Trish, Nate and Brynlee

Brooklyn Kranendonk

2012-01-03T14:56:00.003-07:00

I have not been on here forever! But I decided it was time to do a little update, although there is plenty more that should be coming!

On October 26th we welcomed our sweet little Brooklyn to our family. She weighed 8 lbs 3 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. I was a little nervous about having 2 kids before but once she came it felt completely normal. I definitely think 2 kids was an easier adjustment then 1, although I forgot how demanding, tiring, and how worried you can get over a newborn. She is absolutely perfect and we love her SO much. She is a pretty easy baby and brings so much joy into our lives.
I love when we talk to her how she gives us a big gummy grin and tries to talk back by cooing and making noises.
Brynlee loves her so much and is such a good helper! She likes to help me feed her bottle, wants to help burp her, gives her her pacifier when she cries and tries to make her happy. When she is sleeping she says, "shhh. Brooke" I Love both my girls so much and feel like I am the luckiest mom around, and truly have been blessed!

Big news for our little family!

2011-06-25T00:14:00.011-06:00

First of all I can't believe that next month Brynlee is 18 months old. Time sure does fly! It is sad how fast she is growing but it is so fun and I love watching her grow and learn new things everyday. It won't be long though till we are back in the baby mode. In October we will have another little girl joining our family! We are so excited and I think it will be fun having two girls closer in age. I always have loved having an older sister who I could look up to and be friends with. We definitely had our differences and fights, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! Guess we are keeping the Kranendonk tradition alive with these girls!

As an update on Brynlee- I know she is going to be a great older sister. She loves feeding her food to her baby doll or teddy bear, and putting them in her little stroller and pushing them around or covering them up with her little blanket. We have so much fun with her everyday. Even though she has the throwing tantrum thing down every now and then and also has much more of an opinion she is still the sweetest little thing. She is talking so much more. She is getting much at better repeating what we say and it is nice she understands a lot of what we tell her. I love when she does something she knows she shouldn't be doing and she says, "no no" and either shakes her head or moves her finger back and forth. Or she'll just wait till I look then purposely do it. I LOVE getting to have her as my little buddy all day. Lately When you hand her something or she gives you something she says, "thank you" (well her way of saying thank you!) She loves to go to the park and swing. We have a little one across the street and she looks out the window and says "awk" for park, or will bring me my shoes or bring me Nate's shoes and will hit the front door. She loves to be outside. She loves playing with the little neighborhood kids, luckily we have quite a few where we live! She is still so happy most of the time, and you can still get her to laugh easily, she loves to wave to everybody. I can definitely tell she has both me and Nate in her. She definitely eats like Nate and will eat anything (even if it is spicy) But I totally see a lot of my personality in her. She isn't one to jump into doing something, she has to test it out and be very careful before she knows she can do it. It is fun watching her grow and learn new things everyday! Here are a few pictures of her taken the last few months.

She decided this year the swimming pool might be fun and definitely is liking it more, she still has to warm up to it but at least will get in for the most part.

She loves to drive or ride on anything that she can.

I just like this picture because it shows her sweet personality. The teddy bear in the picture is to her one of her best friends!

Family Fun!

2011-03-07T12:50:00.012-07:00

This past couple weeks we were so lucky to have my sister Bri and her family come up from Arizona for a little visit. We loved having them here and were able to do a lot of fun things. We went to Chuck E. Cheese, went to the mall and played on their play place, the girls loved playing with eachother and pushing eachother on the princess bike, we watched movies and had a lot of fun together! We are so thanful they just live in Arizona so we are able to see them occasionaly, although it'd be nice to see them more then we do! We already miss having them here!

The girls with their Uncle Kyle
Completion of the family puzzle

The face Brynlee made pretty much the whole time on this ride

The girls with their Uncle Colby

Ashlyn loving it and Brynlee hating it!

At Chuck E Cheese with my mom in the background

Ashlyn enjoying her sucker!

Brynlee being her dramatic self and panicing they hit the wall, and Ashlyn not caring!

Lately....

2011-03-03T15:03:00.006-07:00

Brynlee is now 13 months. I can not believe it! I haven't updated what she has been up to lately so I figured it was about time.
-The top picture is of her with her bear. It is her favorite thing and every time she see's it she gets so excited. Lately she has been sick and keeps waking up at night, so the other night in the middle of the night, she would not stop crying, so I gave her the bear and she gave it the biggest hug and wouldn't let go of it. She went right to sleep after that!
-She has so many different facial expressions. The one she does the most lately is makes a big O face and puts her hands up to her face!
-Loves, loves dogs. Whenever she sees one she starts laughing, kicking and moving her feet, and pointing to it getting so excited. She will pet them slowly but sometimes if the dog gets to close she squeezes onto you for dear life and gets a little nervous.
-Anytime she eats something sweet such as a cookie, she says MMMM. Loves her food still! Although she is in this phase where she thinks it is fun to throw her food on the floor if she doesn't want to eat anymore of it.
-Will walk around furniture and doesn't sit down as soon as we let go of one hand while walking with her. She balances great by herself until she realizes she isn't holding on to something then she just sits herself down. I have tried bribing her with candy, food, you name it, and she still refuses to walk! One day :)
-Is trying to say so many words. She will point to things and try to say what it is, even though it sounds nothing like it. After she says something and points to it and I say yes, that's your blanket and she get's so excited that I understand her!
-She is in her front facing car seat and likes it. At first she loved it then she realized she could see us better and got really mad if we ignored her. She is better now but still likes the attention!
-She makes us so happy and I love seeing her grow and develop and learn new things everyday! -She is really easy going and I really am lucky to have Brynlee and get to play with her everyday. Don't get me wrong, she definitely has her days but I just love her so much!

