17

Growing. Growing. Growing. That's how I have felt the last two weeks. Especially when I try to find something to wear. I didn't buy/borrow/wear anything maternity while I was pregnant with Rylee. I moved up to a Medium in shirts, and made it through wearing dresses and leggings. I do not think I will have the same luck this go around.

On the other plus side: the morning sickness has become manageable (Only in the mornings! hooray!) and ... dare I say it?! I feel like I may have tapped back into an energy source. I did a couple loads of laundry today, and didn't take a nap! 

It has been so fun to give Rylee the 'Big Sister' role. She has a few books about becoming a big sister that we have been wearing out, and she has become even more motherly to her dolls and babies lately. Today when I went to put her into her car seat she shook her head no and tried to have me buckle her baby in instead (I took it as a sweet gesture of concern for her baby, really she was probably trying another tactic to avoid the dreaded car seat)

Counting our blessings!

until next time,

Brit

White Christmas

Never thought that our picture book White Christmas would come to us while living in dusty, dry, windy west Texas. But it DID!

Christmas Eve was a beautiful night, the snow fell peacefully from the sky. And we played!

Christmas was wonderful! And the blanket of snow on the ground made it just that much better! Here's to a Happy New Year!

until next time,
Brit

let it snow

A few Sunday nights ago we were blessed with a beautiful snow. I loved watching out the window as the huge snow flakes fell from the sky...something I haven't seen in a long time. We woke up to a snow blanketed yard... and a very curious little girl who was anxious to yank our arm out the door!

Finally that afternoon we pulled our ski stuff out of the closet and got all bundled up and headed out into the snow.  Rylee was soo excited.

We sat her in the snow and she was glued there, she didn't want to move. We played and played and played. She wasn't bothered by the cold at all. Not even when I threw some snow at her and it got all over her face! She thought it was funny!

Rylee outlasted us all. We had gotten our pictures and a good dose of wet cold and we were ready to get inside. The same wasn't true of Rylee. We drug her back into the house anyways, then she stood at the front door and just looked out into the snow for the longest time.

We are so so glad to have a happy in the cold, play in the snow kinda kid. and so glad that we got to see snow in our own yard this winter!

Hoping for more winter weather...and perhaps some of it on Christmas?!

until next time,

Brit

13

Here you go! Baby bump at 13 weeks.



It's already soo different than with Rylee. For one, I have a baby bump already, with Rylee the bump didn't bump for several more months. Morning sickness isn't as bad as it was the first time...but it is still very apparent. And the midnight bathroom runs have already plagued me.

The anticipation is one of the best parts about pregnancy, and we know just how exciting, amazing, and wonderful what we have coming is...so I think we may have more anticipation now, especially since we have one more person in the world that we know is going to love this new little baby!

Praising God! What a blessing.

until next time,

Brit

bag lady

For Halloween Rylee got the cutest little spider purse in the mail from her Auntie Heather. Our lives have not been the same since. Rylee has made the flip from tiny-tot to total girly-girl.

She started with just taking that one purse with her every where she would go, and it was too cute, she'd pull it high up onto her shoulder before she decided to leave her toy box and head off to her next destination of play or mischief.

This process has since progressed. She found her Easter baskets, and them having handles she thought "purse!" so she added two more to her arms, now having 3 "purses" wrapped around her arms everywhere she goes.

The other day I think she met her match.  I pulled a container out of my closet that had a dozen or so of my old purses in it.  She was elated! ... and also a little weighed down. She didn't want just one, she had to have them all on.

Between her love of shoes, her interest in my makeup bag, and her latest bag obsession I think its official, we are the proud parents of one little girly-girl. Let the real fun begin!

until next time,
Brit

oops.

So I've done it again. Let another month go by without a single post. Lets just say the first trimester is never very friendly. Morning sickness + the desire to take 4 naps a day + a busy (very busy) almost 17 month old = blogger disconnect (among other things...)

So no promises, but I do secretly love hearing people ask about my absence from blogging, it lets me know that you do in fact read what were up to, so please keep checking back!

