Making Memories of Us

Dinner, burgers, and bathtub!

2012-01-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

Cutie in the bathtub!

My family took me to dinner at Chevy's for my birthday, on Friday. It was so yummy and nice to see them!

Saturday night we went to a yummy burger place Red Mill Burgers and it was DELICIOUS! Brielle was so good and loved being out and about with us!

Activities in our new home!

2012-01-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

We had a few fires and Brielle was fascinated by the fire but was also careful around it too. Even when a fire wasn't lit she, for awhile, wouldn't walk close to the fireplace....it was so cute, she would tiptoe around it, never taking her eyes off of the fireplace!

Boxes are nice to move things in, but even better to play in!

While unpacking, Brielle found cowboy hats!

Oops, these are from before we left, she loves glasses!

Playing on the deck! Alicia made Brielle this adorable hat...thanks Alicia!

Look at that face!

"Wow, what a cute baby!"...who is that!

Cutie!

"Are you looking at me?"

LOOK AT THOSE GORGEOUS EYES! So dark!

I got this bookcase for Brielle at Target and she helped me put it together. The only thing I needed Arrian for what to nail like 60 TINY nails into the back panels...I am not good at nailing things.

Brielle kept trying to put screws in whatever holes she could fine...trying to do anything I did! So cute! She is a good little helper. When Arrian was nailing, she would hand him each nail and was so proud of herself. We love this girl!

ADORABLE!

It is so nice to have this in her room for her books and her toys! She takes her toys down to play with them, then I help her pick them up!

Before the move...

2012-01-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

At my parent's house the week before we moved.

When Arrian got his iphone, Brielle adopted Arrian's old phone. But then she discovered that it didn't turn on and work, so she got frustrated with it.

She found her old binky in a toy box and decided to play with it! She weaned herself from the binky when she was like 6 months old and hasn't had a problem since, so we let her play with the binky when she wants to.

She is such a little nurturer! She loves her baby dolls and will carry them around and kiss and hug them, then bring them to us to kiss and hug too. She is going to be a good big sister and a good little mommy to whatever comes her way...especially stuffed animals!

Brielle has loved living with my family, and will miss the (especially Maddie, her playmate during the day)!

Getting settled in!

2012-01-29T23:40:00.000-07:00

My mom sent us to our new home with some yummy treats for the car that Brielle enjoyed! After moving all our stuff out to the house on Saturday...the 14th, we went back to my parent's house to pick Brielle up (my mom had kept her all day Saturday while we packed and unloaded the truck...thanks MOM!) and then decided to stay the night rather than get to our new place late with nothing set up to sleep yet. It was nice to have one last night with my family! We will miss them, but we are thrilled that we are only 62 miles away from them, so we will see them often! Love you mom and dad and Josh and Ben and Maddie and Anna! See you later! Thanks for sharing your house and your life with us for 6 months!

We enjoyed our time together as a family, and luckily Arrian had that Monday off of school, so we could relax (a little...while unpacking)...and go shopping for things we needed for the house.

Shopping for house necessities at Costco! It was so funny...Brielle ate HALF of a polish dog from their food place...CRAZY!

Unfortunately in the craziness of trying to gather all our stuff from around my parent's house, we forgot a few things, one of them being Brielle's highchair! So...we improvised and got her little table and chairs out and she ate there for a week until we went back to Lacey to get the stuff we had left behind. It was harder though, because there was nothing keeping her in her chair, so I was very happy to have her highchair back!

Yummy Nutella!

PB&J

We live really close to McDonald's, so where there was a snow day for most of the state of Washington, we got out of the house and walked over there for lunch! Brielle learned to say "thnoo", for snow, and she was so funny about watching it....she was kind of confused about why she was wet, but we had a fun time in our own little winter wonderland!

During this snowstorm that lasted, I think, for about 5-6 days it was crazy in WA! Everyone was stranded at their houses (except up...thanks to our trusty TRUCK!), and the roads weren't being plowed, people were without power for days (my parents lost theirs for 2ish days), we were nice and toasty with our power, and Arrian's school was cancelled for the rest of the week. It was great! Kind of a winter break after the real winter break! It was a good time to be unpacking and organizing our new life!

We love our new place and we love where we are (so close to Arrian's school)...and we love each other!

Our new place!

2012-01-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

After Arrian found out for sure that he would have funding for this new quarter at school, and after he found out how much it would be monthly, we started looking for a place to live that wouldn't take him almost 4 hours a day!

It was great living with my family, and we are so appreciative of their generosity, but we needed a place closer to campus...

....and

....WE FOUND ONE!!!

The first day we looked (this second time around, we looked before, in August) we found a duplex that was available and we loved it immediately!

It was right in our price range, only 5 miles from Arrian's school, it is a DUPLEX, and we are on the top floor (so no stranger all around us, and no worrying about waking people up if Brielle cries at night), and it is in good condition! Here are just some pictures we took when we first looked at it! Within a week we had signed papers for it and we had a place to live! We found it the 3rd of January!

There is a pretty Magnolia (we think) tree in the front yard!

A huge bonus room off of the kitchen that we can use for a dining room/play room!

The wood floors are all the original from the house and they have been kept up well. They are squeaky...but we can live with that!

The kitchen is fine...as good as can be expected in a really old house (was built in the 60's).

Hallway to the rooms.

Front entryway and coat closet! I LOVE having a coat closet!

The bath tub is the original one, and has some chips in it, but it is clean and that is what counts!

As I was walking around the house I was thinking "man, if there was a carpeted room for Brielle this would be perfect"...then I saw the bedrooms and yes! one of them was carpeted! Yay!

Our room is small, but it is big enough for our bed and wardrobe thingy, so it is ok (barely big enough)!

And there is a closed in deck! Brielle loves the deck!

So there it is...our new home! We are very happy with it...and while I can't wait to find and own the house of my dreams...this one will do nicely for now! We feel very blessed to have found it. Oh...I didn't take a picture of the third bedroom, but there is a third bedroom and right now Arrian is using it as an office! Yay!

January

2012-01-24T22:05:00.000-07:00

Brielle LOVES jumping on the trampoline! When we got back from visiting with Arrian's family, Brielle got on the trampoline first thing! She had some new tricks to show us and from then on wanted to get on it all the time! She jumps for real now, and gets pretty high. It gives me a heart attack, but so far she hasn't fallen off!

Brielle and Maddie went outside to play a few weeks ago and they had a fun time! We spent probably 10 minutes bundling Brielle up, and then when we went outside it wasn't freezing like we thought, just cold...oh well! She was warm! She wore Maddie's coat and snowpants...she looked like a little dwarf running around!

Wow...on the above picture, look at those boogers!

Those two always have so much fun!

Happy New Year!...Late Post

2012-01-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

Happy New Years! I love our little family! We are so blessed!

Ikea trip!

2012-01-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

Brielle and I met my mom and Maddie at Ikea today! It was so fun! It was nice to see them, and Maddie and Brielle were SO good! They had cute little kid carts that Maddie and Brielle could push around, and I think it made the trip last 2 hours longer than it would have!

Most of the time Brielle was in the cart, but I let her run around a few times! She LOVED it! She ran into all the showrooms and got on the beds and snuggles with stuffed animals she found. She tried out couches, and looked at all the rugs and found the softest ones. She is such a good little shopper! I always go into Ikea with kind of a vague idea of what I need there and leave with so much more! I was so good this time! I went through my cart and took out things that I didn't 'need'. So, I didn't get anything fun, but I had a fun time!