1 Year Already!

2011-02-02T22:40:00.005-07:00

The top one is my family who came to the party and the bottom one is the classic cake picture!

Okay, this post is a little overdue. I have been such a slacker with keeping up on this thing! But, I wanted to write a little bit about Brynlee.... Surprise! (What else do I ever blog about?)

On January 22 Brynlee turned 1 years old. We didn't do anything big for it, we just had family over for a dinner and cake, nothing big. But she got to do the things she loves most: Eat and play with balloons and her toys. I can't believe it's been a year since the GREATEST blessing entered our life. Our life was great before Brynlee but I would have to say its a billion times better with her in it. I could not imagine life without her now. She is my favorite little buddy and the best person to get to spend all day with! She's pretty much like one of my best friends. I was a little sad that she is already one, because to be honest, I don't think I valued the moments when she was younger, especially a baby! I remember when she would cry all night long and how I never thought she'd be old enough to sleep train. I always wanted to her to get bigger and move onto the next step. I don't think I really stopped to enjoy 100% of the moment we were in. It was also a happy day when she turned one because I love seeing how much she has grown up and developed. She is such a smart little girl, crawls all over the place, is still unsure about the whole walking thing, but will stand up on almost anything. No more formula (yay!) she definitely understands pretty much everything we tell her, and she is saying more and more words. I love watching her try to figure out life. Whether it be how cool and fun it is to open and shut drawers/doors or how to get that spoon into the bowl and into her mouth. Sure do love my little girl and am truly grateful that I get to have her as my daughter. She may just be 1 but I learn so much from her everyday! Here are some recent pictures of sweet little Brynlee.

11 months already!

2011-01-02T15:39:00.006-07:00

Brynlee is 11 months now, almost a year. She is just as fun as ever and definately has quit the personality! Since I keep track on here with what she is doing, here are some things about Brynlee at 11 months:

-Loves, loves, loves to play peekaboo. I say, "Brynlee, where are you?" and she puts both hands either over her ears, on her head, and sometimes gets them to the right place (her eyes) and gets a smile on her face then lets go and smiles even bigger or laughs. She'll put blankets, or anything over her head so she can play peekaboo.
-Likes to play pat a cake. She has it pretty much down on her own except the rolling her arms part. She just claps when we get to that part of the song.
-Blows kisses to you
-Likes to give high fives
-Now pulls herself up to stand on things and likes us to hold her hands and walk with her. Before she hated it and could care less about it. She'll be in the middle of floor and try to push herself up
-Loves to try to put her buckle together in her car seat, high chairs, anything with a buckle
-Loves to figure out how things work
-Loves to open and close things, especially lids and doors
-Loves to turn on and off light switches, push the garage button and knows where they are all at
-She is very smart
-I'll squeeze her hand 3 times and say,"I love you" and she squeezes mine back. Even if I don't say it she'll still do it
-Loves to pull things out of stuff and put them back in
-Still loves every food. Haven't found one she won't eat. Points to food and says, "mmmm"
-Loves to play catch. She throws everything to give it to you. Loves to roll or throw the ball back and forth
-Dances when she hears music
-Understands a lot that we say to her. Share, no, clap your hands, give me a high five, kiss, hug, your okay, (she'll stop crying sometimes), give it to me, can I have some, ect...
-Loves to share with you. Especially her food
-Says, dada, mama (only sometimes) ball (ba) Hi (ha of hi) bye (bah) baba
-Has 6 teeth, has all 4 bottom ones, two top ones, and the top sides ones are coming in.
-Loves anything soft. Her favorite toy still is her white bear. I think its one of her best friends!
-Still the happiest baby ever! She laughs very easily :)

It is cold outside!

2010-12-09T23:46:00.006-07:00

Nate's dad came into town last week and we had so much fun! We went and drove through Thanksgiving Points light and I put Brynlee on my lap (we were driving very slowly and we were in the back seat) and I had my window rolled down. She was clapping, pointing and laughing through the whole thing. It was cute, she layed her head on the window and kept saying, "Aww" or "babada" just talking to herself. The next night we went to the festival of trees. She liked the lights on the tree, I think her favorite tree was an Elmo/Sesame street one. The pictures are from that. Even though it was freezing outside she was still smiling! You can tell by the pictures how much she just loves her dad! The last picture is of her looking at the ceiling, its a kind of new thing she does is tips her head back, and looks up or behind her. She doesn't want to miss a thing!
Then the next night, his dad and Grandma came over and we just hung out at our house. We put our tree up and had a nice little dinner. It's always so fun when he comes into town and we get to see him. Brynlee sure liked her Grandpa Kranendonk!

10 Months

2010-12-09T23:07:00.007-07:00

So crazy that Brynlee is 1o months old, almost 11 months! She is still the cutest thing ever in our world! Here are some things she is doing so we can remember them.

