It's been awhile!

Lots has happened and I have written none of it. And of course by now most of it has been forgotten!

Bryell was baptized on Saturday September 5th. I will post pictures on this entry when I have them. Kara is going to be gracious enough to let us use some of hers because our camera died right away! We had a pretty good turnout. The baptism was in Alliance and Craig, Lennie, my mom and dad, Josh, Kara, Brecken, my cousin Carmen and her husband Nate all showed up. We were so grateful for everyone there showing their support. Bryell did so good! The baptism was at 8:30 at night which is past her bedtime, but she did not cry at all! It was cute- when Father started pouring the water over her head she actually was trying to push his hand away so it wouldn't go on her. She is so smart!


On the 6th was Brecken's birthday party. We went to that and got to see Bryan and Anne, Joel, Annie, Trevor, Karlee, Hailey, Kristen, David, Ryan, and Brooklyn, PeeWee, and of course Josh, Kara, Brecken, Craig, and Lennie. Its always so fun when everyone is around. I also can't believe Brecken is three!!

We are back in full swing of the school mode- as you know I am working halftime this year and it has been a blast to spend time at home with Bryell! I am attempting to do some 'spring cleaning' while she is asleep since this spring I was pretty much out of commission! I have been trying to be good and only clean when she is sleeping- I figure I am halftime to stay home with her not clean :) and Jeffrey is even supportive of that! At school we have a pretty tough class- very very lovable, but very high maintenance. I am loving teaching with Janessa and the halftime thing is going very well.

Last weekend Jeff went to the Wyoming Texas game and I stayed home with Bryell. We went out to Heidi's house and met up with Noelle and Seren (Seren is a month older then Bryell- Noelle teaches fourth grade with Jeff). It was so fun to watch Seren and Bryell 'play' together. It was also exciting to watch Seren and see what a difference one month makes! Hanging out with Noelle and Heidi made the day without Jeff go by much quicker!

Jeffrey is coaching middle school football again. He enjoys it- they had so many boys that they had to hire a third coach. They have had two games so far and eighth grade won both games and 7th grade won 1 of the 2 games.

I woke up in the middle of the night Wednesday night with a 102 temperature, I took tylenol hoping it would wear off. No luck there, I went to the school nurse the next day who told me I had to go to the doctor. I was not very pleased when I found out I had strep throat. I was instantly sent home. Jeff had a game in Big Piney so was not home until late and Bryell apparently wanted to wait up for him so I didn't get much sleep Thursday. Today I should get a lot more- we took Bryell to the sitters. I was supposed to be at training today so we already had one arranged. I am going to take full advantage of it and get some sleeping in!

4 month checkup

So we had this appointment last Wednesday but I have failed to put things up. The shots were much better this time. She cried, but I think it was only because she was hungry! We gave her a bottle and she quit instantly. We found out that Bryell is 24 and 3/4 inches and weighs 13 pounds 11 ounces! She is growing so quickly. She is slowly moving her way into 3-6 month clothes and it is making me SOOO sad!

Bryell is starting to sleep on her side consistently and it is the cutest thing ever. She is beginning to laugh out loud at us and I love it. She made friends with the girl in the mirror and tells her stories. It is so exciting and so fun to watch her grow, learn, and develop!

Bryell rolled over!

Jeffrey and I were looking through Bryell's pictures trying to decide what to order and we looked at her and she had rolled over!





She put her thumb in her mouth and fell asleep exactly like that. When she woke up she laid there for awhile trying to figure out what to do and then rolled back onto her back!

First day of daycare

Well, I survived...kind of! I cried before we dropped her off, was fine while dropping her off and got about a half block away before I started BAWLING and cried the rest of the way to work. It was a sad day. But when I picked her up Lindsay said that she didn't cry all day and was a very happy baby so I was excited! HOWEVER, when I got there Lindsay was feeding her so stopped when I walked in to let her see me and she started crying! So technically she did cry- it just wasn't until I got there and she saw me!

Random Pictures

So today we took Bryell over to meet her babysitter. I am super excited to have Lindsay tend her and know that Bryell will love it over there. I am pretty sad that I have to leave her, so it will be hard, but I know she is in good hands.

I started summer school last Monday and it is over tomorrow. Then we start our teacher days next week. Bryell's first day at the babysitter will be Monday. The first week she will be there every day but after that week it will only be Mondays, Tuesdays, and some Fridays.

Here are some random pictures of Bryell from this week.









Jeffrey is coaching middle school football again this year so will start on Monday with practice. He goes back to only taking one college class at a time so it should be a little less stressful for him.

Also! We finished our garage! Our final touch was adding Jeffrey's brand to the window.

First Cereal

Bryell had cereal for the first time last night. She did so great at taking it from us. Judging by her face, I don't think she liked it very much!

13 hours of driving with Bryell!

Yeah, it was a LONG trip. It was worth it though. We took off last Monday to go to Lingle and meet up with Craig, Lennie, Peewee, Joel, Annie, Josh, Kara, and all the nieces and nephews. It was so much fun! We started out with a girl's night. Annie, Kara, Lennie, Peewee and I met up and had dinner and a movie. The guys (and kids) went golfing. It was really nice to be just us girls, we don't do that very often. While in Lingle, Jeffrey took me out to the old ranch and we toured around out there on foot as he told me about everything. He drove me throughout the land and told me different stories (most of which I had heard before- but it was fun to actually SEE where it took place). It was fabulous to see everything. He has talked so much of it and it was such a big part of his life that I am so happy we were able to go see it. It also made me realize how different our lives were growing up!
We left Lingle Thursday morning to go to Lincoln and see Sara and Robyn. Unfortunately the time spent with them was not enough-but it was better then nothing. We went mini golfing with Sara Thursday night. It was so cute, we didn't want to put Bryell back in her car seat so Jeffrey put her in the belly holder and went golfing like that. He almost got a hole in one on the first hole! Bryell even hit the ball several times!







We dropped by Robyn's house Friday afternoon and got to see her three girls. Mara is sure getting big! Really, they all are- I still can't believe Peyton will be in preschool this year!

Friday evening we headed to Norfolk to see my Grandma. My parents met us there also. We went to dinner and then it was bedtime! I didn't have my camera so will have to add those pictures when I get them from my parents.

Saturday morning I took off to Fordyce for Carmen's wedding. I was Carmen's personal attendant so had to be there early. Jeffrey and Bryell stayed behind with my parents so they could do more then sit outside the church waiting for the wedding to start! It was a beautiful wedding. It was so fun to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I definitely don't get to see them enough! We went over to Bow Valley for the reception but unfortunately couldn't stay for the dance. We had to get on the road! We took off about 7 and then it was my turn to show Jeff my mom's old farmhouse. It delayed our time coming back a half hour or so but it was exciting to show him that. Here are some pictures, however I blew it at getting a picture of Bryell all dressed up. :(





We drove to Ogallala that night. We got there at 2:30 in the morning. We wanted to stop in North Platte but there were NO rooms available so kept driving. We got back on the road about 8:30 the next morning and got home in time to take turns going up to school for a few hours.

Summer school started today and Jeffrey is working a science camp this week so Bryell had a babysitter. The one she is having this fall is out of town this week so we decided to have one of Jeffrey's basketball girls come watch her. It is one that we trust a lot and Bryell seems to really like her. I officially survived her first full day with a babysitter! :)