Brielle fell asleep on the drive home, and that was her nap today! I even sat in the car for 20 minutes after we got home so she could have a full hour nap...I don't ever let her miss naps at home, but she did fine today without a good solid one.

Welcome 2012!

2012-01-02T22:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is 2012 already! It doesn't seem real to me yet, so I haven't given it a whole lot of thought, but I suppose I need to evaluate last year and make some goals for this year.

2011

There were lots of ups and lots of downs. We had Brielle for the whole year! I struggled with getting my depression under control. Arrian graduated from BYU. I graduated from BYU. Arrian got accepted to several grad schools and chose The University of Washington. We had a family reunion in Klamath Falls, OR. We moved to Washington and in with my family. We drove up to WA TWICE to move stuff and then after graduation...we were crazy! Arrian had a very successful first quarter of graduate school. We went to Hawaii as a graduation present. I became a better mother and hopefully a better wife. I have become older and wiser this year and hope to continue to do so.

Hopes for 2012

I feel good about how I look FINALLY! It is true...it really does take a year (for me as least) after having a baby for your body to bounce back completely...or as much as it ever will. I will never look perfect and I have accepted that over probably the next TEN...ISH years my weight will be fluctuating because of babies so I need to love myself no matter what and try to focus on how healthy I FEEL! Good luck to me!

Arrian will be continuing graduate school and will have a BUSY year. I want to be a good, supportive wife for him and make it as easy as I can.

I eventually want to move out of my parent's house! We are waiting for the final funding details of Arrian's research and then the hunt is on!

I want to "chill out" more as a mother. I need to realize that not everything is so serious. It will not ruin Brielle's life if her naps are off for a few days. I need to relax on some things and stop worrying so much!

I want to say my prayers every morning! I am SO bad at this, because I wake up when Brielle wakes up and my first thought is about getting her up, not praying, but I hope to change that.

I am going to work on staying healthy. That includes eating sweets and things sparingly or in moderation, having an active lifestyle, and going to the gym a few times a week to keep a good habit.

I want to cook meals regularly when we live on our own again.

This year, I want to become closer to my Heavenly Father and my husband and my daughter. Time flies. I miss 2011 and I am READY to take on 2012!

Christmas Vacation...Merry Christmas!

2012-01-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas! I love Christmas! We had a fun Christmas with family and I loved Christmas being on Sunday. It helps us keep our focus on the birth of Jesus Christ, which is the true reason we celebrate!

While we were waiting for Braden and Heather to come over for presents Brielle snuggled with Erick! What a great thing to wake up to...BRIELLE!

Brielle got a fun little kids laptop from Arrian's parents, she LOVES it!

Braden is such a good daddy to his boys! He loves them and Heather so much!

I love this boy! He is so sweet! Brielle kept following him around, doing whatever he did, it was adorable!

Nothing like candy for breakfast!

Heather made Braden this awesome blanket! It is SO soft!

Conner got a bike for Christmas! He LOVED it! Brielle decided that she wants one after seeing him on his. He was so cute, running around saying "bahke, bahke"!

Lucky Charms for breakfast! The tradition continues!

I love my girl! She and Arrian are all I could ask for for Christmas! I love family time together!

Arrian picked out a beautiful dress for Brielle. He is so cute about her, he loves finding pretty things for her to wear! His little sweetie!

Arrian got Skull Candy headphones (Aviators) for Christmas from me! (Thanks Braden for finding them at a good price!)

After church we went to Arrian's grandma's house to visit. She is a walking miracle! She was diagnosed with cancer a year ago and is doing great! It was a nice visit!

Arrian loves little Cash!

Love these kids!

Brielle got Conner's helmet and was entertained for 10 minutes! Thanks for sharing Conner!

Merry Christmas! I am so thankful for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It changed the world and every Christmas I love the opportunity I have to reflect on my blessings.

We had a great Christmas and it was so nice to be around family!

Christmas Vacation...Christmas Eve!

2011-12-31T23:58:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas! All of Arrian's family was together this year and we had a lot of fun! On Christmas Eve we had a yummy delicious dinner, a talent show and we played some games, followed up by watching 17 Miracles (NOT a Christmas movie, I know but we voted and I lost...but it was a really good movie!)

For the Talent Show Cory played a song on the guitar!

Shara played a beautiful song "Tara Theme" from Gone with the Wind. It was so good!

Erick played a song also.

The little kids loved the Talent show. They clapped and danced!

Arrian's talent was the best! He had a dance party with Brielle! He put Feliz Navidad by Celine Dion on his iphone and played it and Brielle and he danced. It was great! Brielle was going CRAZY! Arrian is such a good daddy! That is a great talent!

Karena showed some of her cool doodles and drawings for her talent. I sang and played "River" by Sarah McLaughlan, and Braden and Heather told great jokes!

Then we played some fun games!

We played a fun auction game and we got some cool, random gifts!

Little Cash! Adorable!

Merry Christmas! We had such a fun night and have some new traditions for next year!

Christmas Vacation...Quiet moments

2011-12-31T20:19:00.000-07:00

Brielle decided to unpack for us! And try on daddy's shirt. Way too big!

She loved the bathtub! Baths are the same everywhere!

Loved the santa hat.

Also loved peanut butter.

Christmas Vacation...Conner's B-day Party!

2011-12-31T18:26:00.000-07:00

The night of the 22nd, after Pump it Up and lunch at Cafe Rio, we went over to Heather's parent's house for Conner's birthday dinner and presents.

We had yummy pizza and the kids played!

The birthday boy! 2 years old!

Beautiful family!

Heather's mom, Peggy, made these great capes for all the kids.

Brielle gave Conner a SWEET tool set! We hope he likes it!

The kids hit the pinata with wrapping paper rolls and had lots of fun doing it!

After picking up the candy (and the moms hiding all the suckers) we had ice cream sundays!

Happy Birthday Conner! We love you so much and miss you!

Christmas Vacation...Pump it Up!

2011-12-31T17:43:00.000-07:00

For Conner's birthday we went to Pump it Up, an inflatable jump house. It was so fun! Brielle loved going down the slide and we did it OVER AND OVER! It was VERY tiring carrying her up it time after time, but to hear her giggle was so worth it!

We went with Heather and Braden's family, Anjuli and her son Porter, Bryson and Marissa and their kids, and Heather's mom and Shara and Karena, and Heather's younger brother Trystan. Everyone had so much fun!

Heather took Brielle on the slide!

Brielle loves her aunt Heather!

Happy Birthday Conner! Thanks for the party!

Christmas Vacation...The Bellagio!

2011-12-31T17:07:00.000-07:00

Whenever we go to Vegas we (meaning I) like to go to the Bellagio to see the gardens inside and see the fountain show. We had to talk Arrian into it this time (I guess he has been there a lot, being from there and everything) but after seeing how much Brielle enjoyed it he was glad we went!

It was so good to see Braden and Heather and Conner and Cash! We miss them so much! One of the hardest things about leaving Utah was moving away from them! We got into Vegas on Sunday night...late, and went to see the fountains on Monday night. On Monday and Tuesday during the day, Arrian took a Front Site class with his brother and his dad (some defensive hand gun course....guys!).

She loved looking at the lights and plants in the Bellagio!

Conner and Brielle were so interested in each other!

I wish Brielle could live closer to her cousins! They had so much fun together! Conner is 8 months older than Brielle, and his little brother Cash is about 11 months younger, so she is right in the middle! Perfect!

Love these pictures....we get to see everyone's double chins....and of course the cool ceiling of the Bellagio.

