constantly thriving to keep up with her older sisters and does an amazingly good job. She is athletic, funny, talkative (though we can not always understand her) and incredibly loving. Brynna doesn't sit still for long, and seems to find trouble quicker than her sisters ever did, but she is a bundle of sweetness who will cuddle endlessly and run to hug you after you've left the room for even a minute or two. Her strong will is not always easy, but it is impossible to stay upset at this bundle of sweet cuteness for very long. She definitely has us all wrapped around her little finger!

With both her older sisters in school during the week, Brynna spends her days with mommy. She endures a lot of errands but also gets to go to gym class, art class and library story time. She loves to spend her time at home painting, and playing in her sisters' rooms, and she loves dressing up...especially if her older sisters will put on costumes too. It is hard to remember what we all did before Brynna joined our family and we are so amazingly thankful that she has made our family complete.

Kenzie, Our 7 Year Old

Our energetic, fun loving, middle child turned seven this fall. Makenzie has continued to keep life fun at our house with her creativity and joyful outlook on life. She also still amazes us with her artistic creations, which include drawings and artwork, as well as weekly arrangements of the furniture in her room. She sees things in a unique way and it is so much fun watch her in action. She LOVES to talk, and most mornings I spend the first fifteen minutes of my day snuggling in bed with Kenzie and listening to her ideas and stories about school and friends. It is a pretty perfect way to wake up!

Kenzie has also done a great job transitioning to a new school and first grade. After a few weeks of "talking problems" at school she is doing such a great job in class and reading like crazy. It has been so much fun to watch her learning take off and see her creative mind at work. She is a such a good friend to kids of all ages and makes new friends every day.

Kenzie has started sports this school year as well. We had no idea how her "creative personality" would do out on the soccer field but it turns out she is quite talented and incredibly fast. She is probably more in it for the social aspect, but it is so much fun to watch her play. Like Kayla, Kenzie loves American Girl Dolls and any chance to play and use her imagination. She is definitely growing up, but we still get many glimpses of our silly little girl and I hope we can hold on to that for a lot longer. We are so proud of our sweet, talented seven year old.

Kayla, Our 8 Year Old!

It is hard to believe our first baby turned eight years old this past summer. Kayla continues to amaze us with all the things she enjoys and the many activities she does so well. Right now Kayla's favorite things are sports (particularly soccer and basketball), American Girl Dolls, crafts and her two year old sister Brynna. Kayla also loves school and has done such a good job transitioning from BCS to our neighborhood school. She was nervous about the change but made friends quickly and does such a great job in class.

I was able to coach Kayla's soccer team this fall and loved watching Kayla on the field. She is fast and confident out on the field and it is so much fun to coach her team. (I'll have to admit she was the top scorer this season too...not that we are keeping score!) Kayla has a quiet, but strong personality, and has an amazingly sweet soft spot for Brynna. We are so proud of our eight year old! She is growing up quickly.

Over a Year Later

Apparently having a very active one year old and two elementary kids busy with activities, sports, play dates, and school, resulted in a non-existent family blog. Looking back at my last post, I am amazed at how quickly the last year and a half has passed. (Yes, it has been over a year since I last published a blog entry!) We no longer have a baby, but a thriving two year old with two amazing big sisters. I am joyfully overwhelmed by the blessing of being mom to these three, and I could not ask for a more rewarding job. It is not without its challenges, and we constantly feel like we have room to improve and hurdles to overcome, but we love the challenge of raising our girls and we are so proud of each them. Their personalities and strengths are unique and distinct and it is so much fun to watch them grow and learn. Over the next few post I will try and give an update on each of our three girls...and, perhaps, I will rename our blog "The Yearly Update."

Summer Begins!

Once July 4th hits Washington summer finally seems to arrive. (It was definitely slow in coming this year!) Here are a few favorite shots from the month of July. There is nothing we love better than a little sun and fun in our own backyard. At ten months old Brynna has definitely taken to our lazy days of outdoor playtime and fun in the water. She is not fazed by grass, dirt or water and will crawl, cruise and experiment her way through any outdoor obstacles.

Spring Favorites

Spring is definitely here, and summer not far away, and I have seemingly continued my trend of being an absentee blogger. In the meantime my precious girls are growing, changing and amazing us daily. Brynna is a week away from being 9 months old and we are still in awe of how fast her first year of life is passing. She has been crawling for almost two months and is now pulling herself up, climbing, and growing like crazy! We can't help wishing everything would slow down as we are enjoying her baby days so much. Kenzie is finishing up her last year of preschool and is definitely excited for kindergarten in the fall. Last week we finally convinced her to take the training wheels off her bike and she took off like a pro! She is a bundle of creativity and so much fun. Kayla is still our little "sports star" and student. She loves school and spending her free time doing cartwheels, playing on the bars and writing stories. All three girls loved our spring break get-away to Great Wolf Lodge and I can not wait to have the big girls home with me all summer long. We're looking forward to lots of days at the lake, playing in the backyard and and taking mini vacations.

I have so many pictures and special days I could write about here, but instead decided to post just a few of my "spring favorites."