My Baby is 1!!

DAKOTA IS ONE!!

Where has all the time gone.  Dakota has turned one and I can remember like it was yesterday that he first joined our family.  I love this little boy so much and he has brought so much love and joy to our life!  He really is such a happy boy and been so fun to have around.  A few things about him so far:

Dakota has been walking since 10 months old

He is well over 25 pounds but I love every inch!

He likes to say "no no no" and is trying to learn more words every day.

He loves his daddy and loves sharing sweets with him everyday.

He has the cutest smile and has 4 teeth (more coming in as we speak)

He loves Costa Vida just like his mom I swear he would eat it all day if we had it.

He loves to take baths and splash in the water

He loves spending time with grandmas and grandpas

He gets away with everything!

He is spoiled and loved by everyone:)

He wiggles all day long and doesn't like to stay in one place.

He loves his dogs

He is a momma's boy (which I don't mind at all)

He is the happiest kid I know!

Happy Birthday little Kota Bear mom and dad sure love you and look forward to the many years to come with you! I hope you know how much we care about you...

Here is a little photo overload so bare with me:)

Grandma Brinley loves playing piano and everything else with Kota Bear.  He loves her so much and is always excited to spend time with her and make messes and just be the fun little boy he is.

Grandma Chase and Dakota playing with your recliner chair

Here are a few of his 1 year old pictures I haven't edited any of them but thought I would share a few of my favorites.  Isn't he so cute!

I love those eyes!

He can't wait to be big enough to play on the big boys toys

Out on the farm I love his smile!

Playing in the dirt and eating it while we watch daddy ride horses:)

My cute little easter bunny!  This was his first easter and it was so fun that he was older to enjoy the candy

Easter morning excited for what the easter bunny brought him

Dakotas Birthday cake.  I loved making this for him:)

His smash cake

Eating the cake

Opening all his fun presents.  He was so spoiled and it was so fun, we all went to Get Air Sports and jumped for hours, had dinner, opened presents and of course cake and ice cream.

Playing in his cake.  As you can tell below I tried to get it all over him but he only wanted his hands in it:)

My favorite people!  We went to the Motocross race with some good friends Nicole and Eric along with their cute little boy Jarris and had a good time watching the riders. 

March 25th (Better late then never I guess)

I was doing so good and then I don't know what happened with my posting but I am trying and will do better. There hasn't been much changes or activity going on around our house but my sisters houses are a different story. I am so excited that I became an aunt for the 13th and 14th time this last week and then again for the 15th time on tuesday!!!! I love being an aunt and I love seeing our family grow. Stephanie was first and had cute Stella Rose Okey which I just love the name and think it is so cute and fits her perfectly then Kiesel Brian Ivie was born yesterday to Karly and Jeromy. And then another little boy for Chelsea. They are all such great parents and so loving to their children. They are all such great examples to me and I love them very much. We also have started to work on the basement to refinish this week little by little but we are cleaning everything out to start the framework. There are so many steps to finishing a basement but we are getting there. Mostly the money is what keeps us behind where we want to be but we are saving and doing little by little:) Lastly Daniel would be said if I didn't post that we went riding for the first time this spring on trigger. It was just a little bit to get our horse comfortable to riding again since before winter but Daniel was in heaven. He loved Dakota riding the horse more then himself it was so fun to watch him get so excited to share his passion with his little boy. I am so in love with them both and they are the light of my world. So here are their pictures.... Enjoy:)

February 27th - March 4

This week was pretty low key but it was still fun.  We decided that we would celebrate The Lorax some more and go to IHOP for their free pancakes.  I watch my cute nieces every Tuesday and I found out that they were having free pancakes so I asked them if they wanted to join us along with their cute mom Alicia and my girl friend Kylee.  So we had so much fun eating free pancakes and hanging out. It was so funny my niece Baylee kept pouring each flavor of syrup on her pancakes and liked how they changed her pancakes colors.

This is Kota Bear and One of my Best friends who I love Kylee waiting for their pancakes

 My cute sister and her girls they are so fun to play and hang out with!

 The gang eating our pancakes

IHOP was giving any money they received to the Children's Hospital and they partner with Miss USA so this was Miss Farmington that was representing the program at the IHOP we went to.  She was so nice and super cute so of course we had to get a picture.

 Dakota is getting so big and loves trying new things.  He loves gogurts and so I decided to help him not get to messy I would freeze them and he could suck on the gogurt instead of squeeze it all over him.  He loved it and ate the whole thing. 

He got a little messy but he enjoyed every second of it.  It also has been helping him while he is teething:)

Dakota loves his daddy and always wants to be with him we discovered that Dakota loves to sit on your shoulders.  He giggles and laughs so hard when he is sitting up there.  You can see how happy he is hanging out with his daddy.  

One of my Best Friends Lindsay turned 25 and so we had to celebrate by going to Kneaders and hanging out for a couple hours.  My other Best friend Malena and Cache also celebrated with us.  The food was so good and the company better.  I love these girls and love that we have been friends for so long.  We will be those old ladies that go to lunch all the time and can't be seperated!  I love these girls and they have helped me through everything I have done.  I wouldn't be who I am with out them.  Thanks Lindsay and Malena!!

February 13-26th Two Weeks

These last couple weeks have been filled with fun little milestones for Dakota and being a proud little momma I have to share(sorry I just get so excited and sad at the same time).

I can't believe that kota bear has been growing up so fast.  When people say it seems like yesterday it really does seem like it was just yesterday that we brought this little man home. 

Dakota thinks he is such a big helper and decided that everything on the end tables needed to be removed for his play area.  He would pull everything off and I would then put it all back on just to turn around to him smiling and taking it all off again so I caved to his wishes and just got rid of all the stuff on the end tables and so this is where you sometimes might find him:)

We also had kota's first Valentines day so I got him some sweets a card and balloons he loved the balloons the best and would play with them all day until he let go and the floated away.  This is my little valentine eating a little dinner.  I'm pretty sure I had the two best valentines in the world (Daniel and Dakota) and I don't know how I was so lucky!

This is Dakota helping me fold all the clothes and by fold I me unfolding everything I would fold and was within reaching distance for him.  It was so funny and my first experience with him pulling all my piles of nicely folded clothes, socks, towels etc. to the ground.  But his big smiles made it worth every minute.  I'm pretty sure this won't be my last experience with this either.

Kota Bear is now walking along everything and is also walking with a walker all by himself he has even taken a couple steps by himself.  He also thinks he is a big boy because he can and will climb all our stairs he tried it one time and the second time he made it all the way to the top.  It was so cute but scary because he thinks that he needs to come down them head first.  When he thinks he is such a big boy he smiles and laughs for us as big as he can and continues doing what he was doing.

This is how excited he was to get up the staris in a matter of seconds while I was cleaning.  I turned around and all the sudden he was up the stairs.  He knows that his dad works upstairs so when he can hear him he heads straight for the stairs.  It is so fun to see how excited he is to be with his dad he bounces up and down and laughs everytime he hears his voice I love it and it melts my heart.

 He is looking at me wondering why I have to sit by him on every stair because I don't want him to roll off.  So I will cheer him on with one hand behind him just incase.

This week Target had a fun little reading for Dr. Suess and they had gift bags and lorax mustaches for the kids that came to hear the stories so since Daniel was playing basketball and we were hanging out at home I decided that it would be fun to go and listen to the books.  I am so excited for the movie to come out and take Dakota to it.  I know he won't remember it but I will and I can't wait.  This is my little Lorax.  Haha I love the mustache!!

Dakota the lorax his mustache and gift bag!

 What a fun two weeks!

February 6th - 12th

No pictures for this week :(

I guess I didn't do that much this week to take pictures but it was another week.  We have just been busy with school, work, family time, church and working on our shed that Daniel is doing such a great job on and I will post pictures of that soon.  But Daniel has made a shed 10x16 in our back yard it is huge but it is going to be so nice to have done then we can clean out are storage in the basement and then finally finish the basement this summer.  That is going to be a big project but it will be so nice when it is finished I can't wait.  We have so many great friends and family that have offered their time and talents to help us finish it just the way we want.  We get the opportunity to do it exactly the way that we want so that is what I'm looking forward to!  I have also started to exercise more vigorously to get in shape and achieve my goals of cycling in a huge bike race of 100 miles and many more goals to do with fitness I won't bore you with.  So far so good and I have started to see my goals come closer to achieving but they will be hard but well worth it.  This coming up week is Valentines Day which I love so I thought I would just tell everyone thanks for everything you have done in my life.  I have so many great examples around me and am blessed daily! To Daniel I am so thankful for the hard work you do with all your positions you hold both at home as a father and husband, at work and at church as the Young Men's President.  You are my better half the man I love more than anything and am so glad I was lucky enough to marry you. To Dakota I love your smiles, your laughter that makes the room brighter, your love for your parents, the excitement you have when you see all those you love and every second I get to spend with you.  I love my life and can't wait for all the fun things ahead.  Thanks again for those that take time and read my blog I'm sorry if it is boring but it is my only journal and I am sometimes boring and don't know what else to say ha ha.

January 29 - February 5

This week started out great it was Daniel and I's 3 year anniversary! It has been a great start of our eternity and I couldn't have chosen a better person to spend my life with.  He is the man I love with all my heart and I am so lucky to call him mine.  I love you Daniel and you are the best husband I could have asked for.  Thanks for all you do for Dakota and I we don't know where we would be without you :)  Daniel and I decided to go to dinner and celebrate last week over the weekend so we went to my favorite restaurant P.F. Changs it was so good I can't wait to go back!  Then on Monday which was our anniversary Daniel woke me up with breakfast from my favorite place Einsteins!  I love their bagel sandwich and I was so excited for it then we just hung out all day and enjoyed spending time with each other and Dakota and he bought me flowers and a cute card that were waiting on my pillow before I went to bed it was perfect!

 Dakota got his first hair cut this week Daniel couldn't stand it going over his ears and insisted that we have my sister cut it so this is him getting ready to have his first hair cut at 9 months old.