I love the fountain show! The songs this time were "Santa Baby" and then the Hellelujah chorus. It was so interesting to be on the Strip in Las Vegas (aka Sin City) and listen to such a spiritual song testifying of Christ. It was very poignant for me. The gospel reaches everywhere. You can have a spiritual experience on the Strip of Las Vegas. The Spirit has no limits, except those we place on it ourselves.

Hello Las Vegas! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Vacation...the airport!

2011-12-31T16:48:00.000-07:00

We flew out Sunday evening at about 6pm, and Brielle was an ANGEL the whole time! She played in the airport, was great through security and was good on the plane!

We gave her a few of her christmas presents early to use on the plane and I am glad we did. She loved her magnet board and her glowing sea horse!

She fell asleep the last 2 minutes of the flight from Salt Lake to Vegas (we flew to SLC from Seattle, then had a short layover before going to Las Vegas).

I was so proud of her! She was AMAZING! What a little trooper!

Vacation here we come!

Early Christmas with the Watsons

2011-12-31T16:42:00.000-07:00

We were leaving for Las Vegas on Sunday the ....hmmm, the 18th, I think, so Saturday night Brielle opened her presents from my parents!

She got this great caterpillar tunnel, a doll and some clothes and things...but she went crazy over the tunnel and the doll!

As soon as I took the doll out of the package she gave her a hug and a kiss! Anna and Maddie have dolls like this and now Brielle has one too!

Arrian got a picture of her giving her doll a kiss with his iphone! Cute!

Merry Christmas Watsons! We will see you in 2 weeks!

Playdate!

2011-12-31T16:30:00.000-07:00

Brielle's little friend Scarlett from church was moving so I had her over so her mom could work on cleaning and stuff and Brielle and Scarlett had so much fun together!

I love seeing Brielle with kids her own age!

ZooLights!

2011-12-31T16:18:00.000-07:00

She found the girls' little mp3 player and loves carrying it around listening to music...or pretending to!

*Random picture, unrelated to the post.

The Point Defiance Zoo has a great Christmas light display called Zoolights. It is a HUGE production! So many beautiful light displays! We went as a family (my dad had hurt his foot so couldn't come...missed you dad!) and had a lot of fun!

Brielle decided that she liked my gloves! They look cuter on her!

The aquarium was the most "animal" activity we saw, because most of the rest of the zoo was asleep! Brielle loved the fish!

Ben and Gabi.

Me and my hubby! We did this on Saturday 12/10, so the weekend before his finals and I am so glad he was able to come with us. It wouldn't have been the same without him! I love him so much and it was so nice to do something fun together to take his mind off of school.

It was so fun to go and I think we will do it again next year!

After we finished walking around the zoo we went back to the cars for some yummy hot chocolate! The perfect end of our outing!

Our little family! Finding joy in being together, no matter what we are doing!

Cutie!

2011-12-31T16:02:00.000-07:00

What a cutie! She loves lids! She always tries to put lids on things!

Gingerbread Houses!

2011-12-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

Making gingerbread houses after Thanksgiving is a tradition from the Watson family. Growing up, I always remember doing it right after Thanksgiving and this year we were in Washington to do it, and so was my cousin Chris and his girlfriend Cecilia. It was so fun! We did it the day after Thanksgiving! I made a lot of the gingerbread the night before and we bought a few kits.

This year I decided that I was bored of the standard 4-wall houses, so got online and downloaded a patter for a "farmhouse"...it turned out to be HUGE! I was so proud of myself for doing it by myself! Arrian has never been a huge fan of gingerbread houses, but he liked it this year and after seeing that "our" house was cool he came and saved me by helping me figure out the roof configuration. Thanks babe!

Ben's friend Gabbi ( I can't ever remember if she spells it with one or two b's....hmmmm) came over and made one with Ben too.

Our aunt Celeste sent this adorable cardboard house for the girls to decorate! They had so much fun with it and Brielle loved it too! She giggled everytime she went in it!

My dad has been dubbed the icing king since he is usually in charge of the Royal Icing, and he does a good job of it! Thanks dad!

One of the kits my mom got was a little village that had like 5 little houses. Arrian put one together and decorated it with Brielle. It was so cute watching him help her to put candy on it. She got the hang of it and had so much fun spreading frosting on it and then grabbing candy and dumping it on! We put it in the front lawn of our house.

Cecilia and Christ were so artistic with theirs! They were so good!

Josh's friend Caitlynn (sp?) from down the street came too...it was a party!

My mom's turned out as a masterpiece!

Good job guys! I am so glad you could come!

Our house, complete with Brielle's play house in the front! The window with the F is stained glass, made with melted candy to be see through, but it is hard to see without a light behind it.

Yay! We will definitely be continuing this tradition!

The girls made some cute little houses!

So fun! We missed you WATSONS! We always think of you when we do this! Love you!

Thanksgiving in WA 2011

2011-12-31T15:33:00.000-07:00

This year we were at my parent's for Thanksgiving, and while we missed Arrian's family's celebration in St. George, it was nice to be together with mine. I wanted to give my mom a break, so I did most of the cooking, and everything turned out really well (I'm not a chef, but it was pretty yummy)!

I made Pumpkin and Pecan pies....so delicious!

"Just keep it coming grandma!"

I love this man so much. So so much!

Arrian is a mashed potato genius and was in charge of that this year. DELICIOUS! He has a permanent job for the holidays...mashed potatoes.

It was a nice day to spend with family and remember the things that we are thankful for.

This year and I am so very thankful for so many things:

-Arrian's dedication when it comes to his schooling. He is making such a sacrifice for us to have a more secure future and I love him for it!

-My family's generosity and willingness to welcome us in their home for as long as we need to stay.

-Our beautiful, sweet, kind daughter...I couldn't ask for more!

-The blessing the gospel is in my life. So many times I say a prayer in my heart and I am comforted to know that Heavenly Father listens to each and every one of my thoughts and prayers.

-An eternal family.

...and so many other things!

Happy Thanksgiving! This is late, but I wanted to document as much as I can.

Bathtime!

2011-12-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

Brielle LOVES bath time! Whenever her daddy gives her a bath you can hear her giggles and squeals through the whole house! They have so much fun together. He even splashes WITH her! She and I have fun too, but it is a more controlled fun....must be a daddy daughter thing!

End of November! ...life!

2011-12-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

She is such a girl! She loves shoes!

Brielle is into the dump and fill stage. She loves to get into things...but so far she also loves to put them back, so that is good!

Brielle loves playing with her friend Scarlett from church! They are 2 weeks apart in age (Brielle is younger) but so different and so similar! Cute!

Love our girl!

Earlier pictures from November

2011-12-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

In November Arrian was going to school, Rachel and Brielle were hanging out at home (the Watson house)....these are just some pictures from day to day life.

Maddie and Brielle are becoming such cute little buddies!

Yummy....the only thing better than graham crackers is GRAHAM CRACKERS WITH MILK!

Staying up to date with important facts in Readers Digest...she's already studying up! Haha!

Cutie!

Sunday night ramblings

2011-11-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

It is Sunday night and before I get ready for bed I just wanted to type a little of what is going on at our house lately. Mostly the same stuff, but keeping a record is good!

We all went to church today and Brielle played with her little friend Scarlett (2 weeks older than Brielle) during Sunday School. It was so funny to watch these two little girls who are SO different from each other. They got along so well! Scarlett is this little TINY petite girl with beautiful red hair, and Brielle looks gigantic next to her! And yet it is Scarlett who is so loud during class. Brielle studies all the toys and explores them and Scarlett throws them...HILARIOUS! Brielle is fascinated by her little friend and I wish they weren't moving in a couple weeks!

