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. 

January 16-22, 2012

This week has kinda been a blur but it started out with my kota bear having to get tubes put into his ears.  I know I was just worrying about everything but I was nervous to have him go into surgery and I wasn't going to be in there with him.  They just took him from me and said we will be back.  I felt all different kinds of emotions but it ended up going really well.  He woke up out of surgery and was a little uncomfortable from the medicine they used to put him a sleep for the surgery but that night he was ready to play and happier then ever.  So I was glad we did it.

Dakota before we went to the hospital for his tubes in his ears.

This is how happy he was to get tubes in his ears and this is 12 hours since the last time he had eaten anything.  He was happy and ready to go. 

Kota bear in his hospital bed isn't he so cute in his little gown and socks.  I wish I could have kept them:)

Mommy not wanting to give her baby to the doctors and nurses.  It is funny how protective you become when you become a mom.  The surgery only lasted about 10 minutes but then we had to wait about an hour to be able to see him but it was okay everything went great and we are glad we did this to help dakota feel better.

Grandma Carol thought thinks that when you feel sick you need a present to feel better so she went out and bought this cute little walker for dakota and some clothes.  He loved the walker and was on the move as soon as he was put in the walker.  He would go as fast as he could and run into all the walls then back up and do it all over again.  He loved it!! He played in it for ever and didn't want to get out.

I hope this movie works but this is how much fun he was having in his new walker.

Kota bear and his cousin Zoe.  They are so cute and love to hang out together all the time.  All Dakotas cousins love to play with him and always want to try and help whenever they can.  It is so much fun to watch them grow up. 

This week was a good week Dakota learned how to army crawl and I think soon he will crawling all over on his hands and knees and then soon after walking.  I am looking forward to this so much.  Everyone says how it is a lot of work and you wish that they would just sit still but I am looking forward to being able to play more and then going on walks and exploring all over the place. 

Also this week me and a group of girlfriends started to play BUNCO which we will play once a month and I loved it, we had so much fun and I got to spend time with my best friends which is even better!!  I can't wait until we play next month:)

January 9-15, 2012

This week was a little rough at first because my little brother Jesse left on his mission.  He is such a great example to all of us and I am so proud of the choice that he made to go on a mission and serve the people of San Juan, Puerto Rico.  I love him and will miss him so much but I know he will do a great job and his Little nieces and nephews will look up to him so much.  So this week I tried to do as much as I could with him before he left.  He had so many things to do that it was hard to fit time in but when we did Dakota loved spending time with him.

I love how much Dakota loves Jesse he would always grab for him every time he saw him and would just like to play around with him.  Look how happy Dakota is with his uncle.

My happy little baby:)

For family night this week we all went over to my parents house and played games this time we played Dance Central and everyone danced against each other this is Daniel and Jesse going up against each other.  This was seriously the funnest time we have all had together we all suck at dancing so it was fun to watch everyone make a fool of themselves. 

This is all the nieces and nephews together saying goodbye to Jesse.  It was so cute to see them all say bye to him I don't think they really understand what is happening but to watch them cry and be so sad broke my heart because it showed me how much family really means.

Again my happy little boy with his uncle!!

My family saying bye:(

Cute boys!!!

As many of you know almost two weeks ago there was a big shooting that killed 1 police officer and wounded 6 more.  To show them how much everyone cared Ogden City put together a huge funeral together at the Dee Event Center that thousands attended.  They then had a huge procession that was about 8 miles long.  They had over 500 law enforcement vehicles that were there all in a row.  My sister Stephanie her son Wyatt, My sister Callee, Daniel Dakota and I all went to show our respect.  We stood outside Smiths for close to 3 hours watching all the police pass by on their way to Ogden cemetery. It truly was amazing to see and I'm glad I had the opportunity to be there. 

Wyatt waiting for the procession to begin

Dakota hanging out all bundled up with his flag.

Our family together ready to show our respect to those that protect us on a daily basis.

All the police motorcycle riders.  I think there was at least 60-75 of them

Officer Francom's casket on the Fire engine.  Many people told me that even most firefighters don't get this privilege.  So I thought it was neat how the community came together for this.

Dakota finally had to take a nap.  The procession was about 2+ hours long.  It was awesome!

I finally got a picture with Malena and her sweet baby Cache.  Dakota loves this little man and was so excited to see him.  He kept trying to grab him the whole night.  I think they are going to be such great friends just like their mommas!  Look how good Malena looks just 1 week after giving birth:) 

January 1-7, 2011

This week was the start of the new year and we are so excited for what it has in store for our family!  This week we started off by hanging out with friends and family.  This picture is of how happy Kota Bear is when he wakes up every morning.  He seriously wakes up this happy every day and I love it.  I am so lucky to have such a happy baby and he makes our home such a better place.

 This week the Bachelor started again and we have a tradition to watch it and Daniels moms house with a bunch of our friends as you can tell I was a little bored on Monday so I decided to decorate.  I haven't ever done this before so I thought that this would be fun so I printed all the girls pictures out and put them on cupcakes on my new cupcake stand I got for Christmas.

Cupcake stand with the Bachelor Ben and his girls :)

The Bachelor Banner

The setup before everyone came

Of course you can't have the Bachelor party without the roses!

These were my favorite and we had some sparkling apple juice instead of wine haha I just wish I got some wine glasses to go with it :)

More of the girls and decorations

I printed up cheat sheets for everyone to have their own so we knew who was who.  We were all able to remember the girls because we could take notes (except no one really used them they were just for fun as well since I was on a roll) I wish I got a picture of everyone there but I forgot but it was so much fun I loved it!

This week one of my best friends Malena had her cute little baby boy Cache so we went up to the hospital (I went a couple times because I was so excited for her and couldn't wait for Daniel to get off work)  This is Daniel and Cache he has so much hair and looks just like his dad Lance.  It is so fun to have such a great friend experience this and have a kid that Dakota can hang out with.  I think that they are going to be such great friends.  Dakota met him this week once they went home and he couldn't take his eyes off of him it was so cute!  I think that Malena is already such a great mom and I love her so much and I can't wait to watch Cache grow up and have lots of fun. Congrats you two I am so happy for you guys.