I know its hard to see but this is a little clump of his hair I had to hurry because he wanted to play with it I should have kept it like most moms but I figured a picture would do.  Isn't his hair cut so cute!  I just love this kid:)

Dakota and I spend all of our time together so we have to find ways to make it entertaining so we decided to go to Costco to go shopping and we found a fun friend to join us on our shopping adventure.  Dakota was so excited I had to do all sorts of funny things just so he would look at me for this picture.  This moose was huge but so soft and cute if we had somewhere to keep him then I might have bought him for only $36 but for now the cart ride would have to do.  I love spending my time with my little man.

Here are our pictures for Dakotas Valentines Pictures they turned out so cute and I love them all.  Thanks Ashley for doing them for us!

I love him

Such a little cowboy.... Look at his boots haha

I love those eyes

Mine and Daniels favorite!

I love this little guy and want to let everyone know how grateful I am to be his mother.  I know people say that they are hard and stressful at times and it will be harder as they get older but I seriously love every moment I get to spend with him.  Tonight he woke up crying and so I went up and just cuddled with him for 30 min. while he fell asleep in my arms and man can I tell you that is my payday to just hold him in my arms and know he is mine.  I have recently read a lot of blogs that speak about the loss of their children at such a young age and from tragedy and it truly makes my heart break for them.  Daniel will sometimes look at me while I read these blogs and I am crying and he just asks why I read them if they make me cry and I tell him I don't know.  But I read them because I want them to know that I am thinking about them I pray for them every time I think about them and to me it makes me try harder to be a better mom and not take advantage of the time I have with my son.  I want to be the best mom and often think I could be better and I want Dakota to know that I love him more and more everyday and even though I am not perfect I am trying.  And I want all the moms out there (mothers now, mothers that have lost children, friends that haven't been able to yet have children of their own, and soon to be mothers) That there are people all around the world that are praying for you and the hardships in your life.  I hope you know that there is someone there for you at all times wither you know it or not.  I promise I will be better and take time to enjoy what I have and realize that not everyone shares this same joy.  But please know I love you and pray for your happiness always and you are always in my heart!  Thank you for being you, it is because of each one of you that I am trying to be the best mom I can be and not let a day go by without thanking my heavenly father for the blessings I do have.

January 23-29

I'm not going to lie I would rather be in bed then writing this post not because I don't like to update my blog but everyone is asleep in my house except me and that is because I promised myself that I would update my blog once a week and I chose Sundays to update so that I can keep a journal of our family and the things that go on in the Brinley household.  I am terrible at writing in a journal so I think this makes up for it and so if I missed today it would be easier for me to skip the next Sundays.  So I am trying. 

This week has been pretty much the same as any other week but this week Daniel decided to take lunch with Dakota and I and get out of the house for an hour.  So lucky Daniel I had a project in mind and off to the Wood Connection we went.  Dakota got Valentines day pictures done this week (Pictures to come soon) and I wanted some cute stuff in the picture so below are some things that we got. These aren't the ones I did just an example from the store.

This rocking horse was so cute and Dakota loved it he wouldn't let it go and when Daniel would stop rocking it Dakota would start moving his butt and legs like he was telling Daniel to keep doing it.  I loved it and wanted to take it home with us and so when I asked the store owner how much he told me $150 are you kidding me!! That crushed my heart because I loved how happy Dakota was.  But that was way to expensive for a wood horse that isn't even painted.  So we had to pass:(

I loved these but I can't wait to see how mine turned out in the pictures!

This week was also fun because I was able to go to one of my favorite if not favorite places to eat which was the Melting Pot.  I love the food their and have so much fun every time I go.  I don't get to go their often but when they have a special I like to see if I can make it their because it is half price.  So this time I went with my mother in law Carol it was her first time and we had so much fun!  Carol can't wait until next time.

This week my baby turn 9 months old.  Boy how time flies.  I truly feel so blessed to be Dakotas mom and he brings me so much joy and happiness!  I love everything he does:)  So because he is getting older we had another doctors appointment to go to.  At nine month Dakota weighs 24 pounds and is 31 inches tall he is above the 95th percentile for everything and I love it.  I love how big he is and every inch of him.  The doctor told us that if he continues on the growth scale that he has been on ever since he was born he should be 6 feet 4 inches tall!! That is exciting for me because then he can be my little basketball player.  But either way I am happy to have a happy and healthy baby.

Dakota at his doctors appointment.  He loves the rooms their because they have so much color and are fun to look at.

Mommy and Dakota.

I truly feel blessed to have the life I have I am spoiled with a great husband that supports me in everything I decide to try.  He is my number one supporter and my best friend I can confide in. we have the best son parents could ask for he is the light of our life and such a joy to have in our home.  I get more and more excited with every milestone he comes to. I also am blessed with a great family and extended family without all of them I don't know where I would be.  My parents are amazing and the best examples in my life.  I have so much to look up to with them.  I am blessed in every area of my life and have great friends that will stick by my side and help me everyday to be a better person (you know who you are:) and I look forward to the great times that lie ahead of me, my family and with my friends.