Big Girl Brooklyn

Oh sweetest one, my little Brooklyn

You are my mini me. You are beautiful. Your eyes knock me off my feet several times a day. You just stare at me with those beautiful brown eyes and it doesn't matter what you were doing that I may have been getting your attention away from, i forget. I melt into you and your soul.

You are the most independent little miss. You have your own style....: ) You want to dress yourself, pants, shirt, socks and shoes. We are rarely allowed to offer assistance. If we force you to allow us, because we are in a rush, we can expect you to let us know you disprove of us and are not happy with what we are doing. This is usually done with a blood curdling scream or you going no bones on us, or you simply run away and try to hide. "I do it!!" is a phrase that we hear 10,000 times a day. On the same hand we also hear the pure joy and happiness in " I DEEED IT!!" when you do it all by yourself and you get to bask in your accomplishment. That makes it worth it every time. You are such a big girl.

 

You love to color. Mostly only with markers. You love taking the lids on and off, doing a little coloring, then lids on and off again. Your coloring makes it onto paper 75% of the time. The other 25% ends up all over the table, chair, floor, rug, couch, your tummy, arms, legs or even face. You love to paint, up to your elbows just like your older brother. You LOVE LOVE and i cannot emphasize enough how much you LOVE to play with water. In the tub, in the bathroom sink, in my kitchen sink, in your play kitchen, outside in the water table, on my floor splashing. You know how to get water out of the bathroom and use that several times daily. We always have water on the floor. No matter how mommy tries to lock you out of the bathroom, you still end up in there splashing making a messy watery mess. Most of the time soap is involved. You spend countless hours in the bathroom by the sink washing your hands over and over and over and over. You love the water you love the soap. You fight all the other kids (daycare) to get to the bathroom first to "wash hands, with soap!" You love to sing the abc's while we wash up.
You really don't play with toys besides the play kitchen. You will sometimes get a baby doll and push it in the stroller, but this is not very common. Most of the time you are trying to find water to play with, coloring on something or yourself, or trying to crawl into the baby swing/bumbo chair/bouncer.
You are turning into a sweetest sunggler. This is new. You were not a cuddly baby, so mommy is soaking every snuggle with her baby girl she can.

You have the sweetest smile and grin. You cheese all the time, and love to smile for the camera. You even shrug your shoulders, tilit your head, and give your best smile at us. I love this.
You can be kind of mean. You are known to hit, bite your brother, and just this week started scratching. Why baby, why? Mommy doesn't like it very much at all. You mostly just know what you want, and get very frustrated with having so many kids around doing the opposite of what you want them too. You have a hard time with daycare being here. I pray you will find a best buddy from it and learn to love it.
You are a good sport most days to get your hair done. You poor thing have had to put up with it since you were 2 weeks old. You get so frustrated with your hair if it is in your face. Mommy trys to keep it up out of the way, but you roll around and run like crazy which usually makes it all fall out.
Right now your favorite things to watch are Curious George (or as you call it "oo oo ahh ahh"), Deigo, Dora, Elmo,  and "mouse" which is Mickey Mouse Club House. You giggle like crazy when we turn on Tom and Jerry.

You are getting so good at saying your prayers. You finally will repeat after mommy and daddy tell you what to say. You dont talk as much as we would like. You seem to have a hard time forming a lot of the words you want to say. You get really frustrated at times when we dont understand you. I don't blame you, how hard to not have mommy and daddy know what you are trying so hard to say.
You best friend, I would say, is your Uncle Derek. You adore him. Its quite cute. He adores you too.
Your favorite things to eat....."babbles" apples (with skins removed) fish sticks, bacon, bacon, bacon, carrots, ham, cheese, "duce" or juice, and milk, and any other kind of friut. But, really your not a picky eater, you will eat about anything when you want to eat. Its just getting you to eat that is sometimes a problem.

You love your "nigh, nigh" or blankey. It comes along everywhere we go. You can go to bed without it at times, which is nice, but you find great comfort in that blankey and get very upset with mom when she puts it in the washer.
Here is her birthday interview: Long and she says the same thing over and over, but she is still cute

I love you little Miss Brooklyn. I love your attitude. I love your independence. I love your plan centered mind. You will be unstoppable when you get big. You will be successful at whatever you put your mind to. You are determined, beautiful, and just plain perfect.

