Fun!

 Thanks Auntie Kate and Josh

 Flower Girl dress for Auntie Kate's wedding!

She loves it!

Fun!

First Hair Cut

 Brynlee and Audrey

 My bestie!

 My very first birthday present!

"I love my phone, thanks Matt, Jen and Audrey! I love you guys!"

1st Birthday and Christmas

Brynlee made out pretty well on her FIRST BIRTHDAY AND CHRISTMAS! Having a birthday the same week as Christmas is really going to be tough as she gets older! She wasn't thrilled about unwrapping presents but she LOVED playing with the boxes waiting for Dad to get everything put together! Her favorite gift was definitely her Dora couch! Close seconds...Musical piano (thing), wagon, dolls, and kitchen! Mine and Andrews favorite...the toy box! It cleans up some of the mess, but the problem is that most of the toys she got are too big to go in it! ARGH! She has been such a good girl and is growing so fast! I can't believe she is ONE! She had her well baby visit yesterday. Everything looks good, but of course she is teething again!

12 Month Stats
Weight: 18lbs 4oz (8th percentile)
Length: 28.5inches (25th percentile)

She is quiet the peanut but definitely thinks she is hot stuff. She will get on her Dora couch and climb up on the regular couch just so she can get down on her own! She HATES the baby gates! She is always trying to climb up them and when they are open....her face lights up and there is no stopping her! :) I am a little sad to stop nursing....I didn't realize how attached I was! I am so thankful that I was able to do it a whole year...there were so many times I thought I was going to have to stop but we chugged through! (Sorry if that is TMI) :) All in all we have had a great year and we have SO MUCH to be THANKFUL for! 7 weeks ago I didn't think I was going to be celebrating Brynlee's birthday or Christmas with Mom, God continues to shower miracles on us! I am so excited to see what 2011 has in store for us! It is sad to think the first year is over but she continues to surprise me at how much fun I can have with a 12 month old!

Wishing all of you a Happy New Year!

WOW I know it has been a really long time since my last post and I have a lot of updates! I am guessing that all of you know, but Mom has been through a lot in the last 5 weeks. On Nov 6 she suffered from a terrible headache which later was found to be a ruptured brain aneurysm. When Dad called me that night, everything stood still--it was my worst nightmare. As most of you know, Mom is my best friend and the most generous person I know....she goes out of her way to help all of us kids in whatever way she can. If I didn't have her I don't know what I would do! While she was is the hospital I got a little taste of how chaotic things would be without her. I was constantly scrambling to find someone to watch Brynlee (I never had to worry about that before), every night I was home I would cry because I was so torn, I felt like Mom (or Dad) needed me there but then I knew Andrew and Brynlee needed me home too. Bryners got to spend some time with Grandma Gerber...and I am so blessed to have such amazing friends that would step up and be great "aunties" to  Miss Brynlee too. You really do see peoples true colors when a crisis happens. I can't thank you girls enough for being such amazing friends...for letting me vent (or cry) for hours and never giving your opinion or telling me how to act or comparing this situation something you went through, for watching Brynlee numerous times, even on your birthday, for giving me the most amazing card (even money because I was missing so much work), and for driving from Iowa to see me...WOW! You truly are sent from above! I have realized through all of this that I have the best friends in the world. This was also a time that we were able to connect more with family. (not that you ever want it to be a critical circumstance) Mom is doing well now. She recovers more each day. I am taking her to a Dr appointment today so Bryn and I stayed the night in Chenoa.

Through all of this I decided to go PRN (as needed) at work. I only have to work 2 shifts a month so I am basically a stay at home Mom and I LOVE IT! It has been great to be able to get dinner ready without rushing around to leave for work. I can do all the "wife/mom duties" without getting stressed because I have a ton on my plate. I plan to pick up more shifts eventually, but right now we are just enjoying some time as a family. Which brings me to the next thing...BRYNLEE! I continue to think she is the most amazing little girl EVER! She is getting into everything and I love it! I love watching her, I love cleaning up after her, I love comforting her after all the bumps and bruises...I love it all! She has been a complete Momma's girl since Mom was in the hospital, but she never throws a fit when someone else has her, she would just rather I have her! About 2 weeks ago she wouldn't let me put her down, was extremely fussy, and wouldn't eat. I knew something was wrong (I thought it was just teeth at first) and then she started getting a fever which continued to creep up...I finally took her to the Dr. when it reached 102.9. I had tried everything to get it down and nothing would touch it. She ended up having an ear infection! Poor baby girl! At the appointment she weighed 17lbs 5oz. She is almost done with the antibiotics and is acting much better! AND she will be 1 next week! It is so crazy to think about! I was making a book on Shutterfly and showed it to Andrew....he said, "WOW! She has changed so much!" It's hard to see when you are there everyday, but when you recap the last year, it is CRAZY! She still melts my heart just like the first time I saw her! She is so sweet and absolutely beautiful! She is walking a lot but isn't completely confident yet! She has 3 teeth on the bottom and 2 just broke through on the top, but they aren't even the front ones! She has fangs! :) I think that is all for now, I hope to get some pictures up soon!

