Happy Birthday to Me

This year my birthday was soooo different from last year. Brynlee was still a part of it, but in a very different way. Last year I was only about 7 weeks pregnant, and all I wanted to do was lay on the couch and sleep. I couldn't even make myself excited to open presents. Rob had to wake me up and make me sit up to open them. This year was a big improvement.

This is what I woke up to in the morning... do I really need to go on to say it was a great day? I think this little face answers that all by herself :)

 It was such a great day! Rob is the best husband in the world. He always goes out of his way to make sure my birthday is as good as it can possibly be. This was the first year I got to share my birthday with Brynlee too :) She was extra good for me all day which was the best present she could have given me.

That night after Rob got home, we took Brynlee over to a friends house to hang out for the night while we went out on a date! Woo hoo! Kid free. Love her to death, but I sure do celebrate when we get to go on dates these days. They are few and far inbetween.

Rob made a little "scavenger hunt" for me. The clues were very funny and creative. We went to the creamery for ice cream, to the park to play frisbee, and then to Tucano's for dinner. Yuuuummmy! It was so great! We then went to pick up Brynlee from playing with her friend, McKae, and watched a little of the BYU football game. After a little bit we headed home for some "cake" and presents.

I'm not a huge fan of cake, but I LOVE and CRAVE Marie Calendar's chocolate satin pie. Rob was a sweetheart and got it for me. Boy was it good! We even let Brynlee taste some whipped cream. She LOVED it! It was a wonderful birthday, and I have the best family in the world :)

3 Months

Time flies! Brynlee is already 3 months old, and she is acting like it! We love watching her pick up on new things daily. It's amazing to look back on a week and realize all the new things she's learned, and all the new things she's doing. We are so in love with our little bug! 

We decided since we are feeling poor and downtrodden that we would attempt to do our own photo shoot instead of taking her to a studio and having to pay money that we don't have. I think they turned out decent. Here are a few of them!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy first Father's Day to Rob! It started out kind of rough b/c of family leaving town and lots of tears, but it soon got back on track to be a great day! B/c we live by both of our Dads, Brynlee and I gave Rob our presents in the morning before we headed up to SL. Brynlee gave him an open it tool which is excellent at opening all those hard to open kids toys will all the zip ties and ridiculous packaging. She thought it would come in handy someday soon. 

 After church with Rob's family I changed Brynlee into her Father's Day outfit. The first time she had worn it, and it did not disappoint!

She even gave Rob his first Daddy-daughter kiss :)

My present to Rob was a weeks worth of Father's Day. Each day I gave him a "favorite" thing of his with a note. His favorite cereal, favorite dinner, favorite drink, favorite candy, a picture of Brynlee (his favorite little girl), we watched his favorite movie, and on the last day of the week we are going on what Rob calls a "Tiffany original date". That's just code for creative date. 

I am so grateful for my wonderful husband. He is always looking for ways to serve me and those around me. He's always doing the little things to make me happy, and he is the best dad to Brynlee. I'm so grateful for all the sacrifices he makes for us and all his efforts to give us the best he can. He is patient, kind, understanding, and knows how to make me laugh. Most of all, I'm grateful for his worthiness to be a priesthood holder and I think that is the greatest gift he can give our family. 

I have the greatest Dad and am so grateful for him. He has always made me feel like my best was enough. I cherish all the great talks and advice he has given me over the years, and he is the greatest example of how a parent should love their children. 

Thanks to all the amazing men in my life! Including my Heavenly Father who watches over me constantly and always has his loving arms wrapped around me. I can feel his love for me every single day, and I see his love in the people in my life he has blessed me with!

Our First Road Trip

We took our first road trip with Brynlee this weekend to Boise, ID. On Thursday we were in the car from 5 am- 10pm. LONG day!!! She did so well and slept most of the time. Until about 8:00 pm that is. Then she was not happy! I don't blame her. We have come to realize that she is very aware of whether we are driving on the freeway, and when we're not. As long as we're on the freeway she is content and happy. As soon as we get off she starts to fuss. Not very fun!

 We did lots of fun things including visiting Sandy Beach where Rob and his little bro, Chris, earned $5 by swimming out in the freezing water to touch the huge fountain in the middle of the water. Rob told me afterwards he did it just for me so we could go get snow cones that I had been begging for the whole trip. I love my hubby!

 Taking pictures of us as a family never gets old. We love our new little edition.

Brynlee put her feet in the water for the very first time :) No swimming quite yet.

Rob and his family use to visit his great grandma in Boise often, and this was the first time he'd been back in years. We did everything they use to do on their regular visits, and it was fun! I have a whole new view of Idaho- I guess it can be fun if you know where to look to find fun things! Our first road trip was a success :)

Baby Model

We may have a little baby model on our hands here... Brynlee had her first photo shoot when she was 3 weeks old, taken by Randy Collier. We got nothing but the best when we asked Randy to do her pictures! It was so strange being the Mom taking her baby to get her pictures done. I'm still getting use to this whole Mom business, but loving it all the while! Brynlee was so well behaved and patient as we disturbed her sleep to change her multiple times, position her when she didn't want to be, and flashing lights in her eyes. They turned out so great! Thanks Randy!

Brynlee's Blessing

We had the chance to do Brynlee's baby blessing on June 10 while the whole family was here! It turned out great and she was very well behaved in the circle, during sacrament meeting, and as she was passed around like crazy all day long. She's our little trooper, and we were so excited for our whole family to be able to share her special day with her. 

 4 Generations

 Our family of 3

All of the wonderful men who were able to stand in the circle and bless her

Brynlee Andria Draper

Meet the newest edition to our household and most importantly, family. Brynlee Andria Draper came to us FINALLY on May 24, 2012. One week overdue. She weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 20 1/4" long.

The short story of it all: We checked in to the hospital on Wednesday night to start the drug Sytotech (sp?) which is to help ripen the cervix. I had contractions all night long, and needless to say, didn't get much sleep. In the morning the Dr. broke my water, and then we started Petosin (sp?). Brynlee did NOT like Petosin. Whenever they gave me a dose of it she started to have irregularities in her heart rhythm, and my dilation stopped. When they would stop giving me the drug, Brynlee was as happy as could be and I kept dilating at an extremely quick pace. I dilated from a 3 to a 9 1/2 in just a couple of hours. The nurses and I decided Petosin was not helping.

Once I was ready to push, it took just over 2 hours til she decided to come out. She didn't make it easy by tilting her head at an angle that was very difficult to move out, but Mommy did it with the help of Daddy and his now sore hand. She came out with a cute little mohawk thanks to the Dr. who apparently was playing with her hair and styling it in between pushes. Glad someone was enjoying themselves!

Through the whole delivery and last few weeks of pregnancy, we can already tell that she is going to be one who does things when she is ready, not when everyone else is. We love her to pieces and can't believe she's finally here. Being a parent is SO MUCH HARDER than we thought it would be, but in the end we are loving it. Welcome to our home Brynlee!