Brielle has been pretty good lately about taking a long nap. Most days it is around 2 hours, usually closer to 2 1/2 or 3 hours, which I LOVE! She takes her nap in the afternoon, usually between 1 and 2pm.

Arrian got to stay home from school Thursday as well as Friday and was just able to study and do homework at home and at the local library here, so Brielle and I loved having him around so much.

We have started looking for a place to live closer to UW campus, as Arrian will have to spend a lot more time there because of research and his large class load next quarter...so we will probably move sometime in January.

Brielle is getting cuter everyday, and busier! She is exhausting! She busy and curious! She has hit the stage where she grunts for everything and gets upset when we don't know exactly what she wants. One of my parenting books says that between these stages (baby and toddler....so it is called pre-toddler) I just need to focus on not LOSING ground with her in the things we are doing and in her behavior. That makes it easier, because she is really just frustrated at not being able to communicate!

We have taught her a few Sign Language signs that she is starting to use more. She does "more", "all done" (just starting this one), "eat", "drink", "bye-bye"...and that's it for now! Hopefully we can keep teaching them to her and she can communicate with us better!

I am so happy to be Brielle's mother and Arrian's wife. I feel like a mother AND a wife, like I haven't lost the wifey part of myself in being a mother! A nice thing about living with my family is that when Brielle is down for the night, Arrian and I can go somewhere if we want! We went shopping yesterday and it was so nice to get out spontaneously!

I love being a wife and a mother!

Arrian and I had a nice relaxing day (both of us reading our books) and then an enjoyable night with Brielle (she LOVES baths in grandma and grandpa's HUGE bathtub!) and I feel ALMOST ready for the week to start. Arrian has 2 midterms, so wish him luck! He did REALLY well on his math midterm, so we are hoping for good results from these two as well.

Life is good!

Tiger's Voyage Rant!

2011-11-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is going to be the most random post but I have to put my thoughts down so they can stop bugging me inside my head!

I just read the first three books in the Tiger's Curse series by Colleen Houck and I LOVED them! Better than the Twilight series (I wasn't a huge fan but I did like them) for sure. Better than every book I have read in a long time!

The fourth book doesn't come out until July! And then there is a 5th one too! She leaves us hanging off the edge with the ending of each book. So, I am going to try to forget about the books until the 5 one is out so I can read them back to back!

I started and finished Tiger's Voyage yesterday, and I REALLY hope that Kelsey ends up with Ren. It would just be unfair to us readers for her to stay with Kishan. I think Kishan should start dating Nilimia...I know the 4th and 5th books will be a huge surprise and I would recommend this book to all of women/girls I know...maybe not the guys since it is a love story, but you never know!

A great thing about it is that it is totally appropriate! That is hard to find!

Read it! Tell me what you think!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T23:29:00.000-06:00

So, today has kind of been a rough day, but also a good day. Sometimes I get feelings of inadequacy, or I feel restless for something different in my life. Or sometimes I just feel like things should be a certain way (and I am SURE they are perfect for other people...even though they aren't) and I get frustrated when they aren't. I need to be more flexible in my thinking, in my parenting, and in my expectations of myself. I need to remember that the most important thing I am doing is caring for Brielle and being a good wife...and I good person!

Brielle woke up at 3:30am this morning! I don't know why...it could be so many things! Teething, needing snuggles, doing through a clinging phase...so many things! She just needed to snuggle for a few minutes and then I put her back in bed and she cried a little and fell asleep. Her nap was also cut short, one and a half hours instead of 2-3 hours! I need to give up my expectation of 3 hour naps and make the most of 1.5 hour ones. I need to be more flexible with her!

So, today was fine, but I wanted to do some things that I didn't end up doing...and I need to be ok with that and move on.

Moving on....

HALLOWEEN! Arrian's mom sent this ADORABLE shirt for Brielle, so I of course had to get some pictures with her in it. Bad pictures, but just a way to document!

Brielle LOVED trick-or-treating! She ran down the sidewalk, tripped, got back up...and repeated this process multiple times! She was such a good sport, and even managed to chew through a kitkat wrapper and suck on in for a few minutes before we noticed...sneaky girl!

She loved going to the houses with dogs at the doors, she would bark right back at them! She liked the dogs better than getting the candy! She wasn't afraid of any of the houses and walked right up to most of the doors with only a little coaxing.

We went to about 25 houses and got a good amount of candy! She was tired by the end, but still had not complained even ONE time! She is SO good! We got home and she wanted to look at all her loot!...and Anna and Maddie's!

When trick-or-treaters came to our door she ran to the door and "talked" them and kept yelling ba-bye to them as they left...like 10 times! So cute!

It was such a fun night and definitely was a good way to end a not-so-good day!

Josh's Homecoming Pictures

2011-10-30T22:39:00.000-06:00

Josh went with his good friend Jennifer, and they both let me go and take some pictures of them before they ate dinner at a friends house with the rest of their party. It was fun, and Jennifer is as nice and she is gorgeous!

PS....I suffer from have-to-post-every-picture-itis...so bear with me!

Couldn't resist throwing in a little funk! It wasn't a disco dance they were going to...but oh well!

LOVE the corsage!

Thanks Josh and Jennifer for being so great and letting me boss you around for 20 minutes! You both are great!

Josh's Homecoming-Boutonnieres

2011-10-30T22:24:00.000-06:00

Josh had Homecoming last night! He knew that I had made boutonnieres in High School so he asked me if I could help him make the corsage for his date. I, of course, agreed and was excited to work on it! My mom and I went shopping at Michael's (dangerous place for both of us to go!) and Josh and his best friend Tristan made them with us on Friday night.

Cameras are not very forgiving sometimes! I look horrible! No makeup...or anything, but these corsages were more important, so I don't care!

Tristan's corsage for his date.

Josh's for his date!

They matched the girls' dresses perfectly! It was fun! Pictures of Homecoming to follow!

I think that for never having made corsages, we did pretty good! Josh and Tristan had the final design decisions, but we gave them lots of options, so it was a group effort! Good job boys!

We had left over flowers from the bouquet, so I arranged them and the boys gave a bouquet to their dates' mothers. They loved it!

Schilter Family Farm

2011-10-29T17:02:00.000-06:00

For a family outing today we went to the Schilter Family Farm to look at pumpkins, go through a petting zoo, enjoy a hay maze and be together as a family. It was so fun! Brielle LOVED the petting zoo. At first she would back up from the animals when they got close, then she went after them!

She was such a good girl, loved the petting zoo, loved the hay, and loved the pumpkin field!

Next year when we go we think she will be old enough for the pony ride and "cow" train. It was almost her nap time and lunch time, so we didn't stay for the hay ride. It was a good morning activity and the day turned out to be beautiful!

Fall Leaves!

2011-10-29T16:40:00.000-06:00

My mom raked a pile of leaves together and we plopped Brielle right into it!

She didn't really know what to think of it at first, but she enjoyed being outside...even though it was windy.

So did Maddie! It was cute, Maddie buried her coat in the leaves, then "found" it and said, "WOW, look, it's my NEW coat!"

Just a nice, windy fall day at the Watson/Forbush house!

Arrian's Birthday

2011-10-27T14:21:00.001-06:00

For Arrian's birthday we went to Chevy's, which is a restaurant he loves in Vegas, that just happens to be in Tacoma also. We went on a double date with my parents, and it was so nice to get out and eat REALLY good food!

Happy Birthday Arrian!

Way to Go Arrian!

2011-10-27T14:17:00.001-06:00

Good news!