Ky Turns 4

My sweetest boy Kyler. Oh how mommy loves you. You are truly my pride and joy. You are a special boy. You love people. People love you. You are as silly as can be, and live to make people laugh. Sometimes this gets you in trouble, you think rules go out the window when laughter is the goal, but at the end of every day i sure do love your silliness and love for everyone. I love hearing your giggle at your favorite shows or with your friends. It makes my heart sing. You love to be happy. You try your hardest to stay that way.
You have a gift, you love baby's. Its almost magical. You adore your baby brother. Adore him. You always are willing to help your little sister, sometimes which gets you in trouble with her and her independent attitude. She fights back by hitting/biting/or her newest scratching, which breaks your tender little heart. You don't understand why she wouldn't want her big bros help. With daycare here, it never really seems to bother you. In fact, when i have a day off and its just us, you always need to know how many more days till our friends come back. You are a social butterfly.

You love to help. You are my biggest helper. You help with baby Parley, you help with the babys i tend. You love to help make dinner. You help me by trying to make your bed. You love to vacuum the living room and do so without even being asked. You even love to help by tattling on your sister or friends. That part of your helping is less admired, but still appreciated at times. :)
You are a talker. Talk, talk, talk is what you do. You talk so clearly and so mature for your age. You understand far beyond your years. You love for me to read to you. Recently we have been reading simple chapter books and the lack of pictures doesn't seem to bother you...You are growing up too fast. You love stories.

You like to come up with storys of your own too....most of the time its about a wolf or fox that is going to get you, your are kind of scared of them for some reason. You will tell a fib and giggle afterwards thinking your so funny to come up with such a funny lie. You also are always telling me your tummy hurts to get out of things. You also claim that any horse or any cow that you see out to pasture is yours and is at your farm. You love horses and cows, but get very very nervous when we come up close to them. You want to be so brave, but get so leary. With time buddy they wont seem so huge and scary.
You love to watch Curious George. He is your favorite. We have to watch one almost every night as part of your night routine. If we miss, you get upset. You have made your sister love George too. You also love to watch Jungle Book, you think "Blue" Balloo is hilarious. You also enjoy Lady and the Tramp, Ice Age, Tom and Jerry, and really the list can go on. You really enjoy watching TV(Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Chuggington) and would do it all day if i let you.
You don't seem to interested coloring or any of the artsy stuff, especially anything that involves scissors. You just have a hard time with those small motor skills. We are working on them to help you along. You do love to get messy though. Finger paining always results in a beautiful brown color all over your paper and up to your elbows. You do love painting with shaving cream in the bathtub...but we get that same beautiful brown color by your constant mixing and smearing.  You do enjoy playing in water/sand or building things and playing with your construction toys or police truck.
You dont dislike any food that i know of. But your favorites as of latley...Apples (grandma Jo puts salt on them for you, you love that, mommy will not cause she thinks thats gross. :) ) You love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, ham sandwiches, spaghetti, you prefer fruits and veggies over cookies, but you are also know to demand chocolate. You LOVE mustard. You would drink it i fear if i let you. You put it on everything from apples to chips to celery to carrots and beyond. You know that milk upsets your tummy and know that you have to limit how much cheese/yogurt you eat.
You are still head over heals for your "B" or blankey. You take it everywhere. When it gets misplaced, its a big problem. Mommy thought you lost it for good just a couple months ago and it was a very sad, very long week until we found it. That blankey sure is special to you.

Mommy loves listening to your prayers at night. You have such an active mind and i have no doubt that Heavenly Father loves hearing your detailed fast talking prayers. We try to teach you to talk slower when praying, but you seem to have so much to say that it all blurs together. You love saying the prayer on the food and beg daddy to let you do it every night. There are times you melt down into tears when we have Brooklyn or one of us say it. Its hard to share that great opportunity, huh!
Kyler Brandon, I love you. I love everything about you. I love watching you learn and develop into a big boy. You have great gifts that will be a huge blessing in your life, i look forward to watching you develop these talents and gifts making you the amazing man i know you will be when you grow up.