9 Months

Well our little princess turned 9 months last week! She had her 9 month appointment yesterday and everything looked fantastic again! She is getting so big! And is such a piggy, I don't understand how she is so petite!! She has 3 teeth, all on the bottom, but she will do whatever she has to to eat what you put in front of her! She continues to get into everything of course and is quite the busy body! She hasn't made any connection with words, everything is "dadadadada"! Everything still feels like a dream! She is such a wonderful little girl and I love every second of being a Mom! I can't believe that at her next check up she will be 1!! Now it's time to start thinking about the party!! My biggest concern when I knew I was due around Christmas was that she would just get thrown into the mix of it, and that will NOT happen! She deserves a birthday too!! It will just make the holidays even more hectic!  :)

We went to Alabama about 2 weeks ago to see Mark and Rebekah (Wenger) Klaus and their new addition Natalie! We had such a good time, and met some incredible people! Brynlee was an amazing passenger during the 8 hour drive! She didn't sleep the best through the night but hey who can blame her, pack 'n plays don't seem all that comfortable! Mark is a pilot and asked Andrew to go with him to Delaware for a trip on Saturday. He had a great time and it gave Bekah and I a great chance to catch up without boring the guys! Since we have been home, Brynlee has been sleeping at least 9 hours, will wake up to eat and go back to back for 2-3 more hours! She loves her sleep that's for sure!

I am part time at work and absolutely love it! It gives us an extra "normal" day to get stuff done!

9 MONTH STATS
Weight: 16 lbs 8.5oz
Length: 28.5 inches
Head: 44cm

St. Louis

We went to St. Louis this past weekend with my parents and siblings. It was our first family vaca since 2000, which was also to St. Louis! We had so much fun! Brynlee just adores Madie! Thursday we went over to Moms for a little bit and she started shaking when she saw Madie, she was so excited! It is so sweet! I can only hope that it stays that way!! Other than that, not a lot going on. Brynlee got her second tooth while we were gone. And she was so glad to sleep in her own bed Sunday night! When we got home she took a 2 hour nap, was up for about 2 hours and then back to bed for 12 hours until I woke her up and then was only awake for 45 minutes and took another 2 hour nap! Boy vacations are exhausting! Hopefully I will get some new pics up this week!

What a week, what a month!

So as time goes on, I realize I continue to get worse at keeping everyone updated. I really just don't think of it during the day so I do it when I can't sleep at 1am. Brynlee is doing wonderful and growing like a weed! She started crawling at the beginning of the month and has become a lady with a mission...to set a record at how many times she can pull herself and somehow fall on her face! Good thing God made her with rubber! Her first spill was July 3rd, she CLIMBED out of the stroller and fell on the garage floor! Since then there has been numerous bumps, but no bruises yet! I just can't believe that my little girl is 7 months old! She got her first tooth finally and did surprising well! The only thing that really changed was she started chewing on her fingers and about 2 days later out popped a tooth! I got some great news a couple of weeks ago....I AM GOING PART TIME! YAY! I love my job but Andrew and Brynlee are my #1 so I am SO excited to only work 2 days a week! It will still be on nights but that's what I love! We also took Brynlee on her first trip! We went to Indianapolis Zoo and had a blast! Not that Brynlee will remember, but we will! She was wonderful the entire time and at the end of the day she was thrilled to pick out her own stuffed animal....a giraffe! And she really does love it!

I would say I have spent most of the last 7 months just watching Brynlee, soaking it all in and truly cherishing every moment. After this past week, I want to slow down even more and just enjoy motherhood and all that comes with it, you never know when it can be taken from you. For those of you who don't know, it has been a tough week, the community lost 2 incredible kids! I started babysitting them about 11 years ago and eventually my parents became their neighbors! I loved them like a sister and a brother! I feel blessed that God put them in my life. When Andrew and I started dating Tori was in love with him! She always told me to break up with him so that she could have him! And Alec, oh my little man (who wasn't so little anymore)! He was heartbroke the day we got married because I was supposed to marry him someday! Andrew and I saw Tori about a month ago and Andrew was shocked to see she wasn't a little girl anymore! She didn't run and jump on him like she had done for years before! She was a BEAUTIFUL young woman! They have left a huge footprint in my life and I look forward to the day I get to share their memory with Brynlee. Please keep Tori and Alec Crutcher's family and friends in your prayers, it's going to be a long road, and this is only the beginning.