Brynn's {1st} birthday and a small vacation

We celebrated Brynn's birthday on three separate occasions.  First up, with G & G Goodrich and Uncle B at our house.  I only took one picture of Brynn and a whole bunch of Molly playing "Simon Says" with Grandma.  This is it:

Next, her actual birthday.  We didn't really do anything special, sadly enough.  It was just a regular old day with Justin working, Brynn napping twice, piano lessons, and Activity Days.  When Justin came home we ate dinner then opened presents.  Present #1: a bath toy.  Ours were gross and needing thrown out.  How convenient that Brynn's birthday was coming up. :)

Present #2: A doll.  And a stroller to push the doll in.

After presents we had cake.  I had made a cake earlier and was planning on decorating it, or at least I was going to try to decorate it.  But the two round cakes I had baked completely crumbled when I took them out of the pans.  They tasted great, but were not salvageable for birthday cake.  I was going to whip up some cake pops but I added to much frosting.  (I thought I knew the recipe by heart and was completely wrong.) It was a huge flop so to the store Daddy went for some cupcakes.  They worked in a pinch. Brynn was interested at first.

Then she took a few tastes.

Then she was done. 

I felt a little guilty that we hadn't done anything super fun that day to commemorate her birthday but we made up for it on the weekend.  My mom had planned a little get-away for the whole family at a hotel with an indoor swimming pool!

Justin took Friday off so we could get there earlier and have plenty of time to play.  We wasted no time in getting into our suits and jumping in the pool.  Molly still loves, loves, LOVES to swim.  With her lifejacket on she could go anywhere she wanted.   

Stockton was really nervous in the water.  

Brynn thought it was just a giant bathtub and kept putting her face in.

We swam for a couple of hours then took a break for pizza and more of Brynn's birthday celebrations.  I had made cupcakes this time.  They worked much better.

Brynn liked them better too.

 She got more presents: a rocking chair, doll, and clothes from Grandma and Grandpa, cars, a puzzle, and sandbox toys from cousins.  She felt very loved.

More swimming.  Just Molly this time, with some of the older cousins.

Then bedtime.

Breakfast in the morning and then more swimming.  Stocky got a bit more brave and wasn't clinging to me the whole time.

Brynn took a nap in the hotel room.

We swam for a couple more hours then called it quits.  Time to go home.

So Brynn's first birthday was celebrated successfully after all. And in case anyone is wondering, she was 14 lbs 4 oz the following week at her doctors appointment.  She gained a whopping 9 pounds 2 ounces her first year of life!

March

It snowed! For like the third time all year. This time I was determined to get the kids out and playing in it. I went out myself, which is not normal. We made two snowmen, or snow-girls, to be more correct.Justin turned 30 just a couple weeks after me. He barbecued and then we had cake. He requested a twinkie tower, just like last year. He picked out some new shoes for himself.I told the kids I would play with them outside, whatever they wanted to do for one hour. Sometimes I'm nice like that.:) We had a car wash.Then we sorted rocks.I've been helping out my friend by watching her little boy. (Her regular babysitter had a baby so I'm filling in until summer.) He is five months younger than Brynn...talk about two ends of the spectrum!!Luke: about 30 lbs
Brynn: about 15 lbs
Good thing he is such a good baby. He's happy to just sit on his blanket and play with toys. Good thing because I really cannot carry him around and when I do I have hold him with both arms. He is a chunk!

We made a marble race track during the Saturday morning session of Conference. It was fun and killed about 30 minutes. It's easy to store and Stocky likes to pull it out every now and then and race marbles.Speaking of Conference, Molly drew this picture. I love her drawings.