Here is a movie of him answering his birthday questions....i hope remember to do this from each birthday here on out.

soccer

This Spring i decided i wanted to put Kyler in Soccer. He has so much energy, i thought a little organized exercise would be good for him. He didnt need the social aspect...he gets enough of that at home with daycare here. But, to get out and have someone else directing him, teaching him, and him getting exercise motivated me to do it.
He loved it. He has no idea what he was doing. I should have worked harder with him on what the game is and what its all about, but he is 4 and it wouldn't have sunk in anyway, not when there is people to run around with and kicking a ball is involved. :)
We missed his last game cause we were in Yellowstone, but a friend got his medal for him and dropped it off. Oh my, he has loved that medal. He thinks he is the best soccer player ever cause he got that medal.
You are great, Ky!

Here is my soccer champ.

My good friend caught this picture...so perfect. Kyler giving  his coach high five. 

Parleys Special Day

I have a million posts to do, but I want to do this one while its fresh on my mind.

Yesterday we blessed our precious little man. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful man to bless my babies and the special blessings he gives them. As i listened to his blessing and then held him afterwards i couldn't help looking forward to the future and imagining my perfect baby boy on a mission, marrying a good woman in the temple and having children of his own. It is almost impossible to really comprehend that he will grow that fast into an adult. This tiny baby. He is mine for such a short amount of time. He will be grown up in such a short amount of time, so for now I'm going to cuddle him to death and kiss him all i want until he turns his head away.
Yesterday was a perfect blessing day. Parley hasn't been feeling great lately, and has been quite fussy. Yesterday was the complete opposite. He was content. In fact we got him up, fed him and i sat him in his swing so i could finish preparing for the blessing luncheon. Brandon was sitting right near him and Parley had the most content almost smiling face the whole time. When i talked to him about his blessing he would just stare right at me and i felt like he knew that yesterday was a special day in his earthly life. Such a special boy.
Then the front door bell rang and who was there? None other than my Grandpa Burton and Aunt Becky. I could have just cried. Really. We don't live close to them. They had a 2 hour drive to make, but my incredible Grandpa made the journey with my selfless wonderful Aunt to see my baby boy blessed. It made the day perfect for me. I was missing my mom and they filled that whole just a little.
The luncheon went so well. The weather was beautiful. I got to be with my brothers and grandpa and aunt and all Brandon's family. Kyler today even said yesterday was great for Parley cause everyone in our family came!! We were missing a few, Mom and Gaylen (although they were 'here' on facetime for a bit. Thank heavens for technology) Chase and Missy, and Brandon's 2 brothers didn't make it either. But it was perfect. I was happy, Brandon was happy, and Parley had a perfect special day.

facetime with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Gaylen (i am in love with Brandon for snapping this picture)

Sad side story to the whole day. Grandpas car wouldn't start. Dont know what happened to it. So after all attempts to fix it failed the tow truck was called and Granpa jumped in with Luke and Hil and the kids and Aunt Becky jumped in the Jake and Kim for a ride home. Sad story. All these men out there trying to figure out whats wrong and what to do next. I love it. 

Aunt Becky, Grandpa Burton (Parleys Great Grandpa and Great Aunt)

Grandma Crisp (Parleys Great Grandma)

I dont know what was funny, but this picture makes me happy. So im sharing. 

Yellowstone

Memorial weekend we had the chance to run away with lots of family to Yellowstone. It was wonderful. I wont lie, i was extremely worried about the 7 hour drive with Parley smashed between two loving  helping constant touching hands, but he lived thorugh it. In fact, he thrived. We honestly had to adjust his straps one morning when we put him in, they were too tight. Oh my, baby why must you grow so fast!!?

We left Friday morning at 5AM. Quickly took the older kdis out to the car hoping that they would fall back to sleep. I predicted Kyler would zonck back out and Brooklyn would be awake. They proved me ever so wrong. Brooklyn crashed and didn't wake up till we parked at Walmart and i went in for a few last minute things. Kyler stayed awake forever before he finally went out about 1PM or so. 

They drove like little champions and continued to do so the whole trip. Wonderful fabulous little travelers we have created with our insane amounts of trips up North and such. 

