Tiffany need's an update...

As if I don't talk to her all the time and update her on everything going on! So, here you go Tiff...
I am officially Joe the Plumber. I finally got the washcloth out of the bathtub drain!

We had a good Halloween with Miss Brylee. We carved her first pumpkin. She had so much fun scooping out the seeds. She only attempted to eat them once or twice and we managed not to have a complete disaster. We didn't do much Trick-or-Treating this year. I am still on my NO SUGAR rule, so there was no point in have a bucket of candy around the house. We spent the day visiting grandparents and great-grandparents. My mom and I took her to see Nana then to Crockett to see Poppy. She enjoyed everyone making a big deal out of her. That evening we went to see Grandma Shirley and Papa, then had dinner with Grammy and Poppy. She has one tired little ladybug.

We have had our first big biting experience. She was mad at Kaz last week so she decided to bite him...on the face! He had teeth marks in his chubby little cheek all day. Luckily, it was almost completely gone by the time his mom picked him up. He screamed when she bit him, then she started crying because the scream scared her. I am hoping she got the point and that will be our first and last bite. Her new favorite pass time is brushing her teeth. She would carry around that little toothbrush all day if we let her. I am sure she really just wants to eat the toothpaste, but she attempts to "brush" so we don't take it away. She's no dummy!

I still haven't seen the doctor, so my surgery is still pending. I finished up my last craft show last weekend and I have been spending my time finishing up orders and working on my website. That has proven to be a much bigger chore than expected. I have practically had to become a programmer (or at least get lots of help from one) to finish it up. I still have a lot of work to do before it will be even close to presentable.

Nothing else is really going on. Cory should be home this week with two horses in tote, Oddie and Peggy. I am sure there will be some blogging on Brylee's new toys!

October...

Brylee is officially walking! It only took her a day or two before she gave up crawling all together. She is now almost in a full run which is bad news considering her "spirit". I have had to buy a pipe snake to attempt retrieval of a washcloth from the bathroom drain, watch her toss and break one of my beloved red dishes, and clean thrown food from the carpet, table and chairs. This was only today. Needless to say, we are paying for anything we did to our parents. We attended the NICU reunion at the beginning of October. Seeing children with serious health complications has yet again reminded me how very blessed we are to have such a beautiful, healthy baby. I do remind myself of that as I am pulling her back through the dog door from her ankles. We also saw Megan, our favorite NICU nurse. She was Brylee's nurse the day she was born. It was great to see her and get a fun picture of them together.

Not much new is going on with Jared. Softball is over for the season, so he has been spending his time with Brylee and is still doing some contract work. My big news is that we have finally found the source of my “complications” I have had in the fast year since Brylee’s delivery. About a week after my c-section I started having severe pain in my side that wrapped up my back into my shoulders. I don’t have it on a regular basis, but when I do it is horrid. After one to many nights of waking up in pain and debating a visit to the ER I insisted that the doctor find the problem. I had a sono of all the mid-section internal organs and nothing was found. I was sent to a gastroenterologist and had a gallbladder scan last week. Apparently you can have a problem with the function of your gallbladder without having any gallstones. The end result is that I have an appointment in a few weeks with a surgeon to determine when it will be removed. I am not excited about surgery, but I am excited to say this should fix the problem.

We are looking forward to Halloween. We took a trip to the pumpkin patch this evening and found this year's jack-o-lantern we are going to carve tomorrow night. Brylee has an adorable ladybug costume for Friday. I am sure you will get to see pictures!

Almost...

So the big news in our house is that Brylee is almost walking. Technically she has walked. She is taking a good 6 to 8 steps before sitting down. She is content with just crawling. It is exciting to see another "first" but no so exciting to see her one step closer to not being my baby. It won't be long before she is running.

Everything else is good. Jared is staying busy working on the house, contracting outside of work, and finishing up softball. I have only 3 weeks left in my scrapbooking class I am teaching a AC. It has been fun and I have really enjoyed having my night out with adults!

Kansas

Over Labor Day weekend our family traveled to Hays and Plainville, Kansas. This was our first trip to Jared's home state. We unfortunately went to Kansas to attended a funeral. Jared's uncle passed away last week. He has been suffering from ALS for the past 18 months.

While in Kansas we saw Jared's old house were he grew up and his grandparent's old house were his dad grew up. There were beautiful fields of sunflowers so we took advantage of the scenery and took some pictures. Brylee got to meet her great-aunts uncles and her second cousins. She enjoyed playing with the little kids. We were also able to see Jared's grandmother in Great Bend. On our way back to Texas we stopped in Dodge City, toured the museum and took an Old West Photo.

Something New!

The time has come for our family to enter the world of blogging. I have tried my best to keep family and friends updated on Brylee through babysites.com, but after a year I have reached my limit on "free" space. This is something new for those of you we don't see as much as we would like, including our wonderful friends. No, we have not dropped off the face of the Earth, we are parents!

This is what has been happening with us...Jared graduated Friday with his M.B.A! He is relieved to be done with that chapter of his life but is quickly become bored. Only time will tell what will come next. My only thought on the subject, I am not calling him Doctor! He is yet again playing softball and yet again twisted his ankle. Luckily nothing was broke.

I have been busy myself. I am staying home at least one more year. I started a business is January called "The Craft Crate". It has taken me much longer than anticipated to get started. It will hopefully be online in the next few weeks. I will start teaching continuing education classes at Amarillo College at the end of August. I think this will be a great experience. I basically plan my own schedule and class content. I will be teaching 2 scrapbook classes in the fall. I have been asked to consider adding early childhood classes as well in coming semesters.

Last, but certainly not least, Miss Brylee Kate! Oh, what I could say about her. Today is a special day. As of noon, she has been home one year! I can't believe how time passes before our eyes. I would have never imagined one year ago that I would be typing this blog during her nap after a day at the pool. Life is good! She is awesome. She is so ready to walk if she could only build the courage to let go of mommy and daddy's finger. To tell the truth, I am not that anxious for that day to come. I want her to be my baby as long as possible. I couldn't ask for anything more in a child. She is smart, happy and most importantly HEALTHY!