A story first:

When we decided to come to Washington for Arrian's graduate school there were a lot factors to consider. Our main concern was finding funding so that part or all of Arrian's tuition would be covered so we didn't have to pay out of state tuition for the whole two years. This is easier said than done. We had to take a leap of faith and come up hear, hoping that Arrian could find a professor to work with. You have to wait for school to actually start to work on getting funding from professors...so it isn't a sure thing when you start school.

We were looking for places to live in the beginning of September, end of August and we just weren't feeling right about anything because we had NO idea if Arrian was going to be able to find a professor to work with, so we decided to stay with my parent's for a little while. This was a nice solution because we got free rent (THANK YOU!) and were able to stop stressing about finding a place before school started. So, we have been living here since the middle of Julyish-Augustish. The bad part about free rent is that Arrian's commute is at least an hour and a half each way, about 4 days a week right now! He drives a half hour to the park and ride in Tacoma, then gets on an express bus that goes straight up to the University, usually an hour bus ride.

Well....ARRIAN FOUND A RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP!!!! Yay! He started talking to professors, sending emails, visiting offices and got the position he wanted! He is working for a Professor Ramulu from India on a project for BOEING!!! He met with the professor, expressed interest, went to a lecture, had a private meeting with the professor and a colleague, then found out on Tuesday that he got it!

The catch is that it will not be final until a few weeks from now, when the professor get the final ok from Boeing, agreeing to the project proposal...we aren't really worried about that though, the professor is sure they will approve this final draft.

Sorry the for confusing information! Long story short: Arrian came to UW on faith, beat the pavement looking for research that would give him a thesis he would enjoy and make him marketable, found said research, was accepted, was given key to lab....just waiting on final ok from Boeing...and we have LIFT-OFF!!!

So, I am super excited! It will be a change, because it is a big commitment, but he is ready for it!

We will probably have to live closer for winter quarter, as he will have to commit to 20 hours a week, on top of his GINORMOUS load of SUPER hard homework.

I am so proud of Arrian! He didn't give up, he found something he wanted to do and he went for it!

So, we will see what the next few months bring!

Oh...and we get a monthly stipend too...we don't know how much yet, but even just having tuition taken care of is a HUGE blessing!

Faith pays off!

14 Months

2011-10-24T23:27:00.000-06:00

Our little angel is 14 months old! I can't believe it!

After about 2 months of not sleeping well (Roseola, teething, us being in Hawaii, colds, more teething, moving, etc) it seems like she is finally settling into a routine at night, only disrupted by getting her molars on some nights. She is a good little sleeping, and it has been hard for us all to get used to sleeping in the same room together, which I think contributes to some of her night time awakening (we are in my parent's bonus room over the garage, it has an alcove for Brielle kind of away from the rest of the room, so it isn't too bad...doable, but not ideal).

She is my little buddy during the day and I love the time I get to spend with her. I love seeing who she is becoming and knowing that I get to help her be her best. She is so compassionate already, it is amazing! She shares so well already, gives away her food, comforts anyone when they are sad...she is just so kind!

Things she is doing:

-She LOVES to brush hair...your hair, her hair, ANYONE'S hair! It is funny, she will carry a hairbrush around the house and if you let her brush your hair she giggles and is so cute about it!.

-She loves to clean! It is so funny, I will look around her her and find her in a corner with a dishrag she takes from the kitchen rubbing the floor. CUTE! Yesterday she even had found a sippy cup with water in it and was dumping water out onto the floor (just a little bit of water) and was washing the floor with her rag. So funny! If she makes a mess with crackers or anything she loves to get a rag and clean it up. A useful tool!

-She is getting THREE molars! Poor girl! Two of them are halfway through her gums and one is just about to poke through. So last night she was up in pain a lot!

-She comes up and snuggles with me and Arrian...I love this!

-She says: ba-ba (and waves for bye-bye), nononono (for no), no (and points to nose for nose), huh-hoh (for uh-oh)...yep, thats about all she is saying right now.

-She has been transitioning to a later bedtime and morning time, which I love! We put her down to bed around 8:30-9pm, in anticipation of the time change in a few weeks and she wakes up (usually, when she isn't teething) around 8-8:30am...it is great!

-She loves to read books. We have a little corner in her room that has a lot of her books in it and she is currently (and will go throughout the day) sitting over there looking through the books. Sometimes she will bring them over for me to read to her.

-She loves to accessorize! She will find clothes and drape them on her head and over her shoulders and on her arms. She wears beads and whatever else she can find that could POSSIBLY be put anywhere on her body and puts it there!

-She is OBSESSED with my hair! She loves to pull it! She loves it when I put it all over her face! She loves brushing things through it.

She's Brielle and we LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE her!

Happenings lately! She's so busy!

2011-10-24T23:14:00.000-06:00

She lights up our life! Arrian has school now and commutes 4 days a week up to Seattle. He drives 20 miles to the Tacoma Park and Ride, then hops on an Express Bus that goes straight to the University, about 40 miles away. Each way it is about an hour and a half...ish! Some days it is longer if traffic is bad, usually Fridays. So, Brielle and I hang out at home (we are still with my parents...so nice to not pay rent for a little bit) and have fun!

All pictures are straight out of the camera, so it is because they are bouncing that it is blurry, not because I am horrible! Most of these day to day pics are taken with our little Canon SD940, and I have a love-hate relationship with it!

Brielle found this hat and dressup gloves in our room and she wanted them on!

She looked like the perfect little lady!

We have SO many pictures of her sleeping! She is our little Sleeping Beauty!

We were wiping her nose so much when she had a cold that she now tries to wipe mine occasionally!

Brielle is such a physical little girl! She loves to wrestle and roll around with her mommy and daddy! And she is obsessed with toothbrushes!

So sweet!

Well, that is the busy-ness of us lately! Just kind of a picture dump of the last 2 weeks!

Convocation-Part 2!

2011-10-24T22:04:00.000-06:00

What a busy, fun day! And HOT!!! The next morning we drove to Washington! 900 miles! Wow!

I am so glad that I completely my degree and now have a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from BYU. It makes me happy to know that I started and completed something, despite obstables. I know that a degree is not for everyone, but I was supposed to get it, and with the support of my wonderful husband and my family and friends I did! And so did Arrian!

Congratulations us!

Late post, Graduation-Convocation...Part 1

2011-10-24T21:42:00.003-06:00

This post will have A LOT of pictures!

It was cool, for Convocation Arrian was asked to give the opening prayer, so they asked him if I wanted to graduate with him and sit on the stand with him. So we got to walk across the stage together! He did great with the prayer, and we tried not to fidget too much up there on the stand. It was funny graduating with all the engineering majors...there were definitely not too many girls there! It was fun to share the experience together and with our families.

Thanks everyone for coming!

Arrian's department had a luncheon for everyone after, so we trudged up the hill...sweating profusely in our oh so wonderful icky gowns (thankfully I had traded out my heals for flip-flops) and had some lunch!

Poor Brielle, she was SO tired and hot! She was a trooper and didn't complain the whole time! That's our girl!

One of Arrian's professors.

We did it!

Graduation! Late post! OOPS!...Getting there and Commencement

2011-10-21T12:34:00.000-06:00

After a crazy busy beginning of August, and the Family Reunion the first week of August, we (Arrian, me, Brielle, Anna, and my dad) drove down to Utah for our graduation. I was so excited my dad came! He has always been so encouraging about graduating and I am very thankful for his support.

The drive was long, and we broke it up into two days, staying the night in Elko, NV, before going to stay at my aunt Staci's in UT.

On Thursday we headed over to BYU for commencement (we got there almost too late, because a weird road closure, and had to run to get in line!).

We handed Brielle off to my dad and Cory and headed off!