-Loves to wave hi, or bye to anyone leaving. We'll be at the grocery store and she'll wave and say, "hi" to anybody who looks at her
-Has a fake cry, and sometimes has a little attitude!
-Loves Elmo and teddy bears
-Loves to play hide and seek. Even if I just say, "Brynlee where are you?" She'll put her hands over her eyes, likes to play it in her car seat and hides under her visor. So cute
-Loves to play pat-a-cake. Grabs my hands and puts them together or will start clapping to play it.
-Loves to clap at herself if she thinks she is doing a good job or something, or if she hears the word yay!
-Crawling a lot more. Will throw things/move things to get them out of her way.
- If she wants to read a book she'll pick it up, either clap, hand it to me or the best, she'll just throw the book at me!
- Says ball (ba) when she's see a ball and points o it, still loves to roll or throw the ball back and forth.
-Says dada and know its him. Its cute. When he comeshome for work she get so excited and sometimes say, "Hi dada'' Or just wave at him and claps her hands
-Still hates to stand or have us walk with her. She is fine standing against the table, but if we try walking with her or make her stand, she bends her bum and legs and start to get mad
- Loves to close/open doors, put things in a bucket, box, basket, ect then take them out, then put them back in
-starting to like lids(opening and closing them)
-You love hitting the garage door button. When I get you out of the car you put your arm straight out so you can push that button!
-Throwing your food on the floor is such a fun game for you :)
-Loves to click her tongue or mimics things we do
-Babbles tons, and is trying to figure out how to say words. Is talking tons more and sounds like she has lots of stories to tell you!
-Loves computers and cell phones. Puts our cell phones up by her ear and pretends to talk
-My favorite little companion :)

Things that have changed since Brynlee has come

2010-11-16T23:06:00.006-07:00

So I was reading an email I got from baby center, and thought these were very true and I know my life is a million times better and a little different since Brynlee has been born. Here are some I could relate to...

- You respect your parents and love them in a new way
- You find your babies pain feels much worse then your own
- You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child
- Your heart breaks much more easily
- You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day
- Every day is a surprise
- You become a morning person
- Your love becomes limitless
- You realize that although very sticky and messy, suckers have magical powers
- Silence? What is that?
- You don't mind going to bed at 9 on Friday night
- You give parents with a screaming child an "I-know-the-feeling"look instead of a "Can't- they-shut-him-up?' one.
- You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you'll be late
- You learn that taking a shower is a luxury
- You just plain love life more - everything comes together and becomes better because of one tiny person and your love for them
- Nothing is just yours any longer. You share EVERYTHING!
- You can have the most wonderful conversation using only vowel sounds like "ahhh" and "oooo"

I could not imaging my life without her in it, and I love more than anything!

Halloween

2010-11-06T23:34:00.009-06:00

As you can tell Brynlee was a ladybug for Halloween (well Friday night, on Saturday she was a little monster and I still need to get her picture in that costume!) It was her first Halloween and even though she had no clue what was going on and probably was confused as to why I was taking so many pictures and dressing her up... I think it was a success! (Thanks to a LITTLE candy!) I was so excited for this Halloween now that I finally had a little one. On Friday I dressed her up and she went to the library with her friend Camden, then we went to Novell to trick or treat/ mostly just see people at Nates work, then my parents and little brother came down and we went to our wards Trunk or Treat then to our friends Halloween party. Busy day but she sure was a trooper! The next day was Saturday, 30th and that night we were lucky enough to get invited to eat yummy chili and cornbread at our friends house (the Olson's) and got to hang out with the them for a bit which we always love! Then, we went up to my aunts house for more good food, got to see all the kids cute costumes, Brynlee got to play with Bailey and Sadie who she just loves, while we got to talk to the adults. Which was perfect since it was Pouring rain! Yeah, I pretty much have the coolest and funnest family there is! I am so lucky and I Love them all!

9 months!

2010-10-26T22:39:00.007-06:00

I have been a slacker with updating what Brynlee has been up to, but I figured since she just had her 9 month check up it was about time! I never know how to write these so I decided to write this how she will be the one reading about herself someday! It's pretty long but I did say I am a bit behind in updating!
She now weighs 15 pounds, 5 ounces (4th percentile) and she is 28" long (68th percentile) and we just love her more then ever! At 9 months Brynlee you:
*Sleep AMAZINGLY well at night and during the day for naps. At night, you usually sleep anywhere from 11-14 hours, and usually take 1-2 naps each being 2-3 hrs.
*You love soft blankets around your face. when your tired or sad, you get your little pink and white blanket and rub it on your face. Or you'll just bury your face in the blanket and pull it over you eyes
*When you point, you curl your index finger down so your pointing with your knuckle. You like to point at everything you see!
*You love to turn off and on light switches. Especially when I get you out of your crib, you point to the light switch to turn it on or off.
*You are a very giggly and smiley baby and you are very easy going.
*You love any food and eat as much as you can whenever you can (you've always been that way)
*You love watching your Sesame Street "kids favorite songs 2" dvd, and smile, clap and will sit and watch the whole thing (a little more then half hour I think)
*You make a big "O" face and open your mouth so wide when you see something you like
*Love going to the library and love all the little kids there. You still love to read/look at books
*You stand holding on to things
*Still just do the army crawl. You get in crawling position and go back and forth then you decide doing the army crawl is the way you perferr it.
*Love your little teddy bears and when you especially see the white one you start laughing and clap your hands. Even if your crying and so sad that always makes you happy!
*You definitely have an opinion about things and let us know when your mad at us( like when we get you dressed or take your food away) you kick your legs and mumble words like your giving us a lecture or yelling at us! You for sure have an attitude but for now I think it's cute :)
*Your best friend right now is your man Camden Olsen. You two are so cute together!
*You wave at people and clap your hands especially when we say good job brynlee, or you see something you like!
*You say da-da like crazy, and I am pretty sure you know how to say hi cuz when you sometimes see people you know you'll say it, or it sounds just like it, and you like to babble. I think today in the car you talked to yourself/the teddy bear for about 20 minutes straight.
*You just get more active and stronger everyday. I LOVE being around you, and I think we are a bit obsessed with you!
We sure do Love you Brynlee!

Georgia and Nate's surgery

2010-10-06T10:11:00.017-06:00

So, I haven't been the best at updating but I feel like we have stayed pretty busy lately. Between our Georgia trip, Arizona and Nate's knee surgery life couldn't be more exciting :) I only have pictures from Georgia because I have been a slacker and haven't loaded any other recent ones on the computer!

Nate tore his meniscus from playing basketball so he got surgery to repair it and had to be on crutches for 6 weeks and can't run on it for about 4 months. Not to mention it was a week before Georgia so... the airport was a fun experience :) Luckily he got a wheelchair so he was able to hold Brynlee on his lap so I could get all the luggage. All I have to say is it was totally worth it. We got to skip to the front of the security line and got better seats on the flight! Finally he is off his crutches and we are hoping it healed so he doesn't have to get surgery again to get it removed. We will know in a few months. He is one tough guy though.

We ended up making it to Georgia and it was fun! I LOVED having Brynlee there, his family is great but I felt like we fit in a little better because he has tons of nieces and nephews and we had Brynlee! It was a lot of his families first time meeting Brynlee and I think she loved all the attention she got. His parents have thousands of toys and all the grand kids spread them all over their floor and she was in high heaven. Not to mention the little kids would play with her. The first few times someone stole a toy from her, she just looked at them and you can tell in her face she wasn't sure what to do but she knew she didn't like it. By the end of the week, she tried to speak her mind when a toy was stolen, but she learned to do it right back at them!
In Georgia it was her first time getting to eat pancakes, toast, and eggs, and a chocolate ice cream cone and like always... she loved it all! Nate's mom was so cute and always made sure she wasn't hungry and had food. We went to the lake a couple of times which is always a Georgia tradition, except this time Nate couldn't do much but ride the boat. It was fun and awesome weather. I think Brynlee would have been fine on the boat if it wasn't for the life jacket. She HATED it and cried the whole time she had it on! That was her first and last time on the boat! (at least on that trip. Hopefully next year she'll be better!)
We went to the Cabbage Patch doll factory and got to see all the dolls there. We also went to a Braves game which was fun cuz it was mine and Brynlee's first time and she did great! Then we just went to parks a lot and took walks which Brynlee loves both walks and swings so it was perfect! Last but not least, she was awesome on the planes and didn't cry. The only time she did was the last 20 minutes on our way back to Salt Lake. It was fun and can't wait till we get to go back!

August So far...

2010-08-10T23:23:00.009-06:00

We have had a very busy August I feel like! This is kind of an overload but I haven't blogged about this kind of stuff for awhile, so I figured it was time!

First of all if you know Brynlee, she loves to smile and is usually always happy. But when you get the camera out she is ready for pictures. She starts to make all these faces and gets so happy when she realizes you are going to take a picture of here. These pictures after the flash went off she would make a new face every time (I am not joking) She takes after her aunt Bri loving having her picture taken :)

I took Brynlee to the library for her first time because she LOVES to look at books and loves kids so I figured it would be fun! Brynlee and I went with our good friends Casey and Camden, who Brynlee just loves! We also went and bought a little blow up pool and they looked pretty cute in their swimming suites together getting ready for it. I think they liked their toys more then the pool! After spending what felt like forever filling up the pool with hot water (having to fill up pots, then take it out) I think they liked it a little better. AFter a while the were exhausted!

Me, Nate and Brynlee were aslo lucky to be able to go to a baseball game with our other good friends Scott and Melissa Neslen and their sweet baby William. As you can tell from the picture Brynlee loved staring at him and was so happy when she was by him!