Perhaps a post will pop up soon highlighting some more Sigle adventures.

until next time,
Brit

guess what?

Goodbye October

Can't believe it is already November. There is a whole lot of October that I have left you all out of and I am sorry! I'll be realistic here, instead of telling you that I'm going to back track and give you a post for each of the fun and exciting adventures in our life last month, I'm going to give you a condensed version in pictures.

Objections? ... OK, here goes!

 To start we made a trip to Stephenville, TX to attend a dear friends wedding. It was beautiful!

Then we headed over to Gainesville to see my family. I love this picture.  

The next leg of our trip we headed to Branson, MO. We visited the Talking Caves. Completely fascinating, but Rylee was mad that I wouldn't let her walk up each of the 100 and some stairs. Ever heard a screaming baby in an echoey cave?!

Noah the Musical! Awesome! We are so glad that we had the opportunity to experience this. It was beyond amazing. We are hoping that we have opportunities in the future to visit the Sight & Sound Theatre again.

On our way back home, we stopped in Oklahoma City, OK. We wandered around Bricktown & Rylee fed the ducks the rest of her cereal while we were on the river walk.

Spaghetti Warehouse.

This year Rylee was a cute little lady bug. I made her costume out of tulle. She was totally freaked out to put on the big poof of tulle, but once we got it on her she was happy as a bug. (ha!)

We organized a trunk or treat this year. Jeremy and I each decorated our own cars...which turned into bit of a friendly competition. His car was a fire breathing dragon & he was a knight in shinning armor.

My car was a beach theme, complete with fish, a crab on the beach, and a trunk of pirates treasure. I was a pirate, and also the winner of the competion...(my prize 100 grand! the candy, not the money, hehe!)

Rylee went to each of the trunks and filled her bucket too full for her to carry on her own. If there would've been a prize, she would've definitely won cutest kid.



With that, Hello November! I will make an end of year resolution to get back into my blogging groove. Hope Fall has treated you all well! I will be posting soon!

until next time,

Brit

nice to see you again

Well, it's been a while...again. Time to play catch up (this is how laundry works at my house too...)

Needless to say, we have been busy. Too busy to even tell you about all our busy activities. I will do my best to post some pictures of our growing up (way too fast) Rylee & fill you in on all of the bussiness that has consumed us this fall!

Stay tuned!

until next time,
Brit

busy hands

Here is another one of our busy hands creations for our time in the kitchen!

We always have music playing, typically we are listening to a veggie tales station on Pandora.  Rylee loves listening to all sorts of new music & sounds, and she loves to bop, bounce, and dance along. 

For the longest time she has been rolling around this big clunky container of popcorn kernels, there is where I found my  inspiration.

Rylee is always playing with our Tupperware & plastic containers, so I used this one that happened to be in her drawer!

I figured the time she'd learn to pop off the lid would be the time I put popcorn kernels in the container, so hot glue was a must.

We have made several variations of this, I made several using old bottles (at least she's getting some use out of them!) I also used pinto beans. She loves playing with all of them, and especially when I have the music going she shakes & rattles right along to the beat...baby Mozart? perhaps.

until next time,

Brit

Mache

Well if you haven't seen it yet, go and look right now! Jeremy's oober talented sister has added one more thing to her list of awesomeness, she and a heap of crafty peeps have created Mache (an online magazine about all things entertainment, food, & survival)

We were so excited to have Ry's circus party make debut in the fall issue (page 76) ! I hope you'll peek in & see what other cool stuff they have to share with you!

until next time,
Brit

its that time again

It's cross country time! Thanks to some crafty scheduling we have had the opportunity to travel to LCU's two previous meets. The first was in Abilene & one last Friday in Lubbock.

It has been fun to go and watch the ole Alma mater compete, but at the same time it has been hard because part of me wants to be toeing the line and battling it out on the course rather than yelling on the side lines.

Despite my nostalgic feelings we have had so much fun getting to watch the teams race and cheer them on! We are looking forward to seeing what is in store for the teams this season, great things I have no doubt.

