The sky's the limit...

Part of my Mother's Day gift was this awesome carrier. One of the cool things about this carrier is that Daddy gets to carry it everywhere! Too cool! Maybe I should have called it a Father's Day gift and then my shopping would be done. We took off for our first pre-hike (the 2 mile walk we do around our neighborhood) and Brixie Lee was LOVING it! It was like she was seeing the world for the first time.
1 mile into our walk Don decided that the carrier was comfortable enough for us to do our normal loop that includes a big hill. Let's go Daddy!
When we got to the top of our normal hill, Daddy said that he still felt really good that we could do our bonus hike up to our water tower. Check out that view of Norco baby! Daddy's a rock star!
Brixie Lee was so excited when we saw a pack of horses on the hill. They were so beautiful and it just made our first carrier hike that much better.



In a few months we'll be going to Yellowstone with Don's family (Grandma, Papa, Aunties, Uncles, and 7 cousins) and this carrier is going to be perfect all those trails. In the mean time, we'll be doing lots of local hikes and enjoying this beautiful summer weather!

Grandpa's tractor is sooooooo cool!

Today we went to visit Grandpa and Grandma Claypool in the beautiful Tehachapi mountains. WOW! I really miss how awesome it is up there. For those that don't know, my first 4 years of life were spent in Tehachapi before we moved to Bakersfield. I only have a couple of memories of that time, but I've seen a lot of pictures and I can say that it sure was an awesome place. I visited my Grandma (my Dad's mom) up there quite a bit and we went to play in the snow sometimes. If money was no object, Don and I would love to raise Brixie Lee in a town like Tehachapi. I don't see any pharmaceutical companies moving to the mountains so I guess we'll just have to be happy with the occasional visits.


See you soon Grandpa and Grandma!


While we were there Brixie Lee got to play on Grandpa's brand new tractor! She had a blast! If I could figure out how to get a little video clip on here I would, but I just don't have time to figure out how to shrink the video file. Last time I tried to add a little clip it just kept loading for hours and never did anything. Maybe that's just how long it takes... anyway, back to the point. Here are a couple of cute pics of Brixie Lee on Grandpa's tractor!

They're getting sooooo BIG...

Kim and Caleb came to visit us today! He's such a good boy. He slept right up until lunch was ready (I think Brixie Lee taught him that) and then he just wanted to eat and go back to sleep. Kim and I actually got to "talk"... like... adults... because Brixie Lee went down for her nap right after lunch and Caleb was just so easy going the entire time. I was WONDERFUL to be able to "talk" to Kimmie! I just can't get over it.

Then I found this picture that Don took of me giving Brixie Lee a kiss and it just hit me how BIG she has gotten. It's just so shocking to me in this picture. My baby girl is just not a baby anymore!

Slippery Fish, slippery fish...

My little slippery fish was covered with sand when we got home from the park today, so we decided to hose her off out on the porch. I didn't know how she was going to react because for some reason she has been kinda scared in the bathtub. Weired because she had always loved it before.

Well, nothing to worry about there! She couldn't wait to play in the water. She can be such a goofy little girl and I LOVE IT! We hung the hose over the balcony bars so she got her first outdoor shower. Maybe we'll do this instead of bath time and then I don't have to scrub the tub every week.
After about 15 minutes she was freezing. It wasn't very cold outside but a breeze kept blowing on her and making her cold. Her little goose bumps were cute but I couldn't take it anymore. She didn't want to leave, but I just HAD to get her warmed up. She was soooo incredibly upset when I took her inside.
She starts swim lessons next month and now I don't have any worries! If you would like to see all the photos from the outdoor shower, check out Don's gallery.

With The Boys...

Today we had a great day with some of Brixie Lee's boys.