This past weekend Brynlee had her first with a few foods. We went to Brick Oven and I unwrapped the watermelon sucker to let her taste it and before I knew it she grabbed that thing out of my hand as fast as she could and plopped it in her mouth and wouldn't let go for the life of her! Her hands were literally white because her grip was so strong. Then on Sunday we put her in a high chair for her first time now that she can sit all by herself and she LOVED having food up there with her that she could eat. She still needs some practice but I was surprised with how much she got in her mouth. The funniest part was watching her eat the cob from the corn and watching her get half that thing in her mouth. That girl has one big mouth! Don't mind her slobber in all these pictures

Brynlee 6 Months

2010-07-26T13:16:00.006-06:00

Brynlee is 6 months old now and is just as fun as ever! She has the cutest personality. She is always smiling, talking, and is loving figuring out just what this world is all about! She weighs 13 lbs. 1 oz (4th percentile) Is 26 1/2 inches long (70th percentile) Just for my records this is what she does these days.
*Her nickname should be Kiss because she sticks her tongue out so far and loves just sticking it out. When she smiles and is excited she sticks that long tongue of hers right out!
*Loves soft blankets on her face. She will take the blanket and lift it up to her face and cover her eyes or entire face. It settles her down and puts her to sleep
*She grunts when she sees food and wants it. You can't leave her out or hide food from her anymore. No eating in front of her unless you are willing to share!
*She loves when I get a glass and put water in it and I help her drink from the cup. She puts the cup under her tongue and sort of licks the water. Surprisingly she drinks very well from it
*She is easily entertained with measuring spoons, paper/plastic cups, and anything else around the house. I say whats the point of buying toys when those entertain her :)
*Rolls all over the floor. I will lay her on the floor in one spot and the next thing I know she is half way across the room.
*Grabs everything she can get her cute little hands on and puts EVERYTHING in her mouth
*Loves touching peoples faces
*In the bath she loves her little duck and turtle and splashes her arms and legs when she sees them
*Loves to talk to you and watch what you are doing. She is a fun little companion. She will babble the most random things but talk to you for a while. She has said baba, dada and a few other words but they don't have meaning. Occasionally she will try to repeat what we say or do
*Enjoys being outside and loves going for rides in her stroller. It always calms her down
*Loves her Uncle Colby. (Loves all my family) but especially gets excited when she see's him. I am so lucky my family is so great with her and how colby is always willing to watch her
*Loves little kids and babies. She smiles when I show her pictures of herself and if she see's any little kid in person will try to talk to them and touch them. Kids definately make her laugh
*Loves looking at herself in the mirror
*She definately knows what kisses are. I say "Brynlee, give me a kiss" and have her face facing mine and she opens her mouth so wide then puts it against my cheek. It is a slobbery kiss, but the cutest thing! She will do it to anyone who says give me a kiss.
*Can sit forever supported and is getting better sitting on the floor herself. Although she likes to lean forward and rest on her hands instead of sitting straight up. When she is standing on her legs she will push her bum out and not stand up straight. I think we need to keep working on that. I think its laziness and the doctor agrees, he says its cuz that's where she is comfortable. She knows what she likes and doesn't like and sticks to it! Hopefully she grows out of that quickly!
*This last week she got her first cold and I was impressed with how tough she was. She still was pretty happy and out of about 6 days only stayed up 1 night. It was sad to see her so sick though. Luckily she is better now
*She is the happiest, smiling, baby and has a very easy going personality. We just love her if you can't tell!

5 Months

2010-06-24T23:30:00.003-06:00

Brynlee is 5 months now... crazy! (I think that's how I start out all my post) :) She is still her cute happy self, just getting bigger each day! She still smiles ALL the time. When you look at her or she see's you will just get this big grin on her face and makes you feel like you are her favorite person. Here are things she does so I can remember them.

*She rolls from her stomach to back all the time. If you lay her on her stomach its not much later she is on her back. Although she sometimes gets one arm stuck under her back and she knows how to get it out but sometimes she wants you to do it for her so she starts to moan, I think its kind of funny!
*Sometimes rolls from back to stomach. I hate to admit it but I soon found out she could after I was a terrible mom and put her on the couch and she rolled right off. Luckily it just scared her, and she didn't get hurt!
*When she starts to cry she will blow raspberries and spit with her lips (putting them together). It is so funny when she's mad. She'll do it occasionally if she's just doing nothing to entertain herself
*she makes this puckering face and sucks in her lips and chews on her bottom lip (kind of looks like a fish)
*LOVES eating and playing with her toes. In the bath especially or whenever she is sitting or just laying there. It is like she is sucking her thumb although instead of her thumb its her big toe. Hopefully she breaks that habit when she starts walking :)
*When she gets excited for something, she lifts both her legs so they are straight, starts moving her arms up and down and makes her mouth a perfect O.
*Definitely notices when your eating and makes it known she doesn't want to be left out! My mom gave her a sucker and it was so cute seeing her holding the stick and sucking it. (I know, another terrible thing I shouldn't be doing yet although I only let it happen once!)
*After she eats when we lay her down to bed or to take a nap she will just stare at what she can find for a good 10-20 minutes then fall asleep.
*Still loves to look at books, and she loves her toys. Loves her play gym (will be entertained by that for a long time) Her rattle, and all her little toys she loves to look at and especially eat them. Is constantly putting whatever you give her or whatever she can grab in her mouth. She loves to discover new things!
*Is THE happiest baby. She is usually always smiling, talking (well, ah's oo's. sometimes 2 syllables.) She really only cries if she is hungry or tired or if you take her bottle away!
*June 19th we gave her her first bite of rice cereal and she loved it. We also fed her some green beans and she kept wanting more. I don't think she is a picky eater. She will eat anything we give her
*First 2 times we took her swimming she didn't love it I think because the water was to cold for her but the 3rd time it was a different pool and a little warmer and she Loved it! She loved having her daddy in there with her I guess cuz the 1st time was with me! (Well, in a public pool!)
*Lately, she has started panting like a dog when she is excited, happy or going to get mad
*Her smile and laugh are still my favorite. Her whole face lights up when she smiles (especially her eyes) and her laugh is a true little girls laugh.