Where's Waldo? ...we are somewhere in there...in the back, posing for the camera!

Finally graduating!

Grandma F had Brielle, and Brielle was good until the clapping started, then she had to go out on the lawn and play for the rest of it.

I love you dad!

Braden's wife Heather graduated with us, so here we are, the three grads! She had a baby a few weeks earlier and still made it to the rest of her student teaching and graduation! Super woman! We love her!

Arrian's family there to celebrate. After, we all went to dinner for graduation, and to celebrate Brielle's birthday with them.

Wow...we are finally finished! We did it!

Braden will be following us and graduating next year! Good luck Braden!

I think this is foreshadowing! Brielle wants to go to college too!

I love you Heather! You are amazing! Wow...and gorgeous!

...so long drive, busy day...on to the next day!

Birthday going-ons-Part 2...added late!

2011-10-19T15:53:00.000-06:00

I forgot to post this awhile ago, so here some more pictures from Brielle's birthday!

"Help! Everyone is looking at me...what do I do?"

"Is this right?"

"Hmmmm, it kind of is yummy"

We took the sheet away, it was distracting her...and then Arrian had to help her get into the cake...I also showed her how by sticking MY face into the cake, but she didn't catch on.

After getting into the cake Brielle chased Anna around the yard!

Maddie enjoyed playing with Brielle's toy.

Of course Brielle skyped Arrian's family, it wouldn't have been a complete birthday without them!

So Good!

2011-10-07T12:57:00.000-06:00

I was sitting on the couch just now and Brielle came up to me and laid her head on my shoulder and snuggled with me. It is moments like this that I know that life is so so so good. No matter how in transition things seem to be right now in our lives, my little girl brings me such joy. What would I do without her? She lights up my life.

Life is so

GOOD!

Park! Laughs! Smiles!

2011-10-05T13:44:00.000-06:00

She is just so special!

I love her so much!

Roseola Week!

2011-10-05T13:43:00.000-06:00

It was so good to see Brielle after being gone for a week! She was so excited to see us, and we just couldn't get enough of her!

We went to the library for her first time, and she loved all the books and toys.

Brielle wasn't feeling great when we got home, and she hadn't been sleeping through the night for awhile, but we figured it was just her teething (which she is doing also). She had a bad fever for about 3 days then a rash...come to find out that she had Roseola! After her rash started she was feeling better and was on her way to feeling better! It was so nice to know what was going on with her. It was a LONG week after we got back dealing with this, but I am so glad she got sick after we were home from Hawaii, and not while we were gone. That would have made being away from her IMPOSSIBLE!

The week was full of snuggles and tears and I couldn't be happier to be a mother.

Going Home...

2011-10-05T13:31:00.000-06:00

After a week of being by ourselves we were SO ready to see our baby girl again! I was ok for the first 4 days or so, but after that I was DYING to see her! It was such a nice break but I missed my baby girl!

Thanks mom and dad for watching Brielle...and thanks Josh and Ben for helping with all three of the girls! We love you all so much!

Hawaii: Sunday

2011-10-05T13:27:00.000-06:00

On our last full day we just wanted to relax and enjoy being by ourselves before we went back to the merry-go-round of life!

We went to church in Hawaii, and it was so cool to see again that the church is true wherever you go!

We went to the beach for the last time and had a nice time watching the sunset while enjoying the waves!

It was so nice to be in Hawaii and enjoy being Rachel and Arrian for awhile!

Our last shave ice was SO good! It stinks that we found this place the last night we are there...it was way better than the other places we found.

Hawaii: Saturday

2011-10-05T13:08:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we went up to Haleakala (a volcanic crater in Maui)...we could have gone up to for sunrise, but we would have had to wake up at 2:30am to go see it, so we just went up around 8, so we could still see a lot, and we got to sleep!

It was so pretty! I love Maui! The landscape is so diverse!

That land in the background is the big island of Hawaii! It is only 35 miles away from the crater.

This is a plant that only grows on this crater...it is cool!

After we just had to go back to Pita Paradise and we had to get Baklava Ice Cream Cake!

It was another gorgeous sunset!

Hawaii: Friday

2011-10-05T08:30:00.000-06:00

On Friday we decided to relax and take it easier and just relax more. We drove aways and went to see the blowhole...which wasn't blowing, but that was ok!

Everything was SO beautiful along the coast! I just loved looking at the rocks as the waves crashed against them.

We hiked down to the water....well, I hiked down halfway and Arrian hiked down to the water because we hadn't planned on this big hike, so I just had flipflops!

If you look really close you can see me in the middle of this picture!

Then we went to Bubba Gump's...again!

It was a good day!

Hawaii: Thursday

2011-10-05T08:22:00.000-06:00

We went on a snorkel cruise on Thursday to Molokini Island. It is a little crater a little ways away from Maui that is a protected fish and bird area, so there were a lot of cool fish to sea.

After Molokini we went to Turtle Town to snorkel, but we didn't see any sea turtles. Some other people did, but there weren't very many to see. We still had fun snorkeling but we were glad we had seen sea turtles on Tuesday so we weren't disappointed.

We found this cool restaurant called Pita Paradise that had AMAZING Baklava Ice Cream Cake. Baklava is a dessert Arrian enjoyed on his mission to Bulgaria, and he LOVED this dessert we found! It was really good...my favorite desserts MUST have chocolate, so this wasn't my favorite, but it was still really good.

Hawaii: Wednesday

2011-10-04T18:01:00.000-06:00

When I was in Maui 5 years ago my family drove the Road to Hana, and I knew Arrian would love it, so we undertook that on Wednesday. The Road to Hana is a LONG windy road around half of the island...and there are beautiful beaches and waterfalls along the way. The drive made me SO carsick, but not as much as I thought it would because I took dramamine in advance and had chewy things to chew on to help not be so sick.

This is the black sand beach we stopped at. It is the ONLY volcanic black sand beach in Hawaii...there are other black sand beaches, but for some reason the "sand" is different...I read why, but then forgot.

We stopped at the Seven Sacred Pools and had a swim...it was colder than the ocean because it was freshwater, so we didn't stay in too long!

Most people who drive the Road to Hana just drive to the point of the island and then turn back, but we took the whole way around and saw the opposite side of the island where nothing grows and no one lives.

It was SO barren! And the road was HORRIBLE! One lane for like 20 miles! Ugh!

After we got back from our long trip we relaxed for a bit...I was determined not to drive anywhere else for awhile!

Hawaii: Monday and Tuesday

2011-10-04T17:53:00.001-06:00

Arrian and I celebrated graduating from BYU by going to Maui...without Brielle! It was the first time I would be away from Brielle for more than a day and I didn't know how I would do, but Arrian and I really needed a break. So we took one! We are staying with my family right now and have been for 2 months, so we left Brielle with them. I was ok leaving her for a week because she wasn't changing her environment at all and she was completely comfortable with everyone at the house.

I think it was harder for me than for her!

We flew to Hawaii Monday, September 12 and as soon as we landed in the airport we could feel Hawaii!

We couldn't check into the condo until 4pm, so after grabbing some lunch (we had been up for a LONG time) we went to the beach!

On Tuesday we went and rented snorkel gear and got our vacation started!

We rented an underwater digital camera for the week and I am SO glad we did! We were able to take so many pictures that we wouldn't have been able to without it.

We went driving up the coast and found this cool bay that was privately owned, but the owners let people swim there to snorkel, so we were able to snorkel in a private bay and we say so many cool fish there without the waves at the beach! We also saw 2 sea turtles! One of them we swimming SO close under me, I couldn't believe it! It startled me when I saw it! The water looks hazy in this picture, but I am not sure why because I could see the turtle perfectly...oh well, the idea is there.

