Sunday, January 22, 2012

Day at the Park with Dad

The weather has been so wonderful lately, so we have been spending as much time outside as possible! Brylee absolutely LOVES being outside these days, and would rather walk (or run) than ride in her stroller. We regularly go for walks up and down our street.
 Its so nice to have this lake and park walking distance from our house. We regularly feed the ducks!
 Look at that sweet face!





 Look at that static!
 Showing Daddy the stick she found
 Walking like a big girl!

Brokaw Girls Getaway

This past weekend, Bryan's mom planned a Girls Getaway to a quaint bed & breakfast in the country outside of Granbury. It was a half-way meeting point for the Abilene girls, us in Wylie, and the Tyler girls.
 We arrived on Friday afternoon and really enjoyed the warm weather!
 Bryan's grandmother is staying with Bryan's mom for several weeks, which is one of the reasons why we celebrated us girls this weekend.
Me, Jillian, Grandma Hammitt, Lori, Lisa, Brylee, & Jan
 Brylee and Grandma really enjoyed the swing and the warmer weather Friday afternoon!

 And this girl is also really enjoying sitting in chairs by herself like a big girl these days!

 We had a relaxing evening enjoying some home made spaghetti dinner. Brylee enjoyed her dinner so much she needed an immediate bath!
 These are Jan's two precious granddaughters, Jillian & Brylee
 We sat around talking and laughing...
 ....and played card games until it was time for bed.

 The next morning it was FREEZING! It went from a high of 80+ degrees on Friday afternoon to mid-30s on Saturday morning. But somehow that did not stop Brylee from wanting to play outside!
 This girl is officially on the move and loves being outdoors!

 We had a wonderful home made breakfast that morning, and then strolled around the old Granbury square before lunch. We ate at a cute bakery, and then all headed home around 2:30.

It was a special time for all of Jan's girls to be together!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

New Year...New Toys...New Room!

Until recently, we have been able to contain most of Brylee's toys along the wall in the living room behind our couches. But with her first birthday and Christmas gifts arriving within 1 month of each other, the toy area exploded! I was not ok with losing my living room to an unorganized mess of toys.
 For the last year we have had an empty formal dining area, and no clear direction of how to use it. Formal dining furniture (that I like) has not been in our budget, and having a large formal dining table isn't super practical, seeing as how we go to our parents' house for bigger family gatherings. So our empty dining room recently turned into this...

A new playroom!
 This room is directly off the front entry, so we used shelving to separate the spaces.
 I've never painted a room quite as bold as this blue, but I love it! It makes the space so fun. I obviously have some more decorating to do, and plan to make it a little more "girly" while it's just for Brylee. Eventually, it will be the perfect gender neutral room for multiple kids' toys.
 The storage is my favorite part! It is tall enough that I can store away toys that I don't want Brylee to get to, but she is able to get to any books or toys on the first 3 shelves.
 I think I need a new light fixture...
 The room is right off the kitchen and opens up to the living room, so I can play with Brylee on the rug and still see the TV or talk to Bryan in the other room. She loves making a mess in her new room....
...and I love cleaning it up and re-organizing it! A perfect match!

New Year Visit with Grandma Hammitt

Both sets of Bryan's grandparents live in a small town in central Illinois. And since Bryan's dad is a college professor, Bryan's parents leave Abilene for about 3 weeks every Christmas to spend time in Illinois. On their way home a few weekends ago, Bryan's parents stopped by our house, and brought Grandma Hammitt with them!

Grandma Hammitt sure has some spunk! For being 90, and recently having a hip replacement, she is getting around very well! (and yes, Brylee was trying to get out of her grandmothers' laps!)
 Brylee always loves playing with her Nanny!

 Grandma Hammitt & Paisley were two of a kind!
 We didn't do much over the weekend. We played at home and went out to eat Saturday night. Brylee had come down with a cold that weekend (which actually turned out to be rsv), so Nanny stayed home with her Sunday morning so we all could go to church. And we started a home painting project that weekend, and with the help of Bryan's dad painting and Bryan's mom watching Brylee, we got A LOT done! Stay tuned to see an update on the home remodel...

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Christmas in Atlanta - Casual Week

Our week in Atlanta was so nice and relaxing. Although it wasn't busy or stressful, it also sure wasn't restful! Brylee did great about letting us sleep, it was the rest of my family that kept us awake. There was not a night we were there that we went to bed before 12:30am.  Most nights we stayed up until about 1-2 am playing games!
We met my mom at her office twice during the week for lunch.
 
Brylee was a cute little show-off with her new walking skills!

 
We also started a collection of sippy cups and utensils for my mom to keep in preparation for future toddlers in their house. My parents are also keeping Brylee for a week while  Bryan and I go to Mexico this spring. Brylee enjoyed playing in her own kitchen drawer.
And my sweet brother made us all pancakes one morning, and made Brylee her very own Mickey Mouse pancake!
If you know anything about me, you know I am slightly competitive (which has gotten much better since my college days, by the way!) Well, I get it from my family, who also happens to be super competitive. We can turn anything into a competition, which is what we did with these Dollar Store puzzles my dad got us as little stocking stuffers. One afternoon we all teamed up and had a round robin competition with 3 different 100 piece puzzles.

 Team David & Emily
 
Team Bryan & Jamie
Team Mom & Andrew
After three rounds, we actually all tied, each team coming in first, second, and third at least once for each puzzle.
 
We couldn't leave this competition in a three way tie, so there had to be a tie breaker. My dad found this kind of difficult uni-color 100 piece duck puzzle, in which each team assembled it in private while being timed by my dad. Best time won.  I'm proud to say Team Bryan & Jamie had the fastest time! This might have been one of the best memories from the week. We were all laughing pretty hard at our competitive nature!

We also spent a lot of time at the neighborhood park and outside in the backyard. This girl sure loves to swing and play outside. The weather couldn't have been nicer!



Our evenings were spent lounging around and enjoying each others' company. Brylee learned to ride her new stuffed giraffe like a horse!
What a cute girl!
My brothers came back to my parents house on New Years Eve, and we headed to the park again. When we were kids, we used to create obstacle course races at the park. So what did we do as adults? Created an adult obstacle course race on a kiddie playground, of course.






We learned that the boys' speed was not as much of an advantage as the smaller size of us girls. Emily and I came within 1 second of each others' time! It was too funny.
We also spent one day at the driving range. My dad got a new set of golf clubs for Christmas, and Andrew got some for his birthday that was in November. So my mom kept Brylee while the rest of us shared a couple golf clubs.





Meme and Brylee were having a good time at home!
My mom did a good job of keeping a closet full of our old kids toys in the basement. Brylee really enjoyed the Lego train throughout the week. And just before we left, we pulled out this old keyboard. This musical girl of ours really enjoyed hearing herself make music!
We had such a good week overall. Other than  half of us catching a 24 hour stomach bug on New Years day, we enjoyed every minute of being in Atlanta. We missed my family when we returned home, but it was nice to be in our own bed again. It was like Christmas all over again when Brylee re-discovered all of her own toys at our house. Looking forward to the next holiday!