I love her SO much and I love her personality. I hope she'll be as sweet as she is now when she is older.

4 months

2010-05-24T16:22:00.003-06:00

Brynlee is 4 months now... crazy! We took her to her doctor appointment today and here is the update: She is 12 pounds 1 oz (16th percentile) She is 25 inches long (78th percentile) and the doctor said she is right on track with all her motor skills and such. She was so tough with her shots, she cried when they poked her then she stopped as soon as I held her. She is a very tough little girl. We have more and more fun with her each day as she learns new things and I think she is developing the CUTEST personality! She is such a smiley baby and is always happy. She really only cries if she's hungry or tired. My favorite is when I go to get her in the morning cuz she has a routine and thinks its a game(she starts out with a coo) and she is turned sideways, will be staring the sheet or bumper in the crib and when she knows i'm close by tries to look at me without me seeing then as soon as I say "Hey Brynlee," she get this little smirk on her face like she is waiting for it then I say "good morning Brynlee" and she looks right at me and gives me the biggest smile. She is SO happy when she wakes up and it makes the day start out great! how can you have a bad day when you wake up to that? Here are things she does now so we can remember.

-She LOVES to look at books. At about 3 months Nates grandma gave her a mickey mouse book and any book with pictures in it she will stare at one page, then put her eyes on the next (where the words are) and for each page makes a different facial expression. By a couple pages she is squilling so high, smiling and touches the characters with her hands. It is so cute to watch and I'm amazed by how long she will concentrate on the book for.
-She rolled over from her stomach to back at about 3 months and 1 week and will do it occasionally.
-When laying on her stomach she pushes herself up with her hands and raises her head and looks around.
-She loves to reach for objects and play with whatever she can get her hands on.
-She is drooling like crazy and puts everything in her mouth.
-She squeels really high and loves to talk. Whether its to herself, or to you she loves making noises
-She has so many different facial expressions, and smiles and talks with her eyes.
-She is so pleasant in the morning and smiles really big
-She definitely knows when her bottle is coming. If she's crying and we start shaking the formula she stops. Or when she see's it she will smile and you know she wants it.
-I'm probably a terrible mom for this one but she loves snoasis (snow cones, i put a little on the straw and feed it to her) and she loves drinking from cups and straws (we pour the water into her mouth from the straw) The first time I fed her my snoasis she grabbed my straw out of my hand and got so excited then hit my cup out of my hands trying to get it. It was so funny. I don't blame her, i'm sure those things taste so much better then formula :)
-She does this fake cough thing when she gets excited
-She sleeps all night :) 8-12 hours
-She gets so excited when her dad comes home. Whenever she spots him she gets the biggest grin on her face
-She still loves the bath and likes when I pour water from a cup on her stomach or her head. She definitely isn't afraid of water and would have her whole face in the water if we let her
-She loves lifting up her head and looking around when she's on her stomach
-She loves looking at babies, pictures of babies, and being by them
-when she cries, she makes these funny talking sounds like she is giving you a lecture or telling you how she really feels.
-She loves looking at herself in the mirror. She starts smiling, squilling, and will start to talk when she sees herself. The cutest part is she doesn't know its her (thats what they tell you) and I think she thinks it her friend or something!

As you can tell we are obsessed with her and love her so much! We are so lucky to have her apart of our family. I couldn't imagine my life without her!

2 Amazing Moms

2010-05-10T21:57:00.006-06:00

Since yesterday was mother's day I just wanted to share how amazing my mom is and how amazing Nates mom is!

My mom- She is the most thoughtful and selfless person I know. I can ask her anything and not feel stupid, she is so easy to talk to, I always call her for advice because she knows everything! I love going up to my parents house because I love just talking to her and being around her. She seems to always be doing something for someone without them even asking. She knows when somebody needs something and is there for them. For example, I went to the doctors and found out that I have Mono. I was with her later that day and she knew we were SO behind with our house, laundry up the wall, dishes in the sink and our house was just a mess and very unorganized which was causing stress and with the build up lack of motivation on my part. She drives down to Springville, starts gathering up all our laundry and say's how about you come do it at my house since my washer is bigger. No joke, there was about 10 loads of laundry if not more. I got a few loads done (with her help) then we were going to our friends house up there and we were late so we were just going to come back to pick up the laundry. She ended up having ALL our laundry done, folded or on hangers ready in piles for us to take. She has No idea how much that ment to me. That is just one tiny little example of how amazing she is. She makes each one of us feel important and even though she still has 3 boys at home, she still finds time to show me that she cares. She shows Brynlee so much love and obviously Brynlee loves her too because whenever she see's my mom and my mom starts talking to her, she gets a huge smile on her face. Thinking of my mom makes me smile too. I hope to be like her someday!

