Miss Independent

Wow, the summer is flying by and I am getting way behind in my blogging!

At the end of June, Braylee won the Little Miss contest and my sister-in-law Mandi shared some of the photos she took that night. (Thank you, Mandi!)

We went back to the fair the next night so Braylee could use her "Ride for free" card on the rides...which meant I had to buy one for Brynna but they had a blast!

A couple of pictures before church and during Sunday School one day...

Then it was time to celebrate the 4th of July with our cuties, including the newest American. "Miss Independence" suits Brielle! She definitely knows what she wants and how to get it! haha!

One of Alex's clients made these 4th of July shirts for the girls. She
put a lot of detail into them! The red shirts underneath say "American Beauty" on them.

 

Aunt Trista & Brielle- after lounging in the lake all day at my parents' cabin

It's tough getting a picture of all 5 of us!
We watched the fireworks from our friends' backyard.

So...about Miss Independent...

She cracks us up! She thinks she is a big girl and tries to do anything the other girls do. She talks up a storm! She still has some baby jabber but she is pretty clear on a lot of things she says. She speaks in sentences a lot now too. Her vocabulary is larger than I could list.  Here are a few of her favorite/most common phrases...

"I eat. I want snack. I want cookie. I want i-cream. I want drink. I want popsicle. I want more. I hungry."  (Are you beginning to see what's on her mind most of the time??!! :))

Other phrases...

"I shut door."

"I push that." (when wanting to work the garage door, clothes dryer, microwave, etc).

"I get up. I play bayee benna." (when waking from her nap and wanting her sisters)

"I want pony tail."

"oh pretty!"- pointing to her bracelet, painted toenails, hairbow, etc.

"There you go." - when we put something where she wants it. :)

"Do it again?" - when she wants us to chase, flip, or tickle her again.

"I sit down."

"I help?" - I am so glad Alex taught her what "help" means! She loves to help us but the best thing is that if we say we will help her (like buckling her seat, eating, opening something), she usually lets us help instead of throwing a fit.

She counts to 10 independently but often skips 7. She knows most all of her body parts from her hair down to her toes. She sings parts of Itsy bitsy, Jesus loves me, and Twinkle Twinkle. We tried to teach her to say China when we ask, "Where are you from?" but she usually responds, "home." :)  It is super cute to hear her say "China" though.

She just amazes us with her new words and how she responds to things. The other day, Braylee was telling an elaborate story and then Brielle said, "Oh woooww!" She is pretty stern with the girls when they are bugging her...telling them "Stop it." "Put that down." "Stay!" etc.

One of the funniest things was the other night when she was not wanting to go to bed. I had been rocking/snuggling her for over an hour and finally put her in the pack n play to see if she would soothe herself to sleep. (It was an unusual night because she'd taken a little catnap in the car and then didn't want to go to sleep.) She started crying and after a few minutes, she said, "Mommy? Mommy? I cyin! I cyin!"  haha! So it's pretty obvious, she knows to cry when she wants mommy to pick her up! (And of course I did!)

She is as sassy as she is sweet but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Video- Our Journey to Brielle AnnaMeng

Every time I watch it, I am overcome with the love we have for this little girl. She is our daughter forever! Our prayer is that this video will encourage others to step out in faith too.



Or you can use the direct link:
http://youtu.be/WIqstEjwbB8

Little Miss

Braylee participated in the Little Miss contest at our county fair. She interviewed with the judges on the Saturday before and then the contest was last Wednesday. She can be very shy in situations like this (Strange, right? She is usually a wild and silly girl!) so I was very proud of her for being brave enough to do it.

When they called her name as the winner, I started shaking because I was so excited for her! I texted my mom immediately (She was in Cincinatti with Trista & Miles.) and then went up to take lots of pictures!

We love our sweet, beautiful Braylee!!

Hanging out with her sis before the contest.

She was so excited her cousins came!

Best Friends
(Braylee kept doing this weird smile bc she had a super loose tooth on bottom.
She said she was trying to hold it in with her lip! ;) It has since fallen out.)

Krista & I were both fair queens back in our day so we had to
get a picture with the newest princess in the family. :)

Gramma & Pappy with their granddaughters.

Gramma bought Braylee some cinnamon rolls...you think she was excited?!