On our drive back to our condo we stopped and watched the beautiful sunset!

We just HAD to go to Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co, and we were so glad we did! The food was really really really good!

We fell in love with Hawaii immediately!

A year with Brielle...WONDERFUL!

2011-09-23T22:00:00.000-06:00

I am late in doing this...I have a SLOW computer that has a hard time processing photos.

Here is our year with Brielle, from day 1 to one year! A great year! We are looking forward to more years together!

Day 1: Right after Brielle was born. A beautiful baby girl that we were so happy to welcome to our family.

Day 2: Our first full day! She changed our lives and we are so blessed because of her.

1 Month: Photo shoot with Heather! Mommy's little girl!

2 Months: Such a good sleeper already. She moved into her own room after 2 weeks. Mommy and Daddy LOVED going in to wake her up from her naps!

3 Months: Thanksgiving in St. George. She loved meeting Arrian's extended family. Already she has so many people who just adore her!

4 Months: Beautiful! I couldn't ask for a better little girl. She brings joy wherever we go!

5 Months: I love taking pictures of her! Those dark eyes are so beautiful!

6 Months: She has such a playful personality!

7 Months: While daddy was at school, baby and mommy has photoshoots...weekly!

8 Months: Eating yummy strawberries!

9 Months: Mother's Day outing! Sweet little momma's girl!

10 Months: She loves to laugh!

11 Months: In Washington, hanging out on the lawn!

She's ONE YEAR OLD!!!

I just love her!

I really love her!

The first year with her was wonderful and crazy and overwhelming and GREAT AND AWESOME!

It will be interesting to see what the next year brings and how she changes so much, likes she did this year!

Brielle: If I had to describe her to someone I would say that she:

*Loves interacting with people. Everywhere we go she waves at people, talks to them, and when we leave she waves to them and says "bye-bye"

*Loves snuggling with her mommy and daddy...as long as she is in control of the snuggle.

*Is TALL! That is usually one of the first things people say about her when they see her

*Isn't as great at sleeping through the night recently (we have moved and she is getting her molars..taking forever to get them...and she has roseola right now she she has had a high fever, and Arrian and I were in Hawaii so she woke up at 5am and is now in a habit of it which we need to break soon!)...but it is ok because she has cause...the biggest reason I think she is waking up early in the morning is because we all three share a room, and she doesn't ever sleep well with us in the same room!

*Loves tagging along with Anna and Maddie all day and pretending she is one of the "big girls".

*Eats all kinds of food but her favorite food of all time are avacados! She will eat them ALL the time if we let her...an expensive food to like!

*Is very picky about eating (I wonder where she got that from? Hmmmm?...ME!). She will take a bite of something, then take the bite out of her mouth, look at it, then set it down and take another bite of something else and repeat the process...so interested in looking at every bit of her food, it is cute and a tad annoying!

*Thinks she is the center of everyone's universe and that it is all about her...which it usually is!

She is doing so much, learning so much, and loving so much!

I just love her! Lots!

And Lots!

Around the house, lake and farm.

2011-09-20T22:42:00.000-06:00

BBQ!

Off to Long Lake for family night.

Adorable! She loves the water and kept trying to eat the rocks!

She loves eating ice...weird, but it doesn't bother her hands at all.

We went to a petting farm...it was smaller than I thought it would be but we still had fun!

Fun Fun fun!

Playing outside with Maddie

2011-09-20T22:27:00.000-06:00

These are just pictures I snapped two weeks ago while Brielle and Maddie were playing in the front yard. Brielle loves to be one of the "girls"! These are SOOC (straight-out-of-the-camera)...I am too lazy to edit them at all!

I am kind of frustrated with Blogger and uploading pictures, so I am trying a few things so I can still upload a lot of pictures but not have the posts be so long...I think I am going to use Picasa, anyone use it for collages for blogs? Any other ideas?

I love how well they play together! Makes a mommy's heart glow!

Daddy's Girl

2011-09-11T21:01:00.000-06:00

For Brielle's birthday Arrian got her a bouquet of roses. It was so sweet, he cut the stems and arranged them in a vase and was so excited for her to see them and play with them. They were beautiful! We had them on the table, then when they were wilting we took Brielle outside and let her play with the petals. She really like it!

A daddy's love for his daughter. Precious!

Look at those GORGEOUS eyes! Love Love Love!

I cannot get enough of those eyes!

Brielle is definitely a daddy's girl, but she is also her mommy's angel too! I am amazed and thankful everyday for her in my life. She causes me to learn and grow and stretch farther in many areas than I think possible, so I cam become the mother she needs me to be.

Brielle has spunk!

2011-09-11T15:51:00.000-06:00

This little girl has spunk!

She is so animated and in this picture she wasn't mad, she was just yelling and then immediately smiled after.

Smirk..."Yeah, I know I'm cute, so what?"

Just

Love

Her

Spunk!

The Zoo!

2011-09-11T15:47:00.000-06:00

We went to the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, WA a week or so ago and it was fun, and hard! It was a lot of walking around for the little girls and Maddie and Anna had a hard time because it was so hot. We got a membership so we are going to go back, but on a definitely cooler day!

Maddie's flip-flops were giving her blisters, so after we got that taken care of she was MUCH happier!

The little darling fell asleep! Adorable!

I gave Brielle a kiss and she tried to give me one too...she thought my nose tasted good!

It was a lot of fun, but made for a long hot day, so I am going to have Arrian go with me next time!

Birthday going-ons-Part 1

2011-09-10T18:11:00.000-06:00

Good Morning Birthday Girl!

The morning of Brielle's first birthday started about 7am and I was so excited ALL day! I enjoyed it more than she did I am sure! She actually let me put this crown on, and kept it on for a long time!

We made blender wheat pancakes (my new favorite breakfast) for Brielle's birthday breakfast and she gobbled them up, as usual!

Next we played on the trampoline, bounced and played and had lots of fun!

She loves balloons so we got some for her birthday for her to play with. She loved them! It was at the end of the day though, so she got overwhelmed quickly.

After she had decided she had had enough of the balloons (I think it annoyed her she couldn't reach them all and she didn't like getting tangled in the strings) we took a break!

We had finger foods for dinner and then as Brielle was taking a break from the craziness the girls and my mom played with bubbles.

My Angel Baby

2011-09-10T17:26:00.000-06:00

Brielle got a BEAUTIFUL dress from my mom for her birthday and I just HAD to take some of her 1 year pictures in it. We went to Tumwater Falls Park in Washington and found this gorgeous bench. I fell in love!

My favorite. She is looking up at her daddy adoringly! So sweet!

...and then she fell off the bench onto her face. OUCH!

She had been doing so well at balancing on the bench but then all of the sudden slipped off. It was SO sad! So we just took her down further into the park and let her play on the grass to cheer her up, but the photoshoot was over...20 minutes into it!

You can kind of see the scratches on her face here, they weren't too visible until the next day.

"Yes, I do have my daddy wrapped around my finger...and I know it. And so does he!"

She is so beautiful, and so sweet...I just love spending time with her and taking pictures of her so I can remember all of this later. I love her!

Life at the Watson house...plus us!

2011-09-10T17:03:00.000-06:00

We are staying with my parents right now until we get a place to live and student loans figured out...so it is one FULL house!

We have our own room in the bonus room that has a little alcove for Brielle to have a separate little room, which has been nice, so we can live in the room even when she is asleep.

She finger-painted for the first time and loved it! And got VERY messy!