Good Luck to all the runners this season!

until next time,
Brit

school

Rylee and I have started back to school! I am going to be teaching two days a week this year at a children's day out program. While I am teaching on those days Rylee will go with me and get to be in her own classroom!

I am really excited for Rylee to be able to enjoy a little more social interaction with kiddos her own age, and I am also excited that I will be getting to step back into a classroom for a couple days a week!

The first week has been an adjustment: waking up to an alarm clock, not seeing Rylee for 5 hours durring the day, packing a lunch, etc. Despite the struggle to get out of bed in the morning I think that this will be a good opportunity for both of us! 

We were both still very sleepy 

 but very excited

and Rylee has her own backpack!

I am excited to see what this school year has in store for us!

until next time,

Brit

still here!

Apologies.  My computer and I have not been spending much time together lately. We have made an effort to have an earlier bedtime and have been the usual busy, which means my one on one with the PC is limited.

The flip to August/September has brought on the usual hustle and bustle of school time activities for our ministry and Rylee and I have added some items to our weekly schedule as well!

I have some fun pictures to share! (....soon!)

until next time,
Brit

in the kitchen

We spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen, cooking, cleaning, and then doing it all over again... Rylee is usually pretty preoccupied with all the fun cupboards to get into. I'm glad if it can keep her attention, keep her hands busy, and keep her out of anything that isn't safe for her to be in. Pots & pans are high on the list, she also enjoys pulling out each individual napkin from the cupboard to throw onto the floor. 

My newest busy hands activity came from an old box & several boxes of almost but not quite finished cereal (rice crispies, & cheerios). Just like a sand box, only safely edible, and the dogs clean up most of what gets thrown outside of the box. Win!

Rylee loves climbing in and out of the box, playing, and making noise with the cereal...and eating it too. And I love that she is in the same room, she is safe, and she is happy.

Cereal. A great snack...and fun too!

until next time,

Brit

fort building

There is something totally cool about building an in house fort. Its like a fortress, a bunker, a secret hiding place to protect you from the storm troopers (silly reference: Jer and I watched star wars yesterday.) and other boogers that are trying to get you... and just a good excuse to spend fun time together close and comfy!

I don't know if it was more for us or for her, but either way we all loved it.

until next time,
Brit

Camping

Last Sunday we left from church to head for the beautiful mountains of Colorado. We went on a 4 day camping trip with some friends from church. It was so much fun to get to spend time together without technology or the hustle and bustle of everyday to cause distraction from one another's company. It was also a great reminder of just how awesome our creator is, and that He is in fact our creator! To spend time in fellowship with one another surrounded by the breath taking beauty of God's marvelous creation is so meditative; we all have come back home it seems with a calmer spirit, and a deeper reflection of our true priority in life = to Glorify Him in all that we do.

Rylee did great on the trip. She is quite a little camper! She enjoyed all of our hikes and the time we spent at the lake fishing. She even got to touch every fish we caught! I have a feeling this kid is a Colorado baby at heart...no matter what her birth certificate says.

Before leaving for our trip I finally convinced myself to get an Ergo. I've been looking at them forever and this trip gave me a perfect excuse to finally click buy. Rylee loved being in it, and it made all of our hiking and exploring adventures so much easier & therefor more fun!

Rylee is getting an early start in the art of fishing.

Our very first moose sighting of the trip!

Jeremy and I pride ourselves in cooking gourmet campfire meals. Anything you can cook on a stove you can cook on a campfire...and we did. We also are firm believers in delving into unhealthy amounts of junk food while camping....and we did that too. (Rylee got her fair share as well!)

On a rock in the Rocky Mountains. Happiness.

This picture was taken on a cliff overlooking the Larimee river below (waaaaay below). We sat here and had lunch one day, it was the perfect spot to take in all of God's glorious handy work!

While we were there we caught 13 fish, saw 4 moose, 7 deer, 2 beavers, 2 foxes, and had several little campsite chipmunk and woodpecker friends! Wildlife is one of the best parts about camping off in the mountains, and I am so glad Rylee got to see and experience it all.

We really do miss the clear Colorado air. We can not wait to get back!

until next time,
Brit