Sprinkler Fun!

We love to visit the spray park with water spraying and sprinkling everywhere, but there just aren't any close to our house.  To improvise, we brought the sprinkler park to our yard!

Please avert your eyes away from the brown grass, we haven't had much rain in the past few months and it's been HOT!

Using plans similar to these, Jason built our very own sprinkler park.

It was 105 degrees outside and our power was out for some reason.  It was HOT inside and the kids begged me to try out the new sprinkler.

Both kids had so much fun!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 8th Birthday!!

Year in Review:
April 2011 - March 2012

Happy 4th Birthday!!

Year in Review: 

February 2011-2012

Braden and Brinley

"I love you today
I love you tomorrow
I love you as deep as the sea
I love you in joy
and I love you in sorrow
you can always come home
to me."
~Andrew Peterson

nicknames

I can't believe that it's been 15 months since Brinley was born. The time has just flown by! In those 15 short months, we have managed to accumulate quite a few nicknames for this adorable little girl. They include:

• monkey (my favorite and so fitting!)
• munchkin
• brin brin
• girly girl
• cutie patootie
• binbee (Braden's favorite)
• short stuff

With the many choices, I wonder what she will start calling herself?

Before I was a Mom...

Before I was a Mom,

I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn’t worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn’t want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn’t stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn’t know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body.
I didn’t know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn’t know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn’t know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn’t know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom .