Brynlee Bear Sure is Growing!

Ok, so she is 9 whole months now!! That sure did fly by. She is our little angel, and we are so grateful for her everyday! It hit me the other day when I was in the store looking for some summer clothes for her. I was in the infant section and couldn't find any of her size....that's because her size is in the toddler section now! What!!!???!!!

She is now:
...26.5 inches long and 17.85 lbs-kinda on the smaller side.

...pulling herself to a standing position, but has yet to crawl. Somehow though if we sit her in one place she ends up in another place that's about 3 feet away. I think somehow she's scooting.

...loving Cheerios :) But hating any kind of baby food that's not sweet potatoes.

...getting a little anxiety when we hand her to someone she doesn't know.

...is a little chatterbox and screecher. In church this has proven to be a problem. She will hang over the back of the bench and screech at all of the people behind us, and then protest very loudly when we try and get her off of the back of the bench. OH, and then there was the time that someone was singing a very lovely musical number and she chose to sing along in her screech owl voice. FUNNY, but maybe not so funny to the people trying to sing

Pics that Ty's Mom took:

Pics that JCPenny's took:

As you can see it takes her a little bit to warm up to people...and that is why there was not even a hint of a smile for the girl taking these.

...and what have we been up to?...

It will hopefully be done soon :) Ty has been working SOOO hard on it. He goes to work from 6 to 3:30 and then comes home and works on the house until it gets dark. Ty, his Grandpa, and his brother have been doing the electrical and plumbing and little framing jobs inside for the past couple of weeks. I think they are amaaaazzzing! This week the brickers are putting on the brick. It is beginning to look like a house, but has a ways to go until it looks like a home.

Something different for my 100th post...

No it's not a giveaway...sorry...maybe if I had something fun to give away.


While looking over my blog list, I noticed the word "recommitment". I would love to be recommited/committed to lots of stuff, but lack the time and energy. But how 'bout just being MORE committed to everything life has to offer?? So, I'm going to try and be "more committed" each week to something different. And hopefully by doing so will be able to inspire the millions of readers who read my blog....haha actually I just wanna inspire myself and by putting it on here I am more likely to accomplish my goals.


I have loved the Wordless Wednesday's and Pretty Monday's, So each Monday plan on "MORE COMMITTED Monday's", whether you care or not, I plan on posting what I am going to be more committed to and report back on how the past week went. I want to try and be more committed in 2 or 3 ways each week :). We will see.


Some ideas that are brewing right now are: being more committed to......

==my husband==

==my daughter==

==finding a bargain==

==exercising==

==my dog==

==being crafty==

==relaxing==

==being spontaneous==

==reading==

==scrapbooking==

==my religon==

==my ward calling==

==eating healthy==

==reconnecting==

==Oprah==

==Starting my business==

==My Car==

==Summer time==

==Finding simple beauty==

==Finding color==

This should be interesting. And if you find that I suddenly stop posting it isn't because I have given up...well maybe it is...but more likely I have become lazy in posting to this blog. So really maybe one of my More Committed Monday's should be dedicated to being more committed to blogging.

This week I plan on being more committed to exercising. This gorgeous weather will definitley be a factor in helping me accomplish this :)

How many times do you see the word commit?

(Answer: 12)

A new addition to our family...

....the Scott Family that is. Kari and Rob had their sweet little Eliza on Friday February 4th. For the complete story click here. I am so happy for them and can already see what great parents they are. I also am so excited for Brynlee to have a little sister-cousin that is only 8 months apart to play with, share secrets with, and have so much fun together. Seriously, they are gonna have a blast! And we're gonna have a blast watching them! Brynlee is already lovin' her cousin Eliza. She smiles and laughs at her and wants to play already. She is really good about being soft with her. You can see her patting her as gently as possible...that can be expected from an almost 9 month old. It's also so fun for me to watch my baby sister go thru motherhood. It has been great to bounce ideas and issues dealing with being Moms off of each other.

Oh, and p.s. This is SUPER FUN for my Mom. Kari and I were about 13 months apart. Both of us were in diapers and not walking for a time. For her it is kinda like reliving her time with her baby Sara and Kari....except for now it's baby Brynlee and Eliza.

<><>Stolen from Mom's blog<><>

<><>The Bruderer's<><>

Kari needs a shower!

I was so excited to throw a baby shower for my sister Kari a couple of Saturdays ago! I got a little overwhelmed, however, looking at all of the bagillion ideas out there on the internet. Well, with the help of my Mom, we got it put together. I copied Erica's shower and had cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa...which was perfect for a snowy January morning. Then we got the idea to decorate onesies from a shower idea on the internet. Well, it turned out wonderful. Now, we will just have to wait for little Eliza to get here hopefully by next Sunday :) Can't wait!!!!

These were the easiest thing ever!!! I am now gonna make them for every party we go to in the future :)


Nummy Cinnamon Rolls (Dad got them from Adventurous Cafe on 25th). We made little toppers that say, "A Bun in the Oven"...Kinda fitting.








I thought they turned out so cute! Kari's buds were pretty creative...Now, I just have to sew around them.


Cute little sweater dress for Eliza...and Kari and Rob.

For Bliss....

(This is for Bliss's internship. Such a great article...Good luck to her!)

Hello to all of Sara’s blog readers! My name is Bliss Stinson and I actually work with Sara at LDS Family Services. She is an amazing woman as you all probably know. She is a loyal friend, a wonderful wife and mom, and a bubbly person to be around. I love knowing her. Well you are probably wondering why this post is on her blog! Well, for my job I write health and fitness blogs and articles for different companies. I am loving it completely! In fact I have such a passion for it that I would like to share some things that I have learned with those that I care about. I chose to post a guest post on Sara’s blog because I know that she cares about her body and her health and I am sure that all of you moms out there do. Don’t we all? Whether it is maintaining that nice figure, trying to lose that baby weight, keeping up with your little ones, or simply trying to live a healthy lifestyle while you are pregnant- we all know that it can be hard. It definitely takes work and effort. However, it honestly can be easier than we make it out to be. We simply need to realign ourselves away from the views and teachings of society and learn more about our body. You see our body has ph levels in our blood, which can range from being alkaline to neutral to acidic. The acid in our body is what fosters degenerative and autoimmune diseases. It can impair major systems in our body such as our organs, digestive tracks, skin integrity, and repair from injury. Now you may ask, “how do we become acidic?” The answer to that is – “by what you eat.” The saying is true, you are what you eat. There are different foods that have an alkaline effect on our body and other foods that have an acidic effect on our body. For instance milk, cheese, sugar, saturated fats, chocolate, beef, and cashews have an acidic effect on our bodies. Food such as avocados, oranges, spinach, almonds, olive oil and watermelon all have an alkaline effect on our body. It has been proven that when we are in a neutral or more alkaline state, our body has more energy, we have better athletic and mental performance and we reduce the risk of serious diseases. All you have to do is incorporate more alkaline foods in your diet. You should simply be eating 60-80% of alkaline foods. How easy is it to add better foods to your diet instead of doing completely outrageous fad diets that leave you unhappy and starved? You can still have that daily acidic food that you love as long as it stays in the 20% range of your diet. It’s a different concept that takes some time to soak in and understand. If you want to test your ph levels to see whether or not you are acidic, you can buy ph test strips in some grocery stores as well as online. You simply dip them in your saliva or urine and wait 15 seconds and you can find out where you stand on the ph scale! If you want to learn more, I challenge you to go to THIS SITE to find out more information so you can become a better more capable woman who is ready to conquer any challenge before her- ESPECIALLY weightloss. Let’s get goin girls!

Photoshoot with Grandma.

Ty's Mom watches Brynlee on Friday afternoons while I'm at work. She got some great shots last Friday...you can see all of Brynlee's personality shining thru. These are just a few of the grundle that was taken. Which they all still might look the same to you, but I can't choose just 1. Brynlee is so much fun right now. She's loving the shopping cart and flails her arms out and whoots and hollers at the passerby's. I think they're amused. Oh, and we were wondering when she was gonna start teething...well yesterday on the way to work my Mom called and said that she has her 2 bottom teeth now. They must've popped up this weekend, but you would never have known. Brynlee wasn't fussy or anything like most people say they will be...I guess we will wait and see how she fairs with the other ones. Anyways enjoy the pics...

These Oranges are Sour!!

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We are grateful for the season!

This is one of my favorite times of year! First and foremost we are so grateful for our Savior who's birth we are celebrating right now. I know my life would be pretty empty and lonely without the knowledge that I have of his birth, death, and resurrection.

I am also grateful for what we do have. This year our ward did an angel tree. It was very humbling to see that all that some of the kids wanted for Christmas were simple things...like some nailpolish...or the game of "Life".

I also could not be more thankful for a baby to share the Christmas holiday with. It's been so fun this year to spend time with her and eating up her eating up everything about this season. Even though she is small, she definitley notices the beautiful lights and sounds of Christmas...and I'm sure feels of the wonderful spirit that goes along with it.

Have you heard...

.......She already craves chocolate...if she could only reach it.

.........She can walk...with help.

.......She can read...or be read to rather.

.........She breaks my heart when I go to work...by watching my car drive down the street.

.........She likes sleeping in Mommy & Daddy's bed

........She enjoys sucking on her bottom lip.

.........She brings us soooo much joy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving, Family Pics, & A Huge Crane!!

Turkey day was way fabulous!!! We have a new tradition on my family's side where we do Thanksgiving dinner the night before. That way my parents can go up to Idaho and Kari and I can go to our hubby's familys. All I can say is that I ate myself silly both days!!!

I have a lot to be thankful for this year...a wonderful husband, baby, family and good friends. I also have my health and the gospel in my life. And so so so much more.

Thanksgiving day:

Here we are eating dinner at Ty's Grandma's:

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A few weeks ago we had our family pictures taken. I can't say that I'm thrilled with how they turned out. Don't get me wrong...the girl who took them (Sharstin Miller) did a wonderful job and is very talented, but we just happened to do them around Brynlee's nap time, therefore we didn't get a single picture with a smile. And of course I can always nit pick myself.

Here's a few:

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Tyler's been working like a dog to get the house dried in before a major snow storm. I can't believe the talent that him and his grandpa have to be able to do a project like--a house.

I woke up one morning and this is what I saw out the window...this gargantuous crane...woh baby.

It feels like you're running at an incredible rate.

I am saving my money for this:

Ta-da...

I have come to the realization that this will be the only way that I will actually exercise.

**I have a gym membership that I haven't used since before I was pregnant...I was a little paranoid and so didn't exercise one drop when I was with child. Now Brynlee is here, it's hard to find the right moment when I can go to the gym and Ty is able to watch her...and when that moment does happen, I just want to stay home and hang out with my family. Oh, also there is a daycare in the gym, but who wants to take a little baby around kids who may or may not have the dreaded swine flu??

**For a while I wanted wii active, but had no idea what to expect from it. Is it a good work out? Would I eventually get bored with it? Would Brynlee like the fact that I'm ignoring her for an hour while I'm staring at the TV and swinging my arms about looking way silly?

**What I would ideally like is to be able to go bike riding as a family. This would require us to A) have bikes, B) have one of those things that drag behind the bike that holds our precious cargo...aka Brynlee (is that really safe?) C) have a husband who actually has a little time. I will definitley reconsider this option in a few years.

**How do the movie stars get back into shape after only 2 months? Oh wait they have a nanny. Since that is not an option....I will for-go.

So, anyways this seemed like the perfect solution. Running (which I am one of those wierdos who like it) with Brynlee in plain sight, enjoying the outdoors, hopefully raising my heart rate a little, and not succumbing to the wonderful world of Cafe Rio/Carl's Jr./Einsteins/Krispy Kreme/Olive Garden/Santa Monica Pizza Kitchen/Oh-I could go on and on...