She loves climbing up the stairs...and she crawls as fast as she can to get up the stairs before someone notices and jumps to grab her. We put the gate up sometimes, but she is trying to climb up that too, so it is a hazard as well.

She enjoys being part of a large family. She is completely spoiled! She follows everyone around and acts like she runs the house...which she does...with Maddie.

Brielle got a cute little giraffe toy for her birthday and was sharing it with the little boy who lives next door. Brielle has decided she must take care of him, so whenever we see him, she tries to pat his head, or put her arm around him or something. It is ADORABLE! She seems so much older than he is, but she is only two weeks older.

We love having family time up in our room, and after we recently decided to stay with my parents longer, we have been doing this more, and working to make the area up there easier for us to live in. We have a little room for Brielle, our bed in the main area, a little play corner for her where we have put a fuzzy body pillow and toys, she is so cute, so will go and snuggle and play by herself in her corner! Our TV is set up, and we have a couch in there as well. It is basically like a little studio apartment (minus the bathroom and the kitchen) that we have to ourselves.

These pictures were taken after we recently moved in, so it is a mess in the background. It has now been organized and isn't messy...yet!

She brings us such joy and we love being our own little family and enjoying be part of the larger family in the house.

My dad, Arrian, and Josh took a drive around the Olympic Peninsula and loved looking at the beautiful scenery (actually, I think my dad and Arrian loved it more than Josh did...I don't blame him, it was a LONG trip for one day)

All in all we are doing well, and I am trying to get a handle on our blog and changing everything over to Washington. We miss our family and friends in UT, but we are excited for the change that we are in the middle of.

Happy Birthday Brielle!

2011-09-05T13:00:00.000-06:00

My little baby is 1.

That just can't be right.

Really? Are you sure?

Guess so!

Brielle's first birthday was lots of fun, but I think that the first birthday is more a day of reflection for the parents on the past year...at least it was for me. We are staying at my parent's house now, so Brielle had a whole big family around to join in our celebration.

I remember everything so clearly surrounding her birth. I remember deciding that at 37 weeks pregnant I would go to the Albrechtsen Family Reunion by Yellowstone. I remember being so excited to have our Watson Family Reunion at our house the week after, and I remember that through all of this I was anticipating meeting our little angel. I felt like I knew her already, and I think that I did. I remember being put on bedrest and being worried about her. I remember hoping and praying that she would come at least 2 days early so Fall Semester hadn't started yet at BYU.

Most of all I remember going in for a non-stress test and waiting while the doctors talked about her low fluid levels, my high blood pressure...waiting to hear what the decision was. I remember that. They decided that she was ready to come 8 days early and told me to go directly to the hospital...this is all old news but I was thinking about it a lot on her birthday. I remember calling Arrian (he hadn't come with me to the appointment because he was working and we thought it would be just a routine appointment) and telling him I was going to the hospital..probably to have our baby. Calling my mom. Being STARVING (I hadn't eaten breakfast...I was running late to my appointment). Waiting. Waiting. HERE SHE COMES! I remember all of that and so much more!

You prepare for 9 months to be a mother, but in that instant that you see your child for the first time, you become a mother. And that never goes away.

Cuddly lately

2011-09-03T22:44:00.000-06:00

Brielle.

Cuddling.

Normally those two words have nothing in common. But lately Brielle has been SO cuddly! I love it so much! She used to (even when she was a tiny baby) resist very strongly anytime Arrian or I would try to snuggle with her, but lately she has been initiating it. She will come up to one of us and lay her head down...for about 7 seconds, then move on to other things, but it is the BEST 7 seconds! In the morning we put her in our bed while she drinks her bottle and then she crawls all over us, giving us little snuggles as she goes. It is so funny, she will be laying in bed and then as soon as she is done with her bottle, she will bounce up and we IMMEDIATELY know that her 'batteries' are recharged! That's when the day begins! She is giggly, and grinny (not a word, but it is now!) and it is the best time of the day!

I love you Brielle! I love your self-initiated snuggles! Keep them coming!

*On a different note, Brielle was back to herself today. I don't know exactly what was going on the past few days, I suspect a growth in development will soon appear, but I am glad she is back to herself!

*Also, I went to Value Village today and found a WHOLE set of foam alphabet puzzle mat for $4.99! Yay! Score!

Just thinkin'...good and bad

2011-09-01T23:36:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I find it is hard to be satisfied... with myself mostly. Here I am, thinking that life is going well...and then something just makes you think "Is that really all I am doing?" And then you start feeling like life is not going so well.

Just me moping. I have a bad habit of comparing myself to others...and it isn't good because everyone else always seems so much better at EVERYTHING than I am. This isn't a pity post...just kind of a get-it-off-my-chest post. I feel like sometimes I spend so much time and energy trying to be emotionally healthy and make it through the day and take care of everyone around me and worry about everyone and everything that I don't get as many things done as I would like to. I don't get cute projects done for Brielle. I am not a great cook for my family. I am not super athletic and work out all the time, so my postbaby body looks normal, not great ( I swear, being a mother means worrying about this for the next 10 years of having kids! Ah! Pregnancies, post-babies...lots of body changes!)

So there is this big long list of all the things that I am not...and then I start thinking of what I am:

I am a good mother. I know that.

I am a good wife...I know that too!

I am a great daughter.

I am a photographer waiting to come out.

I am an artist who has been in storage.

I am a good sister.

I am a good friend (I don't really have any right now...local ones that is...because we just moved but I am so ready to be a good friend to someone who needs one).

I am me! And sometimes I don't think that is enough, but usually it is just enough for me!

I am tired of my life being in transition mode. I want to feel settled. I want to make a home. I want to be somewhere long enough that I can SERVE OTHERS! I want to make a difference in someone's life. Oh well.

I love my life. I love my family.

Life is good.

*Sorry, kind of weird post, just feeling contemplative and restless lately.

AAAHHHHH! It's getting away from me!

2011-09-01T16:33:00.000-06:00

AaAAAHHHH! Time is getting away from me! I usuallly try to wait until I have some pictures to post before I post on our blog, but Brielle is changing so much so quickly that I need to just post thoughts I have now and pictures when I am done with them!

My friend Kamie wrote on her blog about a mom who just lost her baby girl and how she was so sad that she didn't record all the little day-to-day things she did. That was a wakeup call to me! We never think something is going to happen to us, and we always think that we will remember exactly how things are now...but over time we really don't. I am going to try to be better about documenting our families daily life. This may mean that this blog gets more boring for people who read it...sorry!...but oh well!

Today Brielle is having kind of an off day. She woke up at 4am this morning and was STARVING! So I gave her a bottle in bed (breaking rules, I know) and she went back to sleep after she was done with it. She got up for the day at 7am but was just SO tired all morning that she needed two naps instead of just one. She and I drove up to Seattle to pick Arrian up from UW (he had ridden the bus up from my parents house to see how the commute is)...more on our living arrangement later!

Brielle is such a sweet, loving girl that when she has an off day it is noticeable...but she hasn't had a day like this in several weeks, so I don't mind too much. She isn't throwing tantrums or anything, she is just not herself and she doesn't like it.

I have a post I am writing about her birthday and everything I feel about her turning one, but I am still working on pictures from that so I will have to post it later.

Thanksgiving Point UT-Farm

2011-08-28T16:07:00.000-06:00

After the reunion, Arrian, Brielle and I needed to go back to Provo for graduation from BYU and my dad and Anna came with us. While we were in Utah we stayed with my aunt Staci (thanks!) and her family! One of the days we were there we went to the children's farm at Thanksgiving Point.

It was so fun! Thanks Staci!