Nates Mom- Pat is also very thoughtful and SO kind. Since the first time I met her she made me feel welcomed and important. She has raised 7 kids who are all so great. She cares so much for each of her children and I know she cares so much about them. From seeing how cute she is with all the grandkids (they all just love her!) and how she tries to make everybody happy. With a family that big I think that would be so hard but she always manages to do it. She shows so much love to Brynlee and she has only met her once. From all she does that I see and hearing Nate talk about his mom a lot and how much he loves her I know she is great. I really wished we lived closer to her and all of Nates family because they are all so amazing.

To sum it up we couldn't have asked to have 2 better moms. I know I need to let them know how much I appreciate them more and I hope I can be just as great with my kids as much as they are with us.

3 Months!

2010-04-28T22:30:00.006-06:00

Yesterday my friend Jessica was SO nice and offered to take photos of Brynlee. These were Brynlee's first "official" pictures taken thanks to her! I can't believe that she is already 3 months old! She is at such a fun stage now. Here are some things she does (just so I can remember)

*She found her hands and can not keep them out of her mouth.
*She loves to grab her toes and pull her feet up
*She likes to bat and try to reach for objects we give her or that are above her head
*She will pull the butterfly on her bouncer that plays music and smiles while looking at them and sometimes gets frustrated if she can't get it
*She giggles and laughs
*Lately she has been sleeping at least 9-12 hours at night before waking up
*She likes to play a game in the car where I give her the pacifier, then I let go she spits it out and kind of gives a whimper/fake cry until my hand touches her face and I give it back to her. She does that over and over again then after a while she will keep it in. She is getting smart and I need to be more careful, I think she's trying to train me :)
*She still panics and stresses out when you take her bottle away if she is not done eating!
*If she is crying or unhappy I sing, "I'm a little tea pot, wheels on the bus, or the Itsy Bitsy Spider." She loves when we play and sing with her
*She has so many different faces she likes to make.
*She talks a lot more(well oo's and oh's) and coos at us and tries to carry on a conversation
*She still is our favorite girl and is so perfect for us. We love her more then anything!

Brynlee laughing/ Dancing

2010-04-18T00:33:00.006-06:00

Below this post is the Video of Brynlee laughing while dancing with Nate and Jake which I posted so we could remember it. If you want to watch it turn off the music at the bottom of my blog so you can hear her better. (Maybe its just cuz we are her parents but I think it is so cute) It's pretty much her first time really laughing that hard and consistently and she is about 12 weeks in this video.
Nate is a hip hop dancer (whatever you call it) and ever since Brynlee was born he always has turned on the music and would dance with her, or move her legs and arms to the beat. For a little over a month now whenever he turns on his music she'll start doing it by herself wich we like to think she is trying to dance, although, I'm not sure at her age that's possible :) She's kind of been laughing the past couple weeks.
Last night we were hanging out with our good friends Kim and Jake and we were at their house and Nate, Jake and Brynlee all had a little dance party. Nate was holding her while dancing and then Jake started dancing facing her and she starts laughing more. (That's the video posted below which we wouldn't have had if it wasn't for Kim) It was so funny to watch. I definitely think she is going to take after her dad and become a dancer... although I'm not sure we should be getting her use to hip hop music at this age :)

Brynlee laughing

2010-04-18T00:32:00.001-06:00

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2 months old!

2010-03-22T22:59:00.007-06:00

Today Brynlee had her 2 month check up! The good news is that doctor said she is growing just how he wants her to and that she is very healthy! She weighs 10 pounds 4 ounces (30th percentile) and she is 24 inches long (97th percentile) The bad news is she had to get Vaccines. I was surprised with how tough she was though. It was sad, she was making noises at the nurse (trying to talk to her) then she got this big smile on her face and as soon as she smiled the nurse stabbed her with the needles! I was afraid she wouldn't dare smile again after that! She cried then when she was done giving them to her I picked her up and she settled down. I went up to my moms after and she fell asleep in the car. But through out the day she was so pleasant, smiling, and cooing and making her noises. Later she got a little fussy but overall she was such a tough girl. I can't believe that she is 2 months already though! Boy how time flies!! Here are a few pictures of her and just a couple of her faces she likes to make.

Brynlees Baby Blessing

2010-03-12T12:56:00.005-07:00

On Sunday, March 7th Brynlee was blessed. Nate gave such an amazing blessing and we had our wonderful family there. We then had a little get together at our house afterwords which was fun. We had crepes and they turned out great thanks to my mom and sister. And the clean up was easy thanks to his mom and sister and everyone else who helped :) My sister and brother in law were able to fly up from Arizona which I was so happy about. This trip was their first time meeting Brynlee and it was so great being able to see them. I am so excited for them to have their baby! I wish they lived closer but luckily they aren't to far! My brother had just barely gotten back from his mission the week before, and my awesome supportive extended family all came. Another thing we were lucky about was Nate's parents and his sister and brother in law and their son flew up clear from Georgia for it. His sister and her family stayed with us and it was so great having them here and seeing all of his family! We just sort of hung out and were able to do a few things. I felt bad, his whole family all got sick so it wasn't a fun trip for them but WE had fun with them here. We wish we lived closer to his family and could see them more often. They are such awesome people and I am glad that they are my in-laws. Brynlee- you have such a wonderful family that all love you and can't get enough of you!!

A long Update....

