what i love

i love Gabi's grown up sayings like, "oh mom, you're going to be just fine." Or, "don't worry, I'll come check on you in a minute." She's so perceptive and a very understanding and caring person. I love that she loves her sisters and takes the time to play with brynlee, even if she doesn't really want to. i love madi's beautiful blond hair. I love her stubbornness and her desire to be an individual and not always follow what others are doing. I love her caring and compassionate disposition, and her desire to make brynlee happy. I love hearing from either of my girls, "mom, i just make (gabi, madi, brynlee) so happy! that make you happy too?" I love their smiles and their contagious laughter. I love that they always want me to be the "horsey" and give them a ride around the house, or piggy back rides nightly to go brush their teeth. I love that they love church. I love that they truly know what is good and desire to be it. I love that i have a husband who will get up with the kids when he knows I've had a rough night or day or both. i love my little bryners and all of her snuggles, her smiles, her laughter. i love the bond that brynlee and gabi have- those two were cut out of the same cloth. i love how much madi reminds me of Isaac, how much gabi reminds me of me, and how much brynlee is a perfect mixture of both. i love that we love each other and love being around each other. i love this time of year and watching the girls as they grasp the concept of the true meaning of Christmas. i love that every baby that they see in a nativity they know is baby Jesus, and for madi, every boy baby in books she calls baby Jesus :). i love being a mom and being there for my girls day in and day out. i love life's little lessons that we've learned along the way. i love seeing my girls grow and learn and emerge in personality. i love that i have a husband who puts up with all of us girls, and keeps a sense of humor. i love my family. :)
I hope this season finds you all well and happy and reminded of the wonderful things in life. :)

Gabi turns 4!

November 7th 2012 marked Gabi's 4th birthday! I can't believe my sweet little Gabi is already 4, and as she reminds me everyday, "Mom, look! I'm growing bigger. I'm growing up!" It's so cute how she says it, almost like we should be able to see her grow by the second. Thank goodness that isn't true!
True to form, Gabi woke up to the house decorated with crepe paper, Happy Birthday banners strung throughout the house, and a plethora of balloons scattered on the floor. Birthday utopia.
We made special birthday pancake shapes including the letter "G" the number "4" a candle, and of course an "M" for Madi and a "2" for her as well. Madi was pretty convinced that it was her birthday too.

We had a super fun day all day just as a family. We made Gabi's favorite dinner, at her request, and" opened her birthday present. She was super excited because she got her very own digital camera and she had a blast taking pictures of everything that was important to her. She took a lot of Madi, which made me smile because they are such great friends.

 

 

I had mutual that night for Young Women's, and had Gabi come with me as a special treat. She had a ton of fun and was constantly reminding me that she's "not shy like madi." She's really not shy, just a little reserved at first. She's really good at assessing situations before she acts. She reminds me a lot of me when I was little, except for the fact that I was ultra shy.

The next day we had a little birthday party for Gabi with her friends. It was tons of fun, and I think all the kids had a blast. We had an "under the sea" theme. As the kids came, they were given paper and crayons and got to draw fish, which they then cut out. While they were coloring they got to snack on fishy crackers. After they were done, we took the paper fish over to the "pond" and they got to "go fishing" for their candy that went into their treat bags. That part was tons of fun because I got to be on the other side of the "water" and attach their fish with their treats. They all enjoyed pulling up their fishing pole with candy and putting it in their treat bag. After the big "fishing trip" was done we headed to the table for cupcakes and presents.

I always love when little kids open presents at their birthday party, and the other kids get so excited they either tell them what it is before they open it, or they help them open it. It makes me laugh every time! Gabi was so sweet and thanked everyone for her presents, and was eager to share all that she had gotten, I love that about her!

It was a ton of fun, and Gabi sure loves being 4!

Brynlee's 9 month appt

I can hardly believe that my littlest baby girls is already nine months old! She is growing so quickly and changing so fast, I can barely keep up with it. I wish time would go by slower so that I could just drink in those wonderful moments and keep them with me forever.
The doctor said she looked great. She's 27.25inches tall (25-50th %), weighs 14lbs (3rd  %), and her head is 17.75inches (75th %)- which explains why she's so smart! With a noggin' like that!
So, she's still just a skinny little thing, although she eats like crazy. She eats at least three of the big jars of food every day, usually, half a banana, a graham cracker or two and puffs. She is not lacking in the appetite department! She just appears to have a fast metabolism, she'll appreciate that later!
She isn't crawling yet, but the doctor wasn't worried. He looked at me, dead serious and said, "Well, no wonder she's not crawling yet! With a head the size she has and a body the size that she has, it's probably difficult for her to hold her head up." I totally thought he was joking, but no, he wasn't! Hehe!
Brynlee loves watching her sisters and loves playing with them, she started clapping last week, she loves to babble and pretend like she's talking but already can say mama, dad, ga, and duckie. She is fascinated by cords (we'll have to take care of that before she starts crawling!) and loves being around people. She is smiling constantly and loves to laugh. We've been teaching her sign language, like we've done with all of our kiddos, and she gets so excited when we sign to her.
We love our little Bryners!

Eating goldfish crackers

 Ready to go on a walk

 Showing off her first tooth! (she seriously has longest most beautiful eyelashes!)