We started off the day in Riverside with Aunt Kimmie and Baby Caleb. Brixie Lee said "ca-ib" all the way there and when we got there she found him much more interesting then when we saw him last month. For some reason she's really into babies right now. Back on point... today was Kim's first Stroller Strides class and she was such a rock-star! The girl acts like she didn't spend the last half of her pregnancy on bed rest, go through hours of labor ending up with an emergency c-section and all while dealing with excruciating pelvis pain. Nope, none of that slowed Kimmie down! She just kept on truck'n with the rest of these awesome mamas. To make it even better, Caleb slept through the entire class, woke for some yummy boobies, and sacked back out. Great job Kimmie and Caleb! Perfect way to start the morning.

From there Brixie Lee came home and took a nice LONG nap and we headed out to the evening class that I teach in Chino Hills. Two of Brixie Lee's favorite boys were there and after class Brixie Lee was taking there hands and dragging them to the playground. It was the cutest thing and us mamas laughed our butts off. We told the boys to get used to being dragged around by a girl cause it's never gonna stop. We were saying that we wished we had a camera and then I remembered (later in the car) that my phone has a camera. Oh well. I guess I was just enjoying them moment and lost my mind. Typical!

Fit as a fiddle!

Brixie Lee's pediatrician, Dr. Warren, said that she is "fit as a fiddle" at her 15 month check-up today! She has dropped down to the 60th percentile in height and weight (high 90's during her first year) and is doing really well all around. He asked me if she says 5 or 6 words and was pleased to hear that she has a huge (50-60 word) vocabulary. Mama soooo proud!

Then he said he heard a VERY SLIGHT heart murmur. That brought me back down out of the clouds. He believes it is a very mild murmur and that no action will need to be taken at this time. But, just to be safe, he's running a couple of tests (EKG and X-Ray) and sending those to his preferred specialist (Dr. Loits). We should hear back next week with the test results, but we're all very confident that she'll be just fine.

Make a plan... make God laugh!

I've said it for years! One way to make God laugh is to make a plan. Well, turns out that is still true. Don and I planned our first weekend away... WITHOUT Brixie Lee! Huge step for me, but Grandma made it as smooth as butter. Grandma agreed to come down to Chino Hills to watch Brixie Lee while Don and I went down to La Jolla (our favorite quick get-away place for about 4 years now).

Here was the plan...

1. Stop in Temecula for lunch, olive oil and ice cream. Done! Check! Perfect!
2. Check into our favorite hotel and take a nap. God laughs... the hotel is under construction and it was impossible to nap with the constant hammering on the ENTIRE floor below us. I know, I know, I know... we should have said something, but I just wasn't in the mood to argue with anyone.
3. Walk to a nearby brewery and enjoy a couple of beers and a pizza. God laughs... all 8 beer options were nasty and the pizza crust was made from some kinda cake batter. Not sure what chef thought that was a good idea!
4. Hunt down a REAL corn dog (not that frozen junk that you get at Hot-Dog on a Stick). I take a look at the menu of one of our favorite bars and they have corn dogs on the menu! Can't believe it! Sooooo excited! We ask the waiter if it's a REAL corn dog and he says, "Yup... best in town!" Sign me up waiter man! Delish!!! Done! Check! Perfect!
5. Find a bar with music and park our butts for the evening. Turned out that our hotel had just what we were looking for and our bartender was outstanding! Done! Check! Perfect!
6. Turn in for the night ;) and sleep in as late as we like. God laughs... Don got food poisoning sometime that day and spent the night praying to the porcelain gods. Trust me, this was not from the alcohol! We were both up all night and he finally started to get some sleep around 5am.
7. Read my book club book on the beach while I sit back in my pop-up recliner chair and sip on raspberry ice tea (Don was going to be taking pictures). God laughs... at Don mostly... I did get to read my book in the hotel room while Don got some good sleep from 5am to 2pm. I asked him if he needed to go home, but he insisted that he was feeling better and that we should stay another night.
8. Enjoy a 2nd night ;) and sleep in as late as we like. God laughs... the a/c went out in our room. Too tired and frustrated to call the service desk, we decide to open the window. We just couldn't get the temp right. It was too hot, too cold, the down comforter was too much, no down comforter was too little, etc. Another night with no sleep. It was like the first few months of getting up all night, every night when Brixie Lee was a newborn.
9. Enjoy a cup of coffee down at the cove before we head home. God laughs... after 2 nights of no sleep we were just not in the mood to enjoy the cove and Don's tummy was still not feeling up to his favorite Starbucks triple-shot, non-fat latte, no foam.
10. Get home and enjoy the afternoon with our baby girl. Done! Check! Perfect!

