SNOW!!!

We got 6+ inches of snow in yesterday. It was really pretty! We tried to make a snowman but the snow was already too hard from the rain freezing on top of the snow. Brynlie was perfectly happy just eating it. She was mad because she wasn't big enough to break through the snow while walking like I was doing. It was so hard she just stood on top of it, but would stand there and scream "PUSH" trying to break through! She would of played out there all day if I would of let her.
Hopefully the weather cooperates and we can still head to Kansas on Friday. Maybe we'll just build our snowman there.

Uncle Tom

We attended Uncle Tom's funeral on February 3rd. It was a nice service with many in attendance. You could really tell how many people loved him. He will be dearly missed! One of Uncle Toms friends had brought him a huge monkey as a get well present and Aunt Narcie wanted Brynlie to have it. Thank you Aunt Narcie, we feel really special to be given something of his and will always keep it. Brynlie LOVES him, even though he is as big as she is, she drags him around like a baby doll. He has to sit next to her to watch t.v., she wants him to sit at the dinner table while she eats, and she enjoys reading to him and putting him nite nite. Its super cute to watch her with this big ole' monkey!!

Brynlie's Language

Bryn's speech therapist said she would be done working with her by the end of the month. YEA, Brynlie! Before her speech becomes perfect I wanted to get a little bit of her language documented. Up until last week she has thought her last name was Harmon, actually she thought every body's last name was Harmon. Of course, GiGi was eating it up, but I guess her speech therapist got a hold of her and they worked on her real name.

Brynee Bee-dong = Brynlie Birdsong
pooter = computer
bee-byes = french fries
I-com = ice cream
chee-butt = ketchup
caw-ket = chocolate
do-nin = doing
cuz = becuase
wuv uh = love you
see mo-nin = see you in the morning
hab gud day = have a good day
hole cow = holy cow
bass = bath
power = flower
butt-a-byes = butterflies
go cazy = go crazy (from Go Go)
adee = paci

The Playroom

The playroom is done....FINALLY!!! This was my big Christmas present to Brynlie, with contributions from Papa Roy, Grammy, Nonee, Gigi and KK. Gena and I painted on this room and furniture for countless hours over the weekends. I will admit it got a little out of hand, well maybe more than a little!
Dad and Janet will be visiting soon so I went ahead and converted Brynlie's toddler bed to a full size bed. Every time I do something like that it upsets me! I walk into that room now and it looks like a big girl lives here! With the big bed and out of diapers, I've decided I'm going to let her keep her paci until she starts Kindergarten! I don't care if people point and stare in Target. I was joking with Gena that she'll probably come home and say she wants to sleep in her new bed and this time around it'll be me saying "No, Mommy's bed." She's just growing up too fast. Thankfully she is the sweetest, prettiest, smartest, and funniest little girl I've ever laid my eyes on and I am so blessed to be her Mommy.
Her gymnastics coach told me on Monday night at class that she is exceptionally smart for her age, and the other mom's were telling me how strong she is. She really does have upper body strength that is obvious when she's on the bars and rings. We went over to watch the big girls do a cheer/dance routine at the end of our class and guess who was right up there on the front line dancing and clapping for the big girls! I laugh at her every single day! When she is not with me, I honestly feel like a piece of me is missing.
I took her to Hospice Saturday morning to meet Aunt Janice and Uncle Johnny for the first time. She provided some well needed comic relief for the deep sadness everyone is facing with Uncle Tom's health. Between Friday night and Saturday the entire family was together. He still recognizes us, he held my hand and reached up to touch Brynlie.

Potty Trained!!!

Brynlie started using the potty on Monday, January 10th. She had about one accident per day up until Thursday. For some reason, the accidents were at GiGi's. She would go for me and Nonee, but wouldn't potty for GiGi until Thursday. I had a long talk with Brynlie Wednesday night about going potty for GiGi, because after going three times for Nonee Wednesday night while I was at bible study, GiGi really started getting her feelings hurt. Gigi said it brought tears to her eyes when she finally went for her! HAHA!! Bryn has the CUTEST smile on her face when she's using the restroom, like it's just the coolest thing ever and she is SO proud of herself. She has been getting rewarded with "canny" and a "stikar." She's been watching me and GiGi paint on her playroom for weeks and weeks and has been begging us to let her paint. So first thing Saturday morning I took her to Target to pick out a painting prize for going potty all week long! She picked out her first set of finger paints. I've taken her out to eat twice, Gena took her to the gym, and then church this morning in panties, and she did great!! We've actually not had an accident since Thursday! She's also been napping without a diaper, but I still put one on her at night....especially since she sleeps in my bed! She's having some problems being able to poop in the potty, hopefully we'll overcome that in a few more days. I can't believe she's potty trained, and it was SO EASY. I'm so very proud of her, but hate how she looks like a big girl in panties!
We are very close to completing the playroom, maybe one more week and I'll get pictures posted. It turned out AMAZING and I can't wait to share it with everyone!

New Years and Milestones

We headed to Kansas for New Years. We all had a great time, even though it was below zero. I really don't remember it being that cold when I lived there! The baby wipes were left in the car overnight and they froze! Brynlie saw the swimming pool the next morning (covered in ice and snow) and said she wanted to go swimming! She had some seperation anxiety after spending a long weekend with Mommy, but recovered in just a couple days being back with GiGi. In the very near future Brynlie is going to be giving her paci's to a baby, because she's not a baby anymore :( She's been taking her diaper off and bringing them to me and actually telling me when she's potting in the diaper. I'm going to assume it's time to try and potty train again, but everytime I talk to her about it she says she doesn't want to wear panties, or go in the toliet, or be like Elmo who potty's on the toilet, so on and so forth!! I'm officially in Rhea Lana mode, my next sale is in 11 weeks or less (still working out details)! I can't believe it's already time again, but I'm so excited to see the growth of my business. I'm trying to get the playroom done this weekend so hopefully that will help keep my little leech occupied in the evenings so I can work. Her speech is outstanding!!! Tonight she was in the living room floor with her memory cards and she COUNTED 1-2-3 all by herself!! I was walking through the living room right when she said it, and you would of thought I won the lottery I was so excited!! She is saying 3-5 word sentences now. Tuesday morning when we were heading to GiGi's and I put her in her carseat she said "hey, where my t.v." meaning why did you take my portable dvd player out of here? She's doing wonderful with her speech. If you find any monkey panties please let me know, those are the only she's been interested in wearing when I ask her. She's obsessed with her "ew ew" jammies, that's all she wants to wear. She wont let me hardley get her dressed in the morning and as soon as we get home she runs and gets a pair of jammies out of her drawer and brings them to me to get her changed.

Gymnastics

Bryn's been taking "gnastiks" as we call it for about a month now. She loves it!!!