 Waiting to go on a walk, wanting the camera- love her blue eyes!

 Eating pancake for the first time!

 Eating a roll

 Eating pancakes at the hotel- such a big girl!

 Hanging out in the stroller while her sisters ride bikes

 Trying on her tutu for Halloween

 

With mama on my birthday (I had just let her lick one of my candles,

so she's eyeing it on the table)

Love ya little bryners!

Trunk or Treat!

Like usual our ward had a trunk or treat, but this year there were tons of people and kids! The girls had a blast hanging out with friends, trunk or treating and seeing all of the awesome costumes. Isaac was one of the judges, so, unfortunately he didn't get to go around with the girls and I :( Luckily two of the most awesomest girls in the young women helped me take the girls around. They're the best! Thanks Madi and Kaleigh!
I didn't get very many pictures, but we managed to capture a few at the very end.
Aren't the skirts adorable? My mom made them! They were wearing wings too, but once they found the leaves, off went the wings. Love my girls!

 

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!



Photography and Baby Slings

A friend of mine, Carolee Beckham, is an amazing photographer! I was companions with her while serving in the Baltic mission. As long as I've known her, I've always known her to take fantastic pictures. Whether is was capturing a picturesque moment, telling us how to pose to maximize the outcome of the picture (or to minimize the apparent pounds we'd gained :)) or to capture moments that would become fond memories to look back on. She came to my wedding and took some amazing pictures, one of which I still have hanging on my wall today. Love her work! She's awesome! She's located in Utah, and you should check her out on facebook Carolee Beckham Photography or her blog Carolee Beckham Photography.
Now, here's the fun part! Right now she's doing a giveaway for a Sakura Bloom baby sling and a photo shoot with you, your baby, in your new Sakura Bloom Sling! (photo shoot is for those who live in UT). So there's an extra reason to go check out her work, don't forget to enter the giveaway!
Have a great weekend!

Lesson Learned: Sharing

Tonight we let the girls play with flashlights. With flashlights in hand and smiles on their faces, Gabi and Madi wandered off to find the darkest room to satisfy their craving for finger puppet shadows. They kept themselves entertained for about an hour with this, and didn't argue once. It was wonderful! As it got closer to bedtime, we told the girls that it was time to put the flashlights away. They weren't thrilled at the idea, so to avoid "a scene" I took them away when they weren't looking.
To preface what comes next, I first must say that there is a new kids show on PBS kids called Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Maybe the nostalgia from Mr. Rogers neighborhood is why I love this new show so much, since it's a spin-off of it, or maybe because it teaches really good things, but I let the girls watch it, and I watch it with them.

Anyway, back to tonight- when Madi noticed that her flashlight was gone she said, "Mama you share? You take a turn, and then I get it back?" The later part said in a cute little sing-song voice, as seen on Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. I couldn't help but smile and tell her she could have it back, tomorrow. :) It's so fun to see children learn and grow, especially your own children. It's crazy too, to see my little 2yr old grasping the concept of sharing. Love it! Love being a mama to these three beautiful girls, I feel SO lucky!

Family Pictures, Part I

In July we had a Knight family reunion with extended family. It was tons of fun for the girls and I to meet family we hadn't met and get to know them, as well as for Isaac to see family he hadn't seen in a long time. We had some family pictures taken. If any of you know how Madi is with having her picture taken, you know that there are about 5min every day where taking pictures is a remote possibility, other than that, it's pure luck to get a good one. Needless to say, our pictures turned out quite hilarious. :)

Madi did not want to show her face!

Gabi didn't want to smile

Apparently neither did Brynlee :)

Isaac's parents, Ed and Taren

 

 This one's my favorite!

I think madi thought if she couldn't see the photographer,

maybe it would just stop :)

 

 Isaac's Grandparents, their sons, and spouses (there were

another 2 brothers not there)

 

 Grandma and Grandpa Knight

 

The whole gang. Can you see the tiny baby?

She was only a few days old, and they made the

trip from Colorado to come! Such a cutie!

 

It was a super fun family reunion, and so great to see everyone! More pictures to come on the fun things we did!

We had more family pictures done at our August family reunion, those were tons better. I will post those when we get them!

Childhood

You know those moments that you get as a mom, or as a parent, when you are lucky to get a small glimpse into your childs life, their hopes, their dreams, the things they love? I love those moments. Love them.

This morning I heard the girls waking up, so I headed over to their room to say good morning. As I got closer I heard them talking. The conversation went something like this,
Madi:Ahh...I want sticky butter. Gabi, you wake up?
Gabi: Mmmhmmm. Sticky butter? You like it?
Madi: Oh yeah! Gabi you have a snowman on your jammies! And I, (straining to see what's on her own jammies) I have a kitty, I found it all by myself.
Gabi: Yeah, I have a snowman, and you have a kitty. That's great! You hungry? You still want sticky butter?
Madi: Oh yeah!

It was so cute to see their interaction without knowing anyone else is around. Once they noticed I was there, Madi got a little shy. She's such a cutie! They were still excited about discovering what was on their jammies, and the sticky butter for on bread for breakfast. (Sticky Butter is what Madi lovingly refers to Melt Honey Butter as.)

Hope you all have a great day! Enjoy moments like those!