2010-03-12T11:23:00.024-07:00

I haven't posted for a while so this is going to be A LONG one because I have to catch up on the past 7 weeks! I can't believe that Brynlee is already 7 weeks today. Its been the hardest but the best 7 weeks of my life! Its so crazy that one little tiny person can bring such a sweet and strong spirit into your home and change your whole life. I don't know how we deserved her but she is the sweetest girl and such a blessing, I am so grateful for her and for the love I have for her. People say your life drastically changes and to enjoy every minute of having it be just the two of you, being able to sleep whenever, run errands and go places without getting kids in and out of the car, watching a movie peacefully. I never realized how much I loved green lights and never realized how long a red light really last for (believe me when you have a baby... if you stop that car they know and they do not like it!) Which now I know I definitely took all those things for granted. The first 6 weeks of her life (minus probably 5 days) she did not like sleeping at night. At first we just thought she has her days and nights mixed up and it will get better. We were wrong though. Starting at like 10 pm till 5 or 6 in the morning (sometimes she'd be done by 3) She would fall asleep anywhere from 5 minutes - 30 minutes, then wake up screaming and crying. We would bounce her, rock her, take her for drives, we tried Mylicon Drops, Gripe Water, changed her formula 3 times and nothing worked. This was so hard on both Nate and I, and I honestly was about to have a mental break down. It was hard cuz of the lack of sleep, but the hardest part was there was nothing I could do to help her screaming and crying. It made me so sad for her because I knew she was in pain and anything I tried didn't help. Luckily I have the best parents in the world and they let us stay with them for nights and would stay up with us and give us their tips. Even a couple nights they just let us sleep and they watched her which saved me because I honestly couldn't take it anymore. The doctor said it was colic and it will go away usually by 3 months. But we finally got her a prescription called Prevacid which breaks down the acid in her stomach and that seemed to make all the difference. I can now say for the past week we hit a milestone and she now sleeps through the night and the past few nights we haven't even given her the medicine! Now, I know that sounds like a griping and a complaint session but I also feel that because of it, it really made me grow up, learn patience, and realize my life is amazing in a different way. I have never felt so attached and so much love for someone and I would do ANYTHING for this little girl. She truly is a blessing and I am so grateful the Savior sent her to be apart of our family. The three of us couldn't be happier! (hopefully she feels that same way :)

Now to catch up on some of the things she is doing so we can remember....
*The past couple weeks she can now follow objects or people
*Instead of randomly smiling she can focus on you, and she smiles back at you and tries talking (really its just noises but its so fun to talk to her and get her reactions)
*If you give her the pacifier and she doesn't want it, she makes this grossed out face like, "Are you seriously giving this to me" and spits it out
*She LOVES her baths, if she is crying and not happy but then we put her in the bath she stops right away, relaxes her whole body and lays her arms out in the water and just stares or smiles and coos.
*She HATES when we wash her hair though, we save that for last :)
*She makes the funniest faces, she has so many different faces they are so fun to see
*Its hilarious, when we feed her the bottle, when we take it away to burp her in between (before its gone) she starts wailing and then it turns to a cry and swings her arm up and down or will head butt you. She gets very, very mad
*When I sing her songs, she will always smile during pat-a-cake. Thats her favorite one I think (although occasionally she cries or gives me looks so I don't think she likes my singing that much)
*She definitely lets you know when she has a wet or messy diaper. She will be even just a little wet and still let you know. She doesn't like to sit in it which I don't blame her.
*She always has her eyes opened so big and smiles very easily
*When she is laying down or sleeping usually both her arms are above her head
*She usually calms down and loves it when you put a soft blanket touching the side of her face
*When she smiles it goes across her whole face, you can see it in her eyes

Our life has changed for the best because of this sweet girl. I also wanted to let Nate know how grateful I am for him and the patience he has for me and for Brynlee. We are such a happy family and I couldn't possibly be happier. We can not thank the lord enough for sending her to us. Nate and I Love Brynlee so much and couldn't imagine our lives without her. Thanks so much Brynlee for putting up with us. She is the greatest blessing we have been given and I hope that someday we can get this parenting thing down. Hey... she is still alive so we must be doing at least something right :)

Brynlee Kranendonk

2010-01-23T16:33:00.003-07:00

Brynlee Kranendonk finally decided to come! She was born yesterday January 22 at 10:12 am. She weighed 7lbs 14 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is already so much fun and such a joy to be around. She is so sweet and we are so excited she is going to be apart of our family!!

Just Waiting....

2010-01-18T14:03:00.002-07:00

If you look at the little pink box it says our baby is 5 days old.... actually she is 5 days late! After a month of depressing doctor visits with them saying, "your still only dialated a 1/2 centimeter, no progress" there is actually an end in site! Tomorrow eveningish I get to go to the hospital to get things started since it doesn't look like she is in any hurry to come on her own! I can not believe that in just a couple days she will be here for sure, no more playing the waiting game :) Nate and I are both SO excited. This whole pregnancy has gone by so fast I feel like, but I am glad its almost over. I am definitely very nervous and realize that I will be responsible for someone. I know it will be so hard but so fun and exciting as well.... it will all be worth it. My next post will most likely be about our new little girl and pictures of her. Something much more exciting!!!