We got to our cabin we were sharing with the group we went with. It consisted of: Brandon's parents and our nephew, SaraJo and Derek, and then Derek's mom and dad, Grandma Idaho, and Grandma and Grandpa Obray, Derek's sister Courtney and her boy friend Maverick, and then a really close friend of Dereks his wife 2 teenage boys and other son who brought his wife and 2 young kids. Grand total of 17 adults and 6 kids. Lots of people, lots of food, lots of fun. 

We drove around saw all the sights. Kyler loved seeing all the "Buffalos" and "Elks". Thats all we saw in the park. We went to a museum place that had live bears/wolves/eagles and the little boys loved it there. They ran around like crazies with their "Ipads" (Innotab) taking pictures of everything there. So cute. 

The kids loved the endless supply of treats and juice i provided. I am not that nice of a mom. In fact, i think i gave them too much. At one point a mixture of way too much sugar and a long day in the car merited vomit coming from my pretty little girl. Poor thing. She was miserable for a few minutes. Then like a champion she snapped out of it and had a great night. Love her. :)

It was so nice having so many helping hands. Brooklyn adores her Uncle Derek. Seriously. No one is as important and as fun as he is. She spent 95% of the trip on his shoulders, in his arms, or holding his hand. Im pretty sure he loved it as much as she did. Kyler, well he and his little cousin Hueston spent there time fighting Maverick for Courtney. They never left her and his side. They always had a hold of her hand or Mavericks hand. Thanks guys for entertaining our kids soooo well. The one night we went to Bar J Wranglers I had to explain to Kyler that he was to leave Courtney alone. That that night Courtney was on a date with Maverick and they had to leave her alone, and that he needed to spend time with mommy and daddy. Kyler was kind of let down by that. I think he thought he was her main man. :) 

We had a blast at Bar Js. I have always loved watching them. So entertaining. So fun. SO different going with 3 kids than as a single collage student or a wild and free teenager. Getting food for the whole family with their system was complicated....I had Parley in my arms, Derek (bless him) had Brooklyn, Brandon was trying to keep Kylers plate from tipping while they put food on it and hold his own. We did very well....then came time to grab a drink...thats what broke the camels back. Kyler couldn't hold his plate, walk and carry a drink and even at that he was struggling with his plate. So Brandon grabbed all 3 of our cups (remember i had parley in my arms and then grabbed Kylers plate so it didnt dump on the way to the table) We turn to walk into the place to eat and the cups slide in Brandon's hands and he dumps lemonade all over Kylers head. I cringed. I was expecting a huge fit and tears from Kyler. He was so tired and hungry at this point. But, someone was watching over us. He just looked up at Brandon with a dirty look and says "Daddy!" and then giggled and kept walking. Miracles happen. They really do. We sat down to eat. Kyler and Brooklyn ate so well. Parley on the other hand was not happy. Long story short....I hurried Brooklyn along in her eating trying to bounce parley until he couldn't do it any longer...then bless Golden, Derek's Grandpa, he took Parley for a few minutes to so i could finish helping Brooklyn and gave her his applesauce. He isnt even her Grandpa. Sweet man. the show started i inhaled my dinner along with Brandon. Took Parley back, went to the back and fed the little man. And tried to rejoin the group. Nope. Parley didn't appreciate the loud music and laughter. So me and him snuggled and walked around the grounds enjoying the sounds of nature. Really, it was wonderful. I could hear the frog croaking in the pond they have. Horses, cows, everything that is wonderful to me. He finally went to sleep. I went in and Brandon had Brooklyn fast asleep in his arms. We got her in the stroller and sat down and enjoyed the rest of the show. Kyler, oh that kid. That kid LOVED the show. He was doing his little jig dance, singing along, tapping the table to the beat. He adored the whole thing. He now keeps asking for a guitar to play. He wants to play music like them. I woundt mind a bit buddy! 

The ride home was longer. Brooklyn had had enough of her seat. Parley felt the same way. But we lived through it, and loved our trip. Kyler keeps asking when we can go back to the cabin and see the buffalos and waterfalls again. It was a hit of a trip.

