Brynnlee Turns One

I was really sad when this day arrived.  I feel like this past year has flown by way too fast.  But I have to say that I LOVE having a girl.

I love dressing her up, and making headbands. Unfortunately she won't wear them more than a couple minutes these days.  Oh well.  At least her hair is finally starting to grow.  She has one tiny little ringlet in the back, that I hope is the start to a full head of curly hair.  It's a mystery!

The boys can't seem to get enough of her.  They get so excited with every little new thing she does or learns.  The other day, Jaden was watching her with adoring eyes and a big smile and then he said, "I just LOVE having a sister!"  And honestly, in this whole first year of her life, the boys have yet to get mad at her... knock on wood!

You would think that with her being my first and only girl, I would have had a big bash planned out months in advance, and know exactly what I'm  going to buy for her.  Not the case.  Maybe because we had Easter, Jaden's birthday, and our trip to California and Disneyland all in the same month, my focus was split in too many directions.

Or because I'm lazy.

Nah. That can't be it.

I didn't plan out a party for her till a few days before.  And I didn't go shopping for her till the day before her birthday.  And... I couldn't even think of what to get her.  Pathetic, right?

But I remembered seeing a picture of my niece, Kaylee, pushing a baby stroller and decided that was what I wanted.  And of course a doll to go inside.  And wouldn't you know... maybe because Easter was the same weekend as her birthday, I don't know, ...  but I couldn't find a dang baby stroller in stock ANYwhere.  After a few stores I was about to just give up, (she wouldn't know the difference anyway, right?)  when I totally lucked out and found one just sitting on some random rack.

She took her first steps while she played with this thing.  Took us ALL by surprise.  There was a collective gasp, followed by complete silence as we watched her stumble a few steps, lose control and then topple over... resulting with a vow to herself never to touch the thing again.

She also got a bunch of clothes, lots of dresses, some toys, a book read and recorded by her Grandma Socci, a walking puppy that she still can't decide if she's friends with or not from Grandma Ashton, a few more baby dolls, and some baby bottles. 

This is also sad.  I usually LOVE making a cool cake for my kids each year.  And this was her first birthday! I drew a ballerina on top because Brynnlee loves to dance.  But it was not worthy enough to warrant a close-up shot.  Bad mom.

Well, Brynnlee... my last hope for an Ashton tradition cake smash... went for a clean sweep.  My kids are 0 for 4 in the cake demolishing department.  What the heck?  A perfectly good cake all to themselves, and not one of my kids wanted to get down and dirty.  So no. No birthday-bath shots needed.

Here's the birthday girl right before bedtime posing with all of her loot.  Look at all that PINK!  Such a loved little girl.  :)

A little bit about Brynnlee: (April 7, 2012)
* She weighs _____
* She's _____ inches tall
* She LOVES music and will shake her booty just about every time she hears it.
*Nicknames: Brynn, Brynns, Brynn-Brynn, Brynn to the Brynn, Brynny, Brynn-duh-lee-uh, Baby Girl, Sweet Girl, Pretty Girl...
* She has 2 bottom teeth
* She walks on her knees like her Daddy used to do.
* She scoots on her bum like Kaleb used to do.
* She never really liked baby food, but she couldn't seem to get table food to stay down, so she's pretty much been formula and cheerios her first year.
* She has the chubbiest cheeks of them all.  Even chubbier than Bradley's.  My Grandma used to say that Bradley had a square shaped face because of the cheeks.  I'm not sure what she'd have said about Brynn's!
* Her cheeks are also usually the first thing people comment on.  Big blue eyes are next.
* She's a screamer.  Not like a high squeally one, but like she's saying, "Hey! Pay attention to me!"  Really loud.  Especially in church.
*  She climbs the stairs like a pro, and her kind brother Jaden, has been so gracious as to teach her how to come back down... We like to teach the babies to come down backwards on their tummies.  Jaden taught her to face forward and scoot on her bum.  Now she wont even try on her tummy.  Freaks me out every time she  tries to come down.
* She's a momma's girl most of the time, but when Daddy's home, she's all Daddy.  I'm just waiting for her to really notice Charles sitting on the stand on Sundays and then throw a fit trying to get up to him.
* She says mama, dada, go, and gung-gung (thank you) and wow.
* She's got the glare down.  She like to bow her head down and then look up at you through her eyebrows.  It's quite intimidating to strangers.
* She used to bobble her head. It was the funniest thing.  Keeping the rest of her body still, she would look at someone across the room, and as if to wave hello, she would shake her head like a bobble head toy.  I loved it so much that I had a personalized bobble head sculpted of her, so I would always remember it.
* When she gets really excited she tightens up all her muscles so hard that she starts to shake.  She also makes her mouth into the shape of an "o", opens her eyes wide, and it's the funniest expression ever.