While I was getting Braylee ready that evening, she asked if they would announce who got last place. She's such a sweetie...she wasn't even thinking about winning, she just didn't want to be embarrassed by getting last.  We laughed at the answers she said she told the judges during the interviews...I can only imagine. We love you, Little Miss!

Surgery Day

Brielle had a minor, outpatient surgery today at St. Mary's. (I used to work in their Peds/PICU when we lived down there so it was nice to feel at home.) She was greeted in Same Day surgery with a welcome sign, a stuffed bear, and a Winnie the Pooh book. We had to be there bright and early so she was pretty tired when we first arrived.

We were worried about her not being able to eat since she loves to eat as soon as she wakes up. Thankfully, she never asked until we made it to the hospital and was calm when she'd tell us she wanted to eat. Then she said, "cookie? I wanna cookie." Yep, that's our girl. :)  She asked several times and Daddy said he would get her one soon.

Checking out her new bear. She got to keep the cute pillowcase too.

This may just be my favorite picture of the two of us...love her so much!

Coloring lasted a whole 3 minutes...

I think she looks so big in this picture but she's really not.  She weighs almost 22 lbs now.
(20.8 when we arrived home.)

Waiting for surgery.

Practicing with the mask. St. Mary's did not disappoint. They took excellent care of her.

Hugs from daddy before surgery

Some snuggles from momma

She finally decided it was ok to change into the gown.

When they brought her back to Same Day Surgery from recovery, she sat up and gave momma lots of hugs. Then she slept for another hour.

She's sleeping...sometimes her eyes are open a little, just like Brynna. ;)

She was quite a charmer. The nurses all came in to see the "cute little girl in room 20." She never cried while we were at the hospital...not even a whimper when they took her IV out.

Drink, girly, so we can go home! :)

We went straight to Panera to get that girl a cookie!

She's happy with her cookie...for about a minute. She ate maybe two bites of it. Then she went into a post-anesthesia I-don't-like-how-this-stuff-makes-me-feel fit. She screamed and kicked like we have never seen before. Quite frankly, I hope we never do again. She was just not herself and I could tell she was miserable. Thankfully, she slept on the way home. She had a cranky afternoon but seems to be feeling better now. 

Thanks for all of the prayers for our little princess. (For other APs, the surgery was unexpected in that we didn't know about this SN until we were home but we aren't sure how long it has been an issue. It may not have ever presented itself in China.)

2 Months {& more}

We tried to spend more time at home this week but we still enjoyed some summer outings. Sometimes I feel like we probably overstimulate Brielle so I've been wanting to stay home more but there are just so many fun things to do. :)

When we were at a local pool last week, Brynna thought she still needed her life jacket on the diving board. When it accidently was left at home this week, she decided to jump off the board to mommy. She soon realized she didn't need me or a life jacket. ;) She went from hesitant jumps to crazy jumps all in the same day!

A little unsure of herself...

Brielle tried the floatie but she really wasn't into it.

Braylee & Sydney

That evening, the girls had their softball pool party and Brynna was having fun with her new skill!

Later in the week, Mandy & I took our kids to the Splash Park. We had lunch and then let the kids play. Brielle only had half of a mini-cookie and yet she STILL had chocolate smeared all over her face! ;)

We joke about these 2 getting married someday.
We laugh about what their kids might look like because they are complete opposites.

Then & Now...

This was our 3 September Sweeties in 2009- Brynna, Emily, & Braylee

And our 4 September Sweeties now- Brynna, Emily, Braylee & Brielle :)

That evening, we invited Tim & Krista over for dinner to celebrate his new job. He took the HS math position at our school. This means my girlies get to go to school with their best friends/cousins! We made them some BR bows so they would have some black/white/red in their collection!

Saturday, Brynna Annabelle was finally old enough to experience church camp like her big sister! It was just a day camp but she was pumped!

I think she had fun!  The capes have a big cross on the back.

Saturday, we had another wedding to attend. We are so happy for Paige & Landon! I was able to snap a few pictures of the girls before we left. It was on the 2 month anniversary of Brielle joining our family!! Happy 2month Gotcha/Adoption Day to our littlest princess! I love these 3!!

My favorite pic of the 3 girls so far!

Today in Sunday School, I only had 4 girls in my class. The weather was gorgeous so we did our class time outside. When we finished up, I snapped a picture of these friends. They all were born within about 10 days of each other.

It also gave me a chance to snap some "2 Month" pictures of Brielle.

2 Months in her Forever Family  --  20 months old.