Sweetest little monkeys looking sooooo comfy in a big fluffy hotel bed. We stayed in a hotel in Jackson, the kids at this point were so exhausted, They didnt even move all night. Sleep tight my babies. 

Kyler decided to go for a stroll into the river. I was nursing Parley in the car and assumed someone was watching him. I kept having a gut wrenching feeling that he was going to go down to the water, because where we were having lunch it was shallow and slow moving, and there was stairs right down to the river. Well, someone was watching him, but he watched him walk right into the river, wet boots, wet pants to his shins. Go me for forgetting to pack extra clothes in the car, so we hung them out to dry. 45 minutes later they were dry and thank heavens for cowboy boots that are more waterproof than other types of shoes. 

Kyler watching for his animals. "keeping my eyes pealed mom!" 

Car loaded, kids entertained with their new headphones....mom enjoying their own music for once! 

Kyler finally earned his new game for his "Ipad" he was sucked in . Perfect for long trips! 

Grandma Jo and 3 of te 4 grandkids

This was the first Buffalos that Kyler saw. He was so excited!  His "noculars" sure helped him see them! :)

My little papoose and pretty lady

This was amazing. At one stop the sun made this perfect circular rainbow thing around it. It was beautiful. Everyone was taking pictures of it and not the waterfall we were at. Does anyone know what it is?

He loved those "noculars" until my dollar store purchase totally broke in half after one day of use. Opps. 

The kids had fallen asleep in the car, and Papa and Grandma Jo volunteered to stay back and sit in the car with them all while we hiked down to get a better view. Oh my beautiful. Oh my poor out of shape legs. They were complete jello by the time we got back up to the top. I think its time to whip myself into shape. 

Me and my sleepy perfect baby all snuggled in

Mr. Parley clasped his hands like this while he enjoyed being held so tight and snug next to mom. So cute.

Oh Brooklyn....she figured out how to get out of her car seat straps....only thing is  is that it is actually a painful process and she screamed the whole time she did it. Why do you do it!! I had to snap a picture for posterity sake. 

Old Faithful time!!!

Ky and Hueston. The lighting was beautiful

Brooklyn and her BFF Uncle Derek

Funny story behind those Lays chips. Some East Indians were sitting next to us while we waited for Old Faithful to do his thing. It was about 7PM we hadnt had dinner yet, i had fed them i swear to it. SO many snacks, but didnt bring any down to the show. Well This one man had a bag of chips and Kyler was relentlessly asking for chips. I told him i didnt have any, and no money to get some right then so he would have to wait. He was ornery. Well bless this strangers heart handed over another bag he had in his pack. The kids inhaled them. He thought it was so funny. Then Brooklyn wanted "mo chip" and walked over to him while none of us noticed. Ya, he gave her yet another bag of chips. So the kids had a great snack thanks to a stranger who just wanted to help out my deprived children. Thanks dude, you are awesome. 

This is the man who gave the chips to the kids, ya creepy me i snagged a picture so i could tell a story...he is the man on the back row by the backpack. 

Parley was there too, wont remember much of it though with all the ZZZZZ's he was putting out. 

Papa and Parley...so perfect

So i may or may not have stuck my head out the top of the car to get these. I felt like a kid again. But it was a beautiful sunset when we were headed back tot he cabin and i didnt want to make Brandon stop. So i just opened the skylight and took care of business that way.

The boys were so exhausted. But, we got them to eat their dinner by saying if they ate it all they could get in the hot tub for 10 minutes. Best 10 minutes of their day i think. 

Brooklyn wasnt too impressed for about half the time, then she warmed up to the "hot watered" and had a good time

crazy uncle derek

Ky trying to see the fish under the bridge

The white wolves at the museum preserve we went to for the kids

Golden Eagles at the preserve

Kyler and his Girl friend Courtney watchin the bears play

Ky woke up when we stopped at one waterfall. He was less than impressed :)

All the cow elk eating the grass at one of the stops. 

Brandon, Me, Parley, Brandons parents, Derek, SaraJo and the 3 kids

Papa treated the kids to a horse and buggy ride at Bar J

Kids in a candy store :)

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Brandon got a 2 foot gummy snake...too bad it didnt taste as good as it was awesome!  :)