Even though we enjoyed only 40% of our plan, we enjoyed each other's company 110%. Don is still my best friend and I think he's the best husband/father in the world. Love you honey and I can't wait to try again!

Special thank you, thank you, thank you to Grandma for taking care of Brixie Lee. We never worried about her because we knew she was enjoying her wonderful time with Grandma and the puppies! Love you Grandma!

Carters Rock!!!!

Auntie Diane and Tracey (the Carter's) took care of Brixie Lee tonight while Daddy and I went out on a much needed date. Before we left it already felt more like Daddy and Mommy were getting out of Brixie Lee's way so she could play with Tracey's toys (yes, Tracey is 18 but she has had several boy "friends" that have provided her with numerous toys. Lucky Brixie Lee!).
Here you can see that Tracey was having just as much fun as Brixie Lee.
Oh yes, Tracey is also an expert on the piano (just like her Dad). Do I hear free lessons in Brixie Lee's future???? Hehehe!
Thank you Auntie Diane and Tracey for taking such good care of my girl! You girls rock!!

Davy's Birthday Fish!

Uncle Don took Davy on a fishing trip for his 7th Birthday and we couldn't have been happier with the day! Unc picked up Davy at 5:30am and they took off to the lake. Don said that Davy got the hang of it really quick (no surprise there!) and that he was having a blast telling Don where to go on the lake. Brixie Lee and I saw them when we arrived at 9:30am and Davy had just caught this HUGE trout! Great job Davy!

Donny caught a monster fish right after Davy! You boys are naturals!
Both boys couldn't stop talking about showing off their fish to Papaw Jerry! They knew that Uncle Don and Papaw Jerry liked to go fishing, but now they know WHY! I'm so glad you boys had such a good time!

If you would like to see all the pictures for Davy's Birthday fishing trip, check out Don's gallery.

Let's meet at... Anza Borrego!

So last night Don Lee asks me if I want to go see the wild flowers in Anza Borrego with his family. I ask, "Where is Anza Borrego honey?" He says, "Just east of Temecula!" I say, "Great! Lets go!" The next morning I find out that "just east" actually means a hour east of Temecula. Not quite as excited as I was before, but still happy to spend the day with the family! Little did I know when we strapped Brixie Lee into her car seat (pic below), she would end up spending 6 hours in the car and 10 minutes touring the wild flowers!

We had planned to go before Don's family so we could have some lunch and get situated (stroller, sun block, diapers, etc.) We ended up getting there about 2-1/2 hours before them because they got stuck in traffic on the way out! Below is Brixie Lee talking to Grandma (or so BL thinks) about our adventure.

In all honesty, it was one of the best 2-1/2 hours I've had in a LONG time. We sat in this little park, under a beautiful shade treed, had lunch and relaxed the entire time! Don Lee even took care of Brixie Lee for about an hour straight and I just laid there. I know that was something most of my family would not find enjoyable, but I loved every single minute of it! Even Brixie Lee joined my relaxing effort and it just made my day.

Daddy was able to some super cute pictures of our lazy wait. I think all three of us needed this time together. Brixie Lee was her usually social self and went around greeting all the people in the park. She even found Mommy a stinky little flower ;) Thank you sweet girl! We picked up some ice cream on our way to meet-up with the rest of the family and I bought some yummy fudge too! By the time we met the rest of the family it was just half an hour till I needed to get back home for a book club meeting. We ended up hitting road after one 10 minute tour of the flowers near the visitor center. Didn't bother me one bit after my relaxing afternoon and ice cream! It was a great day!

If you would like to see all the pictures from our Anza Borrego trip, you can check them out on Don's gallery.